Once upon a time there was a comely youth named John
Smith living in Northern Ireland, we believe in County Antrim. He
was about five feet ten in stature, with brown hair, fair complexion
and blue eyes. His parents were of the "gentry" and his father
a squire, belonged to that class which for years had enjoyed hard drinking,
horse racing, and a good time generally.
John Smith, born December 11, 1801, was ambitious
to "read law" but there was no money. His father decided that
the outlook for his son John was poor unless the boy learned a trade.
Thus, against the boy's wishes, he was apprenticed to a weaver. John
rebelled against the "indignity" which other boys of his class were not
subjected to, and despite the fact that it was difficult
to part from his mother whom he loved dearly, he decided to leave and
seek his fortune in the New World. He came to this country
on a sailing vessel, which took about three months in crossing, and
landed in Manhattan, which at that time was called New York City and was
a small town. He was then in his early "teens". It was a time
of great turbulence in Europe as the Napoleonic War was in progress,
which ended in the defeat of Napoleon by the English Wellington
in 1815 at Waterloo.
Despite the fact that he was a stranger here, he
found no difficulty in securing employment. Reared
as a member of the Church of England, he did not forget his early
training and became active in church work. Although young, without
relatives or restraining influences, he was self-reliant, capable, and
lived a wholesome industrious and God-fearing life.
He became interested in the opening of a mission
and Sunday School "far uptown" at 28th Street and 9th Avenue, and
when the property was bought, it was placed in his name, as he was
one of the few who had already attained his majority. A church
later was established called the Church of the Holy Apostles on the southeast
corner of Ninth Avenue and the 28th Street, Manhattan.
John Smith was appointed the first Warden, and for many years
he was the Senior Warden. The original church which was built
on the property is still in use. It celebrated its one hundredth
anniversary in 1944. However the mission
dates back to 1832 or 1833, according to the present rector.
HIS MARRIAGE
No doubt John Smith was lonely
at times, as he missed his family and his home. He became acquainted
with one, Mrs. Sarah Dodd nee French, a widow who had had four or
five children by one Dodd. Sarah French was also from the north of
Ireland and had at one time lived in New Jersey.
She was a brunette, and was described as most vivacious
with a beautiful neck and arms. One of her idiosyncrasies was her
dislike of an incomplete set of china. Hence when one piece
of a set was broken, the entire set was relegated to the kitchen,
and later, given away. She was said to have a "green thumb"
and could make any flower grow. Because she superintended the taking
up of her own bulbs in the Fall, she was criticized by her women
neighbors as engaging in unladylike activity.
Sarah French Dodd was the owner of a milk business.
She took John Smith into her concern, became greatly attached to him, and
described him as the most honest man she had ever known. Although
she was eighteen and one-half years his senior, having been born on May
16, 1783 (sixteen years before the death of our first president,
Washington), she and John Smith were married in this city on November
21st, 1827. He was 26 years old and she was 44!
John Smith tool over the management of his wife's
business, which prospered. In those days, land north of fifty-ninth
street was open country, and their cows were pastured in the fields
near what is now the southern part of Central Park.
A CITY HOME
Meanwhile, the Smiths bought
as appreciable parcel of land running from thirtieth to thirty-first
street, in what later became the two hundred block on the West Side
of Manhattan. The South wing of the Main Post Office building is
now opposite the property. At first they lived in a house on the
thirtieth street side of the property which apparently had
been the original
farmhouse. Later they built a brick high-stooped house
consisting of three stories and basement, and containing fourteen
rooms, two baths and a toilet in the basement.
The number of the house was 242 West 31st
Street. This was the family home for many years. It was here
that Sarah French Smith died on November 19, 1866, at the age of
83. She was buried in the plot which her husband had bought far out
"in the country" in the Trinity Cemetery at 156th Street, west of Amsterdam
Avenue, Manhattan. When the thirty-first street property was sold
to the Pennsylvania Railroad, about the time the "new" station was
being erected, the deed to the Smith property ran back to 1848, according
to a grandson, Dr. William H. McWilliam.
In the late eighteen eighties, a new home consisting
of a four story and basement brownstone house was bought by John Smith
at 16 West 96th Street, Manhattan. It had fourteen rooms, three
baths, and a toilet in the basement. Here John Smith lived
until his death in 1896.
II. JOHN SMITH'S DAUGHTER SARAH ANN: HER MARRIAGE TO JOHN McWILLIAM, FIRST OF HIS FAMILY IN THE UNITED STATES
Now, John Smith and Sarah
French had but one child, a daughter, whom they named Sarah Ann.
She was born on July 1, 1830, when her mother was forty-seven years
of age. In those days, it was considered a great feat for a
women to bear a child so late in life! The little girl had her mother's
almost black hair, brunette complexion and dark gray eyes.
