“Joshua Peck, son of Dillavan J. and Serepity (Ripley) Peck was born and raised in Jay, New York. In March of 1869, Joshua and his older brother Alfonzo were issued warrants and ordered to appear in front of Justice Austin Hickock of Jay, New York. A complaint was filed against the boys by Ezra Fairbanks for petty larceny. After hearing the evidence, the court gave judgment against Joshua and Alfonzo for the sum of 5 dollars or imprisonment in the county jail for 20 days, at their option. They both were comitted to prison for 20 days. Their mother, Serepity, and their other brother Alvah were also issued warrants for the same charge but no proof was offered and their case was dismissed. After Joshua’s release from jail he lived a short time with his grandparents Alvah and Dolly Peck. By 1875 he was back with the rest of his family. Joshua joined the United Methodist Church in Jay with his mother and was fully receivd on February 27, 1870. Joshua married Zelida Ann Farnham also known as Ida, about 1877 in Lower Jay. She was the daughter of Thadeus Ford and Cynthia Alena (Holiday) Farnham and was born in Bastard Township, Ontario, Canada on March 6, 1859. Thaddeus and Cynthia had another child, but it died several weeks after birth. Ida’s father Thaddeus, who had enlisted into the 14th Heavy Artillery during the civil War, was severely wounded at the siege of Petersburg, Virginia on June 30, 1864. He was transported by wagon to Lincoln Hospital in Washington, D.C. where he died from his wounds on July 28, 1864 and was laid to rest in Section 13, grave no. 7461 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. After the war, Ida’s mother Cynthia married Ruben Milan Peck at Wilmington, New York on October 18, 1868. Reuben was a third cousin to Joshua who was Cynthia’s son-in-law. Cynthia’s marriage to Reuben ended in divorce after 1877. She then married Andrew Felt on April 25, 1906 in Jay, New York. After the death of Andrew, Cynthia was cared for by her daughter until her death sometime after 1921. The only description of her as remembered by family was a crnky old woman in a rocking chair with a shawl over her shoulders who was always smoking a corn cob pipe. They even say that at times it looked as if her nose was touching her chin. Joshua, whose occupation was listed as a common laborer, contracted typhoid fever and was treated by Doctor A.J. Merril between August 18 and September 3, 1891. He died from this disease at 3 pm on Thursday, September 3, 1891. Ida remarried on November 18, 1902 to George M. Burbank in Jay, New York. She purchased property on Peck Hill from her mother Cynthia on June 16, 1919 and lived there until her death on August 21, 1933. The house and land were willed to her children until they sold it after 1946. Her remodeled house is now owned and operated as a business by the Young family of Young Studio and Gallery.”96

In the 1870 census, he is living with his grandparents Alva and Dolly, and is age 13.29