How Can An Eminent Domain Road Widening Be A Source For Genealogy Research? (March 29, 2020)

As a self-confessed packrat I more than occasionally come across items that I never knew (or totally forgot) I had.  This is exactly what happened a few days ago--but a brief detour for some background photos is necessary.

My maternal grandparents, Everett and Ruth Carpenter, lived in a house in Cumberland, Rhode Island that was inherited by my grandfather.  The house had been in the Miller/Carpenter family since about 1767 when it was built by Peter Miller, my 5X great grandfather.  My mother and her two siblings grew to adulthood in the house and I have good memories of the house and property from my many visits during my youth.

Below are photographs of what the Miller/Carpenter homestead looked like at various stages before 1957.  Notice the trees that are located in front of the house in all the photos, which pre-date 1957.  After a road widening project in 1957-58, those trees and the picket fencing no longer existed.  Also, the first three photos show a tall chimney at the back of the house which is where the kitchen was located.  In the fourth photo, taken from the rear of the house, the chimney is missing because it blew down in the infamous 1938 hurricane.  Only the third photo gives a glimpse of the barn, which is the structure in the background behind the kitchen of the house.  The barn survived the 1938 hurricane, but it was a lot worse for the wear by that terrible storm and as children my siblings and I were not allowed onto the upper floor or even into the barn without and adult with us.  The house and barn and the few acres they sat on were located at what was known as 551 High Street in Cumberland. [See, "This Old House" Feb. 8, 2013]

On August 21, 1957, the Director of Public Works (Joseph M. Vallone) wrote on behalf of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to give legal notice that the State Properties Committee had authorized by condemnation the acquisition of some of my grandparents' property.  The acquisition was one of many such condemnations and acquisitions along High Street between Abbott Street and Blackstone Street for the purpose of widening and improving High Street.

On December 27, 1957, a letter from the Rhode Island Department of Public Works, Division of Roads and Bridges, was addressed to Sarah E. Carpenter, the mother of my grandfather, Everett S. Carpenter.  The letter from Joseph S. Garside, Right-of-Way Engineer, was intended to inform my great grandmother that a portion of her property at 551 High Street was being taken for highway purposes and that it had been appraised at $213.00 to fully settle all claims she might have.  [There clearly had been some error in the land records search, however, because Sarah E. Carpenter (1858 - 1945) had been dead for more than twelve years as of the date of the letter.]

By August 13, 1958, the correct ownership of 551 High Street had been resolved and the consideration for the condemnation of a portion of my grandfather's property at 551 High Street had been settled for the appraised value of $213.00.  Both my grandfather and my grandmother  signed a modified release (including any right to dower in the condemned property my grandmother may have had).  The release was witnessed by D. Thomas Auello.

So, all of the above might be very interesting for the parties involved, including the state officials named in the various documents, but what does this really have to do with genealogy other than for the Carpenter family and perhaps the families of the named state officials?  Well, when a condemnation of private property occurs for a public use there needs to be just compensation for the property taken and it is based on an appraisal process.  When a large number of properties are affected there is almost always a plat done to show the location and extent of the subject property(s) and the portion(s) to be taken.  As the initial notice of the legal taking shown above indicates, the notice to all affected property owners had a plat that accompanied the notice.  

For the entire highway improvement project on High Street from Abbott Street north to Blackstone Street six plats were required to show the entire route and the properties affected by the takings and improvements.  The plat that was sent to my grandparents and to eighteen other land owners in the immediate neighborhood was Plat No. 1014 (which was the sixth of the six plats showing the project along High Street from Abbott to Blackstone).  The scale of the plat is 40 feet per inch and for each individual property shown the dimensions of the property being condemned and taken for public use is given along with the name(s) of the property owner(s).  The portion of Plat 1014 that shows the Carpenter property is provided immediately below.  

The Carpenter property was the larget property of all the properties shown for the section of High Street covered by Plat 1014.  The Carpenter property was designated as Parcel 124 and the plat shows that the strip of Carpenter land fronting High Street that was to be taken was 540 ft. more or less.  The above portion of Plat 1014 also shows the location of Parcels 122 and 123 across High Street from the Carpenter property and it indicates who the owners of the property were--John Tyson for Parcel 22 and Andrew J. & Jane B. Pascale for Parcel 123. 

