Genealogy-related book reviews

I recently submitted the following book reviews for publication in our local library’s monthly genealogy newsletter; I have previously reviewed another genealogy-related book called “Futureface: a family mystery, an epic quest and the secret to belonging,” on this blog.

“The Milkman’s Son: a memoir of family history, a DNA mystery and paternal love,” by Randy Lindsay

Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain, 2020

I requested this book through inter-library loan and found it a quick, easy read.

The author’s life is up-ended after starting to research his family’s genealogy. With humor and compassion, following surprise and confusion, he finds he has a whole other family, and that the only father he has ever known is not a DNA match to himself.

He describes starting his genealogical search with info given to him by his father, then using online sites such as Ancestry to fill in more generations. After a DNA test, one site notifies him of a close relative match – a name he does not recognize as being in his family. Having been jokingly called ‘the milkman’s son’ for most of his life – he finds he could indeed be a milkman’s son.

The story is well written (the author is a writer) and well told, and reminiscent of genealogy television shows such as TLC’s “Long Lost Family Reunited,” which rejoins separated families, and NBC’s series called “A New Leaf,” which focuses on everyday people. Spoiler: he is reunited (happily) with his biological family members, including his biological father, and is able to maintain his relationships with the family members he had known all his life.

“I want you to know we’re still here: a post-Holocaust memoir,” by Esther Safran Foer

New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2020.

Everyone has challenges with their family genealogy, but Foer has almost insurmountable challenges: her parents were both Holocaust survivors, both sets of grandparents were murdered, as were most of both of their extended families – and her father died at a very young age. Foer has questions, but her mother would rather not talk about the past; Foer has gleaned bit and pieces of answers over the years, and has a few photos with cryptic names on the back – these are her only clues in tracing her family’s history back through war-torn Eastern European countries, whose names and borders changed many times over the years, where deaths were not recorded and the stories of the villages no longer in existence are continually disappearing.

Foer uses a variety of research methods, including internet genealogy sites and eventually in-person research while traveling in Israel and Ukraine, talking to older residents and local experts. The stories are tragic, and the book provides a big dose of history and is ultimately about a family’s survival, “we are still here.” Foer’s research has ensured that her family’s story will also survive for future generations.

[also available through inter-library loan]

“Hold Still: a memoir with photographs,” by Sally Mann

New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2015

I borrowed this book from my local library, finding it on a shelf of autobiographies and memoirs, recognizing Sally Mann as a well known and published photographer. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the book also included quite a bit of her family’s genealogy. She starts by going through boxes of photos, letters and other ephemera she has stored in boxes in her attic. Mann, born in 1951, examines how her family’s history has shaped her life, career and her photography. As a result, she provides a very well written chronicle for her children.

An unusual death in Rhode Island: Zulu Sam

Who was Zulu Sam? 

A Google search of “Zulu Exhibitions” shows they were popular in England as far back as the 1850s. They were part of some traveling circuses and exhibitions in the United States through the 1880s, which may have been what brought Zulu Sam to Rhode Island, where he died in 1884.

How sad that his real name is not shown on his death record. It is unknown if he has a gravestone bearing his name in North Burial Ground, which the death record lists as his final resting place. Even more sad, whether or not his family knew of his death. It is also unknown if there was an article in any local newspapers commemorating his life and death.

Also seemingly tragic – his occupation –  his body part of an “ethnological exhibition,” before crowds of Americans who were fascinated by “exotic Africans.” Perhaps it was an opportune way to make a living for a young, single man at that time, an opportunity to travel. But was he really from Africa? An excerpt from the book listed below mentions that there were often hoaxes – men and women who pretended to be from Africa.

It’s strange to think about now – were these exhibits part of the Victorian era fascination with other parts of the world – or a human freak show? In any case, I have created this post to commemorate “Zulu Sam” – who ever he was – and his short life.

for more interesting reading, see (Google Books):

Africans on Stage: Studies in Ethnological Show Business

edited by Bernth Lindfors

Rev. Walter Gardner Webster, a Rhode Island life ended on the SS La Bourgogne, 1898

Upon finding some interesting documents while looking through Rhode Island death records for 1898, my curiosity was piqued, and I did some further research.

according to Wikipedia:

“SS La Bourgogne was a French ocean liner, which sank in July 1898, with the loss of 549 lives. At the time this sinking was infamous, because only 13% of the passengers survived, while 48% of the crew did.^[1] In 1886 she set a new record for the fastest Atlantic crossing by a postal steamer.”

Among the passengers was Rev. Walter Gardner Webster of Providence, son of Josiah Locke Webster and Helen Mar (Parker) Webster.

According to his passport application of 1897, he was born Oct. 18, 1854 in Providence (his birth record lists Oct. 19, 1854) and was a clergyman.  He had “planned to go abroad temporarily and return to the United States during the present year.”  According to his brother, he had wanted to spend the summer in Europe.

He had no way of knowing that he would never return. He was 43 years old. He had been an assistant at St. Stephen Church in Providence.

According to letters attached to his death record, Walter Gardner Webster was aboard the SS La Burgogne, which sailed from New York City for Havre, France  on the 2nd day of July, 1898.

“She was reported as having collided with a vessel off Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, and about sixty miles from land. La Burgogne is reported to have foundered shortly after the collision. The persons, passengers, officers or crew, on said steamship who were saved were brought into Halifax by the ship Cromartyrshire. No first cabin passengers were among the saved, and all of such passengeres are presumed to have been lost. Rev. Walter Gardner Webster was not among those reported as saved.”

