Annie Elizabeth Baragwanath and Her Pocket Watch

Her initials are on the back of her pocket watch: AEB for Annie Elizabeth Baragwanath, my grandmother.

She was born in 1890 and died in 1968. She married Edgar C. Forman in 1922. 

I know nothing about this watch. I do know that ladies' watches were usually pendant style so this one probably hung from a chain. Wristwatches didn't appear until after WWI. So I wonder, was this a gift or did she buy it for herself with her salary as a typist? If it was a gift, was it for a special birthday, perhaps a 16th, or 18th, or 21st? It appears to have been well-used so she did wear it. Did she wear it to work? Or to church? Or to run her errands? By the time she married she may have stopped using it.

Somehow it made its way to me. I wish I knew its history. It no longer keeps time. But 100 or more years ago, a young woman treasured this watch and now I treasure it and wonder about that young woman's life.

September Birthdays

Happy birthday to all you with September birthdays, and to those who celebrate anniversaries this month!

Some of our ancestors count September as a special month as well.

Heading from the Washington Times (Washington DC)

One of my favorite ancestor stories is that of the marriage of Edwin Stanton Ross and Katherine Fisher on 1 September 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They got a unique start on their life together, and their story made it into at least 20 newspapers across the country that I could find. You can read their story here:

Going to the Chapel

From The Philadelphia Inquirer

My 2nd great-grandfather and grandmother, William Lake Forman and Amanda Orilla McAllister were married 4 September 1853 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I wrote about locating them in the census records.

William Lake Forman & Amanda Orilla McAllister

Kate Baragwanath married Garrett Floyd on 7 September 1887 in New Jersey. Their announcement appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Kate's husband ran into a spell of bad luck in the 1890s. Click below to read about his troubles, and to see a photo of them together.

Trouble Times Two - Garrett Floyd, husband of Kate Baragwanath

Another of my 2nd great-grandparents, John Ross and Ann Elizabeth Spiece were also married in September, on the 8th in 1858. We are lucky to have this copy of their marriage certificate.

Same Name - A Cautionary Tale

This story shows what happens when you assume too much. And by 'you' I mean 'me'!!  [click above] My great-uncle William Henry Canham, known as Alec, married Constance Marion Winifred Myhill (Connie) on the last day of September 1933, in Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England.

And one final anniversary shout-out to my 22nd great-grandparents who tied the knot in September 1213 without leaving us with the actual date. Raoul de Lusignan and Alice d'Eu were both supposedly born in England and died in France. I have not researched this family line so this is about all we know, but they sound like they were really important, don't they?

Trouble Times Two - Garrett Floyd, husband of Catharine Baragwanath

Garrett Floyd was married to Catharine Hichens Baragwanath (Aunt Kate) in 1887. The following is the account of his harrowing experience in a huge windstorm that swept through the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey areas. From the Philadelphia Inquirer, Saturday morning 28 Dec 1895.

News of New Jersey THE STORM'S HAVOC ACROSS THE RIVER Heavy damage to the Pennslvania Railroad shops at Pavonia WIND TOSSED A WATCHMAN Roofs Ripped Off Rows of Houses in Camden and Stockton [Paragraph 4] A Watchman Hurt The watchmen's station at the State street crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad was carried a distance of 100 feet. Garrett Floyd, the watchman, was injured about the head by the building falling on him. As the cabin overturned a red-hot stove fell on the injured man. Charles White, of Matawan, was carried with the building, and had it not been for his presence Floyd would have met a fearful death as White lifted the stove from him as he lay in an unconscious condition.

Catharine Baragwanath-Aunt Kate-(1855-1934) married Garrett Floyd (1835-1902) in 1887. They never had children together, though Garrett had been married previously and had children by his first wife, Sarah. Aunt Kate’s husband worked as a gatekeeper on the Pennsylvania Railroad in Stockton (Camden, New Jersey.) I shared a story above about a terrible storm that swept up his watchman’s cabin, knocking him out, and landing a red-hot stove on top of his unconscious body. Fortunately another watchman was in the cabin at the time and lifted off the stove, saving Garrett’s life. Apparently this occupation was rife with danger because just a year later, in 1896, tragedy struck again! According to both the Philadelphia Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer newspapers, some “hoodlums” were interfering with the railroad gate, and when Garrett spoke to them, one of the “toughs” dealt him a severe blow to the face, rendering him unconscious. Though he was in considerable pain for a few weeks, he eventually began to heal. Two months later though, the joint in his jaw began to swell and grow stiff. Before long, his jaw had locked closed. He had been taking milk through a tube, made possible by a few missing teeth from the original encounter, but was declining since he couldn’t receive enough nourishment. Though treated at several hospitals in Philadelphia and Camden, all that could be ascertained was that his jaw had actually been broken by the blow to the face. Finally, a Camden physician was willing to perform an operation to free up his jaw. That, sadly is all we know!! Two newspapers were happy to report on this oddity, but neither bothered to report on the outcome. He did live until 1902 so I think we can assume the operation was at least partially a success.