She was the "apple of
her mother's eye" and grew up with every advantage.
When she was twenty-two or twenty-three years of
age, she met a tall, slight blond, blue-eyed young man who at the
age of 18 or 19, had come to this city from Northern Ireland to make
his way. His name was John McWilliam and he had been born in
Coleraine, Ireland, on November 12, 1829, the son of Robert
McWilliam and Jane Hill of Coleraine, or possibly of Listwatty Parish Balymena
Town, Ireland. His two sisters had died in girlhood and unmarried.
His father, Robert McWilliam of Scotch Irish ancestry owned and operated
a tavern. It was felt that such an atmosphere was not the best
place for a child, so John
McWilliam was sent to live with his paternal grandparents, John McWilliam
and Margaret nee Stirling McWilliam. To his grandmother, whose
family had come from the environs of Stirling Castle, Scotland, John was
always exceptionally devoted. Later on in his life, John McWilliam
had a stone erected on the grave of his parents in the graveyard
of the Coleraine Presbyterian Church.
As a youth John McWilliam
had been taught carpentry. He loved wood in its natural state,
and felt that was a mistake to hide the grain under coats of paint.
For a time he had attended the University of Dublin taking courses
in architecture and building.
John and Sarah were married
in Manhattan on June 20, 1855. He was active in the Covenanter
Church in this city, and was a elder in it and later in the Reformed Presbyterian
Church, this city.
FAMILY SOLIDARITY: THE McWILLIAMS LIVE WITH THE SMITHS
By this time, John Smith,
now in his mid-fifties, had become a prosperous man. He was
very much the master of his own home. His step-daughters had
married, had gone to homes of their own, and at their marriage, each
had received from him a gift of $500, which in those days represented
many time the buying power it does today.
John Smith and his wife
were favorably inclined toward their new son-in-law, and they did
not wish to be parted from their only child, Sarah Ann. So the newly married
couple, John and Sarah Ann McWilliam, were invited to share the commodious
brick house at 242 West 31st Street.
John McWilliam who was a
sensitive, winsome but keen and capable person with a subtle sense
of humor, was able to adapt himself to the household, and the group
were happy together.
As a young man, he is described
as having had sandy hair with red highlights, and a reddish beard.
After his hair turned gray, his mustache became dark and his eyebrows
almost black, so that his appearance was rather striking. He was
about five feet ten inches in height and weighed about 180 pounds, in middle
age. He carried himself very erect. Though hot tempered,
he was fair minded and of sound judgment. He was quick
to see the humorous side of things, enjoyed life and liked to meet people.
His personality attracted others who admired and trusted him.
He was most charitable, giving quietly to those in need, a ton of coal
here or a $10.00 bill or clothing for a family there. However,
despite his great generosity, he left his wife an appreciable estate
when he died.
RELIGIOUS VIEWS RECONCILED
Shortly after the marriage
of John and Sarah McWilliam, there seems to have been a little difficulty
in adjusting church affiliations on the part of Sarah Ann McWilliam.
In talking with her about this subject, she told me that it was her
belief that a wife should worship with her husband. However, John
McWilliam was active in the Scotch Covenanter Church, while she was an
Episcopalian.
She therefore informed the
elders of her husbands church that she was willing to join that church
if she might continue at times to accompany her father to the Church
of the Holy Apostles. The elders of the Covenanter Church decreed
that this was impossible, and Sarah Ann replied that she regretted that
their decision would keep her from joining their church. So when
the first child born to the couple was baptized in the Covenanter
Church, Sarah Ann was not permitted to "stand up" with her husband
and first born. Subsequently, however, the elders went to Sarah
Ann and informed her that they admired her devotion to her father and would
not forbid her worshipping with him. She joined the Covenanter
Church.
BUSINESS INTERESTS
At the time of John McWilliam's
marriage, he with a partner was operating a building business from
his own shop. However, circumstances brought it about that he had
to give up his own business to operate for his father-in-law.
It appears that John Smith
had gone on bond for his step-son, William Dodd, who with a partner
had contracted to open up Eight Avenue. These partners, however,
neglected business and were about to fail. In order to save
himself, John Smith had to take over the contract. Horses, carts and
paraphernalia, and fulfill it. This led to his becoming a contractor.
John Smith knew many of
the prominent people of his time. Among them was one, Walter
Rome, President of the Manhattan Gas Light Company. Rome urged
John Smith to find a market for the disposal of the by-product coke.
From this
there developed a successful coal and coke business for John Smith.
Subsequently, he was taken ill and then decided to retire. His son-in-law,
John McWilliam, continued to operate the coal and coke business in which
in turn his son, Robert McWilliam, was later associated for many
years.
