Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Cramer

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Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
Cramer

[This information is from Vol. III, pp. 999-1000 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in the Reference collection of the Schenectady County Public Library at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]

Among the early settlers of Dutchess county, New York, the name of Cramer frequently appears. In the town of Rhinebeck there were several of the name. The family has distributed itself to the four quarters of the earth, but many of the name remain. Captain William S. Cramer was captain of one of the first barges propelled by steam that appeared on the Hudson, displacing the sloops that were a favorite mode of travel from upriver towns to New York City. A poster of the period reads: "The elegant and commodious barge Milan, Captain William S. Cramer," etc. The family is of record as early as 1743, when Johan Nicholas Cramer was born. He had twelve children. He died in 1806. In Schenectady county the family was founded by the branch of the family now found in Amsterdam, New York.

(I) Barney Cramer was born in Dutchess county, where he grew to manhood and married. Not long after the revolutionary war ended, many Dutchess county people began making settlement in Schenectady county. Barney Cramer was one of those who settled on the banks of the Mohawk about one mile west of the present city of Schenectady. Here, in a small way, he started a place of entertainment for travelers and wayfarers. He later added to this a small line of merchandise. He was a man of some means when he came there and was pressed to purchase farm lands, but the country was not inviting to his eye, and the settlers were not prosperous at that time, causing him to refuse the offers made him. One offer that was made was for the sale of a large tract in the town of Glenville, surrounding his home, for a uniform price for the tract of fifty cents per acre. The city of Schenectady now occupies part of the offered land that to him had no value. He afterward traded his hotel and store for farm property, then retired to the home of his eldest son, where he died, about 1850. His wife lived to be an old lady. They were communicants of the Reformed church. Their children were:

Frederick, born 1785, died 1874; was a farmer of Schoharie county, where most of his life was passed; married Susan Cornell, of New England parentage, and had ten children, four of whom are living:
1. Mrs. Delaney Grovenor;
2. Miss Alma T. Cramer, an old resident of Amsterdam, New York;
3. Mrs. Charlotte Uhlman, of South Valley, New York; and
4. Charles H. Cramer, of Schenectady, New York.
Jeremiah, born shortly after his parents settled in Scotia; became a substantial farmer of the county, where he married and reared a family.
Peter, settled on a farm in Glenville, same county, where he resided until he was eighty years of age; studied law and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced; never married.
John, born and reared in Scotia; was a broom-maker, as were other members of the family; married twice, and reared a large family.
Catherine, married, reared a family, and lived to a good old age.
Barney, see forward.

(II) Barney (2), son of Barney (1) Cramer, was born in Scotia, Schenectady county, New York, 1810, the youngest of a family of six, and died in 1860. He learned the trade of carpenter and followed it all his life. He resided for some time in Montgomery county, but later returned to Scotia, where he ended his days.

Barney Cramer married, in Scotia, Sarah Christiance, born about 1812, died 1870. She and her husband were members of the Dutch Reformed Church. Their children are:

Alonzo, lost on Lake Erie by the burning of a steamboat on which he was a passenger; no one on board was saved.
Melissa, married Andrew Tenant, of Albany; they are both deceased, leaving no issue.
Mary, died in Schenectady at age of seventy, unmarried.
Abram, see forward.
Austin, married Ida Fancher and has issue; he is a broom-maker, and lives in Amsterdam.
Volney, married Emma Hout and has issue; he is overseer of the county jail at Kirkville, Onondaga county, New York.
Adrianna, married Isaac Walters, a farmer of Schenectady county, New York; they have an only child, a daughter.

(III) Abram, fourth child of Barney (2) and Sarah (Christiance) Cramer, was born in the town of Root, Montgomery county, New York, May 5, 1844. His parents returned to Schenectady county when he was an infant. His education was obtained in the public schools of Scotia. In 1868 he came to Amsterdam, where he learned broom-making, a very important industry in those days. He worked at his trade for several years, when, with his savings for capital, he established a grocery business in Amsterdam that he conducted most successfully until 1908, when he retired from active business life. He is a leading member of the Baptist church, and of Lodge No. 134, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

He married, September 2, 1871, Catherine J. Davis, born in Amsterdam, June 8, 1852, just across the street from her present home. She was educated in the public schools and has always taken an active interest in her husband's business, contributing to his success in no small degree. Mrs. Cramer is the daughter of John B. Davis, born in Lancastershire, England, April 28, 1819. His parents, John and Jane (Evans) Davis, came to the United States in 1831, settling in Scotia, Schenectady county, where they died. One of their sons, Thomas, born 1817, now lives in Schenectady, aged ninety (1907). He is the last survivor of a family of seven. John B. Davis was a carpenter and builder, and erected many public as well as numerous private buildings in Amsterdam. His second wife was Mary Vosburg, whom he married October 24, 1849. She was born in Montgomery county, 1833, died in Amsterdam, 1887, daughter of John Vosburg, a soldier of the war of 1812, and his wife, Kate Earle, of French ancestry. John B. and Mary (Vosburg) Davis were parents of two daughters:

Catherine J. (Mrs. Abram Cramer).
Eliza M., born August 31, 1855, wife of John Norman, of Amsterdam, and mother of John B. Norman, who married Clara Rockafeller. They reside in Amsterdam.

Mr. and Mrs. Abram Cramer have no children.

Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:Cramer

Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
Cramer