Same Name - A Cautionary Tale

Joseph Canham (1857-1939) lived in Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England, married Jane Mangan in 1884 and proceeded to have 5 lovely daughters between 1886 and 1896. And then there was one son, Alec.

Canham Family @1914 - Mable, Ethel, Louie, Joe, Addie. Front - Dessie, Jane, Alec

My mother called him Uncle Alec and understood him to have been adopted. She had no other information about him. I couldn’t find him in any birth, marriage or death records in the area which was odd. In 2013 I came across a tree on Ancestry that included Alec. So I contacted the owner of the tree who provided more details. Sue Freeman’s grandfather was Edwin Canham, son of Absalom who was a brother to Joseph Canham (my great-grandfather.) She told me about the book, “Our Knickers Were Interesting” written by Daisy Raynor about life in Swanton Morley at the turn of the century. She claimed the book suggested Alec was actually the son of one of Joseph and Jane’s daughters. Sue said her grandmother was rather ‘tight-lipped’ about it but that the family hinted that the assumption was correct. The assumption further was that “Beattie” was the mother. Beattie was Beatrice Louise, who my mother knew as Aunt Louie. She was the oldest of the five girls. Sue also knew that Alec’s actual name was William Henry. No one knows how “Alec” came to be used. In the 1911 Census, there is a “Henry” age 5 living with Joseph and Jane Canham in Swanton Morley, their “nephew.” This surely must be Alec.

1911 Census

Using the name Henry I searched the England Select Births and Christenings on Ancestry. A Henry Canham was baptized 14 May 1905 in Harrow-Green, Essex, England (near London – where several Canham family members were living.) His mother: Beatrice Canham. No father is listed. I thought this was proof that Beatrice Louise was truly the mother of this boy. I sent for the birth certificate. While I waited weeks for it to arrive, I mourned for this young woman and her little boy. What a struggle to have to pretend your son was your brother, and watch him being mothered by another. My heart was really saddened by this tale. I wrote up their story and posted it various places.

Index found at Ancestry.com

Then the birth certificate arrived. William Henry Canham was the son of Alice Beatrice Canham!! NOT Beatrice Louise Canham! Alice was Joseph’s youngest sister, so when I found Henry in the 1911 census listed as ‘nephew’ to Joseph and Jane – that was correct. Now I had to scurry to change all the information I had uploaded as truth, since it was absolutely false!!

Now this doesn’t change the fact that a young woman, only 19 years old found herself in a ‘predicament’ and deserved the same anguish I felt when I thought it was her niece. I mourn for her loss in many ways. We can’t know what happened to her, nor how she managed after the birth of her son, and giving him to her brother to raise. She did marry 11 years later, but so far I can’t find any mention of other children, which is all the more a sadness. But from all this leaping about thinking I’d made a ‘find’ I learned a valuable lesson: Don’t rush to conclusions!

Sister Project - Favorite Shoes

Have you ever had a favorite pair of shoes? Describe them.

20 years ago answers come first, followed by 2019 answers.

Linda: One of my favorite shows on HGTV is Mission Impossible. Each episode shows someone’s office or playroom or bedroom totally out of control from clutter. Every time they show a bedroom redo I always shake my head in amazement mostly because of how many shoes so many women own – and won’t give up!

I can’t relate.

The shoe stack in my closet is seven feet tall and it’s filled with … books! I just don’t get into shoes.

I could be embarrassed to admit that I have a pair of black pumps that I wore as recently as last summer that are over 20 years old. They must be favorites. The only reason I don’t wear them to church much anymore is because I still wear another old pair of black suede Mary Janes that are flat and more comfortable. I’m at the stage where comfort trumps fashion. And this is why I like teaching the Sunbeams in Primary. Because I am on the floor half the time, I can justify having to wear thee simple out-of-fashion (and season) shoes every Sunday. So I hope I teach this class for a long time because I’d hate to lose my excuse to wear my favorite OLD shoes.

