Biographical
Sketch of Julia (Bentley) Weatherwax
by Renee M. (Harris) Zamora
12 Apr 2014
Julia
Bentley was born 9 Aug 1892, Greenwich, Washington, New York to Charles H.
Bentley and Emmaline Sarah Green. This was a second or third marriage for her
father. She was the oldest child of their union. She had two sisters, Lousinda
and Florence, and one brother George. In the 1905 New York State Census we see
her future husband John Henry Weatherwax, Jr. is living down the road from her
home, working as a farm laborer. Julia is almost 13 years old at this time. John is age 23, 10 years her senior. She
marries John two years later at the age of 15 on 26 Sep 1907 in Greenwich.
Julia’s
was 16 years old when her first child, daughter Eva was born on 1 Nov 1908. The
baby was born at home with the help of a midwife, as were all her following
children. Her second child, daughter Loretta was born 9 Aug 1910. Loretta was
only 11 months old when she contracted black ear syphilis, or spinal meningitis
and died. Julia is 18 years old at this time, and pregnant with her third
child. We can imagine how tender her emotions must have been. Her third
daughter Edna was born on 16 Mar 1912. At the age of 21, Julie gives birth to
her first son on 28 Nov 1913 and names him Rachel. This is rather an odd name
to select for a boy, especially after three daughters. His name may have
actually been Horatio, since this is what Julia would refer to him as later in
life.
A fourth
daughter, Mabel joins their home 15 Oct 1915.
Joy was not to last, 10 months later her little son Rachel, who is 2
years and 8 months old, gets into her medicine cabinet and drinks carbolic acid.
Which was medicine used to treat horse and cattle on their farm. Rachel died as
a result on 28 Jul 1916. A short five months later, Julia gives birth to her
second son, Paul on 23 Dec 1916. He is born during the Christmas season and how
tender their hearts must have been at that time.
On 9 Jun
1918 Julia’s daughter Edna, who is 6 year old, decides to give her little
2-year-old sister Mabel a piggyback ride. Tragically, Mabel falls backward and
breaks her back. She dies from her injuries. At this time, Julia is now 25
years old, she has given birth to six children and three have died.
Julia has two more daughters, Nancy born 27
Aug 1919, and Martha born 9 Jul 1921.
15 Jun
1922 – The Salem Press newspaper reports in the “List of Deeds Recently
Recorded in Washington County Clerk’s Office” the real estate transaction of property
in Greenwich belonging to John J. Weatherwax and Julia V. Weatherwax to Charles
Weatherwax and Clara Weatherwax. Charles was John’s brother, but we are unsure
of the details on how and why John acquired this land and sold it.
We do know
that John and Julie raised their family in a two-story home on Bald Mountain.
John later built a home closer to the town of Greenwich and moved the family
there. The Bald Mountain home became rental property. The census records show
no mortgage on their property.
Julia’s
mother Emmaline Sarah (Green) Weatherwax died on 2 Sep 1923. Twenty-four days
later Julie gives birth to her 9th child and 7th daughter
Alice Elnora on 26 Sep 1923. Less than a month later, on 19 Oct 1923, baby
Alice Elnora dies in her mother’s arms. She may have contracted black ear
syphilis or spinal meningitis, family records are unclear if it was Loretta or
Alice Elnora that died from this. Julia is only 31 years old but she has now experienced
the death of four of her children and her mother. She must have had incredible
inner strength to endure such events.
1 Jun 1925
– New York State Census shows Julia’s mother-in-law, Harriet (Hewitt)
Weatherwax is living with them. John’s father John Henry Weatherwax, Sr died a
couple weeks earlier on 17 May 1925.
Julia goes
on to have three more daughters, Harriett born 2 Nov 1925, Mildred born 16 Nov
1927, and Alice Erma born 21 Jan 1932 (named for the doctors daughter and not
after her sister Alice Elnora that previously died.)
Julia’s
father Charles H. Bentley died 6 Dec 1932 in Northumberland, Saratoga, New York
Her last
child a girl, Florence was born 2 Mar 1936. Julia is now 43 years old and has
given birth to 13 children and 9 are still living. Both of her parents are
deceased.
