[Alternate birthdate: Nellie's father's Civil War pension records (1898, 1915) twice listed her birthdate as September 21, 1882, as did she herself in her own Widow's Pension re-application (1951), but her daughter gave it as September 24, 1882 on Nellie's death and burial records (1952).]
Elleanor Mary Roberts (known as Nellie) was born in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. She was the sixth of seven children born to machinist Lewis Humphrey Roberts (a disabled Civil War veteran, age 51 or 52) and Ellen A. Roberts (no previous relation, age 36). She may have been given the name Elleanor after Lewis' paternal grandmother, Eleanor (or Ellen) Roberts of Dolgellau, North Wales, while the name Mary may have been in honor of Lewis' brother David's second wife, who died in Boston in 1872 (Lewis had lived with the family during the Civil War and knew his sister-in-law Mary well).
Nellie grew up in Watertown, living at #4 Cooper Street (first house on the east side of the street) with her family from around 1887 to around 1895. She attended the Cooper Street school directly across the street. From her early childhood years, her father was unable to work and was absent for long periods, going in and out of distant veterans' medical care facilities. The family was at times reduced to living upon the charity of friends. Representing one of the saddest points of Nellie's younger years was the time when she was seven and her fifteen-year-old brother, Wilbur, died of blood poisoning (probably from a minor infection during that era before antibiotics). Their mother purchased a plot and arranged for his burial at the nearby North Watertown Cemetery.
Around 1896 the family moved into a residence at 6 Emmet Street, shared with three of Nellie's older siblings and their families: brothers Irwin and Jerome "Joe" Roberts, and sister Clara and her husband, Jerry LaPatra. With the wages from these three men and with Lewis' increased veteran's pension payments, the family managed to make ends meet, and remained there together until 1898. Then Lewis and Ellen moved again with their two youngest daughters, Nellie and Bessie, to a home of their own (shared by two boarders) at 34 Maple Street. Nellie began to support herself and her family, first by working as an employee in a thermometer factory, then as a telephone "operative" (operator).
On Monday, 18 January 1904 Nellie married Carl Kreischer in Watertown, the Rev. Frederick Fuess officiating. At that time Nellie's parents had moved to a farmhouse about a mile east of the nearby village of Sackets Harbor, and Nellie was living in Watertown at 3 Conger Avenue with her sister Clara LaPatra and her family. Nellie had most probably met Carl in Sackets Harbor or Watertown while he was serving in the Army and stationed at Madison Barracks following his overseas duty in China and the Philippines. (Coincidentally, Nellie's own parents had met at Madison Barracks in 1868.) At the time they were married Carl was residing in his hometown of Syracuse, working as a fireman for the West Shore Rail Road. He relocated to Watertown to live with his bride and join her close-knit, genial and sociable family, and soon found work at the Watertown railroad yards along with his brothers-in-law, Jerry LaPatra and Harry Danks (husband of Nellie's oldest sister, Etta).
Nellie and Carl would have a son, Alfred John ("Al") Kreischer, born in 1905 in Syracuse, and a daughter, Clara Etta, born at home in 1906, while they were living at 65 Massey Street near the edge of the Black River in Watertown. Soon after that they moved to 10 West Mullin, Watertown, and stayed there for several years. Carl worked as a brakeman, then as a conductor, most probably for the New York Central Rail Road. In 1910 Carl's work took the family to Buffalo, New York, where their youngest child, Charles Robert ("Bob") Kreischer, was born in 1911.
From Buffalo they moved back to the Kreischer farm in North Syracuse, New York. Carl and Nellie moved into the old farmhouse where Carl, his brothers, and his parents had formerly lived, and Carl's parents moved to a new home his father had built a short distance away. Nellie did not have the physical stamina to work outside on the farm, but she raised her children there and joined her German-born in-laws as an active and enthusiastic member of the local community and the Taft Settlement Grange, which she joined in 1913. From 1913 through 1925 Nellie was elected continually to positions of responsibility at the Grange, most often as Lecturer, whereby she arranged for entertainments and provided amusements, including musical numbers, songs, guessing games, recitations, discussions, and readings. She helped organize and host weiner roasts, strawberry festivals, picnics, and parties, and loved to include the children of the Grange members in as many performances as possible.
Carl took over management of the farm following the death of his father in 1915, and then assumed ownership when his mother died in 1923. (Up north in Watertown, Nellie's father died in 1915 and her mother died in 1923 as well.) The family would have been well-off if Carl had not become ill with cancer. He died in December 1925, leaving Nellie the 37-acre farm and two children at home, Clara (19) and Bob (14). Carl and Nellie had been married almost 22 years. Nellie would receive a widow's military pension of $30 a month thanks to Carl Kreischer's Army service, while Bob received an additional $6 per month as a minor dependent, payable to the City Bank Trust Company of Syracuse as his guardian, until he reached the age of 16.
