Chasing Memories -- Gilbert & Sullivan, Eileen Farrell, and my Father

Arnold G. Tew (2009)

My 95-year-old father has lost his memories -- or they are there, but trapped inside due to an inability to communicate them now. It is very saddening to see him unable to enjoy the sharing of his memories of growing up or his life as a father, grandfather, or great grandfather; but it is the increasingly common status of members of the "Greatest Generation" in the twilight of their years.

Sir William S. Gilbert

Sir Arthur S. Sullivan

While I do not recall my father singing Gilbert & Sullivan songs when I was a boy, my youngest brother (who is nine years junior to me), says he grew up hearing our father sing from various Gilbert & Sullivan comedic operas -- particularly H.M.S. Pinafore. My brother saw several Gilbert & Sullivan shows with my parents at the outdoor summer theater at Washington Crossing Open Air Theatre in Titusville, NJ after I had already left for college and graduate studies. It is only in those young adult years of mine that I remember occasionally hearing my father sing from Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado. He always enjoyed singing around the house and had a fairly decent voice so that his performances were never cringe-worthy in the least.  When he was a youth he was musical and played the clarinet in his high school band and orchestra.  At one point he was a member of the Rhode Island State High School Band. He was in the band when it played at the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and they performed for the King and Queen of Great Britain during their visit to the Fair.

Eileen Farrell

Many people will recall a famous soprano singer from New England named Eileen Farrell.  She was born in Willimantic, Connecticut the youngest of her parents' three children.  Her parents were vaudeville singers known (before starting a family) as "The Singing O'Farrells."  The family moved around Connecticut for many years and lived in Storrs when the parents taught music and drama at Storrs Agricultural College (now part of the University of Connecticut). Eileen attended most of elementary school and her freshman year of high school in Norwich before her family moved to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. She entered Woonsocket High School as a sophomore in 1936 and graduated from that school in 1939. Eileen went on to a singing career that lasted more than half a century.  She performed in operas, theater, on television and radio ("Eileen Farrell Presents" for seven years). She sang opera, classics and popular music. She was called "one of the finest American sopranos of the 20th century" by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. When she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1960 there were 22 curtain calls and an account of the event in The Saturday Review said the ovation created "an ear-splitting din." Eileen was married to Robert Reagan, a police officer in New York, and they had two children. She died in March 2002 at age 82.

My father also attended Woonsocket High School (WHS), but for his senior year his family moved to Cranston and that is where he graduated in 1939. He skipped a grade during elementary school and was born at the end of November, so when he entered high school in 1936 he was probably the youngest in his class and had not yet had the growth spurt that eventually had him mature to over six feet tall. He was smart, young, and short while at WHS and his social life was fairly difficult, so he threw himself into music and the clarinet soon becoming first chair. While I had heard many years ago that Eileen Farrell was in his class at WHS, I did not know until recently that he did some acting and singing -- and that he had a minor role as Tom Tucker, the "Midshipmite" in H.M.S. Pinafore with Eileen Farrell who had a major role as Mrs. Cripps ("Little Buttercup").

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The photograph of Arnold G. Tew, the author's father, is from the persoanl collection of the author.

Photographs of Gilbert and Sullivan are in the public domain in the U.S. because they were published before January 1, 1923. The original image of Gilbert was created between 1899 and 1911. The original image of Sullivan at age 44 was first published in 1893 and was probably taken between 1885 and 1887. The photographer is unknown and Sullivan probably first used it himself as a carte-de-visit in the 1880s. [For more information on the photographs see, Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_and_Sullivan ]

The photograph of Eileen Farrell was obtained at Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Farrell,  and it is believed to be available under fair use because: 

1. It is an image of a historically significant figure
2. Eileen Farrell is deceased and it is believed that no free equivalent exists
3. The image is being used for informational and identificational purposes only and at the head of the paragraph referring to Eileen Farrell
4. The inclusion of the image adds significantly to the article
5. It is being used in a free, non-commercial blog where no remuneration is received whatsoever

Image of the Woonsocket High School performance of "Pinafore" in 1938 is from "The Quiver," the 1938 Yearbook for Woonsocket High School.

