Anniversaries: August 26 - September 1

Births:

Rebecca (Dyer) Paine, 5th great grandmother, was born on August 28, 1746 at Truro, MA
Vera (Tompkins) Dewey, mother, was born on August 29, 1922, at Easton, ME

Lydia (Peabody) Perley, 8th great grandmother, was born on August 30, 1654 at Hampton, NH

Jonathan Fernald, 5th great grandfather, was born on August 31, 1731 at Kittery, ME

Marriages:

Faith Ingalles and Andrew Allen, 9th great grandparents, were married on August 27, 1648 at Andover, MA

Deaths:

Harold Tompkins, grandfather, died on August 28, 1953 at Reading, MA
John Wheeler, 10th great grandfather, died on August 29, 1670 at Newbury, MA
Robert Smith, 8th great grandfather, died on August 30, 1693 at Boston, MA
John Loomis, 8th great grandfather, died on August 31, 1715 at Columbia, CT
Samuel Bidfield, 10th great grandfather, died on September 1, 1660 at Boston, MA
Simeon Hoyt, 11th great grandfather, died on September 1, 1657 at Stamford, CT

Anniversaries: August 19 - August 25

Births:

Mary (Adams) Carrier, 7th great grandmother, was born on August 19, 1678 at Simsbury, CT
Mercy (Bryant) Packard, 6th great grandmother, was born on August 19, 1705 at Bridgewater, MA
Sarah (Packard) Edson, 7th great grandmother, was born on August 19, 1682 at Bridgewater, MA
Samuel Alden, 6th great grandfather, was born on August 20, 1705 at Bridgewater, MA
Simeon Dewey, 4th great grandfather, was born on August 20, 1770 at Hebron, CT
Sarah (Howard) Packard, 8th great grandmother, was born on August 20, 1648 at Duxbury, MA
Nathan Kemp, 3rd great grandfather, was born on August 21, 1783 at Wellfleet, MA

Marriages:

Malena (Alma) Lunn and Eli Robbins, 3rd great grandparents, were married on August 20, 1858 at Sutton, VT

Sarah Weeks and Jonathan Fernald, 5th great grandparents, were married on August 25, 1755 at Kittery, ME

Deaths:

Martha (Allen) Carrier, 8th great grandmother, died on August 19, 1692 at Salem, MA.  Martha was convicted of witchcraft and hung in Salem, MA
Humphrey Pinney, 9th great grandfather, died on August 20, 1683 at Windsor, CT
Deborah (Temple) Phelps, 7th great grandmother, died on August 22, 1719 at Mansfield City, CT
Mary (White) Loomis, 10 great grandmother, died on August 23, 1652 at Windsor, CT
Joann (Fush) Randall, 10th great grandmother, died on August 24, 1662 at Windsor, CT

Anniversaries: August 12 - August 18

Births:

Amy (Allen) Hatch, 8th great grandmother, was born on August 15, 1663 at Sandwich, MA
John Farnum, 3rd great grandfather, was born on August 15, 1796 at Mont Vernon, NH
Amy (Smith) Towne, 7th great grandmother, was born on August 16, 1668 at Topsfield, MA
John Bryant, 8th great grandfather, was born on August 17, 1644 at Scituate, MA
Rachel (Sanborn) Bennett, 7th great grandmother, was born on August 17, 1719 at Hampton Falls, NH
Abraham Annice, 7th great grandfather, was born on August 18, 1668 at Newbury, MA

Marriages:

No marriages recorded for this week

Deaths:

Daniel Bradley, 8th great grandfather, died on August 13, 1689 at Haverhill, MA
Ann (Yeoman) Wheeler, 10th great grandmother, died on August 15, 1662 at Newbury, MA
Bridget (Thomson) Dennison, 9th great grandmother, died August 16, 1643 at Roxbury, MA
Mary (Hull) Pinney, 9th great grandmother, died on August 18, 1684 at Windsor, CT

Mumblings: Edward Robbins

I received a question from a reader of the August 5 - August 11 anniversaries posting asking to know more about Edward Robbins.  Edward was my great great grandfather.  He was born December 21, 1859 in Brownington, VT and died August 8, 1941 in Lowell, MA.  As I previously posted in "Anniversaries," Edward's father, Eli Robbins died May 11, 1864 in Spotsylvania, VA at the Civil War Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.  I am not sure of the spelling of the first name of Edward's mother, but she went by the nickname "Alma".  Alma's marriage record to Eli Robbins shows her as Malena Lunn.  After her husband Eli's death, she remarried Rufus C. Lund in 1869.  The marriage record shows the bride as Mialma (Lund) Robbins.  (Thanks to Jonathan Milligan for posting the marriage records on Ancestry.com).

The 1870 U.S. Census lists Rufus Lund, his wife Alma living in Barton, Orleans County, VT.  Rufus must have been a widower at the time of his marriage to Alma as he had a child Hattie aged 13.  Rufus and Alma had a son Percy aged 5 months.  Also living in the household are the children of Eli and Alma, Edward Robbins age 10 and Mary Robbins age 5. Alma's mother, Mary Lund age 57 is also listed as living in the household.  Rufus was a farmer and Edward, age 10, is listed a farm laborer.