Nellie met her second husband, widower Nelson Moses LaClair, while they were both playing cards at the Grange Hall. They were married 24 February 1927 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Eastwood (Syracuse) by Rev. Richard J. Shanahan; Nellie's daughter Clara and her husband, Tony Lipke, were the witnesses. Nelson worked as a machinist for the Onondaga County highway department. They would remain married for 23 years until Nelson's death in 1950, and lived in various homes on the former Kreischer farm land, along what would eventually be known as Church Street Extension. Over time Nellie subdivided and sold off parcels of the Kreischer farm to support herself and her three children as they married and as the Depression years brought hard times. Nellie's final new home where she lived with Nelson, built in 1949, was a one-story Cape Cod house on Church Street, later sold to the Hill family.
Nellie, like her Roberts sisters, was a "social butterfly." She played piano by ear, and played and sang solos at many Grange and church affairs. She loved performances and paid for her oldest granddaughter's weekly piano lessons for seven years through the Depression. She also loved jigsaw puzzles, fishing trips, family visits, sightseeing, and traveling. One of her trips was described in the Taft Settlement Grange Minute book:
January 5, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Members of our Grange had attended the National Grange in Washington. Sister L. Milback said they went through the White House, shook hands with the Pres. Cooledge. They visited many places of interest besides attending Grange sessions. Bro. LaClair told of some of the sights on his trip which were most interesting to him, a coal mine in Pa., large trees, visited Gettysburgh, saw trenches monuments, visited spot where Lincoln made his speech, went through to Maryland some of their houses had little ponds like now where they made ice visted White house Smithsonian Institution saw Linburgh airplain, not so large as he thought--first [plane], old wagons, First Auto traveled 8 mi an hour. Washington's home & cooking utensils, Grants monument. Bro. R. Hessler lost his new rubber then his watch, said he saw much of interest. Sister LaClair visted Zoo. saw a large snake devour a frog. visited Arlington Cemetery, she said a guard all the time in front of Mon. to Unknown soldiers. visited Gettysburg cemetary, an old soldier there as guard showed them around cemetary.... The remarks from all the members who visited Washington besides attending National Grange, much enjoyed by all, we hope they will take another trip."...
Feb. 6, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Sister LaClair in charge,.... It being near Washington's birthday Sister LaClair gave an interesting description of Washington's home, she said a charge of 25 cents to grounds, well worth the money, 16 fireplaces in home kitchen separate from home. a colored man in attendant to show (visitors) all sang Old Black Joe."
In later years Nellie held the offices of Juvenile Matron and Chaplain of the Taft Settlement Grange. She was also a member of the Philathea Bible study class at Andrews Memorial Methodist Church of North Syracuse. Having been granted the women's right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment (when Nellie was 37), she was thereafter active in the Lake Shore and Cicero Republican Clubs and volunteered to help man local polling places on voting days. She loved harp music (perhaps a remnant of her Welsh heritage?), and visiting the New York State Fair every year with her granddaughter. She and Nelson would take vacation fishing trips at his home area of Fair Haven on Lake Ontario. At one time Nellie and Nelson had a summer camp at Damon's Point on Oneida Lake. Nellie enjoyed hosting picnics on her lawn and big Thanksgiving get-togethers at her home, serving abundant food on oversized tables made of sawhorses and planks, to accommodate all the invited guests.
Nelson died first, at age 68, on Monday, 25 September 1950, at the Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York. Cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried Thursday, 28 September 1950 at Collamer Cemetery. Nellie had already been showing signs of dementia and Parkinson's disease. She moved into the apartment above the garage at the home of her daughter, Clara Lipke, who took care of her until she needed professional care. Nellie was then moved into the same Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York where Nelson had been. After three days, she contracted lobar pneumonia and a week later she died there, on Wednesday, 12 March 1952, at the age of 69 years.
Nellie LaClair's funeral took place Friday, 14 March 1952 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sears Funeral Home in North Syracuse with the Rev. Baden P. Mudge of the Bridgeport Methodist Church, Bridgeport, NY, officiating. Burial followed at 3:00 p.m. at the Collamer Cemetery, Collamer, New York. Nellie was survived by her younger sister, Elizabeth Alice "Bessie" Roberts Kelley, three children, and seven grandchildren.
[CLICK on each photo to read caption and view full-size.]
