Almira GATES

Other Events and Attributes:

• Medical Cond'tn: Cert. No. 37149
• Census: 1850, Living with parents in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York
• Census: 1855, Living with parents in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York
• Census: 1870, Living with husband in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1880, Living with husband in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1900, Living in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York

Almira married George Corbin SLOSSON on 18 Feb 1862 in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., NY. George (son of Horace SLOSSON and Irena Wells LADD) was born on 22 Nov 1829 in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York; died on 09 Jun 1897 in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York; was buried in Riverview Cemetery, Chazy, Clinton Co., New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Medical Cond'tn: death cert. # 15526
• Census: 1870, Living with parents in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1880, Living with parents in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1910, Libertyville Township, Lake Co., Illinois
• Occupation: 1910; Farmer
• Census: 1920, Calumet Township, Lake Co., Indiana
• Occupation: 1920; Construction
• Residence: 1920, Massachusetts St., Gary, Calumet Twp, Lake Co., Indiana
• Occupation: 1925; Contractor
• Residence: 1925, Gary, Lake, Indiana, USA
• Census: 1930, Living in Calumet Twp, Gary, Lake Co., Indiana
• Occupation: 1930; Contractor
• Residence: 1930, Living on Madison St., Gary, Lake Co., Indiana
• Census: 1940, Living with son, Willis, in Gary, Lake Co., Indiana
• Occupation: 1940, Hotel Clerk
• Residence: 1943, living with son at 4257 Penn. Gary, Indiana

Willis married Leah Belle HILL on 12 Dec 1895 in Chicago, Cook Co., Ill.. Leah (daughter of Edwin Hamilton HILL and Amelia Frances PADELFORD) was born on 17 Sep 1875 in Grand Island, Hall, Nebraska, USA; died on 05 Nov 1952 in Gary, Lake, Indiana, USA; was buried on 08 Nov 1952 in Calumet Park Cemetery, Crown Point, IN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1870, Living with parents in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1880, Living with parents in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1900, Living with mother in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1910, Living with brother, Rudolph, in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1920, Living with brother, Rudolph, in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Census: 1930, Living with brother E. Rudolph in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York

Notes:

Ina remained at home and died unmarried.

Name:
The NORTH COUNTRYMAN Thursday April 4,1935
MISS INA SLOSSON DIES AT WEST CHAZY
Miss Ina A. Slosson, 60, of West Chazy, passed away Sunday at the home of her brother, R. E. Slosson services were held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock from the house with the Rev. A. R. Kay officiating.
Burial was in Riverview Cemetery,Chazy.
Misa Slosson is survived by two brothers: R. E. Slosson, of West Chazy, and W. H. Slosson, of Gary,Ind. Miss Irena Slosson, of Champlain,
is a cousin.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1900, Living with mother in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Occupation: 1900; Farmer
• Census: 1910, Living in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Occupation: 1910; farmer
• Census: 1920, Living in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Occupation: 1920; Farmer
• Census: 1930, Living in Chazy, Clinton Co., New York
• Occupation: 1930; Farmer
• Residence: 1930, Cross Road, Chazy, Clinton Co., New York

Notes:

Anecdotal notes from George Fredrick Slosson to his children regarding their family. From this perspective, Grandfather = Rudolph Slosson and GreatGrandfather = George C Slosson. Received from George F Slosson on 25 March 2001 via e-mail.

The following information is regarding two of the pictures sent you.

(1) Presidential Citation
Issued to your grandfather on March 31, 1961 which was exactly 10 days after his death. It is signed on the top line by Nelson D. Rockefeller, governor of NY, and John F. Kennedy, President of the United States. Line two includes the signature of W.H. Boughton, State Director of Selective Service, and the last signature is Lewis B. Hershey, the Director of the Selective Service System.

(2) The Slosson Ancestry:

Your great grandfather died as a result of a runaway team of horses hooked to a wagon on which he and your grandfather, Rudolph were riding. They were headed up into the area which is now our pasture. He also apparently had a heart condition. As the team was out of control, he threw his son from the wagon and continued to try and control the situation. The wagon overturned and he was dragged quite some way. Your grandfather, then only 14 or 15 had to carry him to the farmhouse where he later died in the living room area.

The oldest brother, Will (Willis) had left home some years before that to move to Gary, Indiana where he opened a construction business in his own name. His wife, Leah was still living when we first traveled to Indiana. He had two sons, Willis Jr. and Milton. Willis, Jr. is the grandfather of Darlene Donovan's family, i.e. Fred Slosson, Marge Albough. Milton is the father of Phyllis, Marcia, Harold and Milton, Jr. (Mickey) Slosson. Milton Sr. and Willis are the same generation as I am. Phyllis, etc. are the same generation as you are.

Aunt Ina lived at home and never married. After his mother died, my dad had the responsibility of taking care of Aunt Ina who was not physically well. Eventually he sought help from the Plattsburgh hospital and the doctors there. The doctor (Dr. Silver) agreed to send out a nurse to help care for Aunt Ina and agreed to send the best nurse he had available.....i.e. Hazel Bradley (who was the instructor of nursing at the Physician's Hospital School of Nursing. The long-term result of that is certainly known to us. In 1936 they were married and in 1939 and 1941 they had two children, George and Beverly. After each delivery, Mother was on crutches for some period of time. Both of us were born caesarian.

Until his death in 1961, my dad tried to persuade the Indiana relatives, specifically Cousin Leah to allow him to bring the remains of his brother, Will back to Chazy to be interred in the family plot there. He wanted to do that because Will's widow, Leah had remarried and planned to be buried next to her last husband. However she would not agree to let that happen.

