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Sarah Elizabeth Secor Gifford



So, here we have my great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Secor Gifford.  In reality she was "Sadie" - such a pretty nickname. Sadie Secor was born in Suffern, Rockland County, New York to William N. Secor and Mary Evelyn Crum on 07 May 1883.  Sadie had 2 brothers: Edward and William and 2 sisters: Anna and Ethel.

By 1892 The Secors had relocated to Fishkill Landing (now the City of Beacon).  Dad was working in a brickyard. 



By 1900 Sadie and the family were still in Fishkill Landing.  They lived on Main Street.  Dad was an Express Driver.  I cannot seem to find out what an Express Driver was in 1900. 




Sometime in her childhood, Sadie lived at Mt. Gulian house. 
Mount Gulian stood on its hill above the Hudson River for 200 years. But an arsonist’s fire destroyed it in 1931. Family members, household staff and neighbors rescued furniture, paintings, and silver from the home.



On 06 March 1903 Sadie married Charles Younger Gifford in Trinity Episcopal Church in Fishkill, NY


Trinity Church is a Historic Landmark

I do not know the dates, but, Sadie and Charlie had 2 sons:  Charlie and Freddie...I don't know how or whe but neither survived to adulthood.

In 1904 Sadie and Charles had their first daughter, Ethel, followed in 1910 by Dorothy. 

In 1910 the family was still in the area of Fishkill Landing - the census is unclear regarding the street - they may be in Matteawan because the census taker crossed out "Glenham" and wrote in "Fishkill Town".  Nonetheless Sadie and Charlie are sharing the house with a new daughter as well. Olive was born in 1910.  Also in the same house (likely another apartment) is Sadies's brother, William Secor and his wife, Julia.  Just for shits and giggles, try to guess Julia's maiden name... ... ... it happens to be Julia Gifford, the sister of Charles Younger Gifford!! You cannot tell this from the evidence presented here, but I know it from other evidence!       


Also note here, for later blog posts, the name Vrendenburgh - a few families before Charles and Sadie.  Charles Gifford's grandmother was Amanda Vredenburgh Gifford.

In 1912 along came "Mickey" as she was known in later years.  She was born as Evelyn Gifford.

  Eloise followed in 1916 and then my Maama, Charlotte in 1921 (see blog post entitle Charlotte Caroline Gifford).

By now the villages of Fishkill Landing and Matteawan have merged to form the City of Beacon.  In 1930 the census lists the family as living at Robinson St. At that time the family was Charles and Sadie along with Evelyn, Eloise and Charlotte. Charles is listed as being a machinist in a machine shop.  I happen to know that he is a machinist at the Green Fuel Economizer Co. in Beacon.

The picture below I had assumed to have been taken at Woodell St....after some consideration I am not sure.  The people, well, I am sure that they are Giffords because I recognize Grandma & Grandpa Gifford (sans Gingersnap cookies). All the way to the left (with her pants down ☺)  is "Mickey" (Evelyn), next in the chair is Olive, the baby is Eloise and the girl all the way to the right is Dorothy.

Notice the gentle look on Grandpa Gifford's face.  Age that about 50 years and imagine him holding a box of Gingersnaps and opening them with a small folding knife from his pocket.  I didn't like Ginger Snaps but I loved that Grandpa Gifford was opening a box for me...



Here is a photo of Sadie and her family visiting a Mill out near Wiccopee that Sadie's family visited when she was a girl. Sadie's family gathered water there:
I am guessing this picture to be circa 1945 based on the age appearance of Charlene. Cast of characters:
Gary F. Pavlovic, Eloise Wisniewski and daughter Janet, Charlotte Pavlovic and daughter Charlene, Olive Cunningham and son Charles, Sarah Secor Gifford, Sally Cunningham.


Jump ahead to March of 1960...Sadie and Charles celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary:


Now for some silliness...my Mom told me that Grandma Gifford (Sadie) used to wipe "pissy diapers" - recall that when Sadie had babies that produced "pissy diapers" there were only cloth diapers - on her face, which accounted for her beautiful complexion!