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Copyright 2018, John D. Tew
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Saturday Serendipity (February 24, 2018)

Saturday Serendipity recomends the following reads for this weekend .  .  . 

1.  We have probably all had the experience of suddenly, seredipitously coming across an item that we never thought possible.  A diary from a distant ancestor, a photograph of a relative you never knew about, etc. This week The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS brought us two examples that simply elicit a "WOW!" Learn something about hair as a common gift, memorial, or remembrance in times past and learn about a recent "clump" of George Washington's hair found in a book at Union College in Schenectady, NY here. 
One would have thought that all the parchment copies that might have been made of the Declaration of Independence would have been found or deteriorated away or completely destroyed by now. Wrong! A newly discovered parchment copy (the 51st known) that was made for James Madison has been found. Read about its preservation and the path to discovery here.        

2.  This week Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog posted (following a "52 Ancestors" prompt), about items that unexpectedly become family heirlooms.  Have a look at the items Marian showcased here. Elizabeth Handler of Maine to Kentucky blog also participated in the same prompt. You can see her showcased items here. 
I have long had a weakness for what many might call "unlikely family artifacts" and enjoyed seeing Marian's and Elizabeth's examples. Their posts put me in mind of one I did back in April 2014 about the crucial, but little known G.A.R.P. when it comes to identifying and preserving family artifacts and another I did back in September 2013 about how family treasures exist in the simplest of objects.         

3.  Back when I was a practicing attorney, I remember getting frustrated with a colleague who had our team doing massive "discovery" and accumulation of documents -- and I mean "massive."  We had a large room filled with shelves of binders, file cabinets of documents, and piles of. deposition transcripts. A trial date was coming at us like a train through a dark tunnel. We had done a great job of accumulation, but we were wayyyy behind in assimilating and processing it all into our theory of the case. During yet another team confab, I broke and blurted out, "Look we have shot all these buffalo and now it's time to start eating them!"  I have no idea where that metaphorical image came from, but as I said -- I was frustrated. There was silence and then a nodding of heads and eventually laughter. Reading Amy Crow's post this week about the Fallacy of Writing Your Family History, I immediately recognized how she identified the same problem that is all too frequent among genealogists -- especially those who do not get paid for their work. Have a look at Amy's post . . . and then go sit down and start writing!  😀     
        
4.  Janine Adams of Organize Your Family History blog has an interesting and useful poll going on about what genealogy software folks use. She has graphed the results thus far, but the comments from various users could be useful to someone trying to decide on a first software or looking to switch from another.  Have a look at her post and be sure to vote yourself and comment as necessary.   
     
5.  In a nice example of how having a blog can lead to discovery of previously unknown and undiscovered genealogical information, Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy blog posted this week about being contacted by someone who wrote an article 13 years ago about a puzzle in her family tree. Read "A Traitor in My Family Tree? Yes!" and get a link to Part I of the story here.
   
6.  James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog posted Parts 9 and 10 in his informative and useful series "Understanding Migration Patterns."  You can read Part 9 here and Part 10 here. 

7.  And finally, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings blog posted this week some "Genealogy News Bytes" that came across his desk recently. You can read his newsy and useful bytes here.    
        
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Copyright 2018, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (February 3, 2018)

Saturday Serendipity recomends the following reads for this weekend .  .  . 

1.  The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, has a very nice (and restrained) post about how Ancestry got caught by a very conscientous and diligent user when they issued their new Terms of Service. You can read Judy's post here.  [IMHO Ancestry bears watching as I still recall their switcheroo with their DNA testing and the destruction of samples.]               

2.  It is always good to try to stay abreast of copyright law and lawyer James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog provides a nice post about the subject for genealogists and, most importantly, supplies the link to a publication of the Cornell University Library -- the "Copyright Information Center."  Have a read here and get the links James supplies.      

