A Story to Be Told

GEORGE W. WINTERS' Story

[prepared by Ginny for Kevin J. Olvaney, George's Gr. Grandson
who provided the background for this story - January 31, 2005]

Although at this time no doucmentation other than Census Records regarding George W. Winter's ancestors has been found, it is believed that he is possibly the grandson of Isaac Winters and the son of William Winters - Wagon Maker, born 1820 in Dutchess County and his wife Rebecca (maiden name unknown) born 1823 in Westchester County. George probably had siblings James born 1840 in Dutchess County, Elizabeth born 1845 in Putnam County and Helen M. born 1843 also in Putnam County, NY. What became of George's sibling in later years is unknown

We do know from Census, family records, and research that George was born in Dutchess County, New York in 1848, married in 1869 Clara Belding who was born at Somerset, New Jersey in 1852, the daughter of Franklin Moses and Anna (Bush) Clark . By 1870 George is working in a hat factory and he and his wife Clara are living in Blooming Grove, Orange County with daughter Flora who was born in January of that year according to the Federal Census.

Subsequent to Flora's birth and prior to 1880 the family migrates across the river to Dutchess County and at that time is enumerated in the 1880 Federal Census in Poughkeepsie. The family has grown over the last 10 years, Flora now has a sister Libbie born about 1876 and a brother George born about 1878. Perhaps business was not good at the Hat Factory and the family had to move on for now father George is listed as a Laborer. What happened to children Libbie and George in later years is unknown.

Little is known about George's immediate family in the period between 1880 and 1900. Various directories between 1880-1900 note George's occupation as laborer, carpenter, and night watchman. It does appear that the family continued to grow, moved around some, perhaps due to George's employment pursuits, as records indicate the family was in Wappingers Falls during the period 1881 -1884. It seems that Clara gave birth to several children in this time period, perhaps with several children dying young or at birth.

By 1900 the family is living in Matteawan, (Now Beacon) Town of Fishkill, Dutchess County. George is employed as a clerk and he and Clara have been married 31 years. Although Clara is listed as the mother of 9 children with 8 living, other records found indicate George and Clara had a son born in 1884 in Wappingers. According to this 1884 birth record, Clara was the mother of 8 previous children with only 4 living at that time. In the 1900 Federal Census, daughter Olive who is age 18 and single is the only child living in the household. According to information passed down through the family, Olive was born in 1881 in Wappingers Falls.

The following information is known after 1900 which sheds some light on George's life subsequent to 1900 Federal Census Enumeration.

- Wife and Mother Clara dies in 1904

- In 1888 in Dutchess County daughter Flora is married to Benjamin Luther and by 1904, when her mother dies, Flora is living in Monmouth County, New Jersey where she dies in 1911

- In 1906 Olive marries in Matteawan (now Beacon), Edmund T. West of Monmouth, New Jersey and settles in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband.

- In the 1910 Census George is living as a Boarder in the household of another with no occupation.

The exact circumstances which lead to George being admitted to the Dutchess County Poorhouse on May 6, 1910 (Inmate Certificate B-23) and his subsequent death there are not known. However, his inmate certificate indicates that he was a widowed "huckster" of Matteawan, in very poor health, his father was born in the US and was a "Wagon Maker".

According to the Dutchess County Poorhouse "Pauper's Received and Discharged" record books, George was age 67, destitute and still a resident of the Poorhouse as of the November 1, 1915 report. His discharge date is noted as September 21, 1916 and "died" is noted next to the "Discharge Date". This date compares exactly with the date of death noted on George's death certificate which notes his place of death as "Town of Washington, Oak Summit, Dutchess County". A length of stay in hospitals, institutions etc. is noted on the death certificate as "6 years, 4 months, 10 days". To the novice/non-medical person it appears that George died as a result of a stroke suffered in May 1916. The Poorhouse Site today is located at the interesection of Oak Summit Road and County House Road in an area that was once known as Oak Summit in the Town of Washington.

George was one of the more fortunate of those who died at the Poorhouse as he was not buried in "Brier Hill", the Dutchess County Poorhouse cemetery. It is unknown who made arrangements for his burial. However, George himself or some family member must have known, or made officials aware, that there was a final resting place for him in the Presbyterian Churchyard in Beacon, Dutchess County as it is here that George's earthly remains were interred, as were those of his wife Clara who died 12 years earlier.

In a document entitled "Democracy Cares - The Story Behind Public Assistance in New York State" by David C. Adie, Commissioner of Social Welfare, published about November 1941 at Albany, New York - referring to the "industrial revolution" Adie writes, under the heading "Progress Presents Problems":

"The economic significance of this transformation in our way of earning a living is that most of us became dependent upon wages - and when something happens to wages we are deprived of our livelihood, and many things happen to stop wages: Unemployment, sickness, accidents, old age, industrial age deadlines, death of a breadwinner. These are some of the major economic hazards that industrial progress has brought with it."

Although we can fairly safely assume in George's case it was not the "death of a breadwinner" that was George's "economic hazard", we can wonder which one of the other "hazards" were what caused him to spend his final days at the Dutchess County Poorhouse - destitute and alone. The Economic Hazards of the times combined with his other life experiences shed light on George's Story - May he Rest in Peace and become a part of our history - knowing that although is he is gone - he is not forgotten!