Look what I found on online! A Golden Wedding Announcement for a wedding 110 years ago!

 

From The Daily Item, Lynn, Massachusetts, Tuesday, February 18, 1964, page 15

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The Item Salutes Today

Ex-Stiles St. Couple Note 50th Anniversary

Marking Golden Anniversary are former West Lynn residents, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Pogson. The couple is celebrating 50 years of marriage today at their home, 738 54th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Fla.  Mr. Pogson retired from General Electric Co. River Works in 1952.

(This is the 1360th Greater Lynn couple to be saluted by The Item for having attained a half centry or more of married life.  A handsom illuminated scroll suitable for framing, with the name and marriage date of the couple will be present to them by The Item.  Greater Lynn residents are invited to submit the names of other couples about to observe their golden wedding day.)

A former West Lynn couple, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Pogson, now residing at 738 54th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Fla., are today celebrating their gold wedding anniversary.

Mr. and Mrs. Pogson, who lived 40 years at 31 Stiles St., West Lynn, were married in All Soul's Church in England, Feb. 18, 1914.  Natives of Leeds, England, they came to this country shortly after their marriage.

They have been residing in Folorida since Mr. Pogson's retirement in 1952 from the General Electric Co. River Works, where he had been employed 37 years as a tool and die maker.  Now they return annually to visit their family and spend the Summer at Alton Bay, N.H.

There are four children, Mrs. George Davis and Arthur Pogson, both of Saugus; Miss Beatrice Pogson, who resides with them in St. Petersburg; Mrs. Ernest Tarbox of Millbury and four grandchildren. 

----------------------------------------

My great aunt Hilda Mary Pogson was my grandmother's sister.  She was the eldest of three children of John Peter Bawden Roberts (1865 - 1925) and Emma Frances Warren (1865 - 1927).  Hilda was born 14 May 1891 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, and she died 1 July 1990 in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  Hilda and Herbert Pogson were first cousins.  Herbert's mother, Sarah Anne Roberts was the sister to John Roberts.  Herbert was born 6 August 1889 in Leeds, and died 11 January 1971 in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

This is the All Soul's Hood Memorial Church where they were married.  My grandmother wrote about this church in her diary.  She loved the church and all its social events including Sunday school, the "Needle Brigade" which made things to sell in the church bazaar, and the Girls Friendly Society. This church is still standing in Leeds. 

All Soul's Church 1907

Herbert's parents owned a drapery store in Armsley, a section of Leeds.  In my grandmother's diary she wrote "I remember going over there when I was a little girl.  We used to visit them.  And I loved to go in the store and my uncle would let me measure the ribbons and I thought that wonderful.  It was quite a nice store and they sold a lot of lovely things and they had five girls and just this one boy, Herbert."  Herbert came to Boston in 1911 aboard the ship Franconia, and on the ship manifest he listed his occupation as "mechanic", his father as "Mr. Pogson" and his address as "Ramsey House, Hill Lane, Armsley, Leeds". He also appeared on the ships manifest of the Bohemian on 18 March 1914 (one month after his marriage) with his wife Hilda, and the port of arrival was Boston. 

Some time before 1915 Hilda and Herbert came to Massachusetts and lived at 60 Colon Street in Beverly, Massachusetts.  In 1915 Hilda's parents, brother and sister all came to the United States and lived at 7 Dearborn Avenue, a few blocks from Hilda and Herbert's house.  In 1917 the Pogson family removed to nearby Saugus, Massachusetts. 

I have found several other ship's manifests showing Herbert visiting England in 1920 (with his wife and two small children- Dorothy age 4, and Hilda age 2), 1949, 1957 and 1960.  

Herbert died in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1971and is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery.  When she was widowed Hilda moved from St. Petersburg back to Massachusetts where she lived at her daughter's house until she went to the Bolton Manor Nursing Home in Marlborough.  She died there in 1990 and is buried next to Herbert in St. Petersburg.  I remember visiting with Herbert and Hilda when I was a small child, and I loved to hear them talking in their Yorkshire accents, like my grandmother.    

