Memories of the Coes 28 - Le Roy
Returning to the early days, Le Roy always seemed our home town. It was our Post Office address when we lived in the town of Pavilion and the place for advance schooling. In the spring of 1873 the family moved into a new home on East Avenue, a new street not running through, in the southeast part of Le Roy. The lot was close to G.C. Well's lot which he called "Dreamland." His place was well planted with beautiful trees, and I used to greatly enjoy wandering there. There was no house there then, but it is the home of the the family. Le Roy always seemed to me the prettiest town of its size I know of. Now, with the improvements on the Oatka it is still most lovely. I believe it has always been superior from a social and intellectual standpoint, possibly, moral also. This superiority is accounted for by its excellent schools, Ingham in particular. From Ingham I received my "Artium Primarius" in 1883, and Carrie and Clara Bachelor of Arts in 1885.
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Patty's notes on this entry
Le Roy - The area around Le Roy was first settled in the 1790s. In 1812, the town was named Bellona, and a year later renamed Le Roy after merchant and land speculator Herman Le Roy. The town is most famous for being the home of Jell-O, patented in 1897 by Pearl Bixby Wait (1873-1915) and his wife May Davis (1874-1956). The Jell-O museum is still located in Le Roy.
Image available from the New York Public Library at https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-6ece-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
G.C. Well's - My best guess is that G.C. Well's is actually Schuyler Charles Wells, who would be S.C. Wells. In 1870, S.C. Wells (1840-1897) and his wife Anna Elizabeth Hooker (1840-1904) lived in Bergen, Genesee County. In 1875 and 1880, they were living in Le Roy with Anna's parents, Samuel Hooker (1798-1885) and Mary Ann Wooster (1811-1878). In 1892, S.C. Wells and his family were in Le Roy. And in 1900, S.C.'s widow Anna was still living in Le Roy.
Oatka - Oatka Creek is a 58 mile long tributary of the Genesee River that flows through the center of Le Roy. The only dam on the creek is at Le Roy, forming a 25 acre lake.
Ingham - Ingham University - Ingham University operated in Le Roy, Genesee County, New York from 1837-1892. It was the first women's college in New York and the first charted women's university in the United States. If you'd like to learn more about the history of Ingham University, there is an article "Requiem for a Pioneer of Women's Higher Education: The Ingham University of Le Roy, New York 1857-1892" by Richard L Wing - published in the History of Higher Education Annual volume 11 - with lots of fascinating info. Article is available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED382113.pdf
Image available from the New York Public Library at https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-7223-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Artium Primarius - The Artium Primarius degree was awarded by women's colleges and universities to students who complete the literary course. At the time, it was not considered appropriate to award women degrees with the same names as the ones men received. The A.P. degree is considered to be the equivalent of a baccalaureate degree awarded by men's schools at the time.
Class of 1883 photo - There is a photograph of the Ingham University Class of 1883 on about page 55 of the book Le Roy by Lynne J Belluscio, published by Arcadia Publishing in 2010. Lizze Coe (Elizabeth Ann Coe 1862-1956) is 2nd from the left in the back row of the photograph. I'm trying to locate a copy of the photo that I can include here on the blog.
Carrie and Clara - Clara Addie Coe (1864-1950) and Carrie Evelyn Coe (1864-1948), the two youngest children of Albert Coe and Elizabeth Ann Sornberger. Clara married James Daniel McEwen (1861-1901) in 1890. Carrie married Frank Lincoln Walkley (1867-1961) in 1894.
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