Tales of A Mad Genealogist: July 2015

Friday, 10 July 2015

Friday's Faces From The Past: Hattie & Olive

2x-Great-Grandmother Olive Feener and her sister Hattie were born in New Canada, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to Henry Feener and Mary Ellen Smith. Hattie was the oldest, born on June 14, 1872. Olive was their next child, born on Nov. 11, 1877. Hattie went on to marry Avard Lowe while Olive married first William C. Wentzell and later Harvey Dennis Monroe. Hattie eventually passed away on Oct. 6, 1920. Olive passed away on May 2, 1963.

In the photograph, Hattie has a ring on her left hand and I believe this to be her wedding ring. Therefore, I suspect that this photograph was taken some time between Aug. 7, 1886 (the date of Hattie's marriage) and Hattie's death.

Hattie (Feener) Lowe (Seated). Olive (Feener) Monroe (Standing).

Thursday, 9 July 2015

On This Day In Family History (July 10):

1875: 3x-Great-Grandmother Isabella (Gordon) Clowes passed away in Warwick, Rhode Island, aged 53.

Providence Evening Press (Providence, RI)
Tuesday, July 13, 1875

CLOWES.–In Clyde Works, 10th Instant, Isabella, wife of John M. Clowes, aged 53 years, 6 months, and 2 days.

Photo taken by Find A Grave member Beth Hurd (#48126691).

1949: Albert A. Cockayne, son of Great-Grandfather Stanley Cockayne and his first wife Elizabeth Jane Vanstone Latham, passed away in Thomasville, Georgia, aged 32.

Fall River Herald News
July 12, 1949
Page 2

Albert A. Cockayne

Albert A. Cockayne, 33, son of Stanley and the late Elizabeth (Latham) Cockayne, of Thomasville, Ga, died unexpectedly Sunday.

For 15 years he was a resident of Ocean Grove, and was born in West Warwick, R. I. His father lives at 144 Dudley Street, Providence.

(Editor's note: Albert was also the great-grandson of Isabella.)

2004: George Lucio Malandra, husband of 2nd cousin, 2x removed Barbara (Neville) Vezina, passed away in Fall River, Massachusetts, aged 82.

The Standard‑Times
July 12, 2004

GEORGE L. MALANDRA

FALL RIVER -- George Lucio Malandra, 82, of Moorland Street, Fall River, died Saturday, July 10, 2004, at Southpoint Nursing Center. He was the husband of Barbara Malandra. They were married for 39 years.
Born in Fall River Sept. 23, 1921, he was the son of the late Ralph and Susan (Spagnoli) Malandra.
He was a veteran of World War II with the U.S. Army. He was the recipient of the Bronze Star.
Mr. Malandra worked as a loom fixer for Berkshire Hathaway for many years, retiring in 1987.
He was a member of the Church of the Ascension in Fall River.
Survivors include his widow; a daughter, Pauline St. Yves of Westport; a son, Richard Malandra of East Bridgewater; four sisters, Nelda Rossi of Fall River, Helen Matthews of Toronto, Canada, Viola Mattiera of Cranston, R.I. and Lydia Pittman of Mississippi; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
He was the father of the late George R. Malandra and brother of the late Jesse Malandra.
His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Hebert-Hathaway Funeral Home, 945 South Main St., Fall River. Burial with military honors to follow in Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River.

On This Day In Family History (July 9):

1936: 2x-great-grandfather August Robert Anderson passed away from cancer of the intestine at his home, 684 Plain Street, Brockton, Massachusetts, aged 56.

A part of a group photo taken at Brockton Co-operative Boot & Shoe
featuring August R. Anderson (third from right). The photo was published
in The Swedes of Greater Brockton.

Brockton Daily Enterprise

Thursday, July 9, 1936

August R. Anderson Dies In 57th Year

August R. Anderson, for more than 25 years a resident of this city, died at his home, 684 Plain street, early this morning, after several years of declining health. He was in his 57th year and formerly lived in North Easton. For many years he had been employed at the Brockton Co-operative Boot & Shoe Co. and was well liked by all his associates. His fine character and friendly nature won him the esteem of a wide circle of friends.

Mr. Anderson is survived by his wife, Mrs. Hedvig Anderson, and six children, all of this city. There are four daughters, Mrs. Frank Johnson, the Misses Elin, Esther and Ethel Anderson, and two sons, Henry and Harold Anderson; also one grandchild. He also leaves one brother, Charles Anderson of North Easton, and three sisters, Mrs. Anna Larson and Mrs. August Rosen, both of North Easton, and Mrs. Emma Anderson of Ana Helm, Cal. He was affliated with Unity Lodgee, S. F. of A. and Enighet Lodge, V. O.

