Mumblings - Mary Barrett Dyer

In my last post, I wrote about Robert Henry Kemp.  Before I continue with stories about Kemp, I will diverge by introducig an ancestor of mine through Kemp, Mary Barrett Dyer.  Mary led an intriguing life as you will see below.  Before introducing Mary, here is my ancestral line to Mary:

     Donald Lester Dewey (my father) the son of:
     Francis Osman Dewey and Katherine Skeffington (grand parents).  Francis, the son of:
     Edgar Osman Dewey and Elizabeth Davis Kemp (gg).  Elizabeth, the daughter of:
     Robert "Father" Kemp and Elizabeth Jane Alden (2 gg).  Robert, the son of:
     Nathan Kemp and Hannah Doan Wharffe (3 gg).  Hannah, the daughter of:
     Joseph Wharre and Rebecca Paine (4 gg).  Rebecca, the daughter of:
     Jonathan Paine and Rebecca Dyer (5 gg).  Rebecca, the daughter of:
     Elijah Dyer and Deliverance Atkins (6 gg).  Elijah, the son of:
     Judeah Dyer and Phebe Young (7 gg).  Judeah, the son of:
     William Dyer and Mary Taylor (8 gg).  William, the son of:
     William Dyer and Mary Walker (9 gg).  William, the son of:
     William Dyer and Mary Barrett (10 gg).

Mary Barrett Dyer (10th great grandmother)

Mary Barrett Dyer was born about 1611 in England and she died June 1, 1660 in Boston, MA.  On October 27, 1633 she married William Dyer, a milliner, at St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, England.  William was born around 1609 in Kirkby, England.  He died about October 1677 in Newport, RI.  Mary and her husband immigrated to Boston, MA around 1635.  Mary and William had eight children:

     William: b. Oct 1634 in London, d.Oct 1634
     Samuel: b. 1635 in Boston, married Ann Huthchinson
     (dau): b. Oct 1637, d. Oct 1637 in Boston
     William: b. abt 1640 in Newport, RI, d. 1687/88 Newport, RI
     Mahershallalhashbaz: b. abt 1643, Newport, RI, d. bef 1670
     Henry: b. 1647 Newport, RI, d. Feb 1690
     Mary: b. bef 1650 Newport, RI, d. Jan 1679
     Charles: b. abt 1650 Newport, RI, d. May 15, 1727

Political and Religious Persecution

Soon after arriving in Boston in 1635, the Dyers became followers of John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson, leaders of the Antinomian Controversy [def. antinomism: being against or opposed to the law].  Hutchinson was excommunicated in March of 1638 and she left the Mass Bay Colony for Rhode Island.  In March 1637, William Dyer signed a petition in supporting Wheelwright.  Dyer and other followers of Hutchinson moved to Rhode Island and signed the Portsmouth Compact, severing political and religious ties with England.  This group soon thereafter settled the town of Newport, RI.

Mary went back to England in 1650 and became a follower of George Fox, joining the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).  Mary became a Quaker preacher.  She left England in 1657 and upon arrival in Boston she was arrested.  After spending three months in prison, she was released and expelled from the colony.  She returned to Massachusetts several times and was arrested each time. In 1659 she returned to Massachusetts to visit two jailed Quakers (William Robinson and Marmaduke Stephenson) and as a result, was imprisoned again.  She and the others were released on September 12, expelled from the colony, and threatened with execution should they return.  The three returned in October, were arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to death.  Robinson and Stephenson were hung but Mary, with a noose around her neck, was given a reprieve at the last minute.  She was forced to return to Rhode Island.  Once again though, in April 166, she defiantly returned to Boston.  Once again she was arrested, went on trial, and was sentenced to be hung.  The sentence was carried in Boston on June 1, 1660.

In 1959, a statue to Mary's memory was erected at the Massachusetts State House.  A statue to Anne Hutchinson is nearby.  Most of the details on Mary life can be found on many websites.  A link from which most of the above and more can be found here.

