NOTES
ON
Austin Family Members
Charles Austin
Edward Clifton Austin
Elizabeth M. Austin
Ethel Mae Austin
Ira Chichester Austin
Melvin Austin
Stephen
Austin
The
Austin's
began
in Horsemonden, Kentshire, England back in the
1500's. The name Austin itself is a contraction of Saint
Augustine.
When Henry the 8th closed the monastaries many of the monks
took the
surname Austin. (Also spelled Austen.) The Austin's have a
history of
being farmers, carpenters, baymen, and very active in the
United States
Life Saving Service, which became the United States Coast
Guard in the
early 1900's.
Stephen
Austin was born in 1797 and died in 1877. Stephen and his
spouse Hannah
Tucker
are listed in the 1860 Federal Census living in Huntington
Town,
Suffolk
County, New York, with their daughter Hannah Adella, their
granddaughter
Arabella, and Peter Ketcham. Stephen's occupation is listed as
a shoe
maker.
Stephen and wife Hannah are also listed in the 1870 Federal
Census,
living
in Huntington Town, Suffolk County, New York. Stephen is now a
fisherman.
Stephen
was a veteran of the War of 1812. He is listed on page 452 in
the History of Brooklyn as a Brooklyn Veteran of the War of
1812. He
was under the command of Captain Joseph Dean, the Consolidated
Regiment
of Militia, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Ditmars,
from
September 2, 1814, when last mustered, to the 18th of November
1814, in
the service of the United States. His wife Hannah is on the
List of
Pensioners January 1, 1883 in Volume II page 423.
The
following are notes from the writings, (June 1989), of Ralph
Hausrath,
Great Grandson of Abraham Austin and Margaret Brush.
Sometime
in the middle of the last century a carpenter named Abram
Austin, (Abraham), who came from the Copiague area, married
Margaret
Brush, a woman who came from Moriches. He was born in May
1831, and
died in June of 1901. she was a bit older, having been born in
October
1927. She died May 1913, according to the dates on their
tombstones in
the Amityville Cemetery.
Abraham
was a carpenter and sometimes a Bayman. His four sons seem to
have followed in his footsteps. He worked for a time, around
1858,
helping to rebuild the Fire Island Lighthouse which has first
been
erected in 1825. Abram and Margaret lived at the "Old
Homestead" as
their children called it. It was located on
South Great Neck Road, Copiague. The house and probably the
barn, too,
still
stand, I believe. It is located directly opposite the entrance
to
Schmeelk Place.
Though
their
three older children left home at early ages to marry and
found their
own homes, the two younger ones remained at the homestead
until after
the death of their Mother in 1913. This was because sometime
before
1900, their mother had fallen over a kitten, (or kittens) and
broke her
hip. The result was that she became a cripple for the rest of
her life.
Her daughter Elizabeth, ("Libby"), who had expected to marry,
gave up
the idea and remained permanently at the home to care for the
old lady.
Libby's brother Melvin, already a member of the Life Saving
Service,
although already engaged to be married, changed plans and made
it his
life's work to care for the homestead and help his sister with
their
crippled Mother whenever he was off duty and ashore.
Abram
died in 1901 but his widow lived on for 12 more years. After
her
death, Elizabeth and Melvin, teamed up to build a new house
further
down South Great Neck Road
and the "Old Homestead" became a rental property until
Elizabeth sold
it
in 1942. It went to a Lester Austin, a distant relative, but
not a
member of Abraham's direct line of the Austin Family.
Abraham
was born May 20, 1831 and he died June 30, 1901.
Notes from research
of
Diana and Dawn Austin, and Steve Henderson.
Abraham
Austin and his wife Margaret, (Brush was her maiden name), are
listed in the
1860 Federal Census, and their children. Phillip Chichester
was also
living
with them along with Margaret and Whitman Brush. Margaret was
probably
Margaret's
mother. Her mother is 70 years old. Abraham's occupation is
fisherman. I also found them listed on the 1880 Federal
Census
still living in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County, New York,
just as
they were in 1860. Only now Abraham's occupation is carpenter.
Their
children are with them along with 8 year old John Brush. In
the 1900
Federal Census they are still living in Babylon Town, Suffolk
County,
New York. Abraham is now listed as a farmer.
Along with their
children,
their grandson, 5 year old Birdsall is also living with
them. By
1910
Margaret is listed as a widow, still living in the same town,
along
with
her daughter Libby, and son Melvin. They lived on Great Neck
Road in
Copiague.
Her son Charles was their next door neighbor.
From
the Note
books of Mike Austin: Austin's of America File
#024082: Abram Austin
(s.
Stephen & Hannah Austin) b.1831 d.1901 m. Margaret Brush
(dau.
Whitman & Margaret
Brush) b.1827 d.1914, r. Amityville L I; ch: Charles b.1856;
Edward
Clifton
b.1857 m1. Amie Turner m2. Ella Chichester; Edgar b.1858;
Stephen
b.1860;
beth (Libbie) b.1863; Melvin b.1865