Elleanor Mary Roberts (known as Nellie) was born in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. She was the sixth of seven children born to machinist Lewis Humphrey Roberts (a disabled Civil War veteran, age 51 or 52) and Ellen A. Roberts (no previous relation, age 36). She may have been given the name Elleanor after Lewis' paternal grandmother, Eleanor (or Ellen) Roberts of Dolgellau, North Wales, while the name Mary may have been in honor of Lewis' brother David's second wife, who died in Boston in 1872 (Lewis had lived with the family during the Civil War and knew his sister-in-law Mary well).
Nellie grew up in Watertown, living at #4 Cooper Street (first house on the east side of the street) with her family from around 1887 to around 1895. She attended the Cooper Street school directly across the street. From her early childhood years, her father was unable to work and was absent for long periods, going in and out of distant veterans' medical care facilities. The family was at times reduced to living upon the charity of friends. Representing one of the saddest points of Nellie's younger years was the time when she was seven and her fifteen-year-old brother, Wilbur, died of blood poisoning (probably from a minor infection during that era before antibiotics). Their mother purchased a plot and arranged for his burial at the nearby North Watertown Cemetery.
Around 1896 the family moved into a residence at 6 Emmet Street, shared with three of Nellie's older siblings and their families: brothers Irwin and Jerome "Joe" Roberts, and sister Clara and her husband, Jerry LaPatra. With the wages from these three men and with Lewis' increased veteran's pension payments, the family managed to make ends meet, and remained there together until 1898. Then Lewis and Ellen moved again with their two youngest daughters, Nellie and Bessie, to a home of their own (shared by two boarders) at 34 Maple Street. Nellie began to support herself and her family, first by working as an employee in a thermometer factory, then as a telephone "operative" (operator).
On Monday, 18 January 1904 Nellie married Carl Kreischer in Watertown, the Rev. Frederick Fuess officiating. At that time Nellie's parents had moved to a farmhouse about a mile east of the nearby village of Sackets Harbor, and Nellie was living in Watertown at 3 Conger Avenue with her sister Clara LaPatra and her family. Nellie had most probably met Carl in Sackets Harbor or Watertown while he was serving in the Army and stationed at Madison Barracks following his overseas duty in China and the Philippines. (Coincidentally, Nellie's own parents had met at Madison Barracks in 1868.) At the time they were married Carl was residing in his hometown of Syracuse, working as a fireman for the West Shore Rail Road. He relocated to Watertown to live with his bride and join her close-knit, genial and sociable family, and soon found work at the Watertown railroad yards along with his brothers-in-law, Jerry LaPatra and Harry Danks (husband of Nellie's oldest sister, Etta).
Nellie and Carl would have a son, Alfred John ("Al") Kreischer, born in 1905 in Syracuse, and a daughter, Clara Etta, born at home in 1906, while they were living at 65 Massey Street near the edge of the Black River in Watertown. Soon after that they moved to 10 West Mullin, Watertown, and stayed there for several years. Carl worked as a brakeman, then as a conductor, most probably for the New York Central Rail Road. In 1910 Carl's work took the family to Buffalo, New York, where their youngest child, Charles Robert ("Bob") Kreischer, was born in 1911.
From Buffalo they moved back to the Kreischer farm in North Syracuse, New York. Carl and Nellie moved into the old farmhouse where Carl, his brothers, and his parents had formerly lived, and Carl's parents moved to a new home his father had built a short distance away. Nellie did not have the physical stamina to work outside on the farm, but she raised her children there and joined her German-born in-laws as an active and enthusiastic member of the local community and the Taft Settlement Grange, which she joined in 1913. From 1913 through 1925 Nellie was elected continually to positions of responsibility at the Grange, most often as Lecturer, whereby she arranged for entertainments and provided amusements, including musical numbers, songs, guessing games, recitations, discussions, and readings. She helped organize and host weiner roasts, strawberry festivals, picnics, and parties, and loved to include the children of the Grange members in as many performances as possible.
Carl took over management of the farm following the death of his father in 1915, and then assumed ownership when his mother died in 1923. (Up north in Watertown, Nellie's father died in 1915 and her mother died in 1923 as well.) The family would have been well-off if Carl had not become ill with cancer. He died in December 1925, leaving Nellie the 37-acre farm and two children at home, Clara (19) and Bob (14). Carl and Nellie had been married almost 22 years. Nellie would receive a widow's military pension of $30 a month thanks to Carl Kreischer's Army service, while Bob received an additional $6 per month as a minor dependent, payable to the City Bank Trust Company of Syracuse as his guardian, until he reached the age of 16.
