Photo # 28 First Cousins

Photo# 28: First Cousins

This very cute photo is of me enjoying a popsicle with my big girl first cousin, Kathy. She and her brother, John are my only first cousins. They still live in the Connecticut/Westerly area and I have not seen them since my father passed away in 1998.

I carried this photo in my wallet for a long time. I really like photos of kids in their play clothes. This was taken on a Memorial Day in Bradford, Rhode Island on Bowling Lane. This story of mine for the challenge should end they way it began with my father's family. Immigrant families can be so much more fun to research but I must admit, I have spent a lot of money doing so. I hope my ancestors are happy with this.

I have found so many things that need clarification in my charts and so many missing dates by working with the information I have gathered for this challenge. I have a huge list to work with. The photos are all in archival envelopes. All are scanned to jpg and many to tiff. All are backed up. I have accomplished much but have so much yet to do.

But, for now, I must get one of my writing projects started again plus get back to writing about gravestones and project based genealogy.  Thanks for riding along with me on this adventure!   Thanks to all those who helped me with my research.

I have learned that many people find commenting on blogs clumsy and "too public" so if you'd like to ask questions or make a comment on this project, please feel free to email me at:  midgef@midgefrazel.net

Word count: 278

Photo # 27: Triumph

James Albert Barber, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo #27 Triumph

The Life of a Civil War Hero

James Albert Barber (1841-1925) was researched for a book, The Boys of Adams' Battery G, by my young friend Robert Grandchamp. He researched tirelessly to include every piece of information we could find. I already had his huge pension file and some family information but the best information came from the elderly granddaughter of James from the branch of the family that moved to, Idaho and Utah. She owned the copy of his photo taken in the Schofield Bros. Studio in Westerly. It is the same photo setting as my other 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Schofield. Isn't that amazing?

Known as Capt. Jim to his friends, James was fond of the sea. His father, a Westerly farmer had two wives and many children. The second wife who raised James, is a distant cousin of mine in another line. James married Hannah Josephine Tourgee (of the French Huguenot family of Piere/Peter Tourgee) and she bore him seven sons. My great grandfather, James Frederick (J. Fred) was his oldest son. My grandmother Josephine was named for this grandmother. Hannah Josephine Tourgee was named for her grandmother, Hannah Gould. All my family stories about this I have been able to confirm. [Display Board]

Sadly, the wife of James Albert Barber, is buried in an unmarked grave paid for her by her father and is buried nearby to him and not her husband. My grandmother did not like this Civil War hero much as he cried each time her saw her because she looks like "my dead wife". My grandmother said she died in childbirth and the stillborn baby is buried with her. The cemetery didn't know any of this. I copied the photo you see here to be put up in the cemetery office. They allowed me to photograph plot cards and ledger pages. I am forever thankful. It is a beautiful cemetery.

According to his obituary, which a family member confirmed, James did not live with any of his sons, preferring to live with family that lived within walking distance of the ocean. I think the draw of the ocean was too much a part of his life when he returned home from the war. He lived on his sloop, the Triumph, and was the Captain of the Watch Hill lifesaving station. He harvested seaweed to make money, which doesn't sound like fun to me. His hands were arthritic and he had to fight for his extra pension for the Medal of Honor ($10/month). That hardly seems fair. Knowing about him gave me a new perspective of the Civil War.

Word count 497

Photo #26 Charles and Mattie

img045, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 26 Charles and Mattie

When I was a little girl, these two photos were encased in a hinged metal box that had a clasp to hold it shut. I have no idea why my mother removed them. But, when she did she discovered that they couldn't be seen until she put white paper on the back. She put them in an envelope after writing Grandmother and Grandfather Evans on the back. She was lucky that it didn't destroy the image, which I think is a tintype.

Mom told me that Grandmother Evans was a step-mother to her grandmother Ada Evans, wife of Charles Stewart and that Grandfather Evans' first wife died.

Charles Turner Evans was a printer or publisher his whole life. He was a Civil War veteran and served for Massachusetts. [Company H, 27th Infantry Regiment Massachusetts] His first wife's first name was Ann Janet (or Angionette/Janette) Chesebrough, a descendant of William Chesebrough. She died of consumption leaving her one year old daughter behind. Ann Janet was part of a different branch of the Cheseborough family from my Stonington family. Her ancestors should be called the New York branch of the tree.

