Elwood Family Obituaries
Herkimer County, New York
This informative collection of Elwood family obits was contributed by
Julie Litts Robst!
Henry D. Elwood
(Excerpts from newspapers found in a scrapbook of Mrs. Carrie Blanch Allen.)
"The funeral of Henry D. Elwood was held near Mindenville yesterday. Mr. Elwood was born near
Starkville and was 80 years of age. He was the son of David Elwood and his wife, Nancy Baum,
well known and respected citizens of Stark. Richard Elwood, the founder of the family, came
to American in 1748 from England. He located on a farm now owned by Amos Klock, two miles
east of St. Johnsville. In 1750 he built the stone house still standing there and which
was used in the seven years' war and the revolutionary war as a fort. Peter Elwood, a
son of Richard, died in "83" at the age of 77 years, losing his way and becoming bewildered
one winter night and perishing from the inclemency of the weather. His son, David, who died
at Starkville in July 1859, was the father of Henry D. Milton. Members of the family are
living in various parts of the country. Henry D. Elwood formerly resided in the Freysbush
neighborhood, Minden, but in 1863 he removed from Indian Castle to the vicinity of Amsterdam,
where he has since resided. He was the last of the six children of David Elwood, and was a
consistent member of the M. E. Church. He is survived by his wife, born Anna Klock, a sister
of Hiram of the Town of St. Johnsville, and one son, Emory Ellwood."
Phillip Henry Elwood
NEWSPAPER OBITUARY
May 18, 1922 Little Falls Times
Philip H. Elwood Was A Man Who Had A Strong Personality -
Dr. Kimm Pays a Splendid Tribute to Well Known Citizen of Stark Who Died a Few Days Ago--
Deceased Was A Gentleman of the Old School--
Took Up Bee Culture and Became One of the Leading Apiarists in the Country--
A Man of Study Characteristics.
In this day of hero worship, not far removed from the glamor of war, we are apt to
forget that there are great men living their lives in the quiet obscurity of the farm
whose influence extends far beyond the confines of the neighborhood in which they were
born and reared. Not only thro their personality and by their writings, but by the lives
of carefully reared children has their influence become much more than statewide. Such a
man was Philip H. Elwood, late of the town of Stark, in Herkimer county. Born of a long
line of distinguished ancestors he lived true to the family traditions, of unswerving
loyalty to the highest ideals that can influence the actions of men. Someone has said
that the proper way to train a child is to first train his grandparents. Certainly the
grandparents of the subject of this sketch were finely cultured people. The first Elwood of
whom we have a record was Thomas Elwood, a man greatly honored by the Quakers of England
in the early part of the 17th century. The principal part of his education was received
from the poet, Milton, and the world is indebted to Thomas Elwood for the inspiration that
produced that literary masterpiece, Milton's "Paradise Regained." It was to this Elwood
that Milton submitted his poem, "Paradise Lost" for criticism, and it was he who looked after
the financial affairs of William Penn in England while the latter was laying the foundation
of the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A descendant of Thomas Elwood, one Richard Elwood,
with his family, came to America in 1748 and, like other sturdy pioneers of those day, he
set about to establish a home in the wilderness. He lived long enough to build a stone
house near the present site of St. Johnsville, and, what is better, to start a family
whose descendants have done well their part in molding the character of American institutions.
Four of his sons were Richard, Isaac, Benjamin and Peter. The late Senator Arthur Elwood of
Richfield was a son of Richard. General Elwood was a son of Isaac. Colonel Henry Elwood
of Danube was a son of Peter and Senator Elwood of Wisconsin was a grandson. David Elwood,
a descendant of the younger Peter, settled in Stark in 1813 and he took a very prominent
part in the social and political affairs of the times. His four sons, Daniel of Mohawk,
Henry of Amsterdam, Moses and David of Stark, inherited much of their father's sagacity
for community leadership. One of the sons of Moses graduated from the University of
Michigan and became prominent in the affairs of the Methodist denomination. Another son,
the subject of this sketch, became one of the most widely known beekeepers in these United
States. David and Moses married sisters from the Springer family, thus mingling in their
children the blood of two of the prominent families from the earliest colonial days. Thus,
in leading up to the life of Mr. Elwood, I have endeavored to show that parents transmit
individual characteristics to their children, and that these characteristics continue thro
many generations. From the days of Milton to the present the sturdy honesty and simplicity
of the English Quakers has been the dominant characteristic of the Elwoods, now scattered
throughout the United States, descendants of that Richard who settled in the Mohawk valley
in 1748. Philip H. Elwood, the son of Moses and Christina Springer Elwood, was born on the
farm which he owned at his death, in the year 1847. Nearly all his life was spent in his
native town. He easily outclassed his schoolmates in the old time district schools and he
took high rank in his classes in the early days of the then famous Cazenovia Seminary. To
help himself prepare for his chosen profession, the law, he taught several terms in his
home and nearby schools. As a teacher he was known as a strict disciplinarian, and yet in
a day when it was the rule to thrash big boys for minor offenses he seldom punished a
pupil. He believed in through, painstaking study and he gained the reputation of being
one of the best district school teachers of those rough and tumble days. Later he went
to Michigan and became principal of a school in Grand Blanc. Here he learned at first
hand the advantages of a township system for country schools and all the later years of
his life he argued and preached the merits of that system. When his own children were
prepared to leave the district school he tried in vain to get the village of Starkville
to start a graded school, that the larger children of the township might be educated at
home, rather than to send them ten miles away to Fort Plain. Mr. Elwood's health failing,
he gave up teaching, as well as his chosen profession of the law, to become an apiarist.
