book:westley11
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died 1986 in Sidney, Delaware, NY. Married Leone Dann, Ninevah/ | died 1986 in Sidney, Delaware, NY. Married Leone Dann, Ninevah/ | ||
- | b. 1907, daughter of Elmer of Dannville. | + | b. 1907, daughter of Elmer Dann of Dannville, Broome, NY. |
^ Child (born in Sidney, Delaware, NY): ^^ | ^ Child (born in Sidney, Delaware, NY): ^^ | ||
| [[westley12|Westley Francis]] (" | | [[westley12|Westley Francis]] (" | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Note: The following article was written by Paul Carleton Seymour.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley01.jpg|}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | My dear grandfather. | ||
+ | gentleman? | ||
+ | over the 23 years of my life that luckily coincided with his. First, I have | ||
+ | to tell you that he was, foremost, a gregarious guy. Not like his son and | ||
+ | grandson that followed, who evidently caught more stoic genes from the | ||
+ | Dann's and Greene' | ||
+ | say back in those days, he had the "gift of gab" | ||
+ | that, as you can see by looking at the tree, he was the 6< | ||
+ | children, who were separated by 21 years from youngest to oldest. | ||
+ | boggles my more modern mind. I can't even imagine that situation, being the | ||
+ | 1< | ||
+ | |||
+ | As I recall, this shaped him in many ways. He spoke of his siblings more | ||
+ | like cousins than as brothers and sisters, with the notable exception of his | ||
+ | younger brother Clayton, to whom he was obviously very close. | ||
+ | because he occasionally spoke, with tears swelling in his eyes, of Clayton' | ||
+ | death at an early age, in a car accident. | ||
+ | and was just 24 years old. There seemed to be great debate over who was | ||
+ | driving the car. The official version was that Clayton had been driving, | ||
+ | but that both had been ejected from the car in a violent crash, I think, | ||
+ | against a big old oak tree. Grandpa refused to believe that Clayton had | ||
+ | been driving, as he considered him to be an outstanding driver. | ||
+ | say that Grandpa lost a very loved one at a young age. Photo of Clayton | ||
+ | somewhere in Connecticut around 1933. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley02.jpg|}}{{: | ||
+ | More memories-Grandpa loved to tell me stories when I was | ||
+ | a " | ||
+ | listened intently. | ||
+ | listening to my elders. | ||
+ | Wes, he told me about his days as a young man. He didn't lie, which as I've | ||
+ | learned, seems to be a relatively unique characteristic of the Seymour men. | ||
+ | He would tell me, with a distant look in his eye, while recalling his youth, | ||
+ | that he was quite a poker player, and pool player. | ||
+ | because like my father, I also loved to shoot some pool, and although I had | ||
+ | just started playing during Grampa' | ||
+ | the table at times. | ||
+ | of us could hold a candle to the "Old Man" | ||
+ | while he was in his 20's, a professional billiards player passed through | ||
+ | Deposit, NY, which evidently was his hangout, to give an exhibition. | ||
+ | Grandpa, being the hottest cue in town, showed up to see him do his thing. | ||
+ | After showing his stuff, the pro accepted challenges from the crowd, which | ||
+ | several guys took him up on, playing the best of 3 games. | ||
+ | challengers, | ||
+ | impressed with him that he asked him to travel around the country as his | ||
+ | partner. | ||
+ | the " | ||
+ | how to let you win, just barely, until you had the confidence to bet more | ||
+ | heavily, at which time, you were dead. But Grandpa was a home boy. He was | ||
+ | never a traveler, like I am. He said that he thought about it for a moment, | ||
+ | but had no interest in life on the road. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley03.jpg|}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | He also told me that in his younger days, before he met Grandma, that he was | ||
+ | a car salesman, and he augmented his commissions, | ||
+ | poker, and did quite well at it. This must have been in the 30's, during | ||
+ | the Depression. | ||
+ | and have a family. | ||
+ | starting to do well. He took a job on the line, met Grandma Leone Dann, who | ||
+ | had divorced her 1< | ||
+ | Richard D. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley04.jpg|}}Grandma and Uncle Dick Curtis about the time she and | ||
+ | Grandpa married. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Evidently, his old habits of drinking whiskey, playing poker, and shooting | ||
+ | pool were hard to leave behind. | ||
+ | He told me that Grandma had made him an ultimatum. | ||
+ | leave you", as he had had a losing night at the poker table, maybe the whole | ||
+ | paycheck, but I'm just guessing. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Grandma didn't play around. | ||
+ | told me that once Grandpa was criticizing her driving skills, and she pulled | ||
+ | over to the curb, got out, ordered Gramps out, and jumped in the passenger | ||
+ | seat, leaving Gramps to do the driving. | ||
+ | was serious. | ||
