The Laundry List

Westerly Laundry Slip Logo, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Thanks to Dorothy Hanna, of Mystic and the folks at the Mystic River Historical Society

The Laundry List

One of the fun things about researching my family business is the "stuff' that is available on eBay and from sites that sell ephemera. However, I didn't expect that any historical societies would have such items that were probably donated in their collections.

This is the top part of the paper that was attached to someone's cleaned laundry. Don't you love the use of the words?

I am going to take a few days off from working on my stories to sort through all the Rhode Island City Directory listings I have gathered to make dates for my timeline. They are all jumbled in my notebook and I need to get them organized in the right year.

You know that the first one for the Westerly Steam Laundry was 1892. I have to find the end of the ones that say Laundry and the beginning ones that say Victor or have dry cleaning in the description.

It could take me a few days to be sure I have copied them all down correctly.

I do know that I can stop with 1908 in Westerly because that's what the Victory Story pamplet indicates. But, we've been wrong with assumptions before!

That's project based research for you....   

Dixon Hotel and Edward Denison

Dixon Hotel_Westerly Witnesses, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Edward Denison's Tavern 

 

Edward Denison, drowned 9 Dec 1726 (Denison Genealogy #51, p. 6) is mentioned in this article about the Dixon House.

The grandson of Capt. George Denison and son of George Dension, he built a house on this location, is listed as a tavern keeper.

Dixon House

From out of copyright book Westerly and its Witness by Rev. Frederick Denison 1878

Location of Westerly Steam Laundry

With special thanks for the collaboration of this project by Barbara Fallon

Westerly, Rhode Island, a coastal town in southern Rhode Island was home to many of my ancestors. Both my parents were born there and my maternal grandmother too.

It is not surprise that Charlie Stewart would take his wife and sons from the nearby Stonington, CT area to Westerly because of the thriving business opportunities there. Even though the New London Genealogical and Biographic Record lists that he founded the Westerly Laundry in 1890, it is likely that it was after 1891 when his youngest son, Dudley Wheeler Stewart was born in North Stonington. (The Westerly and Pawcatuck directory doesn't list the family or the business in the 1890 directory)

From the Rhode Island City Directory of 1892, I can see that the business was located at the rear of Dixon House. I used Google Maps to find the street which still exists, but it took my friend Barbara Fallon, a Westerly native, to point me to a Facebook groups photo collection which included a clip from a book, Old Pictures of Westerly Rhode Island by the late newspaper journalist, George H. Utter published in 1991. 

I next examined, Rev Frederick Denison's book, Westerly and its Witnesses, (out of copyright as it was published in 1878) and found a sketch of the hotel. Between these two sources, I have determined that there were buildings behind the hotel. It seems probable, that the Westerly Steam Laundry was really behind the hotel

The hotel laundry must have been the first customers of Charlie and his business partner, Howard W. Merchant. Mr. Mechant must have moved away or died because I can find no further record of him in Rhode Island.

The ad states that they have "all new machinery" in 1892, and that helps date the start of the business to 1892.

In 1900, Charlie, Ada and the boys live with their grandmother , Eliza Fish Denison Stewart. This is how the "Denison stories" came to be in my family history.    

So, today, we have a date for the start of the business! 

As Time Passes

Evans Collage, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

 Project Goal: Photographs

 

One of the trickiest thing to do in projects is to sort through the "stuff" and put the items in chronical order. You saw the earlier photo of my grandfather a few days ago. These are the two professional photos that he had taken after he was married and became a businessman in his own right, separate from his father.

In the past, men seldom retired. There wasn't a law. There wasn't a pension nor was there social security. Charlie and Evans, father and son worked together for along time. With different ideas on how the business should work, it must have been a battle of wills with Evans convincing his father to expand the business and add dry cleaning to the laundry.

I am more fond of the story of the Westerly Laundry than I am of Victor because I never saw it or heard about this first business. 

Why did Charlie, an accountant and bookkeeper, found a laundry business? He was one of those people, meticulous and exact. He was good with detail. 

Why did he get involved with (dirty) laundry?

This question may never be answered. But, you should know, my grandfather had a brother. I don't think he liked the laundry business. They called him the black sheep. I have no photos of him but he does play into the business. 

Notice how much hair my grandfather lost over the years!

The Story of Victor

Packing crate (collection of the author), holds my Christmas Tree ornaments, 2012

The Story of Victor:
Soap Bubbles in My Blood

Project Based Genealogy Plan
(this plan will change as needed)

Long Term Project (begun in 2002)
Progress Estimate to date (75% complete)

Introduction to Project

Evans STEWART, my maternal grandfather, his brother Dudley Wheeler STEWART, my maternal great uncle, and their father, Charles Edward STEWART, my maternal great grandfather, owned and operated the Westerly Steam Laundry and Victor Cleansing Co.

