Obituary (from newspaper of 7 March 1973): Funeral services for Harry Slate, 66, a life-long resident of Grindstone Island, were held Monday at the Clayton Methodist Church with Rev. Janet Reynolds officiating. Burial was in Grindstone Island
Cemetery.Mr. Slate drowned Thursday, March 1, in the St. Lawrence River when the car he was driving broke through the ice as he was crossing an ice bridge.
Mr. Slate is survived by his widow, Mrs. Aletha Calhoun Moneau Slate; a daughter, Miss Erma Slate, Grindstone Island; a son, Irwin H. Slate, Grindstone Island; two stepsons, Frank Moneau, Carthage, and Robert Moneau, Grindstone Island; a
stepdaughter, Mrs. Thomas (Mable) Lamanga, Brooklyn; five grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and a brother, Howard F., Black River.Mr. Slate was born Sept. 19, 1906 on Grindstone Island, son of Francis (Frank) and Grace L. Garnsey Slate. He was a dairy farmer and at one time did blacksmith work on the island. In addition, Mr. Slate both bred and raced horses.
1 CMNT Drowned in storm coming home from Clayton
1 CMNT Cemetery Records Say She's Bur. On Grindstone & In Clayton
Obituary (from newspaper of 19 May 1965): CLAYTON---Earl M. Garnsey, 71, of 331 Franklin St., died Tuesday night at 9:05 at the Jefferson County Hospital, Watertown, where he had been a patient since April 16.
From April 8 until entering Jefferson County Hospital he had been a patient at Edward John Noble Hospital, Alexandria Bay. Mr. Garnsey had been in failing health five years.
The funeral will be Friday afternoon at 2 at the Grindstone Island Methodist Church. Rev. Dean P. Shaw of the Clayton Methodist Church officiating.
Friends may call at the Cummings Funeral Home, Clayton, this evening from 7 to 9 and Thursday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m.
Born July 30, 1893, at Clayton, the son of Edgar and Esther Calhoun Garnsey, Mr. Garnsey attended schools at Grindstone Island and Sterlingville. He married Miss Georgina Lindsay, a native of Scotland, on Dec. 7, 1921, at the Clayton
Episcopal Church. Mrs. Garnsey died Nov. 14, 1948.For years Mr. Garnsey operated a farm on Grindstone Island and also worked as a carpenter. As a carpenter he had worked at Pine Camp, Baldwinsville Depot, Sampson Air Base, Geneva, and for Merciers at Clayton.
He is survived by five sons, Earl J., Watertown, Harold, James, and Clyde, all of Clayton; Francis E., Grindstone Island; five daughters, Mrs. Joseph A. (Grace) Wright, Mrs. R. James (Norma) Dodge, and Miss Sally Garnsey, all of Clayton;
Mrs. Floyd (Leota) Gould, jr., Cape Vincent; Mrs. Milton J. (Polly Ann) Rusho, Grindstone Island; 35 grandchildren, and a sister, Mrs. Claude (Laura) Hutchinson, Clayton.Article from Watertown Daily Times of 19 July 1924: GRINDSTONE ISLAND---Earl Garnsey, who operates the Ratchford farm on Grindstone Island, was wounded by a .22 calibre rifle bullet said to have been fired from a gun in the hands of Griffin
Johnson, jr., 12-year-old son of Dr. Griffin Johnson, of Washington, D.C.Mr. Garnsey, it is said, is suffering considerable pain from the wound, although it is not believed it will prove serious. He is confined to his bed and unable to work.
Dr. Johnson, father of the youth, is a practicing physician in the capital and for a number of years past has occupied his summer home on Boscobal Island, which lies directly in front of Grindstone. The young lad, it is said, was firing
his gun at various objects and did not notice Mr. Garnsey, who was operating a horse-drawn cultivator and was directly in the range of the young boy's gun. The bullet struck him squarely in the back and it is believed lodged in his spine.Mr. Garnsey is one of the best known residents of this island section. He also is well known in Clayton, which place he often visits for supplies. He is about 33 years of age.