+ | married for about 40 years thereafter, until death they departed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Grandma told me stories about the days of the Great Depression, which like | ||
+ | all who lived through it, affected them greatly. | ||
+ | seeing men on the street who were obviously hungry. | ||
+ | waitressing in the old Hotel DeCumber in Sidney, and taking in ironing to | ||
+ | support young Dick, she would invite some of them home for a meal. That | ||
+ | impressed me a lot, and I find myself doing similar things for others in my | ||
+ | lifetime. | ||
+ | Coast, Florida, after shooting some pool with him, because although not | ||
+ | poor, he was lonely. | ||
+ | Switzerland, | ||
+ | together. | ||
+ | |||
+ | To her dying days, Grandma never thought anyone had enough food to eat. She | ||
+ | was a great cook, and loved to fatten up all of her " | ||
+ | Dick, Dick's 2 sons, Andrew and David, and not least, me. When we got | ||
+ | together at Easter and Thanksgiving, | ||
+ | a pancake eating contest. | ||
+ | hand, while Gramps scurried around following orders and providing crucial | ||
+ | support, we would easily eat 6-8 buttermilk pancakes, heaped with butter and | ||
+ | pure, local made maple syrup, // | ||
+ | decadence that Grandpa was able to provide with his union job at the | ||
+ | factory. | ||
+ | was about 9 or 10 years old, and cook it for me himself. | ||
+ | trying to show me some of the finer things in life, which he learned as the | ||
+ | son of a relatively wealthy father. | ||
+ | tenderloin first, and tell me I should eat that before it got cold. The | ||
+ | traditional Sunday afternoon pot roast, and occasional leg of lamb or | ||
+ | standing rib roast (prime rib), with mashed potatoes and gravy, and maybe | ||
+ | creamed peas are also a great memory. | ||
+ | both spoiled me miserably, but I think that's a good insight for now. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Back to my original point, they had survived the times of economic disaster, | ||
+ | and with their relative comfort, enjoyed making sure that those they loved | ||
+ | would never have to endure any such thing as long as they were around to say | ||
+ | something about it. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley05.jpg|}}Leone Dann Seymour about 1960 | ||
+ | |||
+ | That's not to say they were rich. Grandma lost her mother when she was | ||
+ | young, and was raised by her older sisters in Oneonta | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley06.jpg|}}Grandma with her Mom, Elizabeth Humiston Dann, and an | ||
+ | older sister, Ethel about 1909. She looked a lot like her Mom. Growing up | ||
+ | without her mother was a painful memory for Grandma. | ||
+ | nothing about the Humistons. | ||
+ | old German/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley07.jpg|}}Grandma, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Grandpa, being the youngest surviving son of a relatively well off family, | ||
+ | saw nothing of the inheritance when his father died. He received a gold | ||
+ | plated pocket knife, on a heavy gold chain, inscribed with the letter C for | ||
+ | Clinton, from his father, which I still have. All of the other assets of | ||
+ | Great Grandpa Clinton went to older siblings. | ||
+ | Cannonsville, | ||
+ | provide water for NYC, it was Grandpa who moved the graves of his parents | ||
+ | and brothers to the Sidney cemetery, which I assume wasn't cheap. | ||
+ | |||
+ | But he had the life that he wanted. | ||
+ | I think, with Cintilla, which then became Bendix, as a union guy back when | ||
+ | union workers did very well for themselves. | ||
+ | Korean and Vietnam wars, the factory, and therefore Sidney, boomed with fat | ||
+ | government contracts to make plane and helicopter parts. | ||
+ | that he had been offered management positions, but back in those days, an | ||
+ | hourly union employee would have been foolish to accept a salaried job, | ||
+ | making time and a half for overtime and night shifts, and double time for | ||
+ | Sundays and holidays. | ||
+ | same time that he retired. | ||
+ | well the cards which he was dealt. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He also loved nature, as did Dad and still do I. He would take me on Sunday | ||
+ | drives in the rolling hills of Delaware County on dirt roads, with a pair of | ||
+ | binoculars, and we would spot birds. | ||
+ | ever met. Beautifully. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He loved cars, which seems to have come from the Cuyle family, and this was | ||
+ | definitely passed on to both his son, Skip, and grandson, Paul as well, and | ||
+ | maybe to you. He always had a big Chevy, in my time (1960' | ||
+ | Impalas and a Monte Carlo, always with a monster V-8, which he always | ||
+ | maintained meticulously at Whitaker' | ||
+ | during WWII, he had bought a hot Pontiac, before his Chevy days. He was the | ||
+ | king of the road around Sidney in that thing. | ||
+ | while, some Air Force Officer came knocking at the door offering to buy it | ||
