The Lost Herrick Gunning Diaries

Where Are The Herrick Gunning Diaries And Why is the Museum Closing The Decoy Exhibit and Hiding The Decoys In Storage?
             

          The connection between Orson Munn Sr. and Orson Munn Jr. to the Herrick families would be considered more than close.  The Herrick's and Bunn are both mentioned in Orson Munn Senior's gunning diaries (see Decoy Magazine May/June 2015:Jannsen).  And knowing the well-documented close relationship of the Herrick and Munn families, it would be extremely unlikely for the Herrick's not to have known Charles Bunn.  It would be logical to find Bunn mentioned in the Herrick gunning diaries. If so, it would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Newbold L. Herrick knew precisely who the real maker of the decoys he said were made by Bowman really was.

   Shortly after my discovery that Bunn was the real carver of the decoys that N.H. Herrick and Harold E. Herrick told Bill Mackey the decoys were made by Bowman, I had ask Joshua Ruff the history curator at the Long Island Museums if he would check the Herrick gunning diaries for any mention of Bunn.  I keep pressing Joshua to check them to see if Charles Bunn was mentioned.  In a phone conversation during this period with Joshua, I also requested that he change the existing attribution for Bowman and to attribute Charles Bunn as the maker of the decoys.  Joshua refused any change until he himself researched Bill Bowman
 
    I told him he didn't have to do the research, I had already done the research for the Bowman claim and that I would turn over what I had for his evaluation, which if he didn't have an agenda, he would have reviewed the documentation. If he found something lacking he could point it out.  Otherwise, change the attribution from Bowman to Bunn, as it should be.
       
    For many years I would ask Joshua how his Bowman research was progressing?  He would have an excuse for why he hadn't done it yet.  Then after a while he would not respond to my queries.  Then my e-mails went unanswered.  He had pulled in his head like a turtle.  Then a few years ago, out of the blue, Josh responded to an e-mail.  He wrote back that he would review the documentation for Bunn.

     From the beginning of my research I have sent Joshua most, if not all, of the documentation that I had for Bunn, which was enough for anyone without an agenda to accept the attribution for Bunn.

   I have also sent him every article that Joe Jannsen,  Joe Engers (editor, Decoy Magazine) or I have written on Charles Bunn and his decoys, which included the November/December 2015 Decoy Magazine Editorial, page 18, " The Final Chapter" by Joe Engers which included the Joe Jannsen photograph of the 2005 meeting with Donal O'Brien, Orson Munn Jr., Joe Jannsen, and myself with Joshua Ruff at the Museum in Stony Brook..
   
   At that meeting Orson Munn Jr. identified the Herrick shorebirds as identical to the shorebirds that were in the two L.L.Bean baskets of shorebird decoys that went missing from the Munn families Southampton House, "The Arches" basement at an unknown date.

  As I have previously stated, I believe it is very possible the two L.L. Bean baskets of shorebird donated by the Herrick's are actually the missing Munn decoys.  I have proven Newbold L. Herrick fabricated the Bowman attribution, so we know he possessed a flawed moral compass, which is an affliction of many wealthy people, and apparently the affliction has spread to Joshua Ruff and the Long Island Museums at Stony Brook.
 
    After I gave up trying to convince Joshua to do the right thing, Joe Jannsen began his quest to review the now famous Herrick diaries.  Over many years, Joe requested an appointment to see the diaries.  Joshua always said it would not be a problem.  However, every time Joe tried to set up a date to do so, Joshua would have an excuse why it was not be possible at the time; he was going on vacation, he was too involved with a project, he didn't have time, or some other excuse why Joe couldn't see the diaries.
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    On July 22, 2017, I sent a formal request to the Museums at Stony Brook in an effort to set up an appointment to review the diaries which is seen below:
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I would like to make arrangements  to read the the contents of the Herrick gunning diaries (1871-1929) volumes for the research I am pursuing on L.I. gunning history.

Jamie Reason
President of the Narrow Bay Historical Society
Mastic Beach Village Historian: Emeritus
Contributing Writer For Decoy Magazine
And a Member of the Long Island Museums at Stony Brook  
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       On July 26, I received a response from the Long Island Museums.  Apparently, it took the museum four days to come up with what I believe is their latest ruse to prevent the disclosure of the contents of the Herrick diaries.  Below is the Museum's response.

   "Hello Mr. Reason,
 
   Thank you for your interest in the museum and it's collections. Unfortunately the Herrick gunning diaries are a bit of a mystery to us.  Our current collections manager, who has been here for three years has never seen them, and the previous collections manager who was here for sixteen years, never saw them either. When our catalogs records were digitized and migrated into our PastPerfect collections management software close to twenty years ago, the records were never checked against the actual objects to verify the accuracy of the descriptions. It's likely they are somewhere in our art vault, but like a misshelved book at a library, finding it becomes the proverbial needle in a haystack. We do, however, have the records books of the Southside Sportsman Club, Long Island, with records of trout, duck and gunning and game take, 1917-1959, if that may be of interest.

Best,

Jonathan M. Olly,Ph.D.
Assistant Curator
The Long Island Museum
1200 Route 25 A  
Stony Brook, N.Y 11790
www.longislandmuseum.org"
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             There are only a few explanations for the "lost Herrick gunning diaries".

 (A.) The museums staff is incompetent and unprofessional and they can not be trusted with the important artifacts placed in their care.  And after they admit that they have determined that the diaries are official missing, they apparently think there is no reason to look for them.  One can only wonder if there any other artifacts of great importance that have gone missing.  Or are the Herrick diaries the only missing artifacts in the museum?

 (B)  Or could it be the Museums staff is lying about losing the diaries, to prevent the truth from coming out about Newbold L. Herrick's lie that Bowman was the maker of the Charles Bunn decoys and the Herrick families additional injection "Herrick Family stories" to the original fabricated story.
A family tradition for over 50 years.

     Just this Summer, members of the Herrick family visited the William Floyd Estate, the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence in Mastic Beach, L.I. where I have been a volunteer for a decade and have done special programs, including traditional decoy carving demonstrations and a discussion on Long Island decoy history and programs on the Civil War during the150th anniversary of the conflict (see Decoy Magazine March/April 2009 "Gunning At Bills Place").

The Herrick descendants engaged the park ranger giving them a tour of the home.  When they saw some of the old decoys on display in the house, they began to relate the Bowman story. The ranger who is a close friend of mine and the person who schedules my programs every year, who has no agenda, and has seen my documentation for Charles Bunn, cut them off saying no those decoys were made by Charles Bunn from Shinnecock.  Haven't you kept up with the latest research?  They insisted that Bowman was the maker and that he lived in  the Lawrence marshes.  When she ask them why he lived in the marshes, they added some new Herrick B.S., "Because Newbold Herrick didn't pay him enough to live anywhere else."  Which once again changes the old narrative of Bowman living in Maine and working in a sawmill or as a cabinet maker.

(C.)  Another possibility is the Herrick Family asked for the gunning diaries back so they could prevent the discovery that Newbold Herrick fabricated Bowman for a nefarious purpose, say a
$27,000 tax write-off and that he did know Bunn and that Bunn was indeed the real maker.

(D.)  Are the Herrick's somehow putting pressure on the museum staff to continue to protect Newbold L. Herrick's fabrication?  This violates the museum's mission statement, not to mention decency and if so, what form of pressure???

If the readers of Long Island Decoy Forum want to see if there is a connection to Newbold L. Herrick and Charles Bunn in the Herrick gunning diaries, I would suggest that readers contact:


Joshua Ruff, Head Curator at the Long Island Museum 631-751 0066  ext. 224
jruff@longislandmuseum.org

Jonathan Olly Assistant Curator 631-751-0066 ext. 222
jollylongislandmuseum.org

Ask them why they are not re-attributing the decoys to the rightful maker, Charles Sumner Bunn.

 
 


     
   



 

Charles Bunn and Newbold Edgar and Friends

               
                                                        The Bunn-Edgar Connection
                                                            (Connecting The Dots)
           
    A group of hollow floating stool with the name EDGAR branded on the bottom of the decoys have repeatedly been sold to collectors for decades.  In 1966, they would begin to be credited to Bill Bowman by Newbold L. Herrick. and Harold E. Herrick.  The typical description for the decoys when sold can be found in Oliver's auction March 2, 1996 catalog:
 
  "An outstanding Brant Decoy by Bill Bowman of Long Island, circa 1890-1900. Very fine,  untouched original paint.  Some chipping and a slight wear from many years of gunning use.  A tight old crack in the neck. Branded with a deep "EDGAR"in the bottom".
         
                                    This description leaves many unanswered  questions.
                                             
                                                  What was Edgar's first name?
                                                     Where did Edgar live?
                                                     Where did Edgar hunt?
                                                     Who did Edgar hunt with?
                                                  Where did the rig come from?
                                                 
 As far as I know no one ever tried to discover who the person was behind the "EDGAR" brand.
                                         
 In my first article in Decoy Magazine on the decoys and folk art made by William Henry Bennett (1867-1954) which had wrongly been attributed to Eugene Cuffee (1866-1941) around 1981
       (see Decoy Magazine, "Solving the Mystery of the Chief Cuffee Decoys" Nov. / Dec. 2003).  On page 13 of my first article, I introduced decoy collectors to the work of Charles Sumner Bunn (1865-1952) which had wrongly been attributed to "Bill Bowman" in the past.  In the article I also presented the identity of the heretofore mystery person behind the EDGAR brand.
                                         
                                             Newbold Leroy Edgar (1863-1924)
                                                       Attorney at Law
                                                    Firm: Bull & Edgar

There is also a photo on page 13 of the article of the brant decoy with the Edgar brand from the Richard Oliver Auctions Fall 1994 credited  to "Bill Bowman".  On November 12th, 2014 Guyette & Deeter sold the same Brant, lot 16,still listed as made by "Bill Bowman" even though the auction house has been given ample evidence to the contrary.

