Wordless Wednesday - identifying an old photo

Do you have photographs like this?  This is a photocopy of an old photograph, with all the notes from my cousin in Florida, as we were trying to identify all the people! 

So far we have identified this as being taken around 1920, in the backyard of 43 Bartlett Street in Beverly, Massachusetts, the home of Marietta (Healey) Hoogerzeil, my Great Great Grandmother.

Standing from left to right: Eddie? (a Robson cousin?),  Roland Gale Hoogerzeil and his wife Helen (Sullivan) holding baby Roland (b. 1920),  Arthur Russell Hitchings and his wife Ethel (Coleman),  Isabel (Hoogerzeil)  and George Sorenson, Helen (Hitchings) and Herbert T. Robson,

front row:  Lucy May Hoogerzeil holding Muriel Herrick (b. 1913 - cousin to Russell and Helen Hitchings), Marietta (Healey) Hoogerzeil holding Clement Robson (born 1919), Hilda Hoogerzeil (b. 1915 little sister to Roland Gale Hoogerzeil)

The only living person in this photograph is little Muriel, who is now 98 years old!

-----------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not So Wordless Wednesdays- Balch Lake Vacations

Here are some more old family vacation slides I scanned.  It's fun to finally get these old slides out of the basement, out of their old carousel cartidges, and look at them!  It's much easier to share them digitally, than in the old days when we had to set up the projector.

These images are all of vacations at Balch Lake.  Half the lake is in  Acton, Maine, and the other half is in Wakefield, New Hampshire.  My godparents had a family camp that my Dad helped to build in the 1940s, and it is still there.  We had many good memories of vacations up there!

Yours truly, about 1964
Do you remember when going to camp
meant pumping water and using outhouses?

1973 My sister and our dog, Sandy
Her very best Huck Finn impression!

My Dad liked to make a big wave
jumping off the end of the dock!

1975, My grandparents came up to the camp,
but Grampy thought he had driven to the end of the world
from Hamilton, Massachusetts to Balch Lake, Maine.

1975- when life was simple...
We cruised the lake in this little putt-putt motorboat
and thought it was "so cool!"

1976- Every fall Balch Lake would drain,
and we would find stumps and weird things out
where we had been swimming a few months earlier

------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not So Wordless Wednesday- Mending Stockings

In 2008 I was a delegate to the Mayflower Congress in Plymouth, Massachusetts and my husband came along and spent the days wandering museums, beaches and the historic sites nearby.  In getting ready for the 2011 Congress, I found his files of photographs from 2008.  He took hundreds of great photos of Plimoth Plantation, and this one has been on my Facebook photo album for almost three years.  The re-enactor here, Justin Squizzero, found it and used it on his own Facebook page (he's been a re-enactor at Plymouth, Old Sturbridge Village and the Coggeshall Farm Museum and probably other places).  Here he is as a pilgrim, mending a stocking. You can catch a glimpse of a 20th century person in the doorway to the left.

I hope to post more of these photographs soon!

----------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not so Wordless Wednesday- A Cute Little Blondie

My husband, unknown year, unknown place in Spain

He was probably about two or three years old, 1962 or 1963

(this is why its so important to label photos...)

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Not so Wordless Wednesday-  A Cute Little Blondie", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 13, 2011, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/07/not-so-wordless-wednesday-cute-little.html: accessed [access date]). 

Not so Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday, Mom

My mother, with her brothers and a cousin.  This photo was taken in the late 1930s in Hamilton, Massachusetts.  She is looking a little cross in this photo, with her arms posed like this, because she had five brothers and was always being teased! 

On of my favorite stories from my Mom was from when she was probably about the age she was in this photo.  She went around one day and invited the whole neighborhood to her birthday party.  My grandmother was not pleased, but I'm sure my Mom was thrilled that it was her special day!

---------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Mom and Dad in Washington DC - Not So Wordless Wednesday

Remember those Saturday night slide shows, shown the living room wall because we didn't have a proper screen? I guess there was nothing on TV back then, because we always enjoyed the family slide shows more, especially those showing family photos from before we were born!  We would hoot at the fashions and hairstyles, and sigh at the romantic old cars, and remember relatives who were no longer with us.

Recently we scanned these vacation slides.  In the late 1950s my parents chaperoned a teenaged church trip to Washington DC.  Mom was an RN and she was an excellent choice for chaperone. When I was a kid, these were fascinating slides for me, since I didn't go to Washington DC until I was a teenager myself.

Since we grew up in Massachusetts
we always thought Mom looked like
Jacqueline Kennedy in this photo

Don't you love the fashions?

