~ FLORA B BLISS ~ ~ A Tribute ~
BY DANNY McCARTHY
Flora Boomer Bliss
Birth:?Sep. 2, 1871 Death:?Jul. 5, 1953
On Wednesday afternoon, July 8th, a group of friends gathered together in the Presbyterian Cemetery of Southold before the Bliss family plot for a simple service at the grave of Mrs Flora B Bliss, a former resident of the village who had passed away at her home in New York, July 5th.
After forty odd years ago, Mrs Bliss, widow of John A Bliss of Brooklyn and Southold, moved wiht her four children, Barbara, Elinor, Lyman and John, from their home at the foot of Maple Lane, now the residence of Artur M Joost, to Brooklyn and later to New York. Previous to that time, during their decade and more of life in Southold, the John A Bliss family lived in close association with the people and the various aspects of Southold activity. It is not often that a family who has not had life-long residence in a village and has been removed by distance of miles and years is held in such close and affectionate remembrance as the Bliss family is found to be held. Flora Boomer Bliss has been one of the reasons for this.
Her mind, character and vitality of interest in the betterment of village life left their permanence in the memories of the townspeople of her generation and the generation of her children. They do not forget her participation in every good work performed by the Ladies Village Improvement Society of her era; nor do the members of the Universalist Church forget her devotion in church activity, her ideals and enthusiasm for better church growth, in the time of Rev William H Murray. The Tuesday Morning Club of which she was a charter member, the cultural groups of that time, Shakespeare, Browning, history classes, lecture course, all benefitted by her alert and urgent spirit. Mrs Bliss was a wise, practical woman with a vision balanced and guided by straight thinking.
Her home was a place for public gatherings, and also a place for good friends to seek. The large house and spacious grounds bordering Creekside were enjoyed by many a Southolder. The brick, ivy-covered gate-posts were climbing spots for children -- so, the apple and peach orchards, the hay-mow and surrey and buggy in the attractive red brick barn. Old "Molly", the horse, carried the Lane children behind her to picnics, swims, dancing lessons and on rainy days, to school. When the Bliss family left Southold, they did not leave friendships behind them but carried them on, with them, in their hearts. Southold did likewise.
And thus it was, that when Mrs Flora B Bliss who had lived a long, active and useful life, was brought to Southold to her final resting place, the friends who met with the family at the cemetery remembered all the associatons which had endeared her to them and to the Village. Rev Matthias R Heilig conducted a service such as she would have liked well, herself, characterized by its large thought of universal love and the progress of the human spirit, which was her guiding principle and religion.
The immediate surviving members of Mrs Bliss' family to whom the sympathy of the friends in the community is extended are her daughter, Barbara A Bliss, her two sons, Lyman Bliss and John Bliss, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Eulogy written by Ann Hallock Currie-Bell and published in The Watchman on July 23, 1953 p9
Family links:?
?Spouse:
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*Calculated relationship
?Burial:
Southold
Suffolk County
New York, USA?
Created by:?Joy Ann Strasser
Record added: Oct 11, 2009?
Find A Grave Memorial# 42958068
ROSE B RILEY GRATTAN
Birth:?
Apr. 6, 1876
Death:?
Nov. 20, 1958
ROSE RILEY GRATTAN
Rose Riley Grattan, wife of James M Grattan, passed away November 20, at her home on Youngs Avenue in Southold. Mrs Grattan had been a resident and active community worker in this village for over fifty years, coming to live here at the time of her marriage in 1905. Her sudden passing brought sorrow to many friends.
She was born in Calverton, one of the youngest of fourteen children of John and Catherine Sammon Riley. She spent her early years in Calverton, attending the nearest school which was in Baiting Hollow and finished her education in the Riverhead High School.
Mrs Grattan, when she was Rose Riley, will be well remembered in Mattituck as part of the life at "Mattituck House" when the old Inn stood at the crossroads corner of the Main Road. She was there for some years helping her brothers George H Riley and William T Riley who owned and managed that hostelry.
It was there that James M Grattan, son of the late Daniel W Grattan, met and wooed and won Rose Riley. They were married November 30, 1905, in the Sacred Heart Church, Cutchogue, by the Rev Father Lynch. Mrs James M Grattan came to Southold as a bride to the new homestead on Youngs Avenue, Southold, which had been prepared for her. In the following years their children were born, Catherine R, Alice M, James R who died in 1954 and Jerome F Grattan.
Mrs Grattan participated actively in church and civic work. She was a member of St Patrick's RC Church and of the Rosary Society; of the Southold Sunshine Society; the Southold Grange; one of the first members of the Home Bureau and one of the five women who started the Parent-Teachers Association. Over various periods of the past she was associated with the Ladies Village Improvement Society, with the Browning Society and her great interest can be recalled in the 1915 as well as the 1940 Town Anniversary Celebrations.
Dependable, capable, with boundless energy, enthusiasm and good cheer, Rose Grattan filled a most worth place in church and community life; esteemed and loved always as a good friend. Her warm heart and quick sympathy have helped many people in time of trouble. Her fortitude during personal bereavement has been admirable.