Supposedly she also rested her elbows in lemon halves to keep away any "ashiness".

Here is Grandma & Granpa Gifford probably about 1964ish since Granpa Gifford died in 1965.  I still find it hard to believe that I remember them.  I remember them downstairs in the house at Woodell Street in Beacon.
 

On 01 Mar 1969, the world lost Sadie:





Sadie's final resting place:




I meant to post this earlier...Grandma Gifford is another link to D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) or S.A.R. (Sons of the American Revolution). 

Here goes:

Sarah Elizabeth Secor is the daughter of:
William N. Secor...follow along here:
William N. Secor is the son of William I. Secor born 1833 in Rockland County NY
William I. Secor is the son of Isaac Secor born 1787 in Rockland County NY
Isaac Secor is the son of Isaac Secor Sr. born 1756 in Rockland County, NY
Isaac Secor, Sr. served in the Revolutionary War in Orange County (now Rockland).  email me for the lineage for application!

Update 04 Jan 2012:  It has come to my attention that although the above lines have been "proven" by both D.A.R and S.A.R., they are, ultimately, incorrect and should NOT be used for any application.  It is with much appreciation  that I acknowledge the work of Brian Belanger.

William N. Secor is the son of William Isaac Secor
                   b. Apr 4, 1832; d. Mar 16, 1909; buried in Ladentown and re-interred in Mt. Repose
                      Cem in 1918; farmer; basket maker; illiterate; lived in Ramapo, NY; m. Sarah M.
                      Dow

William Isaac Secor is the son of Isaac W. Secor
                   b. 1802 in Rockland Co.; d. by Jul 6, 1892; farmer; lived in Ramapo, NY. married Mary Thompson, b. Apr 4, 1804 in Rockland Co.; d. May 6, 1874 in Rockland Co., NY; buried on family  land in Ladentown, NY;  illiterate; her father was not born in the U.S.

Isaac W. Secor is the son of William W. Secor
                      b. 1780 in Rockland Co., NY; d. about 1857, married Elizabeth __________  b. 1778 in Rockland Co., NY; d. 1850-1857; possibly a.k.a. “May”

William W. Secor is the son of John Secor
                b. before 1756; d. 1812-1820, married Charity ________________  b. 1741-1750; d. 1830-1840

Again, my heartfelt thanks to Brian Belanger for his efforts to ensure that our family history is recorded correctly, therby ensuring our legacy. 
 

A little graveyard spruce-up today, October 13, 2012:



End of Sarah Elizabeth Secor Gifford.............................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

Charlotte Gifford Pavlovic


I suppose that it's fitting that my first post should be about her...  She is my much beloved grandmother.  "Maama" - pronounced Ma'am - mah.  Maama was born on January 22 1921 to Charles Younger Gifford and Sadie (Secor) Gifford.  I wish I knew more facts about her, like where she was born, but I'll gladly share what I know.

Charlotte was one of six daughters to Charles and Sarah.  Charles and Sarah also had two sons... Charlie and Freddy... I don't how or when, but they both died as children and broke their parents' hearts.  So, on we go to the sisters: Ethel, Dorothy, Olive, Evelyn and Eloise.  Their married names with their spouses in parentheses: Ethel (Stanton) Tompkins, Dorothy (Chester) Smith, Olive (George) Cunningham, Evelyn (Moxie... I can't recall his real name) Angele, Eloise (John) Wisniewski.

Here is Charlotte as a pretty young girl:

I don't know the year but this is Charlotte Gifford as a young woman.
A little older:


  She aged beautifully...up until Gliocytoma's tumors stole much of her physical appearance.  I'm genuinely grateful that I don't remember her as she died, but as she lived.  In my mind she remains one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen.  Her physical beauty was so striking that as a young woman she worked in a hat factory in Beacon, New York and she was asked to pose for the Sears catalog in one of those hats!  I believe that one of my cousins has that catalog and I wish I had gotten the chance to glimpse it!

