Framlingham Castle: The Howard Family and beyond

 

The Howard Family

John Howard succeeded to a portion of the Mowbray estates.  He was created the 1^st Duke of Norfolk.  Between1483-1485, John Howard probably began the sequence of improvements to the castle.   Under the Howards, the castle was extensively modernized; fashionable brick was used to improve parts of the castle; ornamental chimneys were added; the battlements were reduced in size to exaggerate the apparent height of the walls, and the Howard coat of arms was added to the gatehouse.  The Great Chamber was probably built across the Inner Court at this time, linking the Great Hall with the chapel and chambers on the east side of the castle, and by 1524 there were at least 29 different rooms in the castle.  On 22 August 1485, John Howard killed at Bosworth Field during the War of the Roses between the Yorkist, which side Johnn Howard chose and the Lancastrians, and his estates passed to his son.

Sir Thomas Howard (b. 1443) became the 2^nd Duke of Norfolk, who commissioned a hanging or 
tapestry depicting Hercules for the Great Chamber. Thomas married Lady Elizabeth Tilney, (ancestor, thru her 1^st marriage).  In 1487 upon the Lancastrian Victory, Sir Thomas Howard was attained and forfeited his lands and titles and placed in the Tower of London.  King Henry VII then gave the castle to John de Vere.  In 1513, Thomas Howard gained favor with King Hery VIII. after fighting at the victory of Flodden.  Framlingham was returned to Thomas and the Duke spent his retirement there; he decorated his table at the castle with gold and silver plate that he had seized from the Scots at Flodden.  The castle was expensively decorated in a lavish style during this period, including tapestries, velvet and silver chapel fittings and luxury bed linen.   A hundred suits of armor were stored in the castle and over thirty horses kept in the stables. Thomas and Elizabeth Howard were the grandparents of Queen Catherine Howard and Queen Anne Boleyn, wives of King Henry VIII.  Sir Thomas Howard died on 21 May 1524 at Framlingham Castle and his estates passed to his eldest son,

Sir Thomas Howard, 3^rd Duke of Norfolk (b. 1473).  Thomas made little use of the castle.  He married Anne Plantagenet, a daughter of King Edward IV in 1495.  In 1547, Sir Thomas Howard was attained, out of fears from his rivals lead by Edward Seymour that the Howards aspired to claim the crown.  All his honors were forfeited, and he was ordered to be executed.  However, King Henry VIII died the day before Thomas was to be executed.  King Henry VIII’s son, King Edward VI kept Thomas imprisoned at the Tower and gave Framlingham castle to his half-sister, Mary, who would become the 1^st Queen of England.

1553 Queen Mary gathered her supporters at Framlingham Castle to protest the claim to the throne by 
Lady Jane Grey and led a successful march on London and proclaimed Queen of England. Mary returned the castle to Thomas Howard for his loyalty.  Thomas did not return to Framlingham and the castle was leased out.  In 1558 Queen Mary of England died and she was succeeded by her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I.  In 1572, Thomas Howard was executed for treason by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Repairs to the castle appear to have been minimal from the 1540s onwards, and after Queen Mary left Framlingham, the castle went into a fast decline.  A survey in 1589 noted that the stonework, timber and brickwork all needed urgent maintenance, at a potential cost of £100.   The Great Park was turned into fields in 1580.  As religious laws against Catholics increased, the castle became used as a prison from 1580 onwards; by 1600 the castle prison contained 40 prisoners, priests and recusants.  

In 1613, King James I returned the castle to Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, but the castle was now derelict.  His son, Theophilus Howard sold the castle for £14,000 to Robert Hitcham in 1635, who died a year later leaving the castle to Pembroke College with the proviso that the inner buildings be destroyed and a workhouse be built inside. Over the following centuries the castle was used as an isolation ward for victims of the plague in 1666, storehouse during the Napoleonic Wars, later as a local jail.

The castle workhouse

In 1913, an act by Parliament to secure ancient monuments and buildings resulted in Pembroke College giving guardianship of the castle to the Commissioner of Works.  Today the castle is managed by English Heritage as a tourist attraction.