Your grandfather, Rudolph continued to operate the farm after his father's death. He operated as an active farm until the mid 1950's when he sold his herd of cows and the horses and then farmed the land only for the crops for several years. After that he rented the land to help keep it in good cultivation, fertilization, and to help offset the taxes, etc.

In 1905 he was approached by others to help them with the new developing telephone company. He agreed and was so good at it that they asked him to stay with them as their lineman. He did and soon moved up in the ranks, however continuing to stay as the lineman/installer, etc. He got to know the company better than anyone. He was eventually named the President of the company and through the purchase of stock from time to time, he eventually owned 51% of the stock in the company. He held that until his death.

In his mid-20's, while working on the telephone line, he fell from a pole on to rocky ground. He crawled back to his truck and came home. He did not seek medical help at that time, and was back on the job in just a few days. He was not aware that he had broken his hip. That was determined at a later date when the pain did not subside and the limping got worse. By the time it was determined that he had a broken hip, it had set and one leg was considerably shorter than the other. As a result, dad had a severe limp for the rest of his life and every step he took was a very excruciatingly painful step.

As the company grew, he hired help for the servicing, etc. and was the sole supervisor for all the staff. He did the engineering (having earned a degree in electrical engineering from correspondence school). Dad only went through grade 8 in school because of the death of his father and the need for him to operate the farm to support his mother and sister.

In 1941 he made history by installing the first dial telephone service north of Glens Falls. This move was considered foolish by his peers since everyone around had the old crank phones connected to operators. He was so far ahead of his time in this that it wasn't until about 1955 that the Plattsburgh area finally moved to dial phones. The Champlain company came aboard after that.

In the 1930's dad began selling insurance as well. He developed that into a relatively large agency and after his death, Mom operated it for a number of years, eventually selling it to Fred Culley and Norman Foote which became the Culley and Foote Agency. Later Fred Culley's interest was purchased by James Langley who eventually purchased the interests of Norman Foote. Today it is the J. Langley Assoc. agency.

Dad served on the U.S. Selective Service Board for many years. That board was responsible for reviewing the status of all boys/men over 18 years of age for consideration to be drafted into the armed services. Dad was uniquely able to help families of need to not lose the availability of their farming sons to the draft. Many folks benefited from his efforts.

Dad and Mom both served on the Chazy Central School Board of Education. Dad was the Clerk of the Board from the 1920's. Mother was elected in the late 1940's. Together they served the Board of Education for more than 60 years. When the new school was built, the principal then, Ralph Pombrio, wanted to name a specific room of the school in their honor. He left before that materialized.

Your grandfather was the head of the Grange in West Chazy for many years. It was a farm-based fraternal organization and he was a member of the local (called 'Subordinate'), the county (called "Pomona") the State and the National Grange levels. He had also served a number of years as the head (called "Master") of the county grange (Pomona). He was also a long-standing member of the Masonic Lodge in West Chazy.

When road construction in the 1940's was being federally funded, he fought for and got the road in front of our home included. The road was raised to avoid yearly flooding, and was made a black-top road. As a result, after a number of years, the town decided to name the road in his honor, thus the name, Slosson Road.

In 1960, Gerald Forcier, owner of the Westport Telephone Company, purchased the Chazy Telephone Company. The company's name was then changed to the Chazy and Westport Telephone Corp. which it is today.

Your grandfather was diagnosed in 1960 with cancer and was treated at Memorial Hospital in NY City and then at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. He died at the Montreal hospital on March 21, 1961 as a result of the cancer that took his weight below 100 lbs.

I've tried to give you a brief glimpse of your grandfather and have written this off the cuff from recall as I go along. Perhaps Beverly will type out additional recollections and send them to you to include in your records.

Perhaps following this we can send similar information about your grandmother Slosson.

Name:
CHAZY PHONE COMPANY FOUNDER DIES AT 78

West Chazy -- Rudolph Edson Slosson, 78, one of the founders of the Chazy Telephone Co., died thursday at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal after a lon illness.

Slosson served as president and general manager of the company for 43 years, until last December when the firm was sold to the Westport Telephone co. It is now the Chazy - Westport Telephone Co.

Slosson had also been an insurance agent and a stockbroker and had maintained an office in West Chazy for 40 years.

He served as a clerk on the Chazy Central Board of Education for 25 years, and as a member of the selective service board in Plattsburgh.

A mason for 51 years, he was a member of the West Chazy Northern Light Lodge. He was a past master of the West Chazy and Pomona Granges, and had served as a county district deputy of the state organization.
He was a member of Chazy Presbyterian Church and a member of the Clinton County Historical Society.

Slosson was born in West Chazy Oct. 9, 1882, a son of the late George Horace and Almira Gates Slosson.

He is survived by his widow, the former Hazel Bradley whom he married Aug. 11, 1936; by a son, George Frederick Slosson of West Chazy; and by a daughter, Miss Beverly Hazel Slosson of West Chazy.

The body is to be taken to the family residence here today.

Funeral services will be Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Chazy Presbyterian Church. burial will be in Riverside Cemetery at Chazy.

Rudolph married Hazel Mae BRADLEY on 11 Aug 1936 in Chazy, Clinton Co.,New York. Hazel was born on 16 Dec 1901 in West Plattsburgh, New York; died on 31 Mar 1975 in New York, USA; was buried in Riverview Cemetery, Chazy, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]