Family tree Foppes » Sarah Bateman (1895-1993)

Personal data Sarah Bateman 

• She was born on January 30, 1895.
• She died on September 12, 1993 in Herkimer, NY, she was 98 years old.
• This information was last updated on June 10, 2022.

Household of Sarah Bateman

She is married to John Stuart Foppes.

They got married.

Child(ren):

1. Stuart Edward Foppes  1919-1926
2. Guy Bateman Foppes  1922-1978 
3. (Not public)

Notes about Sarah Bateman

Daniel Foppes (1955) writes about his grandmother Sara Bateman:

My grandfather and uncle were struck and killed by lightning. My grandmother told me that they were fishing on a lake in a rowboat with a friend of my grandfather when a thunder storm approached. They were struck by the lightning and thrown in the water. When they were found my grandfather and the other man were dead but Stuart Edward was still barely alive. He died enroute to the hospital. This was the second time that my grandmother Sara had been widowed. I don't remember her telling me of the details of her first marriage. She decided that she was cursed as to marriage and never remarried. Apparently her family - the Bateman's - stepped in and helped with raising my father and aunt. The Foppes side of the family drifted away.

From what I remember, my grandmother Sara Bateman was actually adopted by Edward Bateman who I remember meeting when I was no more than 3 or 4 years old, he had become very infirm as I think he may have been in his 90's. I don't know who the parents of my grandmother actually were.

At the time of the adoption Edward Bateman was married to a woman whose name I don't know. She died leaving their biological daughter Izzy Dean ( not sure of the spelling) and Sara. He then married a woman named Lucia. I don't know the maiden name. I do remember Grandma Lucia as she was maybe 5 or 7 years senior to Sara, so maybe 18 - 20 years younger than Edward Bateman. Lucia I think died sometime in the early 70's. So Sara Bateman was an orphan, she was a fun grandma too. I'm sure some stories about her will surface.

Her sister was Irodene Bateman or Izzy Dean as grandma Sara used to call her. I met her sometime in the 1960's. She came to stay with us for a week when grandma Sara was visiting us one summer in Michigan. They truly loved each other very much. They talked and laughed a great deal over old times.

For some reason the Foss family name strikes a chord with me as I vaguely remember grandma Sara mentioning the Foss name. I don't remember the connection. It may have been another family that Sara lived with as I believe that she was orphaned at a very young age. I remember her telling me that for some time when she was a little girl that she lived on a dairy farm and that one of her chores was milking cows.

Sarah Bateman has a rather complicated ancestry. She was adopted before 1910 by Edward Bateman (1876) and his first wife, Flora Breish (1868). They are listed in the census of 1910 as living in the German Flats in Herkimer, NY, with a daughter Sarah (1895) and a daughter Mary J. (1903).

We find Edward Bateman in 1920 living with Sarah (24), her husband John Foppes (1890), with child Stuart Edward (1919). The other two children were born later: Guy Bateman (1922) and Barbara (1925). John Stuart, the husband, was struck by lightning together with his oldest son Stuart Edward in 1926. According to Daniel Foppes (1955) this actually was the second husband of Sarah Bateman, so far we do not know the name of the first husband, who died very young as well. There is also mention of a daughter Irodene, born 1903 or 1904. It seems likely that Mary J. was also named Irodene. Through Irodene, it was possible to find the name of her mother.

A newspaper clipping from 1904 from Sauqoit mentions Irodene Bateman as a new member of the Foss family (see note below). Mary Ann Foss (1842) was married with a John Breish (1837). They had a daughter called Flora, born in 1868, this family can be found in the census of 1892, living in Marcy, Oneida, NY. While we cannot find any proof of the marriage between Edward Bateman and Flora Breish, the newspaper article directly links Edward and Irodene to the Breish family.

Sara's biological mother must have died when Sara was still young, her family name was Rathbun or Rathburn. The adoptive mother, Flora Breish, died also young, leaving Irodene and Sarah behind. Edward Bateman remarried a lady called Licia, who was only 5-7 years older than Sara. They later moved to Tampa, Florida, where they lived in 1930 according to the census of that year.

So far we have not been able to find out more about the biological mother of Sarah Bateman, somebody with the surname of Rathbun or Rathburn.

The Newspaper clipping from Sauqoit June 27, 1904 (http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.foss/482/mb.ashx)

The Foss Family

Annual Reunion Held at Summit Park - Those Present

Sauquoit, June 27.--The third annual reunion of the Foss family was held at Summit Park Saturday. There was a large attendance. Dinner was served at noon. At the business meeting officers were elected as follows: President, Joseph Foss, Ilion; Vice President, E. W. Newell, Sauquoit; Secretary, Ella Thurston Newell, Sauquoit. It was voted to hold the next reunion the last Thursday in June, 1905, at Utica Park. Since the last meeting four have been added to the family, Edward S. Calhoun and George Beckwith by marriage and Irodene Bateman and W. Wallace Thurston by birth.

Those present were Mr. and Mrs. John Breish, Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Thurston, Mrs Albert Dixson, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Foss and children, John, Charles, Irving and Emma, Mr. and Mrs. E. Bateman and daughters, Florence and Irodene, Mrs. George Griswold and children, Vera, Virginia, and Lawrence, Mrs. Herman Crandall and daughter, Florence, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Smithson and children, Eugene and Lena, Mrs. Fred Lewis and children , Berl and Harold, Marion and William Scoville, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Heneka and daughter Florence, Mr. and Mrs. George Loofis, Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Newell, Mr. and Mrs. I. W. Thurseton ** should proably be Thurston ** and son, Wallace, Mr. and Mrs. ? S. Calhoun.

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