Joseph Marlow "Sailor Boy"

From The Ancient Port of Whitby and Its Shipping, accessed on Google Books

My first cousin once removed, Ruth Marlow Peacock, in her biographical sketch of my great grandfather, Joseph Marlow, stated that Joseph had joined the “British Navy” at the age of twelve, and later the U.S. Navy.  He was born August 16, 1853 in Stainsacre, North Yorkshire, near Whitby, so this would mean that he would have joined the navy in 1865 or 1866. I did not not believe her, but this did seem somewhat extraordinary. I recently discovered his obituary in the Carlington Free Democrat, in which it was stated that he had been a “sailor boy”. The evidence was starting to mount.

Last week I was watching “What’s New at Ancestry” with Krista Cowan on YouTube for August 2015, and she mentioned that a database called, UK, Apprentices Indentured in Merchant Navy, 1824-1910, was now available. I had always wondered if Joseph had been in the Merchant Navy, and decided to see if I could find him. Immediately, this popped up:

On the date of his indenture, February 19, 1866, Joseph would still have been twelve, the age stated above! Unfortunately, the original image associated with this record was not available. It would have shown the length of time for which he was indentured and to whom. (I have reported this problem to Ancestry). Scanning some of the images available, I found that the boys listed were indentured for periods ranging from about three to five years. Their ages ranged from about thirteen to twenty, twelve if you include Joseph. One wonders if he needed parental approval, or if his father was behind the plan. Joseph may have been following a family tradition as I found his uncle Thomas indentured at the age of fourteen in 1852, also in Whitby.

I tried to see what I could find about the “Hippogriff” elsewhere on the net, and was unable to find an image, but was able to find a description in the book, The Ancient Port of Whitby and Its Shipping, on Google Books. It was described as a “brig” with a 196 ton capacity, built in 1832, and owned by “Thos. Mills, R.H. Bay”. (A brig is a two-masted, square-rigged ship with an additional gaff sail on the mainmast). It was “lost off Yarmouth” in March 1870, which could have been during Joseph’s period of indenture. I was able to find a newspaper notice on line from the London Times, dated March 5, 1870: “The schooner Hippogriff, Miller master, of Whitby, was totally lost on the Scroby Sands, near Great Yarmouth, yesterday, and it is feared that all the crew perished. A boat and medicine chest was washed ashore”. (The “Scroby Sands” is a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk, and the site of many shipwrecks). If there were no survivors, then Joseph could not have been on that ship at the time.

When I searched on the name of the ship, “Hippogriff”, in the same Ancestry database, I was able to find a total of thirteen boys indentured to it. The years ranged from 1831 to 1869. The last boy, the one after Joseph, Andrew Hunter, was indentured at the age of fifteen in 1869, for a period of five years to “W. Mills, R. H. Bay”. (I believe that “R.H. Bay” stands for “Robin Hood’s Bay”, near Whitby. It also appears that Thomas Mills was the owner, and that William Mills was the “master”). It is possible then that Joseph was indentured to the same man, however, it seems that he was probably not still indentured in 1869 as ships were required to have only one apprentice,  therefore Andrew might have been his replacement, and therefore possibly lost at sea. However, I couldn’t find a death record for him. I hope that Ancestry will put up the image related to Joseph now that I have reported the problem. I will let you know if it appears.

I still have no direct evidence of Joseph’s having been in the “U.S. Navy”, but it has been gratifying to confirm another element of Ruth’s story of the Marlows.

Of note is that Captain Cook also was indentured in the Merchant Navy, and also out of Whitby.

And, interestingly, the author Joseph Conrad was also in the British Merchant Navy, and wrote about his adventures while part of it. The usual name for his narrator was "Marlow". (I am not claiming any connection, however).

