Rocky Water Park

Postcard of Rocky Water Park.

 Built abt 1923 by my great grandfather, Emond Lewis Sterling, located on Pineapple Ave., Eau Gallie, Florida.

Sullivan and O'Brien - I Wear The Green

Dennis Sullivan and Hannah O’Brien were from Cork, Ireland. They married in 1838 and a year later their first child was born, Catherine, called Kate was born.  It's possible they left Ireland because of the oncoming Potato Famine and sailed to St John’s New Brunswick abt. 1840. Their 2nd child, Anna arrived in 1842.  They came to America shortly thereafter.  Their 3^rd child, Mary Anna was born 10 1844 in New Bedford, Massachusetts.  She married when she was 15 years old to Calvin Horr who died serving in the Civil War. Then came John in 1847, he became a policeman in New Bedford, and he served in the Civil War.  He died of a stroke at the age of 54. And then their last child, my 2nd great grandmother, Ellen "Nellie" born in Freetown, Massachusetts in 1858.

Dennis and Hannah lived in Lakeville. I went to the Lakeville town hall and got copies of their death certificate.  Hannah died before her husband on July 31, 1897. Cause of death, old age, she was 80.  Interesting is that it also listed her parents, Timothy O'Brien and Hannah Sullivan. Dennis died two years later on March 20, 1900 in Middleboro. Cause of death, Artery's Sclerosis at age 96. His parents were not listed, but since have discovered his parents were Philip Sullivan and Jane Moore.

They practiced the Catholic religion and chose St Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery in New Bedford, Massachusetts just off route 140 for their final resting place.

A Special Necklace

This necklace is designed with three strands each braided a little different.  In the center is a seabean that was found washed up on the Florida beach that had made its' way from the Bahama's.  It was polished and attached to the strands with a decorative 18K gold clasp. 

Her hair was the color of chestnuts.  She kept it long and wore it braided and wrapped over her head. It belonged to my great grandmother, Elsie Lovina Eldrige Sterling and this necklace was made from her hair.  I called her gram and I loved her dearly.  She passed away when I was a senior in high school.

In 2022 I passed this special necklace on to my daughter, Kimberly.

Gram

Friend to King Philip

Cole's River in Swansea, MA is named after my 8th great grandfather, Hugh Cole. Hugh was a friend of King Philip. During the King Philip's War, two of his sons were captured. King Philip released his friends sons. However, the chief warned his friend that he could no longer control his warriors and told Hugh to leave his home and set sail for Rhode Island. He did as he was told and as he was sailing away watched his house burn to the ground. 

http://youtu.be/seVE1zM60m8  Link to Cole's River.

Hugh and his wife, Mary Foxwell are buried in Tyler Point Cemetery Barrington, Bristol, Rhode Island.

I descend as follows:

Hugh Cole (1627 - 1699)

is my 8th great grandfather

John Cole (1660 - 1724)

Son of Hugh

Mary Cole (1697 - 1759)

Daughter of John

Mary Wright (1726 - 1804)

Daughter of Mary

Mary Tomson (1757 - 1846)

Daughter of Mary

Erastus Hayward (1790 - 1844)

Son of Mary

Eunice Soule Hayward (1829 - 1911)

Daughter of Erastus

Laura Eunice Jones (1864 - 1943)

Daughter of Eunice Soule

Malcolm LeRoy Smith (1898 - 1953)

Son of Laura Eunice

Robert Franklin Smith (1923 - 2008)

Son of Malcolm LeRoy

Kathryn Marie Smith

The Funeral That Wasn't for Baby Cindy

It's Memorial Day and we made the rounds to place flowers upon our family members graves. Pink flowers, always pink, for a special little girl.  It's hard to believe that it will be 44 years this August 14th.  This is the story of my personal loss.

I was told to admit myself into the hospital, my baby would not survive, chromosome defect, and my 

life was in danger.

We lost our little girl when I was 8 months pregnant. During this sad time you listen to what you are told and I was told not to have a funeral, not to name her. This is why she has no name on her stone. But I wanted people to know whose child she was so we put our names upon her stone.

The fact of the matter was we had already chosen a name for her, Lucinda. I wish we had scribed her name upon the stone. We were going to call her Cindy. She is buried with her grandparents, Cecil and Shirley Lockhard, in Pine hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater, Ma, so she is not alone. 

