Stitching Style ~~ Arduous Trial

Mary Catherine Salters, daughter of Benj & Racheal from the previous blog, married Ferdinand Kmen Jr, the son of Ferdinand Kmen & Anna Rana (not sure on the last name as Sr & Anna were both from Czechoslovakia). Ferdinand & Mary had 4 children - Henry, Jean, Frederick & Walter 

Ferdinand was a tailor who followed in his father's foot steps and took over ownership of the family shop when his father died. His daughter Jean may never had married her future husband if he hadn't survived going down during the war. 

Times Record, Mon, 29 Sep 1941
Funeral services were held today for Mrs Ferdinand Kmen, 48, who died Saturday morning at her home, 76 Catherine Street, Saratoga Springs. She was born in Ballston Spa but had resided in Saratoga Springs for forty years.  Surviving, besides her husband, are a daughter, Jean B Kmen; three sons, Henry A, Frederick M and Walter J Kmaen; and a sister, Mrs Stanley Searing of Chicago.

The Saratogian, Tues, 20 Aug 1946
Ferdinand Kmen Dead At 59
Ferdinand Kmen, 59, Caroline Street, tailor and widely known resident, died at 11:35 pm yesterday at the Saratoga Hospital following a short illness. Mr Kmen, who lived at 38 Caroline, was born in Saratoga Springs Jan 25, 1887, the same year his father, who bore the same name, started the business. He went in the shop 46 years ago and became the sole proprietor following the death of his father. He was a member of Bethesda Episcopal Church. Surviving are a daughter, Mrs William A Meehan Jr, Saratoga Springs; three sons, Henry A of St Petersburg, Fla; Walter J of Saratoga Springs and Frederick M, AMM 1/c USNR; one grandson, Walter Robert of Saratoga Springs; two sisters, Barbara Kmen of Saratoga Springs and Mrs George Ganderton of Cleveland, Ohio, and one brother, Henry J Kmen, Saratoga Springs. His wife, Mary, died in 1941. The funeral will be held at 2 pm Thursday at the Bussing Funeral Home. The Rev Leonard W Steele, principal of St Faiths School, will officiate and burial will be in Greenridge Cemetery. Friends may call at the Funeral Home from 3 to and 7 to 9 pm tomorrow.

Schenectady Gazette, Wed, 26 Sep 1973
Jean Meehan, Spa Native, Dies At 54
Saratoga Springs - Mrs Jean Kmen Meehan, 54, of 1558 State St, Schenectady, formerly of Saratoga Springs, died unexpectedly yesterday morning at St Clare's Hospital, Schenectady. She was born in Saratoga Springs and had been a resident of Schenectady for the past 16 years. She was employed by the State Motor Vehicle Department for several years. Survivors include her husband, William A Meehan, and one son, William A Meehan, 3rd, both of Saratoga Springs; three brothers, Dr Henry A Kmen of New Orleans, La, Dr Walter J Kmen of Saratoga Springs, and Frederick M Kmen, Saratoga Lake; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be conducted at 10:30 am Thursday at Bussing-Cunniff Funeral Home, 130 Circular St, by the Rev Thomas T Parke, rector of Bethesda Episcopal Church. Burial will be in Greenridge Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home tonight from 7 to 9.

As reported in the The Saratogian, 3 Jan 1945, William Meehan's plane went down near German lines and he was reported missing.....but then turned up!  

Schenectady Gazette, Sat, 17 Aug 1974
Meehan Rite Set Today At Saratoga
Saratoga Springs - Funeral services for William A Meehan Jr, 56, of 215 Washington St, who died suddenly at his home Wednesday evening, will be conducted at 9 am today at the Burke Funeral Home and at 9:30 at St Peter's Church. Burial will be in St Peter's Cemetery. He was born in Saratoga Springs April 12, 1918 and had been a lifelong resident. A graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, he was decorated while serving with the Army Air Corps in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. At one time, he served as manager of the local US Employment Service Office, and later was employed in the General Electric Co in Schenectady and by the city's department of public works, serving in Congress Park and also in the water department. Survivors include one son, William A Meehan 3rd, RD 1, Saratoga Lake; and several cousins.

One-Armed Man

How's that for an attention grabber?  For a while now, the guy has been one of my brick walls but today, I broke thru! Let's go to the beginning.

courtesy of Alice - Find A Grave

Racheal M Smith, the daughter of Isaac J Smith &  2nd wife, Mary, married George A Arnold, the son of Alvin Arnold & Mary Mulken; they 1 daughter Racheal Mary.

Racheal M Smith died in 1868. George remarried and he died in 1917.

The Saratogian, Sat, 19 May 1917
George Arnold, a lifelong resident of the Town of Saratoga, died at his residence about one mile east of Cedar Bluff at 630 o'clock yesterday morning aged seventy-seven years.  He is survived by his widow, and one daughter, Mrs Rachael M Hazard; also one brother, Charles E Arnold of this city; two grandchildren, Mrs Stanley Searing of Cleveland, O., and Mrs Fred Kmen, Jr of  Saratoga, also one great grandson. The funeral will be held Monday morning at 1030 o'clock at the home, the Rev Leon R Randall of Ketchum's Corners officiating. Burial will be made in Hudson View Cemetery, Mechanicville. 

Their daughter Racheal Mary Arnold married twice.  She first married Benjamin Salters Jr.

At first I thought he died before she remarried in 1910 and no matter how much I dug, I couldn't find anything. Then in revisiting this pair, I stumbled across an ancestry tree that suggested he died in 1914 in Albany simply because the father of that Benj was Benj. I worked through every combination but no matter what I found, the evidence did not support this and add to that that a death entry for Onenta kept appearing but I couldn't prove that either...........UNTIL..... 

