←Clare O’Neill Car

 Frederick W. Feller

Born Sep 13, 1878 Died Jan 19, 1954

📖 Download PDF. 🗺️ Find his monument.

St. John The Evangelist Cemetery, Barrytown. Small white stone with shield motif on south side, close to driveway, facing the northeast corner of church.

Sometimes we overlook little stones and gravitate to the more soaring and majestic. That would be a mistake with the small military tombstone of Frederick W. Feller who was born on September 13, 1878 and died on January 19, 1954. During the years of his life, Feller was a farmer, a carpenter, a driver, and a soldier in the Spanish American War. The stone with a shape like a military shield reminds us of the sacrifices Feller made early in his life and defines him after his death.

Feller’s formative years mirrored those of many young men in the area. Then he did what some, but not nearly as many did: he joined the military. His service records for the Spanish-American War state he enlisted May 24,1898 for three years at Rhinebeck while living in Rhinebeck and was a Private in Company G 21st Infantry. Records state his birthplace was Milan, NY, and upon his enlistment, he was 22 years and eight months old. His occupation was farmer. He had blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a dark complexion, and he was 5’ 11 ¾” tall. His character was listed as “very good.” He was discharged honorably on February 14, 1899, and he was re-enlisted by Lt. Murray in the Company the next day on February 15, 1899, at the Plattsburg, NY, barracks and then was described as being from Milan and six feet tall. According to the 1900 Military/Naval census, at the age of 24, Feller was enumerated as being in a hospital in Manila in the Philippine Islands. He apparently served until he was discharged on March 5, 1902. In 1929 he filed for a pension as an invalid, according to the pension index of the National Archives and Records Administration.

After his military service, Feller was married to Clara B. Hall Feller, who predeceased him. They lived in the Village of Red Hook where he was described as a laborer doing odd jobs in the 1910 census. In Jersey City, NJ, he was a driver for Express Co., according to the 1920 census which was around the time that Clara passed away. Feller remarried in 1922; his second wife was the widowed Nella Carlow. They married when she was 41 and he was 44, according to records of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie. and is listed in the 1930 census as living in the City of Poughkeepsie where he worked as a carpenter. Nella passed away a few years later, according to her obituary which appeared in the Poughkeepsie Eagle News of November 6, 1930:

“Feller, Mrs. Nella Feller, 49, died yesterday morning at Vassar Hospital after a brief illness. She was a resident of Poughkeepsie for 25 years. Mrs. Feller is survived by her husband Frederick W. Feller; a daughter. Miss Mildred Carlow and her mother, Mrs. Anna P. Earl, all of Poughkeepsie. The funeral will be held from 20 Smith Street at 2:30 o’clock Saturday afternoon. Burial will be in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in the charge of J. Wesley McCormac.”

Feller lived for close to another quarter century, passing away in 1954. Feller’s obituary reads:

“Frederick W. Feller— A retired carpenter, Frederick W. Feller, 75, died unexpectedly in front of his home, 41 Tulip Street, Poughkeepsie, Friday night, a few hours after his sister in-law, Mrs. Sterling Feller of Rhinebeck, had died at the Northern Dutchess Health Center. County Medical Examiner Dr. Chester Golding, who was summoned, said that death had been caused by a coronary heart seizure. Mr. Feller was born in Troy on Sept. 13, 1878, a son of the late Sylvester and Grace Levenworth Feller. His wife, Mrs. Clara B. Hall Feller, died 30 years ago. Surviving are two sisters. Mrs. William Pulver and Mrs. Myron Scism of Red Hook; four brothers. Sterling Feller of Rhinebeck, Walter Feller of Cold Spring, Losee Feller of Red Hook and Raymond C. Feller of Poughkeepsie, a granddaughter, Miss Margaret Maroney; several nieces and nephews and an uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith of Red Hook. Funeral services were conducted at the Burnett and Rockefeller Funeral Home in Red Hook at 2 pm Tuesday. Burial was in St. John’s cemetery, Barrytown. ”
— Rhinebeck Gazette, January 21, 1954

Feller’s parents—Sylvester Feller and Grace A. Leavenworth Feller—are buried in the Red Hook Methodist Church Burial Ground on Cherry Street in the Village of Red Hook.