Those Places Thursday: Widdington, Essex, England

Widdington Village sign.© Copyright Bikeboy and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. 

Widdington is a small village in Essex County, England. It is about five miles south of Saffron Walden and two miles southeast of Newport.

My 9th-great-grandparents Benjamin Scott and Margaret Woodley were from Widdington, Essex, England. They settled in Burlington, West Jersey, Province of New Jersey in 1681. Margaret's father, my 10th-great-grandfather John Woodley, was a yeoman from Widdington who died in 1644.

St. Mary the Virgin, Widdington. © Copyright Peter Stack and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Benjamin and Margaret (Woodley) Scott baptized two children at St. Mary the Virgin. Their son Benjamin was baptized there in 1666, and their son John was baptized there in 1668. They became Quakers, so the rest of their children were not baptized at the church. In 1872, the church was completely restored. Windows from the 12th and 15th centuries remain in the chancel. Splays and arches from the 15th century are in the nave.

Another view of St. Mary the Virgin, Widdington. © Copyright Robert Edwards and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Prior's Hall Barn, Widdington, Essex. © Copyright Robert Edwards and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. 

Prior's Hall Barn dates back to the 15th century and is one of the finest surviving medieval barns in eastern England.

Prior's Hall Barn, Widdington. Back view of barn, with pond next to it. © Copyright Lorraine and Keith Bowdler and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. 

References 
Widdington Village 
Widdington History 
Widdington (British History Online) 
Widdington (Open Domesday) 
Listed Buildings in Widdington, Essex, England 
History and Research: Prior's Hall Barn, Widdington 
Priors Hall Barn 
Prior's Hall Barn - Widdington, Essex 
Widdington Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals, Approved October 2013 
Wildlife Walk 1 - Widdington (Uttlesford Wildlife) 

Tennessee Bible Records

Digital images of photocopied Bible records at the Tennessee State Library and Archives are now available online at http://tnsos.net/TSLA/Bibleproject/. Most of the records are from the late 1700s through the early 1900s. Additional records will be added later if they are donated or discovered. Some of the Bible records include the names of slaves.

The records can be searched, or they can be browsed alphabetically by surname. I found 2 copies (one negative and one positive) of Bible records for the Garland family. Charlotte Garland is my 5th-great-grandmother.

Talented Tuesday: Delmar Borg

Delmar Borg, the son of my great-great-grandmother's brother Emil Borg, was a talented singer. As a student at Chesterton High School in Chesterton, Indiana, he participated in pageants and sang solos. He sang at banquets and at weddings (including his sister Dorothy's wedding), and he was a member of the Serene Serenaders troupe.

Vidette Messenger, 23 March 1934

Vidette Messenger, 5 April 1934

Vidette Messenger, 24 April 1935

Vidette Messenger, 16 May 1935

Vidette Messenger, 5 October 1936

Vidette Messenger, 18 March 1938

Vidette Messenger, 31 May 1938

Vidette Messenger, 18 April 1939

Vidette Messenger, 23 September 1941

Military Monday: Château-Thierry American Monument

Mémorial franco-américain Marne 09617. Photo by GGaritan (Gérald Garitan). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Image available from Wikimedia Commons.

The Château-Thierry American Monument was erected to commemorate the achievements and sacrifices of American and French troops during the Aisne-Marne and Oise-Aisne offensives. The monument, on Hill 204 overlooking Château-Thierry and the Marne River Valley, was designed by Paul Philippe Cret. Alfred Alphonse Bottiau sculpted the two figures on the west facade which represent the United States and France. General John J. Pershing was present for the inauguration of the monument on 9 October 1937.
 

Commemorative text on the American Monument of Château-Thierry. Photo by Zeugma fr (Antoine Fleury-Gobert). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Image available from Wikimedia Commons.

My great-grandfather's first cousin Ferdinand Constand Schneider was killed during the Aisne-Marne campaign.

References and Additional Resources
Chateau-Thierry American Monument 
Chateau-Thierry Monument (American Battle Monuments Commission) 
Monuments of Château-Thierry Area (American Remembrance)
An Hour from Paris: Chateau Thierry’s American WWI Sights (photolog) 

CelebrateHAMILTON events, July 13, 2014

 Alexander Hamilton. Oil on canvas portrait by John Trumbull, 1806.

Today I attended the July 13 CelebrateHAMILTON events, which were organized by the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society. The day began at 12:00 PM, at the Paterson Great Falls Historical National Park in Paterson, New Jersey, at the Alexander Hamilton statue.

