Providence, RI question for Marilyn

Post by **marilyn morning** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 2:48 pm

Hi Marilyn,

I just took your tour of downtown Providence! I thought that Grace Church might be something of a "neighborhood" church for my grandparents. They hadn't been in this country very long when they had this first baby.

My grandparents and great aunts were city people so I'm not surprised that they lived in this area. What does surprise me is Uncle Alexander Longmuir who lived at the Norwich address, I think, until sometime in the 1920's. He was only 9 months old when my 2x great grandmother Janet/Jessie Milne Longmuir died of typhus fever in 1855. He was given to his uncle William and aunt Janet Longmuir to raise on a farm out in Banffshire. I'm not sure how he ended up living in downtown Providence as a traveling dry goods salesman?!

I just found his mother's family, what little of it there was apparently. His maternal grandfather William Milne had died before 1841, cause unknown. His maternal grandmother Mary Gordon Milne apparently died after the 1851 Census but before the 1855 records. His aunt Robertson Milne had two children out of wedlock and died in 1873 of TB in the Peterhead Poorhouse where her children continued to live until they were 18 years old. His aunt Martha disappears after 1851 but she might have married. I haven't found a death certificate on her yet. Alexander's only sister Isabella married George Clerihew and had my grandfather and his siblings in Aberdeen all of whom ended up at Alexander's house on Norwich as their first stop after they emigrated to the USA!

Thanks for continuing the hunt!

Carol

Hi Carol,

By the sound of it, you're making leaps and bounds with this family. Its very possible that the Boston-Providence-New London corridor was Alexander sales territory? The Train Station would be within walking distance of his Norwich address.

I spoke with Evelyn from Grace Church yesterday and the gent who had taken the picture is out until next Tuesday, but she promised to have him send it once he's back to work. They tried to send it last week, but misplaced my e-mail address.

Now Carol don't get your hopes up too high, but I'm off in a few hours to try and find Norwich Ave.

Regards
Marilyn

Post by **marilyn morning** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:37 pm

Hi Carol,

Before we left this afternoon, I did a "google earth" for directions to

20 Hollis to 83 Willow to 8 Norwich and they're all within a 20 block walk.
Of course we weren't walking and you'll see why in the pic with bars on the windows

This area of Providence has always been the part of the State where immigrants settle in, so its culture is always changing. We were pleased today to see all of the remodeling being done to these old Victorian Homes. House after house had a permit in the window, which must mean all the hard work of the Providence Preservation Society is paying off.

Here's, 83 Willow

1914
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1336

2007

83 Willow Front
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1395

Side of 83 Willow Front (notice bars on windows)
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1394

83 Willow Rear
Mary must have her back to the back house on the left and the picture is taken from the house on the right. There's also another house down the driveway. It seems these houses in the rear on now on Gibbons Court.
The house on the right rear was a perfect example of the remodeling taking place. It was very exciting to see!
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1393

20 Hollis
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1398

8 Norwich is the second tenament house on the right and number 8 is the door on the right.
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1397

Entrance to Grace Cemetery
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1396

No wonder the caretaker had no time to send me the pic. We found an awful lot of stones tipped over and broken glass in the driveway. The poor man probably developed a hernia trying to lift some of these stones back into place.

http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1399
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1400
http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1401

Time ran out and we never made it to the 60 Davis address. We went to have a late lunch up on Federal Hill..

Regards
Marilyn

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 2:17 am

Marilyn,

Thanks another million! Those pictures are really interesting! I'm amazed that the houses are still there and it's great that they are being repaired instead of bulldozed. I can't wait to print the pictures and send them to my sister.

It's funny but the house at 8 Norwich seems small compared to the house next door. Maybe it just looks that way because it is plain. I guess I was expecting it to be larger because so many of my relatives stayed there at one time or another. Of course, they were probably glad to have a bed in a place with a familiar face by the time they had spent a week or ten days on a ship and then landed in a new country.

