Cherished Companion

Mercy Ann Hampton and Russel Cardy
          my 3rd great grandparents

Mercy, although a Quaker, married Russell Cardy of Irish descent and a Methodist in Hamburg, Erie, NY on August 25, 1842. It was in 1863 that Russel and his wife moved to Potosi, Wisconsin. Here Mercy taught school.  Russell was a kind, respected man of great faith who wrote poems of devotion.   Mercy united with the Methodist Church but always clung to the belief of her early years.           

                                                           Obituary April 5, 1988

                                                        Cherished Companion Died

On the 21st of March death entered the home of Russel Cardy in the town of Potosi, and claimed his cherished companion as its victim.  Mercy Ann Hampton was born of Christian parents in the state of New Jersey in 1813.  Her parents moved from New Jersey to Erie county, N.Y. while she was young, where they lived at the time of her marriage.  Her early life was spent among the friends-"Quakers"-and from them she learned the true lesson of virtue.  In 1842 she was married to Russel Cardy on the 25th of August.  They came to Potosi the same year.  She taught school in their own home their first winter in Wisconsin, besides attending to her household duties.  She lived a quiet life, never yielding to wrong.  They will see her no more here, for she has joined a brighter band.  Though the weather was cold she was born to her resting place followed by her numerous friends.  The procession walked to the grave.  They have the sympathy of all who know them.


A Ghoulish Matter

Okay, let's put it out there.  If you do genealogy, you visit cemeteries. And, believe me, I have traipsed through many from Florida to Maine and into Canada. That's what we do. We go searching for that long lost ancestor. So let's lay it all out in lavender.

Do you know where the saying, "Rest In Peace" came from? It's a common epitaph on gravestones.  We say it, written with love in a meaningful way in a sympathy card, May they rest in Peace.

You only need to look back to the Victorian era, the mid 1800's. It was a time when grave robbers existed and lurked around in the dark of night. They worked during the cold months because a "stiff" as they called it, was only good for a few days before it decayed. There was no refrigeration in the summer. So now you know why people came to believe cemeteries are haunted, especially at night and especially during Halloween. Perhaps those ghosts are protecting the deceased.

These grave robbers were after more than just jewelry. Good money was paid by doctors, scientists, and teachers in universities for cadavers.  How else could they teach and learn about the anatomy of the human body. Even more money could be made by demanding ransom for the return of  loved ones.

 The resurrectionists preferred the newly deceased, because the earth had not yet settled and therefore easier to dig down to the casket.  They would open casket with a crowbar to expose the head, then grab the body under the chin with a hook and pull the body out. (OMG)

When you have strolled through cemeteries, most likely you have seen evidence of past attempts to protect the graves of yesterday. Some means are obvious, other are not. Surely you have seen wrought iron fences around a family plot; but it's meaning was to make it more difficult for the grave robbers out after dark to steal their loved ones.  

We see the above ground gravesites made of cement, that have cracked or were outright broken, perhaps covered with a little moss. Certainly these were easier to invade. Then you see on occasion the ones with a steel lid that sits low to the ground, now not so easy to break into. Families went so far as to claim a bomb was planted in the coffin; hoping this would deter the thieves for fear of being blown up. Some cemeteries hired night watchmen. 

This was not just a United States problem, grave robbers existed in other countries around the world. 

So "Rest In Peace" literally meant, I hope the grave robbers will leave you alone so that you may surely  'Rest In Peace'. 

Oscar Goes To Cuba

Oscar Sidney Maxell was born in Orient, Maine on June 1, 1879. He was one of six children born to Deacon Sidney P Maxell and Alice Brown.

He married Susie May Whitmore on November 7, 1903. Oscar had one daughter, Beatrice Wyman, that he and his wife adopted.. He and Susie had no children together.

He was schooled to become a confectioner and eventually owned a candy store at 251 Congress Street, in Portland, Maine; that he operated from 1907-1915. He was listed in the city directory as selling ice cream and confections. Then in 1915 he returned to Orient, his beloved Maxell Hill and built his forever home. Sleeping in a tent until completed. 

Oscar was elected to the House of Representative  for the years 1937-1938 and 1949-1950. During the 94th legislature he served on the Indian Affairs and Temperance Committees.  Of personal importance to him was the Temperance Committee, for he alone managed to keep the state of Maine dry for many years. He was proud of the fact he held the position of Deacon in his church longer than his father.