The remaining properties on Plat 1014 are shown below and the names of the owners and the square footage of the land being taken by the condemnation is provided for each property shown.

Sixty-three years after the takings along High Street in Cumberland there are probably very few property owners who are the same owners (or descendants of the 1957 owners) and so the plats for the highway improvements done along High Street going on seven decades ago can be considered source information for genealogical purposes.  And to that end, and because the printing in the above images may be somewhat dificult to make out, a full list of the property owners on Plat 1014 is shown below in the hope that it might be of some use for those researching ancestors who lived in Cumberland in the late 1950s.  

The list of property owners shown on Plat 1014 begins at the intersection of High and Blackstone Streets just north of the Carpenter property and proceeds on the eastern side of High Street  southward and then lists property owners on the west side of HighStreet beginning at the south end of the plat proceeding northward back to Blackstone Street.

East Side of High St. South of Blackstone St.

Parcel No. 125 -- Chester T. Pollett et al.

Parcel No. 124 -- Sarah E. Carpenter

Parcel No. 121 -- William Ball

Parcel No. 120 -- Wallace & Elsie Driesner

Parcel No. 115 -- Simon P. & Alice G. Breen

Parcel No. 114 -- Wallace & Elsie Driesner

Parcel No. 113 -- Hugh Ward

Parcel No. 112 -- Wilfred O. & Alice Sylvestre

Parcel No. 108 -- James A. & Alice T.E. Broadbent

[A dwelling marked #487, owner(s) and parcel number must be on Plat 5 of 6] 

West Side of High St. North to Blackstone St.

Parcel No. 105 -- Joseph & Florence Rentes

Parcel No. 109 -- Antonio P. Rezendes

Parcel No. 110 -- Manuel F. & Maria F. Martins

Parcel No. 111 -- Walter & Nancy Cowdell

Parcel No. 116 -- Francis J. & Elizabeth A. Burns

Parcel No. 117 -- Robert & Mary I. Rayley

Parcel No. 118 -- Ida M. & Joseph P. Bradley

Parcel No. 119 -- Daniel E. & Mary Corcoran

Parcel No. 122 -- John Tyson

Parcel No. 123 -- Andrew J. & Jane B. Pascale.

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Eminent domain image from Debate.org at https://www.debate.org/opinions/is-eminent-domain-a-fringe-upon-rights.

All other images from original documents in the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (March 28, 2020)

For this weekend of continuing Covid19 physical distancing and sequestering at home, here are a few recommended reads .  .  .

1.   Randy Seaver, of Genea-Musings blog, posted his very useful, regular post "Genealogy News Bytes."  What caught my eye during this time of home sequestrtion is the list of links to 16 genealogy videos that can be viewed on YouTube.  You can read Randy's full "Genealogy News Bytes" and peruse the menu of 16 different genealogy videos on YouTube here. 

2.   Janine Adams, of Organize Your Family History blog, posted a piece about how folks can participate in an indexing project through Family Search.  Indexing is something almost every genealogist uses at one time or another and it could be the perfect hiatus from one's own genealogy research while providing assistance to the research of others now and in the future.  You can read Janine's post here. 

3.   The Legal Genealogist blogger, Judy Russell, posted a nice piece that is a cautionary tale about  accepting information in a record, even if it is one that appears to be nearly contemporaneous with the event it purports to memorialize.  You can read Judy's story here. 

