After 57 years away, Traer is still a special place ..

I live in New York but my roots are in Traer. My Grandfather and Grandmother, George and Ida Dougan (and his parents Hugh and Susan Dougan and others) are buried in Buckingham Cemetery. George died in 1957, Ida in 1962. Their farm was somewhere along Rt. 63. They had three children, my mother Marian, my Uncle Bruce and an infant son who died before being named.

I’m almost done piecing together the Dougan and Sherwood family tree project. But for reasons not clear, I felt compelled to visit Traer one more time. I’m 70 years old – it has been about 57 years since I was last in Traer – the last time was a summer spent on the Traer farm of relatives Harold and Grace Young and their son Jim. The first vehicle I ever drove was their red Massey-Harris tractor.

So it was special to return to Traer with my 40 year old son, named Dougan Sherwood. We drove into Traer late last April seeking to find the old Dougan Farm and perhaps some of our past. We were hungry; we stopped at the Sunny Side Tavern. It was clear to the patrons we were from out of town when we asked what a ‘Made Well’ was. We now know thanks to waitress Patty. After lunch my son wandered into a clothing store near the spiral staircase where he met Joan Reuman, store proprietress and seemingly full time Traer historian. We were in search of the Dougan farm and family history. She called retired carpenter Leonard Ruzicka who said he was pretty sure he knew where the old farm was. Insurance guy Dirk Dahms stopped by the store to add some history details. We were on our way.

Leonard drove us directly to what was the Dougan Farm, now the Cooper Farm. Leonard introduced us to Karina Cooper and kids. The original house was there, albeit renovated and no outhouse. I recognized an old barn. The driveway was different. Karina was most hospitable and promised to pass on some Dougan memorabilia; I hope she does.

Joan subsequently introduced me to editor Ross Bercik via email; he did some archive digging. Thanks to Ross we now know how Hugh Dougan’s son Bertie (my Grandfather’s brother) died at age 11 in a tragic farm accident. Joan then sent me copies of clothing store ledger pages in beautiful ink pen script accounting for Dougan store purchases over many years.

My sincere thanks to Joan, Ross, Leonard, insurance guy Dirk, Karina, her kids for their hospitality, for helping us find our roots and to Patty for the ‘Made Well’ sandwiches.

If anyone remembers Dougan family anecdotes, I attached my email address below for follow up.

Thank you.

Ross Sherwood

Webster, NY

rosssherwood@gmail.com