3.  If you live in New Hampshire or New England (or have roots there) and you are not aware of the Genealogy and Local History post that Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy provides on a monthly basis, you should check out her helpful posts each month.  This week she posted her comprehensive list of February genealogy and history-related events. You can see the list of notices here and make a note to check back each month.               
        
4.  Are you a fan of the artist Georgia Totto O'Keefe? If you are, then you should check out the Groundhog Day post by Barbara Poole of Life From the Roots blog. If you are not a fan (yet), you probably will be after you look at Barbara's post.  Barbara, as usual, takes us on a beautiful photo journey. This time it is to the recent exhibit about O'keefe and her work at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts. You can read the post here and learn more about Barbara's 4th cousin once removed -- also known as Georgia O'Keefe.      

5.  Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog, did a test drive on Ancestry's new "We Remember" site. If you are thinking of trying it also, you should read Marian's review here.    

6.  As the popularity of DNA testing soars, it is good to keep a few things in mind about what such tests can give you.  Amy Johnson Crow on her eponymous blog posted "5 Things You Need to Kow About DNA Testing for Genealogy." It is a quick reminder of the basics on what DNA testing does and you can read it here.  

7.  Nancy Messier of My Ancestors and Me blog posted a very helpful piece for those who may have a need to order birth or death certificates from the U.K. If this is a need you have for your genealogy research, then you should read Nancy's post here. 
        
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Copyright 2018, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (January 27, 2018)

Following an absence of two weeks while I worked on an article for Rhode Island Roots, the journal of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society (RIGS),  Saturday Serendipity returns this week with the following recommendations .  .  . 

1.  For Mayflower descendants from John Billington, Stephen Hopkins, or John Alden, NEHGS just announced this week that the fifth generation descendants from these passengers have been added to the database project in cooperation with the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.  You can read more about the project and the database through the American Ancestors website here.                

2.  The Director of the Great Migration Study Project, Robert Charles Anderson, is seeking help in finding a particular book published as a limited edition in England in 1999. The book is "The History of the Clinton Barony, 1299 - 1999," by Anne Austin. Mr. Anderson needs to consult it for his forthcoming book "Puritan Pedigrees: The Deep Roots of the Great Migration to New England" and he cannot find it in any U.S. library or via Amazon. If you have the book or could help him get access to a copy for his research, contact Lynn Betlock, editor of The Weekly Genealogist newsletter of NEHGS using the subject line "History of the Clinton Barony (TWG)."   

3.  During the most recent hiatus from Saturday Serendipity, I missed recommending an interesting post from Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog. I now recommend belatedly the intriguingly titled post, "Chicken Post or Egg Post." To find out why it is interesting and just what the title means, you will have to go here and read it.              
        
4.  James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog posted another interesting and thought-provoking piece this week -- "Where is Genealogy Technologically-wise?"  Have a read here.

5.  I use Family Tree Maker as a backup to my Ancestry trees and so I always have a copy of my research residing on my own computer and not just in the Ancestry cloud. Since I run an iMac I got the much delayed, but eagerly awaited, FTM 2017 for Mac as soon as it finally became available. But I have not delved into the use of the new color coding feature (although I saw Russ Worthington of Family Tree Maker User blog discussing it at the FTM presentation booth at NERGC 2017 this past April). During this most recent hiatus, Elizabeth Handler of From Maine to Kentucky blog wrote about how she dove right in to the color coding feature when she got her FTM 2017 for Mac -- and about the surprising result it led her to.  If you use FTM 2017 and, like me, have not tried color coding yet, you too should read Elizabeth's "Tuesday Tip ~ Family Tree Maker Color-Coding" by going here.

6.  I have mentioned previously on this blog a weird and horrific New England disaster known as the Great Molasses Flood of 1919. Last week (January 15th) was one year shy of the 100th anniversary of the freakish disaster that took place in Boston. If you have never heard of this awful event, you can learn more about it and see photographs of the aftermath here. 