III.THE SECOND GENERATION OF THE MCWILLIAM FAMILY AND JOHN SMITH'S
GRANDCHILDREN
The first child born to John
and Sarah Smith McWilliam, on June 22, 1856, was named John Smith
McWilliam. He was of stocky build, with brown hair and blue
eyes. He was a magnetic personality and as a consequence he made
many friends. He became an attorney, having graduated from
Columbia Law School. He married Mary Wheaton, daughter of William
Wheaton and Rachel Sayles, a beautiful brunette, in the Church of the Holy
Apostles on September 13, 18833. She used to say with pride
that one of her forebears had been an Indian princess.
The second child died, and
the first daughter born to the McWilliams on March 11, 1858, was
named Margaret-Jane, but was always known as "Jennie". She had dark
blue eyes, rather blond curly hair as a girl, and a very fair complexion.
She was vivacious, sensitive, sympathetic and generous. A graceful
dancer, she studied painting and drawing and showed appreciable talent.
A graduate of Hunter College in this city, she later spent a year
at Vassar College.
On May 15,1884 at the Third
Reformed Presbyterian Church, then located at 23rd Street, between
7th and 8th Avenues, Manhattan, she married Reverend David Gourley Wylie,
son of Robert Wylie and Eliza Jane Patterson of Belle Center, Logan
County, Ohio, a young Presbyterian minister, who had studied at Yale
Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, and was graduated from Union
Theological Seminary in this city. Later he took his Ph.D. at New
York University. He became pastor of the historic Scotch Presbyterian
Church then located at the north side of 14th Street, about two hundred
feet east of Sixth
Avenue, almost opposite the former site of R. H. Macy and Company.
He was instrumental in moving
the "Scotch" church to a beautiful edifice built on the southwest corner
of 96th Street and Central Park West. After serving as pastor
for about twenty-three years, he left this church, to become General
Secretary of the Board of Church Erection of the Presbyterian Church,
U.S.A . Subsequently, the building was torn down and the church housed
in an apartment house built on the same site. The name of the church
was changed from the Scotch Presbyterian Church to the Second Presbyterian
Church.
The second daughter, born
January 22,1860, was named Sarah for her mother and grandmother,
both of whom she resembled. She was an exceptionally pretty
girl with dark brown hair, blue eyes and brunette complexion. She
also was a graduate of Hunter College, and spent a year at Vassar
College. On February 17, 1885 at the Third Reformed Presbyterian
Church, Manhattan, she married Henry F. Miller, son of Ernest and
Theresa Sophie Miller of this city. A graduate of Columbia
Law School, he became a brilliant attorney, who handled several important
law cases among them the Marie Marshall estate case in Williamsburg,
Virginia, as a result of which the law in New York State as well
as in Virginia was changed.
For years the Millers made
their home in a private house at 591 West End avenue, Manhattan.
After they sold that home, they lived in an apartment house at 14
East 90th Street, Manhattan.
The second son, Robert,
was born to John and Sarah McWilliam on September 13, 1861.
This was five months after the onset of the Civil War. As a young
man he had light sandy hair, blue eyes and later grew a beard which was
red. His height was about 6 feet 2 inches. He had a sunny nature
and was said to be the favorite of his grandparents. He married
Augusta Titus, daughter of George and Susan nee Green Titus, of Bloomvale
near Washington Hollow, Dutchess County, New York, on June 14,1888
in Poughkeepsie, New York. For many years they lived in a private
house which they owned at 768 West End Avenue,
Manhattan. He had served as First Lieutenant Company A of the
Seventh Regiment of the New York National Guard, which he left after
contracting pneumonia while serving at the Brooklyn Trolley Strike.
The third daughter was Mary,
born September 29,1863, also during the Civil War. She was an attractive
curly haired, blue eyed girl, full of life, sociable and outgoing.
She was educated at Miss Comstock's School. She married Wallace Doud
Barkley, a New Yorker, on October 15,1884 in this city. His
mother, Phoebe Jane Fulton was closely related to Robert Fulton of steamboat
fame. The Barkleys lived for years in their own private house
at West 84th Street, between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive,
Manhattan, and later bought a colonial house with grounds, on South Street,
Stamford, Connecticut.
THE CIVIL WAR AND PLANS TO EVACUATE NEW YORK
Now, while Sarah Ann and
John McWilliam were preoccupied with bearing and rearing their children,
events were moving forward in the outside world.
The Civil War which began on April 12, 1861 was
to last until April 9, 1865. As the was continued, John McWilliam felt
that it was his duty to enter active service with the Union Army.
Sarah opposed his leaving her with several small children. He compromised,
and became a sergeant with the Fifth New York Volunteers, a National Guard
Unit, and drilled recruits in this city.
