Tombstone Tuesday ~ A triple tombstone! Mr. John Burns and two wives named Ann

This tombstone was photographed at the Old Burial Ground in Bedford, New Hampshire

Our glass is run

ERECTED                      LIKEWISE                  ALSO    

In Memory of                 In Memory                In Memory

Mrs. Ann                       of Mr. John                of Mrs. Ann

Burns,                         Burns                          Burns

wife of Mr.                   who departed             wife of Mr. 

John Burns                     this Life                  John Burns

who departed                March ye 20th         who departed 

this Life                         D. 1788; In             this Life July

                                  the 77th year                    1745

                                       of his age              In the 21st

                                                                      year of her age.

Dear friends for us, don't Mourn nor weep,

We are not dead but here do sleep;

Upon our easy bed of Clay,

Untill the resurrection day. 

                     

John Burns was born in County Donegal, Ireland of Scots ancestry.  He came to Bedford with his first wife, Ann, who died one year after they arrived.

The Ann with the missing date is Anna McQuesten, daughter of William McQuestion and Margaret Arbuckle of Litchfield, New Hampshire.  Ann McQuesten was born in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.  She died in 1790.  They had ten children together.

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ A triple tombstone!  Mr. John Burns and two wives named Ann", Nutfield Genealogy, June 23, 2015, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/tombstone-tuesday-triple-tombstone-mr.html:  accessed [access date]).

Is there a Cadet Nurse from World War II in your Family Tree?

World War II and the US Cadet Nurse Corps

A few months ago I received an email from Fold3.com announcing some new sets of documents on their database.  The word “Nurse” caught my eye, so I read further.  This collection “World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942 – 1948” is the membership cards of the women who joined. 

What was the Cadet Nursing Corps?  It seems that during World War II there was a severe shortage of trained nurses.  Many nurses were called overseas, and many became “Rosie the Riveters” in the defense industry.   Civilian hospitals were experiencing emergency situations without enough nursing staff.

Federal funding to address the shortage passed unanimously in Washington, D.C. (imagine that!) in 1942.   The US. Cadet Nurse Corps was founded through the US Public Health Service (not the military) to train nurses and to fund training programs at nursing schools.  By 1945 Cadet Nurses provided 80% of the care in civilian hospitals.  The Corps paid for tuition, fees, stipends and uniforms.   Women ages 17 to 35 joined and received a free education in exchange for a pledge to serve in military or civilian hospitals after graduation.

In 1945 my Aunt Shirley was only 17 years old.  She had just graduated from high school and had registered to attend secretarial school in Boston that fall.  As my cousin Susan, her daughter, tells the story-  Shirley was sitting on the beach that summer when she changed her mind about her education.  She went home and announced to her family that she was going to be a nurse.  According to the family Shirley’s father said “How can you be a nurse?  You can barely stand the sight of a runny egg!”

That fall Shirley registered in the US Cadet Nursing Corps at the Beverly Hospital School of Nursing.  You can see her registration card, from Fold3, below – front and back. 

I was perusing these cards on Fold3 because my mother also graduated from the Beverly Hospital School of Nursing in the 1950s.  She would have been too young to join the US Cadet Nurse Corps, but I was going to read my Mom some of the names on the list to see if she recognized the women. That’s when I saw Shirley’s name!  I immediately contacted my cousin Susan (who is also a registered nurse) and her mother, Shirley, to show them the images from Fold3.

Later I sat down with Shirley and Susan to look at the images and to listen to Shirley’s stories about her days in nursing school.  I had heard about the school from my Mom, but I wanted to hear about it from Shirley’s view as a cadet nurse.

Here is Auntie Shirley, in a Beverly Hospital School of Nursing alumni book.

Shirley didn’t remember filling in the membership forms seen online, but she still had her Cadet Nurse membership card.  The serial numbers and the handwriting are exactly the same!  She had her membership pin, and photos of the time period, too.  Shirley has been a member of the Alumni association since graduation, and participated in the activities until recently.  She is the only member of her class of 13 graduates still in the area.

As a Cadet Nurse Shirley received a stipend of $15 a month, but she was expected to attend classes all morning starting at 7am, work a training shift on the hospital floor all afternoon, and then a shift from 7 to 10pm.  She doesn’t remember when she had time to study!  She also was paid to work the hospital floor on weekends, and since there was a dearth of nurses she was paid at the supervisor level right after graduation.  This was something she was very proud to tell me.