+ | from him. Grandpa was suspicious about why this guy wanted to buy it so | ||
+ | badly, and eventually got the story out of him, (remember, you can't | ||
+ | bullshit a bullshitter) and it turned out that the car was some sort of Air | ||
+ | Force experimental car shoehorned with an airplane motor. | ||
+ | loved a good story, and decided that having such a special car, and the | ||
+ | story behind it, was worth more than the profit the Gov't was offering, so | ||
+ | he kept it. Good for him. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Lastly, Grandma firmly instilled in me a strong lack of fear of death. | ||
+ | was a remarkably spiritual person. | ||
+ | //every// night in bed before going to sleep. | ||
+ | it was a large part of their lives. | ||
+ | viewed as completely unnecessary. | ||
+ | business, more than anything else, and they never found it necessary to | ||
+ | visit any particular building in order to believe what they were sure was | ||
+ | true. Faith shouldn' | ||
+ | there definitely is something beyond this terrestrial life that we lead, | ||
+ | although I'm not sure what it is, I am sure that there is something. | ||
+ | guess like Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Constitution, | ||
+ | personally believe that we may be like caterpillars. | ||
+ | limited 3 dimensional world, with death providing the metamorphosis which | ||
+ | allows us to experience a 4< | ||
+ | a butterfly, maybe, after living as a grub. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She taught me this lack of fear through the following. | ||
+ | this with all seriousness, | ||
+ | gotten her burned at the stake a couple of short centuries earlier. | ||
+ | the story of the hermitess in Ridgefield? | ||
+ | of an above average intelligent man. As such, I don't believe anything that | ||
+ | I can't see, and touch, with my own hands or eyes as the case may be. One | ||
+ | day, when I was about 10, after a fair amount of pestering from me, they | ||
+ | began to tell me some more stories. | ||
+ | a local farmer to find water on his land, in order to drill a well. | ||
+ | Drilling at random on several acres can be quite costly, and he'd heard of | ||
+ | Grandma' | ||
+ | did. Even as a young boy, I was very skeptical. | ||
+ | thinking, "yeah, right, show me", which I in fact said. They exchanged a | ||
+ | quick glance, and then Grandma started issuing orders. | ||
+ | complied. | ||
+ | River, and with his trusty pocket knife, cut off a Y shaped switch about 3/4 | ||
+ | of an inch thick at the base, and diminishing in width outwards, so | ||
+ | flexible. | ||
+ | the back yard, and she held the 2 sections of the Y shaped branch in each of | ||
+ | her hands, palms up, at the very ends. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The thicker part of the branch extended out about a yard. Remember that I'm | ||
+ | quite skeptical, but also fascinated. | ||
+ | across the back yard, with her arms extended, holding the branch in front of | ||
+ | her, sticking about 3 feet out. As she walked, at a certain point, the end | ||
+ | of the branch, out in front of her, started to bob up and down slightly. | ||
+ | She said, "here it is" and stepped a foot or two forward. | ||
+ | forward, the end of the branch, which was not in her hands, bowed markedly | ||
+ | downwards. | ||
+ | would. | ||
+ | switch was moving //a lot// and finally bowed down at almost a 90 degree | ||
+ | angle. | ||
+ | impossible scientifically. | ||
+ | still remain skeptical. | ||
+ | you happen to believe the story I just told you, it will make it easier to | ||
+ | believe the stories that follow. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I found in my Dann research that an ancestor of Leone' | ||
+ | for witchcraft in Connecticut! | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | B. Lapham, 1892] Elizabeth was tried at Fairfield, Connecticut, | ||
+ | witchcraft. She was found not guilty. An account of this trial is found in | ||
+ | the article, " | ||
+ | Stamford Historical Society, Inc. Stamford, Connecticut, | ||
+ | was taken from that article: A large contingency of Elizabeth' | ||
+ | shared the same strong faith in her innocence by subscribing their names to | ||
+ | an affidavit attesting to her good character. Despite the wide-spread belief | ||
+ | in the existence of witchcraft and the punishment prescribed for its | ||
+ | practice, these residents of Stamford stood firm. The testimony to the good | ||
+ | character of the accused Elizabeth was a valiant act, perhaps something | ||
+ | unique at that time in Connecticut history. "Oer neighbour Stephen Clason | ||
+ | haueing desired us whose names are under writen: seing here is such a report | ||
+ | of his wife raised by sume among us: that we would speak: waht we know | ||
+ | conserning his said wife and her behauiour among us for so many yeers now | ||
+ | know al whom it may consern that we doe declare that since we haue known our | ||
+ | said neighbour goodwife Clason we haue not known her to be of a contentious | ||
+ | frame nor giuen to use threatning words or to act malisiously towards her | ||