During the war many incidents
of violence occurred in New York City. A colored man was found hung upon
a lamp post in the neighborhood of West 31st Street. Some unknown
persons, whether from malicious mischief or because they suspected that
the Smiths and McWilliams might be sympathetic to the South, ran up a Confederate
flag on the roof of 242 West 31st Street. An excited crowd gathered,
but it was luckily dispersed, and the offending flag was removed, before
damage or injury could be done.
John Smith and John McWilliam
began to consider finding a place in the country where Sarah Ann and her
children could be taken, if life in the city became to dangerous.
In pursuit of the objective, John Smith journeyed 75 miles up the Hudson
River to Poughkeepsie, and eastward past Arlington along the Dutchess County
Turnpike, past a red sandstone milestone which read:
3 Mi to Poughkeepsie Court House
A few hundred feet past the milestone, on the left
side of the Turnpike, he bought a farm of 113 acres, which an old stone
house near the road. The farm which had originally been part of the
De Garmo family holdings, ran north from the road in a gently rising slope,
so that the farthest piece called the Back Lots, gave a beautiful view
of the foothills of the Catskill Mountains and was said to be the highest
point in Dutchess County. At the top of the hill a cold
sparkling spring bubbled up.
Meanwhile the McWilliam
family continued to increase. The year that the Civil War ended Sarah
McWilliam bore her sixth child, Samuel, in 1865. In 1987, the seventh
child named Annie was born, and on September 5, 1869, William Henry came
along. That same year, 1869, Samuel died at the age of four years,
probably from diphtheria, and in 1870, Annie, then three years old, died
of the same disease. This left William Henry, a sturdy child with
dark hair and large blue eyes, as the youngest.
Gracie, born in 1871, was
always described by her mother, Sarah McWilliam, as her most beautiful
baby. She died the same year that she was born of diphtheria, for
which at that time neither cause nor remedy was known. Isabell, born June
28, 1872, died the following year, also from diphtheria. The eleventh child,
an unnamed girl, died shortly after her birth, in June 1874. This left
William Henry, the eighth of the eleven children, again the youngest.
William H. McWilliam, M.D.,
was graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1895, and was connected
for many years with the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital in this city and
also with the Polyclinic Hospital, as a nose and throat specialist.
He married Helen Nelson Cochran of Manhattan, daughter of Thomas Cochran
and Angnes Strachan in Manhattan on June 9, 1898.
SUMMERS ON THE FARM
From the time that the farm
was bought in the latter part of the Civil War, each Spring the family
moved to it and stayed until late Fall. For a while they lived in
the old stone house, and later in a colonial cottage across the road, and
a little westward, until a spacious three story modern "high ceiling" house
could be built, a considerable distance from the Turnpike, on a rise above
the stone house, which was then demolished. The new house, designed
by John McWilliam, contained thirteen rooms and a bath for the use of the
family; and toward the rear, six rooms with a separate entrance for the
all-year-round home of the farmer and his family. The main stairway
and the stairs were paneled in three woods, mahogany, ash and walnut.
The new house was called
"the big house". Eastward at a good distance were carriage house
and stable with box stalls and harness room, a corn crib, a barn with hay
mow, and a complete carpentry and tool shop --- all on the upper level;
on the lower level, stalls for cows, a barnyard and a pig pen; chicken
houses stood off at a distance. There was also a cider press.
Between the house and the barn were 8 or 10 beehives as bees were a hobby
with John McWilliam, who handled them without gloves or netting but was
never stung.
Besides fields of wheat,
oats, corn, etc. There were well kept berry and vegetable gardens, grape
arbors, an apple orchard and other fruit trees. A herd of ten to
fifteen cows was kept and the milk sold in high metal cans at whole-sale
for a few cents a quart. It was told of John McWilliam that when
one of his cows was found to be tubercular, he had the entire herd killed,
although not required by law to take such drastic action.
In addition to the horses
for the farm, the three daughters and the sons had saddle horses.
Elderly John Smith tool great joy in racing his fast Morgan horses, Bob
or Nagy or Lalla, at a race track eastward at Washington Hollow, and also
on the speedway, New York City. However, it was said that he never
gambled on these races.
After their marriages, the
three daughters, Jennie Wylie, Sarah Miller and Mary Barkley and their
families were given the use of the houses on property acquired by their
father, on the Turnpike toward Arlington. The houses used by the
Millers and Barkleys were colonial, but the one used by the Wylies was
newly built. Subsequently, after the Millers and Barkleys spent their
summers
elsewhere, when their children were older, David G. Wylie bought first
the Miller house, and, after renovating it, sold it and bought the Barkley
house. The Wylies spent their summers there until 1909, when they bought
property in Stony Brook, Long Island to be nearer to open water.
When the sixteen cousins,
all grandchildren of Sarah and John McWilliam were young and lived nearby
or visited the farm, they played together as one big, closely-knit family.