Shirley’s three year training program ended with graduation in 1948, and the war had ended.  She was told that she did not have to serve her two year compulsory service overseas.   This was something she was very happy about since many of her fellow trainees from previous years at the Beverly School of Nursing had gone to nurse overseas or to occupied territories at the end of the war.  1948 was the last year of the US Cadet Nurse Corps.

Was there a nurse in your family who was part of the US Cadet Nurse Corps 1942 – 1948?

Resources:

To search at Fold3 for WWII Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files

http://www.fold3.com/browse.php#251|heMkODsBu

To search at Ancestry.com

US World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files 1942 – 1948

http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2251

Cadet Nurse Stories:  The Call and Response of Women During World War II by Thelma M. Robinson and Paulie M. Perry,  published by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, 2001

“The Lasting Impact of World War II on Nursing” by Bonnie Bullough, AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 1976, Volume 76, no. 1,  pages 118 – 124.

“Nurses in American History: The Cadet Nurse Corps in World War II” by Beatrice J. Kalisch and Phillip A. Kalisch, AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 1976, Volume 76, no. 2, pages 240 – 343.

The US Cadet Nurse Corps website

http://uscadetnurse.org/

The Cadet Nurse Project website

http://cadetnurse.com/Cadet_Nurse_Project.html

For the truly curious:

A follow up blog post about my Auntie Shirley being formally recognized as a Cadet Nurse:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/07/cadet-nurses-of-world-war-ii-finally.html  

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To Cite/Link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Family Reunions, 2015", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 22, 2015 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/is-there-cadet-nurse-in-your-family-tree.html :        accessed [access date])

Happy Father's Day ~ My Patrilineal Line

Here is my paternal line as far back as I can research...

My father

John Warren Wilkinson  

born 3 January 1934, Beverly, Massachusetts

died 7 August 2002, Worcester, Massachusetts

My grandfather

Donald Munroe Wilkinson

born 23 October 1895, Salem, Massachusetts

died 24 July 1977, Long Beach, California

My great grandfather

Albert Munroe Wilkinson

born 7 November 1860, Danvers, Massachusetts

died 12 May 1908, Brookline, Massachusetts

My 2x great grandfather

Robert Wilson Wilkinson

born 26 May 1830 in Salem, Massachusetts

died 23 March 1874 in Peabody, Massachusetts

My 3x great grandfather

Aaron Wilkinson

born 22 February 1802 in South Berwick, Maine

died 25 November 1879 in Peabody, Massachusetts

My 4x great grandfather

William Wilkinson

died 1840 probably in South Berwick, Maine

My 5x great grandfather

James Wilkinson

born about 1730 in Berwick, Maine

died between 1796 and 1805 in Berwick, Maine

My 6x great grandfather

Thomas Wilkinson

born about 1690 "Of London, England"

died before 1739 in Portsmouth or New Castle, New Hampshire

Click here to see a chart with all the descendants of Thomas Wilkinson of Portsmouth, NH

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/p/thomas-wilkinson-descendants_15.html  

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Published under a Creative Commons license

Heather Wilkinson Rojo "Happy Father's Day ~ My Patrilineal Line", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 21, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/happy-fathers-day-my-patrilineal-line.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ KIMBALL of Ipswich, Massachusetts

Richard Kimball (about 1595 – 1675), my 11^th great grandfather, and his brother, Henry, traveled to America on board the ship Elizabeth, which left Ipswich, England on 10 April 1634.  Richard traveled with his wife Ursula, seven children, and his mother-in-law, Martha.  They settled first in Watertown, Massachusetts where Richard became a freeman in 1635.  Henry Kimball stayed in Watertown, but Richard removed to Ipswich about 1637.  The land that Richard Kimball first lived on in Watertown is now part of West Cambridge, located near the intersection of Huron Avenue and Appleton Street.

Richard Kimball was a wheelwright.  He served in many town offices, and owned several parcels of land in Ipswich.  He was involved with Richard Shatswell in several lawsuits in the 1650s for trespass, debt and slander.  Richard Shatswell is the grandson of my 11^th great grandparents John Shatswell and Judith Dillingham of Ipswich.  

Last Will and Testament of Richard Kimball

The last will and testament of Richard Kimball senr of Ipswich in Essex in new England who although weake in body yet of perfect memory doe dispose of my lands and estate in maner & form as followeth. 

To my Loveinge wife my will is that she shall dwell in my house and have the Improvement of my ground and meadow belonging thereto with the use and increase of my whole stock of cattle, one whole yeare after my decease, and then at the years end, the forty pound due to her according to contract at marriage to be payd her and that hous-hold stuff she brought with her. And to have liberty to live in the parlor end of the house, the roome we now lodge in: and liberty for her nesessary vse of some part of sellar: also the liberty of one cow in the pasture, the executors to provide winter meate for the same, and to have a quarter part of the fruit of the orchard, and firewood as long as she lives ther. And if she desire to remove to her owne house, then to be sett in it with what she have by my executors and to be alowed forty shillings yearly as long as shee lives. 

