Home to Lupinfield Cottage

I am presently engrossed in teaching my summer course on genealogy research for pre-service librarians. It is a short course with a lot to cover so it is very overwhelming, not only for my student but also for me. While I have a little downtime today, while the students are digging into their family research, I want to share about my summer trip back to Twillingate, Newfoundland back in June.

This was my third visit to the tiny tourist town on the northeast shore of Newfoundland where my great grandfather, Abram Thomas Earle, was born on January 13, 1891. With the present day population of about 2100 people, tourism plays a big part in its economy, its claim to fame being that it is "The Iceberg Capital of the World." In spring and summer months, icebergs float past and lodge themselves in it craggy coastline.

My great grandpa Abe immigrated to the Unites States in May 1903 when he was just 12 years old; first by boat from St. John's, Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia, and then by train to Boston where he presumably was taken in by his maternal aunt, Jane Samms-Whynot (July 7, 1870 - April 19, 1959), and her family.

Abe's father, Abraham Earle (about 1849 - winter 1890), died at sea aboard a ship called The Rise and Go shortly before Abe was born. Then his mother, Sarah Samms-Earle (October 13, 1857 - March 20, 1899), remarried to James Bromley on September 15, 1894. Less than 5 years later, when Abe was just 8 years-old, his mother succumbed to tuberculosis. What Abe's life was like between the passing of his mom and his move to the U.S. is unknown to me.

When I made my second visit to Twillingate in June 2018 with my Uncle Thomas, we stayed in an AirBnB called Pumpkin House on Farmers Arm Road. According to my great grandfather's birth registration he was born on Farmers Arm and so at the time of booking our reservation at Pumpkin House I thought, "Well, this is probably as close I will get to the location where Abe was born. He probably knew who lived in this house and he probably played on this street."

The homeowners of Pumpkin House, Charlie and his mother Nancy, welcomed us like family. Charlie had just purchased another house on Farmers Arm Road, not far down the road. Below, Pumpkin House is circled in yellow and the "new" property is circled in red.

One morning, Charlie called Uncle Thomas and I down to his new property. Once there he rolled out his deed for us and there in the corner of it, it stated that the home had been the property of John and William J. Earle. 

John Earle (August 11, 1863 - May 8, 1913), a fisherman and shipbuilder, was Abe's much older first cousin; 28 years older. William John Earle (January 14, 1889 - September 9, 1959), a generation below Abe, was actually 2 years older than Abe, almost exactly to the day, and was the man responsible for building the addition on the back of that home which now contains the kitchen and dinning room space.

Since our visit in 2018, Charlie and Nancy have renovated the Earle family home into another beautiful rental property now known as Lupinfield Cottage. During the years Charlie has shared with me, and through social media, the renovation progress and the many precious finds; markings on the walls, children's scrawling in cabinets, and a pocket watch he unearthed in the yard. 

On this visit to Twillingate with my Uncle Allen and Aunt Rita, we had the beautiful opportunity to stay in the home that was originally built by Cousin John Earle.

It is hard to put into words the profound feeling of walking on the very land where you know your ancestors once walked. For me there is a deep, indescribable emotion that rises in me. I often become suffused with an aching reverence and overwhelming connection to lives long gone, yet somehow still very present in the soil beneath my feet and the walls that surround me.

I didn't know Abe. He died about 7 months before I was born but I know Abe was there on Farmers Arm. I don't know if he ever stayed in his cousin John's home or what nearby structure he may have resided in, but he was there and now so was I. 

What Served as a Scandal Back Then

It's Women's History Month and I am preparing to do a genealogy presentation at a local public library in May for a Mother's Day celebration. It is about researching the women in our family trees. Often, due to the practice of women changing their surnames when they marry, our mothers' lines can prove to be really challenging. Once one abandons their maiden name, it can be hard to push those lines further back. 

The trick to being able to overcome the married name/maiden name obstacle is to research the men who surround that woman in her lifetime. For example, you find some male lodger in the home in a census record, he might be a brother-in-law to the male head of the household, or the wife's cousin of some ilk. Look into that guy.