Nellie met her second husband, widower Nelson Moses LaClair, while they were both playing cards at the Grange Hall. They were married 24 February 1927 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Eastwood (Syracuse) by Rev. Richard J. Shanahan; Nellie's daughter Clara and her husband, Tony Lipke, were the witnesses. Nelson worked as a machinist for the Onondaga County highway department. They would remain married for 23 years until Nelson's death in 1950, and lived in various homes on the former Kreischer farm land, along what would eventually be known as Church Street Extension. Over time Nellie subdivided and sold off parcels of the Kreischer farm to support herself and her three children as they married and as the Depression years brought hard times. Nellie's final new home where she lived with Nelson, built in 1949, was a one-story Cape Cod house on Church Street, later sold to the Hill family.
Nellie, like her Roberts sisters, was a "social butterfly." She played piano by ear, and played and sang solos at many Grange and church affairs. She loved performances and paid for her oldest granddaughter's weekly piano lessons for seven years through the Depression. She also loved jigsaw puzzles, fishing trips, family visits, sightseeing, and traveling. One of her trips was described in the Taft Settlement Grange Minute book:
January 5, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Members of our Grange had attended the National Grange in Washington. Sister L. Milback said they went through the White House, shook hands with the Pres. Cooledge. They visited many places of interest besides attending Grange sessions. Bro. LaClair told of some of the sights on his trip which were most interesting to him, a coal mine in Pa., large trees, visited Gettysburgh, saw trenches monuments, visited spot where Lincoln made his speech, went through to Maryland some of their houses had little ponds like now where they made ice visted White house Smithsonian Institution saw Linburgh airplain, not so large as he thought--first [plane], old wagons, First Auto traveled 8 mi an hour. Washington's home & cooking utensils, Grants monument. Bro. R. Hessler lost his new rubber then his watch, said he saw much of interest. Sister LaClair visted Zoo. saw a large snake devour a frog. visited Arlington Cemetery, she said a guard all the time in front of Mon. to Unknown soldiers. visited Gettysburg cemetary, an old soldier there as guard showed them around cemetary.... The remarks from all the members who visited Washington besides attending National Grange, much enjoyed by all, we hope they will take another trip."...
Feb. 6, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Sister LaClair in charge,.... It being near Washington's birthday Sister LaClair gave an interesting description of Washington's home, she said a charge of 25 cents to grounds, well worth the money, 16 fireplaces in home kitchen separate from home. a colored man in attendant to show (visitors) all sang Old Black Joe."
In later years Nellie held the offices of Juvenile Matron and Chaplain of the Taft Settlement Grange. She was also a member of the Philathea Bible study class at Andrews Memorial Methodist Church of North Syracuse. Having been granted the women's right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment (when Nellie was 37), she was thereafter active in the Lake Shore and Cicero Republican Clubs and volunteered to help man local polling places on voting days. She loved harp music (perhaps a remnant of her Welsh heritage?), and visiting the New York State Fair every year with her granddaughter. She and Nelson would take vacation fishing trips at his home area of Fair Haven on Lake Ontario. At one time Nellie and Nelson had a summer camp at Damon's Point on Oneida Lake. Nellie enjoyed hosting picnics on her lawn and big Thanksgiving get-togethers at her home, serving abundant food on oversized tables made of sawhorses and planks, to accommodate all the invited guests.
Nelson died first, at age 68, on Monday, 25 September 1950, at the Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York. Cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried Thursday, 28 September 1950 at Collamer Cemetery. Nellie had already been showing signs of dementia and Parkinson's disease. She moved into the apartment above the garage at the home of her daughter, Clara Lipke, who took care of her until she needed professional care. Nellie was then moved into the same Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York where Nelson had been. After three days, she contracted lobar pneumonia and a week later she died there, on Wednesday, 12 March 1952, at the age of 69 years.
Nellie LaClair's funeral took place Friday, 14 March 1952 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sears Funeral Home in North Syracuse with the Rev. Baden P. Mudge of the Bridgeport Methodist Church, Bridgeport, NY, officiating. Burial followed at 3:00 p.m. at the Collamer Cemetery, Collamer, New York. Nellie was survived by her younger sister, Elizabeth Alice "Bessie" Roberts Kelley, three children, and seven grandchildren.
[CLICK on each photo to read caption and view full-size.]
[Alternate birthdate: Nellie's father's Civil War pension records (1898, 1915) twice listed her birthdate as September 21, 1882, as did she herself in her own Widow's Pension re-application (1951), but her daughter gave it as September 24, 1882 on Nellie's death and burial records (1952).]