The flag at half staff because someone important had died!
This could be a clue to dating this photo.

How this view has changed!
I noticed right away that the newer Smithsonian Museums
such as the Air & Space, and the Native American Museums
are missing from the right hand side... as well as other buildings

 
--------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Mom and Dad in Mexico, 1959 - Not so Wordless Wednesday

It's summertime!  Let's post some vacation photos from the past...

When my parents first married in 1958 Dad was a salesman for Encyclopdia Britannica.  He won a grand prize of a first class trip to Mexico City and Alcapulco.  This was quite the treat for two young married people from Massachusetts (Mom was about 23 and Dad was 24)!  My mother still talks about the red carpet that was rolled out across the tarmac when they boarded the plane, and how it was rolled up again before the tourist class travelers boarded the plane!

At the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Mom showing off her knees in Bermuda shorts!

My parents' first (and last) bullfight

My Dad always called this photo of Mom
"Esther Williams"

This one makes me laugh because by the 1980s
we still had this towel at home!

-------------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Mystery Ancestors - Not so Wordless Wednesday

Leave a comment if you know the identity of these mystery ancestors!

--------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Nathaniel Hawthorne - Not so Wordless Wednesday

This statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne is located in front of the Hawthorne Hotel, on Washington Square in Salem, Massachusetts.  He was born in Salem on July 4, 1804 and died in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 19, 1864.  According to my Family Tree Maker software data base he is a 4th cousin 5x removed from me.   However, I feel closer to him because he worked at the Salem Custom House as an inspector just before the Civil War, and my 2x great grandfather (Abijah Franklin Hitchings) was the deputy custom inspector there, too.  His wife, Sophia Amelia Peabody is related to me through her Towne ancestors.

At the beginning of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, in the introduction, he describes a custom inspector finding a letter in the archives of the Custom House.  This letter formed the basis for the story of the Scarlet Letter.  I'd like to think perhaps this was a true incident.   Can you imagine, during a quiet moment, two young custom's officials digging through the musty documents looking for something interesting?  Perhaps my ancestor was in on this bit of mischief with Mr. Hawthorne?  It's fun to imagine!

-----------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Ybor City, Tampa, Florida- Not so Wordless Wednesday

Ybor City is a historic neighborhood in Tampa, Florida, named after Vicente Martinez-Ybor, a prominent Spanish born cigar manufacturer.   It was founded by thousands of Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants who flocked there to work in the cigar factories.  It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District.  Many of the old cigar factory buildings have been restored and rennovated as theaters, restaurants, a community college and shops.  Recently several typical small wooden houses of the era were removed from along Interstate 4 and rebuilt near the Ybor City museum and along Columbus Drive.  Each house has a plaque giving it's history.   Old streetcars have been restored to run through the center of Ybor City.

The immigration memorial is located in Centennial Park, across the street from the Ybor City Museum.  The walls surrounding this statue are inscribed with the names of hundreds of immigrant families.   The statue was dedicated in 1992.

The Ybor City Museum

http://www.ybormuseum.org/

located in the 1923 Ferlita Bakery Building

For more information:

http://www.ybor.org/   The Ybor City Chamber of Commerce website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ybor_City   an article about the history of the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa

http://www.tampapix.com/yborimmig.htm  The Ybor City Centennial Park Immigrant Memorial Website

---------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not So Wordless Wednesday

This is what can happen when you bring your daughter back to the country of her grandparent's birth. We took this photograph more than a dozen years ago, in Madrid, Spain. The butcher shop is located in the Plaza Mayor, and we were admiring the suckling pigs for dinner, but she didn't appreciate the humor. However, this is now one of her favorite dishes!

---------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Old Ship Meeting House, Hingham, Massachusetts - Not so Wordless Wednesday



The Old Ship Meeting House
Hingham, Massachusetts 1681

 The congregation in Hingham, Massachusetts was first gathered in 1635. Part of the building that is still standing here was built in 1681, replacing the first very primitive meeting house. It is still being used as a church today. It is the only remaining 17th century Puritan meeting house in the United States. The roof and ceiling beams resemble a ship's structure, and it was probably built by ship's carpenters, which is how it got it's nickname "The Old Ship". The first minister was the Reverend Peter Hobart (1604- 1679), sister to my 9X Great Grandmother Rebecca Hobart (1611-1679) who married Edward Bangs (1591-1678).

typical little pew boxes

the pulpit

the view from the gallery

For more information:

The Old Ship Church Unitarian Universalist website http://oldshipchurch.org/

Behind the Old Ship Church is a lovely old burial ground, and last year I wrote a blog post about one of its more famous grave markers.... http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/01/tombstone-tuesday-angel-of-grief.html

-----------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Wordless Wednesday - I was left speechless!

