Person Page - 399

     Ira A. Oviatt was born on 8 December 1804 at NY. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Frances Sweet. Ira A. Oviatt died on 1 July 1868 at UT at age 63.

     William S. Oviatt was born on 19 October 1807 at NY. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Frances Sweet. William S. Oviatt died on 3 April 1884 at PA at age 76.

     Frances C. Oviatt was born on 7 February 1812 at NY. She was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Frances Sweet. Frances C. Oviatt died on 19 March 1893 at age 81.

     Beverly Schonewolf (4bevswolf@mail2.lcia.com) provided the information on Joseph and his descendants via an e-mail on September 22, 1998.


Joseph Beaman Oviatt is mentioned as a minor, in the settlement of the estate of his grandfather William Sweet in Albany County NY. Advertised in the Albany Evening Journal March 1840.

Joseph Beaman Oviatt was born in 1823 in PA according to the 1850 and 1860 census, Berlin, Renssalaer County NY, according to other sources, son of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Frances Sweet. In 1830 when Joseph was seven, a Benjamin Oviatt was living in McKean County, Keating Township with among others, a 5 to 10 year old male. The Smethport Courthouse was being built in 1826, after which Elder (Benjamin) Oviatt preached on the second floor of the building.

Joseph's mother died when he was thirteen, and his grandfather Sweet died in 1840. He probably lived with his brother William Sweet Oviatt in Keating Twp.

He married Catherine Maria Stickles in 1846, they had eleven children, he died when the youngest was six months old, he was just forty-two. He was a farmer, made trips to Buffalo, NY to trade goods, described in the diary he kept in 1847-48.
     
He was one of northwest PA's first editors and was publisher of the "Settler and Pennon" in 1845, previously published by his brother William.

The Oviatt emigration was from England, with various theories as to the origin of the name. The Oviatt ancestors include the families of Barber, Loomis, Alvord, Hoskins, Drake, Moore, Warner, Kellogg, Galpin, Bryan, Bouton, Howard, Brown, Bowling, Norton, Smith, Coggin, Newton, Gilette, all from England in the 1600's to CT and then to NY after the Revolutionary War.

His mother's family, the Sweets and Maxsons were Welsh and English, settling in RI until after the Revolutionary War when they migrated to
Renssalaer County, NY. They also arrived in the 1600's and included the family names of Congdon, Reynolds, Sherman, Gifford, Randall, Manchester, Wilcox, Stafford, Northrup, Clarke, Greene, Tattershall, Perriam, Hollyman, Hooker, Odding, Albro, Holden, Dungan, Latham, Crowell, Mosher, Hubbard, Cooper, Cocke, Morton, Holbrook and others in England.

Joseph Beaman Oviatt is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Smethport, PA.

To demonstrate some of the hardships endured by the pioneers who came to McKean County in the early 1800's, I have taken excerpts from the Smethport Centennial Booklet:

"The Norwich pioneers who came to Potato Creek Valley, and the early families who settled at Farmer's Valley and the Eldred Flats made their way by canoes and boats up the shallow and rapid mountain streams, or by horseback, or even by foot over roads that were in many places mere paths through a densly wooded wilderness.

In R.B.Stone's "McKean, the Governor's County", we are told that during the first seventy-five years of the county's history, all the principal streams navigable by rafts or logs were declared public highways by Act of assembly. It is significant that many towns in this region have the word "port" attached to their names.

The early settlers often endured privations in the way of inadequate shelter, clothing and food to the degree that life itself was often endangered. They were also cut off for weeks at a time from communication with friends and relatives in the older settlements along the Atlantic coast.

The pioneers brought pressure to bear on the State Assembly to provide roads so that mails and essential goods might be brought into the wilderness. The first and most important of the early roads was the East and West road surveyed pursuant to act of Assembly of 1807. The State Legislature felt a need to connect the northern counties with a road running from the Moosic Mountain near the Delaware River to the city of Erie. Surveyed on the date given, it is probable that the road for some years was a mere trail with very few streams bridged. U.S. Route 6 follows that road across McKean County.