It is not believed likely that any action will be taken against the youth as the shooting is understood to have been entirely accidental.
1 CMNT Came To Grindstone In 1917 With Parents / 1914
Article from newspaper of 23(?) July 1933: Mrs. Ina Garnsey, about 30, wife of Earl Garnsey, of Grindstone Island, is in a serious condition in the House of the Good Samaritan with a severe fracture of the pelvis sustained when she
accidentally plunged about 30 feet from the top of a cliff on the island Thursday evening about 9.The woman was admitted to the hospital about 2 this morning and was attended by Dr. David G. Gregor. Mrs. Garnsey also sustained several bruises and is suffering considerably from shock.
At the time of the accident the woman was returning from an ice cream social at Thurso, a tine village on the island, with some ice cream for her children. Alone, she decided to take a short cut through the woods instead of the usual
route.Evidently, she lost her way off a beaten path in the darkness, wandered to the edge of the cliff near a stone quarry and fell about 30 feet from the peak of the cliff, landing in a pit.
The Garnsey home is not far from the stone quarry, but a small stream separates the two. She expected to travel across the stream by a waiting boat when she reached there.
In the stillness of the night, her husband, who was waiting for her return some distance from the family home, heard her cries and immediately started to search for her. There being no boat on the opposite side of the stream, it was
necessary for him to walk about a mile around the head of the stream to reach the other side.After finding his wife and realizing her plight, Mr. Garnsey proceeded at once to Thurso to secure help, returning to the scene of the accident with several men. It was nearly two hours before the men succeeded in rescuing the woman from
the pit.Mrs. Garnsey was placed on a cot and brought to the mainland. The trip across the river to the mainland, a distance of about two miles, was made on Conant's ferry boat. Several Grindstone Island residents, besides her husband,
accompanied the injured woman.About three and a half hours elapsed between the time of the accident and the time the woman arrived at the shore at Clayton, which was about 12:30 a.m.
Dr. John T. Fowkes, jr., of Clayton was called to the shore to attend her. She was then brought to Watertown in Cummings' ambulance of Clayton. Dr. Fowkes followed in his car.
Mrs. Garnsey is the mother of four children, two of them, who had been ill with diphtheria during the recent epidemic on the island, being released from quarantine in June.
1 CMNT Died young
Obituary from newspaper of 3 April 1940: Ellen Fay Garnsey, one of twin daughters born at the Mercy Hospital Jan. 14 to Earl M. and Ina M. Lindsay Garnsey of Grindstone Island, died at 1:35 this afternoon in the hospital. She was brought to
the hospital at 11:20 this morning.The child had been ill for about a week and death was believed to have been caused by pneumonia.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday morning at 11 at the Cummings Funeral Home at Clayton. Rev. William Eddy, pastor of the Clayton Methodist Church, will officiate. Burial will be made in Grindstone Island.
The parents and the following brothers and sisters survive: Earl J., 17; Grace E., 15; Harold L., 14; Francis E., 12; Norma E., 11; James L., 9; Clyde E., 6; Leota J., 3, and Helen May, her twin.
1 CMNT Died young
Obituary of Helen May Garnsey, as found in the Watertown Daily Times of 5 April 1940: CLAYTON---Helen May Garnsey, one of the twin daughters born Jan. 4, 1940, at the Mercy Hospital to Mr. and Mrs. Earl M. Garnsey, Grindstone Island, died at
the home of her parents Thursday afternoon at 3:45. Prayer services were held for the twelve weeks old child this afternoon at the family home and burial was made in the Grindstone Island Cemetery.The child has been ill a short time and death was believed to have resulted from pneumonia. Her twin sister, Ellen Fay Garnsey, died Tuesday afternoon.
Besides her parents, she is survived by five brothers and three sisters.
