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- Asa and Mary (Roberson) Gates According to the weather-beaten reading of the headstone (read by the DAR) marking his grave, Asa Gates was born in 1753. However, conflicting information suggests that the DAR misread the birth AND death dates for Asa. It is provable that the DAR misread Mary Roberson's stone. Family oral tradition says that he was born in England and arrived in upstate New York after spending time and money in Chancery Court in England. However, this myth is clearly false. There was a will disputed (Amos Gates), but it was in NEW England. Life in Champion was rural in nature with little change throughout the mid-19th century. Farming was the common way of life. It is reasonable to believe that Asa was a farmer/blacksmith and a good one. He appears to have prospered, and apparently was able to pass on property to his children. The married life of Asa and Mary was stable, lasting throughout more than a decade of years. Unfortunately, little is known about Mary's life, but she lives on through her children. Both were buried in the Hillside Cemetery in Champion Village. Subsequent to Mary's death, he married a woman named Mira Buel and built a house for her in Champion known as the Asa Gates House. He died after 1840 but before 1850 as suggested by census records. ____________________________ Careful analysis of census data proves that Asa must have been born 1776. Matching him with the only other Asa that fits for this period, the candidate would have been born in Ashby, MA 3/27/1776. After Asa's mother died, Abraham, Asa's father, married one Lucy Rumrill. In Champion during Asa's tenure, his brother, Abraham, Jr., was married to one Hannah Rumrill, sister of Lucy. According to Brinkman's family notes, Asa was born on 3/27/1776 (this makes most sense relative to the age of Mary Roberson). The LDS IGI has an Asa, born on the same date, in Ashby (relative Jacob F. Gates). ____________________________________________________________ Tombstone Cleaning and Transcriptions of 3/8/2000: GENEALOGICAL FIELD REPORT I, Curtis W. LeRoy, did make a trip to Champion, New York on 3/8/2000. While there, I visited the Hillside Cemetery to observe the Asa Gates and Mary Roberson tombstones along with the historic Asa Gates House. Upon arriving at the cemetery, I photographed both stones. Next, I cleaned both stones with a wire brush and was very surprised at how legible the stones then became. I then re-photographed each stone and made the following transcriptions: 1) IN MEMORY OF MARY GATES WIFE OF ASA GATES DIED OCT 20, 1817 AGED 37 YEARS 1 MO 3 DAYS enough day (have serviced?) her lov’d name words are (forever?) to pay her virtues claim temples and tombs and tongues shall waste away but her dear name with me shall ne’er decay 2) TO THE MEMORY OF ASA GATES WHO DIED NOV 10, 1843 E 67 y’s 7 m’s & 14 d’s There were two small footstones, one marked A.S. and one marked P.S. which may have been infant deaths. There are two weak spots. The "4" in "1843" and the "7" in "7 months"; everything else is crystal clear. The pictures taken will not reveal that both the "4" and the "7" have hairline remnants of shallow engraving and confirm their true identity from the "1’s" for which they both frequently were mistaken. Only direct visual inspection verifies their true existence as 4 and 7. Comparisons with the other "4" and "7" on the stone further confirm their status. Lastly, the match with Ashby records scavenged by Mert Sarvay validates Asa’s suspected identity, and, perhaps, Mrs. Brinkman’s source. After three walks through the cemetery, I failed to find the Hannah (Rumrill) Gates stone that is referenced in DAR records. Afterward, I photographed the original town church (St. John’s, 1823) en route to the Gates House. I had a chance to make several Gates House photos. I specifically wanted to photograph the "A.G. 1828" that is engraved into a facia stone above the main entrance lintel. Just prior to leaving, I noticed an unusual decoration engraved into the lintel itself. Upon closer examination, it is very clear that this "decoration" is the scripted name "Abraham"! I photographed this wonderful discovery for our reference and documentation. [3]
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