   
 Also in Joe Jannsen's article, "Charles Sumner Bunn and the rigs of Southampton" page 25, we see the decoy's weight along with the Edgar brand on the bottom of the decoy.  Also see the weight on page 31 the Bunn Redhead with Bunn carved in the bottom.  These types of weights are found on the decoys that Bunn personally rigged.  The lead weights are attached with a large brass screw.  Bunn left a hump on the inside bottom half of the decoys in order to have enough meat to be able to securely hold the screw in place.
 
 On page 12 of my first article is the now famous 1906 photo of Bunn and his floating stool at Madison Square Garden's Annual Sportsman's Show wrongly cited as 1920.  That date was taken from John Strong's book titled, The Algonqikan People Of Long Island  From Earliest Time To 1700
This photo was later proven that the real date was 1906.  The title for the book is also misleading since it does not stop at 1700 as stated.  It continues into the 21st century.  Most of John Strong's work is extremely flawed.

 The decoys seen in the 1906 photograph on Bunn's table are the same type of decoys that were later said to be made by Bill Bowman in 1966 (this was based solely on a fabrication by brothers Newbold and Herald Herrick with the assistance of Bill Mackey).
 
 Also on page 13 I wrote, "David Bennett stopped by my shop the next day with more information.  He had found a book that told of Charles Bunn being the exclusive guide for a wealthy patrician sportsmen named Newbold Leroy Edgar.  The book Dave was talking about was titled, "Discovering the Past" by East Hampton native Jennette Edward Rattry (1893-1974) and editor of the East Hampton Star newspaper.
   
 In her book she wrote, "The Standard Oil barons and railroad magnates fell in love with Montauk in the 1890's  Newbold Edgar, one of the most active members and still remembered here as a King among men, would come on all winter, bringing his Shinnecock Indian guide Charles Bunn"
(Decoy Magazine Jan / Feb 2004, J. Reason).

Newbold Edgar was born in Newport, Rhode Island  and is known to have had residences in New York City, Tuxedo N.Y., and Miami.  He also built his "Summer Cottage"(Mansion) in Southampton, three miles away from Bunn's house (see Decoy Magazine Nov/Dec 2014 Jannsen).

                                     The East Hampton Star October 24, 1935
                       An article about the gunning season on the east end in the past.
 
   "They (the hunters) would arrive the day the Law was off and have great sport shooting geese ducks, foxes, and rabbits.  Newbold Edgar who almost lived at Montauk, winters would always have his guide Charles Bunn a well educated Shinnecock."

                                         The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Dec. 1, 1909, page 13.

"Nov. 30th Newbold Edgar the wealthy sportsmen of New York and Southampton arrived here yesterday bringing with a retinue of attendants and dogs.  He will hunt fox for several days.  He went at once to the Montauk Inn, where he will have his headquarters during his stay."

                List of members and committees of the exclusive The Tuxedo Club
            Newbold Edgar is listed as being on the Pigeon Shooting Committee.

                                     Newbold Leroy Edgar, Celebrity

Where he went and what he did was newsworthy.  Newbold Edgar was old money he was a direct decadent of Daniel Webster.  He was an avid early balloonist and made frequent trips to Europe throughout his life.  He spent part of his winters in Florida attending social events and trophy fishing.  He and his wife attended society functions through out the seasons.  Mr. and Mrs. Newbold Edgar are listed in Society columns from New York to Florida.

Shortly after my first article was printed in Decoy Magazine on Bennett and Bunn and their work, collector, writer, author  Dick Cowan conducted an interview with Orson Munn Jr. on Jan. 23, 2004. Dick reviewed Orson Munn Sr.'s gunning diary which contained pertinent hunting dates and some of the people who Orson Sr. hunted with.  The diary directly links together Newbold Edgar, Orson Munn Sr., Newbold Herrick and Charles Bunn.

Cowan sat on this information for years as the battle raged on to prevent the acceptance of my research.  Dick was afraid to take a stand openly on Bunn.  I can only assume it was because he didn't want to be attacked for telling the truth as I had been after printing the truth. 

But it was good of Dick to have shared his notes with Joe Jannsen shortly before his death.  At an L.I.D.C.A. meeting Dick had pointed out that 4 of the known Charles Bunn rigs come from Long Island's East End, not from the West End (Lawrence, L.I.) as the Herrick's had claimed.  Some of the excerpts from the diary were printed in Joe Jannsen's article in Decoy Magazine Nov./ Dec. 2014 the cover article was titled, "Charles Sumner Bunn and the rigs of Southampton", page 25.

This article clearly shows that Newbold Herrick and Harold Herrick knew Bunn and that Newbold Herrick undoubtedly bought decoys directly from Bunn.  The proof is the black duck stool that N.L. Herrrick donated to the Museums at Stony Brook.  These two Bunn Black ducks are branded NLH  on the bottom.  The brand also proves that he lied about Bill Bowman making the decoys.  He would have gotten these decoys directly from Bunn.
                                                       
                                                                 The Munn Diary

    "Charles Bunn & I went to the island and struck a small flight of plovers (Sept 7,1907)"

   "Mr, Edgar took me down ( down refers to Long Island east end) to his Club shooting. I had a very nice time.  I distinguish my self as a rotten shot.  I did much better along on Sunday Bunn was a little worse. (Oct 17,1907)"

   "11/8 to 11/13/1914) w/Newbold Herrick battery 25 broadbill sears pond for blacks 22"

  "10/2 w Herrick in a hole in the meadow at Flanders  29 black & teal 1 sprig 1 woodcock."
                      (Flanders refers to the exclusive Flanders Sportsmen's Club)

 "10/17- Herrick Sears pond 17 blacks. 2 more days, with Herrick, 1 with Bert Low, Judge Cornell".

"8/18/ 17 Ensign Herrick and I went snipe shooting and killed 8 little yellowlegs & 1 yelper quite a few more days."

The April 10, 1938 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article about N.L. Herrick and Orson Munn Sr. were facing charges for baiting ducks at the Flanders Club where they were were members.  They were found not guilty.  However both men resigned from the club in less that a year.  The club obviously didn't like a spotlight on there activities and some one had to walk the plank.

 The day and nights of the summer season in Southampton were packed social activities; luncheons, parties, polo, golf, riding, sailing, summer gunning and fishing.  The newspapers were filled with information on the social events of wealthy the elite in Southampton.

The Sun newspaper N.Y., N.Y. 05/1914 (Southampton), "Orson D.Munn and Newbold Edgar have rented cottages.  H. Don Ives who is at the Art Village will sail for England soon."  All three men mentioned are Bunn clients and are the owners of 3 of the 4 rigs mentioned from Southampton pointed out by Dick Cowan .
 
                                                       Connecting the dots.

                                       Bunn made decoys for Newbold L.Edgar

                                       Bunn made decoys for Orson D,Munn Sr.

                                        Bunn made decoys for Orson Munn Jr.

                                       Bunn made decoys for Newbold L. Herrick

                                        Bunn made decoys for H. Davis Ives
                         
                                        Orson Munn Sr. hunted with with N.L. Herrick
             
                                        Orson Munn Sr. hunted with Newbold Edgar.

                                 
 Harold Herrick, Newbold Herrick and Newbold Edgar were all members of the N.Y. Linnaean
Society; 1894-1899, 1896-1897.

 Newbold Edgar and David Abercrombie took Charles Bunn Big Game Hunting in Canada.

 This shows not the well known "six degrees of separation". This shows zero degrees of separation.

                                                      The players age's in 1906

                                                             Charles Bunn, 41
                                                             Harold Herrick, 53
                                                            N. L. Edgar, 43
                                                            A.H. Carman, 48
                                                             O. Munn Sr., 22
                                                             N.L. Herrick, 21
                                                             H.E. Herrick, 16
                                             
                 

                                               The Annual Sportsman's Show at Madison  Square Garden

      In both the Martinez transcripts and in the 1952 article on Bunn in the News Review, a Riverhead newspaper, six months before his death tells of Bunn attending  and display at "the National Sportsmen's Shows for many years".  The 1906 photo shows Bunn exhibiting as part of the "All Long Island Exhibit".  This exhibit was part of the annual shows for many years.
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   I have recently discovered a second photos of Charles Bunn and his duck stool at his booth at the 1906 Sportsman's show. (Harpers Weekly March 10,1906 ) One more Dot for Bunn.

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      The "All Long Island Exhibit"was coordinated by the extremely well known Capt.Will Graham,  the owner "Ye Anchorage Inn"in Bluepoint, L.I.  It was Will Graham who is credited with printing "The Setting Sun" a small booklet on Bunn, his life and his work as a guide and decoy maker. It sold for 25 cents. Graham also advertised the Ye Anchorage Inn in the booklet.  The admission to the Sportsman's show in 1906 was 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children.  The show ran from Feb.20 - March 8th and was open daily from 10:00 am -11:00 pm (17 days 14 hours a days adds up to 238 viewing hours for the show).
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                        The Nassau - Suffolk section The Sunday News April 6, 1952

   "For many years Bunn decoys were annually on display at the New York Sportsmen's Shows and no real hunter would ever pass up a chance to add Bunn decoys to his hunting equipment."
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    It would stretch the imagination to the breaking point to believe that young wealthy gunners like the Herrick brothers would not have attended the annual Sportsman's Shows in Manhattan where they would have seen and met Bunn at his booth.  We know Newbold L. Herrick was at the show in 1912 because he tied for second place trap shooting competition, representing the Crescent Athletic Club, and also in 1913 he was "top amateur gun killing 47 out of 50 birds" (see Brooklyn Daily Eagle March 10,1912 and Feb. 28, 1913).
                                 
