REDWOOD -- Alton Rogers, 82, a lifelong resident of Cottage Hill, Redwood area, died Saturday morning on arrival at Edward John Noble Hospital, Alexandria Bay.

The funeral will be 10 a.m. Monday at Frederick Brothers Funeral Home, Theresa, with the Rev. Winifred Daughen, pastor of the Methodist Church of Redwood, officiating. Calling hours will be 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today. Burial will be in the spring in Redwood Cemetery.

Surviving are his wife, Ercle; a son, Richard, Redwood; three daughters, Mrs. Richard (Shirley) Sweredoski, Tonawanda, Mrs. Douglas (Nola) Foster, Clayton, and Mrs. Timothy (Diane) Atkins, Redwood; 13 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.

Two brothers and four sisters died before him.

He was born May 3, 1906 in the Town of Alexandria, the son of George and Bertha Smith Rogers. He attended local schools and was a farmer. He married Ercle Bishop, Hammond, Sept. 16, 1938 in Tupper Lake.

They returned to Theresa, where they farmed for a short time for the Jolly brothers. They then moved to Redwood, where they continued to Reside. Mr. Rogers retired from farming in 1978. He was a custom butcher for local farmers. He was active as a fiddler for various organizations and social groups.

Donations may be made to the Redwood Rescue Squad.

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COUNTY WILL PAY
$3,000 FOR DEATH

WOULD GO TO MRS. HENRIETTA RODENHURST, THERESA
IN FRED S. RODENHURST CASE

Mr. Rodenhurst Died After Injuries
Received While Acting as Volunteer
Fireman -- Other Cases Heard in
Court Here.

Compensation of $3,000 was promised by Jefferson county to Mrs. Henrietta Rodenhurst, Theresa, for the death of her husband, Fred S. Rodenhurst, last April 21 following injuries received as a volunteer fireman, during the term of death court here Friday. Referee James P. Richardson, Syracuse, presided.

Mr. Rodenhurst, prominent north country business man and pioneer telephone promoter, slipped and fell on ice on Feb. 28 while directly Theresa fireman fighting the blaze in the residence of Dr. Stephen B. Manong. He received a fractured left thigh bone from the fall and while recuperating was stricken with a coronary embolism.

Ray M. Reeves, county purchasing agent, appeared at the first hearing of the claim by Mrs. Rodenhurt and asserted the county�s willingness to pay compensation of $3,000 in accordance with the municipal law on the death of a volunteer fireman in the line of duty.

Seymour Rodenhurst of Theresa appeared for his mother, Mrs. Rodenhurst. Referee Richardson referred the claim to the referee�s desk for final approval.

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Plessis Woman Takes Own Life in Cemetery

LOWVILLE -- Mrs. Donna M. Robinson, 44, Plessis, wife of Guy Robinson, was found dead Friday afternoon in the Beaver Falls Cemetery. A wrist was found slashed in an apparent suicide, according to the Lewis County Sheriff�s Department.

The death occurred shortly after noon, the sheriff�s department said. Mrs. Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene by Dr. Daniel Ellison.

The woman�s body was removed by Beaver Falls Ambulance to Lewis County General Hospital for an autopsy.

Sheriff Floyd Martin and Dist. Atty. Nathaniel Merrell directed the investigation.

Mrs. Robinson had been in failing health two years.

The funeral will be 2 p.m. Monday at St. Paul�s Lutheran Church, Redwood, with Rev. James Slater, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Plessis Cemetery.

Calling hours will be 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Frederick Brothers Funeral Home, Theresa.

Donations may be made in her name to the Redwood Ambulance Fund.

She is survived by her husband, Guy; three daughters, Mrs. Richael P. (JaNae) Zimmer, Redwood, Rae-Anne Marie and Cherene Lee (Reenie), at home; a brother, Martin E. Smith, Rochester, nieces and nephews and two aunts.

Born at Alexandria Bay Oct. 22, 1939, a daughter of Ezra and Ruth Ripley Smith, she was graduated from Alexandria Central School in 1957 and later from LePonto�s Beautician School, Syracuse. She was employed for a time in the Watertown section.

She married Guy S. Robinson of Watertown April 12, 1962. The coupled lived in Brownville before moving to Plessis five years ago.

Mrs. Robinson had been a school bus driver for Alexandria Central School.

She was a member of Plessis United Methodist Church and Dexter American Legion Auxiliary.

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Charles A. Reynolds, 65, Gordon Courts, Alexandria Bay, died Sunday at his home.