As late as 1821 there were only 211 taxables living in the county. The first courthouse was built in 1825-26, a second in 1851, a third in 1881, which burned in 1940, however all valuable records had been stored in a fire-proof wing.

From the Genealogical and Personal History of Northern PA; edited by John W. Jordan, LL.D, Librarian of the Historical Society of PA, 1913; NY. Vol II p. 605: "Beaman died in Farmer's Valley, PA; married Catherine Maria Stickles, of Keating Township; (children then listed)." And (William Sweet Oviatt) "came to Smethport and in 1839 established the Settler and Pennon, a paper continued in 1845 by J. B. Oviatt; vol.II, No.10, of the paper bears the date December 24, 1840."


References:
Personal diary of Joseph B. Oviatt 1847-1848, in possession of BJS

Birth-Parents-Benjamin F. Oviatt Family Bible, pub. Buffalo, NY, 1849,
given to Frances Margera (Oviatt) Williamson Oliver, granddaughter of
George Edwin Oviatt, by her Great-aunt Sarah. Mrs. Oliver lived in
Melrose, FL 32666.

Marriage-Obituary of wife in Smethport newspaper, Dec. 1902, obituaries of children, William, George, Mary, Wilbur. Personal diary of J.B. Oviatt

Census-1830;US;PA;McKean Co;Keating Twp; p.125, father Benjamin listed on line 7, Joseph age 7, National Archives microfilm M-19, roll 161.

Census-1840; US;PA; McKean Co, Keating Twp, p. 102, Joseph (age 17) probably with brother William as father Benjamin in Steuben Co. NY. N.A. film M-704 roll 475.

Census-1850 US Census, McKean Co. PA, Keating Twp.,age 26, p.4, line 7, family 44, dwelling 44. N.A. film M-432, Roll 795.

Census-1860 US; PA; McKean Co; Keating Twp; p.718, line 8, family 1240, dwelling 1277, N.A. film M-653, roll 1138. Age 37.

Copies of the "Settler and Pennon" were seen by Beverly Oviatt Schonewolf in 1980 at the McKean County Historical Society Museum at the Courthouse in Smethport PA: Vol 6 No 3 Aug 23, 1845, Vol 1 No 45 Aug 13, 1840, Vol 1 No 5 Nov 9, 1839, Vol 2 No 10 Dec 24, 1840, Vol 3 No. 26, published by William and Joseph B. Oviatt.

Death-Tombstone, Rose Hill Cemetery, Smethport, PA. Family Bible.

Joseph Beaman Oviatt was born on 26 June 1823 at Berlin, Renssalaer Co., NY. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Frances Sweet. Joseph Beaman Oviatt married Catherine Maria Stickles, daughter of Stephen Stickles and Elizabeth Teal, on 24 March 1846 at McKean, Erie Co., PA. Joseph Beaman Oviatt died on 23 October 1865 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA, at age 42.

     Mary A. Oviatt was born on 12 July 1838. She was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Sally Bagley.

     Adoneran Judson Oviatt was born on 12 January 1844. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Sally Bagley. Adoneran Judson Oviatt died on 30 July 1912 at age 68.

     Beverly Schonewolf (4bevswolf@mail2.lcia.com) also provided the following information on Catherine via an e-mail on September 22, 1998.

Catherine Maria (Stickles) Oviatt was born in 9 July,1826, daughter of Stephen Stickles and Elizabeth Teal, in Claverack, Columbia County, NY. She was baptized in the St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Churchtown, NY 21 November 1826.