Seen at Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire...dozens of illegible, broken or misplaced gravestones piled up on top of a boundary wall, and nearby...

click to enlarge
and you will see gravestones on top of the wall

According to Dorothy Goldman of the Friends of Forest Hill Cemetery, this is where the groundskeepers keep the stones as they try to identify the engravings and then replace them in the proper spots. Please be aware that this is Derry's only cemetery, dating back to 1722 with the first burials of the original Ulster Scots settlers in Nutfield, New Hampshire.

http://www.forest-hill-1721.webs.com/ The Friends of Forest Hill Cemetery website

Click here for a previous post about the "First Settlers" buried at Forest Hill Cemetery http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/11/tombstone-tuesday-derrys-first-settlers.html

--------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Plymouth, England - Not so Wordless Wednesday

Last month I left a comment on a blog from England, and the blogger replied and we began a long conversation back and forth via e-mail. Although my original comment was not about Plymouth, or the Mayflower Pilgirms, our conversation developed about the ship the Mayflower II. We were comparing notes about Plymouth, Massachusetts and Plymouth, England.

The Mayflower Steps
where the Pilgrim Fathers disembarked
for the New World

click to enlarge and read the inscription

The Mayflower Steps in the foreground
and modern Plymouth Harbor surrounding it

Photographs copyright: Annie Barnes of Hibbitt Family History http://www.hibbitt.org.uk/

According to Annie: "I thought you might like to have these photos from Plymouth, England. There are lots of references to the Mayflower and the Pilgrims over here. Our local football team (that's soccer to you) is called Plymouth Argyle but it's nickname is the Pilgrims. The memorial is situated on the Barbican which is one of the oldest parts of Plymouth, much of the city having been heavily bombed during WWII."

Annie also adds "Mayflower II was built a few miles up the coast from here in a town called Brixham. It's a pretty little ship but the original must have been very cramped for the Pilgrims. There was an idea muted a few years ago to build another replica and have her moored here in Plymouth at Sutton Harbour where the Mayflower Steps are located but nothing seems to have come of it.

Our Plymouth is a reasonably big city with more than 250,000 people living here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth). It's been a historic port for centuries and continues to accommodate the Royal Navy at Devonport Dockyard. There have been a lot of flats built around Sutton Harbour and the waterfront in general, in the last 20 years or so which has made Plymouth appear even more built-up than what I can remember as a child.

The Barbican is still a popular attraction for tourists with its cobbled streets and the Plymouth Gin Distillery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Gin) is said to be where the Pilgrims spent their last night before leaving on the Mayflower."

Thanks, Annie Barnes!

UPDATE!  -  Annie wrote a complementary blog post at her website, and you can read it at this link:  http://www.hibbitt.org.uk/blog/item/262

-------------
Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Flint Family Portraits - Not so Wordless Wednesday

Last Wednesday I posted a story about the Flint farmhouse in Lyme, New Hampshire.  It was build by Moses Flint, pictured below with his wife.

Elizabeth (Spaulding) Flint (1774- 1850)

Moses Flint (1769 - 1843)

According to Jim Uicker, "(Their paintings are on the wall of my den.) Did you know that Moses brother Samuel lived on the next farm over? I believe that would be the Prout Pond Road. I was there about 15 years ago but couldn't quite identify his house....Family story was that they were painted by a traveling artist who stayed the winter at the farm and painted several family members. If so there are others around that I have not seen. I would think they date from around 1810. They are on homespun canvas. The weave is fairly irregular."

Moses and his brother Samuel built the homestead in Lyme Center. Samuel Flint married Elizabeth's sister, Mary Spaulding, and settled in a nearby homestead in Lyme Center. They are sixth generation descendants of Thomas Flint of Salem Massachusettes (see Flint Genealogical Register):

(1) Thomas Flint and Ann Unknown
(2) Sergeant George Flint and Elizabeth Putnam
(3) Ebenezer Flint and Tabitha Burnap  (Ebenezer is brother to George Flint, my ancestor)
(4) Capt. John Flint and Joanna Farnham, served in the American Revolution
(5) Lieut. John Flint and Molly Worcester, also served in the American Revolution
(6) Moses Flint and Elizabeth Spaulding (portraits above)
(7) George Flint and J. Newhall
(8) Walter Moses Flint and Elizabeth E. Marston
(9) Elizabeth J. Flint and John Joseph Uicker

