Arguably the biggest perk of being the eldest child of a generation, especially when your parent is also the eldest and if your family has good longevity, you get to know not only your grandparents quite well but also your great grandparents. In my case I was 12 years old when the first of my four great grandparents passed away and roughly 30 years old when the last of them passed (which as an aside, it created the opportunity to have five living generations -- I'll have to try to find that photo and add it later.)
The point of this piece though was to share the obituaries of all four of them that I found in this amazing tin box that Grammy (Geneva) had, as well as a bonus older one. Going through this box motivates me to share and preserve (at least digitally) some of this stuff while it's still around. And I'm thinking some of you have never seen these and would appreciate it. The bonus one I'll leave as a surprise until you see it.
When I look at this file on my computer, I'm able to zoom in and see and read it quite clearly. If you're unable to see it well enough and want a copy of the file, just let me know and I can email it.
UPDATE: Reviewing this again, I'm not getting a better look at this when you click on the picture of these obits. So I'm going to write here what the top obit says because it's very hard to read: "The entire community at North Troy were saddened Sunday morning on learning of the sudden death of Fernando Basford at the home of his sister, Mrs Ernest Young, Saturday night. Mr. Basford was in his usual health but expired shortly after retiring for the night. He leaves a widow and son, Stanley, two brothers and two sisters to mourn their great loss. They have the heartfelt sympathy of a large circle of friends." Since this is a clipping, there is no date or indication of which paper it was in.
Thanks for "finding" this, Kim, a great document in our family's history.
She found this in a box full of photos, newspaper clippings, etc, that was up at the farm a few weeks ago. Since she's been doing some research and looking at a lot of pictures and articles, maybe we can get her to share something with us.
Sorry about the fact that it's cut off on the edges; it's an inch or so too wide for my scanner...darn military documents!
Dad related a story told to him by Herschel about a family ring that belonged to Keziah. The ring had been passed down to James W and his wife. The ring should have then passed to Fernando and Addie, but some how ended up in the possession of one Harold Prince. The story that Herschel told Dad was that Stanley Sr. went to confront Harold about it, taking Herschel along. Herschel remembered Stanley getting very angry, the angriest that Herschel had ever seen him. This was also one of Herschel's earliest memories, he being only 4 or 5.
So who is Harold Prince and how did he come to possess the ring?
He was born on 14 Sept. 1877 in Detroit, the first Detroit census he appears in is 1900. He is single and his occupation is listed as "farmer". He married Caro Dell Springer in 1908, his occupation listed as "Telephone B(unreadable)". By 1920 he and his wife had 2 children, Mabel and Anita. His WWI Draft Registration card (1917) lists his occupation as "Electrician" and his employer as "F.R. Blake". The 1920 Census has them living in the village on the River Road with his wife, two kids and his brother Herbert. His occupation in 1920 was listed as "Electrician" and his employer is listed as "Light and Power Co". In the 1930 census his occupation is listed as "Sales Man" and his industry is "Electrical".
The 1930 Census has him married to Pearle P. with his two daughters, afore mentioned, and a son, Elbert M. who was 8 at the time of the census taking. I found a marriage record that has a Pearl Basford marrying a Harold Prince in 1928, both from Detroit. The 1930 census also states she was born in 1885. I then found a marriage record from 1924 where Lamont Basford married a Pearle Porter who was born in 1885. Lamont died in 1927. I think that Pearle married Lamont and when he passed away, married Harold Prince. Since this is the only apparent connection, I think that Pearle had the ring and that's how Harold came to possess it. Lamont's brother Willie who was running the farm, died sometime between 1920 and 1930. His wife Maggie is listed as a widow in 1930. However I can't find any record of his death, so the timing is unknown. If he died before Lamont, then Lamont and Pearle would have lived in the farm. At this point Pearle could have taken possession of the ring, with Maggie forced to move.
In 1910 Willie was living with James W (his father) on the farm in Detroit. Willie is listed as single, he gets married in 1915 to Maggie M. Fulton and has two daughters, Flora and Vera. So in 1910 Willie is helping his father on the farm, but Lamont isn't in the area, at least according to the census reports. I've looked at the Detroit, Pittsfield, Burnham, Troy and Plymouth reports with no luck.
In 1920 Willie and Mag M. are listed as living on Basford Road and owning a farm. I assume this is the family farm. Lamont is listed as living at the farm as well and is divorced. Willie is listed as head of house and thus still controlling the farm. Lamont's occupation is listed as carpenter.
The 1930 Census has Maggie M. Basford widowed, but living in the village on the River Road. It's at this point where we lose who has control of the farm. All of James W. Basford's kids are deceased except Livilla Amy Basford. She is listed as living in the village on Main Street. So she isn't living at the farm. Furthermore on the 1920 census there is a Basford Road entry, but in 1930 no such road is listed. We know that in the early 1930's Stanley Gerry, my Great Grandfather (Geneva's Father) tried to buy the farm because it was being foreclosed on. That was when Stanley James Basford Sr. returned home from Massachusetts and bought the farm out of foreclosure. We know that the Gerry's lived at the farm, but they rented. It's unclear at this point who officially owned the farm. The real curiosity here is that Maggie didn't appear to inherit the farm, it would have been her right by law. Unless as stated above Willie died before Lamont and left the farm to Lamont in order to keep it in the Basford family. If that is the case then Pearle would have inherited the farm when Lamont passed, and thus Harold Prince would have influence over the property when he married Pearle in 1928. Neither he nor Pearle were farmers so they would have had to rent it out.
Traipsing through the woods again today, followed up with a conversation with my mother has me thinking about what the farm and land were like back during the time that Stanley Sr and Hannah lived here. Mom's told me some about which fields and pastures were used for which purposes, and that Stanley Sr is the one who started the apple orchard; but I was hoping someone could help fill in a lot more detail and add their individual memories of "Great Grampy and Great Grammy Basford." Obviously the generation older than I would have more memories of them to share.
I have more memories of Hannah (pink peppermints, for example) since she was around longer into my lifetime than Great Grampy, though I certainly do have memories of him (the garden, for example) but I didn't really know either of them. So I at least would love to hear some personal stories about them that would help the rest of us know them better.
What did he do doing WWI? What kinds of things did she like to do before arthritis made those things impossible? Where did they live in New York and what did they do there, same thing regarding Springfield, MA?
(Note: If there are those of you who would love to share some stories or memories but aren't interested in writing, I can be had for the price of a couple of cold beers. I'm sure I'm not the only one willing to ghost write. Speaking of beer, I remember Great Grampy was a fan of beer)