I include copies of the documents here. The first is an affidavit from someone from the steamship line, the second two pages, an affidavit taken by Walter G. Webster’s brother, Josiah L. Webster, who had met his brother at the dock in New York to bid him farewell:

An extended biography was printed in The Church Eclectic in October, 1898 (see Google Books).

Page one of 14 pages of biographical info, found on Google Books, which reproduced a sermon regarding the passing of Rev. Webster.

His death was also noted in The Freemason’s Repository, Vol. 27, pp. 591-592, also found at Google Books. The sermon was also reproduced at http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/providence/wgwebster.html

I wonder if there were other Rhode Island natives on board?

According to Wikipedia, there were several notable travelers:

“At the time, La Bourgogne was carrying 506 passengers and 220 crew, of whom 549 were lost, including Turkish wrestler Yusuf İsmail, the American instructor/sculptor Emil H. Wuertz, French artist Léon Pourtau, American painter De Scott Evans, an Armenian Orthodox priest, Rev. Stepan Der Stepanian, his wife and three children,^[8]wife and daughter of John Forrest Dillon, the wife and child of George Deslions, and three members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.”

Rev. Webster was certainly notable from Providence, Rhode Island.

Providence: Excerpts from 100-year old Carr family letters

Going though my files of family history (sharing info with newly-found cousins), I came across letters dated 1918 and 1919. The CARR family – John and Henrietta, had six children, four sons and two daughters; one of the daughters was my paternal grandmother.

 

John J. Carr (1858-1917) owned John J. Carr & Sons, Inc., Wholesale Bakery Supplies Company, located in Providence, established in 1903. The letters were sent between some of his sons, mostly to their brother Charlie, who moved from Rhode Island to California. (After Charlie’s death in 1945, his wife Ada returned the letters to the senders, mostly brother Rob Carr.)

After scanning the letters and sharing them with other family members, I thought some of the details regarding Rhode Island during that time period would be of interest, and are reproduced here:

“All is well at this end. I have just got over a dose of potomaine poisoning, and believe me I was sick. That is the bum part of Road work. Eating in restaurants. Even in the best of them they use canned vegetables etc and since the war the Canning industry had been verry [sic] poor.”

“We have just had a car strike for 19 days. Not a car ran, and you can guess what that meant. In a city of this size, not a car for 19 days. Working people certainly sufferred [sic]. Now they raised the fares.  15 cents to Pawtuxet. 10 cents to City Line and of course that will drive the people to live near the center of cities. Just the opposite of what it should.”

“Well times are certainly crazy. If our wonderful president would forget Europe for a while and let them work out their own salvation and look after his own home it would be better.”

“By the way, R. I. is still selling Beer and Wine. They did not ratify the Amendment and have authorized the sale of 4% beer and they say it is great stuff. After the 2% they made during the war it is better anyway. They have put it up to the Govt. to prove that the Gov law overrules the State and the Govt up to now has not dared to take any action. Incidently they are running excursions from Conn and Mass to R.I.

I am still running my old Cadillac and it is a good boat yet.”

from another letter, dated 1918:

“Our business here is fairly good, but war conditions make it twice as hard on your nerves to do business. There are all kind of Food Restrictions, and Freight Shipments are damaged and delayed beyond reason.

However, we are doing fairly well, and our volume of business keeps up. In fact it is ahead of any time that Father was running it, but I must say, he was not in condition to run a business for many years past.

We have a new ship yeards [sic] at Fields Point. They cut the Point off, and they are also going to open a Concrete Ship plant there is a week or so.

Labor is very scarce here, male, and in fact you can hardly hire a girl. The Department Stores are advertising for Married Women to come to work for half a day each day, as a patriotic duty, and they pay $1.50 to quite a few for half a days work, especially Friday or Sat. That is at the rate of $18.00 per week, and you know $7.00 per was good once.

We had a nice girl up to a week ago. She quit to go in Brown & Sharpes. Got $2 per week more than we paid here, but as Rose [their sister] was just out of school, we did not offer her the difference altho we would have paid it otherwise. She is glad to work to pick up some change for the summer.

” … you know it is quite certain that there will be a Coal shortage this winter.

They will not allow anyone to put in ony [sic] a 2/3 supply. You have to get an order, and register etc to get that, and it don’t look as tho everyone can get even 2/3 [of] 3/4.

They have stopped Bakers from using Hard Coal entirely. They must use a soft Coal or Coke, and that is scarce.”

“Remember me to your Wife, and extend her greetings from Clara also. Clara is on all the Red Cross, Liberty Bond, and Thrift Stamp committees, and works quite hard at it, but states that if I am drafted she won’t do another darn thing for ’em. Treason, is wot I calls it.”

 

Many in this family served their country – among the earliest, their paternal grandfather, John Henry Carr, born c. 1834, who was a civil war veteran.

I believe what was once the CARR family businss is the building which now houses Malcolm Greer Designers, Inc., 387 Eddy St., Providence. [credit: Google]

Book Review: “Futureface: a family mystery, an epic quest and the secret to belonging”

genealogy – book review

“Futureface: a family mystery, an epic quest and the secret to belonging”

by Alex Wagner

New York: One World, an imprint of Random House; 2018.

This is an interesting read – for any level of genealogy afficianado – by noted television news journalist Alex Wagner. Her mother born in Burma, her father’s ancestors from Luxembourg and Ireland, Wagner describes her foray into her family’s genealogy. After conducting some interviews with family members, she continues her research using online resources. She later visits sites of her ancestors’ homelands and consults professional archivists.

