n 1803, some families from Bristol and Meriden, Connecticut, removed to the wilderness of New York, and settled in what is now Otisco, Onondaga County. Among these were Chauncey Gaylord, a sturdy, athletic young man, just arrived at the age of twenty-one, and "a little, quiet, black-eyed girl, with a sunny, thoughtful face, only eleven years old." Her name was Dema Cowles. So the young man and the little girl became acquaintances, and friends, and in after years lovers. In 1817 they were married. Their first home was of logs, containing one room, with a rude loft above, and an excavation beneath for a cellar.
In this humble abode was born Lucy Ann Gaylord, the subject of this sketch, who afterwards became the wife of Samuel C. Pomeroy, United States Senator from Kansas.
Plain and humble as was this home, it was a consecrated one, where God was worshipped, and the purest religious lessons taught. Mrs. Gaylord was a woman of remarkable strength of character and principles, one who carried her religion into all the acts of daily life, and taught by a consistent example, no less than by a wise precept. Her mother had early been widowed, and had afterwards married Mr. Eliakim Clark, from Massachusetts, and had become the mother of the well-known twin-brothers, Lewis Gaylord, and Willis Gaylord Clark, destined to develop into scholars and poets, and to leave their mark upon the literature of America. She had been entrusted with the care of these beautiful and noble boys for some years, and was already experienced in duties of that kind, before children of her own were given her. Doubtless to her high order of intellect, refined taste, amiable disposition, and sterling good sense, all the children who shared her care are indebted to a great extent for the noble qualities they possess.
Other children succeeded Lucy, and as the elder sister, she shared, in their primitive mode of life, her mother's cares and duties. Her character developed and expanded, and she grew in mental grace as in stature, loving all beautiful things and noble thoughts, and early making a profession of religion.
By this time the family occupied a handsome rural homestead, where neatness, order, regularity, industry and kindness reigned, and where a liberal hospitality was always practiced. Here gathered all the large group of family relatives, here the aged grandmother Clark lived, and hither came her gifted twin sons, from time to time, as to their home. The most beautiful scenery surrounded this homestead; peace, order, intelligence, truth and godliness abounded there, and amidst such influences Lucy Gaylord had the training which led to the future usefulness of her life. Even in her youth she was the friend and safe counsellor of her brothers, as in her maturer years she was of her gifted husband.
At eighteen she made a public profession of religion, and soon after the thought of consecrating herself to the missionary work took possession of her mind. To this end she labored and studied for several years, steadfastly educating herself for a vocation to which she believed herself called, though often afflicted with serious doubts as to whether she, being an only daughter, could leave her parents.
In early life she became an earnest and efficient teacher in Sunday-schools, her intellectual pursuits furnishing her with ever fresh means of rendering her instruction interesting and useful to her classes. She undoubtedly at the first considered this as a training for the work to which, in time, she hoped to devote herself.
But this hope was destined to disappointment. One violent illness after another finally destroyed her health, and she never quite recovered the early tone of her system. Yet she worked on, doing good wherever the means presented.
Soon afterwards she met with the great sorrow of her life. The young man to whom she was soon to be married, between whom and herself the strongest attachment existed, cemented by a mutual knowledge of noble qualities, was suddenly snatched from her, and she became a widow in all but the name.
This sorrow still more refined and beautified her character. By degrees the sharpness of the grief wore away, and it became a sweet, though saddened memory. Eight years after her loss, she became the wife of Samuel C. Pomeroy, of Southampton, Massachusetts. "They were of kindred feelings in life's great work, had suffered alike by early bereavement, and were drawn together by that natural affinity which unites two lives in one."