4.   As many of us are housebound due to the Covid19 pandemic and the important need to practice physical distancing until this can be brought under control, we all can use a break from watching too much TV fare, or even being drawn too deeply into our genealogy research to the exclusion of all other activity.  Those with young children who are forced out of school by the pandemic, might be looking to limit the TV bingeing of their kids by in some educational viewing.  James Tanner, of Genealogy's Star blog, posted about trying virtual tours online of interesting and educational places around the world.  Read his post here and get a couple of links he recommends such as Stonehenge and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

5.   During this time of pandemic stress we unfortuantely read about those damaged souls who in times of crisis like this seek out opportunities for self-enrichment by preying on the fears and panic of others.  We read about price gouging on scarce commodities, short selling on stocks, and promotion of sham and even dangerous products said to protect, treat, or even cure the illness caused by Covid19.  This kind of people and conduct have always been with us in times of widespread fear and panic.  For example, during the black plague cures such as rubbing onions, herbs, or chopped up snake or pigeon over the erupted skin were encourged and marketed; as were drinking vinegar, eating crushed minerals, arsenic, mercury, and even ten year old treacle.  This week at NEW ENGLAND FOLKLORE blog, Peter Muise reviewed for us the techniques supposedly used by New Englanders to ward off the fear and panic associated with the "infections" caused by witches.  You can read the post here. 

6.   And finally, lest you worry that with time on your hands while being sequestered or in quarantine you are not being as productive as you could be, you might take inspiration from five people who managed to be quite productive during quarantines.  You can read about the people and the reasons for their being quarantined here. 

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Immortality (March 27, 2020) -- Sarah Etta (Freeman) Carpenter

Today's post reprises a post first published on March 24, 2014 (with slight modification to reflect the correct anniversry date).

"Immortality Lies in Being Remembered by Family and Friends." -- John D. Tew 

Sarah Etta (Freeman) Carpenter [1858 - 1945]

Today is the 162nd anniversary of the birth of my great grandmother, Sarah Etta Freeman. Sarah married my great grandfather, Samuel Eber Carpenter, on June 15, 1887 when she was 29 years old. Sarah's first granddaughter (my mother) was born on March 28th, the day after Sarah turned 69.

Sarah Etta Freeman was born on March 27, 1858 in East Douglas, Massachusetts to Mason Freeman (1820 - 1898) and his wife, Martha Amanda Shearman (1830 - 1870). Sarah was the third of five children born to Mason and Martha Freeman: Ellen Frances born 1852; Edward Mason born 1854; Sarah Etta born 1858; Caleb Everett born 1862; and Otis Mason born 1868.  By the time Sarah turned 17 her family had moved to Lincoln, Rhode Island and it was while living there that Sarah met Samuel Eber Carpenter.

Sarah had some hard experiences in her life.  Her mother died when Sarah was only 12 years old. Sam and Sarah had two children -- my maternal grandfather, Everett Shearman Carpenter (1891 - 1962), and his older sister, Ruth Ann Carpenter (1889 - 1920). Ruth Ann died at age 31 just twelve days after giving birth to her only child, Richard Carpenter Knight (the first of Sarah's four grandchildren).

Sarah is especially intriguing to me because she is the first ancestor where I have actual documentation to show that she had an active interest in genealogy. Sarah wrote letters to town clerks and other officials seeking proof of her ancestors' births, deaths, and life experiences -- particularly with regard to military service. She was successful in some respects because she was able to obtain C.A.R. membership for both of her children in 1905. [See the post of July 3, 2013 here on The Prism.]

Today I raise a glass in memory of my great grandmother, Sarah Etta (Freeman) Carpenter!

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Photographs from the personal collection of the author.
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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew
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Is the 2020 Census a Window Into the History of Families in 2020 or has it Become a Mere Peephole?

Our invitation to participate in the 2020 Census arrived two days ago.  Unlike 2010 when paper questionnaires were sent out to verify and update some 145 million addresses, the 2020 Census is being conducted via the internet.  As the invitation states, "The Census is using the internet to securely collect your information."  And, as the invitation to respond elaborates, "We need your help to count everyone in the United States by providing basic information about all adults, children, and babies living or staying at this address."   

I responded online on March 20th as the front of the invitation envelope above illustrates.  I was encouraged to do so expeditiously by the assurance that "completing the questionnaire will take 10 minutes on average."  This proved to be mostly true.  I finished well under the average time, but from a genealogical point of view I was quite disappointed I was able to do so!