She eventually decides to try out DNA testing in an attempt to get more answers to the mysteries she has identified during her research. She clearly describes the process, comparing and contrasting DNA tests from three major distributors (AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and Family Tree DNA). She is surprised to learn of varying results, and contacts each company to explain the process by which each identifies the percentages of origin.

After Wagner’s long “search for belonging” – the search for “her people,” – she concludes (in the last paragraph of her book), “I had been looking in all the wrong places for the string that connected us …” Are we defined by our blood, our ancestry, our ethnic group, the color of our skin, our religious affiliations, ever-changing borders – us and them?

After examining the past, she looks forward. A child and grandchild of imigrants, she has now created her own family. She sees herself as “futureface’ – a name (and the title of her book) she identified with after seeing the cover of Time magazine’s special issue of Nov. 18, 1993, with the title of “The New Face of America.”

And following her quest for “the truth,” she starts to wonder – does it really matter?

Hurricane of 1938: 80th anniversary

a few days late, but I’ve been working on this list for weeks – a list of those who died in Rhode Island (one estimate was 229) on Sept. 21, 1938 – the great Hurricane of 1938. It came without sufficient warning during a time long before the sophisticated instruments we have today.  The names have been gathered from a variety of sources, including Find-A-Grave, but mostly culled from actual death records found at Familysearch.org.

I will update the list with further info and any missing names as I conduct more research. The dead included men, women and children of all ages, members of families, working folks, children getting off their school bus, vacationing folks, visitors to Rhode Island, people enjoying their summer cottages, and others who walked to the shore to watch the waves when the winds picked up. Most drowned, but some died of injuries after being crushed or hit by debris. Some were swept away in their homes, their boats, even in a lighthouse – some, their bodies found days later, others, their bodies never found.

Anyone with additional acedotal info, please feel free to share in the comments section. I would love to flesh out the lives of the folks on the list – to remember the life of each, rather than only names and ages.

Hurricane of 1938 – Deaths in Rhode Island

based on death records and lists found online (which I also used to create a virtual cemetery at Find-A-Grave)

unidentified white male (about 50 years old), probably a fisherman at sea, at Block Island; “body found drowned on Oct. 1, probably result of hurricane of Sept. 21,” according to death record. Buried at Island Cemetery, Block Island. “Washed ashore Oct. 1, 1938, at Dorry’s Cove, Block Island (western shore), man of probably 50, height 6 feet, completely bald.”

Harry Chandler Adams, age 71, died at Charlestown

Cora Ella (Holbrook) Aldrich, age 82, died in Old Buttonwoods, Warwick

Ethel May (Carrier) Aldrich, age 49, a resident of Norwood in Warwick, died at Quonset Point, North Kingstown, due to accidental drowning.

Walter Almon Aldrich, age 79, husband of Cora, died in Old Buttonwoods, Warwick

Mary Ann (Jenkinson) Almond, aged 74, died at Portsmouth

Robert Almond, age 74, husband of Mary Ann, died at Portsmouth

Leonard Augustus Almy, age 46, a maintenance man for Standard Oil Co. of N.Y., died at India Point in Providence of accidental drowning during hurricane (the death record says something unreadable, looks like “last seen in a small boat he was rowing to one of the tanks”).

Edwin Bowen Arnold, age 46, a marine engineer and a resident of Warren, died at Barrington,

Dorothy Ellen Atwood, age 13, died in Providence from head injuries/crushed skull when a brick wall fell on her (while siting in an automobile?) during the “gale storm” – per death record.

Ethel Belle (True) Avery, age 62, died at Charlestown.

Alfred Cornelius Bamford, age 59, died at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket of “shock, fractured skull” on Saylesville Road, in yard, struck by tree; accident due to hurricane.

Mabel (Bateman) Barber, age 66, died at Charlestown Beach.

Leroy J. Beebe, age 32, he was working at his business, a parking lot at Third Beach in Middletown; his body was found in Little Compton

Harry Norman Bennett, age 65, died at Westerly

Lillian Louise (Bass) Bennett, age 62, wife of Harry, died at Westerly

Alexina (LeHoux) Bertrand, age 48

*Mrs. Bishop, a Sunday School teacher, died in Westerly. (see New England Today Living article)

Beatrice (Brooks) Bliven, age 53, died at Westerly

Ella (Crandall) Bliven, age 72, died at Charlestown

Evelyn Adeline Bliven, age 37, died at Westerly

Myrtie Hall Bradley, age 61

Clarence E. Braley, age 63

Chester C. Breckenridge, age 68, died at Charlestown

Edith Louise (Oatley) Breckenridge, age 65, wife of Chester, died at Charlestown

Joseph Medeiros Brilhante, age 25, died at Portsmouth

Ellen L. Brown, age 71, died at Portsmouth

Ann (Huddersfield) Buckley, age 86, died at Shore Cottage, Quonset Point, North Kingstown, by accidental drowning, along with her daughter Helena (Buckley) Petrie.

Wesley Hibbard Bunce, Sr., age 72, died at Charlestown Beach

Amos Edgar Burdick, age 70, died at Charlestown

Lois P. (Davis) Burdick, age 68, wife of Amos, died at Charlestown

James Patrick Burke, age 58, he was a bricklayer with the WPA working at Ft. Adams; died at Portsmouth

Eva Olivia (Shafer) Button, age 81, died at Westerly

Mae Button, daughter of Eva, age 51, died at Westerly

Adelaide (Bottsford) Byrnes, age 48, died at Watch Hill in Westerly.