The Last Will and Testament of Jeremiah Hart

I recently came across the original probate record on Family Search for the will of Jeremiah Hart, one of my Revolutionary War ancestors. Up to that point, I had only had a summary of the will, which only listed names. When I read it, it was like I was hearing Jeremiah’s voice for the first time:

"In the name of God, Amen. I Jeremiah Hart of Stillwater Town, and county of Saratoga in the State of New York farmer being in perfect state of health and of perfect mind and memory thanks be unto Almighty God, calling into mind the mortality of my body, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will testament That is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my Soul  into the hand of Almighty God who gave it, and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried in a decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executors nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God.  And as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life I give and bequeath to Abigail my dearly beloved wife, all my household furniture and bedding for ever, the whole of my real estate now in my possession during her natural life, or as long as she shall remain my lawful widow. Secondly I give and bequeath unto Jeremiah Hart Jur. my son after the death of my wife Abigail Hart, or at the end of her widowhood if she should again marry and no longer remain my lawful widow, all my real estate, as it is at present in my possession in consideration of the said Jeremiah Hart Jur. pay to Stephen Hart my son, one thousand, one hundred dollars. To have and to hold forever. Thirdly I give and bequeath unto John Hart my son two dollars to be paid out of my Estate. Fourthly, I give and bequeath to Reuben Hart my son, all that estate whereon he now lives to have and to hold for ever. Fifthly, I give and bequeath unto my daughter Phebe Hart one cow and ten sheep. Sixthly, I give unto my son Philip Hart two dollars to be paid out of my estate. Sixthly, I give and bequeath to Sarah Hart my daughter one cow and ten sheep.  Seventhly, and after all my funeral charges and all my honest debts are paid, I give and bequeath to my three daughters Phebe, Sarah and Hannah, after the death of my wife Abigail, all my household furniture to be equally divided among them. Seventhly, I will and constitute, make and ordain Abigail Hart my loving wife my sole Executrix and James Barber and Frederick Conly my sole executors together with my loving wife Executrix in this my last will and testament, hereby revoking utterly and disallow all and every form and testament, wills, legacies, and Executors by me in wise before named, willed and bequeathed, ratifying and confirming no others to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Eighth day of March in the year of our Lord, one thousand, Eight hundred Six. Jeremiah Hart L.S."

I was struck by the strength of his religious beliefs, and by his affection for his wife, Abigail. It has been said that Jeremiah was of a Quaker background, but I haven’t found any evidence for this. It is certain, however, that he and his family were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Stillwater, Saratoga, and that he and his son Stephen, my three times great grandfather, helped to incorporate it in 1800. The Methodist strain in the Hart family was strong henceforth, up to and including myself and my siblings, as we all attended the United Church of Canada as children. Stephen Hart was also later a founder of the Methodist Church in Pinckney, New York. My great grandfather, Melvin J. Hart, was strongly Methodist his entire life.

He speaks lovingly of Abigail, his wife--she is “dearly beloved”, and his “loving wife”. He also thinks highly enough of her to make her executrix of his will. He may be possessive as he does not make it worth her while to marry again after his death, making her possession of his real estate contingent on her remaining a widow. Of course, he may also want to ensure that his wealth stays in the family. Dear Abigail is also one of my major “brick walls” on my tree. She was born “Abigail Pearsall” or possibly “Abigail Macomber”, and I can find no hint of her parentage, or a prior marriage, despite there being Pearsalls and Macombers galore in Dutchess county around the time of Jeremiah and Abigail’s marriage when they were likely living there.

Jeremiah seems to have included all of his children in this will, and it may be possible to ascertain something about how he felt about each of them by looking at what he left them. It was traditional to leave the bulk of one’s estate to the eldest son, and this is not what happened in this family. His two eldest sons, Philip and John, each get “two dollars”. Why these two were out of favour with their father is unknown. They were both likely living in Stillwater at the time. Son Jeremiah is the recipient of the homestead, but the history books tell us that he later moves to Saratoga Springs. Reuben gets to keep the land he is living on. My three times great grandfather Stephen appears to be in favour, due to his generous legacy, despite having just moved 162 miles away to Pinckney, New York, the year before. Two of the daughters, Phebe and Sarah, are endowed with livestock, principally sheep. We have to remember that the Hart family, including Jeremiah and his brothers, were tailors, wool producers, and fulling mill owners. The daughters were likely given the sheep for the wool. Hannah, the youngest, gets some furniture.

