The Honor Roll Project - East Williston, Long Island, New York

As part of Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Honor Roll Project, I have transcribed these Rolls of Honor in East Williston to make the names visible to search engines so that family researchers can find them. Please consider finding the Honor Roll(s) in your town or village and transcribing them on your blog or website. Some rolls are long and some are short but there's no deadline, you can take as long as you need to transcribe an honor roll.  I've learned so much about local history through this project and when someone finds the name of an ancestor in one of my posts they are grateful and excited! And even if you don't have a blog or website, you can ask me or another participating blogger. I would be happy to create a post to share your photos and transcription!

East Williston is an incorporated village in Nassau County on Long Island (not to be confused with another area named for a different Willis family in upstate NewYork) and the Village Green and rolls of honor sit near its train station just off of Hillside Avenue. This is one memorial I didn't have to Google since I just happened to notice the backs of the wreaths laid there last Memorial Day while I was sitting and waiting for a train to cross Hillside while I was on my way to work.

This memorial contains rolls of honor for World War I and World War II. It also contains plaques in recognition of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It appears that a name was added to the Vietnam War plaque after it was made.

THAT THE NAMES OF 

THE MEN FROM THIS COMMUNITY

WHO SERVED IN THE GREAT WAR

MAY NEVER BE FORGOTTEN

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED

1917-1919

John S. Bailey

J. Harper Bonnell

Harold Bouck

Raymond L. Hayden

George Hauser

John Hughes

William J. Kempf

Allison M. Lederer

Charles Parker

John Razzano

Herbert Richter

Thomas L. Robinson

Milton G. Schenck

William W. Stoothoff

James Tilly

Howard F. Townsend

Chester George Valentine

Henry L. Wagner, Jr.

Edward West

Anthony Yadisko

Benjamin Zaleski

Joseph J. Zeblinksy

IN HONOR OF

THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES

OF OUR COUNTRY IN WORLD WAR II

EAST WILLISTON, NY

★ Harry R. Ludwig

★ Forbes D. Park

James Adams

Arnold P. Barnett

H. Howell Bartlett

Walter E. Bartlett

Walter H. Bartlett

Edward M. Becker

William F. Becker

Alfred H. Bengeyfield

William H. Bengeyfield

Charles F. Bertschinger

James E. Bertschinger

Peter Blank, Jr.

Wilford A. Bryde

Wilbur J. Buschmann

Frank J. Cashin, Jr.

James W. Cashin

Robert F. Clancy

Richard L. Clark

Harold A. Cobb

Francis W. Colby

Karl S. Day

Edward V. Dembinski

James A. DeVeer

John A. DeVeer

Burton E. Dezendorf

William H. Dickson III

Donald W. East

William H. Edwards

Maurice A. Ekos

William F. Fenno III

Frank A. Fitton

Walter B. Frame

William R. Frederick, Jr.

James P. Gallacher

Ruth B. Grace

Jack K. Greenland

James R. Gurney

John G. Haggist

Fremont B. Hallock

Richard F. Hamm

Kenneth Harder

Eugene H. Harned

John F. Hartigan

Thomas M. Hearn, Jr.

Herry T. Helsher

Howard S. Heydon

LeRoy E. Hopkins

David W. Hopper

Earle A. S. Hopping

Joseph D. Hudson

Richard A. Hudson

Fred M. Ironside

John J. Johnstone

Richard A. Jonas III

John E. Kingston

Robert J. Kolyer

Walter Kronimus, Jr.

Kenneth A. Lent

Frank S. McKee

George S. Martin

Harry Mathewson

Edwin D. Maxfield

Philip R. Meyer

Frederick Michel, Jr.

Edwin J. Mihan

E. Eliot Miller

Edwin C. Monkmeyer

Craig R. Murray

Frederick M. Nolte

Howard P. Palmer

Ernest D. Perkins

Peter J. F. Rager

Henry B. Robinson

Thomas J. Roche

Thomas J. Rohan

Malcolm T. Ryan

Ward K. St. Clair

Howard E. Schenck, Jr.

Wilbur D. Schiller

Edson S. Schmid

Robert E. Schreiber

Julius H. Seeth

Richard M. Seymour

Robert J. Shotter

Pentti K. Siiteri

John L. Slusser

Robert N. Swanson

Charles W. Thill

William I. Todd

Howard M. Trowern, Jr.