On August 11, 1877, Edward married Emma Jane Scott.  Emma was the daughter of George and Mary (Emery) Scott.  Emma was born on February 11, 1859 in Groton, VT and died in 1897 at Everett, MA.  Edward and Emma's children were Effie Louraine born June 10, 1880, Charles born in 1881, Frank born in 1883, and Louisa born in 1887.  Effie Louraine married married Herbert F. Milligan.  Effie and Herbert were my great grandparents.  After Emma died, Edward remarried Minnie Annie Clark on September 9, 1899.  Minnie was born in March 1870 and died July 13, 1953.

   Edward and Minnie (Clark) Robbins, 2nd wife (back row center); Harold Tompkins is in back row right and Herbert F. Milligan is seated front row left

The 1880 U.S. Census lists Edward, wife Emma, and "child birth" as living in Chicopee, MA.  Edward's occupation is working in a cotton mill.  The 1900 Census shows Edward, Minnie, married daughter Effie Milligan, Charles, Frank, and Louise living at 60 Central St., Somerville, MA (not far from where my daughter and son are now living). Edward's occupation is listed as an "Engineer (Stationary)".  By 1910, the Census shows Edward and Minnie living at 14 Stevenson Avenue, Everett, MA.  Edward is a real estate agent at this time.  By 1920, Edward and Minnie are living at 180 Baldwin St., Lowell, MA.  Edward is working again as a stationary engineer in a woolen mill.  The 1930 Census has Edward and Minnie still in Lowell living but now at 147 Humphrey St. and at age 71, Edward is still an engineer at a cotton mill.  The 1940 Census shows Edward and Minnie residing at 112 Humphrey St., Lowell and at age 81, Edward is a boss in a manufacturing mill bobbin shop.  Edward died in 1941.

Anniversaries: August 5 - August 11

Birthdays:

Anna (Phelps) Dewey, 6th great grandmother, was born on August 7, 1719 at Tolland, CT

Weddings:

Elizabeth Farnum married Francis Osman Dewey, 2nd great grandparents, on August 5, 1845 at Brighton, MA

Deaths:

Elizabeth (Partridge) Allen, 9th great grandmother, died on August 7, 1722 at Chilmark, MA
Thomas French, 9th great grandfather, died on August 8, 1680 at Ipswich, MA
Edward Robbins, 2nd great grandfather, died on August 8, 1941 at Lowell, MA
Philip Nelson, 9th great grandfather, died on August 9, 1691 at Rowley, MA

Mumblings: "Father Kemp"

In a prior post, I wrote about Robert Kemp's family life.  In this post, I will introduce you to another side of Robert Kemp as his alter ego "Father Kemp".  In the 1850s, Robert Kemp organized a group of local singers and musicians from the Reading, MA area into a troupe of traveling performers called the "Old Folks".  Kemp published an autobiography Father Kemp and his Old Folks (published by Rockwell & Rollins Printers, 122 Washington Street, Boston, 1868) in which he gives a glimpse of his personality and of the era in which he lived.  Kemp published several other song books one of which can be found here as an ebook.  (Original copies of his books and reprints are often available on eBay.)

Graphic from Father Kemp and his Old Folks

The Old Folks troupe dressed in costumes that were as much appreciated by the audiences as their singing.  The costumes were meant to depict people of historic interest such as George and Martha Washington, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Daniel Boone.  Kemp's wife Elizabeth (Alden) and daughter Lizzie were part of the troupe. A digital copy of the picture shown below was provided to me by the Reading (MA) Public Library.  The names of those shown in the picture came from a June 20, 1930 issue of the town newspaper, The Reading Chronicle.

Old Folks Troupe (picture courtesy of the Reading, MA Public Library); picture with names printed in the June 20, 1930 Reading Chronicle

This troupe became very popular touring throughout many parts of the Eastern United States and England.  Kemp says in his autobiography that the Old Folks performed in over nine hundred concerts with more than one million in attendance.  The troupe performed before Abraham Lincoln who was on a lecture tour in Connecticut prior to his becoming president.  Kemp talks of Lincoln as if they were old friends.  Kemp says of Lincoln in his autobiography (page 80) "he was one of the most entertaining men I ever knew ... I passed, in the [railroad] cars and at the hotels, many pleasant hours in his company... we frequently performed in the same place." 

Kemp was quite a concert promoter.  He would arrange for the troupe to sing before notable people so that he could advertise that the troupe performed before those people of note.  In Washington D.C. they performed before President Buchanan.  "We sang a patriotic air or two, with which he seemed delighted."  On page 141 of his autobiography: "One of the first objects to be secured was to appear before the queen... that should the "Old Folks" do that, and have it announced on their bills, a great point would be made."  Kemp hired men "sandwiched between two boards" to walk around advertising their concerts.

Advertising Broadside

More on "Father Kemp" will be written in a future post.