Lachlan Stewart Gatter and Family

Earlier Stewart and Lyon Family members can be found, here 

LACHLAN STEWART GATTER (b. November 26, 1890 - d. Easter Sunday 1952) and his grandmother, Julie Ann Lyon

Click on the Album to see Julie Gatter Botel's Family Album of her Gatter, Stewart and Lyon ancestors.
 

Mary Amelia Stewart [Gatter] (b. 20 May 1863), known as "Aunt Minnie" -

Mary Amelia was the family historian of her generation and passed down a book titled Lyon Memorial - *Lyon, Sidney Elizabeth, ed., Lyon Memorial, Detroit, MI. William Graham Printing Co. 1909. This book had been our source of information about the Lyon family. Joan Hutton [Landis] and Mary Stewart [Hafer] each have one, inscribed "from Aunt Minnie, 1929”. The front and back pages were crammed with tiny handwritten notes of Revolutionary War records of ancestors, and the genealogical section had side notes.

Mary Stewart Gatter's Wedding 1888

Mary Stewart Gatter's Wedding 1888

Mary Amelia Stewart Gatter - Christmas 1898
Photo: Julie Gatter [Botel]

[Taken down by Joshua because photo missing July 2015]

Wm. Green and Robert .S. Gatter (tintype)

 William Green and R.S. Gatter (tintype) (presumably the husband of Mary Amelia Stewart?) Photo from Julie Botel

 

Robert S. and Mary Amelia Stewart Gatter (tintype)
Photo from Julie Botel

 Lachlan Stewart with his mother Mary Stewart Gatter
Photo: Julie Gatter [Botel]

LACHLAN STEWART GATTER (b. 26 November 1890) in his kilt

Photo: Julie Gatter [Botel]

L. Stewart in Uniform for WWI: Photo: Julie Gatter [Botel]

L. Stewart at Newburgh, NY: Photo: Julie Gatter [Botel]
 

 L. Stewart Gatter aged 39 as best man at the wedding of his cousin Lewis Tooker Hutton II to Margaret Agnes Foster on 19 June 1929
Photo: Joshua Landis 

L. Stewart Gatter headed for Europe on the Queen Mary 1949
Photo: Julie Gatter [Botel]
  

 LACHLAN STEWART GATTER (b. November 26, 1890 - d. Easter Sunday 1952) at his 40th Princeton Reunion (1951?) with his daughters Julie and Mary. 
Photo: Mary Gatter

 Julie Gatter [Botel] writes (2010):

He was born in 1890 or so in Newburgh, NY. He died at 62 on Easter Sunday 1952. We drove back from Montauk that day (our summer place on the end of Long Island) and he had a massive stroke. I have a copy of his obituary from the NY Times up north and will scan and post it some time. I also have a picture of him in his Lieutenant's uniform in the First World War.

Mary Gatter writes to Joan Hutton [Landis] (2010):

What I know about my father is that he was born in 1890 or so in Newburgh, NY and was an only child. This was fairly unusual for the time, so I am left to wonder what that was about. He graduated from Princeton in 1912 and then NYU Law School. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the FIRST World War, but sat i out in Washington DC. Thereafter he became a divorce and patents lawyer in New York, and apparently was quite the Bon Vivant and man-about-town. He had “falling-outs” with many people apparently, so your father was not alone! Also, I guess he had a little problem with alcohol. My father’s boat, when he had one (apparently accepted in lieu of fees from a client with no other means of payment) was named the “MaJuLin”. I have fond memories of throwing up all over that boat. My father, for all of his wonderful élan and joie-de-vive, apparently was a really poor money manager, and left her (my mother) with basically nothing.

Julie Coady [Stewart] (1920 - 1988) married Lachlan Stewart Gatter.

 Julie Cody [Gatter] Photo from Mary Gatter
   

Julie Cody was 30 years younger than Lachlan. She met him when she went to work as his secretary, right out of Julia Richmond High School.

Julie Coady [Gatter] on board the Queen Mary 1949
 

Julie had three daughters.