Panoramic View of the interior

Here ends the history of Framlingham castle and any connection my family had with the castle.

Framlingham Castle: The Mowbray Family

 

The Mowbray Family

Ancestors of my grandfather, Donald Smith

Thomas de Mowbray (Born 1366) was created the1^st Duke of Norfolk on 39 September 1397.  His mother being Lady Elizabeth Seagrave, 5^th Baroness Seagrave (b 1338) who married Lord John de Mowbray, 4^th Baron Mowbray. The Mowbrays seem to have used Framlingham Castle as their main seat of power for most of the 15th century. Thomas de Mowbray had a daughter, Isabel Mowbray (b. 1400), who was my direct ancestor.  Thomas was accused of treason which led to his banishment and his land was confiscated in 1398. He was allowed £1000 a year to support himself in exile.  In October 1398, he left for a trip to the Holy Land. On his return trip, he died of pestilence in Venice, Italy on 22 September 1399.  The creation of the dukedom was annulled by Parliament on 6 October 1399.  Reducing his widow's tilte to Countess of Norfolk.

Thomas’ eldest son Sir Thomas Mowbray, (born in 1385), Earl of Norfolk.  Thomas was involved in the Scrope conspiracy in 1405 (a plot to murder King Henry V by Lord Henry Scrope).  Thomas was executed without trial on 8 June 1405.  His brother was his heir.

Sir John de Mowbray was born on 3 August 1390 and succeeded his brother as heir to Framlingham Castle from his great-grandmother's estate.  The title of Duke of Norfolk was restored to him 30 April 1425.  He served as Earl Marshal at the coronation of King Henry VI. In 1432, Sir John Mowbray died, and the castle passed to his son.

Framlingham Castle, Mowbray family seat

Sir John de Mowbray (b, 1415) was the 3^rd Duke of Norfolk and inherited Framlingham Castle.  He was appointed Ambassador to France in 1439.  He served as Earl Marshal at the coronation of King Edward IV in 1461.  Sir John Mowbray died on 6 November 1461.

Sir John Mowbray (b. 1444) succeeded his father as 4^th Duke of Norfolk and to Framlingham Castle and died there on 16 or 17 January 1476. 

His daughter, Lady Anne Mowbray, (b. 1472) was betrothed to Richard, Duke of York, which they became Duke and Duchess of York and Norfolk as children. Lady Anne Mowbray died in 1481, and Richard died in 1483, ending the dukedom of Norfolk.  Anne was co-heir with a cousin, John Howard (b1425), a descendant of her great-grandfather’s sister, Margaret de Mowbray (b 1388-d. 1459).  The castle would again change family hands.

Framlingham Castle: The Plantagent Family

 

The Plantagenet Family 

Ancestors of Donald Smith & Ethelyn Skinner

King Edward I

    Upon the death of  Roger Le Bigod, 7th Earl of Norfolk in            1306, Framlingham Castle reverted to the Crown, under the        King  Edward I.  There is no information if any of the royal            family resided there at any time after the Bigod's death. 

King Edward II

When King Edward I died in 1307 and his son, King Edward II succeeded him to throne of England.  Again the Crown retained control of Framlingham Castle.  King Edward held the castle until 1310.

 

Lord Thomas of Brotherton

   King Edward gave the castle in 1310 to his half-brother, Thomas     of Brotherton (b. 1 June 1300), the son of King Edward I and his     2^nd wife, Marguerite of France.  He was granted the Earldom and     became the Earl of Norfolk.   Records show that Framlingham was     only partially furnished around this time, although it is unclear if        this was because it was in limited use, or because fittings and            furnishings were moved from castle to castle with the owner as he     traveled, or if the castle was simply being refurnished. The castle        complex continued to thrive. On 23 August 1338, Lord Thomas of     Brotherton, died at Framlingham Castle. The castle then passed to     his widow, Lady Mary de Brewes.  She died on 11 June 1362. 

King Edward III

King Edward II died in 1327 and his son, King Edward III became the King of England.  Upon the death of Lady Mary, Countess of Norfolk. King Edward III then granted the castle to William de Ufford, 2^nd Earl of Suffolk (b. 1338; d. 1382).  It appears it was still within the Royal Family's properties for KIng Edward to grant it to another Royal descendant.