With her parents, she arrived in McKean County, PA when she was fifteen. She married Joseph B. Oviatt when she was nineteen, became a widow when she was thirty-nine, with eleven children to raise. She smoked a corn cob pipe and lived to be seventy-six years of age. Her father moved his family to Senaca and Yates Counties in NY before settling in Keating Township. From the History of McKean County, p.458 : "To revert to the pioneer days a recital of the following circumstances may not prove uninteresting; When Stephen Stickles arrived in Keating Township he had but $2.50 left, and had but one acquaintance in his neighborhood, P.B. Fuller. Work was scarce and wages very low, and the father and boys went to making shingles, which brought 75 cents per thousand, and "store pay" at that. Having little or no hay, they chopped browse for the cow and yearling once a day, and thus worried through the winter of 1841/42. In the spring of 1842, the father, having a net, caught thousands of wild pigeons. As there was no market for them, he hired himself and his net to his neighbors at $2.00 per day, capturing 500 to 2000 pigeons per diem. His mother was Eleanor Morry, his father Adam Stickles. Catherine Maria is buried in Smethport, PA.

Death of Mrs. Catherine M. Oviatt. Mrs. Catherine Maria Oviatt died at her home in Keating Township on Friday, December 19, 1902, aged 76 years, 5 months and 11 days.

Catherine Maria, daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth Stickles, late of Keating township, was born in Claverack, Columbia County, N.Y., on July 8, 1826. She moved with her parents to Waterloo, Seneca, N.Y., in 1836, then to Yates county, N.Y. in 1839 and in 1841 moved to Keating township, reaching their destination on Christmas day.

In 1846 she was united in marriage to Joseph Beaman Oviatt of Smethport. To them were born 11 children, six boys and five girls, ten of whom survive, namely: George E., John B., Mrs. Mary E. Acre, Allan, Mrs. Ellen B. Hyde, Wilbur I., Ghordis C., Mrs. Ida R. Pickersgill, Misses Carrie A. and Sarah B., all living in Smethport and vicinity. Frank, the eldest, was drowned while in bathing at the age of 12 years. All the daughters and three of the sons were present when their mother passed away.

On October 22, 1865, her husband, J. B. Oviatt, died leaving her with
these ten children, Sarah a baby. Mrs. Oviatt was a sister of Miller C., Hiram S., and George A. Stickles, deceased, of Keating township, Pa., and Jacob and Lydia (Butterfield) Stickles of Wisconsin.

Funeral services were held on Sunday last by prayer at the house at 1 p.m. and a sermon at the East Smethport Union church at 2 p.m. delivered by Rev. P. S. Calvin. The remains were laid at rest in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Death Register lists cause of death as pneumonia, one week duration, place of birth, Columbia Co. NY, age 76 years, buried 21 Dec, 1902

References:
Birth-Obituary in Smethport newspaper, 1902

Marriage-Obituary in Smethport newspaper, 1902

Death- Obituary in Smethport newspaper, 1902; tombstone in Rose Hill
Cemetery, Smethport, PA. Oviatt Family Bible, Buffalo, 1830. McKean County Death Register 1893-1906, LDS microfilm # 0946756.

Census-1830; US; Columbia Co., NY; Claverack,p. 83, line 27, Stephen Stickles listed with female under age 5 (Catherine age 4). National Archives microfilm M-19, roll 87.

Census-1840; US; Yates Co. NY; Italy, P. 298, line 6, Stephen Stickles with female age 10-15, (Catherine age 14). N.A. film M-704, roll 351.

Census-1850 US Census, McKean Co., PA, Keating Twp., age 24, p. 4, line 8, family 44, dwelling 44, born in NY. film M-432, roll 795.

Census-1860;US;McKean Co; Keating Twp., age 35, p. 718, line 9, family 1240, dwelling 1277, seven children. N.A.film M-653, roll 1138.

Census-1870; US; McKean Co; Keating Twp., widow age 44, p.695, family 28, dwelling 28, ten children, line 18, film M-593, roll 1372.

Census-1880; US; McKean Co. Keating Twp., age 50, p. 19 or 300, line 1, film T-9, roll 1154. States parents born in NJ !

