Aunt Lib's Diary

 Page 1

Johnson Sisters.  

Seated Left to Right: Elizabeth (Lib), Lora, Flora (Lora and Flora are twins)

Standing Left to Right:  Amanda, Martha, Ida

New York in the Summer of 1996

My two sisters (Lisa and Jackie), mother (June), and my dad's (Glen Arnold) sister (Frances), traveled to upstate New York in early August of 1996.  We went to locate the Johnson homestead, the home of my great, great, great grandparents, David and Seba (Ayers) Johnson.  We had an old, blurry photo as a guide.  We did locate the homestead, which was in 1996 being maintained as a bed and breakfast. We toured the home and visited the small Johnson/Weatherwax Cemetery located in a field behind the home and barn. 

What a memorable trip it was.  We found the home of David Johnson, met family, visited great cemeteries, bought artwork, took hundreds of photos and found some great family history.

The current owners of the Johnson Homestead told us about a lady, Olive Lewis, who also was related to the Johnson family.  Olive just lived up the road a few miles from the homestead. We contacted Olive and we were invited to her home for lunch.  Olive had in her possession a diary kept by Elizabeth Johnson (Lora (Johnson) Arnold's sister) that had been transcribed and a binder of genealogy notes by Robert Johnson.  Olive let us take the binders into Plattsburgh to a small copy shop where I got two binders full of family history to bring back to Illinois.

The diary that Elizabeth Johnson recorded was written in 1866 when she received the book as a New Year's gift.  There are many entries about the neighbors, family, births, and deaths in her/my family. I hope to share the pages of her diary here.  And hopefully I can connect some of the names and entries for my genealogy records.

 

--Photos by Janice, Jackie and Lisa Arnold. August 1996.

Johnson Homestead.  Irish Settlement Road, Morrisonville, New York.

The barn on the Johnson Homestead.

The Johnson/Weatherwax Cemetery located behind the barn at the Homestead.  Lisa, Jackie and Janice Arnold.

Olive Lewis.

Visiting the home of family.  George Arnold, Janice, June, Lisa.

Lisa (Arnold) Fancher at the Clinton County Historical Museum.  Schuyler Falls, New York.

Quaker Union Cemetery.  Peru, New York.  Lisa and Janice.

Morrisonville Cemetery.  Morrisonville, Clinton County, New York.

Tapestry by Seba (Arnold) Linn

Posted on Facebook January 2024 by Ann Woltjen.  A tapestry sewn by her great grandmother, Seba (Arnold) Linn.  Seba was born 4 September 1872 in Lyman Township, Ford County, Illinois.  She lived to be 105 years of age, passing on 25 November 1977. 

--Contributed by Ann Woltjen.  2024.

David Johnson Arnold

The Clinton County Historical Association

 A DOCTOR AT ALL HOURS – October 7, 1886 – 135 years ago

The following excerpt is from Dr. David S. Kellogg’s diary:
Oct. 7 – A report published in the Morning Telegram today stated that some divers from Boston were at Port Jackson and were going immediately to work to investigate the Royal Savage, Arnold’s boat sunk near Valcour Island in October 1776. I communicated with John Martin, at the Customs House and he thought nothing could be done. However, the United States law was very clear on that subject – the penalty being imprisonment and a fine of not over $5,000. So Emmet Armstrong and I, John Martin and Charles H. Spear, both deputies from the Customs House, John Henry Myers and Colonel George F. Nichols started for Valcour. The deputies went by order of William Reed, Collector of Customs at this port.
There was one diver and he was then partly in his diving apparatus. He had on a covering continuously over his body and extremities as far up as his neck. Around his neck was a kind of an iron band. Over his whole garment, the diver put something like pants and a frock and also he put on mittens and heavy shoes weighted with iron. His copper headpiece, something like a large iron kettle with glass on four sides, was fastened to the iron neckpiece. To his headpiece was fastened a rubber tube not unlike an inch garden hose, which was fastened to an air pump on the scow. As soon as the headpiece was fastened on, the men began to pump and immediately the diving garment began to swell out on all sides. After this was full, with two robes in his hands – one for signal and one for tying around any material he might get hold of – he was let down into the water with a rush. The pump was kept constantly in motion while he was under water, and we could easily trace his path by the bubbling of air to the surface. He was then in 35 feet of water.
While we were at the house for lunch, the men rowed they scow up south where the remains of the Royal Savage lie. We followed them after lunch and saw the diver bring up what was probably part of a gun carriage. Then we rowed alongside, and Mr. Martin asked who was in charge of the expedition. One of the strangers said that Captain Duncan, the diver, was. Then Mr. Martin told him he was sent there by the Collector of the district, that that was United States property he was handling and read the law on the subject to him. The diver said he had had a good deal to do with the United States, that he had been in the business a good while. After some further conversation, we pulled away. The strangers on the scow said they were getting these things to sell, and that they were not sent by any society, that some people would pay a large price for these relics. I hope they will not return. He only got a few pieces of timber, some shot and a spoon.
A more complete story can be found in the Plattsburgh Sentinel of Oct0ber 16, 1886, at: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/.../1886-10-16/ed-1/seq-1/