7.  So everyone knows that the Bubonic Plague killed millions of people during various outbreaks that happened repeatedly over 500 years (and occasionally still happens), right? And everyone knows that the cause of the rapid spread of the killer disease was . . . RATS, right? Well, it turns out this might not be the case exactly. Scientists have been modleing the usual rat/flea transmission data and it turns out the rodent model does not match historical death rates. Hmmmm. Read here to find out what new data suggests as a perhaps more likely transmission vehicle.

8.  Amy Johnson Crow posted an interesting and useful piece about how to find an ancestors church. You can read the post here.               
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Copyright 2018, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (January 6, 2018)

Following a slight hiatus last week to celebrate the New Year (and mark my blogiversary on New Year's Eve), Saturday Serendipity returns this week with the following reading recommendations .  .  . 

1.  If you are a member of NEHGS (New England Historic Genealogical Society) and receive their quarterly magazine, American Ancestors, in hard copy or online, then you should be sure to read "How I Lost My Alcock, Bradfield & Whitehead Ancestors" by Patricia Law Hatcher in the most recent issue, vol. 18, no. 4 Winter 2018.  The article is a well-written example of how even very experienced genealogists can take a wrong turn and how diligence and devotion to "getting it right" results in both gains and losses.  [If you do not belong to NEHGS, consider joining and in the meantime see if your local library has a copy of American Ancestors.  More than New England is covered by American Ancestors!]               

2.  I do not tweet and never have. Even at the doubled length of 280 characters, I tend to think of Twitter as a very flawed means of communication that is degrading the use of our immeasurably rich language. I also have wondered if and how the increasingly never-ending accumulation of tweets would ever be worthy or capable of being captured for future generations.  It seems that the Library of Congress has also spent energy wondering the same thing and they have arrived at a decision. Read at Smithsonian Magazine online why the LOC has concluded that tweets have become too numerous and too long and so only tweets of "historic value" will be saved. One must wonder what the criteria will be for historically valuable tweets and -- for those genealogists who do tweet -- what tweets would be worth preserving as part of a genealogy.

3.  The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS mentioned a very interesting DNA story this week that was caught on CNN. Two men who have been friends for 60 years made an amazing discovery when one of them began using DNA tests to search for his biological father. Read the full story here.          
        
4.  James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog has posted Part Three in his series "From Whence and to Thither -- Understanding Migration Patterns" here.  This is an interesting and informative mini-series and you can access Part One here and Part Two here.             
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Copyright 2018, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (December 23, 2017)

Below are just a few recommended reads for this weekend .  .  . 

1.  Among the "Stories of Interest" mentioned by NEHGS in The Weekly Genealogist newsletter this week is an article about the things that folks placed on Christmas trees as decorations of old.  Family traditions around holiday time have always fascinated me (from the dinner fare, to decorations, to timing -- such as when to put up the tree or if Santa brought I and decorated it -- and I have been know to often ask the questions at social gatherings to learn how other folks celebrate.  With that in mind you should have a look at this article if the subject fascinates you too.               

2.  Recently I blogged here about the genealogical value of holiday newsletters.  Usually such letters are inserted into holiday cards, so I also found this article noted by The Weekly Genealogist to be of interest.  Read "A Brief History of the Holiday Card" here. 

The 1843 card by John Callcott Horsley said to be the first
commercially produced Christmas card.