Census-1900; US. McKean Co; Keating Twp., age 73, p. ?, line 68, family 79 dwelling 74, E.D. 113, N.A.film T-623, roll 1439.

McKean County Death Records, age 76, born Columbia County, NY, died 19 Dec 1902 of pneumonia, was ill one week, buried in Smethport 21 Dec 1902. LDS film #946756.

Catherine Maria Stickles was born on 9 July 1826 at Claverack, Columbia Co., NY. She was the daughter of Stephen Stickles and Elizabeth Teal. Catherine Maria Stickles married Joseph Beaman Oviatt, son of Benjamin Franklin Oviatt and Frances Sweet, on 24 March 1846 at McKean, Erie Co., PA. Catherine Maria Stickles died on 19 December 1902 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA, at age 76.

     Franklin Oviatt was born on 26 May 1847 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. Franklin Oviatt died in 1859 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA.

     George Edwin Oviatt was born on 9 March 1848. He was the son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. George Edwin Oviatt died on 15 March 1938 at Jacksonville, FL, at age 90.

     John B. Oviatt was born on 22 December 1850 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. John B. Oviatt died in 1918 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA.

     Mary Elizabeth Oviatt was born on 13 June 1852 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. Mary Elizabeth Oviatt died on 30 June 1932 at East Smethport, McKean Co., PA, at age 80.

     William Allen Oviatt was born on 3 November 1854 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. William Allen Oviatt died on 26 February 1915 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA, at age 60.

     Belinda E. Oviatt was born on 21 July 1856 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles.

     Beverly Schonewolf (4bevswolf@mail2.lcia.com) provided the information on Wilbur and his descendants via an e-mail on September 22, 1998.

From the obituary of Wilbur I. Oviatt, Smethport, PA:
Wilbur was born at the Oviatt homestead in Keating Township where he lived his boyhood years and received a good education. His father died when he was a mere boy,leaving ten children. His father was a pioneer of the area, and one of northwestern Pennsylvania's first editors and publisher of the "Settler and Pennon" a forerunner of the McKean County Democrat newspaper. By the hard work of his mother and help from good neighbors, his family was kept together.

Early in life those natural qualities of leadership that made a prominent county figure asserted themselves. He had barely entered young manhood's estate when he was elected road supervisor by the Keating Township voters. In this office he built some of the best roads of this vacinity, including the dug-road below East Main Street on the Farmers Valley Highway, and so well did he perform the task that those roads are in steady use today. He had served the township well in nearly every public capacity and had repeatedly served terms as school director and had been pronounced by state educational experts to be one of the most capable township directors. It was due to his fighting proclivities that the beautiful Farmer's Valley Consolidated School was completed in shape for acceptance last year and he led the movement for the erection of the second Keating Consolidated School, now being built at Simpson. Up to the time of his death he served efficiently as secretary of the school board.
He was elected and capably served several terms as auditor of McKean County and on two occasions was within a few votes of being elected county commissioner.

Last fall he was elected jury commissioner after an exciting race in which, despite threatening health, he demonstrated anew his old time prowess as a political campaigner.

Kindliness, generosity, sympathy and an unswerving loyalty to friends and courage of his convictions caused Wilbur Oviatt to be held in affectionate regard by a legion of friends. His cordial personality will be sadly missed in local circles. He was a democrat of the old school, with whom the great human principles of Jefferson were more than a mere credo. He fought fearlessly and with all his might - but always fairly - for what he considered the cause of justice and right. He held alike the respect of friend and opponent. Of no true man can
more be said. He had always occupied a position of leadership in party affairs of the county and up to last year was a vice chairman of the county committee.

A devoted husband and father, his home life was ever the phase which found hospitable Wilbur Oviatt at his best. In business he was most successful, not only as a builder, but a mover of buildings. He possessed a natural ability as an engineer which enabled him to intelligently perform exacting assignments.

He was a member of the local lodge of Odd Fellows and ranked high in the affairs of that fraternity in this section. Deceased was a loyal friend and kind-hearted; no favor asked of him that was not granted, if possible.

