Ice Cream and Romance
This is a photo of my maternal grandmother which is dated 1912. After much investigation, I have determined that this must be her high school graduation photo. She was a graduate of Westerly High School in Westerly, Washington, RI. It is one of my favorite family photos.
Josephine, as she preferred to be called (her first name was Hannah after her grandmother) went right to work right after high school. When I interviewed her she told me that she ruined her feet standing on them all day selling ice cream in a shop but that was where she met Evans Stewart, her future husband.
My mother bought a "Grandmothers Memories" book [Keepsake Album by Hallmark] for me to give her for a Mother's Day gift. I found it yesterday, still in the box, unused. It is a series of oral interview questions. Inside are a few small pieces of paper in my handwriting that are answers to some of the questions in the book. I recall that she got very tired answering questions at my visits as she was over 90 by that time. [Her gravestone]
One answer prompted me to spend a hour of so of searching to confirm the information. Here's the question in the section titled "Your Grandfather"
"When I first saw him I thought..."
Here's her answer:
"I didn't think much about him and he hung around Peters, after all the other boys left and he walked me home."
Because of the wonderful Rhode Island City Directories for Westerly, I have found out more about the place that my grandmother worked.
To be continued....
2 comments:
Hi Midge, Josephine is so beautiful. Can't wait to learn more about her. --Laura
Hi Midge,
The Westerly Library has all those old yearbooks. When they reopen the genealogy dept. in Nov. remind me to look up the one for 1912. That way you can be sure.
Josephine was a beautiful gal.
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