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Newspaper article on local history,Plattsburg NY




Abstracted by Addie Shields (county historian) and found in her index of surnames, mailed to me in 1988-89
she had collected scraps of data and filed them under the relevant surnames.  No date is given for the article (see below).


________?  Amlaw lived by the lakeshore and between rivers (?) he was the father of Harriet Amlaw and 10 other children. In the very early spring he made a trip to Canada to bring home a woman whom was coming to work for his family and she had a child of her own coming with her. It was at the time that the ice was being cut on the lake and the open spot was marked by bushes; before he reached home a storm came up so that he was unable to see these places and when crossing a portion of the lake near his home he drove into an opening; he with his team, the woman and her child were all drowned. His daughter, Harriet married William Pelky and thier daughter Fidelia Pelky was 5 years old at the time of this tragedy. Fidelia later married Louis Brassard, lived in Chazy and Champlain. Grandfather of   Mrs. Arthur Ouimette.


*(Harriet was 5 in 1834-35, Fidelia was born in 1863, she and Louis Brassard had a daughter, Lina b. Jul, 1890, Lina's daughter must have married Arthur Ouimette, probably no earlier than the 1940's or 50's, since Louis Brassard was the GRANDfather of Mrs Arthur Ouimette. The death of Joseph Amlaw certainly happened long before Fidelia Pelky was 5 (1868) probably it was when Harriet Amlaw was 5, that would have been 1834-35.)

There was also a reference in this file that read;
  Joseph Amlaw in Chazy 1816 - McPherson

Who is McPherson? There was a Murdoch McPherson around then. There was a connection between him and Francis Chadonet, I think Chadonet had a son named McPherson Chadonet. This may refer to some ledger entry or a reference in somebodys correspondence to Joseph in 1816. I am hoping that someone in the NNYCAGS can help in tracking this down.

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On a personal note: When I was a small boy, my kid sister, myself, and a cousin were almost drowned when we fell through the ice on a local creek. You had to be there to appreciate how terrifying that was. I'm not at all a superstitious man, but I always felt that it was something we probably should not have survived. There was a moment, as I grabbed for Jenny, when I honestly felt that I was able to move alot farther than I should have been able to. I know it sounds nutty, it was just adrenaline or something, but when I read this article I admit that it gave me a start. Of couse I don't believe in guardian angels but.............