Alfred R. Valentine

Richard H. Valentine

Edgar J. Viscecchio

Paul H. Vonderhorst

Wallace G. Voegel

James S. White

Paul J. Wiggins

Daniel E. Winneke

Theodore W. Winter

This plaque acknowledging the Korean War is dedicated to all the men and women who have served and those who have made the Supreme Sacrifice.

And this one is dedicated the same way but remembers the Vietnam War and specifically one man: William Nuebel, Jr. (1947-1967).

My Unplanned Genealogy Break

Elmer Carl Anderson, Axel Heinrich Anderson, Dagmar Alice Viola Anderson

William John White "Pin" Smith

Marjorie Elizabeth Dean and Janet Isabella Smith

I had really hoped that in 2020 I would post some sort of content between my monthly Honor Roll posts, but this blogging and research break was unplanned and brought to you courtesy of my failure to get a flu shot this season. As a family historian who believes in immunizations, what was I thinking? Those of us who study history should know only too well how lucky we are to live in a time when prevention is available for diseases that killed our ancestors and it can be as easy as taking a short trip to the nearest pharmacy. But, I digress.

Just before I got sick, My Heritage released its new photo colorization tool. The photos above are some of the results that I got. On the off chance that you haven't heard about it, here is a link to the tool. It is free for those with a membership to MH and I've read that those without one can upload a limited number of photos.  It isn't perfect of course, but I love the addition of the flesh-tones to people's faces, it really brings them to life.

The past few days I have been reading blog posts, working on the Nassau and Queens locality guide and watching the free live stream from rootstech. I feel like I'm finally getting back to my life.

I have an Honor Roll Project post set to go for Monday and then I hope to be back very shortly after to share that completed locality guide and maybe even an updated research plan for Benjamin Smith.

Until then, sneeze into a tissue or the inside of your elbow, wash your hands regularly, and keep them away from your face! And never skip that flu shot.

The Honor Roll Project - Amityville, New York

As part of Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Honor Roll Project, I have transcribed these Rolls of Honor in Amityville, NY to make the names visible to search engines so that family researchers can find them. Please consider finding the Honor Roll(s) in your town or village and transcribing them on your blog or website. Some rolls are long and some are short but there's no deadline, you can take as long as you need to transcribe an honor roll.  I've learned so much about local history through this project and when someone finds the name of an ancestor in one of my posts they are grateful and excited! And even if you don't have a blog or website, you can ask me or another participating blogger. I would be happy to create a post to share your photos and transcription!

Though best known as the setting of the movie The Amityville Horror, Amityville is just another quaint Long Island village with a long history.

This honor roll is located at the Village Triangle where Broadway, Park Avenue, and Ireland Place meet.

This memorial is dedicated "TO THOSE OF OUR COUNTRY WHO DID THEIR DUTY IN THE WORLD WAR."

"To the memory of our veterans who have served in the Armed Forces during all conflicts and the memory of those who served this village. This enhanced triangle area is hereby rededicated as of May 30, 1988."

These plaques contain names only. The inscription above makes me think that these must be the names of all the men and women who served in WWII. There are five names bordered with stars, which I believe means those men were killed in action, but I have not done any research on these names so it is just a guess.

Albra S. Adams

Giacomo Affusa

James J. Affusa

Michael Agresti

Harold C. Albertson

William R. Albertson

Percy E. Arnold

William Aufdenfeld

Jesse M. Austin

Frederic A. Baker

Arthur M. Baldwin

Frank B. Ball

Charles S. Barcellona

George Baromona

Russell Bartow

Charles T. Bassler

John Bazola

Frederick W. Becher

Arthur K. Bennett

Joseph Bernagozzi

Angelo Bogni

Wilmer Bonds

Louis Boselli

Richard Brandt, Jr.

John F. Brewerton

Alexander Brewster

Charles E. Brewster

Frederick Brewster

Gouverneur B. Brewster

Irving Paul Brewster

William Brewster

Archie James Brooks

James S. Brown

Charles Frank Brush

Charles J. Buckholz

Everard R. Burch

Raymond L. Burch

Frank S. Burgwin

Harry P. Burgwin

Arthur R. Burns

Hugo G. Campagnoli

Forrest P. Carman

Stephen B. Carpenter

Pasquale Caruso

James B. Cass

Carl Chichester

Benjamin Cirrincione

Robert W. Combes

Louis Compitello

Walter P. Corns

Anson W. Corson

Emil F. Cron

John J. Cullinan

George Howland Dalzell

Lloyd Hunter Dalzell

Horace A. Darling

Kenneth Darling

Jesse Gordon Davis

George J. Diehl

Frank J. Drake

Charles Rulef Duryea, Jr.