I have plenty of examples from my own family tree research but I really wanted some more examples from newspapers. Newspapers often reveal a lot about a family. So I opened the website, New York State Historic Newspapers (https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/) and started looking for articles about my male family members.

I threw in my great great grandfather's name, Abram Earle, into a search. I got 2 hits. Neither of which fit my interest. Then I thought, I'll try by his nickname; Abe Earle. 

The second of the five hits led to the front page of The Daily Review (Freeport, New York), October 29, 1923. Headline: "Police Break Up Crap Game"

Oh jeez. 

Now it's not the first time I have run into a record of a family member having a brush with the law but this is one I didn't expect. And really?? This made the front page??

POLICE BREAK UP CRAP GAME

Freeport, Oct. 29 - - Acting on complaint of an anonymous letter believed to have been written by a woman in which it states that her husband was losing money steadily at crap in an unused barn back of the Himmel Bakery on South Main street, Chief of Police Hartmann, heading a party of officers in plain clothes visited that place Sunday night about 7 p.m., and found seven gathered around a dilapidated pool table in the upstairs portion of the building.

The men gave their names as Gene Breen, 89 Archer street; Thomas Cullen, 3 Railroad avenue; Ray Rogers, Franklin Square; Joe Sousa, Hillside avenue; Larry Temple, Banks avenue, Rockville Centre; Abe Earle of Grenada avenue, Roosevelt and George Rich of South Main street.

The party of officers knocked at a door leading upstairs and when it was opened they went up with drawn guns. A one dollar bill and three dice were found in the room but nobody was playing. Blankets, etc., were hung to shut off the light from the street.

One of the men dove under the pool table but was quickly spotted. The men were taken to police headquarters and served with a summons to appear before Judge Albin N. Johnson Tuesday morning.

Breen stated that he was the one who had hired the building.

One dollar?!?!

Is this that big a secret? How did this make the front page? Must have been quiet times in the Village then.

In any case, I ran it past my dad and his brothers to see if anyone of them had heard about it or suspected Abe of being a gamble. Ooo big stakes.

The event took place years before my grandfather was born. They hadn't heard about it but stories unfolded about my grandfather's childhood and numerous accounts of his family fleeing their rental homes in the night due to their inability to pay the rent. Was it because his father Abe was a gambler? It's rumored his mother Ethel was a spendthrift, though. Could it be Abe wasn't losing money gambling but gambling to make money for other expenses incurred? 

To me it's just a reminder that sometimes family doesn't talk about stuff, not because they are hiding it, but simply because it isn't that big a deal.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 7: Letters & Diaries - Six Months of a Newfoundland Missionary's Journal, from February to August, 1835

While exploring my Earle family line I came across someone on Ancestry.com who saved a page from a book as a profile picture for my 4th great grandfather, Reuben Samms (1799 - December 11, 1870). The page came from a book called "Outrageous Seas: Shipwreck and Survival in the Waters off Newfoundland, 1583-1893" by Rainer K. Baehre, published for Carleton University by McGill-Queen's University Press in Montreal, Quebec in 1999, which I have now purchased and added to my personal library.

Chapter 11 of the book discusses the journal of a missionary sent to Newfoundland, Edward Wix (1802-1866), and his encounters with residents of the island. His journal is a valuable document providing insight into the life of a missionary in the 17th century but also into the lives of early Newfoundland settlers and the challenges they endured in such a remote location. The actual primary resource, "Six Months of a Newfoundland Missionary's Journal, from February to August, 1835", or at least a transcription of the missionary's journal, is available online though AnglicanHistory.org (https://anglicanhistory.org/canada/nf/wix_six.html) and Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/b29349746/page/148/mode/2up).

Baehre quotes from Wix's journal about his experience in the home of Reuben Samms and his wife Sarah. MY 4th great grandparents! The journal itself is much more detailed than the secondary source which distills the information about the Samms family members but indeed presents accurate quotes from the journal entries.

The entry for Tuesday, April 28, 1835 reads:

"Walked at six A.M., accompanied by my hostess and another person from Rencontre, upon the hard snow by some very mountainous hills, to Bay Chaleur, four miles. The French islands of St. Peter's, and Miquelon could be seen from the hills. At Bay Chaleur was the residence of Reuben and Sarah Samms, a poor but worthy couple."