Many of us will recall that there was a great deal of controversy over whether or not the 2020 Census would include any question regarding citizenship.  There is no explicit citizenship question.  But the paucity of information collected was what allowed me to finish much more quickly than I recall it took to complete the 2010 Census (even allowing for a multi-page paper questionnaire a decade ago).  

There are only twelve (12) questions in the 2020 Census.  Those twelve questions essentially seek only fifteen (15) different factual data points.  [The invitation form letter and all the questions asked on the 2020 questionnaire can be viewed here.]  The data points sought can be summarized as: number of people living in the household; whether any additional people stay in the household; what is the status of the dwelling place (owned under mortgage or loan, owned free and clear, rented, or occupied without paying rent); telephone number of the person answering the Census questions (usually Person #1 and head of household); sex of each person in household; age of each person in household; date of birth of each person in household; whether each person named in the household is of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin; the race of each person in household; geographic or national origins of each person in household; are there any persons who are household members but usually live or stay somewhere else (such as at college, military, jail, etc.); and how is each person in the household related to Person #1 head of household.

A recent article in TIME by Jennifer Mendelsohn is titled, "The Census is more Than Just a Form. It's a Window Into the History of American Families."  Viewed broadly across all the decennial censuses in the last 230 years this might well be true, but when the 2020 Census is examined years from now the window it will provide will be small indeed and more like a peephole compared to some of the individual censuses of the past.  As Mendelsohn so correctly stated in her article, "As a tool for capturing larger, wide-scale truths about America, the Census categories and questions themselves–as well as the questions that were not asked–can never be entirely divorced from the mindsets of those doing the asking." [Emphasis added.]  Mendelsohn offers examples of this selective data slant on our family history and one that is painfully obvious was the treatment of slaves as nameless entities on schedules that listed only sex and perhaps age ranges as identifiers.  

Mendelsohn also walks us through a selective comparison of the data collected in various censuses over a fourty year period 1900 - 1940.  It is noted that the 1900 Census collected 28 pieces of demographic information (compared to a pared back 15 in this year's Census).  The questions that were not asked and the data that has been lost can be can be seen in a comparison of what was gathered in the 1940 Census (the last federal Census to be released to the public) with what is being gathered in the twelve questions this year.

In 1940 there were at least 26 different factual data points gathered on the federal Census.  The name, age at last birthday (rather than as of a specific date as this year), sex, color or race (but not origins as this year), and relation to head of household were asked in 1940, but much more was gathered too and the additional questions are interesting and definitely of interest to anyone doing genealogy research.  For example, in 1940 marital status was asked for every person, whether school was attended since March 1, 1940 and highest grade of education completed was asked.  Citizenship was asked and coded to indicate A for alien, Pa for first papers received, Na for naturalized citizen and AmCit for an American citizen born abroad.  Enumerators in 1940 wanted to know where each person had resided on April 1, 1935–if in the same house or if not then in the same place (town) and if in a new town then the town, county and state were to be given.  People were asked if they lived on a farm or not and there were many questions about employment: did a person work for pay or profit in private or for nonemergency government work from March 24 - 30, 1940 and if not was work during that period for emergency government work such as the WPA, NYA, CCC etc.; was the person currently seeking work and if not was it because the person had a job or business; what kind of work did the person have (housework, school, disabled, or other).  How long a person had worked and what wages or salary they made were recorded.  If a person was unemployed the enumerator collected information about the duration of unemployment up to March 30, 1940.  The class of work if employed was captured: PW for wages or salary, GW for government work, E if an employer, OA if work was on one's own account, and NP if one was an unpaid family worker.  Even more specifically, the Census recorded the number of weeks a person had worked in 1939, what the person's income was for that year, and whether or not the person even had income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or a salary. 

As Mendelsohn said, the Census captures wide-scale truths about life in America by the questions asked on the Census and by those that are not asked.  In 1940 with the nation not yet in WWII and still struggling to get out of the Great Depression, employment was obviously of tremendous importance and so the window of the Census was wide open to focus on those issues, to gather the factual data about the status of work and pay in the country.  And genealogists would note that the 1940 Census would not be of any help in determining where a person's mother and father had been born as earlier censuses were.  This is undoubtedly because those questions were not asked and so there is no 1940 data on the birthplace of a person's parents (a real loss for genealogy research).  It was not as important at that time as perhaps it had been earlier in the 20th century and during the latter half of the 19th century when immigration was more common and more frequent.  