John Ebert

Frank H. Edgette

Milton A. Erwood

George F. Eschwei

Vito Fagone

Vincent Fattaruso

Herbert W. Fiedler

Clarence C. Fleming, Jr.

Peter B. Fleming

Nicholas Follo

Clarence Fowler

Alphonse C. Frevele

Joseph F. Frevele

Walter J. Gardiner

Francis Gayer

Frederick C. Gehrke

Joseph A. Geiger

Guiseppe Giarratano

Henry H. Giesse

Harold A. Gilman

Wallace S. Gilman

Natalie Giorgini

Thomas Green

Alfred S. Griffiths

Benjamin Gutowitz

Louis D. Gutowitz

Charles Haab

James Hayes Haff

Robert W. Haff

George B. Hall

Stanley J. Handy

George S. Hardy

★Eric Stanly Hart★

George H. Harvey

Joseph Heimbucher

William Henry Hendrickson

Isaac A. Henry

Arnold A. Hepp

Emanuel Hirsch

Charles O. Homan

Aaron Derby Howe

Joseph A. Howell

Stanley Howell

Sigvald E. Hunsbedt

Arthur H. Hunter

John Oliver Hunter

Royal F. Hunter

Walter F. Husted

Einer A. Jensen

George W. Ketcham

Jesse H. Ketcham

Royal P. Ketcham

William Marsh Ketcham

Frederick W. King

Louis W. Kinzer

Willard Kohen

Reginald Kortright

Martin Lang, Jr.

Claud H. Lapsley

Thomas Lauder, Jr.

Elbert Laurie

Julius H. Lawrence

Louis T. Learned

Thomas Lee

Adolph W. Lottman, Jr.

Harry B. Lottman

Charles Ludlow, Jr.

George B. Ludlow

Bernard F. McDonald

Thomas E. McDonald

Charles J. McGovern

John H. Maher, Jr.

Louis C. Martin

Alvin Clinton Mayhew

Philip Mazza

Thomas Mazza

Jahew Miller

William McKinley Miller

★Cormly J. Montgomery★

Silvio Orlando

★Michael F. O'Rourke★

Angelo Palermo

Benjamin Parodi

Adolph Pape, Jr.

Michael Pembroke

August W. Peterson

Wayman A. Pierce

William F. Ploch

Harold F. Post

Benjamin F. Powell

Charles S. Powell

Herbert S. Powell

Royal S. Powell

Louis Richter

Philip Rizzuto

Gustav Schaefer, Jr.

William Schimpf, Jr.

Robert E. Scurlock

Anthony Segale

Louis C. J. Shafer

Patrick Sheridan

James Gerard Shevill

Frank W. Shoush

Harry  L. Simonson

Carl Burr Smith

Frederick E. Smith

Raymond B. Smith, Jr.

Roger Smith

Walter Allen Smith

Philip Sparicino

David Aaron Steele

George W. Steele

Arthur F. Squires

Howard F. Squires

John H. Squires, Jr.

George L. Swift

Caesar Tassinari

Hugo Tassinari

Daniel F. Terry

Francis Trongiolito

George Troumbas

Israel VanNostrant

Garry J. Velsor

George A. Walters

Arthur L. Wanser

Ainslie M. Wardle

Oliver Warren

Elliott P. Watson

★Robert E. Watson★

Arthur Cornwall Wells

Frederic Hart Wells

John H. Wendel

Peter Wendel, Jr.

Willet F. Whitmore

Clifford H. Wicks

Frank H. Wolff

William H. Wood

Frank L. Wortmann

Charles I. Yates

★John Yeswoit★

At the base of the memorial is this time capsule to be opened on July 4, 2083, the quadricentennial of Suffolk County.

And this plaque at the foot of the large tree pictured above lets us know that it was donated by the Kiwanis Club of Amityville in 2010.

Just last month another descendant left a comment on one of my honor roll posts letting me know that they had found an ancestor there, so this project really does work.  If you would like to give back to the genealogy community by participating in Heather Wilkinson Rojo's project but don't have a blog or website you can reach out to her or to me or another blogger. With your photos and transcription, someone can always post the honor roll for you.

