I have to admit, I saw it hanging in his house, and I begged Hawley Botchford for this photo and some family history. I LOVE Clementine. Some pictures are worth a thousand words, this one is worth a million. To me, Clementine embodies the spirit of all the women who lived in this area at that time. They were straight, strong and no nonsense. They bore children, tended the animals and crops, cooked, cleaned and got everything done that needed doing. I wouldn't have wanted to cross her but I bet there was no one better to have on your side when things got tough. So I post this up in honor of all the women who came before us into the valley. May their resilience be an inspiration to us all!
- Carol Seitz
Clementine Garrison Woodworth Botchford 1845-1941
Clementine Garrison Woodworth was the twelfth of thirteen children (seven survivied to adulthood) of David (1804 - 1887) and Orilla Clement Woodworth who moved to Woodland Valley about 1849 from East Jewitt purchasing a large tract of land to operate a tannery and lumber business with son-in-law, Napoleon William Beach and his wife Malinda Woodworth, Clementine's older sister (later became the Craig family). Together they owned most of the the middle part of Woodland Valley.
David Botchford (1815 - 1884) and Eliza Egbertson Botchford (1817 - 1875) moved to Woodland between 1845 and 1848 to work with the Synder family in the tanning industry. They had five children, with four surviving to adulthood. Their second child was Henry Jay Botchford. Henry and his younger brother, George Madison Botchford, both married Woodworth daughters. Henry married Clementine and George married Clementine's older sister Ella.
Henry and Clementine's relationship developed through letters and rare visits while Henry was serving as an officer with the NY 44th during the Civil War. Henry and Clementine were married on January 24, 1867. They had 8 children. Their first four children died very young (between the ages of 1 and 5 yrs - two were named after their father Henry Jay Botchford). The next four children survived to adulthood (George Madison, Henry Jay, Mary Eliza (Polly), and Clement Woodworth. Henry died in 1882 from a chronic heart condition acquired during his service with the Northern Army. Clementine and Henry were living in Port Leyden, NY at the time of Henry's death. With her four young children Clementine returned home to Woodland after Henry's death to be with her family.
Clementine's father, David, died two years later. Clementine and her sister Zelia ran the farm until Clementine's oldest son George, who never married, retired from his NYC realty business and came home to Woodland Valley to help his mother in 1930. George ran the Woodland Valley farm for his mother until the "big house" burned in 1955 and the farm was closed. George died a year later. Clementine's son Henry Jay (yes, the third try for this name, finally successful) marred Carrie Margaret Hutchings, known to the family, and widely in Phoenicia and the valley as "Botchie". They had one son, another Henry Jay, who married Juanita Hawley Hauk in Tennessee and they had two sons - (current residents) Andrew Kenneth Hawley and Henry Jay (VI) . When our grandfather, Henry Jay, retired from a career in refrigeration, he and his wife Margaret also returned to Woodland to assist George in managing the farm. Clementine's granddaughter, Mary Eliza, married Gardner Gillespie and their family still owns the white house below the Botchfords, known to the family as the "Cottage", and a considerable segment of the original property.
Clementine was well known for not wanting electric wires to cross her land, for some reason. And although that meant that the valley had no electricity, her son George continued to honor her wish for five years after her death in 1941 at 96 years of age.
- By Hawley Botchford
