This theme doesn't bring to mind anything in my family history research; Shadow. The only thing I could think of is one of my favorite family photos. It is a very arts photo of my dad and his mom. It was taken in about 1952 by my grandmother's brother, my great uncle Robert "Bobby" Henry (October 21, 1925 - April 30, 2011).
Recently, my Cousin Mary and I have committed to work together to contribute a column about genealogy research to a family newsletter, called The Raynor Shine, put out by the Raynor Family Association. Mary and I are 6th cousins once removed. Our common ancestors are descendants of Edward Raynor (1624 - 1685).
Edward Raynor set sail for the New World from Ipswich, England in April of 1634 aboard a ship called the Elizabeth. He was just 10 years old at the time. Orphaned, he came to the New World with his uncle, Thurston Raynor and his wife, Elizabeth, and their 5 children; Thurston, Joseph, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Lidia. There was another minor traveling with this family, Elizabeth Kemball of whom I know nothing. There were other Kemball families aboard the same ship but Elizabeth (age 13) is listed as a ward of Thurston Raynor the elder.
The Raynors first settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, then Wethersfield and Stamford, Connecticut before heading to Hempstead, Long Island, New York in 1644. Edward is noted as one of the original settlers of Hempstead. He was a large landowner, credited with settling the area now known as the Village of Freeport in Nassau County in 1659. At one time the area was known as Raynortown. He died in about December 1685 or January 1686
Cousin Mary and my most recent common ancestors are Jacob Raynor (unknown - March 1829) and his wife Rebecca Raynor-Raynor (June 10, 1769 - February 14, 1855). That's right Raynor-Raynor. Enter endogamy; the custom or constraint of marrying within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe. Rebecca was a Raynor who married a Raynor. Aside from spouses, I am unsure of the relationship between Jacob and Rebecca but they were likely cousins of some ilk. The Raynors were a big Long Island family. We aren't exactly sure who Jacob's parents were but Rebecca was the great-great granddaughter of the aforementioned Edward Raynor.
Mary and I have teamed up on many occasions to research potential parents for Jacob. It's so hard to sort out when the region was so densely populated with Raynors. And Jacob is not exactly a unique first name. There were dozens of Jacob Raynors in the area of relatively the same age. And to date, no other Raynor family researcher has been able to show me a source stating my Jacob's parentage. Oh sure there are trees out there naming his parents but are they documented? NO. And to some extent I'd be okay with that if the tree maker told me their source. Did grandma tell you that? Did you read it in some book? Just tell me where ya got that from but NOoooo.
So I am hoping Mary and I can use our column to help our Raynor cousins to do some quality research and share their sources. I am looking forward to the experience of co-authoring with one of my favorite genealogical finds; Cousin Mary.
That's not an expression. They literally lived next door to each other.
Both my grandpas served in the navy in WWI. My great grandpa, Abram Earle (January 13, 1891 - November 18, 1973) started building his own boat. His father, my great-great grandfather, Abraham Earle (About 1849 - Fall 1890), died at sea abroad a ship called The Rise and Go in Newfoundland. Abraham's father-in-law, my 3rd great grandfather, Reuben Samms (About 1830 - October 7, 1869), also died at sea during a seal hunt. Another of my 3rd great grandfathers, John M. Losee (August 17, 1841 - February 10, 1918), had a brother, Leander L. Losee (November 8, 1846 - April 23, 1917), who served in the Navy during the American Civil War and was captain of a life saving station along the south shore of Long Island. And yet another 3rd great grandpa, John Aloysius Joyce (February 11, 1829 - September 30, 1910), served in the U.S. Navy during the Mexican-American War (mid-1840s) at 16 years-old as a cabin boy on the U.S.S. Potomac. Boat people! I'm queasy just writing this.
My grandmother was married on her 20th birthday and then had her 3rd child on the same date 5 years later, February 27. That son's ex-wife had their second child on her birthday, June 2. My grandma's brother, Robert, had his first child on his birthday, October 21.
And get this, those boys when to the same high school as mom, Aunt Jane, and my step-mom.
Also, my great-great grandmother, Flora Smith-Losee (Mar 1875 - September 1, 1920), and her a sister, Melinda Smith-Losee (November 1, 1869 - August 19, 1955) married brothers; John M. Losee Jr. (March 25, 1870 - May 24, 1940) and Oliver Combs Losee (May 3, 1868 - February 10, 1937), respectively.
And... they were brothers whose children married. Yeah my 4th great grandfather, William Moore (1763 - July 1817), and 4th great grandmother, Eleanor Moore (1767 - October 19, 1836), were 1st cousins.
"Settler" is just a term for people showing up and building a house, typically to colonize the area and thus, typically European white people were settlers.
10. I descend from the man who settled Freeport, Long Island in 1659; Edward Raynor (1624 - 1685).
To me, to call someone a "character" means they are unusual in an amusing and somewhat eccentric way.
