William Ackerly Setchel

I need to preface today's post for three reasons:
1) It is belated by 1 day. I was in Maryland celebrating the life of my wonderful brother-in-law, John Holman who passed away in June after a valiant 6 year battle with cancer.

2) It occurred to me that readers may want to know the familial connections to person being described. I am working on creating a family tree to include on this blog so it will easier to figure out how people are connected.

3) Our "birthday celebrant" is not technically related. This presents me with a good opportunity to express my philosophy on family history. Well...actually....I should save that for a post all its own. Let's just say, if you're somehow connected to me and my family, no matter how...you have a place in my family history.

This quote sums it up:

"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof."                                                                                                                   - Richard David Bach

From "The Onandagan"
Syracuse University 1940

William Ackerly Setchel

When William Ackerly Setchel was born on September 21, 1918, in Cuba NY, his father, Hayden, was 25 and his mother, Helen, was 23. William’s father worked as a bookkeeper at the local bank.

When William was born, the family lived at 33 South Street in Cuba. William resided there until at least 1940.

He had two brothers, Hayden (b. 1922) and John (b.1924.) His sister, Dorothy was born in 1919. Dorothy would become my husband Scott’s stepmother in later years.

In his younger years, William worked at the local bank as a clerk. He attended Syracuse University.

According to Laurel Goodgion*, William had tuberculosis as a young man and moved in with his Aunt Louisa instead of going to a sanitorium.

William married Virginia Eleanor Edwards. They had a son whom they named William Ackerly Setchel, Jr.

He died in February 1977 in District of Columbia, at the age of 58. He apparently had a heart attack and was found in a hotel in Washington, D.C.

* Laurel is the widow of Gilbert "Gerry" Goodgion, a nephew of William A. Setchel.