Thursday, February 12, 2015

Day 12: Granite Hewer: John Broadfoot

Granite Hewer
John Broadfoot's Story
Day 12

Brothers Broadfoot
Men from Dalbeattie

James, Thomas and John Broadfoot, abt. 1904-1905
from the family of John Broadfoot, used with permission


I think of these three young men as the "Brothers Broadfoot" or as a subtitle, "Men from Dalbeattie". Looking well and prosperous, this type of photo was popular in the early turn of the century. Whether this was taken in Dalbeattie or in Westerly, it is not known, because the original was lost in a house fire. 

My grandfather, Thomas is the tall man in the middle. On the left is James and on the right is John. This photo speaks volumes to Thomas and John's descendants. James (born in 1882), wearing a pocketwatch, and his brother John (born 1880) with his self confident look, came to America together on the ship Umbria. They both returned to Scotland at least once after that.

Fair haired, blue eyed, James Hannah Broadfoot, died in 1912, single and alone in Vernon, British Columbia. His grave is unmarked but his name is on the family stone in Dalbeattie. 

John, the ancestor of my California cousins, married his wife in Dalbeattie in 1906, after returning back to Scotland. His first child, Jane Hannah Broadfoot (notice she was named after his mother, Jane Hannah), was born in Westerly, RI. 

When I was young, Jean, as she was called, came to Providence to visit one summer and she helped me with the family history until 1971 when I had to put my research away to get married, work and have a family. 

Dark haired John was the only one of these men to become a skilled granite worker. He may have learned more skills in Barre, VT, a place long known to apprentice monument makers. He went there in 1906.

Light haired, Thomas, was my grandfather. He never left America once he came here. Born in 1884, he was younger than his other brothers and came here as a single man in 1904.


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