My Grandpa Earle was a bit of a character. I suspect he had a bit of OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. He would get up multiple times throughout the night to check that the doors were locked and the stove was turned off. Every morning that I lived with my grandparents, I would watch my grandfather sit and count his prescription pills, all the while thinking out loud to myself, "It is one less than yesterday, Pop." He was funny in a teasing sort of way. He flirted with every young girl who passed his way. Always looking to borrow their long locks to replace his lost follicles. Bald as a cue ball he would sit and rub his head while announcing he needed a haircut; A hair, as in one. Incredibly sensitive, he would cry at every wedding.
My Grandpa Gardner too was a bit of a character. I didn't know him as well as my Grandpa Earle with whom I lived for about 6 years in my 20s. Many summers though I would spend a month living with Grandpa Gardner in West Palm Beach, Florida. I'd fly down on my own and send the next few weeks just hanging out with Gramps. We'd play board games, watch movies, he'd make dinner, and we'd go for long drives to look for alligators. He'd take me to museums. He was very silly, incredibly funny, and cheated at Monopoly.
But maybe these characters aren't always jovial and amusing. Perhaps they are dark and even disturbed. For this post I am revisiting a post I wrote back in 2013 about Ambrose Weeks (About 1819 - May 4, 1900). Ambrose Weeks was the brother-in-law of my 4th great-grandmother, Lydia Smith-Losee (May 15, 1820 - December 31, 1887). He was married to Lydia's sister, Elizabeth Smith-Weeks (About 1815 - March 11, 1893). It's a distant relationship but still one of great interest to me.
Genealogy research often provides you with just the cold hard facts about a person; names, dates, places. Rarely do you get a sense of who the person was unless you're lucky enough to hear family stories or find a good newspaper article or obituary about the person.
In my opinion, the difference between calling oneself a genealogist or a family historian depends on what information you are gathering about your family. A family historian wants the stories. Filling in the names, dates, and location of life events on a chart is all well and good but if you don't invest some time in learning about the people and their stories what are you really doing this research for? What do all those names and dates and places mean to anyone if you don't glean a few good stories from your research?
Newspaper articles are some of the best resources to add some color to the family characters. If you have not spent some time searching historic newspapers for stories on your ancestors you are really missing out.
For a long time I have been fascinated with Ambrose. What a great name, right? Ambrose. It has Greek origins. It comes from the name Ἀμβρόσιος (Ambrosios) meaning "immortal." There was a St. Ambrose in the 4th-century. Sure look him up. He is the patron saint of Milan, Italy and beekeepers. Go figure. Fashionable and likely immune to stings. Anyway - - -
In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Ambrose Weeks is listed as 41 year of age, already married to Elizabeth, living in Brooklyn, and employed at a furniture store. In the 1870, Ambrose and Elizabeth are living in Port Washington, Long Island, New York where he was working as an undertaker. Now some might think that is a considerable jump in occupation but back then it wasn't all that far fetched. Furniture makers were often cabinet makers and coffins and caskets are nothing more than big cabinets really. Making coffins could lead one to working for an undertaker; and that could lead to learning the funeral business and becoming an undertaker. It seems to me, though, Ambrose was climbing the social ladder pretty quickly. In ten years to go from working in a furniture store to filling such an important role in the community as undertaker is pretty impressive to me.
However, I found a mention of Ambrose Weeks in the New York Times on November 24, 1873 in a section of the paper called City and Suburban News. Under a portion headed Long-Island it reads:
"Ambrose Weeks, of Roslyn, a cabinet-maker, made a desperate and deliberate attempt to commit suicide on Saturday morning by cutting his throat with a razor."
My God, how sad.
Note that Roslyn is a neighborhood very close to Port Washington on the North Shore of Nassau County, New York.
The report of his attempted suicide was also reported in Newtown Register, The Brooklyn Daily Union, and The New York Tribune. The worst of which was the one I found in the Newtown Register. It read as follows:
"Ambrose Weeks, a cabinet-maker, attempted self-destruction by cutting his throat with a razor, Saturday. He inflicted a deep wound, but lives to try again."
To try again?? Really, Register, really?
Ambrose survived, though Register, quite a bit longer as is apparent by another article found in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from October 30, 1885 on page 6 which states that "Ambrose Weeks, of Hempstead, has sued August Belmont, Jr. to recover $35.33 for labor."
August Belmont, Jr., as in the man who built Belmont Park Racetrack here on Long Island. Yeah, where the Belmont Stakes happens; the 3rd leg of the 3 part triple crown race. August Belmont, Jr. a very well-to-do gentleman of distinguished birth. One has to wonder if Ambrose ever got that money in light of the next article I found in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from May 4, 1900 on page 11, it reads as follows:
Died in the Almshouse
Ambrose Weeks, Once a Wealthy Merchant, a Pauper, Deserted by Friends
Hempstead, L.I., May 4 - - Ambrose Weeks, who was at one time one of the prominent merchants of this section of the Island and who is connected with some of the best Long Island families, died yesterday in the almshouse at Hempstead.
