Opening Day Cemetery Season

Photo by Brian Zoldak, used with permission

Spring!

Sometimes, you just have to admire the wonderful carvings on larger monuments. I wonder how they chose this elegant design? 

Thanks to Brian Zoldak for taking such a clear and perfect photo of this granite monument and its base in the Raymond Hill Cemetery  in Oakdale (Montville), Connecticut and for sharing it with me. Taken in July, 2012

You can today the first day of spring, I call it opening day of cemetery season. I am hoping for an excellent spring and summer in the graveyard, aren't you?

Process of Banns and Marriage

Learning About Marriage Banns and Marriages

To learn more about banns, I turned to George G. Morgan's book, How to Do Everything with your Genealogy. McGraw Hill/Osborne (2004) that I have handy in my office bookcase.  

On pages 75-78, Mr. Morgan tells me that the clerk (or ordinary) is responsible for the actual licence or certificate of marriage which is taken to the clergy, justice of the peace, or judge who performs the ceremony. When one of those people who are authorized to perform the marriage signs it, the document is returned to the courthouse where the clerk transcribes it into the record (or today, the computer). This is why it is known as a marriage return.

Of course, the age of consent for marriage differs from country and to state and parental permission is required for marriage of very young persons in some cases. It is considered "contract law".

Banns are a public announcement. They may be read out loud by the clergy or put in a paper church announcement. I expect my Schofield-Fox banns were announced during the service on those named three consecutive Sundays. 

In the "Old Country", couples were married in the bride's parish and were married "by banns" or if they were in a hurry married "by license". Banns took three weeks and license could be quicker. If the couple lived in different parishes, banns were probably required. If some person objected, such as they knew one person was already married, they could tell the clergy and the marriage would be investigated.

Intent to Marry

Learning About Marriage Banns 

Banns of Marriage for John Schofield and Hannah Fox, cropped 
Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930 at Ancestry.com

John Schofield and Hannah Fox Intend To Wed

As you can see, the bann (an announcement of an upcoming marriage) is thrice announced from the pulpit on three consecutive Sundays. In this case: 27 January, 3 February, and 10 February 1782.

St. Chad's

Photo by David Barton, Flickr
 non-commercial, attribution, share-alike license, 4 Mar 2014. Link to license

The best part of this record is that I now know this was announced in the Chapel of Saddleworth (Saddleworth, St Chad, Yorkshire, England) and that Hannah Fox (whose parents are unknown to me) was from Bourkhouse and John from Ralphs.

David Barton, photographer, is helping me understand the location of Saddleworth through maps and his photos. He had located Bourkhouse (Bowk House) and Ralphs on both old and recent maps. Both are found in the village of Denshaw in Saddleworth. 

In this case, geography matters because Saddleworth which was in Yorkshire when John and his brother Arthur left for America, is is now part of Greater Manchester. (Family Search Help) 

Yes, there is an area nearby set off for gravestones (upper graveyard) and was cleared in 2003 of brush and debris. (Photo) I wish I could see the gravestones!

The church (since 1215 AD) where the marriage took place is majestic, still standing and is well photographed. I would expect that they married in the Chapel and not in the huge section reserved for worship.

Another interesting thing is that I have decided that this family remained members of the Church of England (Anglican) and joined Episcopal churches in New England whenever they could.

Source: Ancestry.com. Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Original data: Anglican Parish Registers. Manchester, England: Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives. Images produced by permission of Manchester City Council. Images may be used only for the purposes of the family history research in accordance with Ancestry’s website terms of use. At the request of the Manchester Diocese it is highlighted that the use of images for retrospective or proxy baptism is not permitted.

Second Great Grandmother in 1940

 Success!

Listed at the wrong house number (160 not 156) is the household of my great grandfather, James Frederick Barber, his wife Ellen Schofield and his daughter, Dorothy (of the preceding post). 

This is the first mention of my great aunt's divorce. In the 1930 census, she is still listed as married (probably already divorced).

Best of all, here is my 2nd great grandmother, Sarah Gardiner SCHOFIELD at 94 years old. She died four years later.

Four Generations 1935

Four Generations
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Taken at the same time, this photograph of four generations of women in my family shows how precious multiple generation photos can be! As you can see this photo is dated April 1935.

In this photograph are the following people:
My mother: Dorothy Frances STEWART Broadfoot (1916-2002) she is the youngest person in the photo and this is her year of high school graduation.
To her left: Martha BLANCHARD (1879-1968), wife of Harold Schofield BARBER. He was my grandmother's brother.
Second row: Nellie SCHOFIELD, (1867-1944) wife of James Frederick BARBER. She was my great-grandmother. The oldest lady is Nellie's mother, Sarah GARDINER (1846-1944) my 2nd great grandmother and wife of Joseph SCHOFIELD, engineer and Civil War Vet.