The 1905 directory & census has Racheal listed without her husband - did they divorce or did he abandon her? Along with his obituary, there were several adverts posted in the all the local papers trying to locate his family, one that mentioned he had a daughter. 

Ballston Spa Daily Journal, 21 Nov 1913
A News despatch from Oneonta states that Benjamin Salters died suddenly yesterday morning in that city of acute indigestion, aged 60 years. The despatch indicates that the whereabouts of his relatives is not known. He is supposed to be the Benjamin Salters who resided here several years ago, a one-armed man. He married a Miss Arnold of this village and for some time resided on the Arnold farm in Malta.

Racheal had moved on by this time. She had remarried a fella named Nicholas John Hazard in 1910 at Vancouver, BC. He was the son of John D Hazard & Rose M Michaels - they divorced around 1924.

While Racheal & Nicholas had no children, she did have 2 girls with Benjamin - Mary & Margaret.

courtesy of Alice - Find A Grave

The Saratogian, Thurs, 4 Jan 1940
Mrs R N Salters died at the Grand View Sanitarium, Greenfield, this afternoon.  Mrs Salters had been ill four years. Survivors include two daughters, Mrs Fred Kmen, 76 Caroline St, and Mrs Stanley Searing, East Chicago, ILL. Mrs Salters was born in Halfmoon, April 16, 1868. Private funeral services will be conducted at the Kark Funeral Home Friday. The Rev I g Roulilard will officiate. Burial will be in Hudson View Cemetery, Mechanicville. Friends may call at the funeral home tonight from 8:30 until 10.

Smith Siblings

Two children of Gilbert R Smith & Sarah A Jones were Harvey Ellsworth Smith & Lydia A Smith.

Harvey married Annie Josephine Crowther, the daughter of Kershaw Crowther & Annie M Pelton and they had 4 children - Mildred, Alice, Harvey & Florence

Hudson Evening Register, Mon, 24 Nov 1941
Hudson Woman's Brother
Mr and Mrs Harry Putnam, Mrs Stewart Gardner, Mrs Charles Fonda, and Mrs Nettie L Putnam attended the funeral Saturday of Harvey Smith of Terre Haute, Ind.  Mr Smith was a brother of the latter Mrs Putnam and visited this city quite frequently. The body arrived from Terre Haute, Saturday morning and services were conducted from the Boyles' Funeral Home, Albany at 1 o'clock. Interment was made in the Watervliet Cemetery with nephews acting as bearers.


Lydia married William H Lewis, the son of Alexander W Lewis & Mary Valk; they had no children.

courtesy of Jeni - Find A Grave

Schenectady Gazette, Fri, 8 Oct 1937
Lewis - At rest, October 6, 1937, Lydia, wife of William H Lewis. Funeral services will be held from her late residence, 1711 Ulster Street, Saturday afternoon at 230 o'clock. Relatives and friends are invited. The home will be open for friends Friday evening from 7 to 9 o'clock. Interment in Niskayuna Cemetery.

Henry D Smith

Henry D Smith, the son of Gilbert R Smith & Sarah A Jones, married twice. First to a Connecticut girl named Ida F Beers, the daughter of Levi C Beers & Betsy A Merwin, and they had one son, Earl Henry. Henry's 2nd wife was known as Elsie Phillips but was christened as Ellen E Phillips, the daughter of Edmund & Mary Phillips out of Germantown, NY.

Troy Times Record, Sat, 24 Sep 1927
Henry D Smith of 46 Continental Ave, Cohoes, died suddenly this morning of a heart attack while digging potatoes in a garden in the rear of his summer home on the Waterford-Mechanicville Road shortly before 10 o'clock. Mr Smith was found by his wife lying behind a garage in the rear of the home. Health Officer H P Peckham of Waterford said death was due to acute dilation of the heart. Mr Smith who was more than 60 years old, lived in Cohoes practically his entire life. He was employed as a boss knitter in the Novelty Mill, Cohoes. He was a member of the [Silliman] Memorial Presbyterian Church and was a charter member of the Cascade Hose Company of Cohoes. Besides his wife, he is survived by one son, Earl Smith, and one sister, Mrs William Lewis, both of Schenectady, and one brother, Harvey Smith of Oregon.

courtesy of Jeni - Find A Grave

Schenectady Gazette, Sat, 21 Apr 1973
Smith Dies, Ex-Custodian At Schools
Earl H Smith, 83, of 45 N Robinson St, died yesterday at the Eden Park Nursing Home in Troy after a long illness. Mr Smith was employed as a maintenance man in the Schenectady City Schools for more than 20 years. A native of Cohoes, Mr Smith had lived in Schenectady since 1915. He was the widower of Della H Smith. Survivors include a son, Donald G Smith of East Hartford, Conn, and three grandchildren. The funeral will be held at 2 pm Tuesday in Baxter's Funeral Home with the Rev Melvin Dorr of Tabernacle Baptist Church officiating. Burial will be in Park View Cemetery. Calling hours will be from 7 to 9 pm Monday.

Schenectady Gazette, Mon, 28 Nov 1955
Mrs Earl E Smith Succumbs at 62
Mrs Earl E Smith, 62, of 45 Robinson Street, died at her home Saturday night following an illness of 11 months. A life-long resident of Schenectady, Mrs Smith was the former Della E Hurley. She was a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church. Survivors are her husband and one son, Donald G Smith of Hartford, Conn; one brother Edward H Hurley of Philadelphia, and three grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon at Baxter's funeral parlors. The parlors will be open tonight from 7 to 9 o'clock.