Following the evening repast he complained of not feeling well to members of the family and soon thereafter was seized with the fatal attack. Dr. Burg Chadwick was hastily summoned, but life was extinct by the time the physician reached the stricken man's side. The popular citizen had been subject to similar attacks extending over a
period of two years back. Despite this fact, it was characteristic of the courage and energy of the man that he continued an active career and lately had been engaged in moving a number of buildings for McKean County along the right-of-way of the new Smethport-Simpson highway. He had been about town Friday as usual.

Wilbur Ira Oviatt was born in Keating Township, McKean County, PA in 1858,son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Marie Stickles, seventh of eleven children. His father died when he was seven years old. He is one of very few ancestors who stayed in one place, as he can be found in every census of McKean County from 1860 to 1920. In 1880 at age 22 he was working for Samuel Rockwell, married his daughter. The amazing thing about that is that eight generations and 240 years earlier, they had common ancestors John Drake and Hannah Moore, Addie Rockwell descended from their son Job Drake, and Wilbur descended from their daughter Ruth Drake. Wilbur was a
farmer, logger, contractor, road builder and house mover. He was a
Democratic political leader, jury commissioner, road supervisor, township director, school board director and secretary, McKean County auditor, vice-chairman of the McKean County Democratic Committee and a member of the Odd Fellows. See Joseph Oviatt for Oviatt history. Wilbur died at age seventy-two, is buried in Smethport, PA.

References:
Birth- Oral interview of son A.L.Oviatt, obituary of Wilbur Oviatt in
Smethport, PA Newspaper following death in June 1930

Marriage-Obituary in Smethport, PA Newspaper, June 1930

Death-Death certificate PA. Obituary in Smethport, PA Newspaper, June 1930, estate inventory of Wilbur Oviatt, copy in possession of Beverly Schonewolf

Census records Keating Twp. McKean Co PA,
1860, age 3,p.718 , line 15, Microfilm M-653, roll 1138;
1870, age 12, p. 695, line 24 (Erroneously listed as Miller) Film M-593,
roll 1372;
1880, age 22, p. 40, line 28, living with future father-in-law Sam
Rockwell, as "servant", film T-9 roll 1154;
1900, age 42, p. 2819, line 8, film T-623, roll 1439;
1910, age 52, p.?, line 51, film T-624, roll 1374;
1920, age 62, p.2, line 1, film T-625, roll 1600.
Letters to son Alfred during WW I, copies in possession of BJS.
Wilbur Ira Oviatt was born on 14 February 1858 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. Wilbur Ira Oviatt married Addie May Rockwell, daughter of Mary Ann Underwood, on 18 May 1880 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. Wilbur Ira Oviatt died on 27 June 1903 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA, at age 45.

     Addie May Rockwell was born on 21 March 1864 at East Freetown, Cortland Co., NY. She was the daughter of Mary Ann Underwood. Addie May Rockwell married Wilbur Ira Oviatt, son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles, on 18 May 1880 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. Addie May Rockwell died on 20 February 1926 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA, at age 61.

     Ghordis C. Oviatt was born on 19 June 1859 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. Ghordis C. Oviatt died on 19 September 1919 at age 60.

     Ida A. Oviatt was born on 9 May 1861 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. Ida A. Oviatt died in 1948 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA.

     Carrie A. Oviatt was born in June 1863 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. Carrie A. Oviatt died in 1946 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA.

     Sarah B. Oviatt was born on 3 April 1865 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Joseph Beaman Oviatt and Catherine Maria Stickles. Sarah B. Oviatt died on 4 April 1957 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA, at age 92.

     Mary Ann Underwood was born on 29 June 1845 at East Freetown, Cortland Co., NY. She died on 29 November 1882 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA, at age 37.

     Myrtle Belle Oviatt was born on 28 August 1881 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Myrtle Belle Oviatt died on 4 March 1972 at Stroud, Lincoln Co., OK, at age 90.