Julia’s
two youngest children were born during the depression. This did not seem to affect
the family since they had always been poor. Living on a farm meant there was
always enough to eat. The family had two horses, Mabel and Charlie. Charlie was
loaned out to the town of Greenwich to mow the grass. Julia bottled the fruits
and vegetables grown on the farm, helping them survive the winters. The family
raised animals for their own meat. There
were goats, cows, pigs, ginny hens, chicken, sheep and John’s pigeons, that he
enjoyed rising. Julia’s daughters Alice (Weatherwax) Harris and Florence
(Weatherwax) Wilson Fish would comment that nothing went to waste. Julia would
make head cheese and even blood pudding.
Even with
all that they were able to product, the farm could not meet all their financial
needs. John worked for a local man peddling eggs around town using a horse
drawn cart. Julia worked for Frank Hollister as a farm laborer in Clark’s Mill.
He would provide transportation to and from work since she was unable to drive.
She would also do housework for him. All the children hired out as farm
laborers to help support the family. Most of the children did not graduate from
high school. Hattie and Martha quit school to work in a glove factory in
Schuylerville. The older children helped raise the younger children and their
education suffered for it.
Census
records state the Julia attended school and was able to read and write. However,
her daughters Alice and Florence tell that their mother was very embarrassed by
the fact that she could not read or write, and do not believe she ever attended
school. It is likely the census taker was given inaccurate information to
conceal this fact. They did eventually teach their mother how to print her
name, but her signature was illegible. They would sign documents and write out
checks for her.
The fact
that Julia was illiterate was demonstrated further when later in life she
cooked “gains burgers” for her daughter Alice’s family. It was actually dog
food; shaped into patties that resembled uncooked hamburger.
John was
able to read, and would read the bible to the family. Julia was a faithful long
time member of the Methodist Church. There were some talents in the family.
John was an artist and enjoyed drawing sketches, and Julia was able to sing.
One
evening John was bringing the horse back to the farm during a thunderstorm. He
was next to, or holding onto a metal pole when lightning struck. He survived
but not long afterwards, he developed cancer of the neck. While John lay dying,
Julia still needed to work to provide for the family. Most of Julia’s children
were married or working, the two youngest were still in school. This meant no
one would be home to tend to John. Her daughter, Alice at the age of 14, left
school to stay home and take care of him. Alice lost a year of school tending
to her father, and was unable to graduate from high school. She later commented
that the sacrifice was worth it to take care of her father. John died 8 Jun
1946.
A year
after John’s death on 2 Jul 1947 The Salem Press reports on the Deeds Recently
Recorded in Washington County Clerk’s Office, the real estate transaction
between Julia Weatherwax to Joseph D. Wilbur and Etha Wilbur of Greenwich;
property in Greenwich. The family farm and home are now gone.
Julia and
her two youngest daughters now move back and forth between family members’ homes.
For a while, they live with daughter Hattie (Weatherwax) Hyde in Troy, NY.
There were family squabbles over money and how they were treated during their
time there.
Julia’s
daughter Alice was working for the Grand Union grocery store in Glens Falls
prior to her marriage on 2 Jan 1955. One day as she was cashiering she noticed laying
on the conveyor belt a loose diamond. It must have fallen out of a customer’s
engagement ring. She handed it into the office lost and found. The owner never
returned for it, so Alice later received the diamond. Her mother never had
anything of value so Alice took the diamond to the jewelers to have a ring made
for her. Julia wore that ring for the rest of her life.
24 Feb
1955 – The Times Record, Troy, NY article “Greenwich Man Dies Leaving Mill”
tells of Julia’s only surviving son, Paul’s death. He was working at Thomas
Paper Mills, north of Schuylerville, when he died from a sudden heart ailment
when punching out at the end of his shift. He was only 38 years old. A wife and
four young children survived him, the youngest only 2 months old.
28 Oct
1958 – The Saratogian newspaper reports, Julia moves from Troy to home of
daughter Mrs. Felix Brown and family on Bald Mountain. This is her daughter
Edna.
Julia
later moves to Battenville and lives in a trailer with her daughter Eva’s
family. The trailer catches on fire and is a total loss. The family salvaged a
few family photos with burnt edges.
On 16 Dec
1966 Julia’s daughter Eva (Weatherwax) Rissue dies after a long illness at the
age of 58. This was Julia’s 6th child to die before her.
In later years,
Julia lives with a family in Fort Miller. The name and relationship to this
family is unknown. She is removed from the home because she is not eating right.
She is sent to a nursing home in Granville. Afterwards, she spends brief periods
living with daughters Martha Hubbard, Florence Wilson and Alice Harris in their
homes.