1. Mary Gatter b. 1946
2. Julie Ann Gatter [Botel] b. 1947
3. Linda Gatter [lgatter@gatterarchitects.com]‎ b. 1950

Mary A. Gatter b. 1946

Mary Gatter in Central Park 1948 or 49 at 2

Mary at 3 yrs - 1949

Mary Gatter in college

After graduating from college, Mary spent two years in the Peace Corps in Uganda. She then attended Harvard University School of Medicine, graduating in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1976.

 Mary after her residency

She did her residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard. She married Ralph, a cardiologist in 1988. They met in Boston, and moved together to New Haven and then Los Angeles to follow his career. They divorced in 2000.

Mary working in Iran 2008

Mary writes (July 2010):

I was born in New York City in 1946, the eldest of three daughters of L.Stewart Gatter and Julie Coady, his second (or possibly third or even fourth, by inconsistent family legend) wife. She was 30 years younger than he, and had met him when she went to work as his secretary, right out of Julia Richmond High School. I never really knew my father, as he died (at age 62) when I was 6, leaving my mother with the three girls, aged 6, 5 and 2. Now that I have been a parent myself, I can appreciate how hard that must have been. She never remarried, but supported herself, and us, and her mother, who lived with us, on her salary as a bookkeeper. She never had very much, and worked three jobs at a time, but we all went to college and graduate school, so she didn’t do too badly by us! She died about two years ago.

Growing up, I always identified myself more as Irish, because by mother was, and she was the biggest constant in our lives. Our grandmother (the one who lived with us) came over from Dublin in 1912 or so, and retained a heavy Irish accent until the end of her life. It is still the only accent I can reliably “do” and I drag it our from time to time when auditioning for parts in community theatre that call for one.

Meanwhile, I became a little more interested in the Stewart side of our family in my teens when my mother unearthed the genealogy charts that had been kept by Mary Amelia Steward and her mother Julia Lyons (who as I now understand it was your great-grandmother as well). The Gatter side was never very interesting to me, mainly because we could only trace it back for two generations or so – I never even really knew what ethnicity it was, but have reconciled myself to the fact that it is probably German. The Stewarts quickly morphed up through the Lyons to produce our ancestor who fought in the revolution (he being an artificer in a New York regiment) and someone who possibly came over on the Mayflower. The records are a little unclear as to whether we are descended from an indentured servant who came over on the Mayflower and nearly drowned when he fell overboard, or from his brother who came over a few years later. Also, I seem to recall that Peter Stuyvescent was in there somewhere. I am assuming that your side of the family has those charts as well, but if not, and you are interested, you should contact my younger sister, Julie Botel, who is the family archivist....

In terms of my life, my mother moved us all to what had been the summer vacation home in Montauk, New York, so I grew up there. I went to college and then spent two years in the Peace Corps (in Uganda) and then went to Medical School. I am now a gynecologist, working for Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles. I married fairly late in life, and have two children, Elizabeth (who graduated from NYU last year and is now working in progressive politics in DC) and Jacob, who is a Sophomore in High School. I will try to send you some pictures.

Mary has two children

1. Elizabeth (b. 1988) a fairly newly minted NYU grad (class of 2009) is living in DC and working in politics. 
2. Jacob (b. 1995) is 15 and about to start his Sophomore year in High School. (2010)

Julie Ann Gatter [Botel] b. 1947

 Julie Ann Gatter in Central Park in 1948

 The Gatter girls in 1968 at Julie's first wedding.

From left: Linda Stewart Gatter, Julia Ann Coady Gatter, Julie Ann Gatter, soon to be Conrad and much later Botel, and Mary A. Gatter. The tiny tot in front is our cousin Michelle, who is my mother's brother's child.  Photo from Mary G.
 

Julie Gatter Botel 2007. She writes (July 2010):

(2010) "Mary went to Harvard medical school, my younger sister, Linda, went to MIT for architecture, and I attended Columbia, Teachers College. So for some poor kids from the sticks, I guess we did OK! :).

