The Gilbert Family Picnic
Reunion on August 27, 1887

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A large picture of the Gilbert Family Picnic was contributed by Sally Malkowski, who is off line and contacted us about contributing this photo. "There are about a 100 people in the photo, most residing in the Marion/Newark area. Some of the family's names are Gilbert, Reed, Hope and Prentiss." Sally has been corresponding offline with Guy Prentiss and they've tentitively identified a few people. If you can identify anyone in this photograph or have information to share, please contact Sally through her daughter (who has email) and she will get in touch with Sally. It's very important that you put "Gilbert Family Picnic" in the subject line so that it's not deleted.

"I received the beautiful photo from Guy Prentiss from California. He wrote and I quote that he is "the spitting image" of a man in the photo standing by the window on left side. 2nd man from left with mustache, young man. He is Guy's great-greatgrandfather named Guy Prentiss. The tall man in the back rowwith the mustache, he believes to be Jefferson Sherman who resided there. I personally believe that standing beside him is his wife, Delia Reed Sherman [born 1835 or 1836 according to the Wayne County census]. Her gravestone from Marion Cemetary states she was born 1834. They had six children:
Clara, married Wallace Moon of Rochester
Orin H., married Carolyn Isabel Beam
Charlotte who married Frank De Right
Bertha who married Thomas F. Young of Marion

Herbert and his sister May never married which leads me to believe that they are standing at the left of their father, Jefferson Sherman. Because Jefferson's parents lived the next farm north of him. My opinion, is that next to Delia is her mother-in-law Erminda Howell, who married her cousin Zephaniah Sherman.

The teenage boy in the back row on the left side looks like my grandfather, Marshall McKee [born October 27,1879 - January 22, 1956] but because he would be younger, the boy could be his older brother Oliver Mc Kee [November 18,1873-July 20,1899].

The man standing in front of Oliver could be his father Hiram McKee. Hiram was born August 26,1846 and died April 3,1936. He enlisted in the 8th New York Calvary on August 3, 1863. He was at Winchester, Cedar Creek when General Robert E. Lee surrendered ending the Civil War. Hiram received wounds during the war, was captured, and taken prisoner at Cedar Creek, but told himself he wasn't going to die in there. Another prisoner and he exchanged their home addresses by putting it on a tiny piece of paper and placing it inside their boot; and during the night they climbed over the wall and slid down the other side into the creek, swimming across and running for their life. Hiram wrote twice to the other man's family but never heard from them, presuming that the other man perhaps was unable to swim.

I have several 1900 photos of Hiram, of which he looks like the man at the picnic except that he has pure white hair and the same shaped white beard.

Guy Prentice's great-great-great-grandmother is also in the picture. To find her is somewhat harder to explain; in the front row there's the little boy with the straw hat, behind him is the sober facedyoungster with a round hat on, behind him is a man with a large mustache, and behind him is Rosannah Reed Prentiss, born in 1817. She married Martin Prentiss and had seven children; Myron, Charles, George, Julia, Mary, James, and Rosadell. Their son George was the only one of the siblings to change the spelling from Prentiss to Prentice; therefore Guy is their offspring.

I made a copy from a book entitled "History of Ontario, New York" of a picture in it that has James Prentiss and his grandson, James Prentiss."

Sally M.

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