1 CMNT Came To America In About 1916.
Article from the Watertown Daily Times of 16 June 1936: CLAYTON--John Lindsey, sr., former president of this village and one time employe at the home of Mrs. Katherine Blake, arrived here Saturday after a two years stay in Alawa, Scotland, his
native country.Mr. Lindsey made the ocean voyage over on the Empress of Britain, and landed at Quebec, and motored to Clayton. Mr. Lindsey sailed for Scotland two years ago to visit his wife and friends there. On his trip home he was informed of his
wife's death. Mrs. Lindsey was buried in Alawa. After visiting his son, John, of Syracuse and friends and relatives here Mr. Lindsey plans to return to Scotland to make his home.Article from the Watertown Daily Times of 12 Feb. 1941: CLAYTON--John Lindsay arrived from Scotland on the S. S. Warwick Castle at St. John's Feb. 1 and came to Clayton Saturday for a visit with his children and with Mrs. Catherine Blake and
family on John street.Mr. Lindsay first came to this country in 1914 and lived on Carlton Island and on Grindstone Island until 1933 when he went back to Scotland to live. He visited in the United States four years ago with his children, John Lindsay, jr., of
Syracuse and Mrs. Earl Garnsey of Clayton.He reports that his ship came across the Atlantic with no convoy and saw no submarines. An airplane accompanied it on the first day of the journey. The people in his country have all they need to eat although butter and beef are
rationed.They are allowed two ounces of butter and six ounces of margarine a week and 28 cents' worth of beef a week. Other foods are plentiful. Gasoline is 50 cents a gallon.
"The Germans will never scare us with their bombs. It just makes everybody angry and they will fight until they win," said Mr. Lindsay. "Americans get the news before we do at home because we do not want to give out information which
will help the enemy," he explained.Mr. Lindsay has made no plans for his return to Scotland. His papers will allow him a six months' visit in this country.
Obituary from the Watertown Daily Times of 29 Jan. 1954: CLAYTON--John Lindsay, 87, once a member of a Scottish Highlanders regiment and active for years in Masonry here, died at 4 a.m. today at the home of a nephew, Clark Dano, outer James
street.He had a slight heart condition the past four years and suffered a stroke Tuesday night after returning from a visit with relatives at Liverpool. He was seriously ill since then.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Cummings funeral home, with Rev. Solomon A. Card, jr., pastor of the Methodist church, officiating. Burial wil be in Clayton cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home tonight from 7
to 9 and Saturday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m.Masonic services will be conducted at 7 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home by members of Clayton Lodge 296, F. & A. M., of which Mr. Lindsay was a tiler.
Surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Frank (Jeanne) Dano, Clayton, and Mrs. Maggie Mitchell, Dundee, Scotland; a step-sister, Mrs. Annie Huneyman, Kielarsbrae, Scotland, eleven grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren, in the United States
and in Scotland.Mr. Lindsay's only two children are dead. Mrs. Earl (Ina) Garnsey, died Nov. 15, 1948, in a Watertown hospital. John Lindsay of Liverpool died Dec. 10. 1953. His sister, Mrs. Dano, 84, broke her leg in a fall on icy streets Jan. 16 and
will be unable to attend services.Mr. Lindsay was born June 5, 1866, at Sauchie, two miles from Aloa, Scotland, son of John and Mary Wilson Lindsay. He was associated for years with schools in that country, serving as janitor, attendance officer and physical eduaction
teacher. For nine years he was a member of the Argyle Highlanders regiment, serving, among other places, in India and China.He married Miss Georgina MacAllister in Sotland in 1896. The couple came to this country in 1914, but Mrs. Lindsay returned to Scotland, where she died in 1933. Mr. Lindsay made a number of trips to his native land.
In this country Mr. Lindsay farmed with Clark Dano's family near Clayton Center and lived in the town of Clayton until his death. he was active around the house until stricken Tuesday.
He was employed as a servant and caretaker in his later years and lived with his son, John, at Liverpool, and a niece, Mrs. Gerald Parker, Clayton, before moving to live with the Danos six years ago. He was active with his hobby of
raising gladiolas.A member of Lodge 296 for 20 years, he was also a member and served as tiler for several terms of Chapter 301, Royal Arch Masons. After his retirement he helped take care of the Masonic rooms.