The day of November 30, 1955 was the date of the Fifieth Wedding Anniversary of the James M Grattans. It was celebrated amidst a large gathering of family members and of friends. One realized at that time the happiness and close unity of her family circle; and that Rose Grattan, with her many outside interests was essentially a home-loving person and home-maker, a devoted wife and mother.
At St Patrick's Church, Southold, November 24th at 9:30 o'clock, Requiem Mass for Rose Riley Grattan was sung by Rev Father Mortimer Gleason. He was assisted by Father Peter Baker. Eugene Duffy, one of the grandsons, served the Mass. Interment was in the family plot at St Patrick's Cemetery.
Mrs Grattan is survived in her immediate family by her husband James M Grattan; two daughters, Catherine R Grattan of Soutold, and Alice M, Mrs Eugene Duffy of Forest Hills; a son Jerome F Grattan of New Brunswick, NJ; two sisters Susan and Sarah Riley of Greenport; and ten grandchildren. To them, the sincere sympathy of the community is offered.
Eulogy written by Ann Hallock Currie-Bell and published in The Long Island Traveler-Mattituck Watchman on Dec 4, 1958 pp1&3
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??Rose B?Riley?Grattan (1876 - 1958)
? *Calculated relationship
? Burial:
Southold
Suffolk County
New York, USA
? Created by:?Joy Ann Strasser
Record added: Aug 30, 2009?
Find A Grave Memorial# 41333645
Added by:?Joy Ann Strasser
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Added by:?Paul1957
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Birth:?
Mar. 7, 1873
Death:?
Nov. 22, 1959
b. Ulmet, in Rhine valley, Germany, dau of Jacob FICKEISSEN and Emma HAUSER, m. 1895 Universalist Church, Southold Melrose I BOOTH
BERTHA F BOOTH
Bertha Fickeissen Booth, Mrs Melrose I Booth, passed away Nov 22nd, a the North Road Nursing Home, Greenport. Mrs Booth was in her 87th year and had been a resident of Southold for about seventy years. Born March 7, 1873, in a little village of the Rhine Valley, Germany, she came as a young girl of seventeen to Southold. In 1895 she was joined in marriage with Melrose I Booth at the Universalist Church by Rev FG Leonard.
Melrose Booth built their home on the Main Road of Southold across the way from the old homestead of his grandfather Barnabas H Booth. In this home five children were born, Clement W, Robert I, Emma E, Helen L and Esther T.
One of Mrs Booth's first civic interests was the establishment of a kindergarten in the Southold school soon after it was built at the turn of the century on Oaklawn Ave. This was the first school kindergarten in the village which she and other Southold women brought about. It was under the instruction of Miss Elizabeth Elmer and is well remembered by many of the now grown-up little children as an important and happy part of their lives.
In that same period the Ladies' Village Improvement Society was functioning. The band of women, with Bertha Booth one of them, worked hard and long for the civic betterment of the community.
When spray was first produced for the protection of trees and plants, Mrs Booth saw the need for the preservation of village beauty and helped to collect a fund for the spraying of trees along Southold's Main and side roads. She took a a particular pride and joy in our beautiful, old streets for whose planting in large part we were thankful in the nineteenth century to Israel Peck.
Mrs Booth was a charter member of the Southold Grange; a life member of the American Legion Women's Auxiliary; and probably the oldest living member of the Southold Universalist Church. In her church, as a young girl, she sang in the choir and became a devoted worker in the Ladies' Society.
Although Mrs Booth gave her good share of interest and work to community life, she was essentially a home person. With years upon her, she kept her youthful spirit as well as appearance, her bright smile of greeting and her warm feeling for the friends who had long been hers throughout her life. One remembers the times of gracious friendly calls and talks with her, the gifts of first strawberries and baskets of vegetables from the garden, the strength and determination of her mind on matters which meant much to her, and the ever-young interest in the present day world about her. She was indeed a remarkable and remarkably preserved little person as she, with courage and cheerfulness, bore her years.
Funeral services for Mrs Booth were held at the DeFriest Funeral Home Nov 25th at 1:30. Rev James Alcock, pastor of the Universalist Church, conducted them. The burial took place in Willow Hill cemetery where she was laid to rest in the Booth family plot.
The immediate family who survive Mrs Bertha Fickeissen Booth are her two daughters, Miss Helen L Booth, New York, and Mrs Esther Terry Wiley, Chatham, New Jersey; her two sons, Clement W Booth and Robert I Booth, Southold; six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. To them, the sympathy of the community is sincerely extended.
Eulogy written by Anne Hallock Currie-Bell and published in The Long Island Traveler- Mattituck Watchman on Dec 3, 1959 p2.
Family links:?
?Spouse:
?Children:
?*Calculated relationship
Burial:
Southold
Suffolk County
New York, USA
Created by:?Joy Ann Strasser
Record added: Oct 24, 2012?
Find A Grave Memorial# 99517630
Added by:?Joy Ann Strasser
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