3.  I have always been a fan of Norman Rockwell.  A few years back Molly and I visited a Rockwell exhibit in Washington, DC and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The exhibit was largely of Rockwell art owned by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, both of whom are big Rockwell collectors.  Since Rockwell got an early start in his career (1912) through association with the Boy Scouts of America, and became art director for Boys' Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the National Headquarters of BSA (when it was still located in New Brunswick, NJ -- home of Rutgers University) had a large exhibit of original Rockwells that were done for the annual calendars, magazine covers, etc. When I was at Rutgers I visited the BSA HQ several times and always paused to view the Rockwells on display. Rockwell was always grateful for the early boost to his career from the BSA and was proud of his association. He produced annual calendar illustrations for BSA from 1925-1976! You can see an example of one of Rockwell's Boys' Life Christmas covers here as provided online by the Norman Rockwell Museum.   Recently, Barbara Poole of Life From The Roots blog, treated us to the wonderful images of her trip to Stockbridge, Massachusetts and the Norman Rockwell Museum, where many of the items in the exhibit are of Christmas themes.  If you too are a Rockwell fan, you really must have a look here.           
        
4.  The blog Cow Hampshire by Janice Brown has been concentrating on posts about WWI during the last two years as we recognize one century since that "war to end all wars" was fought. She posted this week about a fairly well-known Christmas event that happened on Christmas Day in 1914. It is well worth the read in these turbulent times when it often appears we could soon be engaged in yet another armed conflict. It perhaps gives hope that if the meaning and spirit of this time of year could have broken out in the midst of The Great War, then maybe it could prevail to prevent another one.  We can hope anyway! Read "WWI- The Song That Stopped The Fighting" here. 

5.  And finally, from the blog New England Folklore by Peter Muise comes a summary of a twist on the usual merry holiday stories and celebrations during this season of the year. This post summarizes a 1923 New England Yuletide story by the writer H.P. Lovecraft called "The Festival."  Lovecraft was  born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1890 and died there in 1937.                   
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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (December 16, 2017)

Below are just a few recommended reads (and one listen) for this weekend .  .  . 

1.  The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS provided a link this week to a story that is sure to be of interest to anyone with Irish roots. The Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (RCSI) has so far identified 10 distinct clusters of DNA differences among people across the island and the clusters roughly mirror ancient provinces. The first genetic map of people living in all the parts of Ireland has been produced. You can learn more by going here.                 

2.  Heard of the "digital dark ages?" You certainly have read genealogy bloggers and researchers who have raised concerns about the preservation and future access to digital data being created in recent years at a truly alarming pace. Most of us hope that all our research efforts and written summaries of that research will survive for our descendants, but will it? This quote from Vincent G. Cerf, VP at Google, should cause all genealogists -- professional or amateur -- to cringe, "All digital artifacts that we have created today in the beginnings of the 21st century will no longer be accessible in the 22nd century."  Yesterday on many NPR stations the Science Friday (SciFri) show of Ira Flatow, presented a piece titled "Preventing A 'Digital Dark Age.'"  You can listen to the 12-minute piece here.  It is part of the series "File Not Found" by Lauren Young.  You can also access three-parts of the series on the very serious problem of storing, preserving, and making accessible in the future all the digital data we are producing. Every genealogist should be aware of the issues and what is being done. Here are the links to the three parts: (1) "Ghosts In The Reels"; (2) "The Librarians Saving The Internet"; and (3) "Data Reawakening."

3.  This week Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog treats us to a look into her project of testing whether her husband's memory of his family's experience of a famous historic event was correct. It is an instructive piece of detective work. You can read it here.    
        
4.  Finally, Nancy Messier of My Ancestors & Me blog has confessed she has too many ancestors. Read her delightful 'Confession" here.               
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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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Immortality (December 15, 2017) -- John Andrew Tew II

John Andrew Tew II (1945)

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

My parents are each the eldest child of their respective nuclear families and I am the eldest of their four children as well as the eldest of my generation. When I was born, I was named John David Tew after the brothers of my parents. My mother's brother, David Otis Carpenter, died on May 9, 2005. Today I returned from attending the funeral of my father's brother, John Andrew Tew II. 

My Uncle John was born on October 22, 1926 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He was the second of the three children of Arnold G. Tew, Sr. and his wife, Huldah A. [Hasselbaum] Tew.