Oranzo Joseph Caprino, age 3, died at Middletown

Frank A. Carpenter, age 84, died at Narragansett

Joseph Caswell, age 80, died at Westerly

Ida Chace, age 82, died at Tiverton.

Amy (Huddersfield) (Buckley?) Charnley, age 63, died at Shore Cottage, Quonset Point, North Kingstown by accidental death from drowning. Sister of Henea Petrie?

Walter Bradford Chase, age 65, died at Portsmouth

*Marion Elizabeth Chellis, age 7, of Jamestown (per Jamestownpress.com story), was one of seven children who got off a school bus and was drowned. She was to be buried in Plattsburg, N.Y.

Anne Mary Clark, age 47 died at Charlestown

George Otis Clark, age 68, died at Allen’s Harbor in North Kingstown, from accidental drowning.

Celia Elizabeth (Carr) Clarke, age 86, died at Charlestown along with two of her daughters, Harriet and Florence

Florence Clarke, age 55, died at Charlestown, along with her mother Celia and sister Harriet

Harriet Sumner Clarke, age 58, died at Charlestown, along with her mother Celia and sister Florence

Hattie Mitchell Clarke, age 65, died at Westerly

Isabelle Frances (Manning) Clarke, age 33, a nurse from Queens General Hospital in Long Island, N.Y., died by accidental drowning at Allens Harbor in North Kingstown.

Mabel (Gould) Clemens, age 61, wife of Philip, died at Charlestown

Philip Arthur Clemens, aged 62, husband of Mabel, died at Charlestown

Rosamond Cole, age 79, a resident of Providence, died at Barrington.

Frank Augustus Colwell, age 74, a fisherman, died at New Shoreham (Block Island). A note from the medical examiner, attached to his death record: “his body was found afloat on Block Island shore on Sept. 28. Last seen alive about 4-5 p.m. on Sept. 21, during hurricane, when tidal wave swept away his boat with him aboard. Fragments of his boat found next day along beach, but body not found until 9/28 – in a state of decomposition, but fully identified by his former associates.”

John Francis Considine, age 59, died at Portsmouth Park

Cora M. (Adams) Cook, aged 71.

Lloyd Milton Cook, wife of Cora, age 66.

Genevra C. (Arnold) Crapo, age 72, died at Charlestown.

Elizabeth (Sharples) Craven, age 59

Rev. Patrick J. Crawley, age 69, died at Newport

Walter H. Cremin, age 58, died at Newport

Alga (Olga?) Croce, age 26, a resident of Brockton, Mass., died at Barrington.

George W. Cross, age 65, died at Chalestown

Edith A. (Farmer) Crumb, age 70, wife of Wallace, died at Charlestown

Wallace B. Crumb, age 79, husband of Edith, died at Westerly

Catherine (Welch) Culley, age 79, died at Charlestown

Florence May (Peck) Curran, age 46, died at Allen’s Harbor in North Kingstown, accidental drowning. (house blew down?)

Maria C. (Impagliazza) D’Ambra, age 68, died at Oakland Beach, Warwick, along with her son Philip

Philip D’Ambra, age 37, son of Maria, died at Longmeadow, Warwick

Alice Mary (Hamfield) Davison, age 66, died at Westerly

Mary A. (Dyer) Devine, age 62, died when her house (103 Seaview Drive, Oakland Beach, Warwick) was carried away by hurricane and tidal wave

Minnie T. (Tefft) Dewey, age 71, died at Westerly

Bertha Ann (West) Dinsmore, age 49, died at Westerly

Hugh L. Donnelly, age 32; he is buried in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Teresa V. (Creed) Dorgan, age 64

Arthur Forest Dunham, Jr., age 29, died at Portsmouth, with his father Arthur, Sr.

Arthur Forest Dunham, Sr., age 54, died at Portsmouth, with his son, Arthur, Jr.

Walter Barge Eberle, a 40 year old father of six and former Navy submariner (see IndependenttRI.com story from 2010). the second assistant lighthouse keeper was trapped in a cast-iron Whale Rock Lighthouse when it was washed off its foundation; his body was never found.

Samuel S. Edwards, age 35, a fisherman. His body was found on a beach at Block Island, identified by a receipt in his pocket (per article posted to Find-A-Grave). “Deceased body was washed up on West Beach of Block Island on Friday, Sept. 23, at noon, evidently dead about 36 hours, no bodily injury, no water in lungs; was a seaman, probably washed overboard during hurricane of the 21^st; watch stopped at 5:15. Identification positive,” according to medical examiner’s note on death record.

*Rev. Timothy Fitsgerald or Fitzgerald of Massachusetts

Zonia P. “Zoe” (Phillips) Fletcher, age 65, died at Charlestown.

Obeline (Lucier) Fontaine, age 68, died at Charletown along with her husband Walter, when a tidal wave sept over and destroyed their summer home at Charlestown Beach.

Walter Francies Fontaine, age 67, an architect, died with his wife Obeline, at Charlestown.

Angelina (Gendron) Forloni, age 37, a resident of Warwick, died at Barrington.

Ruth Evelyn (Crandall) Friend, age 44, had gone to Misquamicut with the Mother’s Club from Christ Church (see New England Today Living article)

Bernice M. Fuller, age 34, died at Portsmouth, along with her mother Eva V. (Davis) Fuller Wellman.