     The  original 1906 original which came from the David Bunn Martine collection shows in the back ground a large banner for the Abercrombie & Fitch display on the second floor.  A&F display would have been a destination for the Herrick Brothers.  Their wealth and documented gunning activities would indicate they would have personally known David Abercrombie.  One more dot.

 David Abercrombie is documented as being a friend of Charles Bunn. David Abercrombie is also documented as being at the 1906 annual Sportsman's Show (see Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb. 25, 2006 page14).  One more dot.

Though I have never been able to document that A & F sold Bunn's decoys, however considering the documented relationship between David Abercrombie and Bunn, it would be logical to assume that A& F would have promoted and sold Bunn decoys.

                                             

                                                        The Newbold Edgar Shorebird
                                                                 One More Dot
                                                                Or The Final Dot?

A few years back Joe Jannsen discovered that a Long Island decoy collector had a Snipe decoy with EDGAR brand on it.This snipe decoy has been referred to by some as, "the most important Bunn shorebird decoy ever".  This is not because of its great condition.  The decoy is said to be a Black bellied plover.  In my opinion, the paint loss is so extensive that you can not determine what the actual species. It also has numerous shot holes. A bird in this condition might normally sell for $5,000 to $7,000.  On a scale 1-10.with 10 being excellent, in my opinion this decoy would be a 4 condition-wise.

What makes this decoy so important is its historical value. The EDGAR brand found on it's underside accounts for the importance and value.  Joe Jannsen tried to acquire the bird, but the owner wanted far more than it was really worth on the market.  I am fairly certain the owner of the decoy had no idea of its importance and I doubt if the owner even knew who Edgar was or his relationship to Charles Bunn.

According to a source, the owner believed the decoy was valuable because Timmy Seiger had told him that it was the only know black bellied plover by "Bill Bowman" and believe it or not, the owner actually believed Timmy!  This is a the classic case of the incredibly blind leading the incredibly blind.

When Mackey and the Herrick brothers hatched the Bill Bowman fabrication both the floating stool and the shorebird decoys were all assigned to "Bill Bowman".  When I first announced my discovery that Charles Bunn to be the real maker of the"Bowman" decoys, one faction of the Bowman supporters said even if I could prove Bunn made the floating stool,  I had no proof for the shorebird stool.  This was predicated on the 1906 photo of Bunn with his duck stool at Madison Square Garden.  It is impossible to dismiss this photo, though some have tried, sometimes comically like charlatan Ronnie McGrath.  But there are no shorebird decoys seen in the photograph. In their opinion, if you didn't have a photo of the shorebird decoys with Bunn, then you couldn't say Bunn made them.
                         ------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Mind you, there are no photographs of "Bowman".        
                                  And there is no photos of "Bowman" with decoys!              
                             Because Bowman the decoy maker is a fabrication!!!
                     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
   
     
 When Joe Jannsen first saw the Edgar brand on the shorebird he knew immediately what an important decoy it was and received permission of owner to photograph the decoy, even if he couldn't acquire this incredibly important decoy.  For years Joe and I had been looking and hoping to find a Bunn shorebird with the Edgar brand.

Another interesting thing about this decoy is that it appeared in the Timmy Seiger L.I.D.C.A. primarily worthless decoy picture book titled, "The Decoys of Long Island".  On page 40 listed as a "William Bowman" we find the Edgar branded decoy, but there is mention of the EDGAR brand.  In fact there is no information other than the species and their supposed maker.  On page 42, we find Alan Haid's Bunn Redhead and a Black Duck with Newbold L. Herrick's brand which is also not mentioned.  On page 39, there is a decoy made on the same pattern as the Edgar branded decoy.  This one is listed as a Willet.  What is left of the paint on the Edgar decoy's belly appears to be the same as the Willet.

This Edgar snipe decoy was the genesis for this post which I began to write months ago but held off posting it in hopes that Joe could eventually acquire this very important bird.  This week I received an email from Joe who wanted to know if I would be around on Friday.   I said yes.  When he came over what a great surprise awaited me.  He brought over the Edgar snipe decoy that he had finally been able to buy from its former owner.

Even though we have produced more than enough supporting documented evidence for Charles Bunn as the maker of the decoys and that there is no way to deny the link between Bunn and Edgar and after all the research we have compiled on Bunn, Newbold Herrick, Harold Herrick, Orson Munn Senior and Jr. and Newbold Edgar, there are still those that deny Bunn his place in American history
                                     
                                          No Documentation for "Bowman"
                                                 (The Only Bowman Dot)

The only dot to be unsuccessfully connected to "Bowman is found in Gunners Paradise, page 25.  Three sentences in the gunning diary of Harold Herrick Sr. (1853-1930).

Gunners Paradise: Two entries confirm that a Bill Bowman gunned the Islands marches near Lawrence but it doesn't confirm that he ever made a decoy in his life.
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    "August 21 1890: old Bill  Bowman who gave me the place had killed four before I arrived;"
 *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

     "August 31 1891: A flock of a dozen yellowlegs coming to decoys was frightened by Bowman"
        "Bowman has been in tent [?] for a month has not got over six a day."
   *---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*  

    This is the only non-evidence that the Bill Bowman faction cling too as their primary source for Bill Bowman, decoy maker.  No where in the two entries in the Herrick gunning diaries does it indicate he carved decoys.  No dealer, collector, museum etc., should ever refer to the Bunn decoys as Bill Bowman decoys.
                                                 



   
 

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Charles Bunn & Bill Bowman Obituaries

                           
                                                              Charles S. Bunn

Charles Sumner Bunn 87-years old resident of the Shinnecock Indian Reservation and the last of the old regime there passed away last Friday October 17 after a years illness.

Chief Bunn was the son of Mary Emma and David Walkus Bunn, was one of three surviving descendants of the stalwart Reservation braves who perished in the salvage of the Circassion which was ship wrecked off Southampton in 1876.  A highly regarded and colorful figure in this community where he had many friends both among the year round and the summer residents, Mr. Bunn was a professional guide and trapper.  He conducted many hunting parties locally and had traveled with parties extensively in the United States and Canada.  He was well known for his life-like decoys which he carved.

He was a graduate of New Paltz Normal School and a member of the Masonic Order, an elder for the Presbyterian and a delegate to the Synod in Syracuse.

Funeral services were held in the First Presbyterian Church on Monday afternoon with the Rev. Paul Robinson conducting the services assisted by the Rev. Dr. Jess Halsey a life long friend of the deceased.  Serving as pall bearers were Cortland Cuffee, Lincoln Smith, Walter Wise, Raymond Gardener, Harry Walker and Delancy Bailey.

Source:  Newspaper clipping comes from the David Martine collection (C. S. Bunn's Great Grandson). The newspaper is not identified.

___________________________________________________
                                                       
                                                             William Bowman  
                                                       
The death of William H. Bowman occurred on Wednesday at the age of 82 years of Old Town. The funeral services will be held at 2 P.M. Saturday at the residents of H.F. Bailey, Great Works.

Source: Bangor Daily News March 23 1906: see Gunners Paradise 1979- page 136 Appendix A.

By comparing the two obituaries, it is very plain to see who the decoy maker was.

Jim Van Brunt Fake Buffleheads

                                     Long Island Decoy Forum Is Making A Difference

 In the Long Island Decoy Forum's post, "The Chief Cuffee Fabrication", I wrote about Bob Gerard and his inherent dishonesty. One of his scams I wrote about was him putting a ton of Wildfowler Point Pleasant, N.J. (Charles Birdsall pattern) bufflehead decoys that Bob Gerard put on the market as made by "Jim Van Brunt of Setauket". They all came with tags tied on with red yarn and a typed description saying among other things, that they were made and used by Jim Van Brunt in the 1950's.

Many collectors /dealers knew about  Gerard's fake"Van Brunt's", especially on Long Island and some even joked about them.  I was asked many times, are the Van Brunt buffleheads that Gerard is selling real?  As you might guess, I never held back.  I told them just what they were and weren't.

Bob continually sold collectors bad birds which was bad enough, but I couldn't stand his snobbish arrogance for what he deemed the lesser collectors and dealers who he referred to as peddlers. A lot of people talked about the things Gerard was doing, but most collectors wouldn't call him on it.

When Bob sold a bad bird to a collector who later found out they had been screwed, he would take the bird back usually saying there was nothing wrong with it, but he would give you back your money lickity-split.  He would eventually put the bird or birds back on the market.

He would have a pair of his fake "Van Brunt's"on his table at a time.  He or his wife would tell a prospective buyer that they were very rare decoys.  If they purchased a pair, as soon as they were out of sight, Bob would reach under his table and pull out another pair of "very rare buffleheads".

The fake Van Brunts were not the only fake Wildfowler birds he put in the market.  It was after a collector friend brought me a pair "Quogue Wildfowler teal" that looked nothing like any Quogue Wildfowler teal I had ever seen before.  He said that he had picked up the pair at a gun show in Albany.  I told him they didn't look like any Quogue teal I had ever seen and the paint was not Quogue Wildfowler paint.