Mumblings: The Kemp Family

Now that I have completed posts tracing the surnames of my grandparents, I will write about some of my other relatives.  I will start with Robert "Father" Kemp who was quite a colorful character.  This first post on Robert Kemp will contain genealogical data about Robert, his ancestry, and his relation to the Dewey family.  I will follow up with a post(s) containing information on his life as entertainer and business man "Father" Kemp taking excerpts from his autobiography "Father Kemp and his Old Folks" (published by Rockwell & Rollins Printers, 122 Washington Street, Boston, 1868).  His picture as Robert Kemp (below) makes him look like a stern man.  However, when he was costumed and became Father Kemp, he became animated.  He figuratively and literally was quite a character.

Robert Henry and Elizabeth Jane (Alden) Kemp (2nd great grandparents)

Robert Henry Kemp

Robert Henry Kemp was born on June 6, 1821 in Wellfleet, MA.  He died on May 15, 1897 in Scituate, MA at his son's home.  At the time of his death, Robert was living at 40 Chestnut Street, Boston, MA.  He married Elizabeth Jane Alden, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Fernald) Alden.  The date of their marriage is unknown, but it was in the early 1840s.  Elizabeth Jane Alden was born on April 6, 1824 in Cambridge, MA and she died on October 27, 1882 in Boston, MA.  She was living at 90 Blue Hill Avenue, Boston, MA at the time of her death.  More will be written about Elizabeth's ancestry in a later post.  Robert and Elizabeth had four children:

     Elizabeth "Lizzie" Davis Kemp: b. Feb. 14, 1844, d. Oct. 23, 1926.  Elizabeth married the
          boy who lived next door, Edgar Osman Dewey.
     Robert H. Kemp: b. abt 1846, married Catherine "Kittie" Carle
     Marinda Ann Kemp: b. Jul. 4, 1848, d. Nov. 16, 1848
     Minnie Evelyn Kemp: b. May 1, 1860

Robert's father died two years after his birth and his mother remarried.  Both his mother and his stepfather were store keepers (see more about his mother Hannah and stepfather Nathaniel below).  This background paved the way for Robert to become a shoe merchant, operating the Mammoth Boot and Shoe Store at 1090/1092 Washington Street, Boston, MA. 

Robert, Elizabeth, and family moved to Reading, MA in 1853 building a house with 12 acres of land at 186 Summer Avenue in Reading, MA.  He unsuccessfully tried his hand at gentleman farming on his acreage.  A family member told me that the Parker Middle School in Reading, MA is built on land formerly owned by Kemp.  He later sold this house and had another built on 199 Summer Avenue in 1878 before ultimately moving to Boston.

Kemp House 186 Summer Ave., Reading

Kemp House (designed by architect was Horace Wadlin) 199 Summer Ave., Reading

Robert Kemp became well known in his day as the founder of a troupe of singers and musicians called "Father Kemp and his Old Folks."  His wife Elizabeth and about 50 residents of Reading and surrounding towns made up the troupe.  More will be written on the troupe in a later post(s).

Nathan and Hannah Doan (Wharff) Kemp (3rd great grandparents)

Nathan Kemp was born on August 21, 1783 in Wellfleet, MA.  He died, possibly by drowning, on September 5, 1823 in Boston.  He is buried in Wellfleet.  Nathan married Hannah Doan Wharff, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Paine) Wharff, on October 28, 1813 in Truro, MA.  Hannah was born on March 18, 1793 in Truro, MA.  She died in August 1849 in Boston, MA.  Nathan and Hannah had four children:


     Sally Kemp: b. Jul. 30, 1814, d. Jan. 25, 1816
     Hannah Doane Kemp: b. Jul. 1, 1819
     Robert Henry Kemp: b. Jun. 6, 1821, d. May 15, 1897
     Nathan Kemp: b. May 5, 1823

