Tombstone Tuesday ~ Deacon Caleb Wallis, died 1780 ringing the church bell, and his wife

This Tombstone was photographed in the "Ancient Burial Ground" or Abbott-Hale Cemetery in Beverly, Massachusetts

IN

Memory of

Deacon CALEB WALLIS

who suddenly departed

this life Febry 9th, 1780

Aged 53 years

Come hither mortals cast an eye,

And go they way prepare to die;

Here read your doom for die you must

One day like me return to dust.

In Memory of

Mrs. Rebecca Wallis

wife of

Deacon Caleb Wallis

who departed this Life,

Sepr. 25th, 1786

Aged 62 years.

Deacon Caleb Wallis was born 14 May 1727 in Beverly, and died suddenly on 9 February 1780 while ring the “old South bell”.  He married Rebecca Giles on 24 November 1752 in Beverly.  She was the 2x great granddaughter of the immigrant Edward Giles (about 1610 – about 1656), who was also my 10^th great grandfather.   She was the daughter of Eleazar Giles and Rebecca Chapman, born on 5 November 1734 in Beverly, and died 25 September 1796 in Beverly.  They had at least one son, Bartholomew Wallis (1753 – 1828) who married Judith Wood.

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Deacon Caleb Wallis, died 1780 ringing the church bell", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 13, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/tombstone-tuesday-deacon-caleb-wallis.html: accessed [access date]). 

My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 27 November 23 – December 31, 1920

1975  Gertrude (in the blue dress) celebrating
her 50th wedding anniversary with her husband, Stanley Allen,
and all seven children

This is the 27^th and the last blog post with transcriptions of my grandmother's 1920 diary from Beverly, Massachusetts.  For 27 Mondays in a row I posted a small section of this little diary.  My grandmother's name was Gertrude Hitchings (1905 - 2001) and she lived on Elliott Street in 1920.  Her diary is a tiny 3" book with minuscule handwriting.  It has taken me a long time to transcribe, and the book is very fragile.  It has missing and torn pages, and the end of the book is gone.  This is the end of this project with these December 1920 pages.  You can read the first installment HERE.

TUES. NOV 23, 1920

Up at 6.45 rained hard

all day didn’t go

to school.  Home all after

noon at 4 went down to Helens

took car of Clemont.  Ellsworth

brought us home in the auto

went to bed at 11.30

WEDNESDAY 24

Up at 6.45 went to school

had short periods home

at 12.15  home all afternoon

Mr. Lowell over.  After supper

Played cards with Mr. L.

Pa & Eunice.  Bed at 10.25

THURSDAY 25

Up at 8 stayed around

the house all day it

snows hard. Russell, Ethel

and Mr. Lowell over all day

same all evening bed at 10.

NOTE:  On Tuesday Gertrude watched her baby nephew, Clemont, son of her eldest sister Helen, who had just turned 1 year old.  Her brother-in-law, Ellsworth, brought her home.  Wednesday was a short day at school because Thursday was Thanksgiving.  Gertrude didn’t mention the holiday at all, but she said it snowed hard, and her brother Russell was there all day with his new wife, Ethel, and the boarder Mr. Lowell.

FRI. NOV 26, 1920

Up at 7.45 got an awful

cold stayed home all the

morning.  After dinner

took a walk up the store.

Stayed at home all the

evening and read

Went to bed at 7.45

SATURDAY 27

Up at 7.45 stayed around

the house all the morn

ing and all the afternoon

Mr. Lowell over.  After supper

we went over to Mrs.

Butler’s and played cards

Went to bed at 11.

SUNDAY 28

Up at 8.45 stayed home

all morning  Helen, Ellsworth

and Baby up all day. After

dinner went to walk with Ida

???[missing]  Ma went to ??

?????[missing] Bed at 9.00

NOTE:   Gertrude is home sick with a cold on Friday, but on Saturday she went to Mrs. Butler’s house, the neighbor, and played cards.  On Sunday her sister Helen, brother-in-law Ellsworth and their baby, Clemont, were up to visit.  She went for a walk with her friend Ida.