The next weekend was the LIDCA annual show.  My friend came over to my table to show me another pair of "Quogue Wildfowler teal" he had just bought from the same guy who sold him the pair in Albany. I said show me this guy.  It was Gerard of course.  I knew about the fake buffleheads, but the teal, both green wing and blue wing, was a new scam, using Point Pleasant patterns made as Babylon Wildfowler factory blanks.  I told my friend, "Fred we got a problem."  As I studied the birds, I noticed the brand was not the real Quogue Wildfowler brand, that it wasn't a burned in brand, but it had been pounded in.

I exposed Gerard deceptions at every opportunity. If I saw people at a show buying or walking around with a pair of Gerard's fakes, or if they brought them to my shop for me to look at, I would tell the owner that Gerard had cheated them, and told them they should go see Gerard and get their money back, and tell Gerard I told you to return them because they were fakes.

I wrote a short article for the L.I.D.C.A. newsletter to let everyone know what was up with the "Van Brunt buffleheads".  This was latter reprinted in the M.D.C.A. newsletter which had a much larger readership, but even after my article, the auction houses and dealers, including Gerard, continued to offer them as Jim Van Brunt decoys.  It is apparent that L.I.D.F.  was the catalyst for change. Over time, the buffleheads began to be listed as"attributed to Jim Van Brunt", not as made by Jim Van Brunt.
                                               
Change Has Come

I have recently seen at least two auction houses which have sold Gerard's fakes, sans Gerard's tags .

   Duane & Merrill Auction Company March 26 2017 (Wisconsin):
Lot 493, "a pair of buffleheads original paint tacked on sheet weight to bottom ca 1950

So close but no cigar; 1950! No not 1950's, but at least they didn't attribute them to Van Brunt.

Also on March 26, 2017, Frank & Frank auctions (New Jersey):
Lot 368, pair of buffleheads, "painted and marketed by Bob Gerard".

Well finally, Hallelujah!

                    It is apparent that Long Island Decoy Forum is a catalyst for change.

Bob Gerard's fake Van Brunt's are extremely low hanging fruit for reattribution, compared to the Bunn and Bennett reattributions.  The buffleheads are so obviously Wildfowler patterned fakes.  When sold by Gerard, his" JimVan Brunt's" they were relatively cheap, at least compared to some of Gerard's other scams.  In the beginning, Gerard priced the "Van Brunt buffleheads" $250.00-$350.00 a pair.  This is for birds that should have sold for $30.00 a pair at the very most.  It has been well over twenty years since I exposed Gerard fakes Van Brunt's, and it is only now that are we seeing the fakes laid at Gerard's doorstep where they belong.

Gerard's will left what remained of his collection to be auctioned by G&S. with the proceeds going  to Ducks Unlimited, auctioned off in 2013 by Guyette &;Deeter.  A very altruistic gesture for a crooked sociopath like Gerard, but this was his final scam meant to cover up a life of lies and unbridled greed.  As I have said in the past, that Gerard's collection contained many fakes, like a well know pair of Sheldrakes that Gerard first tried to sell to Stephen O'Brien who rejected them.  He later consigned them to Guyette & Schmidt who accepted them for their November 2004 auction.  Not only that, but they proudly featured them in their ad in Decoy Magazine July/August 2004 on page 5.  I suppose they would have sold them, had they not been contacted and informed that they were not right.

G&S had to have known of Gerard's reputation as a crook, if only from Bud Ward who wasn't shy about discussing Gerard's shenanigans. So did G&S know the Sheldrakes weren't right and decided to move them for a good customer, or did they think they were right!  Now the first reason for selling them for Gerard would point out a total lack of ethics on the part of G&S.  The second reason would mean that they are not very good at they job and calls into question their claimed expertise.  Stephen O'Brien had known they weren't right and had sent them back to Gerard.

I can only assume Gerard thought his legacy would be his generous donation to D.U., but his donation to D.U. doesn't make up for all the people he swindled, and many of the birds from Gerard's collection are more than suspect.  When a turned head shorebird showed up at a L.I.D.C.A. annual show, Ronnie McGrath and many others looked at it and pronounced it as a fake.  Gerard supposedly bought it and was going to consign the bird to G&S.  Gary looked at it and said it was one of the best shorebird decoys ever, according to Gerard, but word got out that many thought it was a complete fake.  With a big black cloud hanging over the bird, Gerard didn't consign it.  He kept it in his collection.  It showed up in the Gerard auctions and was sold to a L.I.collector.

Long Island Decoy Forum will make sure collectors now and in the future know what Bob Gerard's true legacy was, which was putting untold numbers of fake birds on the market, distorting Long Island decoy history, and ripping off a lot of unsuspecting collectors.  It  is encouraging to know that my research presented in L.I.D.F.is making a difference and that at least some of the fakes Gerard put on the market will no longer be sold as Jim Van Brunt decoys.

Sometimes no matter how much evidence I have for the reattribution of other decoys, some people will say it is never enough, even when the other side has no evidence at all. So who would have thought that just by removing Bob Gerard's original tags, you can change a decoy's attribution from Jim Van Brunt buffleheads to "Bob Gerard painted and marketed buffleheads."

     


 

Long Island Decoy Makers?

                                                       
                            How Many People Really Read Long Island Decoy Forum?
       

                     
     In 2009 I began publishing the blog "Long Island Decoy Forum."  I had no real idea of what a blog was, but I realized that it was the only way to disseminate actual researched information on some Long Island decoys and their makers.  After my original articles on Charles S. Bunn and William H. Bennett were published in Decoy Magazine, there arose a tsunami like wave of outrage by those in opposition to my research.  The people who were the most outraged were the supposed "decoy experts".  These" decoy experts" had been caught flat-footed. Their world was turning upside down and they had to put a stop to it, and quickly.  To quote Gary Guyette in a private phone conversation around the time my first articles appeared on Bennett and Bunn, "Decoy collectors don't like change."    

  In a New York Times article titled, "Collectors Take A Second Look" February 13, 2005, Gary tries to tamp down the new attribution for Bunn by saying we need much more proof for Bunn before a change in attribution for Bowman could be made and that even if we had a photo of Bunn with the decoys, that might not be enough evidence for the reattribution.  Gary completely ignored the photo of Bunn at the 1906 Madison Square Garden Sportsmen's Show with his decoys on the table that are the same type of duck stool that N.H. Herrick said were made by Bowman.  "Experts" like Gary Guyette needed for Bowman and Cuffee to continue to be credited as the makers of the carvings.  In that way they could continue to present themselves as "decoy experts".  But we all were at fault in the past by not questioning all the undocumented pronouncements found in decoy books, etc.
  
  The backlash to my research was so vocally ardent in the condemnation of me and my early research that for many years I could not find any magazine who would publish my research. I was effectively Black Listed. I was also blindsided by the way the research was attacked. I was being hit from every direction by the never-Bunn opposition.  Ronnie McGrath began to write what he called articles (rebuttals) to our research.  I had no way to respond to his undocumented ridiculous statements and wild speculations.      
    
   Also around that time I angered many of the members of the Long Island Decoy Collectors Association by proposing that the club should put add ethics amendment to the club's Bylaws.  The reaction from many was outrage. Some said we could not do anything like that; "We were not the police," that no clubs have anything like that in their bylaws.  I had actually used a Fishing Tackle Collectors Club's ethic section from their bylaws for the ones I wrote.  Apparently some collector associations have no problems with ethical behavior.  Some members accused me of wanting to add the amendments to the bylaws in order to nail Bob Gerard and expel him from the club, which was not my motive.  But it shows that they all knew Gerard was unscrupulous. 

   I left the meeting early in disgust at the attitude of many of the club members. I was later to learn that right after my departure, libelous statements were made about me, including my ethnicity. I was told Timmy Sieger had known that I was going to present my bylaw change at the meeting and took prepared  ballots out of his pocket and announced that there would be a vote to throw Jamie Reason out of  L.I.D.C.A.  When and where is being ethical a bad thing? Oh yeah,  in the Decoy Business.

 I had just spent three and a half years saving the association from it's member induced extinction.
 I put  the club on a strong financial  footing. 
 I had redesigned the club newsletter and had written articles for it . 
 I had done all the PR promoting the club and the annual  decoy show.  

Under my tenure as president, I had convinced dealers from other states who had stopped attending the annual show to return including Dick McIntyre from South Carolina.  And now some members wanted to throw me out because I thought we should have some sort of ethical standards. 

  The next day after the meeting and the secret vote, I received a phone call from L.I.D.C.A.'s president, Melvin Phaff, who told me about the vote. I told him I would get back to him after I spoke to counsel.  After a second conversation with Melvin explaining what I had learned from witnesses of what had transpired at the meeting after I had left, I told him how my attorney had advised me to proceed.  Under threat of litigation the club was forced to rescind the vote for my expulsion from the club.  They were also made to print a letter of apology to me and were forced to print my proposed ethic's amendment in the by-laws in the newsletter.  And believe it or not, sometime later, some of my  ethics proposals were incorporated into the bylaws, but the rift between many of the L.I.D.C.A. members and I will never heal.

   Also around this time my relationship with Ronnie McGrath, both personal and on a business level, went south.  This is when Ronnie decide to be the defender of Newbold Herrick's Bill Bowman fabrication.  I had become a pariah in the "decoy world."  Orders for my carvings dwindled. My shop began to falter. I eventually was forced to closed the doors.  Speaking truth to powered usually comes with consequences.  This is where you have to make a decision in your life. Will you fold your cards and hope over time you will slowly be allowed back into the fold for your transgressions of  upsetting the applecart of fables that had been use as "documentation in the "decoy world", or you can stick to your guns and your integrity and soldier on in the face of overwhelming odds against your success. I chose the latter.       
  
