Mumblings - Edgar Osman and Elizabeth (Kemp) Dewey

Edgar Osman Dewey (10^th generation)

Edgar Osman Dewey was born in Brighton, MA on May 9, 1846 and died on May 10, 1890 at Boston, MA.  He married Elizabeth Davis Kemp on March 12, 1866 at Boston, MA.  Elizabeth was born in Boston, MA on February 14, 1844 and died in Reading, MA on October 23, 1926.  She was the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Jane (Alden) Kemp.  Edgar, Elizabeth and many of their children are buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Reading, MA.  More will be written about Elizabeth Davis Kemp’s ancestry in a future post(s).

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Kemp Dewey (picture courtesy of cousin Bob)

Edgar was a 32 degree mason officer of the Mount Olivet Chapter of Rose Croix, Boston and the Lafayette Lodge of Perfection, Boston (several listings for Edgar Dewey here).  He died mysteriously and tragically at the early age of 44.  A newspaper report states:

            “Edgar O. Dewey, 40 years of age, was found dead in a hallway at 28 Canal street

             yesterday morning. . . He did not return home Saturday night, and yesterday 

             morning one of the clerks, unable to enter the store, got a ladder and entered by   

             one of the windows.  It is thought that Mr. Dewey fell down the stairs as he was 

             about to close the store, Saturday, and broke his neck.  The body was removed to 

             the North Grove street morgue and Medical Examiner Harris was notified.”

Edgar Osman Dewey's Death - Newspaper Story 

Edgar is listed in the Death Register for “the City of Boston for the year eighteen hundred and ninety” on line 3963, “May 10 Edgar O. Dewey, M(ale), M(arried), 44, Accidental fall down stairs, 28 Canal St.”  In the late 1970s, we bought a lamp for our kitchen on Canal Street (I think the business was Mass Lamp and Electric).  I always wondered if that was where the original F.O. Dewey & Sons business was located.  Many of my blog readers live near Boston.  Next time you are in the North Station area of Boston, take a walk down Canal Street and think of the Dewey lantern business.

Edgar left behind his widow, Elizabeth age 46 at the time, to tend their 4 unmarried children, Minnie (23), Marion (15), Francis Osman (13), and Edgar Osman (12).  The impact of Edgar’s early death may have had a tragic effect on my grandfather Francis Osman Dewey's life (subject of next post).  More research will be needed to see where Elizabeth and her children lived and how she provided for her children.  The oldest daughter Minnie Evelyn married within a year of her father’s death (January 14, 1891) to Philip Emerson.  I can find no information on daughter Marion Kemp Dewey.  (I do wonder if my aunt Marion was named for her aunt Marion Kemp Dewey?)  My grandfather Francis Osman married Katherine Skeffington at age 24 in 1901. Edgar Osman married Bertha Ursala Brooks at age 25 in 1903.  So where did Elizabeth’s  family live after Edgar’s death?  Did she:

• Remain in Reading, either living in her own home or with her father-in-law Francis Osman Dewey (until his death in 1898).  The Reading Public Library has street lists which could show if she resided in Reading.  The U.S. Census for 1900, 1910, and 1920 probably would show where and with whom Elizabeth lived. 
• Move into Boston with her father Robert Kemp (died 1897).  Hard to determine if she lived with Robert since census is every 10 years.  Also, where would she go after her father’s death? 
• Live with her daughter Minnie and son-in-law Philip Emerson.  The Dewey genealogy book that I own states that Minnie and Philip lived in Waltham where their first child Dorothy was born in 1893 and they later moved to Natick, MA.  Census data should show if Elizabeth (and children) lived with Minnie and Philip.
• Live in the home of her brother or sister in-law (Edgar's siblings)
• Census records for 1910 and 1920 do not show Elizabeth (Kemp) Dewey living with my grandparents Francis Osman and Katherine Dewey.

Here is more on the family lantern business.  Ken McCown (Jan. 29, 2012) wrote on the web site, the International Guild of Lamp Researchers, the Dewey company names were:

Francis O. Dewey 1863 to 1878

F.O.Dewey and Sons 1879 to 1888

F.O.Dewey Company 1889 to 1922 

The founder of F.O. Dewey and Sons, Francis O. Dewey, lived to age 74 dying in 1898.  The “sons” were Edgar Osman and Francis (Frank) Henry.  Sometime after Edgar’s death, McCown states, that Frank H. became president of F.O. Dewey Company.  F.O. Dewey Co. distributed the Armspear line of lanterns from 1901 to 1922.  Frank H. Dewey was Vice President of Armspear from 1913 to 1920.  Frank held U.S. Patent 611858 and died in 1920.  I don't know who would have run F.O. Dewey & Son between Frank's death 1920 and 1922 the date the company closed.

Edgar and Elizabeth had four children:

Minnie Evelyn (1867 - 1932) - Minnie married Philip Emerson who was the 

     Principal of Central Junior High School in Lynn, MA.  He wrote a book 

     “The Geography of New England” in 1922 (quite a few interesting photographs 

     in the book). 

Marion Kemp (1875 - ?)

Francis Osman (1877 – 1925)*

Edgar Osman (1878 – 1940) - Edgar was the postmaster, treasurer, and selectman in the town of Reading, MA.