John Stamos, aged 6, and Constantine, age 5, Gianetis of Jamestown (per Jamestownpress.com story),were two of seven children who got off a school bus and was drowned during an attempted rescue.

Marion (Manuel?) Gomes, aged 33, of Jamestown, a farmer, died from a fracture at the base of his skull after a barn fell on him

Anne Elizabeth (Costigan) Goodby, age 63, died at Conimicut Point, where she was a summer resident.

Robert Gould, age 54, died at Charlestown of a head and skull injury.

Caroline (Drescher) Gruttemeyer, age 66, died at Westerly.

Edward Gustavus, age

Mable F. (Norwood) Gustavus (and son Edward), age 60, died at Middletown; She was wife of George T. Gustavus, lighthouse keeper at Prudence Island Light Station.

William Blake Hareter, aged 13.

Louise May (Needham) Harrop, age 38, died at Babcock Beach, North Kingstown, due to accidental drowning.

Harriet (Roy) Hartenstein, age 64, died at Westerly.

Thomas B. Hartley, age 64, a dressmaker, died at the Weekapaug Breachway in Westerly.

Jessie May (Manchester) Hathaway, age 70, died at Tiverton.

Rosalie Christina (Bickerstaffe) Haworth, age 52, died at Narraganset.

Harry Chester Hayes, Jr., age of 29, died at Providence, accidental drowning in flood area.

Marguerite B. (Bolton) Henry, age 78, died at Buttonwoods in Warwick.

Agnes P. (Collier) Herrick, age 46, died at Westerly.

Annie Irene (Bromley) Higginbotham, age 45, died at Westerly. (see New England Today Living article) Harold, Irene and Jimmy had gone to Watch Hill to watch the waves, but hurried back to their cottage, and stopped at another cottage to pick up Alma Bailey who was dating Ken Higginbotham. Their car stalled in flood waters; Harold got everyone out and into a two-story cottage, but the tidal wave crashed into the house. Her remains were found four days later. Alma and Harold survived.

James “Jimmy” Wilson Higginbotham, age 10, died at Westerly.… he was found unclothed, under eight feet of rubble, near Brightman’s Pond, identified by his brother Stan (see New England Today Living article)

Hubert James Higgins, age 48, he andd his wife died at South Kingstown.

Kathryn Gilmore (Feely) Higgins, age 47, died with her husband at Narragansett.

Ernest Albert Hill, Jr., age 14, died at Tiverton.

Marrion Himes, age 52, died at Charlestown.

Florence I. (Carroll) Holgate, age 56, died at Charlestown.

Annie Alzada (Stedman) Holland, age 62, died at Westerly

Thomas Francis Holland, age 64, a bricklayer with the WPA, a resident of Providence, died at Portsmouth.

Frances (Pedley) Horton, age 71, died at Charlestown along with her husband William.

William Grant Horton, age 73, died at Charlestown, along with his wife Frances.

Frank D. Howell, age 69, died in Portsmouth.

Elizabeth (Schlegel) Inglis, age 74, died in Tiverton.

Harold Christie Jacobs, age 56, died in Greenhill Beach, the site of his family beach home, according to a bio on Find-A-Grave; his body was found a few days later.

Theodore Jean, age unknown.

Abdau Kabbas, age 55, died at Miriam Hospital in Providence, of internal injuries and cerebral injuries; garage door fell on him while closing it during the hurricane causing fracture of metatarsal bones.

Ebenezer Keith, age 56, a fisherman for the Grinnell estate, died at Little Compton.

Gladys C. (Lester) Kenyon, age 43, died at Westerly, along with her parents William Lester and Carrie (Cummings) Lester.

Ruth M. (Henry) Kettlety, age 37, died at Warwick.

Ella (Williston) Kingman, age 83, died at Westerly; informant was a Miss Lester, so probably related to Grace (Lester) Kenyon and her parents William and Carrie Lester, who also died that day.

Minnie M. Kuhlthau, age 62, died at Warwick.

Walter Kurdzo, age 22, died at Narragansett.

Freda G. (Bengtson) Larkham, age 69, died at Charlestown.

Nellie Mabel (Gardner) Leonard, age 73, died at Westerly.

Carrie Eleanor Cummings Lester, died 66, died at Westerly along with her husband William and daughter Gladys (Lester) Kenyon.

William Wallace Lester, age 69, died at Westerly, along with his wife Carrie, and daughter Gladys C. (Lester) Kenyon.

Edythe M. (Crandall) Livingston, age 40, died at Westerly.

Zallee Jayne (Sloan) Livingston, age 62, died at Westerly.

Bartolo LoVerde, age 45, a self-employed real estate agent, died at Conimicut Point in Warwick.

May Rosa (Brogan) Lowry, age 48, died at Westerly.

Hannah Alice (Grundy) Loxley, age 64, died at Charlestown, along with her husband Samuel.

Samuel Loxley, age 69, died at Charlestown, along with his wife Hannah.

Carrie Burdick Lull, age 55, died at Charlesown,along with her father William Lull.

William Barrett Lull, age 82, died at Charlestown, along with his daughter Carrie.

Clorinda Lupoli, age 21, died at Providence when a roof crushed the car she was in – “crushed by roof blown on auto” per death record.

Ellen (Wyatt) Lynch, age 67, died at Newport, along with her husband James.

James G. Lynch, age 74, died at Portsmouth, along with his wife Ellen.