   As people began taking sides of the Bunn Bennett -Bowman Cuffee "debate", the pendulum began to swing in the direction of the more powerful Bill Bowman faction, driven by the old guard status quo; the auction houses and high-end dealers and collectors, the real powers that drive the decoy market (money and ego).  I  became a target, branded as a liar and a fabricator. My research was dismissed as unfounded speculation.

 Letters to the Editors in both Decoy Magazine and Hunting &Fishing Collectibles Magazine ripped my research to pieces, but they never presented any evidence for Bowman or Cuffee.  I could not defend  my work as neither magazine would give me space to respond as I have said, I had nowhere to present the new information that many claimed they needed.  I had no platform to counter what was being written about my research and the lies and misinformation that was being spread. 

  All of this would be the inspiration  for Long Island Decoy Forum (L.I.D.F.). If I couldn't get published in any magazine, Long Island Decoy Forum would be the platform to get the accumulating documentation out to the public.  I have no editor for the content.  I also provide some insider information on what has really gone on in decoy collecting over the years, that I have been privy to.  L.I.D.F. has presented a counterpoint to the myths and fabrications and the pure B.S. that has been used to establish the false identities for many Long Island decoy makers that are used by decoy collectors, dealers, writers, etc. today.    

   For years, L.I.D.F. was the only way to get out unfettered information on the decoys and their makers from Long Island, or as is in most instances, who is not the real maker. It is far easier to disprove or cast serious doubt on the attributed for makers in the past than it is to discover documentation as to who the real maker was.  If the early collectors were not so afraid of the attribution of by "unknown maker" or if they had not used undocumented names for the maker years ago, we would not have the situation we have to day.  If the early collectors had actually done any real research we would not be where we are today.  

   I have unashamedly stepped on the toes of those who have denied my research and I have pointed out how the writings from the past and the present rarely presented accompanying documentation for their claims for the makers, and this is especially true when it comes to the granddaddy of decoy misinformation, William J.Mackey Jr.  After all the research that I have done over the years, I now  question any and everything Mackey ever wrote in relationship to decoy makers.  It is quite clear that he never did any research on the makers of the decoys that he accumulated.  Mackey attributions for Long Island decoys should never be cited as factual information. This includes all his writing, including those found in the Decoy Collectors Guide or North American Decoy Magazine. 

    But the real question is, has L.I.D.F. accomplish anything in the way of changing Hearts and Minds?

 Question 1-Has Long Island Decoy Forum been an effective vehicle to disseminate new research for L.I. decoy's and their makers?

Question 2-Has it destroyed many of the myths and fabrications of the past? 

Question 3.-Has it accomplished overturning the misattributions for some L.I. decoys to the correct attribution or to Unknown Carver?   

 Question -1.-
  The answer is a resounding yes! It has been very effective in that capacity to inform people who are truly interested in Long Island decoys, which I feel has helped in the acceptance of Bunn as the maker. I am certain that had I not begun this blog, the Bowman and Cuffee supporters would have had no opposition at all.  They would never have had to address the ridiculous and amateurish way that decoy attributions have been accepted and used in the past and even today.  Bowman and Cuffee attributions are classic examples of the Emperor has no clothes.  

   The Bowman and Cuffee supporters presented a united front against progress.  This Blog was the only way to circumvent the denial of my research.  In most instances, the opposition are very wealthy and powerful people who are used to controlling things. Can't control L.I.D.F.  I have no advertisers to dictate the content of L.I.D.F. This has been very frustrating for them.  As people began to read the L.I.D.F., some began to see how silly the L.I. decoy myths really were.
   
   I even believe L.I.D.F. was actually aided by Hunting & Fishing Collectibles Magazine's ridiculous rebuttals to our research by Ronnie McGrath.  Decoy collectors kept waiting for the long promised documented proof for Bowman, and to a lesser degree Cuffee, which never appeared because there is none.  You can only drill so many dry holes before people start to think that you're all promises and no delivery.  Ronnie McGrath delivered nothing but empty words.  

  Question-2. 
 As to question 2, I have only partially succeeded in, even though there are many in the decoy world  who still support Bowman-Cuffee, there are more and more people who Support Bunn and Bennett attributions.

  Question-3.  
 Most in the"decoy world" still use the old misattributed, undocumented decoy maker's names found in the old books and magazines, even though I have used L.I.D.F. to point out the lack of research, and documentation and fabrications. I have shown that the attributed makers, Bowman, Cuffee, the Verity's, Gelston, Dilley and Seabury are fabrications or myths.
      
 As more and more people visit Long island Decoy Forum, I feel that over time, the changes will come.  The best thing for me about this blog, is that after Garry Guyette and his Bowman pals and I are all in the ground,  Long Island Decoy Forum will still be alive. Things written on the internet are just like a book; long after the author's death, the work is still being read by later generations.
The later generations of decoy collectors should not be so invested in maintaining the status quo that many of today's so-called decoy experts need.

     
                   How Many Readers Does Long Island Decoy Forum Actually Have?
   
     If you go to any of the L.I.D.F. postings it shows just a few followers and I have heard of collectors/dealers claiming that, "No one reads Long Island Decoy Forum".  However, the  followers  listed is not exactly correct. In fact, it is very misleading. 

   What readers don't see is that each post has a counter, so I can see how many people actually visit the different postings, and the combined tally of visits to date on all postings are over 7,000, which shows that there are more than a few people looking at the site.  I know that not everyone who goes to the site will reads it. There are no photos after all, just documentary evidentiary text, which is a very rare commodity in the"decoy world" today, as it always has been.
   
 For many blogs, over 7,000 hits is not a large number of viewers, but if you take into account that the "decoy world" is a very small and insular world, and an even smaller world is the subset of people who have an interest in or collect Long Island decoys.

     There is also another way that I know that people are reading L.I.D.F. In that people tell me they read L.I.D.F., and some people inadvertently let me know that they read it.  Like at our Charles Sumner Bunn presentation at the Suffolk County Historical Society museum on  October 6th 2016.
Among those in attendance that evening was Long Island Decoy Collectors Association Treasurer, Bob Liehr and his wife.  Bob is also collector of William Henry Bennett decoys and folk art that he stubbornly still calls "Chief Cuffee's".

  After our presentation during the Q&A session, Bob Liehr had no questions about Bunn or his work. And mind you, our Presentation was on Charles S. Bunn and his work.  Bob wanted to make a statement about "Chief Cuffee decoys".  I had mentioned Eugene Chief Cuffee in passing in the opening part of the program. 

    I said that the discovery of Charles S. Bunn's work happened accidentally while searching for the decoys made by Eugene Cuffee, and that I have not found any evidence for Cuffee as a decoy maker in the past 15 years of research. Cuffee is listed as a hunting guide. And though I feel it is quite possible there were others decoy makers on the Shinnecock Reservation, but so far Charles S. Bunn is the only documented decoy carver from Shinnecock Reservation from the late 19th to mid-20th century.

 Bob Liehr stated that decoys formerly from the Southold Historical Society Museum collection had been donated to the museum by a woman in the 1960's who had said they had been made by Chief Cuffee.  I  said that wasn't true. I and (David Bennett) had visited the museum in around 2004 and talked to the director at time. I had told him the birds were by Bennett and not Cuffee's.  The museum had no documentation for Cuffee as the maker of the birds in their collection.They did have some bills for house paint with Cuffee's name on them.(Cuffee was a house painter), but nothing about him making decoys.  
     
     I then ask  Bob for the documentation for his claim after which he went silent.  This elicited a few chuckles from some of the attendees.  We had just presented 45 minutes of documentation for Bunn and Bob Liehr had nothing to back up his claim for Cuffee.  Bob's silly B.S. would have worked at a L.I.D.C.A. meeting or in Hunting & Fishing Collectibles Magazine, but most of the people who attend historic lectures expect documentation to accompany your statements.

    I also stated that no one called the carvings Cuffee's until Bob Gerard's fabricated the Cuffee attribution 1981.  I then said to Bob, "You should read my blog."  Then Bob Liehr unwittingly blurted out, "I HAVE READ IT."  So we know that Bob Liehr reads it.

     However, Bob appears not to absorb or comprehend or understand what he's read, or most likely the reason he still clings to Bob Gerard's Cuffee fabrication is because he is so invested in being a Cuffee collector and thus an expert on the work of Chief Cuffee.  If the decoys and folk art Bob attributes to Cuffee are Bennett's, which they are, that would mean Bob Liehr has no expertise on the pieces of folk art that he collects. 
  
   This type of behavior by Bob Liehr shows a total lack of respect for Long Island's history and in turn shows he has no respect for one of America greatest folk artists, William Henry (Uncle Henry) Bennett from Springs, East Hampton who really made the pieces.  Bob Liehr had referred to the birds from the Southold  Historical Society Museum which had  been consigned to Stephen O'Brien's Copley Auctions in July of 2016.  Joe Jannsen pointed out that they had not been attributed to either Bennett or Cuffee.  However, we find lot 417 we find a W.H.Bennett curlew listed as by" Eugene Chief Cuffee"(ATTR). 

These pieces from the museum's collection represented both William H. Bennett's early and latter work, which were all attributed to Cuffee from 1981- 2003 based only on the word of Robert Gerard. No documentation!