SARAH MCWILLIAM AND HER GRANDCHILDREN
Sarah Smith McWilliam was devoted to her grandchildren. When her granddaughters visited her home in the winter-time, she would inquire as to the number of petticoats they wore, and would caution them against the cold. It was a standing custom for Ava, the Swedish cook, to bake a four-layer chocolate cake on Saturdays, so that when the grandchildren stopped in on Sunday afternoon, each might have a large slice of the delicious cake. At Christmas and birthdays, "Grandma" McWilliam gave each of her grandchildren a silver spoon or a fork, mostly of Tiffany Colonial design, and Grandpa gave each child a $5.00 gold piece. When the grandsons married, "Grandma" filled out their sterling silver tableware and when the granddaughters married, she gave them each a check which paid for a silver tea service and a wedding dress. At first, the silver pieces were not appreciated, but in later life, the recipients agreed that "Grandma" was a wise woman.
THE DEATH OF JOHN SMITH AND OF SON JOHN MCWILLIAM
John Smith meanwhile was
growing old. His grandson, Dr. William H. McWilliam, describes him
as strong-featured, with a good jaw, rather high cheek bones, a good sized
straight nose, and large eyes. He was broad, deep-chested, narrow-hipped,
with long arms, rather large hands, and small feet. Because of his
high arches he always had his "boots" made to order. On a Sunday,
he wore a black broadcloth suit, trousers opening at the sides, a high
collar with stock, and a black cape lined with satin. He always carried
a gold-headed cane. In 1896, when in his 96th year, he died at his home
at 16 West 96th Street, Manhattan. He was buried in the Trinity Church
plot at Amsterdam Avenue and 156th Street. He left a considerable
fortune to his only child, Sarah McWilliam.
Three years later, on March
12, 1899, his son-in-law, John McWilliam died at the same address, and
was buried in the same cemetery.
LATE YEARS OF SARAH MCWILLIAM
Sarah Ann McWilliam, now
in her 68th year, mourned the loss of both her father and her husband.
However, her son Dr. William H. McWilliam, and his family continued to
live with her, so she was not alone. She continued to spend her winters
at her city home at 16 West 96th Street, Manhattan, and her summers on
the farm. However, as the First World War loomed on the horizon of
the United States, she remembered her experiences in the Civil war and
decided to give up her city home and move to the Farm. Her son William
and his family accompanied her. She enjoyed splendid health until
1919, when at the age of 89,
she suddenly suffered what apparently was a ruptured appendix, for
which it was felt she was too old to be operated upon. She died at
the farm on September 17, 1919 in her 90th year, and was buried in the
Trinity family plot.
About two years later her
son, Dr. William H. McWilliam, bought the farm from her estate. However,
he later sold it to take a smaller house at Moor's Mills, Dutchess County,
New York, where he continues to make his home, the only surviving child
of John and Sarah Smith McWilliam.
IV. THE JOHN MCWILLIAM'S GRANDCHILDREN: THE FOURTH GENERATION OF SMITH: THEIR DESCENDENTS TO THE FIFTH AND SIXTH GENERATION.
Now to continue with the
history of the six McWilliam children who grew up and married: John
Smith McWilliam died March 14, 1893, in his 37th year, and was buried first
in the family plot at Trinity Cemetery, but after the death of his wife,
Molly, his remains were buried beside her in Delhi, New York. John
Smith McWilliam and Molly Wheaton had one daughter, Grace Wheaton McWilliam
born on March 29,1885. She is the granddaughter of John McWilliam
and the great-grandchild of John Smith. She married in this city on October
21, 1903, William Allison Duncan, a banker, who later became vice-president
of the Farmers
Loan and Trust Company. At present the Duncans live at 156th
East 79th Street, Manhattan. The Duncans have five children who are
the fifth generation of Smiths and the fourth of McWilliams: John Vernon
Duncan, born November 5, 1904,
Helen Duncan Pain, born November 22, 1906, Frederick Gellan Duncan,
born April 24, 1911, Christine Stirling Morrison, born August 2, 1917,
and Jean Wheaton Duncan, born December 8, 1925.
John Vernon Duncan by his
first marriage to Margret Parsons on June 30, 1933, has one son, Michael
Stirling Duncan, born July 3, 1936. After this marriage was dissolved
by divorce, he married Ula Tenney on February 23, 1945, and has two children,
Helen Hollis Duncan, born June 5, 1947, and Peter Stirling Duncan, born
July 28, 1951.
Helen Duncan married Hugh
E. Paine on November 24, 1928. They have two children, Hugh E. Paine,
Jr., born September 19, 1930 and Molly Wheaton Paine, born June 11, 1936.
