STICKLER FAMILY
The Stickler family of Steuben County, N.Y.
made its initial appearance in the Town of Painted Post according to the 1810
Federal census rolls. George Stickler’s name appeared as Head of
Household and his age was given as 45+. In his household were listed
a female who was, most likely his wife, age 26-44, three males age 16-26, three
males 10-16 and one female age 10-16.
On the 1820 Painted Post census roll George
Stickler and his wife were in the 45+ age group and his household now consisted
of two males 16-26, one male 10-16 and one female under 10. There also
was listed a John Stickler of the Town of Painted Post who appeared to be a
fairly young married man, age group 26-45 with a wife in the same age group. John,
most likely, was a son of the above-mentioned early settler George Stickler.
By 1830 George and John Stickler were on the
census roll for Chemung County, N.Y. and were listed as residing in the Towns
of Big Flats and Elmira respectively.
In the year 1840 there were many Stickler households
listed in the Federal census for Steuben County, N.Y. for the Towns of Caton
and Painted Post. It is very likely that the following Sticklers were
either sons or grandsons of the original settler George Stickler who had reached
the 70-80 age group in this census: a younger George, Jacob, Peter, Philip
and Stephen.
In 1850 Martin Stickler’s name was also
on the census roll having been born in Lancaster County, PA in 1812/3 and he
was probably another grandson of George and a son of John Stickler.
On the Northside of Corning, N.Y., buried in the Old
Presbyterian Church Cemetery, are the following: Effie Stickler, spouse
of John D., who died 21 May 1835, age 49 years and 6 months; Gilbert and John
Stickler, sons of John D.; Harriett Stickler, spouse of John D., who died 24
August 1845, age 23 years; and Lucinda Stickler, spouse of John D., who died
6 December 1875, age 55 years and 5 months.
It is noteworthy that Martin and Lucretia Griffin
Stickler also resided on the Northside of Corning with their family and Lucretia’s
mother Patience Griffin who was born in Orange County, N.Y. Several
of the Stickler men reported to the census-taker they were born in Orange County,
NY while others stated their birthplace as PA.
Another fact that may prove there is a connection
between all the Stickler branches of Steuben and Chemung Counties is the use
of the name “Effie” in at least two different family lines. Buried
in Miller Cemetery in Big Flats is a young girl, a daughter of a William Stickler
who was born in 1863 and who died in 1875. The name is “F.E.” Stickler
and this would be unusual to have initials for a son on a gravestone. Perhaps
the engraver mistook “F.E.’ for “Effie”? Martin
Stickler’s son George born in 1844 named his only daughter “Effie” who
was born in 1874. As Martin had once resided very near to John and Effie
Stickler on Corning’s Northside it is fairly certain that the elder “Effie” was
Martin’s mother.
The repetitive use of the name “George” in
at least three Stickler branches could be another clue to this connection. Two
of these Georges were born in the same year (1844) which could be an indication
they were named for a mutual grandparent, George Stickler, the early 1810 ancestor
Martin Stickler and his wife, the former Lucretia
Griffin, a daughter of an early Steuben County, N.Y. settler named David Griffin
and his wife Patience, were the parents of a large family. Their children
were Elizabeth, Mary A., George, Henry, Lydia, Charles, Nathan, Matilda, Sarah
and Frances Stickler.
Martin Stickler died in November of 1878 in
Thurston, N.Y. and his widow Lucretia, most likely, died there too. Martin
and probably Lucretia were buried in the Village Cemetery off Route 333 in
Thurston, N.Y.
Their son George Stickler, born 1844, in New
York had a short life with a tragic end. From what has been handed down
from generation to generation it is known that George was a congenial person,
having belonged to a social lodge, and was a good provider for his family.
( A lock of his hair, naturally tightly-curled and dirty blonde in color, was
in the possession of his great-great-granddaughter as late as 1989.)
After his marriage to Clara Stull of Roaring
Branch, PA, George worked in a store in the little mining town of Ralston,
PA. There his three children, Raymond, Charles and Effie were born. In
May of 1878 George was accidentally killed in a coal-car accident on the McIntyre
Plane near Ralston as he was bringing down groceries from the store where he
worked to take home to his young family. A rope holding the car
in which he was riding broke and the car careened him to his death. He
was 34 years of age.
His widow, with no means of support for herself and
her children, soon entered into a marriage of convenience. This second
husband, Ben Peffer, has always been described as a “mean man” by
those who knew him. Clara gave birth to a daughter Gertrude Peffer circa
1880 and, in 1881, Clara died of pneumonia. This was more responsibility
than Ben Peffer wanted so, on a cold winter day, he kicked out his three Stickler
stepchildren. The oldest, Raymond , as his descendants relate to this
day, walked three miles barefoot in the snow, trudged up Old Joe Hill outside
Roaring Branch to his mother’s relatives up on Stull Ridge where he found
a home. His brother Charles also found a home with friends while little
Effie, born 1874 and age seven, went to live with her Aunt Nettie Howard, a
sister of her dead mother. Baby Gertrude Peffer was given to her
father’s brother and his wife to rear.
Raymond Stickler remained in the Roaring Branch,
PA area, married and had three daughters while Charles and Effie, in their
adulthood, went to live near their father’s brothers Charles and Nathan
of Campbell, N.Y. Effie was a servant in the home of the prominent Bemis
family of Campbell until her marriage to Hiram Aldrich in 1891.
Shortly after their marriage, Effie and Hiram
Aldrich went to work in several logging camps near White Haven, PA. He
was a logger and she was a cook. In 1902 they and several of their children
returned to Hiram’s hometown of Thurston, N.Y.
Effie Stickler Aldrich never let the hardships of
her life ever get her down. She was a very feisty and strong-willed woman
who was also renowned for the biscuits she baked. After a long
life of nearly 94 years, she passed away and was buried by her husband Hiram
in Hope Cemetery, Campbell, N.Y.
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