Monday, January 7, 2008

Where were my ancestors in 1908?

Lisa on her blog 100 Years in America posted about "Where was your family in 1908?" the other day. Her post discusses what happened in 1908, where her ancestors lived, and a comparison of how people lived then. She challenged other genea-bloggers to write about their families also.

My ancestors that were living in 1908 included:

1) My grandparents Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942) and Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) probably resided at 116 Lawrence Street in Fitchburg (picture included here). They had children Marion (born 1901), Evelyn (born 1903), Stanley (born 1905) and Ruth (born 1907). My father, Frederick, was still a gleam in the mind of my grandparents, and would be born in this house. The 1910 census shows them living in this house, which they owned with a mortgage. They had moved from the Hildreth home (see below) in Leominster in 1905 and moved back to Leominster in about 1912.

2) My great-great-grandmother Sophia (Newton) Hildreth (1834-1923) resided at 149 Lancaster Street, with her son-in-law Frank Seaver (1852-1922), her daughter, Hattie Hildreth (1857-1920) and grandson Harry C. Seaver (1885-1951). Sophia's husband, Edward Hildreth, died in 1899 in Leominster. The house is included here, and the family had resided here since at least 1870.

3) My great-grandparents Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922) and Hattie L. Hildreth (1857-1920) resided in the Hildreth home at 149 Lancaster Street. I have a wonderful picture of the Hildreth house with the family in front of it and will post it sometime soon - it's the only picture I have of Frank Seaver and Sophia (Newton) Hildreth.

4) My great-grandparents Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) and Julia White (1848-1913) probably resided in Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut. The 1910 census does not list the house address of the rented house. All of their children were out of the house by 1910. They had resided in Leominster MA in 1900 and for several years before - most of their children were married there.

5) My great-great-grandparents James Richmond (1821-1912) and Hannah Rich (1824-1911) resided at 1 Richmond Road in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut. The household included their son John Richmond (age 44), daughter-in-law Mary Richmond (age 41), grandson Thomas H.M. (age 7) and daughter Louisa (age 57). This was a dairy farm that was obtained in the late 1860's and was worked into the 1980's by their son and grandson.

6) My great-grandparents Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946) and Abbie Ardell (Della) Smith (1862-1944) resided at 3002 Hawthorn Street in San Diego, San Diego County, CA. Son Lyle L. Carringer (my grandfather) (1911-1976), brother Harvey E. Carringer (1952-1946), and mother-in-law Abbie Smith (1844-1931) also lived in the house. This is the same house that was at 2105 30th Street in 1920 and 2115 30th Street in 1930, and the house shown here.

7) My great-great-grandmother Abigail (Vaux) Smith (1844-1931), the widow of Devier J. Smith, resided with her daughter's family at 3002 Hawthorn Street in San Diego.

8) My great-grandparents Charles Auble (1849-1916) and Georgianna Kemp (1968-1951) resided in Chicago with their daughter, my grandmother Emily Kemp Carringer (1899-1977). In the 1900 census, they resided at 515 West Adams Street, and in the 1910 census they resided at 611 North 70th Street in the 32nd Ward of Chicago. In the 1910 City Directory for Chicago, they resided at 611 West 76th Street in Chicago.

This exercise has shown me that I haven't posted biographies about several of these ancestors on Genea-Musings, or posted some of my early pictures of these people. I will do that in the coming weeks.

Lisa's post finished with a brief paragraph about life in 1908. I posted a longer article, obtained from an unknown email correspondent, about life in 1907 - see it here for more context. Interesting, eh?

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