Image of William in stained galsss

    William de Ufford had married Joan de Montagu, the                           granddaughter of Lord Thomas of Brotherton and daughter of            Alice of Norfolk (King Edward III’s first cousin).   William de            Ufford’s sisters, Cecily and Margaret de Ufford are direct                ancestors of my grandfather, Donald Smith.  Although William de     Ufford and his wife Joan had five children, none of them survived     childhood.  

Upon his death in 1382, the castle was returned to his wife’s family, passing to Margaret of Norfolk (b. c1322), Countess of Norfolk, daughter of Thomas de Botherton and Joan de Montagu’s aunt. She had been born at Framlingham Castle and spent her childhood there. Margaret married John Segrave, the 4th Baron Segrave in 1335 and had four children.  

Framlingham Castle, Margaret's residence

In 1350, she sought an annulment of her marriage claiming she was bethrothed to her husband at an early age and never agreed to live with him.  King Edward III wanted to keep her children legitimate. If her marriage was annulled then her children would be considered illegitimate and ruin his plans to marry her children into other royal Plantagent families.  In 1349, King Edward arranged for a double marriage between two of the Segrave children to two of the Mowbray children.  Two years later in 1351, King Edward III charged Margaret of violating his prohibition of trvaeling to France.  An inquistion revealed she had gone to France unlawfully by crossing the channel with servant of a man who would become her 2nd husband, Sir Walter Manny, 1st Baron Manny. The servant broke hi latern so she would go unnoticed and traveled with her in France.  Before Margaret could receive her annulment, her husband John Segave died in 1253 and she married Sir Walter Manny in 1254 without affected the birth staus of her children.  In 1297, she was created Duchess of Norfolk for life.  Margaret of Norfolk died on 24 March 1399 and her estate passed to her grandson.

Framlingham Castle: The Bigod Family

 

I watched a show on Public Television called “Lucy Worsley investigates Bloody Mary” which the noted British historian reviewed the reign of England’s ruling 1^st Queen Mary I.   At one point, Lucy

Worsley interviews an expert on Mary’s gathering of her supporters to take the throne from the Nine-day Queen, Lady Jane Grey.  They were conducting the interview at Framlingham Castle where her supporters joined her.  I recognized the name of the castle from tracing my English nobility ancestors who at one point owned the castle.   However, doing a Wikipedia check, I realized that several generations of my ancestors had owned and resided in the castle on different family lines of nobility.   I also discovered that my ancestral families lost or gained the castle depending on their support or opposition of the ruling monarch (also my ancestors).  This is an attempt to trace one castle through my family ancestors over many generations.

I soon realized that tracing the castle through various ancestral families over several generations and hundreds of years was more of a daunting task than I thought.   I am breaking up the ownership of the castle by the different families that resided there through the centuries.  As most of my cousins are also descendants of these ancestors, I will include where we diverge from ownership at various times in history.  Direct ancestors will be in bold type.   The information on the history of the castle came from Wikipedia.  My ancestors biuographies came from Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson, [2013] 5 vols.

Wiliam the Conqueror
Ancestor of my grandparents
Donald Smith, Ethelyn Skinner, Harold Strout & Myrtle Multon

I will begin with my ancestor, William the Conquer of England.  William invaded England in 1066 and seized the crown to become King of England.  After his conquest, William granted his Norman supporters titles and vast lands in England.  Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches, a Norman noble (and my direct ancestor of my grandfather Donald Smith) provided 60 ships to William to sail his army to England.  Richard is said to have married Emma de Conteville, a half-sister to William the Conqueror.  He was father to Margaret le Goz (where my Smith ancestral line diverges).  Richard le Goz died in 1082.  His son Hugh d”Avranches, Earl of Chester (b. 1047) inherited estates and property of his father.  Hugh was the half-nephew to William the Conqueror.

The Bigod Family
Ancestors of all four of my grandparents 

In 1086, William the Conqueror granted 117 out of 629 manors in Suffolk County that his half-nephew Hugh, controlled to Roger le Bigod, who became the 1^st Earl of Norfolk in 1074.   Roger was born in 1047 and arrived with William during his conquest. 