I think it is clear that the window into the status of American family life was open much wider in 1940 than it appears to be in 2020.  The stresses and priorities in 1940 are more obvious and the data being mined is richer than it will be when genealogists look back on the 2020 data once the Census information is released to the public in 2092.

The federal Census is not perfect (see, Federal Censuses -- Purveyors of Alternative Facts? A Case Study) and only looks at a moment in time every ten years.  For genealogists it has often been a very valuable tool for doing family history research, although it was never intended originally to serve that purpose.  It is true that some censuses have been more productive for genealogy research than others and that probably reflects in part the stresses and controversies of the times.  Privacy and protection of personal information in this computerized age may be responsible for the paucity of genealogically valuable information being collected even though it will be a statistical lifetime before the data is publicly available.  The 2020 Census looks to me to be one of the least genealogically friendly in some time.

To quote Jennifer Mendelsohn again, "However imperfect, the Census provides a snapshot of American life at a given moment in time, telling us what those in power thought was important to know–and what wasn't–about who was doing what with whom at that particular moment in America."  This is demonstrably true when examining the censuses over large periods of time, but in responding to the 2020 Census I can only think that the new census is less like an open window into the history of American families at the dawn of this new decade than it is like a closing camera aperture narrowing the focus on less and less subject matter.  If this marks the beginning or continuation of a trend, then future genealogists might find the federal Census less and less useful for family history research and the question will become, "What, if anything, will replace the Census as a genealogical tool?

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (March 21, 2020)

The following are recommended reads for this week:

1.   Jacqi Stevens of A Family Tapestry blog had a thoughtful post this week about keeping a diary regarding the real-time experience of living in the time of this Covid19 pandemic. This reverberation of the fear and devastation caused by the 1918 influenza pandemic could be preserved for descendants as an important narrative in a family history.  As one who possesses a single postcard from a grandfather to his mother after coming down with 1918 flu during the less lethal first wave, I often wish I had more written documents from him about what he and his fellow soldiers experienced.  You can read Jacqi's post here.

2.   And speaking of documenting the real-time experiences of this pandemic crisis, The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS linked to a story of how this pandemic disrupted a long planned genealogy research trip to Germany.  You can read the story here.

3.   Taking to heart the suggestion of Jacqi metioned above, Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog, posted on Thursday a message to "Dear future generations . . . " titled "Future Family History: Living through a Pandemic."  You can read Marian's message here. 

4.   This week Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy blog, posted about the pandemic experience she and her husband had with a long-planned cruise around South America beginning in Santiago, Chile.  Her post will also serve as a message to the future about one of her personal expereinces with the pandemic.  "The Cruise Vacation That Wasn't" is full of nice photos of Santiago after what became an aborted cruise.  Read the post and view the photos here. 

5.   As the 2020 Census invitations are rolling out, we are seeing an increase in blog posts about the Census (for example, see the post by Janine Adams of Organize Your Family History blog "The 2020 Census is here!").  TIME has joined the voices focusing on the Census with an article by Jennifer Mendelsohn titled "The U.S. Census is More Than Just a Form. It's a Window Into the History of American Families."  You can read the article online here.

6.   During this time of massive social disruption here in the U.S. and around the world, John M. Barry–author of perhaps the seminal history of the 1918 Influenza pandemic–offered an opinion essay in the New York Times this week about "The Single Most Important Lesson From the 1918 Influenza." I highy recommend you read it here.    

7.   And finally (with credit to meine Schwester for calling it to my attention), here is a master class in crisis leadership during this Covid19 pandemic.  It is a video shown on YouTube of Angela Merkel addressing the German nation about the pandemic.  Compare and contrast .  .  .

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Copyyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (March 14, 2020)

Below are some recommended reads for this weekend while exercising your "social distancing."