  Since Mr. Liehr has established that he does read Long Island Decoy Forum, he now has no excuse to still refer to William Bennett's folk art as made by Eugene Chief Cuffee.
  
 Another thing that is interesting is the behavior of the auction houses in cataloging the decoys as Bunn/Bowman or Cuffee/Bennett which only adds to the confusion, as seen in Guyette & Deeter's Charleston auction, February 17th 2017.

      A Heron listed as" by Cuffee or Bennett"?
   
   If you Google images for William Bennett decoys or Eugene Coffee decoys, you find some of the same birds showing up on both sites, one crediting Bennett as the maker and the other has Cuffee as the maker for the same bird.  This is utterly ridiculous.  Can you imagine an auction house listing a painting as by Michelangelo or Columbo, or a chest by Chippendale or Willson, or a silver spoon by Revere or Smith.  Of course not, but the decoy business has no standards. It is unregulated by being self regulated. 

   The fact that the heron is listed as by Cuffee or Bennett indicates that they don't really know who made the bird, hence they are not knowledgeable in what they are selling, which means that they are not experts in the field.
  
      If you are a Bennett collector, you can buy the bird and call it a Bennett and likewise a Cuffee collector can buy the same heron and call it a Cuffee.  However, I feel certain Guyette & Deeter know exactly who made the Bennett's, they just can't admit it.

  I had invited Jon Deeter to our presentation in October in Riverhead. I didn't bother inviting Gary.
   I didn't know if Jon would be open-minded enough to make the trip, but he declined for what he called "obvious reasons".  My guess would be that Mr .Deeter is another anonymous reader of Long Island Decoy Forum and was not happy with what I had written about Guyette & Deeter.

   I have been hard on Guyette & Deeter, Ted Harmon and others who deserve it.  As someone said recently, "You don't bring a cup cake to a knife fight".  From the very beginning I have been up against very powerful and wealthy forces who have allied together to prevent the acceptance of Charles Bunn.  This group includes Guyette & Deeter,Ted Harmon, Stan VanEtten, Ronnie McGrath, and many of the Long Island Decoy Decoy Collectors Association members, Allen Haid and others.  I didn't start this knife fight. I presented valid research for Bunn and Bennett.  It was the ambassadors of the stasis quo that were the ones who attacked my research out of hand.  When I know I'am right, I don't back down even in the face of incredible wealth and power and overwhelming odds.  And as you have seen, the Bowman and Cuffee champions have never present any documentation for them or any other Long Island decoy makers. 
      
  I plan to keep adding to the Long Island Decoy Forum and I will continue to point out the inconsistencies in the myths that have been cited as decoy history in the past, and I will continue to try to discover more information on L.I. decoys and their makers

By the way, over the many days that I have been writing and rewriting this post, I have watched the counter's on the two latest posts begin to climb as more and more people begin to read them, especially the one about Dick Richardson and L.I.D.C.A. attempt to prevent our presentation on Charles Bunn in October 2016.
    

     



    
       
   



   




  

   
  


              

The "Obadiah Verity" Decoys

                Where Were the "Obadiah Verity"and "Will Southard" Decoys Actually Made and Who Really Made Them?

 I am sure of three things about the decoys said to have been produced in the Seaford area of Nassau County referred today as Obadiah Verity,Will Southard, Verity Family or the "Seaford School":

(1) The decoys were not made by any of the many Obadiah Verity's found on Federal Censuses from Nassau County

(2) The decoys were not even made in Nassau County, N.Y.

(3) The attributions for both Obadiah Verity & William Southard as the makers of decoys was fabricated.  There was never any research or documentation for the two attributions.

 As we go back in time to the early days of decoy collecting, we can trace the evolution of the changing attributions for the decoys that today are said to have been made by Obadiah Verity and William Southard.

                                         1934 - Wild Fowl Decoys by Joel Barber

I can find no mention of Obadiah Verity or William Southward, or photos of the decoys that would be attributed to them 45 years later.

                               1959- Suffolk Museum at Stony Brook presents an exhibit, "Wild Foul Decoys"

In March of 1959, the museum presented an exhibit of Long Island decoys.  The shorebirds exhibited were divided into three categories; Snipe,Curlew and Plover.  It lists no makers names.  It lists only the owners of the decoys.  Newbold Herrick is listed as one of the owners.


                                            1961-Decoys at Shelburne Museum

 This book/catalog on the museum's collection does not mention Osborn, Verity or Southard and presents no photos of shorebird decoys that would later be referred to as Osborn, Osborn type, Verity or Will Southard.


                                1964- Decoy Collectors Guide, Hal Sorenson, November-December

Presents a list of the"Makers of Collectable Hunting Decoys".  There is no mention of William Southard on the list, but on page 14, we find "Obadiah Verity -Seaford Long Island 1850".

               

                               1965-American Bird Decoys by William J.Mackey Jr.
                               1965- The Art Of The Decoy by Adele Earnest
                               1965 -Decoy Collectors Guide, Hal Sorenson
                                     
H.F.Osborn snipe stool: Who was Henry Fleet Osborn of Bellport, Long Island?

He was born born October 15,1810 and died on December 1, 1873. His father was Charles Osborn and his mother's name was Charlotte.  The 1870 federal census lists Henry as a farmer.  His wife's name was Eliza.  They had three children.  He is listed as being buried in the Woodland Cemetery on Station Rd. North Bellport, NY.  I have found no contemporary references for him as a decoy maker.
               
In Mackey's American Bird Decoys, plate 85, we find four shorebirds decoys.  These decoys today would be cataloged as, and sold as, Obadiah Verity decoys.  The text reads, "Three typical Long Island Black bellied Plovers, with a tiny Sanderling on the left.  Birds of this style and quality are attributed to H.F.Osborn of Bellport.  They are well designed and durable."  There is no mention of why they are attributed to Osborn.

Plate 86, we find four shorebird decoys. Two are Yellowlegs that would today be attributed to William Southard, and a Black-bellied Plover and a Yellowlegs that most likely would be referred today as Verity Family decoys, or they would be assigned to another unverified and undocumented Verity name.  The text for plate 86 reads, "A Black-bellied plover rises over three yellowlegs.  They are proof that the classic "Osborn" style influenced other Long Island carvers.  Paint patterns and carvings follow the basic tradition.This group comes from the western end of Long Island".

On page 101 we find Mackey as usual making undocumented pronouncements:

"The group in plate 85 are in the style of H.F.Osborn pioneer Bellport gunner and decoy maker.  The attractive and practical patterns found many imitators,and decoys with minor variations in the carving and plumage patterns have turned up all along the South Shore."

"Since they constitute such an important and desirable group, others of the Long Island School types are shown in plate 86.  Known makers of bird decoys similar to those shown include Nelson Verity (1861-1954) of Seaford, Obadiah Verity(ca 1870-1940) of Massapequa, Frank Kellum (1865-1935) Babylon, T.Carman (1860-?) of Amityville, Al Ketchum of Copiague, John Lee Baldwin of Babylon and many others in the area around Amityville."

Mackey presents no documentation for the above "names" for what he calls "Long Island School".  So what Mackey seems to be claiming is that there is a Long Island School of shorebird decoys which are all patterned on decoys "attributed"to H.F.Osborn" from Bellport.  Mackey places the origin of these decoys in Suffolk County not Nassau County.

Mackey also does not shows any photos of the decoys he says were made by the "Long Island School" decoy carvers.  In Plate 86, we see decoys that Mackey called Osborn types, but they are not attributed to a particular person.  Mackey also wrote, "William Southard of Bellmore, working early in the present century made one large rig marked JB.  They are of the best quality."  So according to Mackey, the way to identified William Southard decoys is that they are all marked with "JB".  This would mean that the decoys called Southard's today should all be marked "JB", or the decoys on the market today called Southard's aren't the snipe stool Mackey was writing of.

The names Obadiah Verity and William Southard would be taken taken from Mackey's list of names and be used by George Combs Sr. and Jr., and Bud Ward to establish Verity and Southard as decoy makers, which eventually will became part of the fabricated fable of the Andrew Verity "tape recording", on which  Andrew Verity purportedly identified Obadiah Verity" and "Will Southard" as the makers of the heretofore Osborn and Osborn type decoys (see the Museums at Stony Brook's catalog/book Gunners Paradise for the undocumented story by George Combs Sr., page 25).


                                      The Art Of The Decoy by Adele Ernest, 1965

 Plate 22 -"sandpiper" description sandpiper Long Island New York c.1880 "Henry F. Osborn" style (.c1880).   In 1880 he had been dead for seven years.

 Plate 28. "sandpiper"- Sandpiper Long Isand" no attribution as to maker.

 Plate 32. "Black -Breasted  Plover Feeding" no attribution as to maker.

All of the above decoys would be listed today as "Obadiah Verity decoys".

                           Decoy Collectors Guide, Hal Sorenson  August -September, 1965

Page 25 photos "Some Long Island Yellowlegs" Collection of Harold B. Evans Jr."  The Yellowlegs at the top of the page: "Greater(or winter) Yellowlegs by George B. Robert Mastic, L.I. about 1880 Carved wings."

 I am not sure if he is referring to George W. Robert from Mastic who was born in 1880, but none of the Robert family made the decoy.  This decoy today would be considered a classic "William Southard" by collectors.  This decoy is also said to have come from Mastic which is somewhat farther east than Bellport in Suffolk County, and once again, not placed in Nassau County.

                                 1971 Milton (Milt) C. Weiler portfolio Shorebird Decoys, text by William                                            J.Mackey Jr.