2019: Linda: In 8th grade I was thrilled to have a pair of the shoes that all the other girls were wearing because I started 7th grade in Hush Puppies! I remember favorite white plastic sandals as a little girl. I loved the era of wearing huaraches. For years I wore clog-like shoes that Julie thought were awful. I have never cared too much for shoes. I don’t have dozens of them like so many people do. I have been wearing the same church shoes for years and years. At this age it is all about comfort.

Kathi: I was a senior in high school. Sometime in the spring I went to LA with Mom and Dad who were going for a meeting. I, of course, stayed with Ann Jeffs, my best friend since kindergarten. She still didn’t drive, but I had recently learned how to drive a stick shift so we got to take her mom’s VW Bug and tootle around LA! But that’s another story(involving snooty parking valets in Beverly Hills, but as I said – another story!) Of course we went shopping, and I saw the most amazing pair of shoes. Pink suede with a cork (yes cork!) sole. For some reason, I didn’t buy them. But after I got home, I kicked myself! So I wrote Ann, sent her money, she bought them and shipped them to me. LOVED those shoes! I wish I had a picture. I wonder whatever happened to them…

I had another favorite pair of pink shoes in the 80’s. Peek-a-boo toe with a bow, sling back, cute heels. Made of a canvas-like fabric, but a beautiful soft shade of pink. I wore them to John’s uncle’s funeral and ruined them walking in the soft, wet dirt. I never could get the stains out. I was so sad. Loved those shoes too!

2019: Without question it was a pair of pink suede shoes with cork soles and heels I got in 1972. I probably told the same story the last time I answered this! I adored those shoes and I have no idea when I got rid of them. I remember wearing those awful black and white saddle shoes in kindergarten and I hated them with a passion. I managed to talk Mom out of making me wear them ever again. Then they came back into fashion years later – but I didn’t buy any. Too scarred.

Claire: My favorite shoes were ones I had in grade school, maybe around 4^th or 5^th grade. They were black leather, with laces that criss-crossed across the top of the foot, with pointed toes and tassels on the ends of the laces. I loved those shoes and every year for 2 years at least, I bought another pair when it came time for new shoes for a new school year. I think one year I bought white ones, not black ones. I just loved the style.

2019: In 5th and 6th grade I had a pair of shoes, (new ones each year) that were black with a leather tassel at the end of the tie. I loved these shoes and bought the same ones the next year ( think I chose a different color) when we went school clothes shopping. 

Annette: I’m not really into shoes but I had a favorite pair of leather sandals that I wore so much, the soles wore out and I started tipping sideways! Had to throw them out and I’ve never had a favorite since. I’m hoping I can find them again!

2019: Currently love my Polka dot red wedges with an ankle strap and bow. So cute!

Back to School

Clemence Sophia Harned 1813-1888

Tired of watching qualified female candidates being turned away from medical schools, our ancestor founded the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women in 1863 – the first place where women could be treated by doctors of their own gender. Clemence (pronounced “Clemency”) Sophia Harned was born in 1813 in Plainfield, New Jersey, the youngest of 13 children of Hannah Walker and David Harned. Though this was a Quaker family, this branch converted to Methodism. We have to go pretty far back in our family tree to find our common ancestors: Nathaniel Harned (b. 1693) and Sarah Dean (b.1694). We come from Nathaniel’s son Nathaniel and Anna Clawson, while Clemence descends from Nathaniel’s son Nathan and Elizabeth Van Court. (That makes her my 2nd cousin 5 times removed!) Growing up, Clemence watched her mother, the neighborhood ‘medicine woman’, who had learned Native American healing techniques while the family lived among them in Virginia for several years. Two of her brothers became doctors. Though her dream was to become a doctor, the idea of a woman attending medical school at the time was basically unheard of. When Clemence’s husband, Abraham Lozier, became ill, she needed to support her family so she opened a girls’ school in their New York City home around 1832. For the next decade her school educated an average of 60 girls a year. Her longtime interest in anatomy and hygiene led her to include these subjects in her curriculum, though they were considered inappropriate for young women. She had a firm grasp on these subjects because her brother, Dr. William Harned, was tutoring her on the side. Among other topics, she educated women on the physiological consequences of fashion, like the deformities and breathing problems resulting from wearing corsets. Around this time she also got involved with reform work, particularly with the New York Moral Reform Society, which aimed to steer women away from work as prostitutes and “reform” those who had fallen into it. Highly religious, Lozier edited the Moral Reform Gazette and held weekly gatherings to “promote holiness.” Clemence wanted to attend medical school and become a doctor but this purely male domain seemed impenetrable in the 1840s. In 1849 she heard about the success of Elizabeth Blackwell,