On March 3, 1931, Oscar sailed aboard the SS Governor Cobb out of Tampa, FL for a five-day trip to Cuba. In his diary, "Impressions of a visit to Gay Havana, The Paris of the Western Hemisphere" he summed up his visit to the island this way: "the Cubans ae a friendly people and hold U.S. of America and its' people in high esteem".

The Cubans its (sic) all America, both North and South, but they always emphasize the United States of America to which they belong. On every hand, the names of General Wood and Teddy Roosevelt, and others, are to the sacred and they avoid being connected with Spain., even say 'we speak the Cuban and English language, not Spanish, where as a matter of fact, it is Spanish'.

Oscar toured the country via taxi or walking. Havana, he reported had 58 cigar factories, 2500 policemen, a population of 500,000 and 7000 bars. Oscar was impressed by the beauty of Havana and its magnificent buildings.

He visited cemeteries and learned how they buried their own. Went to many churches and spoke of Lady Lourdes her statue and a small metal box that held her ashes. He spoke of Columbus Temple, here Christopher Columbus held the first mass under a "Free Sabor" tree, meaning cotton and Silk. He spoke of beautiful paintings of the first mass, the first Congress and the first inauguration.

He tells of the square that was used to sell slaves and where slaves were put to death, often times, for trifling matters. In the old city the slaves built a wall to defend and protect against pirates. The slaves carried the stones on bare shoulders and worked under the lash at all times.

Oscar, a strong prohibitionist, firmly believed that "with the Cubans taking the U.S. as their example someday will adopt prohibition". He truly believed in the words of Gifford Gordon, "Hold on, America! The son follows in the footsteps of the father and one day, Cuba will follow their father in prohibition".

Oscar died December 31, 1961.

(Cuba was founded on October 10, 1868. The island was inhabited by various cultures prior to the arrival of the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After Columbus' arrival, Cuba became a Spanish colony, ruled by a Spanish governor in Havana. In 1762, Havana was briefly occupied by Great Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to end Spanish rule. However, the Spanish-American War resulted in a Spanish withdrawal from the island in 1898, and following three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba gained formal independence in 1902.)

Eugenie Belle - 1918 Pandemic

 Eugenie Belle Smith was born on July 30, 1891 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts to Joseph H. Smith and Laura Eunice Jones. Eugenie was sister to my paternal grandfather, Malcolm Leroy Smith.  

Eugenie married Herbert Farley Merrey on May 27, 1913. To them three children were born. Gertrude Eunice, named for her mother, Edwin (Eddie) Leroy, named for her brother Malcom Leroy, and Joseph, named for her father.

Life was wonderful, that is until the Pandemic of 1918 known as the Spanish Flu infected a estimated 500 million people around the world. In the United States, 675,000 died.

The only defense at that time was isolation quarantine, good hygiene, disinfectants and limitations of gatherings that many did not follow.

It was the second wave in the fall of 1918 that lasted three months, caused by a mutant virus that was especially brutal.  This took the life of Eugenie Belle on October 7, 1918 at the age of 27. She left behind a husband and three young children, a daughter age five, a son age two and an infant son, one month old.

Eugenie's husband, Herbert remarried to Anna Sophia Copeland. He died in 1970 and Anna died in 1933. They all rest together in Hillside Cemetery in Bridgewater.  Also in this cemetery lies her mother, her brother Malcolm and his wife, Mary Ann Pierce.

Eugenie's brother Malcolm named a daughter after his sister, Eugenie Belle born in 1921. She passed away June 10, 2020 in her 99th year.

We are at this moment in time under siege of a pandemic known as Covid-19. Many have died around the world.  At warp speed vaccines have been developed and history repeats as in 1918, many people don't follow recommendations. We are now in the grips of a mutant virus that is more contagious and deadly.  History is repeating itself and as we watch the numbers of those infected increase, more lives will be lost.

I've been vaccinated to protect not only me, but also my family and those I love.  Have you been vaccinated? 

The House of Helpfulness

 Yes, History and genealogy do go hand-in-hand.

Ferdinand Clinton Gammons, my 2nd cousin 4x removed was born September 29, 1845 in Middleboro, Massachusetts. He moved to Bridgewater at the age of 21. Here is where he met his future wife, Abbie Lawrence. He belonged to the Masons, May Flower Lodge.