Next to them is my maternal grandmother, Hannah Josephine BARBER (1893-1992).

This photo was taken at 12 Elm St. Westerly, Rhode Island.

Traveling Photographer

Edwin A. SCHOLFIELD and Celesteny L. MORSE
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Graveyard Rabbits: September 2009 Carousel

A family surname, SCHOLFIELD, catches my eye as I dash by row after row of ancestors in the lovely River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, RI. snapping photo after photo.

Working with the many graves in this resting place, is a lot like being on a merry-go-round. I "ooh and ahhh" with delight in each section! This is a brass ring gravestone for sure because it has a great story.

This gravestone, typical of its period, marks the grave of Edwin and his second wife Celesteny. Edwin was a descendant of the SCHOLFIELD textile mill owners who came to America from England with the plans to make the first woolen mill in America, etched firmly in their minds. (They has to memorize them as the English did not allow them to take the industry from England) The families moved around a lot building mills and then selling them. Scholfields were a prominent family in the Montville, New London, Connecticut. They were smart, creative and inventive.

According to the biographical information from the White Library at Mystic Seaport, Everett was born in Lowell, MA but his parents moved to Westerly, RI in the early 1850s where he became a portrait photographer. He served with the Union Army during the Civil War. He married twice, was a Freemason, and had several partners in his photography business in Wakefield, RI, Norwich, CT and Putnam, CT besides Mystic.

What is most interesting is that the US Internal Revenue gave him a license to "carry on the occupation of Traveling Photographer" from Feb 1 to May 1, 1864 and May 1, 1864 to May 1965. He spent much time in the West Indies.

He and his brother Addison established the "Scholfield Brothers" studio in Westerly, RI and eventually his other brother Edwin joined them. [Read the biography to learn more...]

Many of my family photographs were taken in this studio. It is always great to find a story about your ancestors and to be able to know something about the photographers who took your family portraits. [This one is for you fM!]

Lizzie's Dress

Elizabeth SCHOFIELD Mann
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

10th ed. Smile for the Camera "Costume"

Lizzie Schofield (Elizabeth Lyon Schofield) was my 2nd great grand aunt. Her brother Joseph was one of my 2nd great grandfathers. This photo of her in this dress comes to me from the kindness of Joe Bott at DeadFred.com with the photo of her brother Joseph and probably was taken at the Schofield Photography Studio in Westerly, RI. which was owned by family members. [Blog Post of Digital Story]

Elizabeth's ancestors came from England and opened the first woolen textile mill in America. [Blog Post: Wild and Wooley] I expect she was fond of dresses.

I pulled out Maureen Taylor's book, More Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929, to see if I could inexpertly (that's guess) figure out if this dress was of Civil War era or a bit later. She is wearing hoops and a cameo pin. The sleeves are quite different and the trim seems like velvet so it looks about this period. Lizzie is not smiling. She displays the same dark circles under her eyes as her brother and her brother's daughter my great-grandmother Nellie.

Lizzie was the wife of Charles L. Mann and her gravestone is on my list to locate next spring. She is buried with her husband and her son. When I find these gravestones, I plan to blog more about them as I found out quite a lot in just a few hours.

For now, Elizabeth is just a lovely example of family photos and as there are no descendants to remember her, she's mine to keep. I am glad I don't have to wear hoops, aren't you?

Wild and Wooly

Wild and Wooly

In a undated newspaper clipping, badly photocopied and put in my family Bible was this story of how the Scholfield brothers, John and Arthur, came to this country from England. I used it as the basis of research on this line and found that it is completely true.

I purchased the Images of America book on Montville (CT) by Jon Chase, the town historian and in it found images of the woolen mill there that my ancestors built.


This is annotated by me:


"March 24, 1793, John Scholfield, his wife Hannah, six children, and his brother Arthur who lived at Standish Foot in Yorkshire England sailed from Liverpool for the United States landing a Boston, May 1793. They brought with them a complete knowledge of the construction and operation of woolen machinery.

Associating themselves with Jedediah Morse and others of wealth of Newburyport, Mass, they built and put into operation at Byfield, Mass., the first wool carding machinery that was ever successfully worked in this country. When all machinery was put into successful operation John Scholfield was agent. The business was prosperous.

John and Arthur Scholfield have the honor of being the pioneer woolen manufacturers in the United States 1793 to 1798 at Byfield, Mass.

After five years, in 1798, the brothers sold their interest in Massachusetts and moved to Montville, Conn. and leased a privilege for fourteen years until 1812. Arthur Scholfield settled at Pittsfield, Mass., 1802-1803, and John Scholfield bought a mill site of John Congdon at Stillmanville in 1806.