Around 1100, a ringwork or motte and bailey castle was first built on the present site of the castle .  In 1107, Roger Le Bigod died, his estates and title passed to his son, William Le Bigod, 2^nd Earl of Norfolk.  William drowned on 25 November 1120 in the famous White ship disaster in which almost 300 nobles drowned.    

William’s brother, Hugh le Bigod, born in 1095, became the 3^rd Earl of Norfolk as he inherited the family estates and titles.  Between 1123-1154, Hugh le Bigod was one of a group of dissenting barons during the Anarchy in the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154).   In 1148 is the first mention of a castle at Framlingham completed by Hugh le Bigod.  In 1157, after coming to power King Henry II of England (reigned 1154-1189) attempted to re-establish royal influence across the region. As part of this effort, Henry confiscated the four Bigod castles from Hugh.  During this time, the crown-controlled Framlingham Castle. 

In 1165, King Henry II returned both Framlingham and Bungay Castles to Hugh le Bigod, on payment of a large fine of £666.  During the 1160s, the first set of stone buildings, including the first hall, were built within the castle.  In 1173, Hugh le Bigod joined the revolt by King Henry II’s sons to overthrow him but failed.  As punishment the King ordered several Bigod castles, including Framlingham, to be destroyed or slighted (the deliberate act of damaging high-status structures to reduce their value). The King's engineer, Alnoth, destroyed the fortifications and filled the moat at Framlingham between 1174 and 1176 at a total cost of £16 11s 12d, although he probably shored up, rather than destroyed, the internal stone buildings.  It was one of at least twenty castles belonging to the rebels to be slighted in the aftermath of the war.

In 1177, Hugh le Bigod died, his son, Roger le Bigod (born 1144), became 4^th Earl of Norfolk, as his heir.  Roger was out of favor with King Henry II, who initially denied him the family earldom and estates such as Framlingham because of his father’s support of his sons who sought to overthrow him. Between 1189-1213, Roger finally regained royal favor when King Richard I succeeded to the throne in 1189 to 1199. Roger then set about building a new castle on the Framlingham site – the work was conducted relatively quickly, and the castle was completed by 1213. 

The plan for Framlingham Castle

The new castle comprised the Inner Court, defended with 13 mural towers: an adjacent Lower Court with smaller stone walls and towers, and a larger Bailey with timber defenses.   By this time, a castle-guard system was in place at Framlingham, in which lands were granted to local lords in return for their providing knights or soldiers to guard the castle.  In 1199, King John I inherited the throne from his brother, King Richard I.  During his reign, he lost most of his ancestral lands in France to King Philip II.  The money King John needed was raised by taxing the nobles which Roger le Bigod opposed.  In “The First Baron’s war” began between King John I and rebel barons who opposed to his rule including Roger le Bigod in 1215.  On 12 March 1216, King John’s army arrives and surrounded the land of Roger.  King John arrived the next day.  Messages were sent on the 14^th and Roger, knowing the outcome of other castles being besieged, agreed to surrender without a fight and King John moved on to other rebel nobles.  On 19 October 1216, King John died, and his son became King Henry III of England.

In 1221, Roger le Bigod died, and his estates and title passed to his son, Hugh le Bigod (born 1182) and became the 5^th Earl of Norfolk.  He is father of Isabel le Bigod (b. 1211) and where my ancestral line ends with this family.  In 1225, Hugh le Bigod died, and the castle passed to his son, Roger.

Framlingham Castle, The Bigods main seat

Roger le Bigod (b. 1209), was now the 6^th Earl of Norfolk.  A large park, called The Great Park, was created around the castle; this park is first noted in 1270, although it may have been constructed somewhat earlier. The Great Park is enclosed 600 acres, stretching 1.9 miles to the north of the castle and was characterized by possessing bank-and-ditch boundaries, common elsewhere in England but very unusual in Suffolk. The park had a lodge built in it, which later had a recreational garden built around it. Like other parks of the period, the Great Park was not just used for hunting but was exploited for its wider resources.  In 1270, Roger le Bigod died without children and the castle passed to his nephew, Roger le Bigod.