More cold, hard facts for the avid genealogist:

Charlotte married Francis James Pavlovic on June 18 1939:



left to right: John Wisniewski, Eloise Wisniewski, Charlotte Pavlovic, Francis Pavlovic.

Charlotte and Frank Pavlovic had two children:  Gary F. Pavlovic and Charlene Gifford Pavlovic (b. 05 Dec 1942).
I am guessing this picture to be circa 1945 based on the age appearance of Charlene.  Cast of characters:
Gary F. Pavlovic, Eloise Wisniewski and daughter Janet, Charlotte Pavlovic and daughter Charlene, Olive Cunningham and son Charles, Sarah Secor Gifford, Sally Cunningham.

Based upon its order in a scrap book I'm dating this photo to be about 1958ish.  Charlotte and Frank:




This is the house that Charlotte lived in on Woodell Street in Beacon.  On the left is Charlotte's father, Charles Younger Gifford and on the right is Frank Pavlovic.  I'm not sure of the date.




Charlotte and Frank with me and my brother, Robert Tully about 1962ish:


Bathing beauties about 1965ish: my Mom, Charlene Gifford Pavlovic and Maama.



In the 1970's Charlotte and my mother, Charlene, owned a small delicatessen on Route 9D just north of the Newburgh-Beacon bridge.  Throughout its existence various family members worked there along with Charlotte and Charlene,  This is a picture inside "the store."  On the left is Charlotte's sister "Mickey" (Evelyn Angele) on the right is Charlotte.



In the early 1980s a Gifford Family Reunion was held at the Pleasant Valley, NY home of Charles Cunningham.  Charles is Charlotte's nephew and is the son of her sister, Olive.  Many Giffords were there and we all thoroughly enjoyed the day.  One of the games was the "three-legged race."  This is Charlotte and me racing.  In fact, we won!!




For the months leading up to her death, Charlotte lived with my Mother and her daughter, Charlene Gifford Pavlovic in Newburgh, New York.  The brain cancer took its toll slowly.  Maama wanted to go to the grocery store.  She could no longer drive - so I took her.  In the produce aisle she decided that she wanted some blueberries, so she tried to open the plastic container to eat some and she ended up dropping them all over the floor.  In the candy aisle she opened the bag and ate some.  That was our last trip to the store - I hadn't realized just how far her condition had deteriorated.

She lingered in a coma-like state for far too long.  I tried to figure out why she was hanging on... and then it hit me.  Jimmy!  Jimmy is my troubled brother and Maama's pet.  She always looked out for him and he hadn't come to say good-bye!  Well I tracked him down out on Block Island and told him to get his ass there to let her go.  He showed up the next day.

That night there was a houseful at my Mom's.  There was much bustle and joy in seeing relatives and much in and out of Maama's room. I was in the living room with Sarah and Rachel when a thought occurred to me for some reason... she was alone.  She was never alone - whether it was a hospice nurse, or my Mom or another relative - she was never alone.  I somehow knew that she was alone and that she was trying to let go.  I went to her room and it was true, she was in the death rattle.  I knew not to scream or make a loud noise because that would interrupt her, so I ran to the door and got the attention of my cousin Kim, who happened to be on the phone with her sister, Laurie.  She knew by the look on my face that this was it.  She gathered all of the relatives and we surrounded her bed with love, grief, relief and tears.  Jimmy broke out in the Lord's prayer and we all prayed aloud.  At the end my Mom cried out "Mom" and I held her hand tightly so that she didn't interrupt Maama.  I knew her heart was  breaking but we had to let Maama go ... and she went. And I'm in tears typing this ... I loved her - no, I still love her  - and I miss her terribly.  Even now, 15 years later, I sometimes forget that she's gone and I want to call her and ask her a question.

This is the graveyard where my family rests: Trinity United Methodist in LaGrangeville, New York:
If you enlarge the picture you can see that Charlotte and Frank rest near her parents and sister.  One day my remains will lie here as well.  Maama and Poppy's headstone:

 End of Charlotte Caroline Gifford Pavlovic.................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

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