Abbie had begun the work of knocking on doors to raise money to pay for a pastor.  She raised $400 and three months later the first service for the Methodist faithful was held in the Swedenborgian Church.

She met and married Ferdinand Gammons, a successful business man, on November 16, 1874. Together, in 1913 they purchased property on the corner of School and Cedar Street and built the Gammons Memorial Methodist Church.

 A stained glass window "The Good Shepard was given to the church by Abbie in memory of her mother.  It was dedicated by Abbie and Ferdinand on June 6, 1914.

I grew up in this church, first as a young student, then as a teen, I belonged to the Youth Group.  I sang in the Junior Choir, then later in the adult choir.  I became a Sunday School teacher.  I  was baptized at this church. I met my husband here, and we married here.  

We ended up moving to New Hampshire for a few years. Eventually we returned home to Bridgewater. Things were not the same as I remembered, my church home was not as it once was.  When the church disappointed me in a personal way, I never returned.

The other sad connotation here is that the name Gammons has been erased. It is now known as the Bridgewater United Methodist Church. I feel a sense of loss, in my genealogical way. How could they delete the Gammons name from which this church was founded.

Once their motto was " The House of Helpfulness", now it is Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors, yet I now feel neither.

Ferdinand died on Feb 23, 1929 and with a Mason Ritual Funeral Service he was buried in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Bridgewater. 

Abbie, in honor of her husbands passing,, purchased the parsonage on Bedford Street in 1930 giving it to the church in his memory. Even that was sold. Abbie passed away in 1932.

 

Am I or Am I Not

I am a Genealogist.  Or am I?  Genealogy is a line of descent tracing continuously from one ancestor to another.  The study of ancestry descent being a single direct line backwards from yourself. Is this who I am?

I am a Geneticist.  Or am I? It helps to explain why people look like they do i.e. ancestor photos and to possibly identify health conditions, i.e. death records, that our ancestors could have possibly passed onto us? Is this who I am?

I am a Family Historian. Or am I?  Documenting family history. This is what gives us our identity and binds the family together. Is this who I am?

 I venture to say that I am partially made up of all of the above titles. 

 Family consists of your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. These memories are just as precious and as important as the family heirlooms we covet.

When someone you love dies you still remember them; their appearance, how they dressed, talked and laughed, perhaps where they worked and their daily activities. When you find pictures of your ancestors and documents that help us learn the details and history of their lives, it is as if you knew them when they walked the earth. 

 If you stay strictly to blood lines and your tree carries only parents and grandparents throughout time, you are a genealogist.

But if you include all the children, all the spouses of multiple marriages, and include any and all information we know of and or discover, you have a family tree.  Family can be complicated for it consists not only of blood relatives but also family that we are not related to but were raised with. We love them both. 

There is no right or wrong way to build your family tree. It is personal, it is unique only unto you.  Everyone's family story is interesting and special. Your ancestors most likely include many faiths. Perhaps you'll find a famous relative or a black sheep who will add some color to your tree.  Do you see history repeating itself throughout the generations, i.e. occupations.  Learn what country your family initially came from. What history did they live through. What challenges did they overcome. It all connects you to the past. 

There are many components that make up who you are.

 

                                            

                                        Climbing The Family Tree

Rowland Ward - Battle of Wilderness

 

When I first saw this picture of Rowland Ward, I was confused by his appearance.  It looked as if his beard was growing out of his mouth. Who is Rowland Ward?

Rowland was born on March 31, 1818 in Briggs, Lincoln, England, Wrawby Parish. He first married Alvria Vedder who was 14 years younger than he in 1846. They had two daughters, Harriet and Eva. Rowland became a Naturalized citizen of the United States in 1854. By 1860 we see Ward, a farmer, with milking cows, sheep and grew wheat, corn and oats. Alvira died on March 7, 1888.

One year and one month later on April 8, 1889, he married Amelia Benson, my 2nd gr grandmother's (Eliza Benson) sister. It appears it was her first marriage.

