Stained Glass Window Series: Marjorie and Leon Rusho, Sr.

Marjorie Graham Dano Rusho and Leon Moreland Rusho, Sr. were married on August 11, 1930, uniting two long-established Grindstone Island families: the Danos and the Rushos.

Born in 1910 to Ambrose and Ordelia Dano on Grindstone Island, Marjorie Dano was one of twelve children and grew up on the family’s dairy farm. Throughout her life, Marjorie remained close to her siblings, especially her six sisters. Two of her brothers lived on the island for many years and raised their families nearby.

Leon Moreland Rusho, Sr. was born in 1908 on Grindstone Island. He grew up on a farm in Rusho Bay with his parents Manley A. and Alice Atherton Rusho and two sisters, Eleanor Rusho Calhoun and Carlyn (Carnie) Rusho Hammersley.

Both Marjorie and Leon attended the Lower School, were involved in the Grindstone Island Church, and were well-known in the island community. Leon could fix anything (a great skill to have on the island) and had an elaborate workshop where he kept a collection of tools and engine parts for future use. He was a great storyteller and had firsthand knowledge of family and island history. Marjorie had a remedy for any ailment and taught her children and grandchildren real life skills, including how to swim in the River.

After they married, they settled down with Leon’s parents on a Grindstone farm located in the bay at the Lower Town Landing. Leon worked with his father in the dairy industry and Marjorie was a busy homemaker, farmer, and mother. After Leon’s father died in 1937, his mother, Alice, continued to live with them, and she was instrumental in helping raise their children: Manley, Milton, Robert, Alice, and Leon, Jr. She had an influential role with her grandchildren as well.

Marjorie was busy with the farm, the home, the children, and always involved in island activities. Her son, Manley wrote about his mother, noting that she was an excellent house and business manager, “their house was always neat and clean; their clothes pressed and clean; and her baking skills were second to none.” Marjorie loved it when visitors would stop by the farm, she would welcome them with open arms and a homemade dessert. She fed everyone that came to the farm and sent her grandchildren and great-grandchildren home with her famous chocolate chip cookies in round metal tins.

Leon was a farmer and a good one, but he was much more – he was also an entrepreneur like his father. He was also skilled craftsman and machinist who could build and repair wooden boats and engines. He built the first ice boat in the area with a used airplane engine so that Bob Lashomb could deliver mail to Grindstone. His son Manley wrote this story about that boat: ttps://thousandislandslife.com/building-an-ice-boat/

In addition to farming, Leon worked as a caretaker for Robert Digel of Round Island. He built their docks, boathouse, repaired their antique boats, and remained a close associate of Mr. Digel for many years.

In 1948, Leon helped change everyday life for islanders in the Thousand Islands region by purchasing a World War II military landing barge. He used it to transport cars, cattle, building supplies, and other necessities between Clayton and Grindstone Island. The barge was the first of its kind in the region, and it later became part of island history when it was used in 1954 to lay the cables that brought electricity to Grindstone and other islands.

For many years, Leon made a regular Friday trip to Clayton, taking Grindstone residents who wanted to go into town and bringing them home later in the day. They often returned with groceries, livestock, cars, washing machines, or whatever else they had purchased. Leon’s son, Manley wrote a story about the first barge: https://thousandislandslife.com/the-grindstone-islander-the-story-of-our-first-barge/

Leon was a talented self-taught violinist, or fiddler, who learned to play as an adult. Early in their marriage, Marjorie used money she earned from selling eggs to buy him a violin. From then on, Leon rarely missed a chance to share his music, whether playing for the family after dinner or entertaining the islanders at the summer square dances held at Dodge Hall or barn dances.

Marjorie always grew a huge summer garden and meticulously worked it to have fresh vegetables all summer and can them for the winter. She was a master in the kitchen, cooking delicious meals for her growing family and welcoming anyone who walked in the door to join them at their large table. The homemade meals always included dessert, usually homemade apple or strawberry rhubarb pie. Anyone who was lucky enough to sit around the Rusho dinner table was sure to enjoy a great meal and conversation.

Marjorie served on just about every committee for the Grindstone Island Church, including the Church Council. Many of her treasured recipes are featured in the Grindstone Island Cookbook, which the church reprinted and sold a few years ago. Leon worked tirelessly to help maintain the church building by raising money and completing many of the renovations himself.

The Rushos were married just shy of 68 years when Marjorie died in 1998 at the age of 88. She had been confined to a wheelchair for the last few years of her life, but that never slowed down her baking and her active life. Leon died in 2004; they are buried together in the Clayton Cemetery.

Marjorie and Leon Rusho were my paternal grandparents. They raised four sons and a daughter and had 13 grandchildren – 11 of them Rusho girls and have numerous great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. Our summers on Grindstone Island on their farm were something out of a storybook; surrounded by a large family, great food, bathing and swimming in the River, farm animals, haying, music, lots of love and laughter. Their legacy lives on through their large family, traditions, and the memories they created for us all.

Grindstone Island Church Restoration

This story concludes the Grindstone Island Church Stained-Glass Window Series. The church continues to raise funds through its Capital Campaign to rebuild the sanctuary and ensure the restoration will serve the island community for generations to come.

The campaign is close to reaching its financial goal, but fundraising must continue to support the full scope of the reconstruction. Proposed architectural drawings have been completed, and the church is seeking an experienced builder to lead this major restoration project. An important part of the work will be protecting the eleven stained-glass windows featured in this series of articles.

The Grindstone Island Heritage Museum will feature the church in its summer exhibit. Visitors are encouraged to come to the island and learn more about the church’s history, the stained-glass windows, and the ongoing restoration effort. We greatly appreciate financial and community support. To donate: https://www.giumc.org/donate/

By Cindy Rusho Hagemann

Cindy Rusho Hagemann was born in Alexandria Bay, NY, to Manley and Mary Lou Rusho – she is the third of their four daughters. In 1969 the family moved to Sanford, FL, where she grew up, but she was lucky enough to spend her summers on Grindstone Island with her grandparents. Cindy has been married to USN Commander (Ret) Jon Hagemann for 38 years and they have four grown children and three grandchildren. They live in the mountains of Tennessee on a hobby farm with alpacas, goats, pigs, dogs, and chickens. Cindy is a marketing professional and serves on the board of the Grindstone Island Church and is a committee member of the Grindstone Island Heritage Museum.

Cindy helped her father, Manley Rusho, a long-time resident of Grindstone Island, write his many stories of growing up on Grindstone Island. We’re grateful to Cindy for encouraging her Dad to write these stories, to help him edit them, and send them to us to publish.