Elleanor Mary Roberts (known as Nellie) was born in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. She was the sixth of seven children born to machinist Lewis Humphrey Roberts (a disabled Civil War veteran, age 51 or 52) and Ellen A. Roberts (no previous relation, age 36). She may have been given the name Elleanor after Lewis' paternal grandmother, Eleanor (or Ellen) Roberts of Dolgellau, North Wales, while the name Mary may have been in honor of Lewis' brother David's second wife, who died in Boston in 1872 (Lewis had lived with the family during the Civil War and knew his sister-in-law Mary well).
Nellie grew up in Watertown, living at #4 Cooper Street (first house on the east side of the street) with her family from around 1887 to around 1895. She attended the Cooper Street school directly across the street. From her early childhood years, her father was unable to work and was absent for long periods, going in and out of distant veterans' medical care facilities. The family was at times reduced to living upon the charity of friends. Representing one of the saddest points of Nellie's younger years was the time when she was seven and her fifteen-year-old brother, Wilbur, died of blood poisoning (probably from a minor infection during that era before antibiotics). Their mother purchased a plot and arranged for his burial at the nearby North Watertown Cemetery.
Around 1896 the family moved into a residence at 6 Emmet Street, shared with three of Nellie's older siblings and their families: brothers Irwin and Jerome "Joe" Roberts, and sister Clara and her husband, Jerry LaPatra. With the wages from these three men and with Lewis' increased veteran's pension payments, the family managed to make ends meet, and remained there together until 1898. Then Lewis and Ellen moved again with their two youngest daughters, Nellie and Bessie, to a home of their own (shared by two boarders) at 34 Maple Street. Nellie began to support herself and her family, first by working as an employee in a thermometer factory, then as a telephone "operative" (operator).
On Monday, 18 January 1904 Nellie married Carl Kreischer in Watertown, the Rev. Frederick Fuess officiating. At that time Nellie's parents had moved to a farmhouse about a mile east of the nearby village of Sackets Harbor, and Nellie was living in Watertown at 3 Conger Avenue with her sister Clara LaPatra and her family. Nellie had most probably met Carl in Sackets Harbor or Watertown while he was serving in the Army and stationed at Madison Barracks following his overseas duty in China and the Philippines. (Coincidentally, Nellie's own parents had met at Madison Barracks in 1868.) At the time they were married Carl was residing in his hometown of Syracuse, working as a fireman for the West Shore Rail Road. He relocated to Watertown to live with his bride and join her close-knit, genial and sociable family, and soon found work at the Watertown railroad yards along with his brothers-in-law, Jerry LaPatra and Harry Danks (husband of Nellie's oldest sister, Etta).
Nellie and Carl would have a son, Alfred John ("Al") Kreischer, born in 1905 in Syracuse, and a daughter, Clara Etta, born at home in 1906, while they were living at 65 Massey Street near the edge of the Black River in Watertown. Soon after that they moved to 10 West Mullin, Watertown, and stayed there for several years. Carl worked as a brakeman, then as a conductor, most probably for the New York Central Rail Road. In 1910 Carl's work took the family to Buffalo, New York, where their youngest child, Charles Robert ("Bob") Kreischer, was born in 1911.
From Buffalo they moved back to the Kreischer farm in North Syracuse, New York. Carl and Nellie moved into the old farmhouse where Carl, his brothers, and his parents had formerly lived, and Carl's parents moved to a new home his father had built a short distance away. Nellie did not have the physical stamina to work outside on the farm, but she raised her children there and joined her German-born in-laws as an active and enthusiastic member of the local community and the Taft Settlement Grange, which she joined in 1913. From 1913 through 1925 Nellie was elected continually to positions of responsibility at the Grange, most often as Lecturer, whereby she arranged for entertainments and provided amusements, including musical numbers, songs, guessing games, recitations, discussions, and readings. She helped organize and host weiner roasts, strawberry festivals, picnics, and parties, and loved to include the children of the Grange members in as many performances as possible.
Carl took over management of the farm following the death of his father in 1915, and then assumed ownership when his mother died in 1923. (Up north in Watertown, Nellie's father died in 1915 and her mother died in 1923 as well.) The family would have been well-off if Carl had not become ill with cancer. He died in December 1925, leaving Nellie the 37-acre farm and two children at home, Clara (19) and Bob (14). Carl and Nellie had been married almost 22 years. Nellie would receive a widow's military pension of $30 a month thanks to Carl Kreischer's Army service, while Bob received an additional $6 per month as a minor dependent, payable to the City Bank Trust Company of Syracuse as his guardian, until he reached the age of 16.