MON. NOV. 29, 1920

Up at 6.45 school all the

morning home at 1.15

After dinner Eunice and

I walked up to Ethel’s

and back stayed home

all evening studying

Went to bed at ??? [missing]

TUESDAY 30

Up at 6.45 ???

??? had a ??? home

at 1.15 stayed at home

all the afternoon and

all evening ??

Went to bed at 10.30

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1

Up at 6.45 went to school all

Morning home at 1.15

Stayed at home all after

Noon rained all day. ??

All evening and tatt [missing]

???[missing]

NOTE:     Most of the text in this section is missing.  Gertrude was at school, and went to visit her sister-in-law Ethel with her sister Eunice.  The last thing I can read looks like she was tatting again.  She loved to knit and tat, and mentioned it many times through out this little diary.  It’s difficult to read these last pages.   All the pages from December 2^nd through December 19^th are missing.  It would have been fun to read about Christmas 1920!

MON. DEC. 20, 1920

Up at 6.45 went to

school all morning home at

1.15.  After dinner went

skating up to “blackbird”

great skating.  Went skating

after supper up there

Went to bed at 10.30

TUESDAY 21

Up at 6.45 went to school

had a ?? class ?? home at

1.15 went skating all afternoon

and all evening up to

blackbird  home at

10.  Went to bed at 10.15

WEDNESDAY 22

Up at 6.45 went to school

all morning.  After dinner

Eunice & I went to Salem

shopping.  After supper

went skating home at 9.45

[went] to bed at 10.

NOTE:  I’m not sure about the reference to “skating up to “blackbird””   There was a pen business named Blackbird in the Beverly City Directory (F. H. Blackbird)    It appears it must have been a very cold December if they were ice skating already!    

WED. DEC 29, 2910

Up at 8.15 stayed home all

the morning.  After dinner

went sledding over to the links

also went skiing over the meadow

after supper went sledding

over to ??? until

9.20 Went to bed at 10.

THURSDAY 30

Up at 8.30 stayed home [all]

the morning. After dinner

Sybil & Hilda come up went

sledding over the meadow but

it was not good.  Went sledding

after supper over to the golf

links.  Went to bed at 10.

[Update:  Thanks to reader Laurie Stevens from Beverly for helping with the transcriptions of this page!]

FRIDAY 31

Up at 7.45 stayed home all

morning and worked.  Stayed

around the house all afternoon

Ida came over.  After supper [missing]

To the Logan’s New Year’s Party

??? [missing]

NOTE:  More skating, sledding and skiing.  It must have been an early winter in Beverly.  Gertrude mentions sledding on the golf links.  They lived on Elliott Street, near the United States Shoe Corporation golf course, which is now the Beverly municipal golf course.  There was a party for New Year’s Eve.

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

This is the end of Gertrude’s diary, but not the end of the story.  Three years later, in 1923, the Hitchings family moved from Beverly to nearby Hamilton, Massachusetts.  Gertrude never finished her last year of high school because of this move.  However, on Valentine's Day 1925 she had married the boy next door, my grandfather Stanley Elmer Allen (1904 – 1982).   They had five boys and two girls who all grew up in Hamilton on Roosevelt Avenue.

Stanley worked at several estates in the area, and then spent 40 years working as a glazier for the US Shoe Corporation in Beverly, the same place Gertrude's father had worked as a draftsman when she lived in Beverly.  Both of my grandfathers and two great grandfathers worked at "The Shoe".  My other grandmother, Bertha Wilkinson,  worked there as a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II, but my Nana, Gertrude, stayed home to watch her seven children.  My father worked at "The Shoe" as a security guard to help pay for college.  Many other uncles and cousins worked at "The Shoe". 

Gertrude died on 3 November 2001, she was 96 years old and out lived her husband by nineteen years.  She had seven children, twenty nine grandchildren and thirty five great grandchildren who all called her "Nana".  Up until she was in her eighties she still knitted mittens and other items for everyone in the family each Christmas.  