Charles's parents are listed in the Aylesworth genealogy. His mother's line of Aylesworth family were Quakers. The only proof I have other than that compiled genealogy is having them listed on their son's death record. Sylvester/Silvester Evans was born about 1808 in Adams, Massachusetts, son of John but may have lived in New York. Both parents died quite young and before the Civil War. Ada Ann Aylesworth, wife of Sylvester Evans had two more husbands and died at the home of her son in Adrian, Michigan (a known Friends community) Charles was living with them, his uncle, in 1860 before his first marriage. In 1870, I find him living as a boarder in Adams, MA but his baby daughter is not living with him! By 1880, he is married again to Mattie.

Mattie's name was Martha Davis. She is misidentified in the Chesebrough genealogy. Her father was Larson Davis and her mother was Sabrina Haley. Mattie was born in Williamstown in the Berkshires of Massachusetts but her parents were from Pownal, VT. She continued to live in North Adams after her husband died of hepatitis. Her parents names are on her death record as well as the location of her burial.

Wayne Howland, a Find a Grave volunteer located the gravestone and photographed it for me. It is granite, doesn't have the family surname on the reverse side and looks like it was placed there after all their deaths. I suspect my great grandfather, Charles Stewart arranged this. Charles and Mattie didn't have children together.

In my Stewart family Bible is one last piece of information. I call it the unsolved mystery. It is a newspaper article about the surname Evans. I have researched some of it and can make no connection to this Evans family. I think this means that Ada didn't know much about her family. Does this mean that I will never find out?

Word count: 508

 

Photo # 25: Hope Chest

Hope Chest, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 25 The Hope Chest

My grandmother painted the design on my mother's hope chest and I had trouble deciding whether I wanted to keep this piece of furniture or not.

The reason wasn't one of being sentimental; it was because the chest itself is  too old. The top opens to a deep space and the lid falls on my head. Both drawers are hard to open and close. The black paint behind the design is showing the bangs and scratches of being moved. I guess I just find old furniture frustrating. But, in the end I kept the chest.

Grandma Jo painted this chest in 1946 before my mother married. She did her work in the garage and kept her painting materials in her studio above the garage. That's all I know. I was not old enough while she lived there to go upstairs over the garage. 

Then, suddenly, my grandmother sold the house and moved to an apartment. The hope chest had moved to my parent's house sometime in 1947 or 1948 after I was born. Then, when I sold my parent's house, I moved it to my home in Bridgewater (in 2002). I aired it out because it smelled like moth balls.

It sat in my basement office until we moved here to our condo. I decided I wanted to use it in my dining area. It fits in the space. We took off the hinge for the lock because it almost killed me falling on my head.

I took a permanent magic marker to the worst of the black paint. It works quite well. I still have sections to do as yet. I printed this photo of my grandmother with the chest and hung it in a small frame nearby. My daughter will not want this chest or the small bureau that I also moved that is in our basement. She has no sentimental feelings for furniture. It is OK. My grandmother would have told me to throw it out.

My friends that are creative have remarked at how much they like it. I use the chest now most everyday and remember that is supposed to be filled with hope.

Word count: 363

 

Photo # 24 Dorothy and Umbrella

Dorothy and Umbrella, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 24 Dorothy and Umbrella 

This little girl with her umbrella makes me smile each time I look at it. It is a reminder to me that I should try to remember when my mother could smile and be happy.

The last year of my mother's life was as confusing as her own mind. No one knew what to do. I knew she was having trouble when she took the photos off their places in the living room and put them in my (now desceased) Dad's chair. She told a neighbor that she wasn't lonely since the "girls" were there to visit and watch TV with her. The "girls" were the photos not real people.

Her mind was fading. Things I passed off as "just my mother being weird" could no longer be ignored.

I removed this little photo from the photo album that was black paper inside (You know the kind with the pasted on photo corners?) and smuggled it into the new photo box that I bought for she and I to work on together.

In retrospect, I wish I'd just been brave enough to remove the whole album from her house for safekeeping. You see she threw it out along with my baby book, her baby book and my grandmother's baby book. She was angry with me. I wasn't moving "home" to take care of her as she planned. She took in her mother and I was supposed to do the same. I wasn't following the rules. She lived in the past.