We might assume that Jeremiah continues to be satisfied with this distribution of his assets, because he does not write another will, and lives another sixteen years.

Emma Cook in Vancouver Before the Great War

Emma Cook

Three years after the death of her husband, William Cook, the 1911 Canada Census shows my great great grandmother Emma living in Vancouver with five of her children, including Faith, my great grandmother, Faith's husband, Herbert Saunders, and their new baby, Clara. Emma’s other children living with her are Edward, Samuel, Mary Eliza, and Godfrey. The family has followed Emma's daughter Lily and her family to the west coast of Canada. Emma is operating a boarding house at 1296 Venables, and has eight men living there in addition to her family. The census began on June 1, 1911, and was completed by February 26, 1912, so we know that this was their living situation some time between those dates. The fact that baby Clara is listed as being two months old, and she was born April 8, 1911, indicates that Emma completed her enumeration in June 1911. In addition, she does not appear in the Vancouver city directories until this year, so she has likely come to Vancouver some time in 1910 or 1911.

An advertisement in The Vancouver Daily World from September 12, 1911 is very likely Emma’s, as it mentions “English cooking”, and we know from the city directory that in 1912 she operated her “English Home Bakery”. (I suppose at the time that “English cooking” would be a draw for some people).

Judging from city directories and from advertisements in the The Vancouver Daily World, Emma seems next to be operating both a bakery and a boarding house at 733 and 735 West Broadway from at least as early as November 1911 .  The following ad from April 23, 1912 shows that she was looking for both a dishwasher and a housekeeper:

I was delighted to see her name in this ad. (Interestingly, the newspaper headline for that day is "More Officers Testify at Titanic Probe: List of Bodies Recovered Increases"). Ten ads appear in for the 735 address from November 2, 1911 to April 23, 1912; and seven appear for the 733 address from July 15, 1912 to June 4, 1913. Oddly her address in the 1912 city directory  is “733”, and in the 1913 it is “735”, when one would expect the opposite based on the newpaper ads. I think we can safely assume that she may have held both addresses at the same time, although she doesn’t seem to be running the bakery in 1913. The majority of the ads are for a dishwasher, mostly at ten dollars per month with room and board, which later goes up to fifteen dollars. Five of the seventeen ads call for someone to help with the housework at twenty dollars per month, also “sleep in”. Curiously, no ads for room and board came up as they did in Winnipeg. Maybe she was doing better at finding tenants than at keeping a dishwasher! She may have needed extra help as her daughter Faith had two young daughters by November 1912 and had moved out with her husband, (but only two blocks away at 517 West Broadway). Son Samuel was also out of the house, living with Faith.  Only Mary Eliza, Edward, and likely Godfrey are now still with their mother. Mary Eliza’s occupation is “waitress”, and Edward is a “lather” as is Samuel. Edward marries Mabel Winnifred Mills on June 21, 1913 and lives in the Lower Mainland for the rest of his life.

The 1914 and 1915 Vancouver city directories show that Emma living at 877 Hornby Street. She is described only as a “widow”. Mary Eliza is listed with her in 1914, but not in 1915. She may already be married to William Foster at that time and living in Manitoba again. Godfrey is likely on his own, since from at least the age of sixteen he is a “salesman” and making more money than his adult relatives. I found this ad from November 29, 1913 for where Emma was living:

I next found this notice for an auction at her residence dated May 26, 1914. The owner at the time was selling off all the contents. Emma was still living there in 1915, so she likely was able to stay during the transition of ownership. It is an interesting look into the past as it describes the furniture and decorations, and that the boarding house had ten rooms. It helps us to visualize what her home was like in addition to being "warm" and costing $4.50 per week:

(In case you were wondering, a "sanitary couch" seems to be a kind of a folding day bed, which can be used for sitting or sleeping).