That's my poor but worthy couple!! Wix goes on to write about the wreck of the William Ashton, and the work my family did to rescue it's passengers.

"The barque "William Ashton", of Newcastle, had struck on the rocks at Lance Cove, on her way from Dublin to Quebec, with sixty-three souls on board, at two, A.M., of August 9, 1830. Reuben and Sarah entertained fifteen of the crew and passengers in their present little dwelling, and each day supplied the remaining forty-eight persons with provisions in the tilt, which they built for shelter at Lance Cove, the scene of the wreck, three miles from Bay Chaleur. A captain John Stoyte, of the 24th Regiment, with his wife and her child and nurse were among those who were inmates of Reuben's house..."

Wix lends more detail about the character of Reuben. Then goes on to highlight the baptism of some of the Samms family members:

"...The conduct of Reuben Samms, contrasts well with the less creditable conduct of many upon this shore, as regards wrecks. Before the wreck of the "William Ashton", he had been instrumental with his brother, in saving persons at different times from five other wrecks. On one occasion, he had observed signs of a wreck and discovered footmarks upon the rugged shore, and tracked them several miles into the interior, where he found seven men from the "Mary", which belonged to Mr. Broom, the present senior magistrate of St. John's. The poor fellows had been three days and nights without food, and, but for his exertions in pursuing their tracks, must have perished. The simple description which he gave me of the joy which was depicted upon the haggard countenances of these starving and lost seamen, when they first caught sight of him in the interior, was most affecting, and reminded me of the experience of the lost sinner, when he first makes discovery of a Saviour!...

"When I had performed full service at Bay Chaleur, and baptized his four children, his wife humbly offered herself also for baptism, as did also his mother-in-law, who was sixty-two years of age, but had never before had an opportunity, though well read and instructed, and of pious conversation--of thus solemnly dedicating herself in this scriptural method to the service of CHRIST."

I was able to find that baptismal record on Ancestry which helped me to determine who the "mother-in-law" was. She was the 62 year-old Catherine Poole, listed as the widow of John Young and wife Thomas Samms.

So I am a little confused about Sarah Samms's maiden name. Sarah Samms, who according to Wix's journal was also baptized with her four children [Sarah Samms (age 8), Rueben Samms (5), Catherine Samms (3), and Marianne Samms (1)] and Catherine, does not appear in the register. 

If Catherine was Rueben's mother-in-law, that would make Catherine Sarah Samms's mother. Catherine, though, was also married to a Samms according to the register. Catherine's first husband was John Young and her second husband was Thomas Samms.

If Catherine is Sarah's mother, was Sarah's maiden name and married name both Samms?

Wouldn't be the first time that has happened in my family tree but I think the journal entry is  wrong. I think Catherine Poole-Samms was Sarah's mother-in-law, not Rueben's. I think Catherine was Reuben's mother. That would make more sense since a few lines above you can see an entry for Rueben's baptism on April 27, 1835, just the day before Catherine and Rueben's four children were baptized. The parents listed for Rueben are Thomas Samms and Catherine. You can also see on that page that Rev. Wix baptized Rueben's younger brother, Benjamin Samms, and his parents are also Thomas Samms and Catherine.

I am tremendously grateful to Edward Wix's account of his service, and to Rainer Baehre's gathering of stories regarding shipwrecks, as well as the individual who shared it on Ancestry, and countless unnamed caretakers of the original 1835 resource. God bless the stewards. 

Below is an image I found online of who may be Edward Wix.

 

 

Image from http://ngb.chebucto.org/Articles/wix01.shtml

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 4: Overlooked - Abe's Naturalization Papers

This year I have challenged myself to write brief biographies on 30 of my direct ancestors; my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and great-great grandparents. In doing so it forces me to revisit my research on each of them, and the members of their extended family, their siblings, and those siblings' spouses, etc. Undoubtedly, this results in me reexamining records and looking at new Ancestry hints. Newly digitized records are being added to databases all the time. I can't always keep up with all the hints. I try to keep on top of the hints for my direct ancestors though, but those extended family members, well, it's a lot. In this process of writing, I am uncovering a lot of details that I overlooked. In some instances my discoveries have prompted me to order records I haven't seen. Such was the case for my great grandfather, Abram Thomas Earle (January 13, 1891 - November 18, 1973).