Rowland joined the army, Private 4th Heavy Artillery, September 1862 and became a Union soldier serving in the Civil War. He served in the bloody Battle of the Wilderness from May 5 1864 to May 7, 1864. Then on August 24, 1864 he was badly wounded at Ream's Station, Virginia that disfigured him for life. His lower jaw and chin were completely blown off, destroying the floor of his mouth along with the soft tissue right down to his neck and carrying his teeth away. Horrifyingly, leaving nothing to hold his tongue in his mouth, only left to hang down his neck.

Rowland was admitted to the Lincoln Hospital in Washington, D.C. Many surgeries were performed by military surgeons who said, "It was the most severe injury sustained by any soldier during the war." Ward was photographed at the Army Medical Museum by the order of the Surgeon General, George, A Otis. Three busts were made of his head that remain on display at the museum. Rowland was discharged from the army on June 23, 1865. His speech was always difficult to understand. He returned home to his wife, Alvira.

Rowland went back to farming living in Hunt, Levingston, New York. In 1886, fire destroyed his home caused by a defective chimney. If not for the banging on their door that awakened them, they were able to escape. Everything was lost.

It was reported in the Nunda, New York newspaper on May 28, 1898, Rowland who was now 80 years of age had become incompetent and no longer able to manage his affairs. That it was unknown what he was doing with his $50 a month pension. A jury was summoned to his small farm. After hearing a number of witnesses, Ward was declared incompetent.

Amazing that Amelia would marry a man with such disabilities, yet she cared for him until his death on June 17, 1898. He is buried in Hunts Hollow Cemetery in Portage, New York.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

 “Necessity is the mother of invention”, meaning, when the need for something becomes imperative.  That quote, author unknown, has guided men and women throughout history mostly for good, but sometimes for the bad.

Our Ancestors occupation depended upon where they lived, the era in which they were born and the services that the community they lived in needed. Some communities like Potosi, Wisconsin was a lead mining town and that ended when the gold rush began in California and men everywhere, including Potosi, left to seek their fortune.

To say the least, convenient grocery stores weren’t available; so people depended on the many who were cattle farmers who raised beef and produced milk, and the vegetable farmers for their food. Some immigrants from countries who suffered and starved during the potato famine became just that, potato farmers, for this was their main staple.  

The only transportation at one time was the horse or horse and buggy.  So you had the blacksmith shops. Not only did they shoe horses, they forged tools, made agricultural implements, complex weapons and armor to simple things like nails.

Life hasn’t been easy over the generations.  Always you have the good and the bad affecting individuals. All it took was severe weather such as a drought, or hurricane and the farmer lost everything. That in turn affected the citizens.

In building new communities it was a necessity to hold more than one job, such as my own great grandfather.  His occupations included, citrus farming, Mayor, Postmaster, Volunteer fireman, owner of a newspaper, and the Tiger fence Company. (There was no Social Security)

World wars took our men away and women had to step in to fill the gap doing so called man’s work. As we became more advanced we became less self-sufficient.  Political and financial factions affected our lives.  Just as the fall of Wall Street put thousands out of work and the era of depression began. The government started the WPA, Works Progress Administration to provide employment, working on our roads and highways, and we saw soup lines to feed the hungry. In 1935 the Economic Security Act was proposed and then before being enacted, Congress changed the name to the Social Security.

So as you go through history you can draw a parallel line of opposites, one for the bad, and one for the good that came out of changes throughout time, but sometimes, what was meant to be good such as nuclear power can also be bad because it can be used as a weapon.  Now mark the events in history where Necessity became the mother of invention”, in your family tree.

Menorcan Journey

                                                                 Menorca Cove

Menorcan Journey – Ancestor Jose Joaneda Floyd (Floid)

Jose Joaneda Floyd (Floid) was my 4^th great grandfather.  He was born in Ciudadella, Menorca, Spain in 1761. Minorca is a beautiful Island just off the coast of the Spanish mainland.

In 1766, Jose was six years old and with his parents they made their way to the northern part of Florida with as many as 1400 others that left their homeland to tame this wilderness. It took two ships and two months to arrive at their destination. Their hopes were high.  Jose became known as Joseph.

They found the conditions were harsh and after much hardship and starvation they lost about half of their population. It was in 1776, Jose, now 16-years-old and with those that remained walked to St. Augustine, Florida for a better life.

Popular legend tells us that in 1513, Ponce de León, a Spanish explorer discovered Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth and he named the region La Florida which means "flowery land".