In 1916, Emma is back living in Winnipeg, closer to most of her family. She is now sixty-seven years old and living with Mary Eliza and her husband. I have found no further evidence that Emma ever operated another business. I checked on Google Maps, and none of places where she lived during these years still exist today.

The Last Days of William Cook in the Press

Ad in The Winnipeg Tribune, January 16, 1908
Day of William Cook's Funeral

I recently started a free trial of Newspapers.com, which hadn’t been yielding very much about my direct ancestors until I switched from their U.S. section to the Canadian one. I was pleased to see that there were newspapers from the turn of the century from both Winnipeg and Vancouver covering some of the times when my Cooks lived there. I was ecstatic to find an obituary for my great great grandfather, William Cook, right of the bat. I despaired of every finding one. This is from the January 14, 1908 Winnipeg Tribune:

From the account of one of his daughters, he died at 1:20 a.m. According to the weather report in the same newspaper, the weather was “cloudy” that day, with “light snow fall” expected.

This was followed by an funeral notice in the Tribune January 16, 1908:

And an item following the funeral from the same paper on January 17th:

That the family lived in a boarding house gave them premises large enough to host a small funeral. (The two different addresses on Donald Street, 141 and 144, could mean that 141 was a misprint, or that the boarding comprised more than one address).I’m thinking that the “Rev. Mr. Parker” was likely of the Anglican Church, as William was Church of England. The weather report that day states it was “fair”, but that it had been “quite cold”. This might mean that the family was blessed with clear weather as they made their procession to the cemetery.

These notices add significantly to what I already knew. William’s death certificate listed “diabetes” as his cause of death, but gave his illness as “two days” duration. That he also died of “pneumonia” makes this make sense. I knew that the family had come to Winnipeg from Moosomin, Saskatchewan between 1906 and 1908, but did not know that they came in April 1907. I had discovered through Findagrave that he was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Winnipeg, but had had no information about his funeral. That it was held in his home two days after his death followed by the burial was new to me. I knew from Winnipeg city directories that William’s wife Emma had operated a boarding house at their address, 144 Donald Street, but had not known that William had been part of this during the last months of his life.

When I searched on their address, I was able to find the following advertisement in the January 3, 1908 Manitoba Morning Free Press, eleven days before William died:

Now we know that they considered their establishment to be “first class” and that they charged four dollars per week. From the 1906 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, we know that earlier in that year, the family was still living on their farm in their log cabin in Moosomin, with their hired man Charles, their horses, their one milk cow, their one sheep, and their thirteen pigs. The children still at home at that time were Samuel, Faith, Mary Eliza, and Godfrey. It seems from this and other data, that these were the four children living at home at the time of their father’s death. Samuel would have been have been twenty-one, Faith nineteen, Mary Eliza sixteen, and Godfrey twelve. (The same four children are living with their mother in Vancouver in 1911, along with their older brother Edward. Only Faith is married). From what I can gather, it may have been possible for all the other children, now adults, to attend the funeral, some having to travel from Saskatchewan, except for Lily, who was the first to move out to Vancouver.

With this level of detail, it is possible to imagine what this time must have been like for the family. It seems as though the loss of William must have come as a huge shock, despite his diabetes, as he had only been sick with pneumonia for two days.

I have put out a request on Findagrave for a photo of William's grave marker, which is located at plot 8-G0523, Elmwood Cemetery, 88 Hespeler Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, but so far there have been no takers. If any of you gentle readers would be kind enough to provide me with such a photo, I promise to post it to Findagrave, and I will put the photo in a blogpost giving you full credit. A map of the cemetery can be found here: Elmwood Cemetery Map.