Nellie met her second husband, widower Nelson Moses LaClair, while they were both playing cards at the Grange Hall. They were married 24 February 1927 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Eastwood (Syracuse) by Rev. Richard J. Shanahan; Nellie's daughter Clara and her husband, Tony Lipke, were the witnesses. Nelson worked as a machinist for the Onondaga County highway department. They would remain married for 23 years until Nelson's death in 1950, and lived in various homes on the former Kreischer farm land, along what would eventually be known as Church Street Extension. Over time Nellie subdivided and sold off parcels of the Kreischer farm to support herself and her three children as they married and as the Depression years brought hard times. Nellie's final new home where she lived with Nelson, built in 1949, was a one-story Cape Cod house on Church Street, later sold to the Hill family.
Nellie, like her Roberts sisters, was a "social butterfly." She played piano by ear, and played and sang solos at many Grange and church affairs. She loved performances and paid for her oldest granddaughter's weekly piano lessons for seven years through the Depression. She also loved jigsaw puzzles, fishing trips, family visits, sightseeing, and traveling. One of her trips was described in the Taft Settlement Grange Minute book:
January 5, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Members of our Grange had attended the National Grange in Washington. Sister L. Milback said they went through the White House, shook hands with the Pres. Cooledge. They visited many places of interest besides attending Grange sessions. Bro. LaClair told of some of the sights on his trip which were most interesting to him, a coal mine in Pa., large trees, visited Gettysburgh, saw trenches monuments, visited spot where Lincoln made his speech, went through to Maryland some of their houses had little ponds like now where they made ice visted White house Smithsonian Institution saw Linburgh airplain, not so large as he thought--first [plane], old wagons, First Auto traveled 8 mi an hour. Washington's home & cooking utensils, Grants monument. Bro. R. Hessler lost his new rubber then his watch, said he saw much of interest. Sister LaClair visted Zoo. saw a large snake devour a frog. visited Arlington Cemetery, she said a guard all the time in front of Mon. to Unknown soldiers. visited Gettysburg cemetary, an old soldier there as guard showed them around cemetary.... The remarks from all the members who visited Washington besides attending National Grange, much enjoyed by all, we hope they will take another trip."...
Feb. 6, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Sister LaClair in charge,.... It being near Washington's birthday Sister LaClair gave an interesting description of Washington's home, she said a charge of 25 cents to grounds, well worth the money, 16 fireplaces in home kitchen separate from home. a colored man in attendant to show (visitors) all sang Old Black Joe."
In later years Nellie held the offices of Juvenile Matron and Chaplain of the Taft Settlement Grange. She was also a member of the Philathea Bible study class at Andrews Memorial Methodist Church of North Syracuse. Having been granted the women's right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment (when Nellie was 37), she was thereafter active in the Lake Shore and Cicero Republican Clubs and volunteered to help man local polling places on voting days. She loved harp music (perhaps a remnant of her Welsh heritage?), and visiting the New York State Fair every year with her granddaughter. She and Nelson would take vacation fishing trips at his home area of Fair Haven on Lake Ontario. At one time Nellie and Nelson had a summer camp at Damon's Point on Oneida Lake. Nellie enjoyed hosting picnics on her lawn and big Thanksgiving get-togethers at her home, serving abundant food on oversized tables made of sawhorses and planks, to accommodate all the invited guests.
Nelson died first, at age 68, on Monday, 25 September 1950, at the Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York. Cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried Thursday, 28 September 1950 at Collamer Cemetery. Nellie had already been showing signs of dementia and Parkinson's disease. She moved into the apartment above the garage at the home of her daughter, Clara Lipke, who took care of her until she needed professional care. Nellie was then moved into the same Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York where Nelson had been. After three days, she contracted lobar pneumonia and a week later she died there, on Wednesday, 12 March 1952, at the age of 69 years.
Nellie LaClair's funeral took place Friday, 14 March 1952 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sears Funeral Home in North Syracuse with the Rev. Baden P. Mudge of the Bridgeport Methodist Church, Bridgeport, NY, officiating. Burial followed at 3:00 p.m. at the Collamer Cemetery, Collamer, New York. Nellie was survived by her younger sister, Elizabeth Alice "Bessie" Roberts Kelley, three children, and seven grandchildren.
[CLICK on each photo to read caption and view full-size.]
Elleanor Mary Roberts (known as Nellie) was born in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. She was the sixth of seven children born to machinist Lewis Humphrey Roberts (a disabled Civil War veteran, age 51 or 52) and Ellen A. Roberts (no previous relation, age 36). She may have been given the name Elleanor after Lewis' paternal grandmother, Eleanor (or Ellen) Roberts of Dolgellau, North Wales, while the name Mary may have been in honor of Lewis' brother David's second wife, who died in Boston in 1872 (Lewis had lived with the family during the Civil War and knew his sister-in-law Mary well).