Elizabeth Blackwell

who had graduated from the Geneva Medical College of New York that year. So Clemence applied but was turned down as the school feared a scandal should they admit another woman. Undaunted, she pressed on and finally persuaded the Central Medical College of Rochester to allow her to attend its medical lectures. She was later admitted to New York's Syracuse Medical College. After earning her medical degree in March 1853, at the age of 40, Clemence returned to her New York City home and opened her own practice. In an age where there were virtually no medical school trained female doctors, she launched a successful practice, specializing in obstetrics and surgery. Many of the girls she had taught were now married and required obstetrical care, and they trusted their old teacher to provide it. Clemence was described as “the most ceaseless, tireless, sleepless worker I have ever seen” in the book "These Were the Women" by Mary Ormsbee Whitton. Around 1860, Clemence began a series of lectures in her home on anatomy, physiology, and hygiene because these subjects were neglected in women’s education. Her classes were always packed, showing an interest as well as a need, so Clemence sought out a charter for a women’s medical college. With the help of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she was able to persuade the legislature to grant the charter.

New York Medical College & Hospital for Women

The New York Medical College and Hospital for Women opened on 1 November 1863, the first women’s medical college in the state. There were seven women in the inaugural class. But the struggle was far from over. The charter granted the female students the right to attend clinics at Bellevue Hospital, but the male students and professors made it clear they were not welcome, greeting them with hisses and jeers. At one point, the women required police escorts to attend the clinics. Though they could now earn their degrees, females could not become members of the American Medical Association until 1915. The school grew over the next 25 years, placing more than 200 female graduates in practices from Maine to California. Women from other countries came for training as well. The school’s hospital was run by Clemence’s students and graduates, serving about 200 patients annually. But the clinic served 2000 patients per year, highly popular because it was about the only place in the city where female patients could be treated by female doctors. Her home became a meeting place for advocates of women’s causes. She was president of the New York City Woman Suffrage Society from 1873-1886 and the National Suffrage Association from 1887-1878. She also served as president of the Moral Education Society of New York and of the Woman’s American Temperance League. She delivered the main address at her medical school’s 25th commencement ceremony in 1888. Two days later she passed away at age 74. For further reading: Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier - history 

Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier - History of American Women 

Wikipedia - Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier

August Birthdays

Ward H. Forman born 24 Aug 1926

Happy Birthday to all you who were born or married in August! Here are some ancestors who also celebrate special days in August. I've linked to some previous blog stories about some of them.

My father had an August birthday. Ward H. Forman (1926-2006) Ward H. Forman 24 Aug 1926
By the way, it's also his sister Mildred Forman Montana's birthday (same date 3 years later.) So she is 90 today.

On August 9, 1637, Hannah Feake was born to Elizabeth Fones Winthrop and Robert Feake. (There's a long story with Elizabeth! Black Sheep - Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett  )
Hannah married John Bowne and they are recognized as early founders of religious liberty in our young country. Religious Freedom is in Our Blood

5th great-grandmother and grandfather, Ann Egleton and John Fish, were married on 2 Aug 1767 in Norfolk, England.

6th great-grandfather, Timothy Taylor, was born 8 August 1729 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, one of a long line of Quaker Taylors.

7th great-grandparents James Hosken and Jane Taylor were married 5 August 1705 in Cornwall, England. The Baragwanath line ties in here.

12th great-grandmother, Agnes Sharpe who later married Adam Winthrop, was born 10 August 1503 in Islington, England. Their grandson John Winthrop would become the first governor of Massachusetts.

And because everyone needs a little royalty in their family lines, on 7 August 1282, Elizabeth Plantagenet, Princess of England, daughter of King Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, was born in Rhuddlan, Wales. 18th great-grandmama!! This is also the Baragwanath line.

And a very happy birthday to all our living August celebrators!!