Hannah (Doan Wharff Kemp) Davis
Hannah remarried Nathaniel Tileston Davis on April 22, 1830 in Boston, MA. 
[from: History of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, George F. Davis, page 154].
[Nathaneil Davis] "there married Mrs. Hannah Kemp, widow of Capt. Nathan Kemp, a sea captain. She had three children, Hannah, aged about six, Robert, a small boy, now doing business at No. Tremont St., retail dealer in boots and shoes, and organizer of the "Father Kemp Old Folks'  Concen.". Another son, Henry, died. The widow Kemp was keeping a retail store at Wellfleet and Mr. Davis stepped in and took the business and went along with it, adding to it, the manufacture of paints and sale of oil, and manufactured salt. He stayed there four to six years and then removed to Malden, Mass., and bought the Capt. John Oakes farm of 75 acres. Lived here seven or eight years. Built a  large two-story house. He sold this farm and went to Boston, and had a retail dry goods store on Hanover street, for about ten years. Here his wife [Hannah] died and he was married to Sophronia Lane, widow of Dr. Alfred Lane, who had resided the next door to Mr. Davis' store." 

Robert and Anna (Paine) Kemp (4th great grandparents)
Robert Kemp was born about 1747 probably in Maryland.  He came to Wellfleet from Maryland at age 12 and was under the guardianship of Captain Paine.  He died on June 2, 1816 in Truro, MA.  Robert married Anna Paine, daughter of Thomas Paine, on December 19, 1775 in Wellfleet, MA.  Anna was born in 1760 in Wellfleet and died on December 1, 1843 in Wellfleet.  Robert and Anna had eleven children born in Wellfleet:

     Thomas: b. Apr. 24, 1778
     Letilla: b: Feb. 13, 1781
     Nathan: b. Aug. 21, 1783
     Robert: b. Sep. 30, 1789
     John Emory: b. Oct. 8, 1789
     Barzillai: b. Jan. 8, 1792
     William: b. Dec. 1794
     Samuel: b. 1796
     Wells Emory: b. May 10, 1798
     Ruth: b. 1800
     Anna: b. Jul. 15, 1802, d. Nov. 11, 1802

Mumblings - Katherine Skeffington Dewey

Katherine Skeffington

Katherine (Catherine) Skeffington (also spelled Skiffington, Skivington) was born in Lowell, MA on June 13, 1871 and died on February 25, 1963 in a nursing home in Tewksbury, MA.  Katherine married Francis Osman Dewey of Reading, MA on July 10, 1901.  I believe that Katherine was the only child of Patrick and Bridget (Daley) Skeffington.  It is thought by some family members that Katherine worked in the Lowell mills before meeting and marrying Francis.  Katherine and Francis are buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Reading, MA.

Katherine and Francis Osman had five children

Elizabeth Winifred (1903 – 2001) - grandmother was "Winifred" Daley

George Franklin (1905 – 1909) – named after Admiral "George" Dewey

Marion Katherine (1907 – 2003) - aunt was "Marion" Kemp Dewey

Robert Francis (1910 – 1980)

Donald Lester (1912 – 1980)

George and Elizabeth (about 1906)

Francis Osman Dewey was institutionalized from around 1918 until his death in 1925.  So from 1918 on, Katherine had to raise four children ages 15, 11, 8, and 6 on her own.  (Son George had died in 1909.)  Her parents were not alive by 1918.  Her father died in 1905 and mother died in 1911.  So she had no assistance from her side of the family.  I wondered if the Dewey family assisted Katherine and her family or was her family shunned because Francis, a Protestant, married Katherine, a Catholic mill girl?  Similarly, I asked in a previous post how Katherine's mother-in-law Elizabeth Kemp Dewey survived until her death in 1926 after her husband died in 1890.  

A common solution for providing for widows/widowers with our first ancestors was remarriage.  Many of my earliest ancestors were married two or three times.  However, I have researched city street directories and found that Katherine and Elizabeth's solution was to live in an extended family after their husbands deaths.  It was also a common practice to take in boarders for extra income. Ancestry.com has recently added a U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta) version that helps answer where and with whom did these families live (search results are available for a monthly subscription fee).  By looking at town directories and US Census records in the Ancestry database, I have found that for much of the time, Elizabeth and Katherine lived in the same house.

Extended Families: Residences of Elizabet Kemp Dewey, Francis Osman and wife Katherine Dewey

1866: Elizabeth Kemp married Edgar Osman Dewey and they lived with her parents Robert and Elizabeth Kemp at 243 Northampton St., Boston.  