Thankfully, there are more stringent regulations about exploring wrecks on our lake and people are more aware of the best archaeological practices. Also, there are more eyes on the lakeshore that would notice anything untoward going on with our precious heritage and would be willing to report it. We do have pieces of the Royal Savage at the museum. The canes, purportedly made from wood from the Royal Savage, were donated to CCHA by Dr. and Mrs. Philip Barton in 1946.

Dr. Kellogg’s diary, edited by Allan Everest, and published in 1970, can be found for sale at our museum, on ebay and at bookfinder.com.

--The Clinton County Historical Association Facebook Page.  February 16, 2021.

https://www.facebook.com/ClintonCountyHistoricalAssociation/photos/a.10152660880750594/10164943715235594

The above excerpt was from an original clipping my family has saved for many years. It is the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Stukley Arnold and Lovicey Lobdell Arnold. They were married February 19, 1829.

They too received a piece of the "Royal Savage" for an anniversary present. So interesting. The article is much longer. I wonder where the Arnold family cane is now?

--My Newspaper Clipping.

Perfect Attendance in 1914.

--From Grandma Mildred (Robbins) Arnold Collection.

Drainage Commissioner

--Newspaper Clipping.

Highest Grade Attended

I was hoping to find more information some day on Grandma Arnold's education level.  Her younger sister Ethel's pic is included in a Thawville High School graduation photo; and I was hoping to find her graduating photo also.  But this census reports that Grandma's highest grade level was eighth. Second column from the right.  Grandma and Grandpa both made it through eighth grade, Frances is in third grade in 1940, and Dad has yet to start school. 

--Federal Census. 1940.

Lobdells in Melvin?

I had no idea there were Lodells in Illinois until Mom and I visited The Fort in Lexington, Illinois.  There was a handmade binder with the name Lobdell printed on the side.  I did a quick scan, but we did not have time to really investigate.  But here is Eleanor Lobdell teaching at the Melvin High School in 1943.  I got these images from Ancestry on January 16, 2021.  Really a surprise to me.  

The Cook Side

I received this photo from a "cousin." Nothing is recorded on the back of the photo, but I recognize my great, great grandmother, Lora Johnson Arnold, the lady in black.  The owner of the photo stated they believe (through family stories) that this is a four-generation photo. 
Ellis Cook has been identified as the gentleman in the photo. 
So this will leave us with Flora Elma Arnold (known as Elma) standing, daughter of Amos and Lora Arnold.  Elma married Carvosso William Cook May 14, 1888.  Ellis Cook is their son, one of seven children.  Elma died in 1921 at the age of 56.  She along with her two older siblings, Hattie and Johnson, were born near Schuyler Falls, Clinton County, New York.  Elma was born on January 9, 1864.  Elma's obituary states that "she came with her parents when three years of age (October 26, 1867) to Roberts, Illinois, and grew to womanhood in this vicinity."  I imagine Flora Elma Arnold would have received that name from her mother's twin sister Flora Johnson.    
Ellis Cook was born June 22, 1889 and had a twin brother who died at birth. His twin's grave is marked as "Infant" in Lyman Township Cemetery. 
The child we assume is Ellis and Leone (Houk) Cook's daughter.  They had two daughters and two sons.  This most likely is their older daughter, Elma Cook.  Elma Cook was born November 8, 1911, in Guthrie, Illinois. She married Herbert W. Jacobs. They had no children.   
Ellis Cook at the age of 80 died at Gibson City Community Hospital February 1970, following the collision of his car and an Illinois Central freight train at the Weldon crossing in Roberts, Illinois. 

--Photo KTH.  June 2020.