Frederick Duncan married
Janet Mullan on March 8, 1938, and they have a son, William Mullan Duncan,
born September 21, 1944. Christine Duncan Married Eric Hall Morrison on
October 3, 1940, and they have three children, Linda Hall Morrison, born
July 22, 1941, Jean Wheaton Morrison, born June 26, 1946 and Ann Stirling
Morrison, born March 17, 1948.
The fifth child of Grace
and Will Duncan, Jean Wheaton Duncan has
not yet married.
THE WYLIES
The oldest daughter of John
and Sarah McWilliam, Jennie McWilliam Wylie, died at the age of 52 on November
4, 1910 in the Manse of the Scotch Presbyterian Church at 10 West 96th
Street, Manhattan. She is buried in the Wylie plot at Kensico Cemetery,
New York. There her husband, Reverend David G. Wylie, Pd.D., D.D.,
who died in Stony Brook, Long Island, New York, in August of 1930, is also
buried.
The Wylies had five children.
Who are the fourth generation of the John Smith's family and the third
of John McWilliam's; Howard McWilliam Wylie, Jennie Dwight Wylie, David
Roswell Wylie, John McWilliam Wylie and Robert Stirling Wylie. Howard,
born July 12, 1885, in his grandmother's "big house" on the farm, was graduated
from New York University in 1906, as a mechanical engineer. For years he
was the Vice President and Sales Manager of the Nash Engineering Company
of South Norwalk, Connecticut, in which city, for the most part, he made
his home. He died there on December 26, 1944, and is buried in the
Wylie plot in Kensico Cemetery. He had married Alice Hutchinson in
Manhattan on August 1, 1918, by whom he is survived. They have one
daughter, Virginia Lawrence Wylie, born in Manhattan on August 10, 1919.
She is the fifth generation of the
Smith family in New York and the fourth of the McWilliam family.
Jennie Dwight Wylie, known
as "Jane", was born in Manhattan on March 20, 1887, and was graduated
from Barnard College, Columbia University, in 1909. A social service worker,
she served with the Y.M.C.A. Canteen in the First World War, later with
the American Red Cross Home Service and its liaison office at the Veteran's
Bureau, Manhattan. Subsequently, she was with the Personal Service
Department of the Veterans' Bureau, and still later with the Association
for the Improving the Condition of the Poor, which is now merged with the
Community Service Society. She has been attached to the Court of
General
Sessions in Manhattan, as a probation officer, for the past twenty-five
years. She and her brother, David, live at the Hotel Croydon, 12 East 86th
Street, Manhattan, and have a home in Stony Brook, Long Island.
David Roswell Wylie was
born in Manhattan on January 3, 1889. He was graduated from New York
University in 1911 with a B.S. degree and later received a degree in Civil
Engineering from the same University. In 1916 he was graduated from
Princeton Theological Seminary, where he won the William Henry Greene Fellowship
in Semitic Philology. He was pastor for 25 years of the Bethany Presbyterian
Church of the Bronx, New York City. He served in World War
I as a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy, and in World War II as Chaplain in the
U.S. Army and is retired from the Reserves, Army of the United States,
with the
rank of Colonel. He married Frances Phraner in Summit, New Jersey,
on May 26, 1934. They had no children. She died on June 20, 1945,
in Stony Brook, Long Island, and is buried in the Wylie Plot in Kensico
Cemetery.
John McWilliam Wylie, March
21, 1892, died at 10 West 96th Street, on September 17, 1910 of "black
diphtheria", six weeks before the death of his mother. In his 19th
year, he was a youth of great promise. He also is buried in the Wylie
plot in Kensico Cemetery.
Robert Stirling Wylie, born
January 5, 1899, at 10 West 96th Street, Manhattan, left Stevens Institute,
Hoboken, New Jersey, to join the United States Army Ambulance in December,
1917, during the First World War. He was attached to the French Army,
which awarded him a Croix de Guerre. He married Marjorie Kirkpatrick
Powell Flack on June 28, 1924 in Manhattan. They have
a son, Robert Stirling Wylie, Jr., born April 13, 1925, unmarried,
and a daughter, Jane Dwight Wylie, born August 2, 1929, who married Joseph
Ruperti Marshall at the Brick Presbyterian Church, Park Avenue, Manhattan,
on October 14,1950. These two are the fifth generation of Smiths and the
fourth of the McWilliam family. Robert Stirling Wylie, Sr. Served
also in the Second World War and was awarded the Legion of Merit by the
United States Army. He is a Colonel, in the U. S. Air force Reserve.
He, his wife and his son now make their home at 1060 Park Avenue,
Manhattan, and Stony Brook, Long Island.
THE MILLERS
Sarah McWilliam Miller died
at her home, 14 East 90th Street, Manhattan, on February 28, 1937.