Abe passed before I was born. I had heard many stories about him from my dad and grandparents, though. From them I knew Abe had immigrated to the U.S. from what is now Newfoundland, Canada. At the time of his immigration Newfoundland was a British dominion. 

I have traveled to the town he grew up in, Twillingate. I can tell you the exact date I first visited there but I didn't know the exact date Abe arrived in the U.S., until now.

I knew he was here by 1915 when he married Ethel Mae Losee on June 5, 1915 in Freeport, Long Island, New York. I knew he came to the U.S. after his mother died. His mother Sarah Samms-Earle-Bromley died on March 20, 1899 of consumption, what we call tuberculosis, when Abe was just 8 years old. Then an orphan, I really don't know what Abe's life was like between his mother's death in 1899 and his marriage in 1915. I knew he had older sisters and there was this notion that those ladies took care of him, but it was all vague as to when, where, and who exactly. The dynamics of the family are lost to me, except for what I can glean from records.

In an effort to clarify details about his life and that of his sister, specifically his sister Susie, I order their naturalization papers. The papers included many of the details I was hoping for.

Abe naturalized on January 10, 1925 in the Supreme Court of Nassau County, New York. We just passed the 100th anniversary of his naturalization. His Declaration of Intent, filed on September 26, 1917, states that he worked in monotype (a printer), he was white with a fair complexion, 5'5", 142 pounds, brown haired, and blue eyed. At the time of the application he was living with his wife, Ethel, in Roosevelt, New York, a town adjacent to Freeport. All of which I knew based on other resources and family. But then it told me this: Abe emigrated to the United States from Twillingate by way of Sydney, Nova Scotia on or about May 31, 1903 via railroad to Boston, Massachusetts.

The Boston part I had suspected because I saw his sister, Susie, in the 1910 census living in Boston. Abe wasn't listed on that census but stories told of Susie taking care of Abe, maybe he was there in 1910. He was there in '03. 

It was the railroad part that got me. Train? I didn't see that coming. The Earles are a nautical people. Abe's father died at sea, as did his maternal grandfather. I incorrectly assumed Abe must have come by ship into Boston or Ellis Island. Nope. Train.

I have been to Nova Scotia. I haven't been to Sydney. The closest I got was probably St. Ann's, Nova Scotia back in 2017 while driving from Baddeck to Ingonish Beach. I stayed there a night before driving through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. St. Ann's is about a 37.6 miles (60 kilometers) west of Sydney. Nova Scotia is beautiful, as is Newfoundland.

I wonder what Abe thought of Boston and who took care of him there. He was only 12. Did he travel alone? Where was he living when he was back in Twillingate before his departure? When did he get to New York? I still don't have the clearest picture of his life between 1899 and 1915 but I do have a new bullet on the time line:

May 31, 1903 - emigrated from Newfoundland to Boston by way of Sydney, Nova Scotia via train.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 3: Nickname - They Called my Grandpa Whitey

They called my grandpa Whitey.

Some nicknames are obvious derivatives of the person's name. My name is April. My close family members call me A. My brother-in-law Timothy, we call Tim. My niece Sofia, we call Sofie.

And then there are other nicknames that are descriptive, Skinny Vinnie, Fat Tony. 

But every once in a while there is a nickname that makes you wonder where that came from.

Everybody called him Whitey. The story is that it stemmed from his childhood when he had white hair, but he didn't have white hair when I knew him. So I kind of didn't get it. His hair was dark, maybe salt-and-pepperish but not white. Not really. 

I don't think I knew his real name until I was in my teens, and I think it was because he didn't like his first name, Clarence. I like it. I think its better than Clair for a man, which is now more commonly a woman's name but it really is a gender neutral name. Many noteworthy men were named Clair, or Claire. or Clare. Lots of well known Canadian hockey players, not at all a feminine bunch, have the name Claire. My other grandmother was named Clare. Maybe grandpa didn't like the soft, femininity associated with name Clare, even though he was Clarence. I don't know, I'm just speculating.