1867 to 1892: Elizabeth Kemp Dewey lives on Summer Avenue in Reading, MA.  During this time, husband Edgar Osman dies in 1890. Several of their children including grandfather Francis Osman Dewey live in the Summer Avenue home.  (Great-great grandfather Francis Osman (Sr) and his son Francis Henry Dewey were living at 176 Summer Ave.)

1892 to 1895: Elizabeth, shown in the records as Lizzie D. Dewey, is boarding at 1 Hancock St., Reading.  Boarding with Lizzie are adult children Francis Osman, presumably with Katherine, Edgar, and Marion.  (Daughter Minnie Evelyn Dewey married in 1891 and moved away, possibly to Lynn with her husband Phillip Emerson.)

1896 to 1904:  Lizzie and family live at 109 Summer Ave., Reading.  Francis Osman
moves out in 1902 after marrying Katherine Skeffington.  The 1903 Lowell, MA Street Directory shows Francis Osman boarding at 263 Fayette Street, presumably with wife Katherine.  She had been living with her parents Patrick and Bridget Daley Skeffington on Willie Street in Lowell, MA prior to there marriage.  In 1903, Elizabeth Winifred Dewey is born in Lowell.

1905 to 1906:  Elizabeth is living at 20 Prescott Street, Reading.  Daughter Marion lives with her mother until she marries Charles Terrill in 1906 and moves out of Prescott Street.

1905 to 1914:  Francis Osman and Katherine are living at 5 Morgan Park, Reading.  In 1907, Elizabeth moves into the 5 Morgan Park home with her son and daughter-in-law.  Children George (1905-1909), Marion (1907), Robert (1910), and Donald (1912) are born while the family lived on Morgan Park.

1915 to 1920:  Francis Osman and Katherine are living at 14 Hancock Street, Reading.  Around 1916-1917 life is beginning to unravel for Francis Osman.  After many years of working at F.O. Dewey & Sons - RR lanterns (Reading Directories 1898 to 1915), he is no longer working at F.O. Dewey & Sons but as a rubber worker at Reading Rubber Manufacturing Co., Ash St. (1917 Directory).  (Reading Rubber Mfg. later became Goodall Sanford Mills.)  Also, the 1917 Reading Directory shows that Elizabeth moved from Hancock Street to 3 Parker Street, Reading.  By 1918, we know that Francis Osman has been committed to Danvers State Hospital.  Katherine and her four living children continue to live at 14 Hancock Street until 1920.
1921 - 1930: Katherine lives at 38 Mineral Street, Reading. Daughter Elizabeth marries and moves to Pennsylvania (children Dorothy and Berry are born in Pennsylvania per 1930 US Census).  Francis Osman dies on March 10, 1925.
1925 - 1926: Elizabeth lived at 15 Sanborn Street probably until her death on Oct. 23, 1916. 
1930 - 1931: Katherine and son Robert are living with her daughter Elizabeth at Mt. Vernon St., Reading.
1932 - 1937: Katherine is living with son Robert and wife Margaret at 48 Village Street, Reading.
1937 - after 194x: Katherine is living with daughter Elizabeth and family at 146 Village Street, Reading.  This was a two family house and the Tompkins lived next door.  Katherine's son Donald married Vera Tompkins after returning from WWII.
194x - 1960s: Katherine lived with her daughter Elizabeth.
1963: Katherine was living in a nursing home in Tewksbury, MA when she died on February 25, 1963.

Anecdotes

Katherine was a short woman but was known to be a fast walker.  How many of her descendants have inherited this trait from her?  Some of Elizabeth’s children probably know her best having grown up with her in the household.  I have heard that she may not have been easy to live with.  She is said to have a liking for thread and may have walked out of stores with some without paying for it.  I do not remember much about her as she was 79 by the time I was born and then spent time in a nursing home before her death.  I do remember her once farting at my parents dinner table and saying that someone must be shooting off fireworks in the neighborhood.  

Back: Donald, Elizabeth, and Robert; Front Marion and Katherine

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.