Close to Home - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 4

The subject of my post for close to home is a no-brainer for me because my longest-standing brick wall is very close to home. In fact, it may even be in my home town, better yet, I may even live now on land that once belonged to a relative! But I'm really getting ahead of myself, I am researching Smiths after all.

Orlando Chauncey Smith, Charlotte Elizabeth Smith, George Robert Smith, William Henry Smith
Benjamin Smith, Emma Amelia Smith, Mary Ann Codner
This photo was likely taken in Newark, New Jersey.

My mother was born in Quebec, my father in Chicago and we lived in the Chicago suburbs until my father enrolled at Adelphi University on Long Island in 1971. We had no known family here and it wasn't until 2008, about a year into researching my family history, that I learned from an obituary that Benjamin Smith, my second great-grandfather, was born on Long Island.  Back then I was only researching sporadically, but somewhere in my daily life living in Rockville Centre, I learned that the village was named for Mordechai "Rock" Smith. Now, we all know how common a surname Smith is, but once in a while my mother and I would joke about being descended from the founders and of course we were curious, but given that Benjamin's exact place of birth was unknown, we didn't really take it seriously.

Then, sometime around 2011, I was stuck at work waiting for a delivery and decided to kill some time looking at the hints in my Ancestry tree. A hint for my 2nd great-uncle, William Smith, a son of Benjamin, led me to his 1920s passport application. The form asked for William's father's place of birth, his answer was Rockville Centre, NY! I almost could not believe my eyes.

In the nine years since this discovery, I have not researched Benjamin very much at all, but that is changing now. Benjamin's wife, Mary Ann Codner, was the granddaughter and great-grandaughter of two Revolutionary War patriots, Phineas Chidester and Japhet Byram, and one of her daughters, Charlotte Smith Fisk, was accepted into the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Now, I'm working to prove my own lineage and I'll have to prove Benjamin's birth to do so.

I've learned so much about genealogy research, methodology and sources since I read Benjamin's obituary twelve years ago and, of course, online records access has exploded, so it's like researching in a whole new world.  Who knows? Maybe I'll even get one of my male Smith cousins to spit in a tube one of these days.

One of the newest tools in my personal kit is the locality guide.  Locality research is essential to a research plan.  To make a research plan, you have to know what records are available and where to look for them. A guide is simply a place to put all of this information. And as you become more familiar with an area or with researching at a particular institution you can add more information like contacts you have made at an archive.

You can make a locality guide any way you like, but I chose to use the guides of those who have done this before as a template and this has "forced" me to seek out specific information that I might not have otherwise.

A Google search for locality guides led me to some blogs including Collecting Cousins who had a link to an archived page of the ProGen Study Group site. This page has links to more than two dozen examples. I also found a template at Family Locket, the blog of the authors of Research Like a Pro, which I used as my primary template.

My first guide, still-in-progress, is for Nassau and Queens counties in New York. Why both? Because Nassau was created out of Queens county, because Benjamin is believed to have lived in what is now Nassau but was Queens when he was born, and because some records, like probate, are still held in Queens.  I knew this before I started the guide because of my earlier research, but if I was coming at this brand new, this is something I likely would have learned by making this guide.  And that is the value of laying a foundation of knowledge on which to build your research.

So, here are just two of the things I discovered while making this guide:

1. The Rockville Centre Historical Society has a collection of materials including Sunday school records for the Methodist church in Rockville Centre during Benjamin's childhood (I don't know if Benjamin was born into a Methodist family but he was married in a Methodist church and helped found the Methodist church in Basking Ridge, NJ.) Inconveniently for me, these materials are now held at the New York State Archive in Albany which is a good three-hour drive. I'm hoping to get there by spring.

2. A 1870s property map of Rockville Centre shows a few landowners named Smith and while I know the name is beyond common, what I found on the map really blew my mind.

The David Rumsey Map Collection not only has this 1870s map, but it also has a tool called a Georeferencer that lays your historical map over a current one and allows you to control the opacity so that you can see either map or both at the same time.

When I zeroed in on properties owned by Smiths, what I found was astounding. The apartment building I live in sits on property that was owned by a John Smith (it would be John) when the map was made.

I know that as my research moves forward I may find that I am not related to this man at all, but this is still a fun find!

No matter how well we think we know a place we are researching, or how long we have lived there ourselves, a locality guide is a great tool to help us know it as researchers.