Paterson Great Falls

Hamilton and other investors founded the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, which developed Paterson into the first planned industrial city.

Schuyler-Hamilton House

At 2:00 PM, I headed over to the Schuyler-Hamilton House (also known as the Jabez Campfield House) in Morristown, New Jersey. The house is owned by the Morristown chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I took a tour of the house and listened to a presentation on Alexander Hamilton's love letters.

Washington's Headquarters Museum, Morristown National Historical Park

At 3:30 PM, I went to Washington's Headquarters Museum at Morristown National Historical Park to hear the talk "The Indispensable Founder." The contributions of the Founding Fathers to the economic system, judicial branch, legislative branch, executive branch, the Constitution and ratification were analyzed. Hamilton had the greatest overall contributions.

Newark Riots (July 12-17, 1967)

On July 12, 1967, a black cab driver, John Weerd Smith, was arrested in Newark. He refused to get out of the car, and had to be dragged into the Fourth Precinct police station. Rumors spread that Smith had been killed by the police. Molotov cocktails and rocks were thrown at the station. Stores were broken into, and two cars were destroyed. On July 13, there was more looting and violence. The National Guard was called in on July 14. The riots ended on July 17.

My father was in the National Guard, 50th Armored Division, 104th Engineer Battalion, and was called in during the Newark riots. One memory he shared with me is that the Salvation Army gave free coffee to the guardsmen. He really appreciated their kindness.

References
News Articles from the Events of July 1967 (Newark Public Library)
Police Summaries
With 40-Year Prism, Newark Surveys Deadly Riot
Collection of 1967 Newark Riots newsclippings, 1967-1987

52 Ancestors: #28 Catherine Elizabeth Winters

My great-great-grandmother Catherine Elizabeth Winters was born on 12 November 1861 in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York. She was the daughter of John Bennet Winters and Anna "Ann" Walker. By 1866, Elizabeth had moved to Chicago, Illinois with her family. Her younger siblings Hugh, Alice, and David all died between 1866 and 1868. Her family was probably affected by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. On 19 September 1872, Elizabeth's mother Ann died.

Elizabeth married James Graham. The family story is that he had been a Catholic priest. I have not yet found their marriage record, but they probably married before 31 October 1879, when my great-grandmother Kathleen (probably born Catherine, because earlier records show her with that name) was born. Elizabeth's father John died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 25 December 1879. The Graham family was definitely in Canada by 1881, when they appear on the 1881 Census of Canada, living in Hochelaga, Quebec, Canada (near Montreal, and now part of Montreal). Their son Garfield was born on 26 May 1881 or 1882. After 1883, James Graham disappears from the records. The family story is that he went back to the priesthood. On 20 November 1885 in Montreal, Elizabeth married James Mapplebeck, a glassblower who was originally from Ontario, Canada. Their marriage record states that she was a widow. However, considering the family story, I am not sure if she was really a widow. Although I am skeptical of the story that James Graham returned to the priesthood, he may have abandoned the family.

The Mapplebeck family (Elizabeth's children used their stepfather's surname until the early to mid-1900s and appear to have been at least informally adopted by him) moved from Montreal to Alton, Madison County, Illinois sometime after the 1891 census, between 1891 and 1892. By 1898, James Mapplebeck had left the family and gone to California.

Elizabeth moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1905. Her daughter Kathleen was already living there. By 1908, her son Garfield had moved there as well. In the 1910 United States Census, Kathleen and her family were enumerated in Elizabeth's household, possibly visiting from North Dakota. Elizabeth ran a boarding house in St. Louis.

On 2 March 1942, there was a fire at the Brantwood Nursing Home in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri. The 3 March 1942 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that Elizabeth Mapplebeck was one of the patients who was at City Hospital after the fire. Elizabeth died on 4 March 1942. According to her death certificate, the cause of death was coronary sclerosis due to chronic nephritis. There was no mention of the fire, but surely it played a role in her death. Elizabeth was cremated on 5 March 1942, and her ashes were scattered on 27 April 1942.

 

Birth record, Catherine Elizabeth Winters. Winters family Bible.

St. Mary's Church, Hochelaga, Quebec, Canada. Marriage of James Mapplebeck and Elizabeth Winters, 20 November 1885. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

Alton, Illinois city directory, 1901-1902.

Alton Evening Telegraph, 20 October 1905, p. 4

 

St. Louis, Missouri city directory, 1923

Elizabeth Maplebeck death certificate. Missouri State Board of Health.

Joplin Globe, 5 March 1942