And to my Eldest son Henry, my will is to give his three score and ten pounds to bee payd Twenty pounds a year and half after my decease, and the remaining part in the two years following after that. 

To my son Richard I give fforty pounds. 

To my son John I give twenty pounds. 

To my son Thomas I give Twenty five pounds to bee payd two years and a halfe after my decease, and to his children I give seaven pounds to be devided equally among them and payd as they come of age or at day of marriage, provided if any dye before their share to be distributed equally amongst the rest. 

And to my son Benjamin, besides the two oxen already received I give the sum of twenty five pounds, ten pounds to be payd a yeare and a halfe after my decease. The rest the two years ffollowing, also to his children I give five pounds, equally to be devyded, and payd, as they come of age or at day of marriage, in case any dye before, that part to be equally divided to the rest. 

And to my son Caleb I give that peace of land knowne by the name Tings lott, and all my land att Wattells neck with my marsh at the hundreds knowne by the name of Wiatts marsh, and all my working tools exsept two axes all to be delivered present after my discease also I give fourteen pounds to his seven children equally to be devided to be payd as they come of age or at Day of mariage, and if any dye before, that part to be equally devided amongst the rest. 

To my son-in-law John Severns, I give ten pounds to be payd two years & a halfe after my decease. 

And to my Daughter Elizabeth, I give thirty pounds, ten pound to be payd, a year & halfe after my decease, and the other two parts, the two following years after that. 

To my Daughter Mary I give ten pounds, five pound to be payd a year & halfe after my decease, the other five pound the year after that. 

To my daughter Sarah I give forty pound, five pound to be payd the yeare & halfe after my decease and the rest five pound a yeare till it be all payd, also to her children I give seaven pounds ten shillings to be payd to them as they come of age or at day of marriage if any dye before, that part to be equally devyded to the rest. 

And to my daughter Sarah above "sd"; I also give the bed I lye on with the furniture after one years use of it by my wife. 

To my wives children viz. Thomas, Jerimiah, and Mary. 

To Thomas and Mary I give forty shillings apiece to be payd a yeare & halfe after my decease, and to Jerimiah I give fifteene pounds to be payd at the age of one and twenty. I give also eight pounds to the two Eldest daughters of Gyes Cowes (that he had by his first wife) to be payd and equally devided to them at the age of sixteene, if either of them dye before then the whole to be given to that that remaines. 

I also give four pounds to my Couzen Haniell Bossworth, and doe ordaine and apount my two sons above sd. Richard and John Kimball to be my lawfull and sole executors. 

And my Couzen Haniell Bosworth above sayd to be my overseer that this my last will and Testament be duely and truly performed And thus I conclude with setting too my hand and seale the fifth of march 1674-5. 

Richard Kemball 
& a mark 
& a seale.

Some KIMBALL resources:

The History of the Kimball Family in America from 1634 to 1897, by Leonard A. Morrison, 1897 and a revised edition 1988 by Judith Kimball in three volumes, published by the Kimball Family Association (see their website below to order these volumes)

The Genealogical Record of the Descendants of John Spofford and Elizabeth Scott, 1888

Pioneers of Massachusetts, by Charles Pope, 1900

The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 – 1635, by Robert Charles Anderson, Volume IV, pages 154 – 160 for Richard Kimball, pages 152 – 154 for his brother Henry Kimball.

The Kimball Family Association  http://www.kimballfamilyassociation.com/    

My KIMBALL genealogy:

Generation 1:  Richard Kimball, son of Henry Kemball and Johanne Unknown, born about 1595 in Rattlesden, Suffolk, England, died 22 June 1675 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married first about 1615 in Rattlesden to Ursula Scott, daughter of Henry Scott and Martha Whatlock; married second on 23 October 1661 in Hampton, New Hampshire to Margaret Cole.  She died 1 March 1675 in Ipswich.  Eleven children with Ursula.

Generation 2: Henry Kimball, born 12 August 1615 in Rattlesden, died May 1676 in Wenham, Massachusetts; married first about 1640 to Mary Riddlesdale, daughter of Edward Riddlesdale and Mary Unknown; married second about 1675 to Elizabeth Black, widow of Humphrey Gilbert and William Rayner.  She married fourth to Daniel Kilham.  Elizabeth Black is the daughter of John Black and Susanna Unknown, my 9^th great grandparents in another lineage.  Thirteen children with Mary.