She is buried in the Miller plot in Kensico Cemetery, as is her husband,
Henry F. Miller, who died at the Lake Placid Club, New York, in August
of 1951. The Millers had two children, Robert McWilliam Miller, born
in New York City on December 21,1885, and Marion Miller. Robert Miller
was a graduate of Columbia Law School. His first marriage was to
Marjorie Coolidge Lawrence, by whom he had one daughter Margaret Neil Miller,
born October 11, 1912. "Peggy" Miller's first marriage to James Chalmers
ended in divorce.
They had one son, Henry M. Chalmers born February 13, 1938, whose name
was subsequently changed to Neil Halsey Chalmers. Peggy Miller's
second marriage was to Amos T. Ferguson..
After the death of Robert
Miller's first wife, he married Etta Schneider, by whom he had a daughter,
Patricia Ann Miller, born September 8, 1925, and a son Robert McWilliam
Miller, born August 18, 1927. Later Robert Miller and Etta were divorced
and Robert married Countess Emily Biritslofskiya of St. Petersburg, Russia,
and subsequently Eleanor Johnston of San Francisco. By neither of these
wives had he children. He died in Palm Springs, California, on October
15,1943, and is buried in Riverside, California.
Robert Miller, Jr. Married
Shirley Peniston in 1948 and they have one child. Marion Miller,
born in Manhattan, on April 25, 1890, was graduated from Brearly School.
On February 17, 1917 in this city, she married David Bonner, a nephew of
Robert Bonner, one time owner of the New York Ledger and also owner of
the famous race horse "Maud S.". David Bonner was a graduate of Princeton
University. The marriage ended in a divorce. They have one
son, Henry Miller Bonner, born September 20, 1922, unmarried, who makes
his home with his mother at 14 East 90th Street, Manhattan, and at Loudon
Woods, Rye, New York.
THE ROBERT McWILLIAMS
The second son of John and Sarah McWilliam, Robert
McWilliam, died in garden City, Long Island, on May 5, 1945, and is buried
beside his wife, Augusta (who died in February, 1909) in the Nine Partners
Cemetery, Millbrook, New York.
They had three sons, John
Raymond, Robert Earl and Townsend Titus McWilliam, who are the fourth generation
of Smiths and the third of McWilliams. John Raymond McWilliam, born April
17, 1889, married Anna Crosby Anderson in New Canaan, Connecticut, on June
20, 1914. They have four children, Reverend John Raymond McWilliam,
born May 19, 1915, Franklin Anderson McWilliam, born October 12, 1919,
Hope Lockwood McWilliam, born April 2, 1923, now Mrs. Russlee Ford, and
Susan Titus McWilliam, born December 14, 1924, and now Mrs. Philip J. Stevens,
who are the fifth generation of Smiths and the fourth of McWilliam.
John McWilliam and Anna
Anderson were divorced and John McWilliam married Helen Burns, an attorney,
in Christ Church, Methodist, this city on November 27, 1946. There
is no issue of the marriage. He served as First Sergeant, Company
B, 7th Regiment, New York National Guard on the Texas border and
was discharged in January, 1917. John McWilliam, who is president
of the Corn Exchange Bank and Trust Company, New York City, and his wife,
Helen,
make their home at 50 Park Avenue, Manhattan.
John R. McWilliam's seven
grandchildren are the sixth generation of Smiths and the fifth of McWilliams.
Reverend John Raymond McWilliam by his marriage to Rosalind Secor in April,
1945, has two children, John Holt McWilliam born January 17, 1946 and Deborah
Hope McWilliam, born April 14, 1949. Franklin Anderson McWilliam by his
marriage to Claire Miller, has a daughter, Susanne Miller McWilliam, born
January 27, 1944. Hope McWilliam, by her marriage to Russell Ford,
has two children, Russell Ford, Jr., born May 12, 1947 and Hollis Millington
Ford, born February 28, 1950. Susan McWilliam and Philip J. Stevens
have two sons, Philip J. Stevens, Jr., born December 5, 1948 and Edward
Anderson Stevens, born August 17, 1950.
Robert Earl McWilliam, known
as "Rob", was born on January 18, 1891. He married Flora M. Durfee.
They had two sons, Robert McWilliam, born November 21, 1929 and Thomas
Henry McWilliam, born January 24, 1933, who were reared by
their mother's family in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. After his first
wife's death, "Rob" McWilliam married a second time but there is no issue.
Rob served with the 18th Engineers in France during the First World War.
He died in California in 1948 and is buried with his parents in Millbrook,
New York.
Townsend Titus McWilliam,
born October 8, 1892, married Alma Smith. He became Vice President of the
Kings County Trust Company, Brooklyn, New York. He died at his home in
Garden City, Long Island, on March 20, 1940, and is buried
beside his parents in Millbrook, New York. He had two children,
who are the fifth generation of Smith and the fourth of the McWilliam,
Robert Townsend McWilliam, born November 19, 1916, and Helen Green McWilliam,
born June 4, 1921. Robert T. McWilliam married Phyllis Hazelton, they had
two children, John Townsend McWilliam, born September 6, 1945, and Janet
Page McWilliam, born January 28, 1944.