Nellie grew up in Watertown, living at #4 Cooper Street (first house on the east side of the street) with her family from around 1887 to around 1895. She attended the Cooper Street school directly across the street. From her early childhood years, her father was unable to work and was absent for long periods, going in and out of distant veterans' medical care facilities. The family was at times reduced to living upon the charity of friends. Representing one of the saddest points of Nellie's younger years was the time when she was seven and her fifteen-year-old brother, Wilbur, died of blood poisoning (probably from a minor infection during that era before antibiotics). Their mother purchased a plot and arranged for his burial at the nearby North Watertown Cemetery.
Around 1896 the family moved into a residence at 6 Emmet Street, shared with three of Nellie's older siblings and their families: brothers Irwin and Jerome "Joe" Roberts, and sister Clara and her husband, Jerry LaPatra. With the wages from these three men and with Lewis' increased veteran's pension payments, the family managed to make ends meet, and remained there together until 1898. Then Lewis and Ellen moved again with their two youngest daughters, Nellie and Bessie, to a home of their own (shared by two boarders) at 34 Maple Street. Nellie began to support herself and her family, first by working as an employee in a thermometer factory, then as a telephone "operative" (operator).
On Monday, 18 January 1904 Nellie married Carl Kreischer in Watertown, the Rev. Frederick Fuess officiating. At that time Nellie's parents had moved to a farmhouse about a mile east of the nearby village of Sackets Harbor, and Nellie was living in Watertown at 3 Conger Avenue with her sister Clara LaPatra and her family. Nellie had most probably met Carl in Sackets Harbor or Watertown while he was serving in the Army and stationed at Madison Barracks following his overseas duty in China and the Philippines. (Coincidentally, Nellie's own parents had met at Madison Barracks in 1868.) At the time they were married Carl was residing in his hometown of Syracuse, working as a fireman for the West Shore Rail Road. He relocated to Watertown to live with his bride and join her close-knit, genial and sociable family, and soon found work at the Watertown railroad yards along with his brothers-in-law, Jerry LaPatra and Harry Danks (husband of Nellie's oldest sister, Etta).
Nellie and Carl would have a son, Alfred John ("Al") Kreischer, born in 1905 in Syracuse, and a daughter, Clara Etta, born at home in 1906, while they were living at 65 Massey Street near the edge of the Black River in Watertown. Soon after that they moved to 10 West Mullin, Watertown, and stayed there for several years. Carl worked as a brakeman, then as a conductor, most probably for the New York Central Rail Road. In 1910 Carl's work took the family to Buffalo, New York, where their youngest child, Charles Robert ("Bob") Kreischer, was born in 1911.
From Buffalo they moved back to the Kreischer farm in North Syracuse, New York. Carl and Nellie moved into the old farmhouse where Carl, his brothers, and his parents had formerly lived, and Carl's parents moved to a new home his father had built a short distance away. Nellie did not have the physical stamina to work outside on the farm, but she raised her children there and joined her German-born in-laws as an active and enthusiastic member of the local community and the Taft Settlement Grange, which she joined in 1913. From 1913 through 1925 Nellie was elected continually to positions of responsibility at the Grange, most often as Lecturer, whereby she arranged for entertainments and provided amusements, including musical numbers, songs, guessing games, recitations, discussions, and readings. She helped organize and host weiner roasts, strawberry festivals, picnics, and parties, and loved to include the children of the Grange members in as many performances as possible.
Carl took over management of the farm following the death of his father in 1915, and then assumed ownership when his mother died in 1923. (Up north in Watertown, Nellie's father died in 1915 and her mother died in 1923 as well.) The family would have been well-off if Carl had not become ill with cancer. He died in December 1925, leaving Nellie the 37-acre farm and two children at home, Clara (19) and Bob (14). Carl and Nellie had been married almost 22 years. Nellie would receive a widow's military pension of $30 a month thanks to Carl Kreischer's Army service, while Bob received an additional $6 per month as a minor dependent, payable to the City Bank Trust Company of Syracuse as his guardian, until he reached the age of 16.
Nellie met her second husband, widower Nelson Moses LaClair, while they were both playing cards at the Grange Hall. They were married 24 February 1927 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Eastwood (Syracuse) by Rev. Richard J. Shanahan; Nellie's daughter Clara and her husband, Tony Lipke, were the witnesses. Nelson worked as a machinist for the Onondaga County highway department. They would remain married for 23 years until Nelson's death in 1950, and lived in various homes on the former Kreischer farm land, along what would eventually be known as Church Street Extension. Over time Nellie subdivided and sold off parcels of the Kreischer farm to support herself and her three children as they married and as the Depression years brought hard times. Nellie's final new home where she lived with Nelson, built in 1949, was a one-story Cape Cod house on Church Street, later sold to the Hill family.