However, I have never found a genealogical record about him in which he is noted as Whitey. In records he is always Clarence. You kind of need to know the person's "real" name to find them in records.

A few years ago, my mother's cousin Anita shared with me this photo of my grandfather as a boy, maybe he's 3. It's not a clear photo. You can't see his face but look at that hair. It's as white as the sand he's playing with. Now I really do see why they called my grandpa Whitey.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 2: Favorite Photo: Charles Henry circa 1899.

I did the Ancestors Challenge before, back in 2022. At that time I wrote about this favorite photo. To me "favorite" means that absolute top. You only have one favorite. Right? Maybe not. I do have many many photos I love. My office bookshelves are dominated by pictures, rather than books. So to pick another "favorite" photo is challenging for me.

I am not sure if I have shared this photo in my blog before but I cherish it:

That is my great grandfather, Charles Henry (26 March 1896 - 14 June 1949). He was born on March 26, 1896 in Woodhaven, Queens County, New York to Victor Henry and Annette Hinch-Henry. 

The physical photo was given to me by my grandmother's sister, my Great Aunt Ann Henry-Cramer. I am not sure when exactly but Aunt Ann has since past. 

I was so excited to receive such a precious heirloom. Charles looks as though he's only 2, maybe 3, perhaps 4 at most. It is not a dated image so I can only assume it was taken circa 1899, around the turn of the century.

So excited, I immediately share the image via FaceBook so that family members could see it. My father's cousin, Cousin Timmy took it upon himself to lovely restore it digitally. I shared his rendition above. The image below shows the physical photo I received on the left. Look at the beautiful work Tim did.

Amazing. Right?

I never knew Charles, which is not uncommon. Most people don't know a great grandparent. Sadly, though, my father didn't get to know this grandfather of his. Charles died 6 months before my dad was born. He died from a rare form of stomach cancer on June 14, 1949.

My grandmother was convinced he developed that cancer as a result of the work he did for a paint manufacturer. I mean they were still making paint with lead back in those days.

But in this image, he's just a baby with a whole life ahead of him, no thought of marrying and having children, no less grandchildren or great grandchildren. This was also years before the scandal of his father's murder/suicide. His father, Victor Henry, committed a murder/suicide on June 23, 1908. I write about that extensively.

But Charles, that little boy there has no idea of all the life ahead of him, all the changes and challenges he will face. It's just so innocent. I love it. I hate that giant floofy bow under his chin. I would have torn that thing off instantly. How irritating. But I love it.

Venting about the Ungrateful DNA Testers

I try to link my DNA matches to my tree. If I cannot figure out how we are connected and there is no tree from them to work with, I often reach out to the person. Very often I do not hear back. People typically take these tests just wanting the ethnicity profile and then they disappear. (By the way, the ethnicity profile is the least useful aspect of the test results, but anyway...) Sometimes people are actually working on a tree. I am, of course, willing to share all the information I have gathered. My tree is public, etc., etc., etc.

If they do reply, sometimes I get back some of the most confounding messages, like this one:

"...With the upmost respect, I am asking please to not add me or anyone you might believe is directly linked to me.

...we are extremely far apart as relations.

...be kind and respectful in return.

...your research and the immense family tree you have built is so impressive!

...I am an extremely private person..."

I simply told them that if they do not want to share information, they should take down their DNA or they will likely be contacted by others trying to figure out the connection.

But what I really wanted to say:

1. Telling me to be kind and respectful when I have been nothing but kind and respectful is not only unnecessary, it's fucking rude. I shared all my research information with you. You be kind and respectful. Say thank you!

2. We are not "extremely far apart." Trust me. 3rd, 4th, even 5th cousins is not extremely far apart. If we were extremely far apart, my tree would not have been useful to you.

3. I'll put whoever I damn well please into my tree.

4. I am happy to keep you out of my tree but you're not the only person ever born of an affair. Ease up there, unicorn.

5. If you are "an extremely private person", don't take a DNA test.

Grrr. It makes me so mad that people want the answers to their mystery but are not willing to share their findings. You want to know what you want to know and you used me to find it but now you won't share the discover. 

Take your DNA down. 

...and the word is utmost.