The funeral was at noon Tuesday, at the Frederick Brothers Funeral Home, Theresa, with Rev. Winnifred Daughen, of the Methodist Church of Alexandria Bay, officiating. Burial will be on the family plot in the Barnes Settlement Cemetery.

Surviving Mr. Reynolds are three nieces, Mrs. Nancy Ryan, Oxford; Jeanne Race, Liverpool, and Mrs. Sally Flynn, in Saudia Arabia, and three nephews, James Reynolds, Madison, Wisc., Glen Reynolds, Delhi and Gary Reynolds, Hartford, Conn.

He was born April 1, 1921, at Alexandria Bay, a son of Edward D. and Louise Sargent Reynolds, and was educated at Alexandria Bay High School.

He was employed for 30 years with his father at the Reynolds Pontiac Garage. He also was a delivery man for the Edward John Noble Hospital laundry service. Mr. Reynolds delivered mail at Alexandria Bay for 13 years, retiring In 1979.

He was a member of the Methodist Church of Alexandria Bay, the Alexandria Bay Volunteer Fire Department and the Odd Fellows of Alexandria Bay.

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Frederick M. Robinson
(with photo)

Word has been received here of the death of Frederick Milton Robinson, formerly of the north country, on Dec. 4, in the West Volusia Memorial Hospital in DeLand, Fla.

The body was cremated. As was his request, his ashes will be sent to Frederick Bros. Funeral Home in Evans Mills for burial in Sanford�s Corners Cemetery, Calcium, at the convenience of the family.

Surviving are his wife, Mary, DeLand, Fla.; a daughter, Margaret Lillian Brown; three grandchildren, Terilyn Ann Bourdon, Robyn Mary Miller, and Tammi Lynn Brown, all of the Syracuse area; three great-grandchildren; a sister, Margaret Deck, and a brother, Vincent Robinson, both of England.

His brothers and sisters, Archibald, Percy, Ruby and Sophia Maud, died before him.

Born June 12, 1902, in London, England, he was a son of Percy and Sophia Grove Robinson.

On Dec. 10, 1929, he married the former Mary Hill at St. Paul�s Episcopal Church in Antwerp.

Mr. Robinson was employed with the New York Air Brake Company in Watertown, retiring in 1974. He was a mason of the Bethany Lodge 821 at Black River, for 65 years.

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F. S. Rodenhurst, 76, of Theresa
(with photo)

Fred S. Rodenhurst, 76, of Theresa, member of the Thousand Island State Park commission, honorary chief of the Theresa fire department and long a prominent resident of that village, died suddenly at 7:15 Tuesday night in the House of the Good Samaritan, where he had been a patient since Feb. 28.

Mr. Rodenhurst was recovering from a fracture of the left thighbone when he was suddenly stricken with a coronary embolism. He died about a half hour later. He became unconscious within a few minutes after the embolism.

Mr. Rodenhurst suffered the fracture early on the morning of Feb. 28 when he slipped on the ice and feel while directly the village volunteer fire department in the attempt to extinguish the blaze which destroyed the home of Dr. Stephen B. Manong in Theresa. He had long been a member of the fire department. After the fall, he was treated by a Theresa physician and then brought to the hospital. His condition progressed favorably and just before he suffered the fatal embolism, he felt good and had eaten a hearty dinner.

The body was removed to Theresa, where funeral services will be held Friday afternoon at 2 in the Presbyterian church.

Masonic services are planned. Rev. Charles G. Cady, retired clergyman and former pastor of the Theresa church, will officiate. Mr. Rodenhurst was a day younger than Rev. Mr. Cady.

The body will lie in state at the church from noon to the funeral hour Friday. Following the services, the body will be taken to a crematory for cremation. The ashes will be buried in the Theresa cemetery.

Bearers for the funeral will be: Hobart Minnick, Harry Ferguson, Harry Bush, Orin S. Wilcox, Henry Walters and George Van Tassel, Theresa.

Surviving him are his wife, Mrs. Henrietta Miller Rodenhurst; a son, Seymour K. Rodenhurst, Theresa; his 87-year old brother, Dr. DeWitt C. Rodenhurst, Philadelphia, and a sister, Mrs. Charles E. (Belle) Barnes, Holyoke, Mass.

Mr. Rodenhurst, one of northern New York�s pioneer telephone men prior to his retirement, was a former mayor of Clayton, one-time president of the Alexandria Bay chamber of commerce and once served as chairman of the park committee of the Northern New York Federation of Chambers of Commerce.