You can read my "Surname Saturday" post for the HITCHINS lineage here:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/surname-saturday-hitchings-of-lynn.html

You can read my "Surname Saturday" post for the ALLEN family here:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/09/surname-saturday-allen-of-manchester.html  

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 25, Part 27 November 23 – December 31, 1920”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 29, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/my-grandmothers-diary-part-27-november.html: accessed [access date]).

Bridget PLAYFER WASSELBEE OLIVER BISHOP, hanged as a witch in Salem on this day 325 years ago

Examination of a Witch, by T.H. Matteson 1853

Surname Saturday ~ PLAYFER

Hanged as a witch 325 years ago today.  Bridget Bishop was the first person hanged in the 1692 Salem witch hysteria.

Bridget Bishop, my 9^th great grandmother, is of unknown origin.  She married Samuel Wasselbee on 13 April 1660 at the church of St. Mary in the Marsh, in Norwich, Norfolk County, England.  She had two children named Wasselbee, Benjamin baptized in Norwich, and Mary’s birth recorded in Boston in 1665 as the daughter of “Samuel dec. & Bridget Wesselbee late of Norwich in England”.  I don’t know if Samuel died in England or Massachusetts.

On 26 July 1666 she married Thomas Oliver in Salem, Massachusetts.  He was also from Norwich, England.  She had a daughter named Christian Oliver, my 8^th great grandmother.  Apparently this was a contentious marriage, and the couple was sentenced in 1678 to stand gagged in public for fighting and arguing. Oliver died and  In 1680 Bridget received her first accusation of witchcraft as a widow.

About 1685 Bridget remarried for a third time to Edward Bishop. This was also his third marriage.  His first wife was Hannah UNKNOWN, and they were my 9^th great grandparents, through their son, Edward Bishop (1648- 1711) my 8^th great grandfather.  You can read about this lineage at this link: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-bishop-of-salem.html

Edward Bishop was an older, well respected man who was a founder of the church in Beverly, Massachusetts.   On 18 April 1692 he accused his third wife of witchcraft “The Devil did come bodily unto her, and that she was familiar with the Devil, and that she sat up allnight long with the Devil”.  Soon other witnesses brought forth similar charges.  Bridget was accused of using “poppets” or dolls to bewitch victims, and of killing a baby in its cradle. She underwent the humiliation of having her body examined for marks made by the devil and "witches teats". She was tried on June 2, found guilty, and on 10 June 1692 she was the first hanging victim of the witch hysteria.

During 1692 many people were accused and imprisoned under charges of witchcraft.  There are many, many books and resources for the witch trials.  You can read social and local historians’ versions of what happened in Salem, the trials and the executions. What is more difficult to uncover is genealogical information on this family.  In 1867 Charles W. Upham wrote a book Salem Witchcraft: With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft.  This book confuses Sarah (Wildes) Bishop with Bridget Bishop.  Sarah Bishop, a tavern owner, was the wife of Edward Bishop’s son, Edward, Jr. This mistake has been repeated in many articles and books about Bridget Bishop and her trial. 

The court of Oyer and Terminer, which conducted the Salem Witch Trials, was disbanded in October 1692.  In 1693 Governor Phips granted several pardons to accused witches.  Over 70 people had been tried as witches, and 19 were executed.   More than 200 people had been accused.   In 1711 the state of Massachusetts cleared the names of the accused, and offered monetary restitution, but the Bishop family did not accept the settlement.  Bridget’s daughter, Christian (Oliver) Mason, my 8^th great grandmother, had died in 1693 and Bridget’s third husband, her accuser, had died in 1695.

On 12 April 1694 Edward Bishop was appointed the guardian of Susanna Mason, my 7th great grandmother, and took control of the 9 pounds she inherited from the death of her father, Thomas Oliver.  She grew up to marry John Becket of the shipbuilding family in Salem.  According to Sidney Perley in The History of Salem, "Bishop seems to have invested the money of his ward in the lot at the extreme end of Forrester Street, where it connects with Essex Street, bounded by Forrester Street on the north and east, and Essex Street on the south. This was the property of Susannah when she married John Becket, Jr."  The Becket shipyard was very close to this property.

