| Show ISAAC BEHUNIN--TRULYPIONEER BUILDER Macel Anderson Ephraim Utah Non-Professional Division First Honorable Mention Historical Essay The Behunin family left their native land Ireland in 1816 and settled at Richland Oswega County New York about the time that territory was being settled It had been necessary for them to leave most of their furniture and precious belongings behind them As soon as an opportunity was available Isaacgrandfather returned to Ireland to retrieve these wares and dispose of the balance among the friends and neighbors that were still there However his plans didnwork out for he was lost at sea and was never again heard of This sad experience brought great anxiety and sorrow to his family and friends In the late fall of 1818 Ophius the father of Isaac returned home after being away working atlumber mill for several months His wife Nancy Morton Behunin and their two sons Issac 15 and James were really glad to have him home again Nancy was suffering from homesickness for her parents at this time for she hadnseen them forlong time As soon as the waters of Lake Ontario showed signs of coating ice plans were made and Isaac and his family traveled by sleigh to Kingston Ontario Canada where Nancyfolks lived They planned to spend Christmas and the holidays there with relatives and friends It wasjoyous time for all of them Nanmcyfavorite Christmas gift wasknitted red cap and scarf that had been made by her mother Mrs Lords One beautiful winter day Ophius Nancy Isaac James and Mr Lords Nancyfather decided to spendday on the ice before they started the journey home Nancy and Ophius hadgood time skating while the boys joined their grandfather fishing where there were holes in the ice Finally Ophius after warning Nenmcy not to skate where the ice was thin decided to try his luck at fishing and joined the fishermen This proved to be exciting until he thought of his wife and looked around to see how she was emjoying her skating To his horror she was nowhere in sight and they immediately began to search frantically everywhere They were led by her tracks toplace where the ice was thin and they knew she had slipped umnoticed through the ice into the water Many people came to the rescue and everything possible was done to find her but to no avail It was several weeks before her body was located When the weather began to get warmer and the ice began to melt Isaac and James with heavy hearts continued the search They gotglimpse of the red scarf their grandmother had given their mother for Christmas and her body was found frozen tobig log that had lodged at the edge of the lake The sorrow of the family was devastating but they were grateful to find Nancybody so she could haveproper burial and Ophius and his sons could return to their home at Richland |