Generation 3:  Richard Kimball, born about 13 October 1643 in Watertown, Massachusetts, died 30 July 1715 in Wenham; married first on 13 May 1667 in Wenham to Rebecca Abbye, daughter of John Abbye and Mary Loring; married second on 20 November 1706 to Anna Ford.   Three children with Rebecca.

Generation 4: Rebecca Kimball, born 20 October 1668; married on 12 April 1694 to James Poland, son of John Poland and Bethia Friend.  He was born about 1665 In Wenham and died in 1722. Seven children.

Generation 5:  John Poland m. Abigail Davis

Generation 6:  Daniel Poland m. Sarah Bishop

Generation 7:  Martha Poland m. Alexander Mears

Generation 8:  Samuel Mears m. Lydia W. Burnham

Generation 9: Samuel Mears m. Sarah Ann Burnham

Generation 10: Sarah Burnham Mears m. Joseph Gilman Allen

Generation 11: Joseph Elmer Allen m. Carrie Maude Batchelder

Generation 12: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Published under a Creative Commons license
Heather Wilkinson Rojo "Srname Saturday ~ KIMBALL of Ipswich, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 20, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/richard-kimball-about-1595-1675-my-11.html:  accessed [access date]). 

A Visit to the Canterbury Shaker Village

Welcome to the Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, New Hampshire

The Shakers were known for their pacifist, celibate religion,
and also for their simple, rural lifestyle

This is the schoolhouse of the Canterbury Shaker community.
The Shakers took in orphans, hoping some would stay
to expand their community population.

The outhouse of the orphanage

The schoolhouse interior

Besides farming, the Shaker community had many industries such as
furniture and box making, seed catalogs, medicines and syrups, home made brooms, etc.
This is the bee house

This is the interior of the syrup house (not maple syrup, but medicinal syrups)

The workshop for canning syrups and other food products

Shaker boxes are still made here, and locally, and sold in the gift shop

The Shakers invented the flat broom, and there were many steps involved
in the manufacture of these brooms.  They were so popular that they sold extra brooms
for additional income.  You can still buy these brooms in the gift shop. 

A demonstration of flat broom making, and the machinery that the
Shakers developed to make these brooms is still in use.

Beautiful Shaker chairs for sale in the gift shop

The Canterbury Shaker Village website  http://www.shakers.org/

Yes, I had Shakers in my family tree!  Click here to read a blog post from last Tuesday that lists the Shakers I found in my family tree, and how you can see if there are any Shakers in your family.  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/tombstone-tuesday-shaker-cemetery.html"

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Visit to the Canterbury Shaker Village", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 19, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/a-visit-to-canterbury-shaker-village.html : accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Sun, A Moon and a Missing Ship

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I started out by publishing only weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes from all over New England.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are very interesting.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weather vanes.

Today's weather vane is two for one set (plus a third that fell off) that used to be a complete art installation - from somewhere in New Hampshire.

Do you know the location of weather vane #213?  Scroll down to see the answer...

The Sun

The Moon 

The center cupola is missing something...

Today's two weather vanes were photographed in Hampton, New Hampshire at the state liquor stores located on the northbound side of Route 95.   This was originally a set of THREE weathervanes, which included a vane shaped like John Paul Jone's ship and the entire installation was titled "Sighting the Course for Seacoast New Hampshire".   These three weather vanes were sculpted by local artist William Barth Osmundsen and installed in 1995.  "The Sun Rising" and "The Crescent Moon" are six foot long vanes sculpted of copper repousee. A few years after the installation there was a hurricane which bent the turning shaft of the "JPJ Boat", but the sculpture was left intact.

The state of New Hampshire decommissioned the ship weathervane and returned it to the artist William Barth Osmundsen.  He is selling it.  Would you like to buy the weather vane sculpture "The John Paul Jones Fighting Topsail Sloop"?  Check out the information form at this webpage or call 757-618-9950.  http://www.bronzesea.org/Pages/WeatherVanes.aspx 

The artist Osmundsen

with his copper weathervane

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Sun, A Moon and a Missing Ship", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 17, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/weathervane-wednesday-sun-moon-and.html  accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Shaker Cemetery, Canterbury, New Hampshire

The Canterbury Shaker Village is located at 288 Shaker Road in Canterbury, New Hampshire.

The cemetery is right on the main road, next to the parking area. 

I was told by a docent that at one time there were individual gravestones to the deceased, 

but the community voted to remove them all and have one large stone simply engraved "SHAKERS".