And, just to make this more confusing, Edward Bishop, husband of Bridget, is my 9th great grandfather through his marriage with his first wife, Hannah Unknown.  His son, Edward Bishop, Jr. (1648 - 1711), my 8th great grandfather, married Sarah Wildes about 1675.  Her step mother, Sarah Averhill Wildes, was also hanged as a witch on 19 July 1692, a few weeks after Bridget Bishop's hanging.

Some genealogical sources of information on Bridget Playfer Wasselbee Oliver Bishop:

“Salem Witches 1: Bridget Bishop” by David Green, The American Genealogist, Volume 57, 1981, pages 129 – 138.

“Bridge (Playfer) (Wasselbe) (Oliver) Bishop: Her Origin and First Husband”, by Robert Charles Anderson, The American Genealogist, Volume 64, 1989, page 207.

Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused ant their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials, by Marilynne Roach,  2013, (see the afterward on pages 378 - 380 for additional genealogical information on the Bishop, Oliver and Mason families).  

My BISHOP lineage can be seen at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-bishop-of-salem.html  

My WILDES lineage can be seen at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/surname-saturday-wildes-of-topsfield.html  

My PLAYFER genealogy:

Generation 1:  Bridget Player, born in England, married first to Samuel Wasselbee on 13 April 1660 at the church of St. Mary in the Marsh, Norwich, Norfolk, England; married second to Thomas Oliver on 26 July 1666 in Salem, Massachusetts; married third to Edward Bishop.  Two Wasselbee children, one daughter named Oliver.

Generation 2:  Christian Oliver, born 8 May 1667 in Salem, died about 1693; married about 1686 to Thomas Mason.

Generation 3:  Susannah Mason, born 23 August 1687 in Salem, died after 1769; married on 20 September 1711 in Salem to John Beckett, son of William Becket and Hannah Sibley.  He was born 10 August 1684 and died 1763 in Salem. Six children.

Generation 4: John Becket m. Rebecca Beadle

Generation 5:  Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 6:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 7: Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 10: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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

To Cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Bridget PLAYFER WASSELBEE OLIVER BISHOP”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 10, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/bridget-playfer-wasselbee-oliver-bishop.html: accessed [access date]). 

World War II Honor Roll in Gaylordsville, New Milford, Connecticut

This honor roll was photographed and transcribed by Patti L. Crispo in Gaylordsville, Connecticut for The Honor Roll Project website http://honorrollproject.weebly.com/

"IN HONOR OF THOSE FROM THIS COMMUNITY WHO

ANSWERED THEIR COUNTRY'S CALL IN WORLD WAR II"

Column 1

  ANGELL, HERBERT L.

  ATKINS, GEORGE E.

*​COLLINS, HAROLD C.

  CORNWELL, ELIZABETH

  DAHL, FREDERICK H.

  DODD, THOMAS J.

  DOLAN, EDWARD A.

  DOLAN, JAMES R.

  DONNELLY, EDWARD M.

  DWY, ROBERT H.

Column 2

  EDEEN, ADOLPH R.

  ESLINGER, JOSEPH D.

  FLYNN, JOHN D.

  GIDDINGS, HENRY W.B.

  GRISELL, HENRY T.

  HILLS, GORDON E.

  HILLS, RICHARD C.

  HILLS, ROBERT L.

  JENNINGS, AMOS E.

  JOHNSON, ROBERT A.

Column 3

  PARKER, ALLEN R.

  PARKER, HUGH M.

  PARKER, LAWRENCE G.

  ROSATI, LEO J.

  ROSATI, VINCENT V.

  STRID, BURTON L.

  THOMAS, RICHARD F.

  THOMAS, THOMAS T.

  THOMAS, WILLIAM E.