Plate 19: Whimbrel and a cork Sanderling is listed as by H.F.Osborn.
Plate 20: Yellow legs and Surf snipe by The Seaford Carvers.
Plate:23: Black-bellied Plover By the Verity's.
   
All of the above decoys would be called Obadiah Verity or Verity family decoys today, except for the Yellowlegs in plate 20, which would be called a William Southard

                                                               1972- July 2nd
                                                        William J. Mackey Jr. Dies
                                              The King is dead long live the Princes.
                                Mackey was definitely the King of decoy accumulation.
                               
                                       Decoy Magazine September/October 1991

In an article written by early decoy collector William H.Purnell Jr., he writes that when he first met Bill Mackey.  Mackey had invited to him, "to come see his collection as he had over 7,000 decoys." No collector/dealer would be the King of decoy collectors after Mackey. The void would be filled by many princes.  These collectors/dealers were always searching for new discoveries in boat houses and garages, barns and basements, but they also began acquiring decoys from Mackey's estate, starting with the famous Richard A. Bourne Auctions of Hyannis, Massachusetts.  The now famous decoys from these auctions, the great and common, have circulated throughout the decoy collecting world over the last 45 years.  Some of the decoys from these auctions which had sold for moderate prices then as H.F. Osborn's and Osborn types, today command prestigious sums of money as Verity's and Southard's.

Some early collectors on Long Island were Doug Rogers, Bud Ward, George Combs Sr. and Jr., Bill Joeckel, Ronnie McGrath, Malcolm Fleming two different Frank Murphy's, Harvey Richardson, Ruth and Ed Call, Dick Cowan, Dick Healy, Gil Herzy and many others.  They met informally at each other's houses and traded decoys and sold decoys.  Ruth and Ed began to informally get together where they mostly traded decoys in the beginning.  That changed with the Mackey auctions.  Now money became the driving force in decoy collecting.

Bud Ward would become the most influential of the Long Island collector/dealers from Long Island, and he really loved the shorebird decoys called H.F. Osborn.  In 1972, these decoys were not high end decoys.  Bud Ward changed all that when he began touting how great the decoys were he now called William Southard and Obadiah Verity.  Bud especially liked the ones he called Obadiah Verity's.  His influence on the direction the value of theses decoy was so great that in 2000, Sotheby's /Guyette & Schmidt from the Dr James McCleery auction, a feeding decoy listed as by Obadiah Verity. was the 10th highest priced decoys sold at auction in the year 2000, selling for $156,000.
     

 1973-1974: The Richard Bourne Auction Company sells some of the William J. Mackey Jr.'s Collection; The famous Mackey Auctions.  These auctions will be a pivotal moment in decoy collecting.  Most of the early collectors were at the auctions, including Dr James McCleery who         purchased the Charles Bunn Curlew for $10,500.00, which set the auction record price for a decoy at time.  This hollow Curlew was said to have been the center piece of Mackey's collection.

     In the Mackey auctions the decoys that are today referred to as made by Verity and Southard are still listed as made by H.F.Osborn or Osborn types.

                                     1973- American Decoys by Quintana Colio
    Quintana Colio was Mackey's photographer, traveling and collecting companion.
  On page 73, we find a feeding plover and a feeding knot both listed as by "H.F. Osborn, Bellport".
                                    Today they would be by Obadiah  Verity.

                      1974 -Decoys of the Atlantic Flyway by Gorge Ross Starr Jr. M.D.
           On page 75, Black-breasted plover made in 1830 by Henry F. Osborn of Bellport, L.I."
    This decoy would be identified today as made by Obadiah Verity or a Verity family member.
      It is a repaint that would be today be attributed to Wilbur A. Corwin, Bellport, L.I.

                                        1975-1979: The Period of Transformation
                           
During this period the undocumented H.F.Osborn and Osborn style/type shorebird decoys will become the undocumented Obadiah Verity and Will Southard shorebird decoys.  What was reason for the decoys  to change from Osborn and Osborn types decoys to Obadiah Verity and William Southard?  The transformation came mainly from the campaigning efforts of three well-known Long Island decoy collectors/dealers, Bud Ward, George"Pop"Combs Sr. and George Combs Jr.  The Combs' were also carvers.

There was no strong following for the Osborn attribution.  It was Mackey who had attributed them to "H.F. Osborn"and "Osborn types". Collectors had just unquestioningly gone along with what Mackey said and Ernest who was influenced by Mackey, had written in their books in 1965.  This name change produced no backlash from the decoy collecting world.  A little confusion about who made them, but no great outcry.  Once Bud and the Combs duo had gotten the auction house to start identifying the decoys as Verity's and Southards, they were on their well way establishing the new names.  Collectors and institutions started to get on board the Verity& Southard train.

Collectors are always a revolving and evolving group of people, older collectors being replaced by new collectors, evolving into self-declared decoy experts.  Historical decoy knowledge is disseminated by the unknowledgeable to the unknowledgeable.

Many of the collectors /dealers in the decoy market in the 1970's were people who had known Bill Mackey and had dealings with him.  The early collectors had relationships with each other as it was a very small world and out of it came people who were supposed to be the experts of their areas.  Documentation or research was non-existent or minimal at best.  Collectors would rely on the words of the "experts"as proof as to who the makers were.

Bud Ward and the Combs's decided for whatever reason that H.F. Osborn wasn't the maker and that the shorebird stool were not made in Suffolk County, but instead in Nassau County.  Nassau County just happened to be the county that Bud Ward and the Combs' all lived in.

Of the three, Bud had the most influence in the decoy world.  He became an adviser, confident buyer and consignor to the the auction houses.  He was also an adviser to major collectors.  Bud had the knack to find the right bird for the right buyer.  A lot of his success was due to the fact Bud was fun to be around.  He was very entertaining.   He told great stories.  He was very opinionated and could be combative.  He knew where most of the bones were buried the fakes, re-heads or repaints.  But he was also a gunner, fisherman and a bayman, who always seemed to have the a stub of a cigar clinched between his teeth.  He made his early living from his fish store, and later by selling decoys, but the one thing above everything else; he was highly trusted.  People always brought him birds to get his opinion on their value or condition or maker.  He placed many great birds into major collections. Bud developed clientele that would pay top dollar for great birds.  More than once a decoys he had sold would come to auction. He would buy it back many times at a bargain price and flip it at some point in the future for a profit.  One of Buds best know clients was Dr. James McCleery, but Bud had buyers in all strata of decoy collecting.

Bud didn't think all that much of cork stool, but he knew that Dick Cowan sure did, and when he found great cork birds he contacted Dick and hammered him on the price.  He got good money from collectors that no one else would have attempted.  He knew his clients and told them what they needed to have in their collections.  When Bud dangled great cork stool under Dick's nose, he was a goner.  Bud knew Dick was the only guy who would pay what Bud was asking for cork stool and Dick usually ran a tab with him.  I did the same when I got my hands on great cork birds. Dick Cowan was the first person I called.  I too love cork birds but as Bud would say, "When you're a dealer, everything's for sale".  In my opinion, cork stool are some of the best decoys ever produced on Long Island and they are really undervalued.  The snobbery of the cork is inferior to wood decoys started long ago.

By the mid 1970's Bud and the Combs' (but especially Bud) had begun to exert considerable influence on the decoy market and the auction houses.  They became some of the Long Island decoy experts, but it was Bud Ward who became "The" expert on L.I. gunning stool.  It was thought by most that his word was as good as gold when it came to decoys, especially L.I.decoys.  That is what had made it so easy for Bud to make the claim for Verity& Southard.

The last time I can remember Bud exerting his influence was in 1996.  Bud was suffering from terminal cancer and was in the end stage, yet there he was at Richard Oliver's October auction in Delmarva, Maryland, and still buying!  Bud and I were looking over the shorebird decoys that would be coming up that day. Bud pointed out lot 588, cataloged as: "A Fine Obadiah Verity School Peep in Original Paint and Condition."  Bud said that's a Combs.(George Combs Sr.).  He went right to Richard Oliver and told him who had made lot 588 and it was pulled instantly from the auction.  I wonder what collector owns that bird today?

    1975:  In the Spring North American Decoys magazine is found a memorial to Milt Weiler who had passed away in the fall of 1974.  A reproduction of a painting by Weiler is used in the memorial.  It is of a Stevens Brothers Whistler and a "Nelson Verity " peep, with the caption, "Capt. Nelson Verity Surf Snipe Seaford, Long Island."  This decoy today would listed and sold as an Obadiah Verity.

                                                     1976: The Bird Decoy: An American Art Form
                                                    Edited by Paul A. Johnsgard
                                                   

Obadiah is almost there.

In this book's shorebird section we find four decoys listed as" Obadiah Verity" all from the Bud Ward collection.  On Page 28, we find a Black-bellied plover attributed to Obadiah Verity (1860-1910); reference lists Mackey's book 1965, from the Bud Ward collection.  Mackey lists Obadiah Verity as living (1870-1940) Bud dates are (1860 -1910).  There were many Obadiah Verity's from the Seaford area and for years after the the Combs' and Ward claim for Verity and Southard, it would be debated which of the many Obadiah Verity's it was who had made the decoys, which is incredible because there is no documentation ever presented for any of the Obadiah Verity's as the maker.

Page 15,  we find two B.B. Plovers.  One bird is from the Herrick rig, both birds said to be Obadiah Verity's work from the Bud Ward collection.

Page 162, Yellowlegs by William Southard c.1880, Bud Ward Collection.

