#84 - Westbury, Long Island, NY 1869: Beard or No Beard?

 1869 Beards at the Apex

1869 Westbury Friends Meetinghouse

It was the way to wear your hair in the US: between 1850 and 1901 all of my male ancestors who were young men during the Civil War (AND who were American & whose photo I have) wore beards.
The photo above is a1896 photo of some of the Westbury Friends at the Westbury (Long Island, NY) Meetinghouse.
I first saw in at the Westbury Historical Society.  [You might want to see if you have an ancestor pictured here]. 

Then I noticed it in my cousin's house--she lives in the same house our great grandmother (Bertha Hauxhurst) lived (in PA) after she was married. Bertha's father is in the above photo, as are many of Bertha's relatives.

In the 1990s an elderly relative on Long Island (Esther Hicks) provided an enormous amount of information, including the key to the photograph. 

Both the key and the names to each circled number is provided below.

Back to Beards:
When I looked closely at the photo, I saw fewer than half the men have beards, some seem to have whiskers, and there might even be a mustache in this group. 
I would guess though the Quakers here have in part adopted the fashion of the day (some have 'trendy' stove pipe hats), that they seemed to resist the beard largely. I wonder if it may have been because they were conscientious objectors to war (even if they agreed with the Union)?
I don't know. But, it was fun to examine more closely each face in the photo as I could see some of their expressions. 

Key to Westbury Friends Meeting Members - See Names below

Westbury Quaker Meeting 1869  

Note: # 33 and #39 are unnamed, not recognized. There is a 35 & a 35A to compensate a numbering error.

1 Wm E Hauxhurst - No beard -  (my gr gr grandfather)

2 Wm Hewlett - No
3 Wm Mudge - Whiskers or Beard
4 Isaac Rushmore -No
5 Benjamin Hicks (Manhasset) - No
6 Stephen Rushmore - No
7 Charles F Titus - No
8 Wm T. Cock - No
9 John S. Hicks - Whiskers or Beard
10 James Titus - No
11 Joseph Post - No
12 Lewis Valentine -No
13 Edmond Seaman -No
14 Edward Willets - No 
15 Henry Titus - No
16 Stephen R. Hicks - No 
17 Howard Rushmore - No
18 Hannah Keese
19 Lydia Townsend
20 Henry T. Willets - Beard or whiskers
21 Samuel Keese - No
22 John Keese - No
23 Anna Valentine
24 Edward Rushmore -No 
25 Hannah B. Titus
26 Daughter of Benj. Hicks
27 Daughter of Benj. Hicks
28 Mary W. Seaman
29 Mary Jane Willits
30 Thomas Hicks - No
31 Jacob Hicks - No 
32 William Henry Willits - No
33 --N/A
34 James Post -No
35 John Valentine - No
35A Sidney Pratt -No
36 Benjamin Hicks (Roslyn) - No
37 Mary P. Titus
38 Sarah A. Willets
39 ---
40 Mary F. Titus
41 Phebe Post
42 Amy Keese
43 Esther or Hannah Willets
44 Caroline H. Hicks
45 Charity Hawxhurst
46 John D Hicks - No
47 Jane Titus
48 Annie C. Titus
49 Phebe Barnes (Purchase)
50 Hannah B. Cock
51 Hannah U. Hicks
52 Rachel Post
53 Marietta Willets
54 Joseph Hicks - Yes, nice beard!
55 Elmina Post
56 Mary W. Post
57 Annie T. Willets
58 Frederick E. Willits - No Beard but does he have a mustache??
 

---

Sources
Photo: MB Walmer Collection (by way of Bertha Hauxhurst) - photo

Key: from Esther Hicks (Emory) B 1903 D. 2004 (age 101). Daughter of Henry Hicks & Caroline Jackson. Wife of John M  G Emory. Esther Hicks Emory corresponded with Margaret Tilton Walmer and provided the "key" which she had gotten from a sister. 

