Jennie Electa (Link) Bickell (1906 - 1998)

Born 5 Mar 1906 in Elmira, Chemung, New York, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Sidney Vernon Bickell — married 9 Sep 1929 in Hinsdale, Cattaraugus County, New York, USA

Descendants

Died 18 Sep 1998 at age 92 in Ellicottville, New York 14731, USA

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Biography

Jennie was born in 1906. ^[1]

She married Sidney V. Bickell on 9 September 1929.^[2]

In November 1929, a snippet from the Star Gazette read, "Mr. and Mrs. Blair Link of Buffalo spent the weekend with B. Link - Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Bickell are making their home with B. Link for the present. Mrs. Bickell was formerly Miss Jennie Link."^[3]

In 1930, she lived in Carrollton, Cattaraugus, New York, United States with her husband and newborn daughter, Juanita.^[4]

In May 1945, Jennie was baptized into the First Baptist Church along with other family generations. The Times Herald article reads:

An unusual event took place at First Baptist Church at the services Sunday night when the pastor, the Rev. Shields T. Hardin, baptized members of four generations of the same family.

The names and their relationship in the family are as follows: Great-grandmother, Mrs. Jennie Bickell; grandmother, Mrs. Mabel Jordan; mother, Mrs. Doris Cummings; children, Beverly Ann, Charles, and Donald Ransome, all of Olean.

Another unique happening with this family is that the birthdays of the great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and daughter are all in the month of December.

Miss Pioma Weaver was also baptized at the service. Baptism will again be held next Sunday night.^[5]

In 1940, she lived in Ellicottville, Ellicottville Town, Cattaraugus, New York, United States with her husband, 2 daughters, and son.^[6]

In December 1949, Jennie was featured in a newspaper photo in the Times Herald captioned, "FIVE GENERATIONS - Five generations of the family of Mrs. Jennie Bickell are pictured at a birthday dinner Sunday at the home of Mrs. Mabel Jordan, 661 Queen Street. Seated are Donald Barton and Mrs. Bickell, his great-great grandmother. Standing, left to right, are Mrs. Mabel Jorden, great grandmother, Mrs. Beverly Barton, mother and Mrs. Doris Cummings, grandmother. The birthday dinner was in honor of five members of the family who were born in December. Those honored were Mrs. Brickell, Mrs. Jordan, Mrs. Cummings and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Barton, Jr."^[7]

Her daughter, Juanita May, passed away in 1991.^[8]

She passed away in 1998 at the age of 92. ^[1][9]

Newspaper Article Biography

JENNIE ELECTA BICKELL, by Mary D.

Born in 1906, this gentle lady died this fall after living through monumental changes in her society.

From horse and buggy days to landings on the moon, from mail requiring a 3 cent stamp to surfing the Internet, from a poultice on the chest to organ transplants, Jennie had seen it all and had grown with the changes. She knew growth was necessary, and she also bore up under tragedy that few experience. Her husband, Sydney Bickell, suffered a severe stroke and Jennie nursed him for 15 years. She and Sydney had 3 children: Juanita, Florence, and Sydney Jr., but Jennie had to endure losing all of them. Still she found comfort in her grandchildren (nine in all) and her 23 great grandchildren.

As a young child, Jennie lived in Elmira, but when her mother died when she was 1 1/2 years old, she went to Sinclairville to live with her grandparents, the Links. Upon the death of her grandmother, Jennie moved to Ellicottville to live with grandmother and grandfather Rust and Aunt Grace.

She remembers classes in the 1887 building, and when she graduated, she decided she wanted to teach. After training at Geneseo as a kindergarten teacher, she took a position in a country school teaching all grades. "It was awful", she said. Next year she taught first grade and that was better. She eventually returned to the 1887 building and taught kindergarten for 29 years. No wonder Jennie rarely went anywhere around here without meeting one of her pupils.

Once she retired, she became a full-time volunteer. While some are content to retire to a life of leisure, not Jennie. She filled her days with bowling until she was 88, helping residents at the Nursing home, playing Bingo at the Legion post (where she won frequently), spending time in the Eldercraft shop as well as serving as treasurer. She ran a story hour for children in the Library. A member of AARP and the historical society, she worked with the Alley Katz, and each year sold several hundred chances at the quilt raffle. She worked on Project Christmas and was on the staff of Ellicottville Events. A friend said, "You could count on Jennie. Her material was always turned in on time." One event that still brings a chuckle happened at the first Octogenarian Tea in 1988. Bert Brunell was supposed to bring Jennie and she arrived without her, fuming, and said Jennie was angry because she didn't want anyone to know she was in her 80s. Jennie and Bert were best of friends, shopping together, having lunch at ECHO, going to the Senior Citizens affairs, picking the bus tours they would enjoy; good buddies until Jennie lost Bert.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Social Security Death Index," database, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/record/11048056-jennie-bickell : 28 July 2017), entry for Jennie Bickell, ***-**-6980; Derived from: U.S. Social Security Administration. Death Master File. Database. Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, 28 July 2017.
2. ↑ "New York, County Marriages, 1847-1848; 1908-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKN1-938M : 18 March 2019), Jennie E Link in entry for Sidney V Bickell, 9 Sep 1929, Cattaraugus, New York, United States; citing ref. ID 179, county clerk offices from various counties, New York; FHL microfilm 1,010,206.
3. ↑ Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York) 06 Nov 1929, Wed., Page 9. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/276608659/?terms=jennie%2Belecta%2Bbickell
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7H8-FQW : accessed 26 March 2019), Jenny Bickell in household of Sidney Bickell, Carrollton, Cattaraugus, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 8, sheet 1A, line 18, family 5, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1409; FHL microfilm 2,341,144.
5. ↑ "Four Generations Receive Baptism," Times Herald, (Olean, New York) 21 May 1945, Mon, Page 3. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/41266068/?terms=jennie%2Bbickell
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQ1M-T8V : 15 March 2018), Jennie Bickell in household of Sidney Bickell, Ellicottville, Ellicottville Town, Cattaraugus, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 5-18, sheet 10B, line 54, family 264, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2505.
7. ↑ Times Herald (Olean, New York) 20 Dec 1949, Tue, Page 2. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/41306312/?terms=jennie%2Bbickell
8. ↑ "North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGDX-R8W : 17 July 2017), Electa Jennie Link in entry for Juanita Bickell Pritchard, 28 Mar 1991; citing Chapel Hill, Orange, North Carolina, v 13B cn 13510, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,991,788.
9. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #125415656
10. ↑ Ellicottville Events, December 1998. As seen on Geni.com.