That spring she got pneumonia and began to hallucinate. They admitted her to the hospital. She only lasted two months in the rehab center. She wasn't going "home" anyway. I let her go.

I try to remember her smiling by looking at this photo.

Word count 289

 

Photo # 23: Brother

Josephine, Dorothy and Evans, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 23 Brother

My mother, in her lifetime, would never have let me hang this photo up in my house as I have done now! Every time she looked at it she remarked on how stupid the bow was that my grandmother put in her hair. I don't like it either, but I think this photo is the most stunning of my collection. It is quite large and I have two copies of it so perhaps my grandfather hung one in his office.

My uncle, Evans Stewart, Jr. is the little boy. Everyone in my family thinks that I resemble him. I have noticed that I do the thing he is doing with his fingers and that he is pulling in his lower lip. like I do. The portrait, by Backrach Photographers is dated 1920 and it is hard to believe that was 93 years ago. 

My grandmother is twenty-seven, my mother is four and my uncle is three. I love the way my mother has on little pantaloons under her dress and the way she put her arm around her mother neck. I wonder how they got them to hold still long enough.

In 1920, my grandparents and my mother and her brother live at 112 Wentworth Ave. in Cranston, RI in a rented house. My mother remembered it well and told me that they day they moved away, my uncle wet his pants while waiting with her on the sidewalk. Family stories are so funny. She always called him "Brother".

Family Tree Magazine made a calendar to sell and allowed readers to submit a photo for publication. This one was the one they chose from my collection and I was quite excited. I have placed that card in with the photo.

Word count 290

 

Photo # 22 Gloria Josephine BLIVEN

Gloria Josephine BLIVEN, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 22 Little Gloria

Little Gloria looks to be about 3 years old in this posed portrait. This is the only photo I have of my second cousin who died of pneumonia at the age of 10. My mother was her "big" cousin and she told me that Gloria was very smart for a little girl.

Gloria's middle name was Josephine and she was named for my grandmother, her mother's big sister. My great aunt, Dorothy had an unhappy marriage with her husband Harry M. Bliven and  they divorced before Gloria passed away.

Harry was a automobile parts salesman and Dorothy did the books for her father, J. Fred's business. The 1930 census states she was 27 at marriage and is still married but he's not listed in the household. I tracked him down and he is living with another, much younger woman (it says married) and their 7 month old son. I suspect that the 1930 census for my great aunt should have listed her as divorced. In the 1940 census, she is listed as divorced. I have one city directory listing where they are living together with her parents.

Harry liked to drive fast cars and my mother always sneered when his name was mentioned. There was a photo of him but my mother must have thrown it out. She was fond of doing that to photos she didn't like.

I love Gloria's little chubby woolen stockings and her intense stare. Her father must have had dark hair like hers. I had a lead on him at one point and never heard from the genealogist who told me that she did some research for the Bliven family. 

Word count: 275

 

Photo #21 Little Henry T. STEWART

Little Henry T. STEWART, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

 Photo # 21 Little Henry

Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, CT overlooks the water and you can see the Mystic Seaport from the section of the cemetery. Called a "garden cemetery', it is filled with flowering trees and bushes, and the gravestones are arranged in areas that have streets (with names) that you can drive around on. 

In the cemetery office, there is a large framed map on the wall that the architect designed. I have a small version of the map they gave me so that we wouldn't get lost. The gravestone plots are numbered but it is too hard to read them. The design of the cemetery is in the shape of an elm tree.

My Stewart-Denison grandparent's chose to be buried there instead of in the Stewart Family Cemetery in North Stonington probably because Eliza Fish Denison, wife of Dudley Wheeler Stewart, wanted to be buried with HER family.  But, before it came time for them to be buried, their little son, Henry died.

We used to plan geraniums on the graves on Memorial Day, and the adults planted one in front of Little Henry's headstone. "Poor Little Henry", they murmured. I really couldn't imagine a little baby buried there. In the family Bible, it simply says, "Little Henry at rest" and the date.

Henry Trueman Stewart, second son of Dudley Wheeler Stewart and Eliza Fish Dension was born on the 16th of September in 1863 in Stonington, CT. His big brother, my great grandfather, Charles, was four. After little Henry dies, my 2nd great grandparents have another child, a daughter in 1866.