1.   If you have -- or suspect you have -- Scottish roots, you might be interested in reading the answer to the question, "Do all Scottish families have a tartan?"  This week The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS linked to the article that discusses this question and you can read it here. 

2.   Genealogy's Star author, James Tanner, posted a nice resource piece on help for locting cemeteries and graves.  He provides a summary of the available online sources for cemetery/grave searches.  You can see the post here.  

3.    Janice Brown of Cow Hampshire blog has been posting about notable New Hampshire women during this Women's History Month.  You can see her recent posts highlighting New Hampshire women of note by going to the home page here and scrolling down through her March posts.  

4.   Nothing much to say about yesterday's post by The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, except that everyone should read her post, "Because of what today is" here. 'Nuf said.   

5.   On February 29th I recommended two books about the 1918 flu pandemic; one was the detailed examination of that horrible time by John M. Barry–The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History.  I first blogged about this book and the 1918 flu pandemic here.    I think it is still worth a read given the rapidly advancing spread of Covid19 in what is now another pandemic and the disjointed attempts by our federal government to catch up with efforts to slow and manage the emergency.  John M. Barry was recently interviewed about the current emergency and the lesson of the 1918 flu pandemic.  You can read the interview here.

6.   And finally, as we begin to engage with voluntary and mandatory "social distancing" now that Covid19 has becomae an official pandemic, The Weekly Genealogist, linked to a timely and topical article on a 17th century English village quarantine.  You can read the sad, but heroic, story here. 

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (March 7, 2020)

Below are a few suggested reads for your weekend.

1.   This week, James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog asks the question, "Is GEDCOM still relevant in today's online world?"  You can read Mr. Tanner's views on the question here.  He also posted about the pros and cons of using more than one of the online family tree/database websites. You can read his thoughts here.

2.   From time to time I like to mention the blog of Pam Beveridge, Heirlooms Reunited.  I have no personal or financial connection to Pam or to her blog/website, but I have surfed her website for years because I find it fascinating and educational.  Heirlooms Reunited bills itself as a place that "researches genealogy and family history of orphan heirlooms" and based on the number and variety of items shown on the site, Pam has a truly awesome collection of orphan heirloom items (some of which are for sale).  I have never bought anything as yet, but I periodically surf the site in the hope of finding an item that somone in my family once owned or was demonstrably connected to.  The site always provides images of the items, quite often with some genealogical information, transcriptions and lists of names shown in items such as autograph books and other documents.  Recently Pam has posted a series of newspaper clippings of obituaries, annoucements, etc. for folks from Maine.  Surnames include Ross, Merrill, Edes, Tripp, Foss, Presley, Steward, and Webb among others.  You can access and browse years of the blog's posts by starting here.  [WARNING: You might want to set an alarm to limit your surfing or you could find yourself immersed in scrolling and searching for hours.  Good hunting!]  😊  

  

3.      Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog had several posts this week that summarized comments from Twitter #Genchats all revolving around the topic of what will/should happen to your genealogy research and and genealogy material collections.  It is worth reading Marian's list format summaries across the five blogs.  You can begin at the home page here and scroll through the earlier posts easily and quickly.

4.    Judy Russell of The Legal Genealogist blog posted this week about a release of some 2.8 million images by the Smithsonian.  The images are now available for use free of copyright constraints under the Creative Commons' option.  Read more about this massive image release here. 

5.   Michael Dwyer recently had a piece on Vita Brevis, the blog of NEHGS, about childhood mortality in America in the 19th century before the discovery of the miracle drugs.  It is a sobering read, but one that most genealogists are familiar with–young children dying of diseases such as cholera, TB, croup, diphtheria, etc.  My maternal grandmother was one of six children, but three of her siblings died quite young.  My paternal grandfather was one of five children (four boys and one girl), but he and his older sister were the only ones to survive beyond age two.  Read about the all too common loss of young children to disease in 19th century America here. 

6.   And finally, The Weekly Genealogist newsletter of NEHGS linked this week to yet another of the plethora of DNA discovery stories.  This one is bittersweet.  You can read it here.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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