  TOWNSEND, HENRY G.

At Bottom

  TRAVIS, EUGENE R.

  WYBLE, RUPERT D.

Weathervane Wednesday ~ The Family Church in Madrid

It's Weathervane Wednesday!

I post a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique or unusual weathervanes, too!  If you know a great weather vane near you, let me know if you'd like to have it featured on this blog.

Today's weather vane was photographed in Spain.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #314?  Scroll down to find the answer.

The Roman Catholic church of San Anonio de Cuatro Caminos is located at 150 Bravo Murillo in Madrid, Spain.  It is operated by the Capuchin monks who first lived in this neighborhood in 1934, on a site that had been once a monastery of Mercedarian nuns, but destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. This church building was constructed in 1944 with the financial assistance of Dña. María del Carmen Fernández de Córdoba y Pérezde Barradas, Condesa de Gavia. 

This church is one block from where Vincent’s grandparents have lived since the 1960s, near the corner of Bravo Murillo. I have been visiting here since 1983, and have attended mass at this church with the family for many holidays.  This year was the first time I noticed a weathervane on the tower above the church entrance.  No one else in the family had ever noticed the weathervane either until Vincent took this photo in March 2017! 

Weathervanes on churches are relatively rare in Madrid.  This one is very appropriately a fish.  The fish has been a Christian symbol since the earliest days of the church, and is often seen on weathervanes in New England, too.   In Greek, the word Ichthys (fish) is an acrostic for “Jesus Christ, son of God, Saviour”.  The fish was also a symbol in the Gospels (several apostles were fishermen, Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, the resurrected Christ is offered grilled fish as a meal, etc.)  Ancient Roman carvings feature the Christian fish symbol (made of two arcs), as well as bumper stickers today.

Views inside the San Antonio church

  

The website for the parish of San Antonio de Cuatro Caminos: https://parroquiasanantoniodecuatrocaminos.wordpress.com/     

Click here to see the entire series of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ The Family Church in Madrid", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 7, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/weathervane-wednesday-family-church-in.html: accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday ~ William Brown and wife, buried in Hooksett, New Hampshire 1809, Revolutionary War Patriot

This tombstone was photographed at the Head Cemetery in Hooksett, New Hampshire

WILLIAM BROWN

died

May 21, 1809

AE. 79 yrs.

& 9 mo.

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

                            N. Farley & Co. Concord

                                               NH

In Memory of

Mrs. RUTH BROWN

wife of

Mr. WILLIAM BROWN

who died Nov' 6, 1807

aged 77 Years

Blessed are the dead who died in the name of the Lord

William Brown was born in Scotland about 1729, and died on 21 May 1809 in Chester, New Hampshire (now in the town of Hooksett near Suncook).   He was one of three brothers who came from Scotland and settled in the northern part of Chester.  The oldest was Samuel Brown, who married Jean Gibson.  The middle brother was Dr. Joseph Brown who married Ann Otterson and lived near Head’s saw mill. William was the youngest brother.

William’s wife was Ruth McDuffee, daughter of Daniel McDuffee and Ruth Britton of Londonderry.  She was born 1 February 1730 in Londonderry and died 6 November 1807. William signed the association test for the town of Chester, and served in the Revolutionary War under Captain Stephen Dearborn.  They had seven children:

1. Daniel (1756 – 1803) m. Doanna Durgin

2. Molly m. Ezra Abbott

3. Ruth (1765 – 1848)

4. James (1768 – 1840) m . Molly McCurdy

5. Sarah

6. John (1771 – 1826) m. Polly Gault

7. William m. Sally Benton

For the truly curious:

History of Chester by Benjamin Chase, pages 477 - 4788 (Archive.org and Google Books)

Descendants of New Hampshire MacDuffees, by Marion Lang Driscoll, 1949, page 10 (manuscript at the DAR library and filmed for FamilySearch)

William Brown's gravestone was cut by Nathan Farley, a stone carver from Concord, New Hampshire.