He was at one time quite wealthy and was engaged extensively in the furniture business in Hempstead. Misfortune and reverses overtook him in his old age, when his relatives and friends also deserted him, he was compelled to seek refuge in the Town Almshouse in Uniondale, where he has been for some years.
Mr. Weeks was over 80 years of age. His funeral service will be conducted by the Rev. Henry B. Bryan, canon of the Garden City Cathedral.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Garden City Cathedral, or more correctly the Cathedral of the Incarnation, here in Garden City, Long Island, it is indeed a quite spectacular Gothic-style, Episcopal Cathedral.
The saddest of all the articles though I think is this one appearing in the June 30, 1898 edition of the Newtown Register; a year before Ambrose's death. The mention was extracted from an article that appeared in the Hempstead Sentinel on June 23rd. It stated:
Ambrose Weeks was 79 years old last week. He has been spending the winter on the farm and Saturday he was in the village "renewing old acquaintance." Shortly after the death of his wife some five years ago, he purchased a tomb-stone and had it erected beside that of his wife's grave in Greenfield Cemetery. It is lettered requiring only a date of death to complete it.
Oh Ambrose, I imagine you a sad, heart-broken man but I don't really know that. These articles do not clearly speak to whether Ambrose's own actions brought on his circumstances; maybe he was a miserly, cruel man unworthy of friends and affection or perhaps he was simply suffering through depression and misfortune and deeply misunderstood by those around him. Regardless, he certainly suffered in his final years alone, destitute, and estranged from friends and family; poor Ambrose. His sad story awakens in me an awareness of the harsh reality of existence.
If not for these various newspaper articles, Ambrose Weeks would have just been another name on the tree; the husband of a 5th great-aunt who never had any children; no heirs to pass on stories of his character or experiences.
If researching your own family tree, do not disregard the importance of newspapers. They can fill in much of your family's story; bringing these names and dates to life again. If researching in the New York area, I recommend searching the Brooklyn Daily Eagle which is one of the few free online resources through Newspapers.com. It covered much more than the Borough of Brooklyn.
If we are to interpret "extended family" to mean relatives outside of the nuclear family such as aunts and uncles, and cousins of all ilk, I have already been writing about them throughout this blogging challenge so instead I am going to consider "extended family" to mean those relatives who share no blood line at all, like the families of in-laws, cousins of cousins, etc. You know, those elders you call aunt and uncle but really aren't related. Those people you invite to family functions but that are not related to you but are related to people you are related to.
Well, when I was in Twillingate, Newfoundland the first time in 2014, the birthplace of my great grandfather, Abram Thomas Earle (January 13, 1891 - November 18, 1973), my cousins and I rented a house in which there was a coffee table book called This is Our Place, This is Our Home by Joan Edward. It is a collection of oral histories from every corner of Newfoundland. The author had included a portrait and illustration with each story.
I was particularly drawn to one with this illustration of a small group of headstones, one of which appeared to be a unique wooden pillar.
We were headed to Norris Point, the area where my great grandpa's mother, Sarah Samms (October 13, 1857 - March 20 1899) was born. She is buried in Twillingate in Hart's Cove Cemetery but she was born near Norris Point.
Beneath the illustration it read: "April 17 - I set off for Norris point with the idea of photographing the cemetery with the majestic Tablelands ranging in the background. Snuggles in the center of the village, the cemetery lay blanketed in snow, many of its tombstones decorated with little colored plastic flowers at their base. My attention was soon riveted by a most fascinating tall headstone carved out of wood, silver-grey with age, dating back to 1871..." (page 181).
On the following pages the author shared her interview with James Knott of Norris Point. She wrote, "James' sister-in-law, Myrtle, revealed that her grandfather, George Thomas Organ, had carved the headstone himself for his brother's wife, Sarah... There are always connections in Newfoundland."
Didn't think much of it at the time. I was now kind of looking forward to seeing that cemetery marker in-person, though. I was fairly certain this would be the cemetery in which my Samms ancestors were interred, the St. Barnabas Anglican Cemetery in Norris Point.
Sure enough it was. My great-great grandmother Sarah Samms mother was interred there; my 3rd great grandmother, Frances (May 9, 1837 - January 6, 1925). Make that Frances Organ-Samms-Smith. That's right, my 3rd great grandmother's maiden name was Organ and that wooden marker carved by George Organ was for my 4th great grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Matthews-Organ (December 19, 1811 - April 12, 1872).
Pretty neat right?
I didn't know it at the time I read that book back in the living room of our rental in Twillingate that that fascinating wooden cemetery marker was my 4th great grandmother's.
If you look real close, you can see two reddish headstones a few rows back on the left and right for Knott family members. I'm confident James Knott is amongst those buried here.
I have been back to Norris Point one time since and sadly that marker was not there. I asked around about it and someone told us someone had taken it down to be restored. I have not been back since 2018 but I hope it is back in place.