The Willow St. house is particularily interesting to me because that's where my Dad lived right after he was born. It's also interesting because we have that picture from 1914! I'll have to get a new ink cartridge and print out these pictures so I can lay them out side by side.

Grace Cemetery looks like it has fallen on hard times with the broken stones and tree seedlings growing all over. What a shame! All the up keep costs money, but it makes me wonder about our priorities!

Thanks again! I'm going have another look!

Carol

Post by **marilyn morning** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:47 pm

Hi Carol,

I'm glad you're pleased with the pictures and it was my pleasure to lend you a hand. I'll get to the other address, but not sure when?

Grace Cemetery looks like it has fallen on hard times with the broken stones and tree seedlings growing all over. What a shame! All the up keep costs money, but it makes me wonder about our priorities!

From what I understand, this cemetery is now cared for by volunteers. Remember there was some vandalism done to it less then two weeks ago, which explains all the topped over stones. Don't worry I'm sure they'll get them repaired. It may take a few weeks? The entrance to the cemetery is in a residential neighborhood and its this area which had all the pushed over stones. The stones were all standing straight at the back.
It appears the grass is kept cut and I think those seedlings are clumps of weeds? We've only had a few inches of rain in the past few months, so perhaps the grass hasn't been cut in a while. You know weeds they'll grow anywhere. Considering the age, location and lack of perpetual care, I thought the cemetery looked pretty good (excluding the stones)

Regards
Marilyn

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:01 am

Marilyn,

I'm glad that there is a group of volunteers interested in Grace Cemetery. As for the weeds, come to think of it, my yard doesn't look so good these days. We're about twenty inches behind on rain right now.

I was looking at the babies' DC's getting ready to send copies to my sister and noticed that my grandparents were living at the Willow St. address already in 1912 when the stillborn baby was delivered. They must have moved that year because earlier in the year my grandfather was listed in the Providence directory as living at 20 Hollis. When I was trying to confirm this, I noticed a 1910 Census entry for my grandfather. Apparently, he came over in 1906 and stayed to work in a jewelry shop. I thought that he had returned to Scotland and then come back over in September of 1911 with my grandmother. I also found an entry for his brother John who came over in 1905 and was working as a machinist. John was boarding at a house on Smith St. How's that for a generic street name!

Too many papers in piles around here and not enough in files!

Carol

Post by **marilyn morning** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:59 pm

Hi Carol,

A little Providence, Rhode Island Trivia and possibly the reason your grandfather settled in Rhode Island.

The costume jewelry industry was begun in Providence in 1794 when two brothers, Nehemiah and Seril Dodge, developed a method of plating base metal with gold. Rhode Island is now the Costume Jewelry Capital of the world with over 35,000 employed in jewelry manufacturing, distribution, and related services.

Regards
Marilyn

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:27 pm

Wow, now I know where all those bangles and beads come from!

Carol

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:53 pm

Marilyn,

Do you receive the online magazine that comes with a subscription to ancestry? There's a short article about potters graves for babies in the issue that just came out today titled "Emma's Grave". It's interesting and fits baby Clerihew's circumstances somewhat. I don't think my grandparents were too poor to bury him, but he may be in an area with only graves of babies. I'm not sure if a link to something like this can be posted or not?

Carol

Post by **marilyn morning** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:58 pm

Hi Carol,

No I don't get the magazine. Most of the cemeteries here in Rhode Island, have this type of section for the babies. I like to think it brings the parents comfort thinking their baby isn't buried alone.

I never did receive that picture from Grace Cemetery, maybe I should call one last time. I don't want them thinking I'm a haunt Sorry its getting close to Halloween.

Marilyn

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:21 am

The title of the article was actually "Emma's Unmarked Rest". The gist of it is that the group burial sites often were done for comfort since many of the parents were new to an area and didn't have family around them. Also, many times it was expedient. Communities had to deal with epidemics of highly infectious diseases like whooping cough and influenza so they had to get these children buried quickly without seeming hard hearted! Not a bad little article.

Carol