N. Farley & Co. Concord

                                 N.H.

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ William Brown, buried in Hooksett, New Hampshire 1809, Revolutionary War Patriot", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 5, 2017,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/tombstone-tuesday-william-brown-buried.html: accessed [access date]). 

My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 26, November 11 – November 22, 1920

Gertrude (left) and her high school friend, Bea Wilkins

This is the 26th blog post with transcriptions of my grandmother's 1920 diary from Beverly, Massachusetts.  Her name was Gertrude Hitchings (1905 - 2001) and she lived on Elliott Street.  Her diary is a tiny 3" book with minuscule handwriting.  It has taken me a long time to transcribe, and the book is very fragile.  It has missing and torn pages, and the end of the book is gone, so I am very near to the end of this project with these November pages. Every Monday I post another section of the diary.  You can read the first installment HERE.

THURS. NOV 11, 1920

Up at 6:45 school all

morning home at 1.15

Went down to Helen’s at

3.30 stayed to supper took care

of Baby home on 9. Car

Went to bed at 9.45

FRIDAY 12

Up at 6.45 school all the

morning home at 1.15 home

all afternoon.  After supper

Eunice & I went to store with

Ethel went over her house all

evening home at 9.  Bed at 9.45

SATURDAY 13

Up at 7.45 home all morning

Mr. Lowell over after dinner

Went to Salem at 4.15 but

couldn’t get a hat home all

evening. Bed at 9.00

NOTE:   On Thursday Gertrude went over to her sister-in-law’s house (Helen) to take care of the baby (Clemont) who would celebrate his first birthday on November 17th.  On Friday she went with her sister Eunice to the store with Ethel (who was married to her brother Russell).  Mr. Lowell, the boarder, was back on Saturday.  She went shopping to Salem but “couldn’t get a hat”.  I wonder if she just didn’t find one that pleased her, or if she couldn’t afford one.

SUN. NOV. 14, 1920

Up at 9. Home all morning

Ty came down after dinner

went to walk with Marion,

Rus & Ethel down.  George

Came down at 6.  Home all

Evening.  Went to Bed at 9.30

MONDAY 15

Up at 6.45 went to school all

morning.  Home at 1.15 stayed

home all afternoon.  After

supper went to the store

with Ethel & Eunice, Mrs. Butler over

she hurt her ankle.  Bed at 10.15

TUESDAY 16

Up at 6.45 went to school

all morning home at 1.15

Went over Mrs. Butlers all

afternoon helped her. Home

all evening.  Big fire Solon Lovetts

factory. Bed at 9.30

NOTE:   It seems that several young men came to visit Gertrude on Sunday.  Ty was there after lunch and George was down later in the day. She walked with her cousin Marion, and her brother Russell was there with his new wife, Ethel. Mrs. Butler, the neighbor sprained an ankle, so Gertrude spent Tuesday helping her out.  The big news of the week was the fire at the Solon Lovett shoe factory.  See the newsclippings below.  (The business papers of the Solon Lovett business can be found at the Beverly Historical Society). 

Boston Herald, page 2 Nov. 17, 1920

$125,000 LOSS IN
BEVERLY BLAZE
----------
Four-Story Lovett Factory
in Thickly Settled Dis-
trict Burns
------------
WALL FALLS, BUT
FIRMEN ESCAPE
-----------
Fire of undetermined origin de-
stroyed the five-story frame
structure of the Solon Lovett leather fac-
tory at 63 Federal Street, Beverly,
yesterday afternoon, with a loss es-
timated at $125,000.

The fire stated on the second floor
occupied by the W. H. Howard Com-
pany, manufacturers of shoe counters,
after all the employees had left the
building.  An automatic alarm first at-
tracted the attention of Solon Lovette
and his son, Merton, who were in their
office on the first floor.  They deal in
leather soles and occupy the first and
fifth floors.                                      

Second Floor on Fire
Merton Lovett, who investigated, saw
flames coming down through a belt
chute, and running upstairs found the
whole second floor on fire.  In addition
to the automatic alarm Solon Lovett
telephoned the firemen and Frank C.
McPherson, son of Mayor James Mc-
Pherson, saw the fire from the street
and gave an alarm from the nearest
box.  The three notifications cme into
the central fire station within two min-
utes of each other.                      