Kate (Brown) Maine, age 76, died at Westerly.

Matoes children (four: Joseph, age 13, Teresa, age 11, Eunice, age 7, and Dorothy), of Jamestown (per JamestownPress.com story), were four of seven children who drowned during an attempt to save them from their stranded school bus. Dorothy’s body was never found.

Alvin Wilson Mawson, age 43, died at Westerly, along with his wife Mary.

Mary C. (Crowe) Mawson, age 44, died at Westerly, along with her husband Alvin.

Elizabeth Agnes (O’Driscoll) McCool, aged 55, a resident of East Providence, died at Barrington, along with her mother Catherine O’Driscoll.

Winifred E. (Stacey) McCooey, age 37, a resident of Blackstone, Mass., died at Barrington.

*Margaret Theresa (Glynn) McDonald, age 63, a resident of Providence, died at Barrington.

James Henry McDuff, age 65, a candy maker at J. F. Gibson’s, died at downtown Providence, accidental drowning.

Elaine E. (Armstrong) McHugh, age 30, died at Portsmouth with her one-year-old son Francis, and her parents Ernest and Hannah Armstrong.

Francis J. “Laddie” McHugh III, age 1, died at Portsmouth along with his mother Elaine, and maternal grandparents.

Katherine Mary (Finnigan) McSweeny, age 63, died at Charlestown.

Helen (Shugrue) Mee, age 30, died at Charlestown, along with children Timothy and Jean.

Jean Mee, age 6 months, died at Charlestown, along with his mother and brother.

Timothy Mee, Jr., age 2, died at Charlestown, along with his mother and brother.

Jennie Bell Miller, age 70, died at Westerly.

*William M. Monks, Jr., age 21, a fisherman, at New Shoreham (Block Island). “Killed instantly by blow at base of brain, fracture of 1^st and 2^nd cervical vertebra, in an accident on dock at Old Harbor; flying debris, struck by piece of roofing from Ocean View Hotel; broken neck,” according to death record.

Jessi Mary Hurst (Jackley) Moore, age 70.

*James W. Moriarty

*Mary Ann Moriarty

Catherine Murphy, age 49, died at Newport.

Johanna Murphy, age 80, died at Shawomet in Warwick, on date of hurricane; unclear from death record if her death was storm-related.

John Cushing Norris, Jr., age 31, died at Narraganset, along with his mother Maria.

Maria Seville (Dobson) Norris, age 69, died when the hurricane swept over her summer home at Narraganset Pier, along with her son John.

George Washington Northup, age 43, died while visiting at a friend’s home in Conimicut in Warwick.

Mary Nunes, age 40, a resident of Fall River, died at Portsmouth.

Catherine E. (Mullen) O’Driscoll, age 77, a resident of East Providence, died at Barrington, along with her daughter Elizabeth Agness (O’Driscoll) McCool.

Rose (Borges) Oliveira, age 52, died at Portsmouth.

William “Bill” Lockhart Ordner, age 13, and his mother Gladys Marie (Lockhart) Ordner, age 43, of Jamestown (per JamestownPress.com story); Bill was a seventh grade student and, with his mother, was headed to Beavertale to watch the waves when they died at Mackerel Cove.

Emilie (Jacob) Paine, age 83, died at Warwick.

Janie P. (Cornish) Pascoe, age 70, died at Westerly.

Lena Ann (Clarke) Peckham, age 65, died at Tiverton, along with her son Oswald.

Oswald Clarke Peckham, age 38, died at Little Compton, along with his mother Lena.

Grace May (Lawton) Perrin, age 58, died at Westerly.

Helena (Buckley) Petrie, age 58, died at Shore Cottage, Quonset Point, North Kingstown, from accidental drowning, along with her mother Ann Buckley. Sister of Amy Charnley?

Huldah Charlotte (Sealander)Pieczentkowsky, age 56, died at North Main Street, Providence, from “crushing injuries to head” during hurricane; chimney fell while sitting in automobile.

Dorothy Pierce, age 44, died at Charlestown.

Manuel A. Pimental, age 30, a gardener, died at Newport from a fracture of the skull after a pole hit him.

Josephine (Lauzon) Pimintel, age 59, a resident of Warwick, died at Barrington.

Ricardo Pimintel, age 60, a fireman/steam boilers, a resident of Warwick, died at Barrington.

Jessie C. Potter, age 60, died at Charlestown.

Nellie Frances (Vickery) Poutray, age 54, died at Misquamicut, Westerly.

Patrick Aloysius Preston, age 68, a bricklayer with the WPA working at Fort Adams, died at Portsmouth.

Elliefair Ruth Price, age 17, a maid at a summer house for two months, died at Westerly.

Marie Anna Katherine (Lueck) Read, age 69, died at Westerly.

*Thomas Redfern, age 75, died at Providence. He was found dead, notes on his death record list probable causes of death to acute cardiac failure caused by physical strain during the storm.

Dorothy Evelyn Reiss, age 22, died at Middletown.

Mabelle (Hill) Reynolds, age 59, died at Charlestown.

Zoel Rhault, age 83, died at Narraganset.

William Leo Riley, aged 61, a ship builder at Ship Yard, died at Providence, accidental drowning during hurricane, His body was washed up in the flood, and found at Providence River at So. Water Street.

Sarah Jane (Kershaw) Rodgers, age 71, died at Portsmouth.

Emily Rushton, age 40, working as a domestic, died at Rivervue, in Warwick.