Nellie, like her Roberts sisters, was a "social butterfly." She played piano by ear, and played and sang solos at many Grange and church affairs. She loved performances and paid for her oldest granddaughter's weekly piano lessons for seven years through the Depression. She also loved jigsaw puzzles, fishing trips, family visits, sightseeing, and traveling. One of her trips was described in the Taft Settlement Grange Minute book:
January 5, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Members of our Grange had attended the National Grange in Washington. Sister L. Milback said they went through the White House, shook hands with the Pres. Cooledge. They visited many places of interest besides attending Grange sessions. Bro. LaClair told of some of the sights on his trip which were most interesting to him, a coal mine in Pa., large trees, visited Gettysburgh, saw trenches monuments, visited spot where Lincoln made his speech, went through to Maryland some of their houses had little ponds like now where they made ice visted White house Smithsonian Institution saw Linburgh airplain, not so large as he thought--first [plane], old wagons, First Auto traveled 8 mi an hour. Washington's home & cooking utensils, Grants monument. Bro. R. Hessler lost his new rubber then his watch, said he saw much of interest. Sister LaClair visted Zoo. saw a large snake devour a frog. visited Arlington Cemetery, she said a guard all the time in front of Mon. to Unknown soldiers. visited Gettysburg cemetary, an old soldier there as guard showed them around cemetary.... The remarks from all the members who visited Washington besides attending National Grange, much enjoyed by all, we hope they will take another trip."...
Feb. 6, 1929: "Lecturer's Hour: Sister LaClair in charge,.... It being near Washington's birthday Sister LaClair gave an interesting description of Washington's home, she said a charge of 25 cents to grounds, well worth the money, 16 fireplaces in home kitchen separate from home. a colored man in attendant to show (visitors) all sang Old Black Joe."
In later years Nellie held the offices of Juvenile Matron and Chaplain of the Taft Settlement Grange. She was also a member of the Philathea Bible study class at Andrews Memorial Methodist Church of North Syracuse. Having been granted the women's right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment (when Nellie was 37), she was thereafter active in the Lake Shore and Cicero Republican Clubs and volunteered to help man local polling places on voting days. She loved harp music (perhaps a remnant of her Welsh heritage?), and visiting the New York State Fair every year with her granddaughter. She and Nelson would take vacation fishing trips at his home area of Fair Haven on Lake Ontario. At one time Nellie and Nelson had a summer camp at Damon's Point on Oneida Lake. Nellie enjoyed hosting picnics on her lawn and big Thanksgiving get-togethers at her home, serving abundant food on oversized tables made of sawhorses and planks, to accommodate all the invited guests.
Nelson died first, at age 68, on Monday, 25 September 1950, at the Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York. Cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried Thursday, 28 September 1950 at Collamer Cemetery. Nellie had already been showing signs of dementia and Parkinson's disease. She moved into the apartment above the garage at the home of her daughter, Clara Lipke, who took care of her until she needed professional care. Nellie was then moved into the same Taylor Nursing Home in Minoa, New York where Nelson had been. After three days, she contracted lobar pneumonia and a week later she died there, on Wednesday, 12 March 1952, at the age of 69 years.
Nellie LaClair's funeral took place Friday, 14 March 1952 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sears Funeral Home in North Syracuse with the Rev. Baden P. Mudge of the Bridgeport Methodist Church, Bridgeport, NY, officiating. Burial followed at 3:00 p.m. at the Collamer Cemetery, Collamer, New York. Nellie was survived by her younger sister, Elizabeth Alice "Bessie" Roberts Kelley, three children, and seven grandchildren.
[CLICK on each photo to read caption and view full-size.]
Inscription
Large double-marker reads "LACLAIR" over two graves: "ELLEANOR M. / 1882-1952" and "NELSON M. / 1881-1950." On the opposite side of the stone are inscriptions and graves of Nellie's son, Al Kreischer, and his first wife, Leona.
Family Members
Siblings
See more Kreischer LaClair or Roberts memorials in:
- Collamer Cemetery Kreischer LaClair or Roberts
- Collamer Kreischer LaClair or Roberts
- Onondaga County Kreischer LaClair or Roberts
- New York Kreischer LaClair or Roberts
- USA Kreischer LaClair or Roberts
- Find a Grave Kreischer LaClair or Roberts
