Gracey Family Papers, 1870s-1980s
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Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Historic Geneva
- Abstract:
- The Gracey family were known for their involvement in the Geneva Daily Times and were heavily involved in civic affairs in Geneva.
- Extent:
- Seventeen Boxes
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and content:
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This collection spans the 1870s into the late 20th century and follows three generations of the Gracey family. The collection is arranged in three series.
Series One: Rev. John and Annie Gracey, their daughters Frances Ida and Lillian Ryder, and Rev. Sam Gracey. This series contains correspondence talking about many subjects. A majority relates to the women’s missionary work that Annie and her daughters were involved in, in addition to correspondence to Lillian and Ida after Annie’s death.
Series Two: William Adolphe and (Abbie) Luella Warfield Gracey, two of their children Stuart and Katherine, and material related to the Geneva Daily Times. This series contains, correspondence, photos, ephemera, articles, and scrapbooks related to William, Luella, and the Geneva Daily Times in addition to William’s involvement in writing/publishing music, and in the Geneva Rotary Club and Geneva Park Board.
Series Three: Lawrence and Elsie Clark Gracey. This series contains correspondence, ephemera, scrapbooks, articles, and artifacts related to Lawrence and Elsie. Lawrence was involved in numerous organizations including the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Finger Lakes Association, Presbyterian Church, Tuberculosis Associations, YMCA, and the Geneva Rotary Club. He was also involved in the fundraising and formation of Eisenhower College in Seneca Falls. Elsie Gracey was involved with the Visiting Nurses Service and other organizations as well.
- Biographical / historical:
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Reverend John Talbot Gracey was born in Pennsylvania on September 16, 1831 to a Quaker family. He studied medicine first before joining the ministry. He married Annie Ryder on March 10, 1858. Annie was born in Delaware in 1836, she graduated at sixteen and taught at her alma mater, Wilmington Female College. Rev. Gracey was a Methodist Episcopal minister and they were both involved in missionary work. They moved to India in 1861 where they conducted missionary work in Sitapur. Annie formed what would become the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society who would continue their work after the Graceys sailed home in 1868. Annie continued her missionary work from America, while John eventually took a pastorate in Clifton Springs and became editor of the Northern Christian Advocate among other publications. Annie died suddenly in 1908, John died in 1912.
John and Annie had three children: Frances Ida, Lillian Ryder, and William Adolphe. Frances (who went by Ida) and Lillian never married, with Ida seeming to suffer from many health issues. The family would move to Clifton Springs to be closer to Ida who was a patient at the Sanitarium.
William was born in India in 1866. After attending Rochester schools and Lima Seminary, he attended the University of Rochester where he started his career in journalism. Luella Warfield grew up in Rochester where she and William would have met. They appear many times in the same musical programs, and their devotion to music remained throughout their lives. Luella taught music to many students at Rochester and later in Geneva.
William and Luella were married in September 1889. William worked for the Rochester D&C on the editorial staff and Luella taught music. They moved to Geneva about 1898 and William took over the Geneva Daily Times, which at the time was three years old. His partners were William L Packard from 1903 to 1908, then George B Williams who was a nephew of Luella. William was a well-known publisher and highly respected in his industry. He died on October 16, 1944 after many months of illness. Luella was head of the Geneva Woman’s Club music department and a former regent of the Seneca Chapter DAR; she died on January 4, 1941.
William and Luella had five children: Lawrence, Lewis, Katherine, Robert Stuart, and Howard Warfield who died as a young child. Lawrence and Lewis both attended Hobart College and followed William into business at the Geneva Daily Times. Lawrence married Elsie Clark in September 1922 and they had one child, Margaret Anne. He served in the US Navy during World War 1. Lawrence would serve as an alderman on Geneva’s Common Council and was very involved in civic affairs.
Lewis married Georgia Brown and they had two children, Lewis Brown and Caroline. He was in the US Army during World War I. Lewis was an optometrist in Penn Yan for forty years and served as Mayor of Penn Yan, NY from 1951-1955.
Katherine attended William Smith College, where she left a legacy award to be given to a WS senior for outstanding academic excellence in the field of fine arts. She taught French for high schoolers in NJ before she married Prof. William Merrill, a teacher at the same school, in 1920. She died on November 30, 1978.
Robert Stuart, who went by Stuart, was born in Geneva in 1902. He married teacher Ruth Simpson Jaynes in 1930. They had three children, Honor, Louise, and Anne. Stuart left high school during World War I to work on a farm, returning to school after winning a scholarship to the Ithaca Conservatory of Music for violin. His singing voice was soon noticed and he started studying voice; he later studied at the Eastman School of Music. He was an accomplished opera singer who traveled to Italy and performed for a number of years in the 1920s. While living in Geneva, Stuart taught and directed a number of operas in the surrounding areas. His family would later settle in Port Jefferson where Stuart taught music and bought out and published the Port Jefferson Record newspaper.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: a Content Standard
- Note:
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Content warning included in downloadable file.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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N/a
- Location of this collection:
- Contact:
- 315-789-5151archivist@historicgeneva.org