On the back of this photo is a tax stamp which dates this photo by the photographer as 6 July 1864 and it says, in his mother's handwriting, 10 and 1/2 months. Little Henry died on  the 10th of December in 1864 in Norwich, CT. I do know that there is a hospital in Norwich so he may have died there. He was 1 year, 2 months and 24 days old.

I have a single earring in the shape of an acorn with what might be little Henry's hair in it. My mother lost one of the earrings and she told me she was heartbroken. Little Henry lives on in our memory because of this precious photo.

Word count 378

Photo #20 Young Josephine

H. Josephine Barber, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 20 Young Josephine

My grandmother's first name was Hannah. She hated it and made me promise not to name any children or grandchildren after her. Everyone called her Jo or Josephine.

This photograph taken in 1912 is one of my favorites. There are so many photos of her! I don't think she enjoyed having her photo taken. In 1912, she graduated from high school. 

By 1914, she and my grandfather were married. He was older and had an established business. Her brother, Harold married about the same time and that left her sister home with the parents.

In 1926, there is this photo of her in what I can only describe as a "flapper" dress. This photo was never displayed in her house or my mother's because I don't think anyone liked it. Watching the program "Downton Abbey" made me go look for this photo because it is my grandmother's generation in that time period.

My grandmother was a joiner of clubs. She was a gifted artist and could play the piano by ear. She could paint designs on furniture and metal trays. You can't imagine how much of this"stuff" I inherited and had to give away or sell with the contents of my parent's house.

Josephine belonged to The Handicraft Club and the Providence Plantations Club. Most of my grandmother's friends were older than she. 

My mother kept mentioning this over and over and really didn't grasp the concept that those women were not her friends too. I have met mothers whose daughters wanted to be their mother's best friend. My mother gave birth to me hoping I would share what she liked. I really don't think she gave any thought to what I might like to be.

Word count 287

Photo #19 Mother and Child

Josephine and Dorothy, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 19: Mother and Child

On this day, probably in late 1916, my grandmother and mother posed for this portrait. There is another pose with my grandmotherlooking at her baby. I just realized that my grandmother must have been pregnant in this photo as her second child, my uncle was born in June of 1917 in Providence. I can't read the photographer's fancy scrawl for his name but he did do a good job of hiding her "baby bump".

My mother told me that her father loved sending my grandmother to have her photo taken. He thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. 

Many years later, he bought this oil painting because, my mother told me, the woman looked like my grandmother. We now know that this is a copy of a Thomas Sully (a portrait painter 1873-1872) painting of Miss Pearce, commissioned by her father Benjamin. You will see this painting in movies in formal living rooms and dining rooms on sets. We have seen it many places. It now hangs in my daughter's dining room and is a great conversation piece.

The companion photo with the side pose is very faded for it was in an oval frame in my grandmother's home. I discovered another copy of the same photo in the huge pile of photos, so I will have to scan all of them.

I just found another photo of my mother, a little older, in the same christening dress that she put me in to have a photo taken. My grandmother was an Episcopalian, so it must have been taken for infant baptism. I did not wear the dress because I was older when baptized at about 8 years old.

Word Count 283

 

Photo #18: Four Generations

Barber Family 1935, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo #18: Four Generations

Mathematical luck. That's what families who have four (or even five) generations alive at one time is. New Englanders and probably Pioneer families with good health and great genetic makeup seem to have this kind of generational anomaly. At least that's what our earliest families would have thought of us that to have photos like this one. With death from childhood diseases and women who survive childbirth a rarity in our modern life, we will tend to be able to have this interesting type of photo in our future.

This is the first four generation photo in my maternal family. Taken in April of 1935, it dawned on me this week when  I finally had a full birth date for my 2nd great grandmother (from the 1905 RI state census) that this event must have taken place to celebrate her 89th birthday.

When I had a baby, my family celebrated another photo opportunity for some of these same people to be in another photo, which we took again in April at my home with my toddler daughter. My husband also had a photo taken with his parents, my daughter and my oldest grandson before his parents passed away.

Genealogists define a generation as 25 years for men and 18 years for women but I think that with women becoming more educated and delaying childbearing to establish a career, I expect this to equalize somewhat.  My son-in-law's parents are ten years older than we are and they have children with children, and two of them are now old enough to have a four generation photo in the future. Family is everything.

