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August 2010 Letter from Charles Woodruff


Hello James,

Thank you for your email and the photo of Euphemia.  

I remember your grandparents (Austin Thomas Livingston and
Norma Rose Pulis Livingston) when I was a kid as we would 
sometimes visit them in Sidney, NY with my grandmother, 
Lulu Pulis Morley.  The last time I saw your grandmother was 
when she was at my grandmother's burial in Afton, NY in 1972.
 
However, I had a very interesting summer and part of it relates 
to the Pulis family.  When I was a kid, I loved to hear my 
grandmother tell stories about when she and her family lived out 
in South Dakota.  Back in 1998, I went through the area of Selby 
where they lived, trying to find the cemetery where Oscar's parents 
(James and Jane Brown Pulis) are buried.  I had a copy of James's 
death certificate from 1913 as well as his Civil War pension 
record but was unsuccessful in finding the graves.  An internet 
query resulted in a fellow who lived in the same county going to 
the Bangor Cemetery where they are buried and taking photos for me.  

Bangor, which was near Selby, was once the county seat but now 
there is no trace of the town other than the cemetery which is 
off a dirt road and surrounded by corn fields.  I was driving 
to Spokane, Washington in July for an antique car show and I
detoured to Selby since I now knew where they were buried.  

The Bangor cemetery is still well maintained and actually has a 
few modern burials in it.  I took many digital photos of their 
graves and on the return east from Spokane stopped there again 
because James's grave did not have a flag on his grave for being 
a Civil War veteran and I wanted to remedy that.
 
I would love to see the photos that you have with regard to the 
family.  I remember one that my grandmother showed me when I was 
a kid that was a group family portrait which included James Pulis.  
I have not seen that photo since my grandparent's sold their farm 
in 1964 and I fear that my one uncle threw it and other photos 
away as he remarked to my cousin (his daughter) that he "did not 
know who these people are."  I always hate it when something 
like that happens.
 
My mother, Shirley Morley Woodruff, is still alive and doing well
as she approaches the age of 82.  She lives in Schenectady, NY. 

Looking forward to hearing from you and I promise to respond 
more quickly the next time.

Charlie Woodruff    Website

August 2010

N.B.: The photo below left shows my cousin Charlie Woodruff at
the Bangor Cemetery, Walworth County, South Dakota, in 2010.
That is his 1951 Hudson Hornet in the background.