Jose married Isabel Maria Dewees on 21 July 1794 in St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida.
They had six children. Their first born was Catherine Theresa De Jesus Floyd, who married William Hall. Catherine is mother to Mary Virginia Murray/Hall who married John Carroll Houston III.  Jose died in St. Augustine, Florida in 1818 at the age of 58. 

Florida didn't become part of the United States until 1898, after the Spanish American War.

In 1980, the Menorcan Society was formed to promote the culture and heritage who left their home to make a new life in St. Augustine. 

St. Augustine celebrates every year the arrival of the Menorcan people with traditional tasty food, music, and dancing. People dress in period costume and have a parade of men and women riding on pure bred Spanish horses, the breed is known as Andalusian.

 

 Minorca, a small island in the mediterranean off the coast of Spain with great character.  Biosphere Reserve. Where the traditional Minnorcan way of life has not been swept away by mass tourism.  Small harbours, sheltered coves, quiet beaches.  Minorca, an island with a mysterious prehistoric past whose legacy can been seen over the whole island.  Caves, talaiots, taules...Minorca, the eternal face of the mediterranean.  Within reach.  All minorca's charms are never more than 40 Km away.

Minorca is such a small island that you can reach anywhere on the island in less than an hour.  From east to west, Minorca measures less than 50 km and at its widest the island only reaches 20km.  To the east lies Mahon, and to the West, Ciutadilla.  It seems to us that a whole world separates these two very different cities, but for mainlanders it's a short drive of never more than 45km. On Minorca, any point on the island is the "surroundings" of everywhere else, as the island only measures 700km.  So we can take a brief look at the whole of Minorca.  The whole island being, as it were, the "surroundings" of Fornells.

Mahon and Ciutadells polarise the island.  At present Mahon has 23,000 inhabitants and Ciutadella 19,000.  These are small towns, with a relaxed way of life.  Both of them have harbours and their histories are quite distinct, to the point of being antagonistic.  Ciutadella, the ancient capital, was the centre of Minorca until from the Middle Ages.  There we can find the old palaces, as you'd expect in home of of the nobility and church, Ciutadella being the seat of the Bishopric.  These beautiful and noble buildings can be seen today in the narrow streets of the centre, once surrounded by massive defensive walls.

 

 

 

Alligator In The Sewer

         It's 1961 and we had been visiting my grandparents, Florence and Scott Hilligoss in Boneventure Florida located just outside of Cocoa.  Dad always had his vacation the first two weeks of  July, but the time had sadly come to head back to Massachusetts.

My three sisters and I hopped in the backseat of the new shiny black Ford, mom in the front seat with dad driving. But we had another making the trip home with us.  In the back window was a box carefully sealed .

Somewhere along the road we pulled over for gas.  This is where my mom climbed into the backseat to stretch out and take a nap.  My sister and I then climbed into the front seat.  Slowly but surely all fell asleep, except for dad of course who still had control of the steering wheel.

Suddenly, my sister was nudging me and telling me to stop it.  "Stop what?"  Touching my foot she complained. "I didn't touch your foot."  Yes you did.  We went back to sleep. When suddenly it happened again, and this time she was obviously mad and began yelling at me.  Then she yelled in pain when something bit her toe.

Now all hell broke out in the car for the alligator in the box had escaped. This carnivorous beast was just waiting to pounce on my unsuspecting sister.  It had to have crawled over my mother and two sisters in the back seat to get down to the floor to crawl under the front seat to reach my sisters feet.
Now we pull our feet up on the front seat screaming.

 Dad pulls into a gas station and gets out to try and capture this beast which proved to be an impossible task.  Fortunately, the gas station attendant, apparently a pro, appeared and grabbed the alligator as it was squirming around like a contortionist hissing with his mouth wide open exposing those sharp teeth.   We found it had chewed a hole right through that cardboard box, so the gas station attendant gave us a wooden box so it would not escape again.

When we got home the person I bought it for wanted nothing to do with it.  Can't blame him. So into the bathtub it went and we fed it hamburger.  Finally, a boy I had dated a few times said he wanted the alligator and he took it home, thank goodness.

It wasn't long after he too decided this was not exactly a friendly pet.  He told me he just let it loose somewhere.  So if you ever hear about an alligator in the sewer, you know where it came from.