Charles Albert Sabins, age 53, a fisherman with the estate of Capt. Frank Grinnell, died at Little Compton.

Isabel Arletta Salisbury, age 67, a nurse, died at Bay Spring, Barrington; home swept into Narragansett Bay during hurricane and tidal wave.

Etta Schlegel, age 63, (a printed lists has her age as 59?), died at Tiverton.

Adele (Cilento) Scialo, age 36, a Providence resident, died with her two-year old daughter Louise at Barrington.

Louise Scialo, age 2, died with her mother at Barrington.

Elsie Searles, age 53, died at Newport. A nurse, she had been living in Boston at the time. She is buried in Ontario, Canada.

George Nicholas Sherman, age 64, a fisherman, died at Narragansett. His Find-A-Grave memorial says he lived on the docks at Galilee.

Howard Merrick Smith, age 78, a resident of Lakewood in Warwick, died at Quonset Point, North Kingstown, from accidental drowning.

Margaret Josephine Smith, age 28, a Providence resident and a winder at a woolen mill, died at Barrington

Sarah Hayden (McAdams) Smith, age 76, died of accidental drowning at Narraganset.

Margarida (Andrade) Sousa, age 45, died at Little Compton, along with her husband Vasco.

Vasco Sousa, age 52, died at Little Compton, along with his wife Margarida.

Jessie L. Squires, age 61.

Pauline Stearns, age 48, died by accidental drowning at Charlestown Beach, along with her mother Sarah.

Sarah E. Dow Stearns, age 74, died by accidental drowning at Charlestown Beach, along with her daughter Pauline.

Jacob Stepp, age 70, a retired Navy officer, died at Oakland Beach in Warwick, accidental death by drowning, along with his sister Laura.

Laura Carolina Stepp, age 73, died at Oakland Beach in Warwick, accidental death by drowning, along with her brother Jacob.

Lyra (Kingman) Swan, age 62, died at Westerly.

Margaret (Manning) Sylvester, age 75, died at Allens Harbor, North Kingstown from accidental drowning.

Joseph Wilfred Thereault, age 7 months, died at 26 Bay Ave., Oakland Beach in Warwick.

Martin Thompson, age 70, a retired lighthouse keeper, died at Portsmouth.

John Joseph Thorpe, age 33, died at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, with a fractured skull caused by hurricane. He was struck by a telephone pole while walking on Park street; accident.

Jane Augusta (Jacobs) Todd, age 67, died at Westerly.

Laina K. Uusimaki, age 45, died at Westerly.

Mary (Carter) Wade, age 62.

Daisy (Deraleau) Wakeley, age 38, died along with her husband Harry.

Harry Raymond Wakeley, age 41, died at Narraganset along with his wife Daisy.

Betty (Charlesworth)Walker, age 61, died at Portsmouth.

Helen Walsh, age 37, a resident of Pawcatuck, Conn., died at Westerly.

Alvah Francis Warner, age 64, died at Portsmouth.

Flora Celinda (Armstrong) Waterman. age 56

*Ethel B. Allen Watson

Frank Weeden Weaver, age 63, died at Portsmouth.

Job Scott Weeden, age 75, died at Narragansett, along with his wife Margaret.

Margaret (Anderson) Weeden, age 59, died at Narragansett, along with her husband Job.

Eva V. (Davis) Wellman, age 72, died at Portsmouth.

*Mae Werner

William Henry Whalen, age 50, died at Narragansett.

Nancy Anne (Pearce) Wilbur, age 82, died at Little Compton.

John Downie Wilson, age 53, died at Middletown.

Mae Ella Wischnowsky, age 39, a resident of Providence, died at Barrington.

 

… and others I have yet to locate a grave for*, including (from a list from the Los Angeles Times, whose names may have been misspelled or who may have otherwise been misidentified):

Glen Alby, a Mrs. Ate, Edward Barber,  George Braley, Thomas Cannelan, Rosamond Cole, Robert G. Collinge, Mrs. Currie of Westerly, George Darling of Jefferson Mass who died at Portsmouth; William Fuller of Newport at Block Island; Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Emily Hopkins of Pawtucket; Mrs. William Kuahlthman of New Jersey; Mrs. Landon of Jewett City who died at Westerly; B. I. Lanphere, Mr. and Mrs. Lovelet of Westerly, Herbert Lule, “a Mrs. Mead and two children”, a Mrs. Nazareth of Fall River who died at Portsmouth; John V. Osteline, John Ostermein, Mary Peckham, Richard Peckham – and anyone else I might have missed…

Immortal love

An inscription on a gravestone for Archibald Corden Place, located in Oakland Cemetery, Cranston, Rhode Island; he died in 1882:

I know his face is hid,
Under the coffin lid,
Closed are his eyes – cold is his forehead fair,
My hand that marble felt,
O’er it in prayer I knelt,
Yet my heart whispers that –  he is not here.

 

Dr. Sarah Seal, first woman optometrist in Rhode Island

while photographing gravestones in Lincoln Park Cemetery in Warwick, Rhode Island, I ran across this stone for Dr. Sarah Seal, first woman optometrist in Rhode Island.  I just googled her name, but haven’t yet found more information about her …  I would love to know more about her.

‘Good, smart boy’ was my grandfather

As I continue to scan more items from my family’s treasure trove of papers, ephemera and photos (lucky for me, they never threw anything away!), I found this gem, dated Oct. 1, 1912, from Henry C. Whittier & Co., diamonds importers and designers located at 335 Westminster Street in Providence, Rhode Island, on his company stationery:

“Mr. Geo. F. Weston, City.