 Word count 272

Photo Identification
Photo taken at Elm St. Westerly, RI
photographer was Evans Stewart, Sr. 

Back row:  Father Barber 1866-1949 (J. Frederick Barber), Evans Stewart, Jr., (1917-1951) Dorothy Barber Bliven (1895-1981), Roy Gavitt (Martha Blanchard Barber’s nephew) (1913 to unknown), Harold Barber (1890-1944)

Middle row:  Mother Barber (1867-1944) (Nellie Schofield Barber), Grandmother Schofield  (1846-1944)(Sarah Gardner Schofield), Josephine Barber Stewart (1893-1992)

Front row:       Martha Blanchard Barber (1879-1968) (Harold Barber’s wife), Dorothy Stewart Broadfoot (1916-2002) (my mother)

 

Photo # 17: Harold Barber

Harold Barber, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 17 Harold S. Barber 

Having known my maternal grandmother and her sister for many years, I always wondered about their brother, Harold. His wife Martha Blanchard, was a favorite of my mother and probably influenced my mother's choice for my name.

Harold and my grandmother played together because my grandmother was called a "tomboy". This left the little sister, Dorothy behind. Great aunt Dorothy and her brother Harold shared a different kind of bond, they spent their whole lives in the town of Westerly. For no reason that I can determine, my maternal great grandparents, and Harold and Dorothy are buried at opposite ends of the same small section (60) of River Bend Cemetery with my Scottish Broadfoot paternal grandparents. This makes it easy for me to visit their graves.

The day we buried my mother's cremains, I motioned for the cemetery superintendent to come forward from where he and the gravediggers were  respectfully standing in wait. They look surprised but complied. I guess people don't like to see their loved ones put in the ground? Before the graveside service, I noticed fresh flowers in the iron basket in front of my Barber gravestone. The cemetery superintendent told me that the flowers were frequently maintained and watered. I knew that it must be relatives of Harold's wife Martha. So, I took one of my business cards put it in a Ziploc bag and slid it down the side of the basket. Several days later, I got an email from Martha's niece, who told me her mother remembered my grandmother, my mother and me. We exchanged some information and they helped me with a four generation photo set.

When my mother and I went over the photos, she had to tell me who this was! He looks nothing like this in later years. In this photo, he looks more like my grandmother, his sister, than his parents. Harold's World War II draft card, tells me that his middle name was Schofield and since he was first born, this makes sense.

Harold worked with his father (J. Fred & Son) sharing his love of cars  by owning his own auto garage having been a chauffeur and mechanic. His last job (in 1942) was at Murphy Chevrolet at 104 West Broad St. in Westerly. He died two years later.  Harold's eyes were hazel, his hair brown and his complexion light. In 1942, he is 5 foot, nine inches and weighs 190 lbs.

Harold and Martha, married about 1915 or so, had no children. In 1930, both Martha's father Thomas Blanchard (widowed, age 87) and a nephew Roy Gavitt (age 17) live with them. Martha outlived him by many years and I am still researching her family.

Word count 449

 

Photo # 16: Elizabeth Lyon SCHOFIELD

Elizabeth SCHOFIELD Mann, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 16: Lizzie's Dress

My ancestor, Joseph Schofield's older sister, Elizabeth Lyon Scholfield, wife of Charles L. Mann lovely photo was kindly shared with me by Joe Bott of Dead Fred's Web site, is identified by her name Lizzie Mann in this photograph. Since it is the same size as her brother's photograph, and from the same collection of photos, it gave more evidence to who she was. This made her fun to research.

After studying her clothes, I have decided that this lovely dress falls in the period of 1865 to 1870 because of the collar, the wide sleeves with trim (possibly velvet), the white undersleeves. Lizzie's hair is a center part and is smoothly over her ears. I certainly wouldn't be able to analyze that if it weren't for my collections of book by Maureen Taylor. Her books on photographs and hairstyles and her book, Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album make it really fun to learn about Lizzie's clothes. One photo in the Civil War book leads me to believe the photo could have been taken a bit earlier than 1865 when Lizzie was in her early 20s.

Lizzie married Charles L. Mann in Christ Church (Episcopal) in Westerly, RI in March of 1868. Charles was a bookkeeper in his wife's step-father's grocery store and later, in 1898, he was a bank teller in the Niantic National Bank. Lizzie and Charles had a son named Arthur.