Essential Questions

1. Who were these men and how did this family business get started? (complete)
2. Where were the business locations? (complete)
3. What were the business goals? (complete)
4. Who were the other people who worked for the company? (in progress)
5. What do I remember about this business? (in progress)
6. How did this business evolve over the years? (complete)
7. How does my genealogy fit into this business? (in progress)

Project Goals

1. To research each phase of the business and prepare a timeline
2. To write blog posts about each photograph
3. To collaborate with Jim Ricci about his grandfathers part in the business
4. To write a narrative about the project with some of it being blog posts
5. To gather and save as digital documents each page of every city directory that mentions the business
6. To study the genealogy of each family and board member involved in the business
7. To understand the business incorporation

Manageable Parts (notice the backwards approach)

• Phase 6: Personal Memories
• Phase 5: The Death of the Business
• Phase 4: Moving to Providence
• Phase 3: The Westerly Laundry (founded 1892)
• Phase 2: Founder's son's Story (gravestone)
• Phase 1: The Founder's Story (gravestone)

Stay Organized

Victor Notebook (in progress and completed narrative)

Photographs and such (and archive)

Folders for Collaboration (and project pages)

Index Cards with Collaboration and Email Notes

Organizing and Progress Reports on these

Gather Sources, Information and Citations

Collaborate with Others

Analyze and Draw Conculsions

Present the Project Product  (blog posts, timelines, photos and the narrative)  

Broadfoot Men in Granite

Broadfoot Men in Granite, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Granite-in-My-Blood: An Understatement

What would be more appropriate for me but to own a book about the Granite Workers that lived in Westerly, Rhode Island?

I didn't know that this year, 2012, would be all about finding out as much as I can about the men in my family that came from Scotland to work in the quarries in Rhode Island. It started out in January with my Broadfoot cousins in California, joining Facebook and communicating with me. 

We gained more information about each other. What surprised me was what very little I really know about the people buried at River Bend Cemetery in the Broadfoot plot. I spent months on them after taking photos of the headstones. I did determine that there must be very few of us left that are not of the California Broadfoot folks. 

Sadly, one of my researchers in Georgia has passed away. He and his wife (my cousin) took photos of my great grandparents who retired there and are buried in Lithonia City Cemetery.

One day, I discovered a book about the Granite industry in "South County". It is a hardcover book and with shipping was quite expensive. I decided early in June that I would buy it so I ordered it from the Babcock Smith Museum in Westerly. It arrived in my mailbox last Friday. This clip above, it a shot of the men who lived in Westerly that worked in the quarries. The bottom name is my grandfather.


So, in addition to reporting on cemeteries this summer, I am going to blog about the amazing information in this book. Yes, it is all about granite.

Wordless Wednesday: Harcomb and Buster

Harcomb and Buster
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

When he was young, my father was called Harcomb, which was his middle name. It was the maiden name of his great-grandmother, Margaret (1832- 1922) who married Thomas BROADFOOT (1829-1899) on 7 Nov 1851 in Scotland.

As his father was Tom and he had a great uncle who was named Tom, it meant there were three people named Thomas Broadfoot in Rhode Island when he was a little boy. You certainly wouldn't expect that, would you?

My friend Barbara Fallon, who reads my blog, pointed out that the photo I posted last week was probably taken in front of the mill houses on Bowling Lane in Bradford, RI. I think that photo was taken on the same day as this one.

Stay tuned, more information tomorrow.

Josiah Broadfoot's Memorial

Josiah BROADFOOT
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is the memorial cross for cousin, Josiah F. Broadfoot, World War I hero buried in France.

BROADFOOT, JOSIAH
Corporal, U.S. Army
Company B, 244th Battalion, Tank Corps, A.E.F.
Date of Action: September 27,1918
Citation:
The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Josiah Broadfoot, Corporal, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near La Forge Farm, France, September 27, 1918.

Corporal. Broadfoot volunteered to drive a tank, and, his services being accepted, he attacked enemy machine-gun nests until his tank was put out of action, destroying several enemy nests which had held up our infantry. He then continued the advance on foot until he was fatally wounded.
General Orders 89, W.D., 1919
Home Town: Westerly, RI

Buried in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France, this is a memorial stone for Josiah who was my 1st cousin, 2 times removed. This monument is at River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island.