aunt cousin uncle

Betsy Williams donates Roger Williams’s land 1877

/ Kirstin Miller

Roger Williams had a 3rd great granddaughter, Betsy who on October 16, 1877 donated all of her great great great grandfather’s land to the state of Rhode Island.

A  book was published to commemorate the ceremony (read the 52 page book here at HathiTrust) an abridged version: Providence, founded by Roger Williams in 1636, had secured no large public park, and had erected no statue in memory of its founder. Happily, a farm given to Mr. Williams by his friend, the sachem Miantunnomi (small bio on Wikipedia he was convicted of treason?), was in possession of his great-great-great-grand-daughter, Miss Betsy Williams who determined to honor her 3rd great grandfather’s memory bequeathed this land for a public use and a statue of Roger Williams was unveiled.

I need more information on this statue and monument, Clio is a the base front writing on a tablet, Roger is holding a book with the words Soul and Liberty. N 41° 47.111 W 071° 24.998. The Google map site from 2011 is missing Clio’s tablet at the base of the monument.

Ceremonies- monument to Roger Williams

Monument to Roger Williams 1877. Location: N 41° 47.111 W 071° 24.998

  • Mr Franklin Simmons of Rome created the statue.
  • A Mighty Fortress is Our God was the hymn sung.
  • Professor J Lewis Dimar of Brown University gave the oration.
  • Children of the Public Schools sung the Choral
  • Reverend E G Robinson, President of Brown University gave the blessing.

Israel Dewey b. 1738

/ Kirstin Miller

Not many details on Israel Dewey (8th great uncle) b. 16 Sep 1738, d. 1806 in Connecticut. Israel may have asked his brother  David Dewey (8th great grandfather) to be his guardian in 1753. Israel’s Probate (on Ancestry.com  Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999) contains 32 pages or images. There’s a cover page, inventory, assorted notes and this is image 13:

screenshot 3.png

Israel may have been a deacon and may have been married to Bethiah, still searching.

 

Godsgift Arnold b. 1658 and Jireh Bull b. 1659

/ Kirstin Miller

Bull, Jireh and Godsgift house

Godsgift Arnold 1st cousin 9 times removed from Elizabeth Speedy who married Stanley Roose Sr.

Godsgift was born on 27 Aug 1658 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA to Benedict (11th great uncle) and Damaris Westcott Arnold, the governor. Benedict Arnold who joined the British Army was her great grand nephew. Godsgift married Jireh Bull, their grandfathers William Arnold and Henry Bull were original Rhode Island settlers in the 1630s. Godsgift and Jireh lived in Newport, Rhode Island in a home still standing, now known as The Captain John Maudsley House. In 1952 it was discovered that the house was actually built by Jireh Bull. The August 27, 1952 Newport News tells the house’s history, I haven’t found the actual source. The Library of Congress has photos and floor plans of this house that Jireh started building in 1680. The house is still standing and privately owned today, at Wikipedia . 

The photo is from early 1900s. Jireh began building in 1680.  At the Library of Congress: John Maudsley House, Other Title Jireh Bull House.

Bradford Hale b. Jan 1844

/ Kirstin Miller

Bradford Hale 1st cousin 2 times removed or 2 generations back from Elizabeth Speedy who married Stanley Roose.  Bradford Hale on RootsMagic tree.

Bradford Hale was born in Prairieton, Vigo, Indiana. His father’s family, the Hales, and mother’s family, the Angells, were original settlers in Prarieton. Bradford’s grandfathers are featured in the book “History of Vigo and Parke Counties together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources” by H. W. Beckwith. Available at the Vigo County Public Library and on Ancestry.com .

In 1862, at age 18 Bradford enlisted and entered the Civil War. He was part of three regiments:
33rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry
54th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (3 months, 1862)
85th Regiment, Indiana Infantry

The 85th regiment “took part in all the operations before Atlanta and was present at its fall. It engaged in the destruction of railroads and also in the building of roads and bridges.”  Source: Index with transcription Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.

Bradford ended up at the infamous Confederate Andersonville Prison or Camp Sumter- known for seriously inhumane conditions. Bradford was exchanged the day President Abraham Lincoln died April 15, 1865. The camp was officially liberated May 1865 and today it’s a National Historic site in Georgia, at Wikipedia Andersonville Historic site.

After the war Bradford worked, married later in life and had a daughter. By 1885 he was 44 and a rancher in Chafee Colorado. 

Part of Bradford Hale’s military record at the National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online.

Name: Bradford Hale
Enlistment Date: 18 Jun 1862
Rank at enlistment: Private
State Served: Indiana
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company F, Indiana 54th Infantry Regiment on 18 Jun 1862.Mustered out on 18 Sep 1862 at Indiana

Name: Bradford Hale
Side: Union Regiment
State/Origin: Indiana
Regiment Name: 85 Indiana Infantry.
Regiment Name Expanded: 85th Regiment, Indiana Infantry Company: E
Rank In: Private
Rank In Expanded: Private
Rank Out: Private
Rank Out Ex –

Civil War Trust Saving America’s Battlefields provides maps, photos and great detail on the Civil War.

A copy of Bradford’s headstone application c. 1936. Bradford’s great grandfather was Israel Angell, a Revolutionary War Colonel who wrote to and received letters from General George Washington. I wonder if Bradford knew this.

screenshot

Hale, Bradford. U.S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963

National Archives at Washington, D.C.Applications for Headstones,
compiled 01/01/1925 – 06/30/1970, documenting the period ca. 1776 – 1970
ARC: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985,
Record Group 92. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

Lizzie Flood b.1867

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Matilda Flood great aunt of Elizabeth Speedy who married Stanley Roose. Lizzie on RootsMagic tree.

Elizabeth went by Lizzie and was born January 28, 1867 in Butler County, Iowa. The year she was born, Harvard opens the 1st dental school, Nobel files a patent on dynamite, Nebraska becomes a state and Charles Dickens gives 1st public reading in the US.

screenshot 2Lizzie was a dressmaker. She was single and rented her home, in Iowa around 1900. Did she wish to stay single, did she have marriage proposals that she refused?  Did her parents hassle her to get married, start a family and settle down? Three of her sisters married and had children, one did not. Both her brothers married.

Lizzie died at about 36  years old, following an operation. She is buried near her family: mother Delia Viola Angell and father William Flood, brothers and sisters in an old cemetery near Clarksville, Iowa.

Postcard Waterloo, Iowa US HistoricalI think Lizzie liked living with her four sisters, two brothers and parents but was restless to be on her own. So she moved out of her family’s small town home at 20 years old and went to the closest city, then lived on her own until her death. Maybe she was a successful dressmaker during the day, then at home in the evenings she designed her own dresses and pondered opening her own dress shop. After Lizzie’s death her youngest sister, Nettie, owns a millinery shop. Perhaps Lizzie’s estate left all to her sister?

Flood, Lizzie swatch book

Lizzie may have kept a notebook similar to this Swatch book where she recorded her ideas for dress designs and her knowledge of textiles and sewing.

The Swatch book is at Winthur.org in their Digital Collections.

“Swatch Book :: Textile Patterns and Designs.” Swatch Book :: Textile Patterns and Designs. Winterthur Digital Collections, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2016.