This is the combined gravestone of Joseph SCHOFIELD and his wife Sarah F. GARDINER. They were one set of my 2nd great grandparents and the discovery of this grave gave me important clues as to who they were and their ancestors. But, not completely!
Most importantly, Joseph A. SCHOFIELD changed the spelling of his surname from his father's name as he dropped the L. His father and the line back to Saddleworth, England, spelled the name SCHOLFIELD. In my family Bible was another clue as it is a newspaper article about the SCHOLFIELD Brothers coming to America (to Massachusetts) and creating the first woolen mill in America.
Sarah F. GARDINER lived to be nearly 100 and was as "sharp as a tack" until the day she died. She was making pies the day before her death and had to be convinced to lie down. This is not going to be what happens to me as I never make pies! [I have her mincemeat pie recipe in her own handwriting.}
I have a photo of Sarah but her name in the Bible was spelled GARDNER and I am still unsure which Gardiner/Gardner line she is descended from. [Help!]
Joseph5 A. SCHOFIELD (Joseph4 A. SCHOLFIELD, Joseph3, John2, Arthur1) was born 8 July 1843 in Montville, CT, third of six children. He was a tinsmith and engineer who fought for CT in the Civil War [Company G, 5th Infantry Regiment].
Amazingly, I found his photo at DeadFred.com, along with his sister Elizabeth [Lizzie] Scholfield Mann. It shows a serious, stylish young man with dark hair and dark circles under his eyes. His only child, Nellie's photo taken at about his same age shows the same family features. It is uncanny.
Joseph died 10 March 1917 after living much of his life in Westerly, RI. My mother was just a baby when he died so she did not remember him but my grandmother described him as stout and loved rich food.
Sarah F. GARDINER was the daughter of Jabez Champlin GARDINER born in Wickford, RI (1807-1884) and Elizabeth BICKNELL born in Exeter, RI (1809-1879). She was born in April 1846 and died in 1944. Her grandfather was either named Joseph or John and his wife was Dorcas.
I THINK they are of the Rhode Island Gardiner family.
3 comments:
Thanks for writing this.
Were you aware that John Schofield purchased land in Montville, CT in 1814 from Mr. Raymond?
There's Schofield Pond on Rt. 163, AKA Raymond Hill Rd. I suspect it was part of John Schofield's mill operation.
Also, there were Gardiners in Old Saybrook, CT who are tied into the family that owned what is now Gardner's Lake in Montville.
Laurene
(researching Schofields who went to Nova Scotia)
John Scholfield died in 1820 and was a very important man but I have never seen any land records and I would like to! Could you email me so we can exchange information?
midgef@midgefrazel.net
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