#27- Ephraim Cock Hawxhurst and Charity Titus and Their Family

  Ephraim Cock Hauxhurst and Charity Titus

Ephraim Cock Hauxhurst (Hawxhurst / Hawkshurst) was my great grandmother Bertha Hauxhurst’s grandfather (my great-great-great grandfather).

Ephraim C Hawxhurst was the son of William Hauxhurst and Viotetta Allen (or Alling), and a longtime member of Westbury Monthly Meetings. 

His father, William Hauxhurst  was born 1761 and died 1831 while his mother was Violetta Alling [Allen] was born in 1765 and died 1819. It looks like they had seven children who survived to adulthood, Ephraim C being the third eldest.

1-Esther (1789-1858)
2-Noah Townsend (1791-1826)
3-**Ephraim Cock (1793-1860)
4-Allen (1796-1879)
5-Mary (1798-1858)
6-Sarah (1801-1885)
7-Phoebe (1804-1883)

Ephraim was given a middle name Cock which reflected yet another Long Island family he was descended from. The Cock (Cox, Cocks, Coke) family was had settled in Matinecock, Oyster Bay in the 1600s. 
This sample page from a book (publ. 1914) shows a testimony of some early Quaker families listed on the right-hand page. The book is “The History and genealogy of the Cock, Cocks, Cox family, descended from James and Sarah Cock, of Killingworth upon Matinecock, in the township of Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y”
 

Cock Family on Long Island

Ephraim Cock Hawxhurst's Birthdate & His Marriages
Ephraim was born April 29, 1793 and was married three times.
He married first Julia Lefferts on September 22, 1821, but she died. 
Ephraim married second a Mary Ann McKenny [McKenna] on November 27, 1824. She died also.
His third wife was Charity Titus, daughter of Timothy Titus and Margaret Titus.  Charity Titus was born December 24, 1802.

Third Marriage
Ephraim married Charity Titus on March 26, 1834 at Westbury. 

Titus Family
Charity Titus was of the of the Long Island Titus family--another long-time Quaker family of Long Island. 
The Titus family is arrived first to New England and then settled in Long Island about 1650. Her parents were likely distant cousins as they both bore the Titus surname and Quakers within a region frequently married distant cousins (or, sometimes, first cousins). 

Her father was Timothy Titus (1765-1850). His first wife Margaret Hoagland bore two sons and then died. His second wife, and Charity's  mother, was Margaret Titus (1773-1855).

Family
Unlike his first wives Charity Titus (Hawxhurst) survived and gave birth to children and then outlived Ephraim.
Charity Titus died November 7, 1877, outliving Ephraim by seventeen years. Ephraim died November 12, 1860 in Westbury, Long Island, NY.

Their children and grandchildren
1-Elizabeth was born February 7, 1835. Elizabeth married Oliver Van Cott.
 -Her brother,the son (William), noted that this sister’s husbandwas of Dutchess County NY.  And, that he (Oliver) was a descendant of one of their grandmothers, Jemina Titus.  Jemima was his grandfather Timothy's sister, and she married John Van Cott. They were distantly related. (Got that?)
William noted that Elizabeth and Oliver Van Cott had two children at the time he was writing (in mid or late 1880s): Sons were: William E. Van Cott, and George T. Van Cott.

2 Caroline was born July 17, 1836 and died June 21, 1860, buried at Westbury.
William notes that this sister “never married.” 
She had a “spinal disease and could not walk. She died with diphtheria in 1860.”
 
3 William Ephraim, (subject of Post # 34) was born May 19, 1838. William E Hauxhurst married Marianna Hicks (subject of Post #31).  William made a nice summary of genealogical notes, including the ones mentioned here.
William and Marianna had six children. Their youngest child was my great grandmother, Bertha Charity.

4 Margaret T, born July 4, 1845 and died March 14, 1916 was  “unmarried.” William notes she “Lives with me.”(her brother William at Buckram, LI)