While
living with Martha, her daughter Alice’s children, James and Brenda came to
visit. A rather humorous event happened that they love to retell. Their
grandmother, who was getting some dementia, was sitting and eating a huge bag
of store bought popcorn. This was very appealing to the children, so Brenda
asked her grandmother for some. There was no response. Brenda asked her again.
The response this time was grandma suddenly flinging the bag of popcorn across
the room at them. This caused the popcorn to explode all around the room.
Brenda was so afraid she had done something wrong. Aunt Martha rushed into the
room and upon learning, what had happened asked Grandma why she did that.
Grandma did not have a reason why.
As Julia’s
health failed, she went to live with her daughter Alice (Weatherwax) Harris
family in Queensbury, NY. They set up a
hospital bed in their living room for her. Her granddaughter Renee was about 6
years old at the time. She does not remember her grandmother talking very much.
She does recall that she would spend a lot of time in the bathroom and would
sit on the toilet eating apples. It is funny what memories a young child will
recall.
Personal note of Alice (Weatherwax) Harris
“Momma died January 26th
1968 at 6:10 p.m. in Glens Falls Hospital from heart failure. (She had the flu which turned to
pneumonia.) She was 75 yrs of age. Her length of time in the hospital was about
3 hrs, admitted sometime between 2:15 and 3 o'clock.”
Alice had
admitted her mother to the hospital. She then left to tend her children at
home. She
called the hospital later to check on her mother and was told that she had
died. She was shocked by the news and
devastated she could not be with her mother, and she had died alone. She was also upset that the hospital had not
contact her right away.
Alice
returned to the hospital with her 12-year-old son James Harris. He later
recalls that when they brought out grandma’s clothes to her, she was so over-come
with grief and was just sobbing he knew she was in no condition to drive them
home. He asked his mother if she wanted him to drive. He knew how to drive Stan Harris' tractor so
he figured he could drive the car. She was able to compose herself and drive
them home safely.
29 Jan
1968 – The Saratogian, Saratoga Springs, New York - Mrs. Weatherwax Was 75
Greenwich
– Mrs. Julia B. Weatherwax, 75 died Friday at the Glens Falls Hospital shortly
after admission. She was born in Greenwich and had lived the most of her life
here. She was a member of the Free Methodist Church in Glens Falls.
She is
survived by seven daughters, Mrs. Felix Brown, Mrs. Wilfred Brown and Mrs.
Harold Hubbard, all of Greenwich, Mrs. Milo P. Hyde of Troy, Mrs. Mildred
Pattaralli of Saratoga Springs, Mrs. Philip J. Harris of Glens Falls, Mrs.
Raymond Wilson of Troy; a sister, Mrs. Joseph Gagne of Schuylerville. Thirty grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren
and nieces and nephews also survive.
Funeral
services will be at 2 p.m. from the Garrett Funeral Home with Rev. H. Herschel
Hutt, pastor of the Free Methodist Church, officiating. Burial will be in the
Greenwich Cemetery in the spring. Friends may call at the Funeral Home on
Monday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9.
Years later, Renee (Harris)
Zamora interviewed her mother Alice (Weatherwax) Harris about her grandmother
Julia (Bentley) Weatherwax. Alice said that she once asked her mother what she
would have wanted to be if she had been given the chance. Julia said right away
a Physiologist, Alice asked her what that was and she said "to study the
human body".
Julia may have been
illiterate and poor but it shows you that she had a mind capable of deep
thought. Who knows if circumstances would have been different what she would
have been able to accomplish in life. She had a love of science and wanted to
understand better how the human body worked. Could this interest also have been
born out of the desire to understand what had caused the death of so many
people she loved? We will never know all about Julia Bentley Weatherwax, but we
do know she was more than her circumstances allowed.
After Julia’s death, her
daughter Alice received the diamond ring that she had made for her. Alice’s
daughter Renee now wears it as her own engagement ring. The ring is a constant
reminder of their love and devotion to family, and will be handed down to
succeeding generations.
Why a name change after more than 18 years? Many of our loyal readers will be asking this question, and the simple answer is that it is time to refresh and renew the look with an eye to making the publication more recognizable within the genealogy community and to the general public as well. We will continue to produce the magazine in print format, as well as PDF, and app editions for the growing range of available mobile devices. Our content will not undergo dramatic changes at this time, but we are launching three new regular columns: “Genealogy Tourism”, “DNA & Your Genealogy”, and “Advice from the Pros”. In each case, the columns will be authored on a rotational basis by contributors who are experts in their respective fields.