+ | neighbors but hath bene siuil and orderly towards others in her conuersation | ||
+ | and not to be a busybody in other mens conserns: giuen under our hands in | ||
+ | Stanford: 4th June: 1692." (Signed by her neighbors but not by her son-in- | ||
+ | law, Francis Dann and daughter, Elizabeth Clason Dann.)" | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Elizabeth Clauson was Francis' | ||
+ | way. On or about the same day that I found and included this article, I | ||
+ | also read an article here (Colombia) in an on-line newspaper, in which | ||
+ | people in this, and other parts of the world, still believe in witches. | ||
+ | woman who reads palms, and communicates with the dead was run out of her | ||
+ | village and almost killed by an angry mob after 5 women who she had recently | ||
+ | performed some service for suddenly fell to the ground and started | ||
+ | convulsing. | ||
+ | had to be escorted out by police to avoid being hung. This is not in the | ||
+ | 1600' | ||
+ | |||
+ | I had to think a while before even sharing this, but I decided that since | ||
+ | it's a fact of my life, I should share it, and if you happen to think I'm | ||
+ | nuts, then so be it. Grandma and I had an almost perfect telepathy. | ||
+ | could communicate without talking. | ||
+ | something that I've also had with a few other very close people in my life | ||
+ | as well, but never so completely. | ||
+ | but I know that it exists, and that we weren' | ||
+ | certain percentage of the population that knows exactly what I'm talking | ||
+ | about. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Last, but not least, Grandma had a weak heart. | ||
+ | attacks starting when she was about 60, and had 3 or 4 major attacks before | ||
+ | she died. She was clinically " | ||
+ | life experiences" | ||
+ | on the side of, well, the brain continues to function, and coupled with | ||
+ | adrenaline, etc, can do some strange things. | ||
+ | incidence, and the fact of the telepathy, I'm more apt to think about some | ||
+ | other reason. | ||
+ | version of the story. | ||
+ | question. | ||
+ | She saw a bright light and had a deep desire to reach it, then THUMP, back | ||
+ | to the real world. | ||
+ | with a warm voice, about her life. The last was longer and more elaborate. | ||
+ | She was on a beautiful crystal lake, and rowing a boat to the other side, | ||
+ | and she was extremely serene and happy. | ||
+ | was very calm, and looked me in the eye, and said, "Paul, you don't have any | ||
+ | reason to fear death, I don't, it's something wonderful, but of course, in | ||
+ | your time" | ||
+ | advantage in life, ironically enough. | ||
+ | been much more afraid of dying with the regrets that go along with an un- | ||
+ | lived life. | ||
+ | |||
+ | You should take a look in the appendix at the Dann family tree. | ||
+ | {{dann_tree.xlsx}} | ||
+ | It's another pioneer, colonial American family that settled at least two towns in | ||
+ | New York, and at least another, being the Town of Abington, Luzerne County, | ||
+ | Pennsylvania. | ||
+ | Barbados, after his father, John Dan was an early English settler from | ||
+ | Cumberland County, England of that Island around the same time that Richard | ||
+ | Seymour went to Hartford. | ||
+ | about 40 years after it was founded. | ||
+ | neighbors in CT, about 300 years before Wes and Leone married, as Stamford | ||
+ | is in Fairfield County near Norwalk. | ||
+ | Norwich, NY in 1794. One of his sons, who was my GGGG Grandfather Philip | ||
+ | Dann, then settled Danville, NY in Broome County, which is next to Delaware | ||
+ | County, in the 1840' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Danville, NY I discovered by accident, is where Clara Barton was living when | ||
+ | she founded the American Red Cross. | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | traveling the world, and becoming a famous nurse, why she settled at the | ||
+ | crossroads of Danville, NY is a mystery to me. She also brought about the | ||
+ | US ratification of the Geneva Convention while living there. | ||
+ | read her biography at the link, she was a very interesting person. | ||
+ | |||
+ | OK, back to the Seymours. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I should also note that Gramps was a devout member of the Masonic Lodge. | ||
+ | One of his dying wishes was that I should have his Masonic ring, which of | ||
+ | course, I still have. Regrettably, | ||
+ | but I still might one day. If it was that important to him, then I should | ||
+ | respect his death wish, and maybe become a member, or at least learn more | ||
+ | about it. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I think I've painted fairly well what great people Wes and Leone Seymour | ||
+ | were. To this day, I cherish the memories, and wish they were still here to | ||
+ | share life with, and to laugh. | ||
+ | New York, was always a warm, safe haven, both when I was a kid, and later | ||
+ | when I was a young man, and needed to regroup and find my way. Keith | ||
