"Uncle Russ" Helm
Is Dead at 86
His Family Among Earliest of
Dutch Pioneers In
Sullivan County" -- Middletown 
Newspaper, April 21, 1909
(From Our Wurtsboro Correspondent)

"Russell Gorham Helm, one of the oldest and 
most highly respected citizens of Wurtsboro, 
died Wednesday morning.

"Mr. Helm was the son of the late Jacob and 
Laura Gorham Helm and was born Dec. 30, 1823 
upon the farm at Wurtsboro where he resided 
all his life.  He was therefore in his 86th year.  
He was the youngest of a family of four children, 
Daniel, Elizabeth, Emily and Russell, all of 
whom are now deceased.

"Mr. Helm's illness was of short duration.  
He was about as usual until Thursday last, 
when he was taken with a severe cold which 
developed into pneumonia and he passed peacefully 
away on Wednesday morning.

"He was a man of many good qualities, being of 
cheerful disposition and happy nature, a kind and 
loving husband and father, a good citizen and 
neighbor.  Uncle Russ, as he was familiarly known, 
will be much missed in Wurtsboro, where he had many 
friends.  

"Mr. Helm united with the Methodist Church when a 
boy and during all his years led an upright 
Christian life.  He posessed a fine tenor voice, 
and for years was leader in the choir of the church 
of which he was a member.

"For 70 years Mr. Helm followed the business of 
farming, also conducting the saw mill which for 
generations has been owned by the family and is 
widely known as Helm's mill.  The Helm family 
were of Dutch descent and were among the pioneer 
settlers of Sullivan County.

"Politically, Mr. Helm was a staunch Republican 
and among his associates in his younger days  
were his cousin, George H. Olcott, Samuel Gumaer, 
John Dorrance,  William C. Cogswell, Harvey R. 
Morris, Samuel D. and Westbrook Newkirk, all now 
deceased.

"Mr. Helm is survived by his widow, Mary J. 
Travers Helm, and the following children: 
Wesley R. Helm of Ellsworth, Kansas, Jacob, 
Russell G., George S. and Mrs. Josephine 
Schoonmaker and Mrs. Hildah Bonesteel, all of 
Wurtsboro, and Mrs. Harriet Lee of Vineland, NJ.

"The funeral service will be held in his home 
on Kingston Avenue on Sunday, April 25 at 2 o'clock."

He is buried in the family plot at Sylvan Cemetery.