THE JOHN TOWNSEND MCWILLIAMs
John Townsend McWilliam married
Susan Hayes Rhoades, May 11, 1968 in Roswell New Mexico at Espicopal Church.
They have two sons, Townsend Channing Mcwilliam, born January 28, 1976,
in Montgomery, Alabama in the Air Force hospital and Peter Rex McWilliam,
born October 28, 1977, in Montgomery, Alabama at the same Air Force hospital..
John and Susan H. Rhoades divorced in 1980. John Townsend McWilliam then
married his high school sweetheart, Susan Maire Franz on December 4, 1982
at Cross of Hope Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They have
no children between them.
John Townsend McWilliam lived his early childhood
in Hanover, New Hampshire. His father Robert T. McWilliam had moved
to Hanover to be close to his wifes parents, Sidney Channing Hazelton and
his wife Marion Gould. John and his sister Janet were sent to Santa Fe
New Mexico to live with Roberts sister, Helen Green Westcott and Roger
Jacjson Westcott in 1961. Robert returned to New Mexico one year later
after marrying Antoniet Marquitte in Brandon, VT. John attendted Harvey
Junior High and Santa Fe High. He loved to swim and became a member of
the swim club. He graduated from Santa Fe High in 1964 and went to
college at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM.
He was a member of the Navy ROTC program. He graduated from the University
in 1968 as an Ensign in the Naval Reserves. He married Susan (Sudi)
Hayes Rhoades, of Roswell, NM
on 11 May 1968. He missed his graduation so the family could
drive to West Point to be present for Sudi's brothers, Second Lt. Richard
Taylor Rhoades.
THE JOHN L. MacKAYs
Janet Page McWilliam married
John L. MacKay in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Church of the Holy Faith.
They have two daughters, Carrie Margaret Mac Kay, born July 13, 19
, and Sarah MacKay, born Jan 22, 19 .John and Janet McWilliam are
seventh generation of Smiths and the sixth of McWilliam.
Helen Green McWilliam married
Roger Jackson Westcott and they had two children, Mary Linda Westcott,
born and Jeffery Westcott, born. Roger Jeffery Westcott died on August
4, 1997 and is interred at the in Albuquerque, New Mexico. These grandchildren
of Townsend Titus McWilliam are the sixth generation of Smiths and the
fifth of McWilliam.
THE BARKLEYS
Mary McWilliam Barkley outlived her husband by many years. She died at St. Luke's Hospital, New York City , on June 25, 1945 and is buried in the Barkley plot in Stamford, Connecticut. She bore twin daughters, Anna McWilliam Barkley and Margaret Sterling Barkley, on October 21, 1938. Anna who married C. Milton Fessenden, died in Manhattan in March of 1938. Margaret who married Arthur Packer McKinstry, died in Stamford, Connecticut, in April, 1914. Neither twin left any issue.
THE WILLIAM H. McWILLIAM FAMILY
Dr. William H. McWilliam and Helen Cochran, (who
died in May, 1920), had three children. The first child was William
Henry McWilliam, Jr., born November 23, 1900, at 16 West 96th Street, Manhattan.
A graduate of Cornell University, he married Lily Ey on June 18, 1925 in
Manhattan. They have two children, who are the fifth generation of
Smiths and the fourth generation of McWilliam, Helen Susan McWilliam and
Lois Nan McWilliam. William and Lily McWilliam are living in Cynwyd Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Helen Susan McWilliam married Albert Hartley and has
two children, Bruce Hartley, born in 1948 and Susan Ann Hartley born on
August 4, 1950, who are of the sixth generation of the Smiths and the fifth
generation of the McWilliams.
The second child of Dr. William H. McWilliam, Thomas
Nelson McWilliam, was born on July 29, 1903, in Manhattan. He married
Mimi Boyd in Bronx County, this city. They have one child, Pamela
Boyd McWilliam, born July 9, 1947, and make their home at 235 East 22nd
Street, Manhattan. She is the fifth generation of Smiths and the
fourth of the McWilliams.
The Third child of Dr. William H. Barkley is Helen
Smith McWilliam, born July 28, 1911. She married George Minshall
Painter of Philadelphia, on July 21, 1934. They have two children,
Helen Jean Painter, born September 16, 1939, and George Minshall Painter,
born November 10, 1943, who are the fifth generation of Smiths and the
fourth generation of McWilliam. Of late the Painters have bought
a new home at 33 Rosedale Road, Overlook Hill, Philadelphia.