Retirement of Rachel T. Hanshaw as Town Clerk for the Town of Ithaca after 42 years of service.
The Ithaca Journal, Jun 28 1962, P. 11, Col.2 (with photo)
"Mrs. Rachel T. Hanshaw is retiring Saturday after 42 years and 4 months association with the office of Ithaca town clerk.
She is completing 34 1/2 years in the elective office of town clerk, after having served 7 years and 10 months as deputy town clerk when her husband, the late Frank Hanshaw, held the major office.
Mrs. Hanshaw said frankly, "I regret having to give up my job because it has been my life. I have loved the work. She emphasized that she was retiring because of her health.
Mrs. Hanshaw has served as town clerk during the terms of four supervisors, the late LeGrand E Chase, Erie J. Miller, Harry N. Gordon, and Ben V. Boynton. She said she had enjoyed working with all of them. Of the members of the original board with which Mrs. Hanshaw began serving Jan, 1, 1928, only one is still living, Charles H. Newman, then justice of the peace.
The work of town clerk is almost the same as it was 35 years ago, although there is more of it, Mrs. Hanshaw said. The work of recording births and deaths and of issuing burial permits has been transferred to the County Health Department. At one time Mrs. Hanshaw had the job of issuing the burial permits for the nine cemeteries in the town.
In the beginning Mrs. Hanshaw attempted to keep the office open at all hours. But a few abused the privilege, she said, by coming for fishing or hunting licenses at 6 a.m. 'and hammering on all the doors and windows in the house, including those of tenants.' Some came as late as 11 p.m. Finally, several years ago, she had to set office hours.
The town clerk also served as tax collector for many years, but the job was taken over by the county treasurer about 8 1/2 years ago.
Mrs. Hanshaw is widely known in the county. She is a native of Ithaca where she was born on Linn St. near the Fall Creek School. She says the letter T" in her name stands for Terwilligar [sic]. her maiden name and that of her grandfather, who operated an ice house on the site of the present Carl J. Yengo Distributing Co., 302 W. Lincoln St.
She recalls that her grandfather built several houses in the Linn St. area, He owned forested land near the present County Airport. He used the sawdust from tree cuttings for packing the ice which was taken in winter from the vicinity of Stewart Park.
Mrs. Hanshaw has seen the Cayuga Heights area grow from farmland to a well-populated section.
About 1912 she and her husband moved from the city to Pleasant Grove Rd. Five years later they purchased the present home at 112 N. Triphammer Rd. At that time there were about four homes in the area.
During this period Charles Blood and Jared Newman developed the Cayuga Heights area.
Mrs. Hanshaw recalled that Hanshaw Rd. is named after a former town supervisor, John Hanshaw, a cousin of her late husband.
The town clerk has had many interesting experiences during her years in office.
Fishermen have been optimistic about getting a mess of fish when they applied for a license, and have volunteered to provide Mrs. Hanshaw with some of the results of their scientific art of fishing. One brought her a plentiful supply of smelt to show his gratitude for issuing a license at an off-hour. But Mrs. Hanshaw did not care for another job of cleaning smelt, after trying it the first time.
So her reply to all fishermen who have generously offered to give her some fish has been a polite, "No, thanks, I am not so fond of fish."
Mrs. Hanshaw has seen many future brides and bridegrooms come for marriage licenses, and depart happily.
She recalls an incident of the days before there was no three-day waiting period and a blood test requirement.
It was Junior Prom Week in early February, and a Cornell student and his houseparty queen from out of town came to her home in the evening for a license. Another student and his girl friend came along as witnesses. The first student wanted to get married right away.
The couple inquired who they could get to marry them, and Mrs. Hanshaw said that the only person she knew available at that time of night might be a justice of the peace and town board member who worked at the Cornell Hydraulic Laboratory. The town clerk remembered that the justice would get off duty shortly.
The girls decided to remain at the Hanshaw home while the boys went in quest of a justice. They found him, but he was suspicious. He wanted to know where the girls were. And he wouldn't marry them at the Hanshaw home; only at his own home. But the Junior Week romance finally ended with matrimony.
Four months or so later a member of the Hanshaw family was reading a New York paper. The socially prominent Junior Week romancers had been remarried at a large wedding in a New York church.
'Mother, that license you sold couldn't have been any good,' was the salutation of a Hanshaw family member.
Mrs. Hanshaw now has four children. 13 grandchildren, and one great grandchild in her family.
Notes:
- Implicit in this article is the fact that the Hanshaws conducted Town of Ithaca official business from their residence for several decades.
- Mrs. Rachel Hanshaw's maiden name was Terwilliger, according to her 1900 census record.