1475 HOMER J.
OATMAN
1475 HOMER J.7 (Edward6, Elias5, Benjamin4, George3, John2, Johannes1), son of
Edward and Phila (Parker) Oatman, was born 24 February 1858, Adams Center,
Jefferson County, New York, and died 30 January 1936 at the home of his brother
Otis J. Oatman, Watertown, where he had been staying while suffering from heart
disease. He was buried in State Road
(Honeyville) Cemetery at Adams Center.
In 20
Dec 1880, he married Ida Naomi "Minnie" Hurd. She was born November 1859 in Denmark, Lewis
County, New York, daughter of a Methodist minister from Minnesota and his wife,
William S. and Frances L. Hurd (1900 census, Rodman, New York). She died in Adams Center on 31 March
1927. They moved to White Plains, New
York, where he worked as an electrician for ten years. They then returned to Rodman to take care of
Mrs. Oatman’s parents. They spent
fifteen years there and then moved to Watertown, where he worked as a machinist
for the Bagley and Sewall Company for fifteen years. They moved to Adams Center in 1920, where he
served as sexton of the Honeyville cemetery.
Homer
was one of five musicians from Jefferson County who formed an organization
called Happy Band, in which he played second violin. Other members of the band were Robert D.
Loveland, first violin, from Ross' Corners; Clark Oatman, dulcimer, from
Honeyville; Mottie Lewis, flute, from Ross' Corners, and Frank Oatman, bass
viol, also from Ross' Corners. Picture of the quintet
According
to the newspaper article of his funeral, dated 3 February 1936:
"Mr.
Oatman was vitally interested in Indian relics and with Robert D. Loveland of
Honeyville gathered one of the largest assortments of Indian souvenirs in
northern New York. Much of their work
was done during the bicycle era and Mr. Oatman visited almost every site of
aboriginal occupation in this county . . . Mr. Loveland later sold the bulk of
his collection to the state museum at Albany . . . It was the largest
collection ever sold from this region . . . Mr. Oatman never disposed of his
articles in large lots. He made some
small sales and did some trading. He
retained the best examples of Indian craftsmanship, his case at his home here
including about 1,200 pieces. Among
these are the rare bone harpoons and fishhooks as well as needles with eyes and
bone arrow heads."
Children
of Homer J. and Ida Naomi (Hurd) Oatman:
3507 Irving
William, b. 22 Jul 1891; d. 12 Mar 1941; living in Rochester, NY, 1936
Sources: Newspaper article dated 3 Feb 1936
Photo
and article from Watertown Daily Times, date unknown
Cemetery
records, Adams Center, NY
1900 census, Rodman,
Jefferson Co., NY
Lou
Anne Carr Hager, Orange, CT
Obituary of Homer J.
Oatman, 5 Feb 1936
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