I watched out the window of my hospital room and saw the black car arrive to take my baby away.  I felt some comfort knowing that a friend from my high school class working in the family business would gently care for her.  Cindy was laid to rest in her father's white christening gown while I was still in the hospital.  There was no service for my little Cindy, and I was afraid to have more children.

I went home to my other two children, but this did not ease my pain, I felt empty.  A cousin stopped by to visit.  She was from out-of-state and she had a newborn baby that I asked to hold.  I broke down and cried for the first time as I cuddled her baby.

A few days later I told my husband I was ready to go to the cemetery.  Not able to afford to buy flowers at that time, I picked flowers from my garden and we headed out to the cemetery.  My husband told me her casket was white, as I looked upon the outline of where she was laid to rest.  I presented my small bouquet and then told my husband I wanted another baby as I cried in his arms.

About To Take Flight

Thanks to Find a grave, I have a picture of my 2nd great grandparents, Philip and Helen Roesch's, gravestone.  I don't know what I expected, if anything.  I don't think it ever occurred to me to look for it because they were laid to rest in British Hollow Cemetery located in Rockville, Grant County, Wisconsin.   

 I was thrilled to see this beautiful stone with such amazing detail.  What excited me most were the feathered wings. How special that they would choose to carry their German heritage to their grave. 

These are the wings of an eagle and prominently displayed at the top of the stone.  The wings are elevated and the wing tips are facing up indicating that they are about to take flight into heaven.

Westward Passage

Mathias Roesch sailed from Baden, Germany with his family, arriving at Castle Garden in New York on May 26, 1857 after 46 days days at sea..  This was the journey they took by train to reach Potosi, Wisconsin where they lived and farmed.  (Ellis Island should read Castle Garden on the map)

Quadruple Tragedy - So Sorry Lulu

Earl and Lulu

Lulu Mary Beebe was born December 6, 1898.  She was the daughter of Alfred Royal Beebe, brother to my 3rd great grandmother.  On August 8, 1917 she married Earl Marshall Taylor and began their family.  I have nine children listed but they might have had as many as 12 children.

The youngest children were Alfred Ernest, born January 11, 1934 and Oliver Royal, known as Ollie, born on March 20, 1935.  The family lived in Muskegon, Michigan.

Lulu's husband died on April 4, 1935 at the age of 39 when Alfred was 15 months old, and Lulu was eight months pregnant with Ollie. 

Fourteen years later, 1935, triple tragedy strikes Lulu and her family.  Ollie dies on August 11, 1949 of polio.  Her mother-in-law Jennie dies on November 10, 1949, and then her son, Albert died of polio on November 30, 1949.

Alfred



Oliver



Abbie & Joseph To Meet Again

My 3rd great grandparents,  Joseph Wilber (1832-1895) and Abbie A Borden 1832-1910) .  They are buried in Freetown, Massachusetts in the Chase Cemetery.  Joseph's stone reads:  Only Waiting For Our Meeting.  Abbie's stone reads:  In Heaven We Will Meet Again.

Nature's Electrocutions

Floyd Clapp was struck by lightning and instantly killed, Saturday evening at the home of Charles Weston, September 7, 1895, Cuba, New York  The young man was 26.  

The particulars of the sad affair is as follows; Mr. Clap was in the barn milking, filled his pail and had gone outside the building to a shed under which the milk wagon stood with the cans on it, and emptied the the pail.  He had just stepped back into the door that was in the corner of the barn when the bolt struck him.  Mr. Weston picked him up and took him to the horse barn a short distance off, while his wife was engaged in releasing the cows and getting them out of the barn that was already burning briskly.

It was about half past six when the bolt struck with such fatal effects.  About 1000 bushels of oats and a quantity of hay was consumed by fire.  As the barn burned so quickly it is of course impossible to tell just where the lightning struck it, but the probabilities are it struck it entered the roof directly over the door where Mr. Clapp stood when killed, as that was where the fire started. 

The bolt struck him on the right side of his head burning his hair, eyelashes, eyebrows and mustache, and leaving slight marks on his temple, neck and chin, the latter of which bled slightly until the next day.  I then glanced to his shoulder and passed down the breast to thigh, leaving a ragged edged mark about three inches wide.  From the thigh it jumped across his body to his left leg below the knee, tearing the skin up crosswise of the leg in streaks about an inch wide and the same distance apart, to the anklebone, where it left the body and tore off his shoe.  His shirt and pants along the course taken by the bolt were torn away.

Floyd was my 2nd cousin 3X removed.