     Pearl Ruby Oviatt was born on 11 December 1883 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Pearl Ruby Oviatt died on 14 December 1982 at Carmichael, Sacramento Co., CA, at age 99.

     Beverly Schonewolf (4bevswolf@mail2.lcia.com) provided the information on Kit via an e-mail on September 22, 1998.


Kit Oviatt married Glenn Burton. They lived in La Salle NY, and in Niagara Falls in 1912. Glenn was a street car conductor. In 1914 they moved to Maynard OH where Glenn was a foreman on the B & O Railroad there, then back to New York in 1916 and to Buffalo when times were rough and wages low. Glenn fired on the railroad at that time.

Eventually they moved to Copan OK where Glenn worked in the oil fields and with Harry Shrieber, his brother-in-law. They lived in a three room house in Copan and later in a lease house near one of the power houses. While they lived there, Kit's mother Addie Rockwell Oviatt visited them. This was during the war years when the flu epidemic was wild. All in the family had the flu except Jack, who went to town for groceries and almost froze when he got stuck in a snow drift. In 1919 the family moved four miles northeast of Copan, on an oil lease where the children rode the school wagon to Copan Grade School.

Later they moved to Tidal Lease northwest of Copan way out on the prairie. There were big fires on the prairie that spring that would light up the skies for miles around. There were also many coyotes. They moved to Dewey and later back to Copan in a lease house near the Cowan ranch. In 1922 they moved to Mounds OK where Glenn was a lease foreman for the Wilcox Oil and Gas Corp.

Aunt Clara Oviatt visited while they lived there. also Wilbur Oviatt, Kit's father visited and built a bedroom on the house for Jack. In 1920 Kit, Jack Dorothy and Ginny went back to PA on the train for a summer vacation, until they were called back home by their dad. In 1926 the family drove back to PA and NY for a month vacation in a Chevy two door sedan. It was quite a trip in those days, nearly 1400 miles as they had to go by way of Kansas City because the road from Tulsa to St. Louis was being rebuilt. They had to camp out and get their own meals.

In 1927 they moved to an oil lease south of Slick OK and 17 miles from Beggs where they attended high school. In 1929 they moved near the new large oil field at Seminole, living on a lease in Maud, OK. Jack went to Oklahoma A & M at Stillwater. They moved to another new oil field at Asher OK, the wells producing two and three thousand barrels a day. Glenn had charge of all the drilling, warehouses, garages and lease house building in the camp. In 1930 Jack hitch hiked to PA, making the trip in four days. Dorothy was married in 1931, that same year Kit and Glenn returned to PA and lived in East Smethport. Kit died of cancer in 1955.
Kathryn Elizabeth Oviatt was born on 2 January 1888 at Chippewa Falls, Chippewa Co., WI. She was the daughter of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Kathryn Elizabeth Oviatt died on 2 May 1955 at Smethport, McKean Co., PA, at age 67.

     Robert Elbridge Oviatt was born on 9 April 1890 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Robert Elbridge Oviatt died on 6 March 1971 at San Bernardino, San Bernardino Co., CA, at age 80.

     Blanche Lenora Oviatt was born on 1 March 1893 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Blanche Lenora Oviatt died on 19 December 1939 at McKean, Erie Co., PA, at age 46.

     George Rockwell Oviatt was born on 3 April 1896 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. George Rockwell Oviatt died on 19 November 1955 at East Smethport, McKean Co., PA, at age 59.

     Beverly Schonewolf (4bevswolf@mail2.lcia.com) provided the information on Alfred via an e-mail on September 22, 1998.