On his arrival, Fire Chief Grant
sounded a general alarm, as the neigh-
borhood is thickly settled with fac-
tories, mills and lumber storehouses.

The fire was fought from four sides
and the department, which was recent-
ly completely motorized, stood its first
serious test well, the motor pumping
engines, delivering powerful streams.

During the blaze one of the walls fell,
but the firemen working at that point
had been ordered to withdraw in time.
The fire attracted a large crowd of per-
sons going home from work and many
automobiles.  Trains on the Boston &
Maine railroad had to be slowed up.

The several losses are approximately
as follows:  Nichols Tool Company,
 basement $12,000;  Solon Lovett, $83,000;
WH Howard company, $31,000, and
Moore Brothers, toplifts, fourth floor,
$7,000.  The building was owned by Solon
Lovett.  All the firms are said to be
fairly well covered by insurance.

And from “The Standard” Volume 87, page 689, December 4, 1920

“PRINCIPAL NEW ENGLAND LOSSES OF THE WEEK

$140,000 Loss at Beverly, Mass.

The fire on Nov. 16 caused nearly total loss to the three-story

Frome Solon Lovett factory building 63 Federal Street Beverly, Mass.

Started on the second floor in premises occupied by W. H. Howad &

Co., heel manufacturers, the fire quickly spreading through the entire

Building being held in the main building by slate roof and a brick wall

On the north.  Occupancy and insurance as follows: --

Third floor, Moore Bros., top lift manufacturers, stock and machin-

ery: Queen, $1,000; Springfield, F & M, $1,00, Aetna $1,000; West-

chester, $1,00; Fidelity-Phoenix, $1,000, City of New York, $500; Great

American, $2,000; total, $7,500

Second floor, W.H. Howard & Co, heel manufacturers, stock & ma-

Chinery: Ins. Co. of State of Penn., $2,800; American of New Jersey,

$2,5000; New Hampshire $2,500; L. L. & G, $1,200; United State Fire,

$1,000; Boston, $1,000; Phoenix of Hartford, $1,000; total $15,000.

Basement, M. D. Nichols Tool Co., stock: Franklin $1,500; N. Y. A.

Of Hartford, $1,500; Aetna, $2,000; Atlas, $2000; Queen $1,000; total

$8,000.

Solon Lovett, first and part second floor, on stock…. Total $80,500

On Lovett building… total $12,000”

WED. NOV. 17, 1920

Up at 6.45 went to school

all morning home 1.25

stayed home all the

afternoon and evening and

tatted.  Eunice went down to

Helens.  Went to bed at 9.

THURSDAY 18

Up at 6.45 school all morning

got our report cards to

day, home at 1.15 after dinner

went downtown with Eunice & Ethel

After supper we took a ride up

to Danvers.  Bed at 10.15

FRIDAY 19

Up at 6.45 went to school

all morning had a play

home at 1.15.  Helped Mrs

Butler a little while.  Stayed

home all evening Ethel came

over Went to bed at 10.30

NOTE:  Gertrude loved tatting and knitting.  She was very good at handicrafts, even when I remember her as my elderly grandmother.  She spent all afternoon and evening on Wednesday tatting.  Thursday was report card day, but Gertrude didn’t mention her grades. 

SAT. NOV. 20, 1920

Up at 7.45 worked all

morning.  Stayed home

afternoon.  Mr. Lowell over

to supper.  After supper

walked downtown with

Eunice and Rozella

Went to bed at 10.