Arthur's death is recorded in the History of Montville (CT) as having drowned in the Palmer Bros. Pond (near the Palmer's Bros mill, I suppose) I located a newspaper account of the drowning in the Boston Daily Advertiser (Vol 150: Issue 133: page 5) on 3 Dec 1887, titled, "The First Skating Accident". It states, "Norwich, Conn., Dec. 2 - Arthur Mann, aged 17, broke through the ice on Hooper's Pond in Montville tonight while skating, and was drowned. Frank Holman, a 13-year old boy with him was rescued." 

  

The gravestone for Lizzie, Charles and Arthur in River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, RI, Section 3, is granite and it is hard to clearly read the numerals. If Arthur was born 18 Nov 1866 and died 2 Dec 1887, he would not have been 17, he would have been 21 years and 14 days old.  

 

But, still, he was old enough to know better to try to ice skate in early December. This means of course, that Lizzie and Charles left no one to remember them having no descendants. Thanks to Joe Bott, we had a reason to find and photograph their gravestone. We remember….

Word Count 430

Midge's Thoughts: Day 15

 Blog Post Length

 

Each day, I find myself thinking about what I am going to write for the remaining few posts I have to work on.

It isn't easy to live the "Writer's Life" when each one I write brings MORE questions that I have about what I have not yet found. 

I also keep thinking about how I am going to organize the photo with the printed blog post and family group sheet that I want to be "archived" in my family papers. Before this, I really did not have a plan about this but turning 65 this year has made me think more about this. 

I worry about being "away" from my other blog (the one about gravestones). I wanted to finish up the Victor story before moving onto another project based  adventure. I think that I will have to shorten what I was going to do with the last one and more forward more quickly. The interesting part of the Victor Story is over. Now, I must write something about what I remember. Writing these challenges posts has helped.

When I learned to blog, one thing stood out. Blog posts are supposed to be SHORT. Business and Sports blogs have shown that readers want a simpler format. Less words. More photos.

I have had this discussion with other bloggers. Blog posts can turn into family history books but you should not put everything in a blog.

I am glad you've been with me along this journey. Thanks.  

Photo # 15: Joseph A. SCHOFIELD

Joseph A. SCHOFIELD, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 15 Joseph A. Schofield

Civil War Vet, Engineer,
Tin and Sheet Iron Dealer, Bicycle Repairer

This great photo of Joseph A. Schofield was found at Joe Bott's Dead Fred Photography Web Site. I was asked to write a short article on how to use his "orphan" photo hosting service for a local genealogy newsletter so I searched the site for one of my favorite surnames, Scholfield or Schofield. You can't imagine the shock on my face when I came face to face with my second great grandfather's photograph. I sat stunned in front of the monitor for quite some time. I can't Joe Bott enough for mailing this original photo to me (and his sister Lizzie's photo too).

You wouldn't know this was him from my grandmother's description of "smart, inclined to obesity, loved rich food and had the gout". The first clue was the notes on the back of the photo who turned out to be a family member. The second clue was the setting of the photo which is the same photographer's studio and pose as one of my other ancestors. But, the biggest clue was the dark circles under his eyes. Daughters look like their fathers in my family and they are spitting images of each other. Remember Nellie's weight problem later in life?

Joe Schofield was a man of many talents and it may be why I can't get a copy of his Civil War pension record from NARA. They say it is stored elsewhere and I have to claim it in a very round about way because of The Freedom of Information Act. It may be that Joe invented something during the Civil War because he was a very talented engineer. He never retired! He is listed as a tin and sheet iron dealer and a bicycle repairer. I recently found out he was in business with his son-in-law. City directory work is amazingly rewarding.

He served in the Civil War for his home state of Connecticut in Company G, 5th Infantry Regiment Connecticut, despite the fact that he was living in Westerly, Rhode Island during the War.

He is buried with his wife, his parents and his mother's second husband. I was so excited to find the gravestone that I made a classic beginner mistake and had to go back and take a row shot and each individual stone.

It appears that Joe Schofield was the one who dropped the l from the surname. I am certain that he is a Jr. but only the cemetery records indicate that. I continue to search for information about this interesting family.