I really hope that this locality guide and other methodologies I have learned in the last nine years will help me to smash the Smith brick wall this year. In any case, this is a tool I plan to use whenever I research in a new geographic area, whether it is across the globe or right under my feet.

Long Line - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 3

The writing gods are not with me this week. I have already abandoned two drafts on other topics for this prompt that just wouldn't come together, so last night I decided to use this prompt to transcribe the names of some of my ancestors in hopes that a distant cousin will find them and me, otherwise known as cousin bait.

We all have long lines, it's just a matter of how far back we can document those lines. Two weeks ago I wrote about my great-grandfather, Carl Johan Anderson. I have only documented his line to his parents, Anders Svenson and Anna Katrina Mannsdotter but my great-grandmother's line is a different story.

Oscar Nimrid Johansson-Maria Sofia Johansson-Johan Albin Johansson
Anna Olivia Johansson-Mathilda Alfina Johansson

Someone, I don't know who, commissioned a genealogy of the ancestors of my great-grandmother, Mathilda Alfina Johnson/Johansson, and I was lucky enough to inherit a copy of this mind-boggling, three-volume work written entirely in Swedish.

I also inherited two copies of an English translation of my direct line going back to my 6th great-grandparents, Lars Heljeson and his wife, Ingeborg.

Lars Heljeson - Ingeborg ______

│

Helje Larsson - Maria Ericsdotter

│

Zachris Heljeson - Stina Magnusdotter

│

Magnus Zachrisson - Caisa Nilsdotter

│

Marten Johansson - Josepha Magnusdotter

│

Carl Johan Anderson - Mathilda Alfina Johansson

│

Howard Bierly Matthews - Dagmar Alice Viola Anderson

│

Stephen David Matthews

Although I caution any potential cousins that I have not researched these lines myself and cannot speak specifically to the accuracy of this genealogy, the detail and extent of church records in Sweden gives me confidence in it.  In addition to records of baptisms, marriages, and burials that one would expect churches to keep, the Lutheran church in Sweden, which was once the state church, kept records of annual household surveys and records of all those who joined and left individual congregations.  Those records also included the congregations that people moved to and from, making them easy to find before and after a move.

If you see any names that look familiar to you in my direct line above or the list of siblings below, be sure to let me know. You can contact me by leaving a comment on this post or through the contact form on the right of this page.

Children of Marten Johansson and Josepha Magnusdotter:
Maria Sofia Johansson, Selma Alida Johansson, Mathilda Alfina Johansson, Anna Olivia Johansson, Johan Albin Johansson, Alma Cecilia Johansson, Oscar Johansson, Alma Tionda Johansson

Children of Magus Zachrisson and Caisa Nilsdotter: Josepha Magnusdotter, Elsa Magnusdotter, Salomon Magnusson, August Magnusson

Children of Zachris Heljesson and Stina Magnusdotter: 
Kerstin Zachrisdotter, Maria Zachrisdotter, Catharina Zachrisdotter, Hans Zachrisson, Magnus Zachrisson, Johanna Zachrisdotter

Children of Helje Larsson and Maria Ericsdotter: Eric Heljesson, Zachris Heljesson, Elsa Heljesdotter, Hans Heljesson, Maria Heljesdotter, Brita Heljesdotter

Favorite Photo - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2

I'm blessed with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to family photos, so choosing a favorite is an impossible task, but I do have some that are more meaningful than others.

As far back as I can remember, my mother has had a hinged frame on her dresser containing two photos:

As you could probably guess, the photo on the left is my grandmother holding my mother and the photo on the right is my mother holding me. I've always loved them and even from an early age, I think, could appreciate the historical aspect of them, but I never had any such photo of my dad with his mother.  The earliest photos I had seen of him were toddler stage or later until my step-mother handed me a plastic bag of loose photos six years ago.

We were walking out the door of her home late on a winter evening when my step-mother handed me that bag so there was no time to dig into it then, but as soon as Donald and I stopped for coffee I couldn't help but take a peek. The second photo out of the bag was this one, and I was overwhelmed with emotion for the rest of the ride home and for several days after.

Taken when he was six weeks old according to writing on the back, this and another half dozen photos taken at the same time, are the earliest known pictures of my father.  Six years later, this photo still makes me shake my head, knowing that my grandparents and then my dad had these all along, but stuffed away in a bag for so many years.

It is impossible to choose one favorite photo from my collection, but this certainly comes close.