John Andrew Tew II (1927)

John Andrew Tew at left holding his dog "Blacky" and
my father holding their sister Priscilla

John grew up in Rhode Island and when WWII broke out he joined the Navy before he completed high school. After his service he attended and graduated from Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts as a member of the Class of 1948.

Seaman John Andrew Tew with his older brother Arnold G. Tew, Jr.
and their sister Priscilla E. Tew (1944)

John served aboard the cargo ship U.S.S. Cybele (AKZ-10) during WWII. He was first received on board April 16, 1945 as a S1c (Seaman 1st Class) and the Muster Rolls show he served on Cybele until at least June 1946.  The U.S.S. Cybele was originally built by Delta Shipping Company in New Orleans and it was launched as the SS William Hackett under a Merchant Marine Commission on October 9, 1944.  It was later transferred to the Navy on November 14, 1944 and underwent some conversion construction at Tampa Shipbuilding Co. in Tampa, Florida.  On April 16, 1945 the ship was commissioned in full as a Navy ship under the command of CDR J.H. Church, USNR. This made my Uncle John a "plank owner" by virtue of being among the first crew after the ship was fully commissioned in the Navy fleet. 

U.S.S. Cybele October 1, 1945 Muster Roll 

U.S.S. Cybele

While John was serving onboard, Cybele departed Galveston, Texas on May 15, 1945, and then loaded general stores at Bayonne, New Jersey, before sailing on June 4^th for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on June 30.  She cleared on July 31 for San Pedro Bay, Philippines where she issued stores to ships until August 21, 1945. Cybele then arrived in Tokyo Bay on August 31, 1945. Cybele provided stores for ships engaged in the occupation of Japan until October 12^th when she sailed to Samar to load cargo for Tsingtao, China. Between December 4, 1945 and January 15, 1946, Cybele issued general stores at various Japanese ports. After reloading at Saipan, she issued cargo to support the occupation troops at Tsingtao and Taku, China, and Jinsen in Korea until April 15, 1946 when she sailed to San Francisco, California, arriving on the 22^nd of May. Cybele was finally decommissioned on August 22, 1946 at Pearl Harbor and, after being towed back to San Francisco, was transferred back to the Maritime Commission for disposal April 24, 1947. Cybele was ultimately scrapped in April 1965. 
   

Gen. Douglas MacArthur signing the Japanese surrender papers (September 2, 1945)

The battleship U.S.S Missouri (“Big Mo” or “Mighty Mo”) had a long history and since 1998 she has been a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. Her place in history is probably most preserved as the location where the surrender of Japan was signed in Tokyo Bay.  The Missouri entered Tokyo Bay on August 29, 1945.  Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and General of the Army Douglas MacArther boarded the Missouri and on September 2, 1945 the unconditional surrender of Japan was signed on the deck of Missouri. As indicated by the operations history of the U.S.S. Cybele above, John was present in Tokyo Bay when the surrender was being signed and when WWII officially came to a long-awaited end! 

When my uncle returned home from the war he completed his education, married and had four children -- two daughters and two sons. He began his ultimate career when he joined S.S. Kresge, one of the largest discount retail store chains in the U.S. during the 20th Century. Kresge stores were the foreunners of what became Kmart in 1977 and eventually, in 2005, Sears Holdings Corporation (parent of both Kmart and Sears) after Kmart bought Sears. John worked his way up within Kresge/Kmart at stores in New England and New Jersey and also at locations in Indiana and Pennsylvania. He retired from Kmart. 

John Andrew Tew II at right with his brother Arnold and sister Priscilla (2008)

My Uncle John died at age 91 on December 8, 2017 -- 76 years and one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor that resulted in his enlistment in the Navy and his service in WWII. He was interred yesterday afternoon at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newtown, Pennsylvania. 

REST IN PEACE UNCLE JOHN!

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Photos of USS Cybele and of the surrender aboard USS Missouri from U.S. Government photogrphers and thus in the public domain.

John A. Tew's class portrait and biography from the Cushing Academy yearbook, the Penquin 1948.

All other photos in the personal collection of the author.

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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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