This is symbolic of their life as a community, where they shared everything.

The Shakers were formed in England in the mid 1700s.  They were called the "United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing", more commonly known as the Shaking Quakers because they used dance as part of their worship services.  The Shakers established 19 communities in the United States. 

In 1792 some followers of Mother Ann Lee established the Shaker community at Canterbury, New Hampshire.  It lasted for more than 200 years.   In 1972 it opened as a museum and the few remaining Shaker sisters lived there until the last one died in 1992.  There are still living Shakers at the community in Sabbathday, Maine.  The Shakers were famous for celibacy, pacifism and a community lifestyle, but remembered for their labor saving inventions and simple furniture. 

At its height there were over 300 people at the Canterbury Shaker village living in over 100 buildings on 3,000 acres.  Because they lived as a celibate community, they took in many orphans and foundlings who were free to stay at age 21 or leave the community.  Hundreds of children were cared for and educated by the Canterbury Shakers, and these children have left thousands of descendants.  

The following members of my family tree are buried in Shaker burial grounds:

Thomas Hammond (1744 - 1824) and his wife, Sarah Winchester (1764 - 1848) joined the Shaker community at Harvard, Massachusetts on 10 January 1811.  Four of their six children also joined the Shakers:   Thomas Hammond (1791- 1880), Mary Ann Hammond (1795 - 1838), Lucy A. Hammond (1797 - 1881) and Benjamin Franklin Hammond (1803 - 1828).  Sarah Winchester Hammond was my 3rd cousin, 7 generations removed, cousins through the Jewett and Story families.  

Nathan Merrill (1743 - 1818) joined the Shakers at New Gloucester, Maine and was a deacon.  As a trained mason and bricklayer he built the Shaker Meeting House in 1794.  It is still open for tours at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. 

Anne Hovey (1720 - 1806) and her husband Elijah Wildes, converted to the Shaker religion and their estate in Groton, Massachusetts became a Shaker community.  Three of their seven children also joined the Shaker sect:  Elijah (1746 - 1829), Ivory (1751 - 1777), Phoebe (1761 - 1837).  

Elizabeth Dowtey ( 1711 - 1785) was the wife of my 1st cousin 8 generations removed Jonathan Southwick (1694 - 1745).  The Southwicks were Quakers from Salem, Massachusetts who removed to New Salem in Western Massachusetts.  As a widow Elizabeth joined the Shakers at Hancock, Massachusetts and died there.  [About Towne, Volume XIX, No. 4, December 1999 - the newsletter of the Towne Family Association] 

Also:

Isaiah Lord (1807 - 1882) lived with the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine for a while but did not stay there.  He followed some of their customs all his life.  He married Ruth Keay in 1838 and had seven children.  

Check the following book to see if your family members or distant relatives were Shakers:

A Concise History of the United Society of Believers called Shakers, by Charles Edson Robinson, East Canterbury, NH: 1893.   Available to read online at Archive.org, and searchable. 

A panoramic view of the Shaker cemetery

UPDATE 13 October 2016:
For a great post about the Canterbury Shaker cemetery and the infirmary (with a plot plan of the Shaker cemetery), see Barbara Poole's blog post at this link:
http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-shakers-of-canterbury-nh-in.html

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To Cite/Link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Shaker Cemetery, Canterbury, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 16, 2015
( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/tombstone-tuesday-shaker-cemetery.html : accessed [access date]).

Happy Flag Day! June 14th

Happy Flag Day!  June 14th

This beloved 1914 image is known as the "Great Amoskeag Flag".  For many years, Manchester, New Hampshire residents believed this was the biggest flag ever produced.  The textile workers at the Amoskeag Mills are shown here displaying the five story flag.  This image is from a glass plate negative #AMC GN 0626 at the Manchester Historical Association. 

This Manchester flag image is so beloved it has been reproduced on post cards, in books, on T-shirts, souvenirs and lots of documentaries about the city.  Here it is reproduced in Lego bricks at the SEE museum in Manchester, inside the Amoskeag millyard. 

The actual Amoskeag Corporations' No. 11 Mill is on McGregor Street in Manchester on the West side.  It was once the largest cotton mill in the world, over 900 feet long and contained over 4,000 looms.  It produced many items, including American flags and the cotton denim used to produce jeans. Today it houses businesses and residences, across the street from St. Mary's Bank and the Catholic Medical Center. 

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Happy Flag Day!  June 14th", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 14, 2015
( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/happy-flag-day-14th-this-beloved-1914.html : accessed [access date]).