----------------------
My own Flint ancestry:
(1) Thomas Flint and Ann Unknown
(2) George Flint and Elizabeth Putnam
(3) George Flint and Jerusha Pope
(4) George Flint and Hannah Phelps, served in the American Revolution
(5) Phebe Flint and John Flint
(6) Olive Flint and Luther Simonds Munroe
(7) Phebe Cross Munroe and Robert Wilson Wilkinson
(8) Albert Munroe Wilkinson and Isabella Lyons Bill
(9) Donald Munroe Wilkinson and Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

and also
(1) Thomas Flint and Ann Unknown
(2) Thomas Flint and Mary Dounton (3d wife)
(3) Jonathan Flint and Mary Collston
(4) Jonathan Flint and Lydia Proctor
(5) John Flint and Phebe Flint (same as 5 above)

Thanks to Tom Uicker for the photos of the Flint portraits, and Jim Uicker for his comments.  Tom Uicker provided the Flint genealogy information.

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/01/flint-family-of-lyme-nh-not-so-wordless.html  my story from 26 January 2011 about the Flint Family in Lyme, New Hampshire, with photos of the house.

A Genealogical Register of of the Descendants of Thomas Flint by John Flint and John H. Stone, Andover, Massachusetts: W. F. Draper, 1860.

-----------------
Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Flint Family of Lyme, NH - Not so Wordless Wednesday

Five generations of the Moses Flint Family resided or were born here in this house in Lyme, New Hampshire.

The Flint Homestead on Flint Road

Lyme, New Hampshire 1890s

Built by Moses Flint (1769-1843) about 1794

pictured are the family of George Flint (1805 -1878), his son

The Flint Homestead, 1913

the wife and daughters of Walter Moses

grandson of George Flint

The Flint Homestead, 2003

The husband and children of Dorothy Uicker Winger,

the granddaughter of the youngest child in the above photo.

They were just visiting.  The house was sold when Walter Moses Flint died in 1957.

Gen. 1. Moses Flint m. Elizabeth Spaulding

Gen. 2. George Flint m. J. Newhall

Gen. 3. Moses Lyman Flint m. Mary Abbie Richards

Gen. 4. Walter Moses Flint m. Elizabeth E. Marston

Gen. 5. Elizabeth J. Flint m. John Joseph Uicker

Gen. 6. John Joseph Uicker, Jr.  m. Ann Schumacher (Dorothy's parents)

There is an article in the Manchester Union Leader newspaper, dated 16 November 1903, about the Lyme house being in the Flint family for 100 years.

Thanks to my readers Dorothy Uicker Winger and her uncle, Tom Uicker, for the information and photos.

----------

Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not So Wordless Wednesday - Kissing Bridges

In New England covered bridges are known as “kissing bridges.” You can speculate why they were popular places to request, or to steal, a smooch or two. I suppose that in the old days, a young man would pause his courting buggy in the privacy of a covered bridge to see what would happen next. The tradition lives on.

There is only one covered bridge in Londonderry and one in Derry, New Hampshire, and both are pedestrian bridges only. We have a few winter photos of some kissing bridges to post here....


My daughter (age 3) and Hubby, 1990
Jackson, New Hampshire

My daughter and I, in 2000
Derry, New Hampshire

Hubby and I, 2006
Jackson, New Hampshire

----------------
Copryight 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not so Wordless Wednesday - Fun in the Snow

These photos were all taken sometime before my grandparents married in Hamilton, Massachusetts in 1925. It was possibly photographed in Beverly, Massachusetts, where my grandmother lived before moving to Hamilton. She graduated Beverly High School in 1923, and she looks like a teenager here. The young people are all having fun, and the girls look like they are wearing their brother's or father's trousers for a romp in the snow!

The girls are: my grand mother, Gertrude Hitchings, in the middle
and her sisters Eunice and Millie.
The boys are possibly their brothers Gordon and Hollis?

Millie (1909- 1981), Gertrude (1905 - 2001)
and Eunice Hitchings (1904 - 1985)

My great great Aunt Belle,
Isabelle Hoogerzeil (1888 -1960)

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

Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not So Wordless Wednesday - Snow in New England

It hasn't snowed yet, or enough to cover the ground, so I was inspired to pull out some photographs from years past. Hopefully we'll have a White Christmas this year?

1963 in Rochester, New Hampshire
My Mom and her roommate from Nursing School!

1974 Our house in Holden, Massachusetts

1983, Holden again, with a big
snowdrift on the roof

2001, by our front door
Londonderry, New Hampshire

2005, record snow in Boston
with my daughter and a friend visiting colleges
and the sidewalks were like tunnels!

----------------
Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo