A Compilation of Selected Ashcraft Obituaries and Other Newspaper

As Transcribed from the Scrapbook of

Agatha H. Sparks

&

Ruth (Vaughn) Davis

by

Philip R. Roblee

Ashcraft Descendant

The Scrapbook in fact is the New York State Manual of the Highway Laws of the State of
New York, 6 th Edition, published in 1886. To Agatha Sparks 1 , this roughly 400-page hard-covered
2 6" x 9" (more or less) manual was the perfect host to her vast collection of poems
carefully and thoughtfully clipped from newspapers and magazines over the course of what
must have been many years.

Agatha opens the scrapbook with the following text written in pencil:

Mrs. Agatha H. Sparks

Born Oct. 27th 1838

This Scrap book was made and dedicated to the children, neighbors

and friends, who will read and appreciate it, as the work of her old age.

Died ____.

grandmother, but it appears to have been through the hands of her aunt Bertha (Vaughan)

Jones, daughter of Betsey (Ashcraft) Vaughan, who adopted Ruth at the age of nine. At Ruth’s

death in 1992, the scrapbook was passed to her daughter and my mother, Wilma "Joyce"

(Davis) Roblee, and she in turn passed it on to me a few years later.

This document represents the transcription of selected newspaper clippings contained

in the scrapbook; particularly, those relating to the Ashcraft family of Cattaraugus County. I

record them here in hopes of preserving those brief, but descriptive life (and lifestyle)

summaries of my ancestors which are captured so eloquently within the aging newspaper

clippings.

Unfortunately, few of the clippings are dated or cited, and without such frames of

reference phrases like, "...died here Thursday last" are left open to interpretation. In some

cases where such references are missing I have taken the liberty of inserting clarifying text

within brackets [ ].

Errors can occur in transcription, and I claim no exemption from this possibility.

However, I have taken great care to ensure minimal occurrence of error. For those occurrences

1 Little is known about Agatha, other than the obvious fact that she was close to the Ashcraft family.

2 The original hardbound cover is long gone, and book pages are browned and cracked.

3 Ruth’s generation is the first to use the "Vaughn" spelling consistently.

Son of Wilma Joyce Davis (and Anson Grant Roblee),

Daughter of Ruth Isabelle Vaughn (and Francis Law Davis),

Daughter of Nellis C. Vaughan (and Lillian Smith),