He was one of the original members of the Thousand Island State Park commission, having been appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, then governor of the state, in 1932, when the commission was created. Mr. Rodenhurst was a resident of Alexandria Bay when he was first appointed. He had since been a member of the commission. In 1935 and again in 1940 Governor Herbert H. Lehman re-appointed him for five-year terms.

The park commission has control of state parks and reservations in the twelfth park region, which includes Jefferson county.

Mr. Rodenhurst was also former manager of the Northern New York Telephone corporation office at Alexandria Bay, served as a director of that company, was once president of the Point Vivian association and had held a number of other responsible positions in different sections of the state with the New York Telephone company.

A Democrat since his youth, he at one time, particularly during the period that the late John N. Carlisle of Watertown was a state party leader, had a prominent part in Democratic politics in the county.

In 1932, while chamber of commerce president of Alexandria Bay, he was appointed chairman of the village�s anti-boarding campaign of General J. G. Harbord, director of the New York State Citizens� Reconstruction Finance organization. The campaign was an effort to persuade people to buy �baby� bonds.

Mr. Rodenhurst was born March 28, 1866, at Pecksport, Madison county, a son of the late Richard C. and Sarah A. Knickerbocker Rodenhurst. The family originally came from England and settled in Oneida county, near Utica, later residing at Clayton and in Theresa, where the late Richard C. Rodenhurst was a hardware merchant.

As a small child, Mr. Rodenhurst moved to Clayton with his parents and after about two years of residence there, the family moved to Theresa.

As a young man he was a member of the firm of R. Rodenhurst & Son, Theresa hardware and coal merchants, but during the winter of 1901-2 he began his career in the telephone industry, declining an appointment from the governor of the state as a conservation department officer to take charge of a block of telephone work in the southern part of the state.

He was a pioneer in the establishment of a telephone company at Theresa and he became its manager. Under his direction, telephone lines were extended to various surrounding communities. Later, he joined the Bell Telephone company and the Theresa concern was taken over by that company. He helped to establish the Alexandria Bay and Clayton lines, both of which were also absorbed by the Bell company.

Mr. Rodenhurst served as construction superintendent for the Bell company, was president and manager of the Friendship company at Auburn and manager of the Cayuga Southern Telephone company at Ithaca. For a time he was with the company�s commercial department at Syracuse.

In 1919, when the Bell company took over the Alexandria Bay and Clayton lines, Mr. Rodenhurst was transferred to Clayton and about six years later when the companies of those villages were merged, Mr. Rodenhurst was appointed manager with offices at Alexandria Bay. For a time he lived at Clayton and while there he was mayor of the village for years. He had been village president of Theresa when he was 21.

From Clayton he moved to Alexandria Bay. Having reached the retirement age of 65, Mr. Rodenhurst was retired as manager of the Northern New York Telephone company office at Alexandria Bay July 1, 1931, but he remained on the board of directors.

Upon his retirement he and his wife moved to Theresa.

He married Miss Henrietta Miller of Theresa, April 13, 1892, at Theresa, Rev. E. S. Cheeseman, a Methodist minister, performing the ceremony. Because he was in the hospital, a formal observance of their golden wedding anniversary last week was postponed.

Active in community affairs at Theresa, Mr. Rodenhurst was elected chief of the village volunteer fire department soon after it was organized after the great Theresa fire of 1890. He served as head of the department at various times since then and finally, two years ago, was made it honorary chief.

Mr. Rodenhurst was a member of the Theresa Lodge of Masons, Alexandria Bay Chapter, R. A. M., Watertown Commandery, No. 11 K. T. the Independent Order of Foresters, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Pioneer Telephone association. He was also past high chief ranger of the Independent Order of Foresters.

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Philadelphia, Jan. 25. -- Dr. D. C. Rodenhurst, Philadelphia�s oldest member of the medical profession will celebrate his 85th birthday Friday at his home here, rather quietly because of the storm and winter conditions. Plans are being made for the family get-together a little later. Fred S. Rodenhurst, Theresa, is a brother and the two families often join in birthday parties.

Not only is Dr. Rodenhurst the sage of the village, but he holds quite a record as an active physician, for he has been practicing for over 60 years, first at OxBow, and since 1882 in this village. He organized the board of health in this village and has served long as health commissioner, as well as village trustee, coroner and other community positions.