Funeral services will be held from the family home, 684 Plain street, Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock, and interment will be in Pine Hill cemetery, West Bridgewater. Rev. Peter Froeber, D. D., pator of the First Lutheran church, of which Mr. Anderson was a member, will officiate.

Wednesday, 8 July 2015

Friday's Visits to South Easton Cemetery & Pine Hill Cemetery

On Friday, July 3, 2015, my boyfriend Paul and I went to South Easton Cemetery, South Easton, Massachusetts and Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. My primary goals that day were to visit the grave of my 3x-great-grandparents Martin & Augusta Anderson in South Easton Cemetery and the graves of my 2x-great-grandparents August & Hedvig (Eden) Anderson, great-grandparents Henry & Lucile (Garfield) Anderson, and grandmother Helen P. (Meagher) Anderson.

A few weeks prior, I had been at Olde Mystick Village in Connecticut. There, I went to Bestemors Imports and bought three Swedish flags to put on the graves of Martin & Augusta, August & Hedvig, and Henry. Martin, Augusta, August, and Hedvig were all emigrants from Sweden. Henry was born in Easton, Massachusetts but was among the first generation of the family to be born in America. He grew up in a Swedish household and spoke Swedish fluently. With these flags, I wanted to honor both my ancestors and our Swedish heritage.

In addition to the Swedish flags, I had also purchased two decorative birds at Garden Specialties to put on the grave of my grandmother. During her lifetime, my grandmother loved birds. Also, the bird decorations that were at her grave already had become aged, damaged and needed to be replaced.

Below are photos from that day showing the graves after the addition of the birds and flags. I was very pleased with how they looked once I was done.

(Special thanks again to my boyfriend Paul for bringing me to the cemeteries and for being a part of this with me. It meant a lot.)

When I Couldn't Find A Non-Military Flag Holder, I Got Creative

For the past month, I had been wanting to visit the graves of several ancestors. I had bought several Swedish flags that I wanted to place at the graves of my Swedish ancestors to honor both them and their Swedish heritage. In the time leading up to the visit, I had been trying to find non-military flag holders to put the flags in. After much searching, I was unable to find anything and thus decided to become creative.

I decided to look around and see what I could find that could be used as a flag holder. I wanted something that I could use without it looking tacky at the grave or being too expensive.

Soon after beginning my search, I found what I was looking for at Home Depot in the form of a 3/8 in. O.D. x 20 in. Chrome Plated Copper Tube Toilet Supply Line. It was only $3.98. Having brought the flags with me, I put one inside of it and it was an almost perfect fit. The design of the tube went well with the flag and I felt that they would look good beside the headstones I had in mind for them. I went ahead and got three.

3/8 in. O.D. x 20 in. Chrome Plated Copper Tube Toilet Supply Line

As previously mentioned, the hole was almost a perfect fit but still a bit too big. The flag went into the hole a bit more than I preferred. To solve this problem, I bought three washers, the smallest ones they had available. The hole of the washer was smaller than the hole of the tube. I put the washer on top of the tube, above the hole. I then inserted the flag through the washer and into the tube. The washer's smaller hole made it so the flag did not go in as deep as it previously did, thus solving my problem.

A few days later, on July 3, I went to the cemeteries with the tubes and washers in hand. Like before, I placed the flags through the washer holes and down the tubes. Once pushed into the ground, I stepped back to view them and was very pleased with how they looked.

One thing that should be noted about these tubes is that they are bendable, given the purpose that they were originally created for, and that one might bend it slightly without trying or realizing it (I did so while washing one). However, the tubes can easily be re-adjusted if and when this happens and are still durable, reliable and dependable when put into the ground.

Below are several shots I took showing the final results. I didn't take any close-up shots of the flags/tubes themselves (it didn't occur to me to do until after I had already left). As I said, I quite liked how they looked and, if needed, will be using these again in the future.

(To read more about the above mentioned visit to the cemeteries and to see more pictures, click here.)

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

Wednesday's Child: Gracie McRae

Gracie Mcrae was born on April 12, 1880 in Brockton, Massachusetts to my great-great-grandfather, James R. McRae, and his first wife, Katherine Morrison. She passed away from lung fever on December 11, 1880 in Brockton. She was buried in Snell Cemetery, Brockton. During her short life, she resided with her family on Montello Street in Brockton.

Record of Birth for Gracie McRae

Record of Death for Gracie McRae