This mill was first a saw mill and then an oil mill. Mr. Scholfield operated it for fulling (Fulling is the process of fluffing up an already woven or knitted piece of woolen cloth ) and carding of rolls and manufactured cloth. He operated it in connection with a plant located in Montville, Conn. He died in 1820, aged 62 years.

The Scholfields were ingenious and able mechanics. In 1808, Arthur Scholfield at Pittsfield, Mass. manufactured a piece of broadcloth which President Madison’s (James Madison 1751-1856, our fourth President 1809-1817) inaugural suit was made.

The Scholfield satinets (a fabric with a finish resembling satin but made from partially or wholly from cotton or synthetic fibre) were famous."

Photo Reunion Story

James Albert Barber

James Albert Barber
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is a precious photographs sent to me by a "cousin" in Utah. Her grandfather was James Albert Barber (my 2nd great grandfather). Someone she knows told her I had a photo of him on the Web and she decided to write to me. I was delighted. I encouraged her to have the original photo restored and when she did she sent me a copy.

I immediately scanned it and uploaded it to my Flickr account. The interesting fact is that James's photo taken here was taken in the same photography studio (Schofield Bros) in Westerly as my other 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Schofield.

These two men along with Charles Turner Evans all fought in the Civil War. I don't know too much about Charles Turner Evans who served in Company H, 27th Massachusetts infantry.

Brian hosts a blog on Medal of Honor recipients and had this to say about James and my connection to Robert Grandchamp of Rhode Island who is writing a book on James's unit.

George C. GARDNER and Lucy SCHOFIELD

George C. GARDNER and Lucy SCHOFIELD
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

George C. GARDNER, son of Jabez Champlin GARDINER and his first wife Eliza BICKNELL is buried with his wife Lucy SCHOFIELD in Section 22 of River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island.

George C. GARDNER [1834-1912]
Lucy Ann (SCHOFIELD) GARDNER [12 Jun 1847-1937]

George was brother to my Sarah GARDINER who married Joseph SCHOFIELD and Lucy was sister to Joseph SCHOFIELD.

George's first wife Betsey WILCOX and their infant son George are also buried here.

Notice, the grave behind this one is their son and his wife.

Jabez C. GARDINER and Eliza BICKNELL

Jabez C. Gardiner and Eliza Bicknell
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Jabez Champlin GARDINER and his first wife Eliza BICKNELL were my third great grandparents. This gravestone, which is the same size and style as their daughter, Sarah GARDINER and her husband Joseph SCHOFIELD. This grave is in Section 23 of River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, RI

Eliza is a descendant of Zachary BICKNELL who came to Weymouth, MA abt. 1636.

The reverse side of this stone bears the names of their daughter Dorcas and son Jabez, Jr.

Sarah Gardiner Schofield

Sarah Gardiner Schofield
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is a photo of Sarah GARDINER, widow of Joseph A. SCHOFIELD. She is buried at River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, RI.

Sarah was one of my second great grandmothers and was alive in my mother's lifetime. She was almost 100 when she died.

She was a daughter of Jabez Champlin GARDINER and his first wife Eliza BICKNELL. She had a sister Dorcas GARDINER who married a man whose last name was GARDINER!

Jabez may have had a brother named Joseph Champlin GARDINER. I need a lot of help on this line so please if you know anything about this, please help me.

Joseph A. SCHOFIELD

Joseph A. SCHOFIELD
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Joseph A. SCHOFIELD's photograph shown here was located via the interesting Web site, DeadFred. I had no photographs of Joseph in my family collection but I do have several of his wife Sarah and his daughter Nellie. Joseph and his wife share a gravestone.

Upon finding this photo online, I noted the names of the other persons with the same surname and plunged into learning more about the Scholfields. I was sure this was the right person as his daughter's photo (taken of her at about this same age as her father) shows the deep dark circles under her eyes. I discovered that Joseph's sister, Elizabeth, was also a photograph at DeadFred!

When interviewing my grandmother, she told me that Joseph was a stout man who loved rich food and had gout. Clearly, this earlier photo shows none of that. Perhaps that is why I have no later photos of him in my collection.

GAR Civil War Marker

GAR Civil War Marker
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is the reverse side of the flag holder for Joseph A. SCHOFIELD.

GAR Civil War Marker

GAR Civil War Marker
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is one side of the flag holder for Joseph A. SCHOFIELD.

These markers were provided by the GAR for Civil War veterans.

Joseph A. SCHOFIELD and Sarah F. GARDINER

Joseph A. SCHOFIELD and Sarah F. GARDINER
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

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.