Alfred L. Oviatt was the seventh child of Wilbur and Addie May Rockwell. The family home had burned before he was born. While a new house was being built, they lived at King's Corner in East Smethport where he was born. They also lived in their barn in 1901 when sister Clara was born, moving into the new house later that year. He had pneumonia when he was three years of age and again when he was twelve, was seriously ill with each episode. He went to high school for two years, but at the age of sixteen he went to Grove City, PA to work in a machine shop. He enlisted in the National Guard in December 1916, was mustered into the regular army when the U.S. entered World War I.      He had basic training at Camp Hancock in Georgia the summer of 1917, shipped out 7 May 1918 from New York on the H.M.S. Acquaintania, landed at Liverpool, England 14 May 1918. From there he was sent to Calais, France. He participated in five major campaigns in France with the 28th Division of PA Company M, 112th Infantry. He received battle medals from Champagne Marne, Aisne Marne, Oise Marne, Meuse Argonne, and Defense Sector to Luxembourg. At one point while fighting in France, he met a French soldier named Alfred L. Oviatt. He returned to the U.S. on the USS Pocohontas, landed 30 April 1919, was discharged in May 1919. Before he went overseas, he marched in the inagural parade for Woodrow Wilson.

When he returned to McKean County, he ran for sheriff on the Democratic Party ticket, losing with the biggest vote a democrat had ever received in that county. He went to Oklahoma for work in the oil fields, sent for fiancee Helen Mather and married her there in 1920. When there was no work there, they returned to PA. He found work in Bradford PA with the Sam Aurheim Construction Company, then Tuna Mfg. Co., building the Y.M.C.A. in Bradford. He worked for Strayer Construction Co. in Bethlehem, PA, where he built the roundhouse for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. In Harrisburg, PA, he worked on the state hospital employees cottages and the Zembo Mosque on Division Street, first as general foreman then promoted to
Superintendent. Strayer folded during the depression but ALO found work with Abe Hertzler, building a Lutheran Church, a bridge at Jersey Shore, PA., a building at the Naval Academy in Harrisburg and other odd jobs. Between jobs he found work where he could, so was never entirely out of work during the depression. He went to work for J.B. Eurell Co. at Langley Field as superintendent to build the first high speed wind tunnel in the USA. Because it was a new venture, the
National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics was involved, and through it, Alfred met Charles Lindburgh and someone from the Wright family. It was on this job that he lost one and a half fingers. He then went to South Carolina to work at the Charleston Naval Base. From there the family made the move to Dauphin. ALO worked on several small jobs, then he went to work for Harold Hipple restoring the Cyrus McCormick Mill and Blacksmith Shop where the first reaper was made in Steel's Tavern, near Staunton, VA. Back with Abe Hertzler, then Ritter Brothers, he worked at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, built a pumping station with the Boyd Kline Construction Co. He worked for C.C. Davis at Winchester VA, built the O'Sullivan Rubber Heel Plant. Back in Harrisburg, he built the L.B. Smith Lincoln Mercury Garage on N.Second Street and the BenMar Building on Pine
Street. In 1955 he built the State Dept. of Property and Supplies Building on State Street and in 1956 the Turnpike Administration Building at Highspire for the John Ridelle Construction Co. after C.C.Davis folded.

He fractured his hip in an auto accident, and unable to get around as superintendent in 1957 he went to work for the State Public School Building Authority as a building inspector. He retired from the State in 1965. After retirement he refused to slow down, maintained a large garden, restored antique furniture, continued to serve in the community of Dauphin, PA.

References:
Birth-Marriage-Children-Parents:oral interview with Alferd L. Oviatt, July 1972 Dauphin, Dauphin Co PA, conducted and transcribed by Beverly Oviatt Schonewolf.

Birth Record McKean Co. PA, issued 17 April, 1942, delayed

Census-1900 US age 2 b. Feb 1898 in PA, living with parents in PA, McKean Co., Keating Twp., census taken 5 and 6 June 1900,pg 2819, family 66,dwelling 61.

Census-1910 US age 12, living with parents in PA, McKean Co., Keating Twp., born in PA, attended school, census taken 27 Apr 1910, dist 17, E.D. 129, family 78, dwelling 70.