Dear Sir,

This will introduce to you my boy at my office, who is desirous of more schooling – kindly look into his case – he is a good, smart boy. James J. Hogan.

Yours very truly,

Henry C. Whittier & Co.”

James Joseph Hogan (senior), born March 10, 1896 in Providence, would one day (after serving in World War I) own his own jewelry store in Washington Park on the Providence – Cranston line.

Apparently he, and later my grandmother and my father, saved this letter of recommendation from 1912 – now more than 100 years old.

More than seventy years later, a WWII-era photograph travels across generations and an ocean to return home

As the number of living World War II veterans continues to dwindle, the importance of documenting their stories is more important than ever.

In 1945, a twenty-year old army veteran of World War II returned to Rhode Island following a stint as a cook, serving under General Patton. He eventually married, built a house in Johnston, and raised seven children.

Federico “Fred” Paolucci, was born in 1925, the son of Italian immigrants. He was the only son and he and his five sisters grew up in North Providence. Fred would have a variety of jobs, including working at Brown & Sharpe, at a fireworks factory, and for the Johnston School Department.

Later in life, Paolucci was well known for his sign art, homemade and hand-lettered folk art-style signs commenting on anything and everything he found interesting in the news of the day. After his retirement from the Johnston schools where he worked at several schools in the maintenance department, he found a hobby. Often using recycled items, he created his sign art in his garage, often while listening to talk radio. The signs were displayed in his yard and on the facade of his garage.

An ocean away from Johnston, Rhode Island, in Tourlaville, France, Jean-Paul Corbet was going through some family photos last year, scanning them.

In uniform, Federico “Fred” Paolucci, age 19

Among them, he ran across a black and white photo of an American GI in uniform. On the back was a name and address written in pencil: Federico Paolucci, 32 Forest Street, Box 77, Centerdale, Rhode Island, USA. [Centredale is a village in northwest North Providence, on the Johnston line.]

“[It] represented a handsome dark GI, a proud soldier taking the pose,” Corbet said in an interview published in a French newspaper. Paolucci was 19 years old at the time.

Curious, he asked his mother, Renee, about the man in the photo.

She told him that Federico was one of the young American soldiers who came to the aid of his grandparents – Paule and Gustave Valognes – and their five children (his mother Renee, Jacqueline, Therese, Paulette and Louis) in 1944.

“When I was young, my grandparents told me their own story and how they have felt the German occupation, the exodus, the liberation,” said Corbet in an email interview from France in January.

“They were simple people, the existential issue for them was live [sic] during this lean time and survive during the exodus. After the 6^th of June, they were civilians on the battle field under the belligerent’s crossfire,” he said of their hunger and constant fear – they were lucky to to be alive. Corbet noted that his wife’s family wasn’t so lucky. “My wife’s dad lost his mother and two young sisters,” he said of the loss of life – 37,000 allies and 20,000 civilians.

The family had been evacuated from their home for two months, and upon their return, Renee and her younger sister Jacqueline were underweight and sick. Both were treated in the American camp. Jacqueline was five years old at the time, and reminded the soldiers of Shirley Temple, recalled Renee. “She became in a way a mascot of the camp,” she told Corbet, recalling that the Americans even organized a Christmas party in December 1944. Among the soldiers the sisters met was Federico Paolucci, a cook at the camp.

Corbet went online to find out what had become of Paolucci, and soon found a memorial for him created by his daughter Vivian (Paolucci) Doyon at a genealogy site called Find-A-Grave. He was saddened to learn that Paolucci had died in 2008. He became determined to return the photo, and contacted Doyon, who now lives in Kernersville, North Carolina.

After corresponding by email in November, he sent Doyon the photo of her dad – which had been “sitting in a box for 74 years” as a Christmas present, enclosing it in a Christmas card.

Doyon, who said her father did not speak much of his World War II service, was thrilled.

“This means a lot to me. This story makes me see my dad through the eyes of another, who has seen him through his mom’s and grandma’s stories,” she said. Already interested in the family genealogy, she is now researching more about her father’s military history.

“It blew my mind that this man knew more about my dad in that time period than I did,” she told a local news reporter. She hopes to one day meet Corbet in person.

Corbet, too, is also interested to hear from other soldiers who were stationed at the camp in Tourlaville, France after the occupation ended.

He is quick to point out the fact that after seventy years, his new friendship with Doyon and her family is symbolic of the friendship between the American GIs and the liberated French people, a friendship that continues to this day.

“Every year in Normandy is commemorated the D-Day. More than a duty of memory, it is a recognition, indestructible, eternal – especially for the inhabitants who lived the operation Overlord. We must see this popular fervor, this immense burst of gratitude, these moments of intense emotion, the tears of the pampered and adored veterans idolized and elevated to the ranks of heroes. Our liberators of yesterday are now our very old friends. They have become, without knowing it, icons, true ex-votos of the friendship between our two nations,” Corbet noted, recalling the story on Feb. 6.

“‘The most true friendship between noble souls is that which has for its knot the respectable link of benefits and recognition’,” he said, quoting Francois-Rodolphe Weiss.

An account of Corbet’s story appeared in a French newspaper and also on a local television news channel in North Carolina.

An English translation of the story that appeared in a French newspaper, featuring a photo of Doyon holding the photo of her father, Federico “Fred” Paolucci.

Jean-Paul Corbet and his mother Renee holding a copy of the French newspaper featuring their story.