His limitless patience and capacity for detail made him not only one of the best known men
in the United States, but he became an acknowledged authority on the diseases of bees. He
was a prolific writer for beekeeping magazines and his articles carried with them the
weight of experience and an exactness born of careful study. No less a man than E. R. Root
of Ohio said that "The suggestions of Philip H. Elwood practically revolutionized the
manufacturing of bee supplies". Mr. Elwood was often called upon for expert advice in
settling disputes and misunderstandings arising between men engaged in this occupation,
and such was the confidence placed in his good judgment that his advice was usually
followed. For some years he was in partnership with Captain J. E. Hetherington of Cherry
Valley, but later he withdrew to carry on the business alone. At one time he had over a
thousand swarms of bees, at that time making him one of the largest, if not the largest,
bee keeper in the United States. It was Mr. Elwood's custom each spring to divide these
into small colonies and place them in various parts of the surrounding towns where the
bees might feed on the basswood blossoms of the forests and the clover and buckwheat of
the meadows. In the fall these colonies would be brought back to the home farm to be
cared for during the winter. To give a complete account of the manner in which Mr.
Elwood conducted his bee business all the years from 1870 to the present would fill a
large volume. The product of his apiary was known for its purity, and his never failing
courtesy and honesty with his customers enlarged his business far beyond the confines of
his native state. Mr. Elwood was for several years president of the State Bee Keepers'
Association. When the latter became divided into the National Bee Keepers' Association
and the Canadian Bee Keepers' Association he had the honor of becoming the president and
also a director in the former. It was the writer's good fortune to form the acquaintance
of Mr. Elwood in the spring of 1879, when the latter came to Salisbury to visit the
teacher of the old red school house in the Tanner, district. That teacher was Miss Alice
V. Dolan of Poland, N. Y. Miss Dolan also taught in the Ransom district in the town of
Manheim and at Paines Hollow and in the village of Starkville. Mr. Elwood and Miss Dolan
were married the following fall. Mr. Elwood is survived by his wife, three sons and two
daughters, all now college trained men and women. Yesterday a slight girl teaching a back
country school; today the proud mother of five cultured children, while a hundred of her
former pupils recall her with gratitude and love. Thus has time flown! The eldest sons,
Everett S. Elwood, was educated at Ann Arbor and Syracuse universities. He was principal
at Penn Yan and later secretary of the state hospital commission at Albany. At present he
occupies the responsible post of director of the national board of medical examiners, a
position which carries him into every state in the union. Lewis J. Elwood is a Cornell
man and for some time was expert manager of a large farm near New York. He now has charge
of his father's extensive bee farm. Philip H. Elwood, Jr., is also a Cornell man, and a
professor of landscape architecture at Ohio State University at Columbus. In the World
War he was captain of artillery, and while with the A. E. F. abroad he drew the plans
and directed the laying out of the beautiful cemetery of the Argonne. Louise was educated
at Albany State Teachers' college and is a successful nurse, while Lucille, trained in
both Syracuse and Albany colleges is a high school teacher. Thus does Mr. Elwood still
live in the lives of his children, whom he carefully trained to fill well their various
positions in life. The Elwood was a supporter of the church and a staunch defender of
whatever he thought would build character and uplift the community. He was a good listener
and could easily grasp and retain the main points. These he assimilated, and he had the
remarkable power of calling them up years afterward if necessity compelled. While he was a
kind father, his word was law, and he expected his children to carry to a complete finish
whatever they undertook to do. He never forgot a kindness and no neighbor ever appealed to
him in vain. His sense of right and justice impelled him to ferret out petty crime even to
personal loss of time and money. He was very methodical in everything he did, slow to anger,
but when once aroused it was difficult to swerve him from his purpose. His clean life and
conversation were conclusive proof of a pure mind and in the passing of Philip H. Elwood we
lose one of the great men of our times. Truly, he has verified the adage that "blood tells,"
and his family now must "carry on" the Elwood family traditions which their father has
given to them unsullied. S. C. Kimm. Herkimer May 16, 1922.
William Henry Elwood
NEWSPAPER OBITUARY
February 2, 1945 Herkimer Evening Telegram
William H. Elwood, 82, a native of the town of Columbia, died last Saturday at
the home of his daughter, Mrs. James Goodrich, Mariaville. He resided in the
Columbia area until ten years ago, and later in Fonda and Gloversville. He
leaves three other daughters, Mrs. Lulu F. Guyer, Gloversville, Mrs. Edna L.
Gates and Mrs. Fay Bronk, both of Johnstown. (Family Note - Mrs. Edna L. Gates
and Mrs. Fay Bronk are his sisters, Not his daughters)
Louisa Clemons Elwood
NEWSPAPER OBITUARY - DECEMBER 1, 1915
Herkimer Evening Telegram
Utica - December 1, Mrs. Louisa Elwood died at her home in this city yesterday
afternoon, following two weeks illness. Her maiden name was Louisa Clemons, and she
was born in the town of Columbia May 24, 1846, and received her education in the schools
of that town and the adjoining town of Warren. In August, 1860, she was united in marrage
to Moses D. Elwood. They took up their residence in Mohawk where they lived until about 13
years ago when they came here to reside. She is survived by her husband and seven children,
William H. Elwood of Columbia; Mrs. C. L. Gates of Tribes Hill; James D. Elwood of Herkimer;
Mrs. Fay Bronk of Lassellsville, Fulton county; Mrs. Leon Griffin of Richfield Springs;
Mrs. Fred Werthmann and Miss Flora Belle Elwood, both of Utica; also by 25 grandchildren
and eight great-grandchildren.
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