+ | Robinson, my dear old best friend from Bridge Street, where are you? | ||
+ | Remember the daily baseball game after school at the Willow Street park? | ||
+ | Those were the good times, weren' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Old postcard of 41 Bridge Street around 1900. During my childhood the old | ||
+ | round porch started to rot after a hundred or so tough winters. | ||
+ | the early 1970's to build a round porch was quite a lot more than a plain | ||
+ | old rectangular one. It broke all of our hearts, but we got used to it. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley08.jpg|}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | That skinny little tree in front, in the far right of this photo taken | ||
+ | around 1900, was about 4 feet in diameter when we were kids. We used to | ||
+ | rake the leaves into a pile and jump into it, which was an old ruse used by | ||
+ | adults to get kids to do the raking chore. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Grandma and Grandpa on the porch. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley09.jpg|}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | Grandma and me on the porch during a trip I made up from Florida on a break | ||
+ | between semesters in College during 1986. I used to drive the 280Z up from | ||
+ | Jacksonville to Sidney, 1080 miles exactly from driveway to driveway. | ||
+ | would usually start out at 5 AM and drive straight through to about 8 PM. | ||
+ | Of course, not wasting much time, and dodging the state troopers with a | ||
+ | radar detector. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley10.jpg|}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | Here's a photo of the 280Z in front of Great Aunt Carrie' | ||
+ | Oneonta, NY- This was a cool old house, which at this time Aunt Carrie, | ||
+ | about 90 years old but sharp as a tack, had modified in order to rent out | ||
+ | several rooms on the second and third floors to college students. | ||
+ | there was a stable built for about 5 horses instead of a garage, as the | ||
+ | house was built before the days of cars, and never converted, I guess. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley11.jpg|}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | Photo out behind the barn of Grandma and Grandpa' | ||
+ | Susquehanna River. | ||
+ | small boy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley12.jpg|}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gramps was a big fan of the old west, and I used to love to sit up and watch | ||
+ | an old western movie on TV with him. Here's a favorite photo of mine taken | ||
+ | in Ocala, Florida. | ||
+ | were retired, they would come down and spend the winter months near us. | ||
+ | This picture was taken at Six Gun Territory, an Ocala Wild West theme park, | ||
+ | where we would get off to on many occasions. | ||
+ | town, and there would be a daily gunfight, with stunt men falling off roofs, | ||
+ | etc. We must have seen the same show 10 times, but never got tired of it. | ||
+ | This photo is proudly displayed in my home to this day. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley13.jpg|}}Mom used to cut my hair. What can I say....I' | ||
+ | which bowl she used for this one......Trust me though, the other kids at | ||
+ | school didn't have the guts to say anything about it. Another thing I see | ||
+ | in this picture, Grandpa liked to always be dressed well. Here we are, in | ||
+ | Ocala, Florida at 95 degrees and extremely humid. | ||
+ | around this time that on the local news it would be reported that Ocala was | ||
+ | the hottest city in the nation. | ||
+ | pair of wool trousers, and decent shirt with wing tips on. Usually, instead | ||
+ | of a baseball cap, he would be in a dress hat, a la 1940' | ||
+ | trait that definitely wasn't passed on to either Skip or me. We're the | ||
+ | jeans and T-shirt variety. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another picture of gramps and me playing Jarts or Lawn Darts a few later | ||
+ | while I was visiting them in Sidney | ||
+ | more reasonable, out in back of the barn. He and I were an unbeatable team | ||
+ | to the great frustration of the neighbors. | ||
+ | make a ringer whenever the score got close. | ||
+ | I guess. | ||
+ | infinite wisdom, outlawed Jarts. | ||
+ | around in his grave. | ||
+ | William would think about the US Government trying to tell them what game | ||
+ | they could or couldn' | ||
+ | liked to have seen the face of the poor bureaucrat who drew the short stick | ||
+ | and had to go and tell Capt. Matthew, for example, that he'd have to stop | ||
+ | playing jarts now or he'd be arrested. Hah! But in the 1970' | ||
+ | unbelievably up to today, Americans actually swallow that kind of garbage. | ||
+ | Amazing......What happened???? | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{westley14.jpg|}}Here we are, breaking the law...somebody call the cops. | ||
+ | Oh well, I guess we got away with that one. On to the next generation. | ||
book/westley11.txt · Last modified: 2011/07/05 09:44 by paulseymour