My most recent position was as Deputy Superintendent for the Harrisburg School District in the capital city of Pennsylvania. The district served about 10,000 students with about 1,500 employees. I supervised the district’s five Assistant Superintendents (Business, Curriculum and Instruction, HR and Community Relations, Academic Programs, and Student Support Services) as well as all the principals.

Prior to coming to Harrisburg, I served as Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Technology and Abbott Plan Implementation in Vineland, NJ, an urban district designated as an Abbott district under that state’s Supreme Court mandate. Before joining the Vineland staff, I was a Director of Technology in the Millburn Township Public Schools, in New Jersey. I also worked for Apple Computer for about six years as a Senior Education Account Executive.

I did most of my graduate work at Teachers College, Columbia University, where I trained as a special educator and educational administrator. I taught deaf, blind, learning disabled and emotional support students in New York State. I was principal of a special education program serving the needs of learning disabled students. At one time I was an adjunct Professor of Education at Long Island University and Dowling College. (Julie promises more pictures when she has moved up north from her summer home in Florida. J.L.)

Julie has two daughters:

1. Anna Thea, a lawyer in New York [anna_thea_conrad@hotmail.com]‎
2. Mara Lynn Botel [Tippett]  who lives with her husband, a house painter, in New Jersey. Mara has two children and a third on the way.
   
   
   
   

   1. Henry Lachlan Tippett
   2. Emilia Louise Tippett and
   3. my 3rd child when she's born in August/September 2010
      

Linda Gatter b. 1950

Linda Gatter and Max Dannis

Linda is a residential architect, who went to Marymount Manhattan College 1971 and graduated from MIT architecture school in 1982. She is the principle of Gatter Architects, located at 261 Lockwood Rd., Craryville, NY 12521.

She is married to Max Dannis, a member of the Philmont Fire Department and renovator.

They own a restaurant named Local 111, which they built in an auto garage that they purchased in 2004. It is on 111 Main Street, Philmont NY 12565. Its webpage is here. Become a fan on Facebook here.

A recent review reads:

Philmont's newest restaurant, Local 111, was recently named one of the five finalists in the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce's Annual Crystal Apple Awards. The Crystal Apple Award is given to a business that has made an "extraordinary contribution to economic progress, community improvement, and the quality of life in Columbia County."

Local 111 was also recently named one of the Ten Best New Restaurants in Hudson Valley Magazine.

Linda Gatter and Max Dannis purchased the service station at 111 Main Street from Red Schermerhorn in 2004. No one would ever have walked into Red's and envisioned a restaurant, but Linda's architectural background and Max's self-taught handy-man abilities paved the way for an adaptive use of an existing building in the village. The building maintains its look of an auto garage with overhead doors in the front and a cement floor inside featuring radiant heat...

Linda and Max had no prior restaurant experience, but they set out to hire a top-notch chef to run the kitchen. Chef David Wurth, from Savoy NYC and a descendant of the Alice Waters School, joined the Local 111 team with an emphasis on using locally sourced food whenever possible and keeping the food simple and letting the ingredients shine...

Linda and Max have one daughter.

1. Alex

Gatter Stewart family pictures

Family Photo Slideshow

Click on any photo to see it enlarged..

Philip Worthington Foster

Philip Worthington Foster was born a century ago today, June 1st, 1910, at the family home at 423 Fourth Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. He was the fifth surviving child and third surviving son of Harry Walter and Harriet Smith Edwards Foster. He moved with the family to Morristown, N.J., when his father purchased a hardware store there. He was educated at The Peck School, graduated from Morristown High School and attended Williams College. He later studied at the New York Institute of Photography.

He married Gertrude Marguerite “Bunny” Bates on December 26th, 1938, in Mendham, New Jersey. With his wife he established and operated the Laurel Hill Herb Farm in New Jersey. The farm, which comprised over 300 species of herbs, was a Mecca for horticulturalists throughout the world. It became a reliable source of herb seeds when they were difficult to obtain elsewhere. During World War II he was a partner in a small woodworking shop, under contract to Bell Telephone Laboratories for test models of radar components.