Word count 420

 

Photo # 14 Young Nellie

Head Shot Nellie Schofield, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 4 Young Nellie Schofield

My great grandmother, Nellie's photos are rapidly fading away. I gathered them together and placed them in archival bags. Previously, I scanned the one which is full front faced because it gave me a very good idea what this branch of the family looked like. My Schofield line is so interesting because they came to America and built the first woolen mill. I worked on them with a textile expert and it was great fun. My friend, Brian Zoldak, photographed the gravestones I didn't have in the cemetery in Montville, CT. I can't wait to blog about those gravestones.

Nellie doesn't look like the picture of health in these photos. Not only are they fading, I have extra copies of two of the photos and I don't really know why. One set was obviously my grandmother's copies and I think the second set may have been found when Nellie passed away. She outlived her husband by many, many years.

Because she was a Schofield (which should be spelled Scholfield), her photos were taken in three changes of clothes in the family photography studio in Westerly. Her bangs look different and I am thinking that the one that is full faced was taken after she married because it doesn't have the photographer's imprint at the bottom.

I've scanned the ones that are the least damaged. I think the bar pin that is on the one with the full body pose is the pin (the one I am touching in this photo) that my mother gave me before she died. I missed the opportunity to ask if it belonged to Nellie but I have decided to call it "Nellie's pin". My mother didn't like that they called her grandmother, Nellie, and insisted her name was Ellen. I have no birth record. The first record I found is her marriage to J. Fred Barber. The 1905 RI census gives me her date of birth.

As she aged, her medical problems worsened and by 1935 she looked older than she actually was. You will see that photo in an upcoming post. But, for now, I want you to examine her face carefully. See the dark lines under her eyes?  Allergies, I think. Those dark lines helped me be sure of her father's photograph.

Word count 379

Photo # 13: J. Fred and Nellie Barber

Nellie Schofield and James Frederick Barber, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo # 13
My Maternal Great Grandparents

The French doors open and my grandmother announces to my grandfather that J. Fred is here. I am sitting on the floor at my grandfather's feet playing with something on the floor. The man comes into the room, walks toward me and I think, "Oh, the other grandpa". The man crouches down and looks at me and I look up. He ruffles my hair. He sits down in the chair opposite my grandfather and they talk. I go back to playing.

If it wasn't for the photo of my great grandfather in my parent's wedding photos I would not have remembered this. I had to ask who the old man is. When my mother tells me that is HER grandfather, I suddenly remember that small "baby memory". My mother tells me I don't remember that correctly because I would have been under two years old. But, I do remember him. He smells like cigarette smoke. My grandmother who was in the room when my mother and I are discussing this, tells my mother that I am right. Much to her annoyance my great-grandfather chain smoked. He dies that year.

James Frederick, known as J. Fred was a man of many interests and occupations. Listed as a "servant" in the household of a retired sea captain at the age of 14, he had a life long interest in the boat building business. He was living in New Haven in 1898 and 1899 working for Thompson and Barber but I don't know what kind of business that is.

In 1900, he is listed as a "barber" which may be incorrect, as that is his surname, in 1908 he is in business with his father-in-law at his bicycle shop, in 1910-1915 he is a machinist in the auto repair and marine construction trade, but by 1920 he is the proprietor of his own auto repair garage.

My grandmother told me he loved cars and he taught her to drive when girls weren't doing that. By 1930, he is listed as a carpenter in the boat building business. He did well for having an 8th grade education, giving evidence to his leaving school at 14 to be probably apprenticed to that sea captain.

In 1890, he married Ellen, called Nellie, Schofield. This is their marriage record as listed in the RI Vital Records as follows:

BARBER James F., aged 23 years, born Westerly, now of New Haven, son. of James A. and Josephine T., and Nellie Scholfield, aged 22 years, born and of Westerly, daughter of Joseph A. and Sarah G., Jan. 20, 1890.  Marriage (Vol. Unknown Original Volume & Page : Pg. 101278) Westerly, RI [NEHGS 5 Feb 2013]

Nellie, the only child of Joseph and Sarah Schofield, had 3 children in her first ten years of marriage. She had rheumatic fever as a child and probably had diabetes, because her second child, my grandmother, weighed nearly 13 lbs at birth. As an older lady, she was obese.

Evidently she did not work after completing 2 years of high school. It is possible she worked in her father's bicycle repair shop before marriage. She and her mother died in 1944.

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