Page 172, (Peep) by Obadiah Verity (1860-1910), Bud Ward Collection.

This book firmly plants the Obadiah Verity and Southard flags for the decoy collectors and auction houses and writers.  From then until the present, these decoys, for the most part, wold be listed and cataloged as Verity's and Southard's, but the H.F.Osborn attribution would still pop up occasionally.

   1977: Part 1 North American Decoys magazine, page 13, there are three Black bellied plovers from the Herrick family listed as by Obadiah Verity.  Newbold L.Herrick had said they were made by Ben Verity from the Gilgo Inlet Life Saving Station only nine years before, which can be found in the 1966 Mackey appraisal for the donation to the Museums at Stony Brook.

  1979: Winter North American Decoys magazine, Page 32, photo of a Yellowlegs which would today be called a Southard, is still listed as a "H.F.Osborn Bellport, Long Island, c.1846".

 1979:  The fictional story of George Combs Sr. visit with Andrew Verity in a nursing home where he claimed Andrew had identified the decoys as being made by Obadiah Verity and Will Southard.  This added to the Verity/Southard myth (see Gunners Paradise, page 25, in a section called "A Trio of Greats" William Bowman,Thomas Gelston and Obadiah Verity.

The Combs story is obviously a fabrication, but it would cement the two attributions of Verity and Southard as the makers. These attributions have lasted up until today, even though there never has been any documented evidence for Verity and Southard.

Why did Bud decide the decoy were Verity's and Southhard's?  Perhaps he really believed they were the makers, but he knew he had no documentation.  The reason may be simply that Bud and the Combs' decided they could take some low-end decoys and turn them into more expensive decoys.

The couple of times when I asked Bud about the Pop Combs visit to see Andrew and the alleged tape recording George Combs Sr. claimed to have made of the event,  Bud would make a face and grunt.  I had the feeling that George Combs Sr. came up with the story and Bud didn't challenge it because it helped him in his goal of establishing Verity and Southard as the makers.

I and others repeatedly ask George Combs Jr. to hear the tape recording that he claimed to have of his father's conversation with Andrew.  Even the the museum's history researcher at Stony Brook Museums was not allowed to hear it.  He would not let anyone hear it always saying he couldn't let anyone hear it because he was going to use it in a future book that he never wrote.  This excuse was of course ridiculous.  You should want everyone to hear poor old Andrew "Grubie" Verity nearly on his death bed call out, "Diah".

For me, when looking at the decoys called Obadiah Verity and William Southard, in my opinion, the decoys were made by the same person or persons who worked very close together.

A Tern decoy pictured on page 58, plate 38 in Mackey's book is assigned it to Nelson Verity.  This decoy at the time did not fit the profile of what had been called Osborn and Osborn type decoys.  This Tern and its rig-mates later became Obadiah Verity Terns, and again with out any documentation being presented.

The decoys called Verity's and Southard's have been found all over Long Island, and even in other states, so there is no reason to tie the decoys to Nassau County.  All roads once again lead to the Herrick's and their shorebird donation to the Museums at Stony Brook.
                                                         

April 18, 1959:

    When Newbold L.Herrick donates shorebird decoys to the Museums at Stony Brook, he lists the decoys known today as Obadiah Verity's as made by Capt. Ben Verity, Life Saving Station, Gilgo Inlet (Nassau County).

 The decoys that are known today as Will Southard's, N.L.Herrick said were made by Capt. Dan Havens, Moriches, L.I. (Suffolk County).

                                                          September 20, 1966:
         The Mackey Appraisal of the donation of thirty three shorebird decoys to the Museums at Stony Brook, he lists decoys by Nelson Verity (Tern ), Dan Havens, and Ben Verity.  No Obadiah Verity is mentioned.

                                                       Decoy Magazine, Fall, 1982
         On the cover of the fledgling Decoy Magazine which was then a quarterly and had begun  printing only two years before in 1980, shows the contemporary made sign that reads "O.Verity Decoy Maker".  There are shorebirds placed around the sign in the sand that Bud Ward  claimed were made by Obadiah Verity.  In the "Contents"section on page 3, it says that all the, "Obadiah Verity shorebirds" on the cover are from the Bud Ward collection.
     
On pages 18-19 of the issue is a short non informative "article" titled, "Obadiah Verity Classic Long Island decoy maker".  This is mostly a pictorial piece and has very little text; "Obadiah Verity (1870-1940), Massapequa", not Seaford, and there is no documentation presented for an Obadiah Verity as a decoy  maker. The Photographs consist of two famous duck stool pairs. A pair of Broadbill and a pair of Mergansers, and a feeding B.B.Plover; all are from the Bud Ward Collection.

Typically with decoy fabrications we find statements like this, "Very Little is known about Verity;"
This statement is interesting in the fact that Bud Ward stated that  Obadiah is said to have died in 1940.  Why would there be a mystery about a guy who died in 1940 on Long Island!  What he should have said was that nothing is known about any Obadiah Verity making decoys.

The article says that, "Although Verity's decoys are often underrated", which translates to undervalued, (but Bud was changing that.  The birds in the article had been exhibited at The Mid-Atlantic Wildfowl Festival held in Virginia Beach.  Bud was spreading the Verity gospel everywhere he went.

The article also quotes Bud's good friend George H. Purnell Jr. who was also pushing the Verity agenda.  He says, "Verity decoys are in the same class with Crowell, Cobb,,Bowman and Shourds."  The Verity myth would continue to be accepted as fact and the decoys called Verity's would continue to increase in value.

                                 Bringing the decoys back home to Suffolk County

Were the Decoys that been called Osborn's and then Verity's really made in Suffolk County as first asserted and not in Nassau County as later claimed?  There is a circumstantial possibility that this is the case.  There is no evidence or documentation for any of the Verity's or Southard from Seaford, Massapequa or Baldwin as makers of the decoys that are attributed to them today.

The donated Herrick decoys came with two L.L.Bean baskets.  When interviewing Orson D. Munn Jr., he had told me of the two L.L.Bean baskets filled with snipe stool that had once been in the basement of his house on Gin Lane, known as "The Arches".  Orson said at some unknown time, someone had stolen the two baskets of shorebird stool, and that is why he only had the two Bunn snipe left that he consigned to Julia & Guyette in the September 1986 auction, as they had been sitting on a mantel upstairs, and not in the basket in the basement.  That Julia &Guyett auction had listed the two decoys as by "William Bowman" over the objections of Orson who had told them they were made by Charles Bunn when he consigned them.  After he received his catalog with the shorebirds listed as by Bowman, he once again told the auction house they were by Bunn, saying he had no idea who this Bill Bowman was.

In July 2006, Joe Jannsen, Orson Munn, Donal C. O'Brien and I visited the Long Island Museums at Stony Brook to meet with curator Joshua Ruff.  The reason for the visit was to have Orson compare the Herrick donated decoys to the stool from his basement.  Orson looked at the decoys from the Herrick donation and proclaimed them to be identical to his fathers missing snipe stool, and not just the "Bowman's".  Joshua was told by Orson that the decoys he was calling Bowman were really made by Charles Bunn (see Decoy Magazine November/December 2015, page 18, "The Final Chapter on Charles Bunn").

As I have written in the past, when I broached the subject with Orson that maybe one of the Herrick's had taken the two baskets of snipe stool, he bristled and was actually offended that I would suggest the Herrick's would steal the decoys from the basement.  I never actually said that the Herrick's stole them.  I was merely speculating on a possibility.  I then went on to say maybe his father had given the decoys to the Herrick's without his knowing it.  Orson wasn't happy with that suggestion either, so I dropped the subject.  I had a feeling Orson had a suspect in mind as the thief,  and it most likely wasn't a peer.

Orson Munn Sr. was an extremely close friend of  Newbold L.Herrick who donated the two L.L.Bean baskets of snipe stool to the Museums at Stony Brook that are judged by Orson to be identical to the missing Munn decoys and baskets.  I believe there is more than a good chance that the two baskets of snipe stool donated by Newbold L.Herrick are the very same missing Munn snipe stool and the two L.L. Bean baskets from Orson's basement, which would put the decoys' origins in Southampton, Suffolk County, and not Nassau County as claimed by Bud Ward and the Combs'.

There was never any documentation for any of the many Obadiah's or for Will Southard as decoy carvers, and there is no documentation that I have found for H.F. Osborn as the maker.  My theory is that these decoys called Verity's and Southard came from Southampton and are part of the Shinnecock School of decoy making, and not the "Long Island School" that Mackey had claimed, later referred to as the"Seaford School".  Bunn was a decoy maker for many years. I have proven that the misattributed "Bowman" shorebird decoys that Bunn made could not have been made until after 1910.  So what was Bunn making prior to 1910? We also have Mrs. Martinez saying of her great grandfather father James Bunn (1810-1895), that he had taught Charles Bunn "all his hunting skills" which I assume would have included the making of decoys.  I feel that there is a good possibility that the "Verity-Southard" decoys are really Charles Bunn or Bunn family decoys.

 

                                         Some dates used over the years for Obadiah Verity
                                                            Mackey (1965): (1870-1940)
                                              Richard Baldwin (1970's): (1830-1901)
              The Bird Decoy, Bud Ward Collection (1976): (1860-1910)
                                 Museums at Stony Brook (1979): (1830-1901)
             Decoy Magazine, Bud Ward collection (1982):(1870-1940)
             
Which proves there is no evidence for any Obadiah as the maker of the decoys.  At the very least you would need a consistent birth and death date, not to mention there is no documentation for any of the Obadiah Verity's as a decoy maker.