Born in the village of Westmoreland, Oneida county, Jan. 26, 1855, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Richard Rodenhurst, and came into Jefferson county with his parents when they located in Clayton. They resided there for a brief period. Richard Rodenhurst located in Theresa where he conducted a hardware business for many years.

Dr. Rodenhurst, after finishing the schools in Theresa, attended the Potsdam Normal and the Watertown Seminary, and studied medicine with Dr. J. R. Sturtevant in Theresa. He finished his medical studies in the Long Island College hospital and soon after located in OxBow, considered an important opening. Dr. Rodenhurst has often told of the long trips he had to make with horses, often in the deep snow to visit his patients.

In 1882 he located in this village and has since resided here. On Jan. 10, 1884, he married Miss Mattie Pool of Theresa. After her death, he married Tacie Heston of Philadelphia, Pa., who just transferred her residence from one Philadelphia to another.

Dr. Robenhurst is a prominent Mason, joining the Theresa lodge, No. 174, early in life. Later he joined the chapter, the commandery, the shrine and has long been a member of the Medical society.

The interesting stories of his early days as a country physician are pictures of life in small communities 60 years ago. Jovial In nature he likes society and has many friends.

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Theresa, March 27. -- A patient in the House of the Good Samaritan, Watertown, where he is recovering from a fractured hip, Fred S. Rodenhurst of this village will celebrate his 76th birthday on Saturday. Mrs. Rodenhurst, with their only son, Seymour Rodenhurst, and his wife, plan to spend a portion of the day with Mr. Rodenhurst and friends are sending birthday cards.

Sometime ago it was planned to have a rather extensive birthday party for Mr. Rodenhurst but that was before he fractured his hip while directing the fire company at the Dr. Stephen Manong fire here a few weeks back. Mr. Rodenhurst and Rev. Charles G. Cady had given thought to celebrating their two birthdays at one event. Both are the same age and their birthdays are today and Saturday.

Fred S. Rodenhurst has lived much of his 76 years in this town. His parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. Richard Rodenhurst, resided here after Richard Rodenhurst left work on the Erie canal as a boat captain to open a hardware store. Later the son entered the firm and took an active part in the store work and the selling of coal. When the Theresa village fire department was organized after the great fire of 1890 Fred Rodenhurst became very active and was soon elected a chief. He has served as chief for many years, but at different times.

When the business men of the village, years ago, wanted local telephone service, Fred Rodenhurst mapped out a plan for the formation of a local company which not only covered the village, but extended into almost all sections of the rural section, even having the village of Lafargeville in their organization. His work with the telephone company locally caused the Bell Telephone company to make him an offer and he was away from Theresa for a period of time, for some years down state, building up the field there. Later he was at Clayton and still later at Alexandria Bay. When he retired ten years ago he returned to this village to reside.

He is a New York state park commissioner and has taken much interest in the building up of the parks in the St. Lawrence river and nearby sections. Fifty years ago this coming month Mr. Rodenhurst was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Miller, Rev. E. S. Cheeseman officiating. Mr. Rodenhurst has a brother, Dr. DeWitt C. Rodenhurst, 87, who is still a practicing physician in the village of Philadelphia. Fred Rodenhurst is active in the local lodge of Masons and he and Mrs. Rodenhurst are in the meetings of the Theresa chapter of the Eastern Star most of the sessions.

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Philadelphia, June 23. -- Dr. Dewitt C. Rodenhurst of this village, has been a practicing physician for 60 years. He was graduated with a medical degree on June 24, 1879 from the Long Island College Hospital Medical school. Saturday will mark the 60th anniversary of his graduation.

Dr. Rodenhurst is in good health and still is at his office each day. He is 84 years old. Dr. Rodenhurst was born at Lowell, town of Westmoreland, Oneida county, Jan. 26, 1855, a son of the late Richard C. and Sarah A. Knickerbocker Rodenhurst. He has practiced at Philadelphia since Aug. 26, 1882. For three years before that time, he practiced at Oxbow.

Dr. Rodenhurst was made a member of the Jefferson County Medical society on Oct. 7,1879. This society will be 60 years old on Oct. 7. When Dr. Rodenhurst became a member of the society, Dr. William R. Trowbridge was president and Henry H. Deane was secretary.

There is not a physician practicing medicine or living today that was practicing medicine in Jefferson county when Dr. Rodenhurst began with the exception of Dr. Grosvenor S. Farmer of Watertown. Dr. Farmer then was living and practicing in Gouverneur.