A "Tony" Bosomworth Wedding in 1881

The boyhood home of the groom, William Gelder Shepardson.
from History of Macoupin County Illinois: And Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent
Men and Pioneers, accessed via Google Books

Among the Carlinville newspapers I found on the Old Fulton Post Cards website was a wedding announcement for my great grand aunt, Mary J. Bosomworth, also known as “Mollie”, who was the sister of my great grandmother, Anna Belle Bosomworth Marlow. She had married William Gelder Shepardson, who was the adopted son of Thomas S. Gelder, one of the early settlers of the area. Thomas Gelder, who was originally from Yorkshire, was a veteran of the Black Hawk War, during which he fought alongside Abraham Lincoln. (The Gelder homestead is depicted above). The wedding was held at the home of my great great grandparents, Charles and Ann Bosomworth on January 13, 1881, in Chesterfield, Illinois, according to the February 3, 1881 Carlinville Free Democrat. What is interesting about the article, is not only the detail it gives about the wedding, but also that it includes a list of most of the wedding gifts, and who gave them! I don’t think I have ever seen this included in a marriage announcement before. It may be a whole or partial list of the guests, but may also be a way of acknowledging people who sent gifts but who did not attend. Here is a transcript. I have added the relationship of the giver listed to the bride or groom where not explicit:

A Tony Wedding

Quite a number of guests assembled at the residence of Chas. Bosomworth Thursday eve., Jan. 13th to witness the marriage of his daughter Miss Mollie to Mr. W. G. Shepardson, Rev. March officiating. After the impressive ceremony was performed supper was served which was complete in every respect. The following is nearly a complete list of the presents received:

Pair of scissors, father of the bride.

Two brooms, mother of the bride.

Set of napkins, Allie Bosomworth.  [Alice, sister of the bride].

Set of plates, Irene Bosomworth.  [Sister of the bride].

Glass water pitcher, T. Shearburn. [Likely groom’s sister’s husband’s brother, Thomas A. Shearburn].

Set of goblets, Mrs. T. Shearburn. [Wife of groom’s sister’s husband’s brother].

Pair of vases, Mary Bosomworth.  [Likely cousin of bride, Mary Jane Bosomworth, daughter of George Robert Bosomworth, and born same year as the bride].

Pair of towels and coffee mill, Mr. and Mrs. N¬__.

Set of knives and forks, John Allen.

Lamp, Mr. and Mrs. T. Towse.

Set of napkins, Mr. and Mrs. S. L. Berryman.

Set of goblets, Enola Peebles.

The set, John Candler and Ida Towse. [John Candler was the likely the brother of the bride’s aunt, Sarah Candler Bosomworth].

Comb case, Annie Bosomworth. [Anna Belle Bosomworth, sister of the bride, and my great grandmother].

 Lamp, John and Lucy Forth.

Washboard, R. D. Smith.

Goblets, John Bramley.

Pair of salt stands, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. De__.

Castor set, Chas. Forth.

Butter dish and water pitcher, H. Stamm.

Box of matches, Jessie Bosomworth. [Sister of the bride].

Syrup pitcher, W. D. Forbes. Tin cup, Edgar N__.

Pair of towels, Mr. and Mrs. Birdsall.

Butter dish, Low. Thornton.

Towels, Lizzie Boatman.

Glass watcher pitcher, Jas. Candler [James Candler was the likely the brother of the bride’s aunt, Sarah Candler Bosomworth].

Two pickle dishes, Carrie Ulster.

Pickle dish, Annie Cook.

Broom, Lizzie Armstrong.

Silver butter knife, Eliza ___ckels.

Table linens and towels, Dr. Collins, pref. _____, Fred and Frank Towse.

Wash tub, John Armstrong.

I suppose it would be natural  considering all of the above, to wonder if the title of the piece is ironic. After all, the wedding was in the home of the local blacksmith, and the bride’s parents give the couple a pair of scissors and two brooms. What struck me as I did a bit more research, is that the groom’s adopted family does not seem to be represented well among the givers of gifts. Thomas Gelder seems to have been a well-to-do and prominent citizen of the county, and was still living at the time of the marriage.  It is not clear if William Gelder Shepardson benefitted financially in any way due to his connection with his adopted father. William went on to make a business out of digging wells. I have yet to find any further information on his biological father, George Shepardson, or his mother. The only thing I know about them is that George was from England, and William’s mother was Irish.

