Thinking of Ancestors on All Hallowed Eve

Below: Kinner or Wood Creek Cemetery, along Route 4 between Fort Anne and Whitehall, NY

Kinner or Wood Creek
Cemetery

Below: North Granville, NY

An interesting monument

John & Addie Mylott
North Granville NY

Below: East Pownal Cemetery, Vermont

John Wills and Annie Reed

Pownal, Vermont

Below: in St. Joseph's, Waterford, NY....

William Henry Wills and his service in the American Civil War

GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic

John Albert Berryman Wills and his wife Anne Reed came to the Adirondack mining town of Moriah for good reasons.  First, he knew the business of miners. Secondly, his older brother William Henry Wills, was already there.  Who was this brother of our ancestor John Albert Berryman Wills?  William Henry Wills was born in March 1840 in St Uny Lelant, Cornwall making him three years John's senior.


The image below is from the 1851 census of England : William Henry is eleven years old and John Albert is 8 years old. Also listed are parents William and Lystra as well as siblings William Francis, Sarah, Lystra and Amy. Josiah is a border in the home:

1851 Census of England: Uny Lelant, village of Bowl

William H Wills probably came to the United States alone or at least without another immediate family member and enlisted in the Union Army - what later was called the Grand Army of the Republic, serving for three years.  We know this because he was not required to "declare his intent" to became an Unites States citizen; he could go directly to naturalization because of his military service.  His naturalization papers state he served three years in the "War of the Suppression".

Here is an image of William H Wills' naturalization papers in county clerk's office (Elizabethtown, Essex County, NY)

Click on image to enlarge

This document states:
"In the matter of William H. Wills on his naturalization, State of New York Essex County.  William H Wills being duly sworn, says that for the continued term of five years, last past, he has resided in the United States, without residing at any other time during the said five years out of the territory of the United States, and that for one year last past he has resided within the state of New York, that he was three years in the service of the United States in the Army for the Suppression of the late rebellion and was honorably discharged & would refer to his discharge herewith exhibited & applies to become a citizen of the United States under the act in such case made & provided that he is a native of England now residing in the town of Moriah in the county and state aforesaid, of the age of 30 years, and now, or lately, owing allegiance to her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, do hereby declare, that it is my bona fide intention to became a naturalized citizen of the United States of North America, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any and ever foreign Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatsoever; and particularly all allegiance and fidelity to her Majesty, the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.
Subscribed and sworn this 7th day of May A.D. 1872
signed Wm H. Wills
before me
A McD?inney Dep clerk"

When I think of William H. Wills arriving in New York, I remember the Martin Scorsese film "Gangs of New York".  There is a fine scene where young men, arriving from the Old World, are recruited "off the boat" by officers to serve in the Union Army.  William was young and somehow ended up fighting in a war that was not his own. He fought in the New York 16th Infantry Regiment, Company F.  As of this time, I write this, I do not know what battles he fought in but he survived and somehow ended up in Essex County, NY.

The New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs has an online history of the New York 16th Regiment here.   I believed the New York Regiment was "mustered out" in 1863 but men who remained in the service were pulled or converted into a  "national" regiment.   (can't remember where I read that...so it isn't a fact yet!).

In Essex County, sometime between 1865 and 1875, William H. married Mary C.  who was born in 1844 and died in October 22, 1876 (she is buried in the Whitney Street Cemetery, Port Henry).  We find William and Mary  listed together in the 1875 Census of New York State:

New York State 1875 Census, Town of Moriah, Essex County

William H. Wills and Mary C. Wills are numbers 33 and 34

John A. Wills, Annie Wills, Elestra, William, Elizabeth and John A. Wills
start on the fifth line

After the death of his first wife on 22 October 1876, Wm H. Wills remarried to Carrie E. and it is their graves that were located by cousin Carol Ann in around 2001.  Carol Ann shared this knowledge but it wasn't until I made my third trip to the cemetery that I was actually able to find the gravestone.  I was helped by one of the trustees of the cemetery who shared some local history with me and a CD listing with names and a map.  The map isn't exact but it can help if you go to look for the grave of Wm H. Wills and his wife Carrie E. Wills

Click on Image to Enlarge

Moriah Union Cemetery is very beautiful in Autumn

And here are the gravestones as I found them in late September 2010

The stone carver's error: "Wells" instead of "Wills"

Then I remembered a scene from yet another movie! It was Penélope Cruz in Volver. In the opening scene she and other women from the village are performing the annual ritual of cleaning the gravestones of ancestors.  Why not give it a try? Here are the during and after photos:

And after that I left. Perhaps, I will return another day to honor, William Henry Wills, the brother  of my great grandfather who fought and survived battles of the United States Civil War.