Photo from the 1970s - from left to right

Hilda (looking at the camera), her eldest daughter Dorothy May, her daughter Hilda Bertha, my grandmother Bertha Louise, and in front is Hilda's youngest daughter Beatrice. 

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Look what I found on online!  A Golden Wedding Announcement for a wedding 110 years ago!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 4, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/look-what-i-found-on-online-golden.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Samuel Roberts, buried 1881, Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom - Tombstone Tuesday

 It's Tombstone Tuesday! Today's tombstone was photographed by Laura Cleaver for the Find A Grave website, at the Leeds General Cemetery in Leeds, Yorkshire England. 

"SAMUEL ROBERTS, WHO DIED JULY 4th 1881

AGED 52 YEARS"

I was surprised to find my 2nd great grandfather's gravestone on the Find A Grave website, and it is the first overseas tombstone I have found.  Samuel Roberts, the son of John Roberts and Hannah Westerman, was born about 1829 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.  He married Mary Anne Stott on 21 March 1853 in Leeds.  She was the daughter of James Stott and Sarah Heseltine, born 29 October 1831 in Leeds and died in March 1912 in Settle, Yorkshire.  Samuel and Mary Anne had ten children, three went to the United States including my great grandfather John Peter Bawden Roberts (1865 - 1925) who immigrated to Beverly, Massachusetts in 1915 via Ellis Island.

Samuel raised his family in the slums of Yorkshire. He worked as a laborer in factories, and according to several census records he was described as an "engine man" or "engineer".  This means he operated machinery in the factory.  He lived in the Woodhouse section of Leeds, in 1871 his residence was 25 Woodhouse Street, and in 1881 his residence was 17 Rhodes Buildings.   His death record lists his occupation as "engine tender".  

Samuel died on 3 July 1881 (according to the death record) and was buried on July 6th.  His gravestone lists the death on July 4th.  The informant was his son Arthur.  There are 14 people listed on the gravestone, all unrelated (I checked).  That seemed strange to me, so I did some investigating online.  What I found was surprising to me as an American, but not so strange to Europeans.   

Leeds in the 19th and early 20th century was a factory town.  The slums were horrific.  I have an oral history recorded on a cassette tape, and narrated by my grandmother, Bertha Roberts (1897 - 1990).  Her stories reminded me of books like Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt. The city was overcrowded with laborers and their families. The cemeteries were overcrowded, too.  

Samuel was buried in a "guinea grave" at the Leeds General Cemetery, also known as Woodhouse Cemetery or Woodhouse Lane Cemetery.   A guinea grave was a grave for 12 - 20 people, and the family paid one "guinea" for this priviledge.  According to a Facebook forum for "Leeds Family History" a guinea was 21 shillings or a little more than a pound in today's money.  Paupers would be buried in a common grave for free.  Thank goodness for these informal genealogy groups on Facebook!  Through this group I was referred to another group "Friends of Woodhouse Cemetery", where I learned more history of this burial ground.  Members of these groups gave me a great history of the guinea graves, and of the slums in the Woodhouse neighborhood. 

UPDATE:  After this blog post was published online on March 12, a woman named Yvonne Sutton and her sister Linda Goodwin read the post and then took more photos of Samuel's gravesite.  Scroll to the bottom to see what she posted on the "Friends of Woodhouse Cemetery" Facebook group!  

The sad thing about the Leeds General Cemetery is that it belongs to the University of Leeds, who removed almost all the gravestones to create a greenspace for their campus known as St. George's Field.  Most of the surrounding area known as Woodhouse is part of the university, too, and the addresses I have from census records for Samuel are now new university housing.  Originally there were over 80,000 burials in this cemetery, most without memorial stones in guinea graves. Very few stones are still there, and the chapel is still standing, so it is a miracle that this stone with Samuel Robert's name survives.

As an American we are not accustomed to the practice of cemeteries without "perpetual care".  I have seen in Spain that bodies are placed in rented niches for a few years, which are later cleaned out and then the niche is rented to another family.  In England the graves are not "perpetual" either, and especially paupers' graves or common graves such as these guinea graves.  