William and Mollie had at least five children:  Piercy Dickenson (named for Mollie’s uncle), Mary Louise, Charles Bosomworth (named for Mollie’s father), Edith, and Nellie Gladys. Mollie died in 1943, and William died in 1946.

I would be interested if any of my gentle readers can identify any of the other guests, and their relationship to the family if known. The Towse family figures into the Joseph Marlow story later, as he rents a Towse family farm.

The Drowning of George Arthur Smith, My Step Grandfather

One of the amazing items I found recently among the Carlinville newspapers in the Fulton Post Cards database was an obituary of my step grandfather, George Arthur Smith. He was the first husband of my grandmother, Lena Sarah Marlow, and the father of eight out of her nine children. My aunt, Roberta Smith Riddoch, recounts the story of the family in Verdant Valleys in and Around Lougheed, which is copyrighted, but fortunately available on line, where you can view a picture of Arthur and Lena with their first three children. Aunt Roberta does not give details of her father’s drowning, but family stories indicate that it was the most traumatic event any of them ever experienced. Unfortunately, it was one event in a string of tragedies: the untimely losses of Lena’s sisters Winnnie and Dollie, and Dollie’s daughter Ruby Belle, the death of her father Joseph to cancer, the fire which burned down Lena’s house after her husband’s death, a destructive hailstorm in July of 1930, and the subsequent suicide of her next husband, George Leslie Hart, to whom she had only been married for six weeks. Of course, all of this took place in the lead up to and onset of the Great Depression.

Arthur’s obituary, which appeared in The Carlinville Democrat on May 20, 1928, was one of a series of obituaries and letters home written by the Marlow family to their previous hometown newspaper, which were my great fortune to discover in the Fulton Post Cards historical newspapers database. This database contains mainly New York newspapers, and very few from other places, but includes five newspapers from Carlinville, Macoupin county, Illinois, the home of many of my Marlows and Bosomworths. The following obituary confirms the stories told to me by my cousins:

OBITUARY

George Arthur Smith, living on the J. W. Pfouts place, at Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, was accidentally drowned while out on the lake on a boat near his house. The boat took water and started to sink.Mr. Smith jumped from the boat and attempted to swim to shore. The water was deep and ice cold and he was a long ways out. He was attacked with cramps and was drowned. His eldest son, Glenn, tried to help him but had to turn back as the water was too deep. Mr. Smith was drowned before the eyes of his wife and children. The body was found at about 4 o'clock Tuesday morning May 15th. The accident occurred Monday evening about 8 o'clock, May 14th.

Mr. Smith was born April 18, 1892 near Chesterfield, Macoupin co., Ill. He grew to manhood in and near Chesterfield and Medora. He joined the Harmony Baptist Church when a boy. He was married to Lena Sarah Marlow, daughter of Mrs. J. H. Marlow, Feb. 20, 1912. Eight children were born to this union, six boys and two girls, namely: Glenn Marlow, Joseph Vernon, Wilbur Arthur, Roberta Annabelle, Dorothy Elizabeth, Byron William, Elwood George, and Ralph Fredrick. In the fall of 1913, he came to Lougheed, Alberta, Canada, stayed six months, and February 15, 1914, started back to Medora. He stayed there six years, and Sept 28, 1919 removed to Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, where he resided until his death. He leaves to mourn his death, his widow and eight children, the eldest being 15 years and the youngest 14 months, all at home. His mother, four half brothers, living in Illinois, besides many other relatives and friends.

The funeral was held in the English church at Lougheed, May 16th, conducted by Rev. Arthur Murphy of Hardisty. Burial was in the Lougheed cemetery. The services were attended by many relatives, neighbors and friends and there were many beautiful flowers. The pallbearers were Jim Hays, Frank Curtis, Leigh Kelsey, Hamlin Cooper, Percy Cooper and Robert Johnson.