Census-1920 US age 21 living with parents in PA, McKean County, Keating Twp. born in PA, no occupation listed, census taken Jan 13 and 14, 1920, film 1600, pg 252 or 3201, family 77, dwelling 66, East Potato Creek Rd.

Employment records 1940-1956 kept by Helen Oviatt, belonging to
B.Schonewolf

Marriage-Parents-Spouse: Marriage application, license,
certificate;obtained from the Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Death- Death Certificate No. 255781 PA Dept. of Health

Spouse-Children: Obituary of Alfred L Oviatt;Patriot Evening News

Military-Parents: Letters to parents from France WWI and from Parents to ALO dated. Originals in possession of Jeanne Oviatt Rudy, photocopies in possession of Beverly Oviatt Schonewolf

Picture of transport ships to and from Europe-Anuta,Michael;Ships of our Ancestors;1983.(Aquatania and Pocohontas.)
Alfred Lee Oviatt was born on 22 February 1898 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Alfred Lee Oviatt married Helen Oliver Mather, daughter of Joseph Mather and Ida Myers, on 25 December 1920 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Co., OK. Alfred Lee Oviatt died on 15 December 1975 at Dauphin, Dauphin Co., PA, at age 77.

     Helen Oliver (Mather) Oviatt was born in 1899, daughter of Ida Myers and Joseph Mather, on their farm near Middlebury, IN. When she was nine months old, they moved from the farm into a house in the town of Middlebury, and in 1907 into a large new home built by Joseph Mather, also in Middlebury. In 1911 the family moved to Weatherford, OK, lived in a seven-gabled house at the end of Broadway Street. She finished high school there and took courses at Southwestern State Normal School in Weatherford. In 1917 when the family moved to Howard, KA, she went to Kansas State Normal School in Emporia, KA, graduating in 1918. She moved to Newtown, MO for the summer, before taking her first teaching job at Muscotah, KS for $60.00 per month.
Helen Oliver Mather was born in 1899 at near Middlebury, IN. She was the daughter of Joseph Mather and Ida Myers. Helen Oliver Mather married Alfred Lee Oviatt, son of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell, on 25 December 1920 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Co., OK.

     Clara May Oviatt was born on 22 May 1901 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. She was the daughter of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Clara May Oviatt died on 26 August 1926 at Bradford, McKean Co., PA, at age 25.

     Wilbur Russell Oviatt was born on 9 June 1905 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Wilbur Russell Oviatt died on 10 November 1910 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA, at age 5.

     Clinton Lloyd Oviatt was born on 5 April 1908 at Keating Twp., McKean Co., PA. He was the son of Wilbur Ira Oviatt and Addie May Rockwell. Clinton Lloyd Oviatt died on 4 December 1964 at Oil City, Venango Co., PA, at age 56.

     Robert E. Slaughter was born circa 1911 at Vernon, TX. He married Gertrude Emma Case, daughter of Raymond Erving Case and Emma Griswold Griffin, on 5 March 1960 at NY. Robert E. Slaughter died on 28 May 1976 at New York Hospital, New York City, NY.

     Jesse Buell was born on 10 April 1748 at Goshen, Litchfield Co., CT. He was the son of Capt. Jonathan Buell and Lydia Landon. Jesse Buell married Lydia Beach on 4 January 1770 at Goshen, Litchfield Co., CT. Jesse Buell died in May 1818 at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., CT, at age 70.

Jesse and Lydia had 8 children.

Lucy is probably the daughter of Samuel Rogers and Lucy Denison.¹

     Mary Drake was born on 12 December 1649 at Windsor, Hartford Co., CT.¹ She was the daughter of Job Drake and Mary Wolcott. Mary Drake died on 19 October 1681 at age 31.¹

     Elizabeth Drake was born in November 1654. She was the daughter of Job Drake and Mary Wolcott. Elizabeth Drake died on 20 February 1697 at age 42.

     Joseph Drake was born on 16 April 1657. He was the son of Job Drake and Mary Wolcott.