I have not visited the city of Leeds.  I'm hoping to someday see the church where the Roberts family worshipped (All Soul's Hook Memorial), the streets, and this cemetery.  I can find records of other family members in this cemetery, but this is the only one with a photograph of a surviving tombstone. 

This house stood on Rhodes Buildings where Samuel Roberts lived in Leeds, around the time of his death.  Thank you to the Leeds Libraries Leodis website  https://www.leodis.net/   

Updated photos, with kind permission from Yvonne Sutton and Linda Goodwin:

This photo and the maps below will help me to locate the gravesite. The gravestones were all moved, and many buried, to another location, to form the university parkland. 

For the truly curious:

Samuel Roberts at Find A Grave:  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226194619/samuel-roberts  

"Friends of Woodhouse Cemetery" at Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/groups/1765932953450945  

The University of Leeds maintains a website with a database of burials at the Leeds General Cemetery.  Here is a link to the record for Samuel Roberts:   https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/546233/roberts_samuel?selection=Leeds%20General%20Cemetery%20Burial%20Registers%20Index&archiveLocationOfOriginals=433&resultLength=60&resultOffset=7&fbclid=IwAR3f7Jdc43AcKSycGhOQBGoQ1MQfW_Zgi9BvHM-jS_zYEwycpr1iWnaoEn4 

Surname Saturday blog post for the ROBERTS family:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/03/surname-saturday-roberts-of-leeds.html  

This link is part four of a transcription my grandmother's audio tape, describing her childhood in Leeds:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/05/amanuensis-monday-berthas-audio-tape.html  

------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Samuel Roberts, buried 1881, Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom - Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 14, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/03/samuel-roberts-buried-1881-leeds.html: accessed [access date].

The Flying Santa- Edward Rowe Snow

Many years ago I saw a TV newscast about the work of Edward Rowe Snow and the Flying Santa program in New England. It was a service provided by Wiggins Airways, and every time I pass by the Manchester Airport and see the Wiggins sign, I think of the Flying Santas – even in the heat of summer!

Since colonial times the New England lighthouses were manned by families. In 1929 William Wincapaw started a tradition of dropping presents from Santa from planes to children of lighthouse keepers. In the footage I saw on the television special, most of these lighthouses were on isolated islands or other inaccessible points of land. Over the years the program was expanded to more lighthouses and Coast Guard stations. Edward Rowe Snow participated in the program for more than forty years as a pilot.  He paid for the gifts – a toy, a candy cane, and a copy of his latest book – out of his own pocket.

Edward Rowe Snow is a familiar name to New England Yankees. He attended Harvard, and studied under historian Samuel Eliot Morrison, who was a maritime expert. Snow wrote over 100 books on the maritime history of New England, with subjects as wide as pirates and ship wrecks. There is a boat named for him plying the waters of Boston Harbor, and providing ferry service to George’s Island and the state parks. He was a driving force behind saving Fort Warren, on George’s Island as part of the state park system. He led ghost story tours of the Civil War fort, and used to tell the story of the “Lady in Black”, which I think of every time we are in the dark tunnels there!

Snow served as a Flying Santa from 1936 to 1980, and some years he brought his little girl, Dolly, along for the rides to help drop the packages to the children waiting below. She loved to see the faces of the island children when her father buzzed the lighthouses. When a memorial to Snow was established in 2000, a granite marker was placed at the pavilion for tourists on George’s Island, and the plaque reads “Author, historian, and ‘Flying Santa’ to lighthouse keepers, Edward Rowe Snow was the president of the Society for the Preservation of Fort Warren and led the fight to preserve the fort as a public park. The presence of Edward and his wife, Anna-Myrle, will always be felt on George’s Island.” Dolly Snow Bicknell, his daughter, was part of the memorial committee.

At the dedication of the memorial marker Seamond Ponsart Roberts read a letter about how when she was little, Snow dropped a gift from Santa on Cuttyhunk Island, where her father was lighthouse keeper. Inside the package, the doll broke during the fall from the plane. The next year Snow personally rented a helicopter and directly handed her a new doll. She wrote, “He is my Flying Santa, a man I’ll love forever. I know this because I know he cared very much for people and gave of himself. I hope this will be a big part of what people remember him for when they see this monument to Edward Rowe Snow.”

