Obituary of Absalom B. Akins (1878 - 1957)

More clippings from my grandmother's obituary and newspaper clipping collection!

Today's is Absalom B. AKINS who is my half great-granduncle. The half is because it was his father that married my great-great-grandmother, so he was a half-brother to my great-grandmother. (I hope I have all those "halfs" and "greats" right - it's easy to lose track!!)

Absalom married Jessie INGLING (her obituary is here) and lived out in Nebraska for a while before returning to New York.

Here is a picture of "Uncle Abe" and Aunt Jessie (as stated on the back of the photo) taken while they lived in Nebraska:



The obituary has all identifying newspaper information trimmed off of it. The handwriting is not my grandmother's, I suspect it is her mothers as my grandmother appears to have several obituaries that belonged to her mother (Cornelia Elizabeth AKINS MIX SIMPSON).


Obituary Text:

Absalom B. Akins, 79, of Tioga Center, formerly of 518 Fulton St., Waverly, Sunday, Nov. 17, 1957. He formerly was employed by Waverly Water Department. Survived by wife, Mrs. Jessie Akins; sons, Lloyd of Waverly, George of Breesport; daughters, Mrs. Beulah DeWitt and Mrs. Cora Thrasher of Waverly, Mrs. Kathryn Gillette of Troy, Ill.; half-sister, Mrs. Cornelia Simpson of Valois; four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Body at Russell Funeral Home, Waverly. Calling hours: after 4 p. m. today. Funeral there Wednesday at 2 p. m., the Rev. Judd L. Hunter and the Rev. Edward Cuthbert. Forrest Home Cemetery, Waverly.

Obituary of Jessie Mable Ingling Akins (1883 - 1961)

More obituaries from my grandmother's collection! Today's entry is for Jessie Mable (INGLING) AKINS.

Jessie's husband Absalom AKINS was my great-grandmother's half-brother. Absalom's father John AKINS was a widower with several children when he married my great-great grandmother.

From what I can tell from census records, Absalom was born in NY (likely Tioga County) and sometime in the early years of the 20th century moved to Nebraska. There he met Jessie and they married. At some point before 1920, the family moved back to NY and there they stayed.

Here's a real treasure I was lucky enough to have a chance to scan. It's a picture of Abe and Jessie with their 3 eldest children. I am relatively certain it was taken in Nebraska (partly based on the ages of children and census records, and partly on the fact that there is no place in Tioga County NY as flat as the land in this picture!!). The back of the photo has handwriting that says: "Uncle Abe and Jessie".



And here is Jessie's obituary (the text is typed out below - all identifying information of the newspaper has been trimmed away):



Obituary Text:

Mrs. Jessie M. Akins, 77, of Barton, Saturday, April 1, 1961. Survived by daughters, Mrs. Clara Thrasher of Waverly, Mrs. Harold De Witt of Barton and Mrs. Kathryn Gillett of Belleville, Ill.; sons, Lloyd Akins of Waverly and George Akins of Breesport; eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Body at Russell Funeral Home, Waverly. Calling hours after noon today. Funeral services there Tuesday at 2 p.m. the Rev. Judd L. Hunter Forest Homes Cemetery, Waverly.