A personification of Yankee ingenuity, he could fix most any inanimate object, or contrive new gadgets for most any task. While spending summers in Litchfield County, Connecticut, as a boy, he fell in love with that area, and always intended to settle there. He built a cabin at Goshen during the 1930s, but at war’s end he and Bunny moved the herb business to Falls Village, Connecticut, just down the hill from Goshen. He became, in effect, a naturalized Yankee, or, as his son called him, a “Yankee by choice.”

His first child, Christopher Goodwin, always known as “Kit,” was born September 9th, 1944, in Morristown. A daughter, Margaret Rosemary, always called “Rosemary,” was born at Sharon, Connecticut, on December 20th, 1946.

The following year Bunny and Phil started a magazine about herbs, the American Herb Grower, published monthly and later quarterly as The Herb Grower until 1986. He served as publisher and printer of the magazine, his wife as editor and principal writer. His horticultural photography was often featured in the magazine, and was also used in two books authored by his wife.

He also started a printing business, the Laurel Hill Press, one of the first photo-offset printing shops in the region. He made or adapted much of the equipment needed for the business, including sophisticated cameras for the offset work and collating machines for the magazine. In addition to printing The Herb Grower and serving the printing needs of the surrounding community, Laurel Hill Press published a number of facsimile editions of historic herbals and other rare horticultural books. These included John Evelyn’s Kalendarium Hortense and The English Vineyard Vindicated by John Rose, gardener to Charles II.

He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1968, the noted botanical and zoological institution. Named for Carl Linnaeus, the founder of the modern system of classification for living things, the Linnean Society was established in 1788 by Sir James Edward Smith, a collateral ancestor.

Active in Scouting as a boy, he attained the rank of Eagle Scout with gold and silver palms, earning 42 merit badges. He returned to Scouting as an adult, serving as Neighborhood Commissioner for the former Tunxis Council, Boy Scouts of America, in northwest Connecticut and later as Cubmaster of Pack 16, Scoutmaster of Troop 16 and adviser to Air Explorer Squadron 16, all of Falls Village. He received the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor for Scouters, from Tunxis Council in 1958.

He became licensed as an amateur radio operator in 1957. Combining his new hobby with a life-long interest in observing and forecasting weather, he helped organize the New England Weather Net, a daily on-air meeting of “ham” operators in the region, in the late fifties. The Weather Net later became associated with long-time weathercaster Don Kent of WBZ in Boston, furnishing the station on-the-spot weather reports from throughout New England.

He served his community as a member of the Board of Assessors in Falls Village for 25 years. He was also a member of the Canaan Exchange Club and Christ Church, Canaan, where he served on the Vestry.

At the age of 71, with the help of his son-in-law Jay Louden, he built a small retirement home on a subdivided part of the Falls Village property. During the mid-1980s, he and Bunny found The Herb Grower an increasing burden, and they slowly let it become dormant. The occupied themselves with planting new gardens at their new home, but never completely disengaged from the old property next door. After Bunny suffered the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in the early 1990s, Phil became devoted to her care. At the age of 86, he suffered a massive stroke, but recovered to join her at a nursing home, where they spent the remainder of their married life together. She died on November 29, 1997, less than a month before their 59th wedding anniversary.

Phil then moved to a nursing home nearer to his children. He died Sunday, May 23rd, 1999, at Fairview, the Odd Fellows Home of Connecticut, in Groton, Connecticut.

Philip Worthington Foster

Philip Worthington Foster (1 June 1910 - 23 May 1999) was the sixth child of Harriet Smith Edwards (10 June 1873 - 23 April 1943) married on 25 January 1900 to Harry Walter Foster (21 July 1870 - 15 December 1944).