SUNDAY 21

Up at 10 stayed around

the house all morning Ma,

Pa, & Mill up to Russells.  &

Eunice, Ty, Buster and I

Went to the Empire

Got home at eight o’clock

Went to bed at 9.45

MONDAY 22

Up at 6.45 school all the

morning bus mass meeting

home at 1.15  stayed home

all the afternoon and even-

ing tatting bed at 9.00

NOTE:    On Saturday Gertrude walked downtown with her sister Eunice and her friend Rozella.  I wonder if she ever found a new hat?  Sunday seems to be the day the young men come visiting.  Gertrude and her sister Eunice went to the Empire with two young men named Ty and Buster.  The Empire was a big department store in Salem that was still operating until the late 1970s.  I remember buying a nice dress for my senior year of high school at the Empire.   She spent Monday afternoon and evening tatting again.

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 26, November 11 – November 22, 1920”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 5, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/my-grandmothers-diary-part-26-november.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ ATWATER of Boston, Massachusetts and New Haven, Connecticut

ATWATER

Joshua Atwater, my 9^th great grandfather, was baptized on 2 June 1611 in Lenham, Kent, England as the son of John Atwater and Susan Narsin.  He lived in Boston, but also went to New Haven, Connecticut with six other men looking for a new settlement about 1638.  He married Mary Blackman on 6 May 1651 in Connecticut. She was the daughter of Reverend Adam Blackman and Jane Unknown of Boston.  They had ten children, some born in Connecticut and the rest born in Boston. 

Joshua Atwater was a merchant and shopkeeper, and he owned much land in Boston. Upon his death his widow married Reverend John Higginson of Salem, and she removed to Salem with the younger children.  The oldest daughter, Ann AKA Hannah, married Jeremiah Dummer and was the mother of William Dummer who was the Lieutenant Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1716 – 1730.  I descend from her brother Joshua Atwater, Jr. (b. 1658) who was a mercer (feltmaker) in Boston.  When Mary (Blackman) (Atwater) Higginson outlived her second husband, she left a will which divided her estate between her daughter Ann Dummer, her daughter Mary Atwater Coney, and her granddaughter Rebecca Atwater Beadle. 

Joshua Atwater, Jr. married Rebecca Unknown and had three children.  His daughter, Rebecca, my 7^th great grandmother who was named in her grandmother's will, married Lemon Beadle on 4 January 1709 in Salem.  They had two children before Lemon Beadle died in 1717, and Rebecca remarried to Samuel Phippen, widower of Mary Beadle (sister of Lemon).  She had six more Phippen children.

Some ATWATER resources:

Atwater History and Genealogy, by Francis Atwater, Meriden, CT: The Journal Publishing Co., 1901 (Volume 1, pages 34 – 51)

Families of Ancient New Haven, by Donald Lines Jacobus

The Thwing Collection, NEHGS, pages 1906 - 1907

My ATWATER genealogy:

Generation 1: John Atwater m. Susan Narsin.  At least two sons.

Generation 2: Joshua Atwater, baptized 2 June 1611 in Lenham, Kent, England, died 16 May 1676 in Boston, Massachusetts; married on 6 May 1651 in Stratford, Connecticut to Mary Blackman, daughter of Reverend Adam Blackman and Jane Unknown.  She was born about 1635 and died 9 March 1709 in Boston.  She married second to Rev. John Higginson of Salem. Ten Atwater children.

Generation 3: Joshua Atwater, born 10 April 1658 in Milford, Connecticut; married Rebecca Unknown. Three children.

Generation 4: Rebecca Atwater, born 25 February 1686 in Boston, died 1727 in Salem, Massachusetts; married on 4 January 1709 in Salem to Lemon Beadle, son of Samuel Beadle and Hannah Lemon.  He was born 30 July 1680 in Salem, and died 17 November 1717. Two children.  Rebecca married second to Samuel Phippen, widower of Mary Beadle (sister to Lemon Beadle).

Generation 5: Rebecca Beadle m. John Becket

Generation 6: Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 7:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 8: Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 9:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 10:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 11:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ ATWATER of Boston, Massachusetts and New Haven, Connecticut”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 3, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/surname-saturday-atwater-of-boston.html: accessed [access date]).