Eventually, lighthouses became automated and children were no longer living on the isolated islands off New England. Now helicopters provide the flights as a tradition to Coast Guard stations as a gift of thanks for the work performed by these brave men and women. Edward Rowe Snow’s tradition is still alive, and being carried on by George Morgan and the Friends of the Flying Santa.

I learned about Edward Rowe Snow because I had a Civil War ancestor who served six months as a guard at Fort Warren on George’s Island, when it was a prisoner of war camp. We enjoyed several Civil War reenactments and encampments on George’s Island, and my daughter (she is now 32 years old!) used to love exploring the tunnels of Fort Warren and searching for the Lady in Black when she was little. Only later did I find out that one of my favorite historians was also the “Flying Santa!”

Also, when you visit the Boston Harbor islands, you are onboard a ferry named "The Edward Rowe Snow"!  Look for this ferry which is usually moored near the New England Aquarium at Long Wharf when it isn’t out in the harbor.

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A Mayflower Lineage:                 

Gen 1: Nicholas Snow, born 25 January 1598 in England, died 15 November 1676; married to Constance Hopkins, daughter of Mayflower Passenger Stephen Hopkins and Constance Dudley, born before 11 May 1606 and died October 1677.

Gen 2: John Snow, born about 1638 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, died 1692 in Eastham, Massachusetts; married 19 September 1667 to Mary Smalley, born 1647.

Gen. 3: John Snow, born 3 May 1678; married to Elizabeth Ridley

Gen 4: Isaac Snow, born 11 February 1713/4 in Eastham, died 15 February 1799; married to Apphia Atwood

Gen 5: Reverend Elisha Snow, born 26 March 1739, died 30 January 1832; married on 6 December 1759 at Cape Elizabeth, Maine to Betsey Jordan.

Gen. 6: Elisha Snow, born 29 May 1769, died 20 January 1843;  married Nancy McKown as his second wife.

Gen. 7: Larkin Snow, born 27 September 1799 in Maine, died on 19 October 1861; married Alice Small

Gen. 8: George L. Snow, born in 1828 in Rockland, Maine, died 1891 in Rockland; married to Lucy Ann Snow (also descended from Nicolas Snow, common line through Isaac Snow (above), she descended from Elisha's (1739 -1832) brother Robert- so they were 2nd cousins).

Gen. 9. Edward Sumpter Snow, born 26 April 1861 in Rockland, Maine  and Alice Rowe

Gen. 9: Edward Rowe Snow, born 22 August 1902 in Winthrop, Massachusetts, died 10 April 1982; married on 8 July 1932 to Anna-Myrl Haegg. One daughter, Dorothy (Dolly) Caroline Snow. He is buried in Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts and his grave can be seen at www.findagrave.com #7295384 Snow’s gravestone is beautifully engraved with a lighthouse!  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7295384/edward-rowe-snow

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For more information:

Friends of Flying Santa:   https://www.flyingsanta.org/ 

http://www.flyingsanta.com/HistoryOrigins.html

The History of the Flying Santa program (including a cute photo of little Seamond Ponsart and Santa Snow!)

http://www.lighthousedepot.com/lite_digest.asp?action=get_article&sk=862&bhcd2=1260326585

This article from the archives of ‘Lighthouse Digest’ has the letter from Seamond Ponsart Roberts.

http://www.nha.org/pdfs/hn/HistoricNan-Winter2008.pdf 

Historic Nantucket Magazine, from the Nantucket Historical Association, Winter 2008, Volume 57, No. 1, page 18, an article entitled “Flying Santa: Edward Rowe Snow and the Romance of History”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgvr2gsjlJM

Santa tells about the Flying Santa Program

http://www.jacksjoint.com/xmasmemories.htm

A story written by Seamond Ponsart Roberts herself about her beloved Santa Snow

A delightful children’s book about Edward Rowe Snow, The Lighthouse Santa, written by Sara Hoaglund Hunter, 2011

https://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Santa-Sara-Hoagland-Hunter/dp/1611680069/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+lighthouse+santa&qid=1576672861&s=books&sr=1-1

From Harvard Magazine, a 2012 article about the life of Edward Rowe Snow, class of 1932, “Edward Rowe Snow: Brief life of a “Flying Santa”: 1902 – 1982”  https://harvardmagazine.com/2012/01/vita-edward-rowe-snow 

This is an updated version of the original blog post which was posted in 2009:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/advent-calendar-flying-santa-edward.html  

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “The Flying Santa- Edward Rowe Snow”, Nutfield Genelealogy, posted December 21, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-flying-santa-edward-rowe-snow.html: accessed [access date]). 

"The School of Life" for Bill West's Annual Genealogy Poetry Challenge

My grandmother reading in our living room in Holden, MA

This poem and blog post are for Bill West's eleventh annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge  https://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2019/09/announcing-eleventh-annual-great.html
Bill will be posting all the submissions on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 21st, 2019.  These poems should make great reading while you are waiting for your turkey in the oven!

This poem was written by my grandmother, Bertha Louise (Robert) Wilkinson, who was born 30 September 1897 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.  She immigrated (through Ellis Island) in 1915 with her parents and brother to join her married sister in Beverly, Massachusetts.  She raised three boys in Beverly, including my father, and later in life she retired to Long Beach California.  She lived near my uncle, who had married a member of the LDS church. My grandparents also joined the LDS church upon moving to California, which might have inspired this poem? [I've included this poem with her spelling and punctuation]


The School of Life  -  by Bertha Wilkinson

This World is like a great big school
Each child his lesson, each child his rule
Just like the school there is the class
Through which each and every soul must pass.

We all begin to learn from birth
And also have our joy and mirth
Our Master, the Divine One knows
When we are drawing to a close.

Who knows but what the life each hath,
May be the continuance of a path
Some children older than the others
May help along their younger brothers.

So step by step we tread the way
Inspired by teachers of an earlier day
The truth is found in everything
So each heart and soul can sing.

Old souls, young souls, we journey on
To reach the goal that must be won
When we have reaped what we have sown
Then we shall know as we are known.

Experience, a teacher we must obey
And gather knowledge from day to day
Through fire, mud, doubt and fear,
To God at last we will be near.

So when at last we graduate
We'll conquer death and laugh at fate
Then we shall stay in Heaven with God
To guide the others through the clod.


---------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, ""The School of Life" for Bill West's Annual Genealogy Poetry Challenge", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 1, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-school-of-life-for-bill-wests.html: accessed [access date]).

1968 Plymouth, Massachusetts - Photo Friday

Thanks to Vincent and my cousin once removed, Rob Wilkinson, for digitizing these slides from the collection of my grandparents, Donald Wilkinson (1895 - 1977) and Bertha Roberts (1897 - 1990).  Grammy and Papa Wilkinson must have been visiting with friends of relatives because there is a mystery woman in some of these photos I cannot identify.

What I love about these photos is thinking about my grandfather, Don Wilkinson, and how surprised he would have been if he knew he was descended from four Mayflower passengers.  No one in our family knew that his mother, Isabella Lyons Bill (1863 - 1935) had parents born in Nova Scotia but descended from the Mayflower passengers John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, and her parents John Tilley and Joan Hurst.

The Plymouth, Massachusetts harbor hasn't changed much in the fifty years since these photos were taken.  The Plymouth Rock pavilion is unchanged.  The Mayflower II now has it's own pavilion with a mini museum.  The statue of Massasoit  seems to be in a different location than it is now (at the little park on Carver Street at the base of Leyden Street).  There seem to be more trees along the waterfront nowadays.  But even the gift shops appear to look the same.

My grandmother, Bertha (right) and unknown friend
in front of the historical marker for Plymouth Rock 1968

The Plymouth Rock pavilion on Plymouth Harbor 1968

My grandparents (to the right) and the mystery
friend (left in blue) in front of Plymouth Rock

My grandparents and other tourists gazing down at Plymouth Rock.
This is when most people say "Is that all it is?"

My grandfather, Donald Wilkinson, in front of the
statue to Massasoit.

The Mayflower II 1968
This park now has gardens and large shady trees, and museums

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "1968 Plymouth, Massachusetts - Photo Friday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 2, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/08/1968-plymouth-massachusetts-photo-friday.html: accessed [access date]).

The 8th Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge

The house where I grew up in Holden, Massachusetts 

Today is National Poetry Day in the United Kingdom.  I couldn't find a similar Poetry Day for the United States, so I'm going with October 6th for this blog post.  It's especially fitting because the poem I'm posting is from my grandmother, Bertha (Roberts) Wilkinson, who was born on 30 September 1897 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.  I've featured many of her poems for Bill West's Great Genealogy Poetry Challenges in previous years, and here is another one.

Bertha loved to write poems about New England, nature and especially the seasons.  I've posted one about springtime, and one about the bicentennial, and here is one about winter.  It's a little early to be thinking about winter, but apparently Bertha liked winter in New England.  I'm sure that winters in her adopted city of Beverly, Massachusetts were colder and snowier than in Leeds, but she seemed to find all that fun!


Winter in New England

Winter's here, no doubt about it.
     Glad that all our storm boots fit.
Get out the woolen scarf and hat,
     Glove and mittens - stuff like that.

Now the house with good roof on it,
     Fitting snugly, like a bonnet,
Storm doors, windows fitting tight,
     Chimney cleaned and fireplace bright.

Soon the falling snow we'll see
    On the roof, the lawn, the tree
As though touched by magic wand
     Turning all to fairy land.

Snow has fallen through the night.
    Children wake up with delight.
Edged with ermine, fence and gate,
    Bird bath filled up like a plate.

Dressed warmly with a shout.
    Let us get the shovel out!
Make a path from door to street.
    Now the neighbor's children greet.

Making snowballs, having fun.
     Then the lessons- school is done.
Hurry home as fast as can,
     Make a snow fort or big snow man.

Supper time and night is here.
     Fire is burning, making cheer.
At the fireplace with the most
    of the marshmallows we'll toast.

Now the children's prayers are said.
    They will jump into their bed
Thinking of the lovely way
     They have spent a winter's day.



An announcement for participation in the 8th Great Genealogy Challenge, by Bill West.  The deadline is November 17th:
http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2016/09/he-seventh-annual-great-genealogy.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The 8th Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 8, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-8th-annual-great-genealogy-poetry.html: accessed [access date]). 

7 Dearborn Avenue, Beverly, Massachusetts

My cousin recently sent me a large box of documents and photos that had belonged to my grandparents.  Among the photos were many of 7 Dearborn Avenue in Beverly, Massachusetts.  Four generations of our family lived here, including me!

7 Dearborn Avenue

(nice photo of the street)

September 1962

You can see my Dad on the sidewalk

with his rolling golf bag

September 1962

That's me in the stroller!

This one was labeled on the back

"Heather Christmas 1962"

This one was labeled on the back, but undated

"Susan and Bertha"

Susan is my first cousin,

Bertha is our grandmother

This Purchase and Sale agreement is between my grandparents and my parents, dated 20 September 1962 (around the same time as the top three photographs were taken).  They sold the house to my Dad for $13,500, and then retired to Long Beach, California.  Inside this paperwork was a description of the sale to my grandmother from her parents dated 4 October 1930.  

My grandparents were married in this house on Thanksgiving Day, 26 November 1925.  I have no photographs of their wedding, but my grandmother described the day "I married Don and his people were very nice to us.  And when we got married we just had a quiet family wedding.  I still kept on working for a while.  And of course we were married on a Thanksgiving Day 1926.  I think the date was November 25th, 1926.  I remember that day was quite hectic but we had the family, and an Episcopalian minister married us.  We went to Boston for just a couple of days.  My sister stayed with my mother and then I kept on working.  Oh, when we went away for our honeymoon Don's sister tried to pull away his suitcase for him.  And he kept hanging on to it and he got a black eye from the door banging into his eye.  So he had a black eye on our honeymoon and people joked about that but he really didn't feel a bit good. And Don's cousin gave us tickets to see "The Student Prince" and then we went to the "Miracle" while we were in Boston."  [from a tape recorded conversation with Bertha Wilkinson made by my uncle, Richard Wilkinson, sometime in the 1970s]. 

I hereby certify that on the

twenty sixth day of

November 1925

I joined together in Holy wedlock

Donald M. Wilkinson

and

Bertha Louise Roberts

in Beverly, Massachusetts

according the laws of the State of Massachusetts

                            Signed by me

             Eugene J. V. Theiqueau

          Rector, St. Peter's Church

Witnesses:                                                     

Ellen Thornton Roberts      [John's neice, daughter of Harry Roberts]     

William John Blades   [future brother-in-law (married Janet Wilkinson, 

               Donald's sister]                                

My grandmother's parents, John Peter Bowden Roberts and Emma Warren, emigrated from England with two of their children in 1915. Their daughter, my great aunt Hilda, had married and was living in Beverly, along with one of John's brothers, Harry Roberts.   They first lived in a boarding house at 60 Colon Street (around the corner).  By the 1920 census, John and Emma were living in the house on 7 Dearborn Avenue in Beverly, and were listed as the homeowners. 

Generation 1: John Peter Bawden Roberts, son of Samuel Roberts and Mary Anne Stott, born August 1865 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, died 23 August 1925 at 7 Dearborn Avenue, Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 24 May 1890 at St. Clement's church, Sheepscar, Leeds to Emma Frances Warren, daughter of Obed Thomas Warren and Betsey Hannah Stimson.  She was born about 1865 in Peterborough, England and died 1927 in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Four children.  My great grandparents.

Generation 2:  Bertha Louise Roberts, born 30 September 1897 in Leeds, died 17 March 1990 in Long Beach, California; married on 26 November 1926 at 7 Dearborn Avenue, Beverly, Massachusetts to Donald Munroe Wilkinson, son of Albert Munroe Wilkinson and Isabella Lyons Bill.  He was born 23 October 1895 in Salem, Massachusetts, and died 24 July 1977 in Long Beach.  Three sons.  My grandparents.

Generation 3:  John Warren Wilkinson, born 3 January 1934 in Beverly, died 7 August 2002 in Worcester, Massachusetts- my father.

Generation 4:  Me!  I lived at 7 Dearborn Avenue from 1962 until 1969.  We removed to Holden, Massachusetts.

My Dad (the baby) and his two brothers, 1934,
in front of 7 Dearborn Avenue, Beverly, Massachusetts

For the truly curious:

Who was living at 7 Dearborn Avenue for the 1940 census?
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-first-peek-at-1940-census.html

Easter 1965 at 7 Dearborn Avenue:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/happy-easter-1965.html

Four sets of twins on Dearborn Avenue in the 1940s
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/photo-friday-twins-from-beverly.html  

7 Dearborn Avenue, 2016

photo by my cousin Susan Wilkinson Parker,

pictured above in the undated photo 

------------------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "7 Dearborn Avenue, Beverly, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 22, 2016, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/7-dearborn-avenue-beverly-massachusetts.html: accessed [access date]).

A Treasure box of Documents, Ephemera and Photographs from a Dear Cousin

My dear first cousin, Lani Wilkinson, sent me this treasure box recently.  Her parents both died recently, within a year of each other, and Lani and her sister Debbie are cleaning out the house.  She was kind enough to think of me when they uncovered a lot of paperwork and unidentifiable photographs, and sent me this big box of goodies.

This branch of the Wilkinson family lives in California.  When my grandparents retired, they sold the family house in Beverly, Massachusetts, where four generations had lived, to my Dad.  They went out to California to live with my uncle and cousins.

Since my cousins lived on the West Coast and only visited Massachusetts a few times, they could not identify many of the photos.  I've been working through the photographs, with the help of some of my New England first cousins, to label all the subjects.

My grandmother's naturalization.  She was originally naturalized in Salem,
Massachusetts in 1936,  This certificate was issued in 1963.

The documents and ephemera held no surprise, and have not led to any new genealogical discoveries, but they are some wonderful items including my grandmother's naturalization papers, and her father's (my great grandfather!) naturalization.  There are deeds including the house in Beverly where all those generations lived.  The usual death records, marriage records and other vital records which will be so helpful for some upcoming supplemental Mayflower lineage applications I would like to file.  (I've been waiting for some death certificates from California, and now I have them!)

From left to right, back row -
Dorothy Pogson Davis , Hilda Roberts Pogson, Bertha Roberts Wilkinson (my grandmother), Bertha Pogson Tarbox, Marion Hurd Pogson (wife of Arthur Pogson)
front row - "Beaty" Beatrice Pogson

Some of the old photos are of the Roberts family, which arrived from Leeds, Yorkshire, England via Ellis Island in 1915.  My great grandparents, John Peter Bowden Roberts (1865 - 1925) and Emma Frances Warren (1865 - 1927), immigrated with my great uncle Horace and grandmother Bertha Louise Roberts (1897 - 1990).  They came to Beverly, Massachusetts to join their daughter, my great aunt Hilda (1891 - 1990), who had married a first cousin, Herbert Pogson (1889 - 1971).  Some members of the Roberts and Pogson family had immigrated to Massachusetts before them.  Grammy used to visit these relatives on her visits to New England. It will be fun trying to pick out "who is who" in these photos from the 1940s through the 1980s.

Bertha Louise Roberts and Donald Munroe Wilkinson
4 September 1971
My paternal grandparents

As a teenage genealogist I was lucky that I had the chance to discuss the family tree with my grandmother in the 1970s and 1980s.  I wish I knew then all the tips and research ideas I now know.   I think it was all my grandmother's stories about England and Ellis Island that originally contributed to my being bitten by the genealogy bug.

My grandmother's birth record from Leeds, Yorkshire 30 September 1897

And so, all my grandparents precious photos were passed on to my uncle, and then to my cousins, who thought of me when they found them.  I promise to take good care of them for the future generations.  I look forward to posting more photographs and stories as I sort through the treasure box.

Mom and Me, 1963 Easter
I'd never seen this photograph before! What fun!

Thank you for thinking of me, Lani!  We can't wait to see you here in New England later this year!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Treasure box of Documents, Ephemera and Photographs from a Dear Cousin", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 12, 2016, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-treasure-box-of-documents-ephemera.html:  accessed [access date]).

Baby's Lullaby, by Bertha Roberts Wilkinson

My daughter and my new granddaughter

Baby’s Lullaby

Softly the night shadows steal across the sky,

Back to their home nests, the birds swiftly fly.

The flower are folding their petals so soft.

The sea is the only one loud and storm tossed.

But. baby of mine, the storm will subside

And the splashing will cease with the ebb of the tide.

So Mother will gently rock baby to rest

Then send you to sleep with the sun in the west.

Then the moon will shine on with her gentle light

To guide you my darling on Fairy Land’s flight.

The angels will take you and sing to you sweet,

Then bring you back home in their magic fleet.

When Mother will take you once more in her arms

You will tell her the wonders, the love and the charms.

How they showed them to you through wonderful dreams

Then brought you back safely from out of your dreams.

This poem was written by my grandmother, Bertha Louise (Roberts) Wilkinson (1897 - 1990).  My grandmother attended school only until about age 12 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.  She had to go to work at age 12 as an under nurse to a children's nanny in a vicarage in Leeds.  She immigrated to Massachusetts, through Ellis Island, in 1915.  She didn't marry my grandfather, Donald Munroe Wilkinson (1895 - 1977) until 1926, when she was nearly 30 years old.  In an oral history of her life she recorded on tape she said that she was anxious to marry and have children, but her parents were ill and she had to care for them.  Her first baby, my Uncle Robert, was born after her father had died and the same year her mother passed.  My father was born when she was nearly 40 years old. 

Bertha Wilkinson

She must have loved being a mother to her own babies after being a nursemaid.  I'm sure she would have loved to meet her great great granddaughter, my own grandchild, pictured above.  Grammy Bertha wrote many poems, and I have posted them here for Bill West's Genealogy Poetry Challenge.  This year is the 7th annual poetry challenge.  You can find more information at this link: 
http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-seventh-annual-great-genealogy.html   




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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Baby's Lullaby, by Bertha Roberts Wilkinson", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 16, 2015, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/11/babys-lullaby-by-bertha-roberts.html: accessed [access date]).