Catholic, Protestant and a wall between the coffins

One of the strangest stories in our family is the story of the grave site of Elizabeth Bissonnette Wills and John Albert Wills as told to me by my mother.  Elizabeth Bissonnette was born and raised Roman Catholic, John Albert Wills was born and raised Protestant.  They married in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Cohoes, NY on August 26th, 1903.  Marriage in the Catholic Church indicates the groom was willing to have his children baptized in the Catholic faith.  Of the nine children, only the first born male, Uncle Johnny, was not baptized in the Catholic Church.  Perhaps because he carried the male line and name, he was raised Protestant.

St. Joseph's Cemetery, Waterford, NY

Elizabeth Bissonnette Wills died  on February 1st, 1936 from complications from her thyroid gland and surgery to remove it.  Her daughter Elizabeth Wills died less than one year later-on January 9th, 1937.  Less than two months later John Albert Wills died on March 3rd, 1937.  In thirteen months, the Wills siblings had to face the death of their mother, beloved sister and father.  Then, in order for their parents to be buried together in the Catholic cemetery,  the Wills siblings had to pay for the construction of a brick wall between the grave of their Catholic mother and Protestant father.  The Catholic church required this in order to bury a Protestant in the Catholic cemetery and was not that uncommon. To gather the funds to accomplish this during "The Great Depression" was no easy feat, especially considering the three oldest sisters were married with children to support, and the youngest three were eighteen and under.  Only Johnny and Dorothy were eighteen and older and not supporting children. But they all (Lena, Anna, Julia, Johnny, Dorothy, Etta, Larry, and Bobby) scraped the money together and, accordingly, the brick wall was built between the two places the coffins rested upon.

Is there really a wall six feet under between the coffins?
I cannot confirm it but my mother certainly told me in no uncertain terms, the wall was built and if it was, it is there in the ground between Libby and John where God can see it - if God wants to.  Personally, I think God has more important things to look after these days.

There wasn't enough money to buy a gravestone during the Great Depression.  For over thirty years the grave was unmarked.  The stone was added in the late 1960s or early 1970s.  I remember driving to the cemetery with mom to see it after it was installed.

Where did all the Bodies Go? CALVARY CEMETERY, COHOES, NY

There used to be a cemetery on the south end of Cohoes, west of the Mohawk Paper Mill and east of the old Erie Canal.  Calvary Cemetery was owned by St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church.  Today it is a dog walk with a forest of day lilies. When I was growing up, it was a source of great mystery to me because I could only see one, very tall monument from the road.  I asked my mother where are all the gravestones were and her answer astonished me!  "They removed all the stones and dug up all the bodies".  Exactly "who" they were was unknown.  According to my mother the most amazing thing about it was nobody knew where they reburied all the bodies!  In the past few years I have learned several of my ancestors were buried there.  Did my mother realize her grandfather was buried there when she told me that no one knew where the bodies went? Were they reburied? Incinerated?  Why were the two monuments to priest allowed to remain?

A Sign at the Entrance

 According  to The Church of Latter Day Saints FamilySearch site, the cemetery is closed and there are no records available.  A closer look at the sign gives a little explanation......

Someone mows a path through
 the center of the old cemetery
The better to walk all the neighborhood dogs.

.An even more interesting question was why was it closed?  Was it poorly managed and posing a health hazard? Was Mohawk Paper Mill interested in purchasing the land?  It all happened a long time ago and there doesn't seem to be any one alive who has answers.
Here's a few more photos from a lovely walk in Calvary Cemetery...