This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: pmleith Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.tremper/82.2.1.2.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi, Kevin, There are two different people named John H. who are mixed up in your message. That is not surprising, since there are so many people of the same name born the same year or about the same time. The surname on this branch of the family can change between TRUMPER and TREMPER. Basic research using good sources will separate them. #1. JOHN H. TREMPER b. Clarkstown, Rockland Co. NY on 7/20/1837; d. 3 March 1861 in Clarkstown; buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Nyack, Rockland Co, NY. He was a Son of Harman TRUMPER (same family, spelling of name changes on and off) b. 3 Jan 1783 in NY; married on 25 Dec 1822 at Greenbush Presbyterian Church,Greenbush,Rockland Co. ELIZA ANN BELL, b. ca 1808; d. 24 April 1895; buried Oak Hill Cemetery, Nyack NY. His grandfatehr was Harman/Hermen Trumper, sr b. 9/15/1745 in Rockland Co. Sources for this are at the New City Public Library, Rockland Room, New City, Rockland Co. NY. #2. JOHN H. TREMPER, buried in Yonkers is a different person, only distantly related to the Rockland Co. Tremper/Trumper family. My detailed story on him: JOHN H. TREMPER (1836-1920 ) of Westchester Co, NY married Francis Tompkins (1840-1920 ), Ice Dealer in New York City Area John H. Tremper was born in July,1836 in New York State, probably in Niagara Co. His parents, William Tremper (1796) and Polly Myrick (1803) had grown up and been married in Jefferson Co. in or near Chaumont then migrated down to Niagara Co. near Buffalo. They moved to Lake Co, IN. William farmed, they had more children, and then he died in 1865 while at least one of their sons was away fighting with the Union Army. John H. Tremper moved with his widowed mother, Polly, and his younger siblings to join his elder brother Lorenzo Bonaparte Tremper (1825), out in Lower Lake in Lake Co, California. There they engaged in farming and grew mainly fruit. It appears to have been a very successful farming operation, and it continued into succeeding generations. At some point, John H. Tremper moved back to the Hudson River Valley and settled in Yonkers in Westchester Co. He was a carpenter in 1870, but then became an ice dealer. He may have bought the Westchester Co. business from one G.R. Tremper,an ice dealer living near him in Yonkers who was a distant relative. G.R. Tremper and his wife moved to New York City where he continued in the ice business. In the mid to late 1800's people in cities had no electricity and, therefore, no refrigera¬tors as we know them today. Instead, they had "ice boxes" which held blocks of ice or had an outbuilding called an ice house in which ice was stored and covered with straw to reduce melting. The ice was used to cool milk, and to preserve any other foods needing to stay cool. There was a wealth of ice, free for the hauling, on the Hudson River... which froze routinely every winter for several months, until sometime in the 1940's when a deep channel was dug as far north as Albany to allow the passage of ocean-going freighters carryint oil and other cargo all the way up the river. After the deepwater channel was dug, the river no longer froze, but the cutting and sale of ice for refrigeration was no longer viable anyway... due to the availability of electric refrigerators. John H. Tremper and his colleagues who dealt in ice harvested it in winter, stored it in huge sheds somewhere nearby. Over the spring, summer and fall they sold the ice to businesses in the New York City area. Restaurants, hotels, and businesses selling perishable foods, as well as private homes all required ice. John H. married Frances Tompkins in 1863. They had 8 children: Fanny E.(1865); Charles (1868); George R. (1872); Louisa (1874); Ella (1877); Harriot (1879); May (1881), and one more child who must have died young. Charles also seems to have died young, as he was not listed in the 1880 Census with the rest of this family. John H. Tremper and Francis Tompkins lived until after 1920 when they were listed in the US Census living at 371 Riverdale Avenue, Yonkers, NY. at age 82 and 80, respectively. They later moved to Darien, CT and lived with a daughter. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.