Fresh Start - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1

As soon as I saw the prompt, Fresh Start, for Week One of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, I thought of my father's grandparents who were all immigrants.  Although I have some idea of what prompted most of them to come to America, only Carl Johan Anderson, my paternal grandmother's father, left us this information in detail.

Arthur William Matthews, my paternal great-grandfather, came from England in about 1865. He grew up in poverty and lost his mother at an early age. He was about 21 when he arrived in New York but I don't know anything about his life in England beyond that.

Ada Merritt Hobbs, my paternal grandfather's mother, was Arthur's second wife. She came to America, also from England, sometime after 1871. She was 13 when her parents died in 1868. She and her three siblings were eventually taken in by a maternal uncle in Pennsylvania.

Mathilda Alfina Johanson is more of a mystery. Although she grew up in the same parish in Sweden as my great-grandfather, her family does not seem to have been nearly as poor. Did she come to America for economic opportunity, to follow her sisters, for adventure or to follow Carl? I may never know for sure.

And that brings us to Carl Johan Anderson. Carl was the youngest child of Anders Swensson and Anna Katrina Mannsdotter. He was six when Anders died and Anna went to work as a farmhand and seven when he and his sister were also forced by their economic circumstances to go to work.

After five years of working and living in a glassworks, Carl went to live with his sister, Josefina, and her new husband, Per Johan Bengtson. There he was able to get some schooling as he apprenticed under Per Johan as a shoemaker. Still so poor that it took him months to save for one decent suit, he longed to leave Sweden for the economic opportunities in the United States. Eventually, a group of his friends secured loans and then loaned him the money for his passage. He arrived in Connecticut in April 1888 with one dollar left.

1888 was still difficult for Carl. He found work at a silk mill, was laid off, found work as a shoemaker and finally was rehired in December by the Cheney Silk Mill where he would eventually become a master velvet weaver.  In 1890, Mathilda arrived in the US with one of her sisters and a friend, but they would go first to their own sisters in Illinois. Later that year, Carl wrote and asked Mathilda to come to South Manchester, which the three ladies did, and in August of 1893, Carl and Mathilda were married.

The newlyweds were very fortunate that Carl had found work with the Cheneys, for they were excellent employers, truly concerned with the well-being of their workers. Carl and Mathilda rented their first home from the Cheneys and although I don't know the specifics of their home, I learned during a tour by a local historian that the Cheneys were different from many factory owners in that these properties were well-kept, comparatively spacious and every home had a porch or a yard.

After the birth of two sons, Axel Henrich Waldemar in 1894 and Elmer Carl Ragnar in 1896, Carl and Mathilda purchased a lot of land from the Cheneys, secured a mortgage from Manchester Building and Loan and built themselves a two-family home on Garden Street which they moved into on February 22, 1900. Being a duplex, as Axel called it in an audio-taped interview of Carl, the Andersons now had another source of income from the home, taking in borders. In 1905 the family grew again, when my grandmother, Dagmar Alice Viola was born.

All three of Carl and Mathilda's children graduated from high school. Axel went to business school and became a successful businessman, Elmer followed in his father's footsteps becoming a foreman in the dye house at the Cheney mill and Dagmar worked as a stenographer before her marriage in 1931.  All four of Carl and Mathilda's grandchildren were college graduates.

Carl worked at the mill for 50 years, retiring in 1938 when his eyesight was no longer good enough for such detailed work. He and Mathilda lived together in their home on Garden Street until she fell ill in 1953 and in 1954 the home was sold and Carl moved to a retirement home closer to Axel and his family.

Although the Swedish economy improved and continued to improve over the years following Carl's immigration to the United States, I am confident that coming to America provided the Fresh Start Carl so desperately wanted and provided more economic opportunity than he would have had in Sweden.

I did not have time to provide detailed citations for this post but in brief: Information about Arthur Matthews and Ada Hobbs comes from an autobiography by my grandfather, Howard Matthews, Arthur and Ada's youngest child. Information about Mathilda comes from a family history compiled by professional genealogists in the 1960s and from a brief letter written by Mathilda. Information about Carl comes from a letter that he left for his descendants, from an audiotaped interview by his son Axel and from a walking tour of the Cheney Mills hosted by the Manchester Historical Society and given by a local historian. None of the materials are published, but I have copies in my personal collection. Photos are also from my personal collection and were inherited after the death of my father, Stephen David Matthews. He was the only child of Dagmar Alice Viola Anderson. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me via the Contact Form on the right of this blog.