Philip married Gertrude Marguerite Bates {Foster](b. 17 November 1920, m. 26 December 1938, d. 29 November 1997 ) They had two children

1. Christopher Goodwin (9 September 1944, m. 28 June 1974,)
2. Margaret Rosemary [Louden] (20 December 1946, m. 30 August 1968,)

 

Bunny and Kit

Kit: The cradle in which I was photographed in 1944 and 45 was made by my father, to

the pattern of one in the Ford Mansion (Washington's headquarters during the

Revolution, Morristown). We still have it, our children all spent time in it. 

Kit in 1945

 Becky, Kit and Ben July 1946: photo courtesy of Kit

  

 Kit & Nana: with my maternal grandmother, Emeline Goold Vernam Bates. We

have lots of Vernam and Bates pix, saved for another time.

Philip Worthington Foster and Gertrude Marguerite Bates {Foster] had two children:

1. Christopher Goodwin ("Kit") (9 September 1944, m. 28 June 1974,)
2. Margaret Rosemary [Louden] (20 December 1946, m. 30 August 1968,)

Harry Lincoln Foster

Harry Lincoln Foster (12 February 1906 - ) was the forth child of Harriet Smith Edwards (10 June 1873 - 23 April 1943) married on 25 January 1900 to Harry Walter Foster (21 July 1870 - 15 December 1944).
Linc married twice. His first marriage was on 12 September 1931 to Mary Reginald (b. 21 April 1908 - d. 22 Nov. 1970). They had two children.

1. Harriet Rebecca Foster (b. January 14 1935 - 
2. Benjamin Griswold (b. 3 January 1936 -  )

 

Linc w/cigarette c. 1935: photo courtesy of Kit Foster 

  

H. Lincoln Foster and Reginald (Reggie) T at their marriage in ?

Becky, Kit and Ben July 1946: photo courtesy of Kit

Linc and Timmy's wedding, 23 December 1949:  Photo courtesy of Kit

Ellery (Woody, now Woods) Sinclair, Ben, Linc, Sheldon Sinclair, Timmy, Becky.

Here is Linc's obit from the New York Times:

H. L. Foster, 83, Teacher and Horticulturist
Published: April 10, 1989

H. Lincoln Foster, a teacher and horticulturist, died of cancer Friday at Sharon (Conn.) Hospital. He was 83 years old and lived in Falls Village, Conn.

Mr. Foster was president of the American Rock Garden Society from 1964 to 1968, the author of a 1968 book, ''Rock Gardening,'' and many articles on the subject. He was also the recipient of many horticultural awards and the creator, with his wife, Laura Louise, of Millstream Gardens in Falls Village, Conn., a rock garden with many Alpine plants.

He was a native of Newark, a graduate of Williams and Trinity Colleges and a teacher of Latin and English. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949.

Surviving, besides his wife, are a daughter, Rebecca Light of Guilford, Conn.; a son, Benjamin, of Wallingford, Conn.; two stepsons, Ellery and Sheldon Sinclair, both of Falls Village; three brothers, Dudley, of Port Hueneme, Calif., Philip, of Falls Village, and Richard, of Santa Barbara, Calif., and 11 grandchildren.

Richard Ward Foster

Richard Ward Foster (18 June 1914 - ) was the seventh child of Harriet Smith Edwards (10 June 1873 - 23 April 1943) and Harry Walter Foster (21 July 1870 - 15 December 1944).

Mag and Dick Foster 1936

This photo was taken from Tim Burke's flikr site

He married Eileen

 

Family group at Undermountain Rd, Falls Village, 10 August 1947

Back row: Mag, Ben, Dick, Eileen, Bunny, Linc

Front row: Rick, Lynn, Becky, Rosemary, Judy, Kit.

The had f children

1. Judy m. Tom Burke d.
2. Lynn
3. Andy
4. Rick

Judy had four children

1. Tim
2. Sharon
3. Brendan
4. Kevin

(See his memoir, All Our Yesterdays.)

Emma Burke and Dick Foster

Tim Burke and Emma

 

Melissa ... [Burke] and Emma Burke