Roger le Bigod, (b. 1245), 7^th Earl of Norfolk, was the son of Hugh le Bigod (b.1211-d.1266).  In 1270, Roger undertook extensive renovations there whilst living in considerable luxury and style.  Although still extremely wealthy, Roger was now having to borrow increasing sums from first the Jewish Community at Bungay, England.  In 1272, King Henry III died and his son, King Edward I inherited the throne of England.  King Edward I in 1290 issued an edict of the expulsion of the Jews and Italian merchants by the end of the century. Roger then became heavily in debt to King Edward I.  As a result, Roger led the baronial opposition to Edward's request for additional taxes and support for his French Wars.  

Roger is considered the hero of an disagreement between King Edward I and himself when the King commanded him to serve against the King of France in 1297.  Roger asserted he was only compelled to serve over seas in the company of the King himself.  Upon King Edward responded "By God, Earl, you shall either go or hang!"  Roger replied "By the same oath, O King, I will neither go or hang."

King Edward I threatening Bigod to go to France

Edward responded by seizing Roger's lands and only releasing them on the condition that Roger granted them to the Crown after his death. Roger agreed.  In 1306, Roger le Bigod died without heirs and Framlingham Castle passed to the Crown of England.  This ended the Bigod's family connection to the castle.

A Family Heirloom for six generations

 

My Family has been fortunate to have kept a family heirloom of a gold watch chain passed down for six generations on my father’s side.  Although the value is not much in a monetary sense, the fact it has passed through the hands of so many generations is priceless.  

 

It begins with Joseph Smith, born May 2, 1835, in Loudon, New Hampshire. His parents moved to Corinna, Maine when he was three years old where his father was the town blacksmith.   In 1850, he heard about the fortunes being made in the goldmines in California and not really wanting to follow his father’s trade, he left home for the West.  He sailed from Belfast, Maine down the east coast of the Americas, “around the horn” of South America and back up the West coast to San Francisco.  The overland route was considered unsafe and took the longest by going across the country in what was then known as “Indian territory “and over the Rockies to California.  In 1856 at age 21, he struck gold and had the watch chain made (and possibly a watch, that was not passed down).  He sent money home to his parents and remained in California until 1862, when he learned all but one of his siblings had died from consumption or now known as T.B.  He returned to Corinna; Maine purchased a tract of land and built his home there with the money he had left.  He married Arminda Devereaux from the neighboring of St. Albans, Maine in 1863 and they had two children.  His occupation was listed as a farmer on census records, but his farm was small, and he had more than enough money to live on.  He became a trustee of Corinna Union Academy where the next few generations of descendants would graduate.  He died on November 7, 1911, in Corinna, Maine and the chain passed to his son.

 

Julius Clifford Smith was born on September 4, 1868, in Corinna, Maine.  He was raised in Corinna with his sister, Jennie Smith.  He graduated from the Corinna Union Academy in 1889.  He married his classmate, Emmie Mower in 1894 and had three children.  Sadly, Emmie died of T.B. in 1894 at the Greenville, Maine Sanitorium.  He was called “Punka” by the family as his oldest granddaughter, Hilma Smith could not say “Papa” correctly. He was a house painter by occupation and inherited his family’s’ home in 1911.  In 1926, he left a note with the watch chain stating, “when I am through, pass to Donald C. Smith, to keep in the Smith if possible and pass to his boy if he has one.”  At the time, his son had only two daughters.  Punka’s grandsons didn’t come along until the 1930s.  In 1930, he married a widowed schoolteacher, Alice (Miller) Macomber.  She would be the schoolteacher for most of her step-grandchildren.  In 1946, The Smith family farm burned down.  He then went to live with his son.  He died on November 13, 1949, in Corinna, Maine and the chain passed to his son.

Donald Clifford Smith was born on March 4, 1897, in Corinna, Maine.  After his mother’s death, he and his sisters were raised by his grandparents until their deaths and later by a housekeeper his father hired.  Donald graduated from Corinna Union Academy in 1917 and joined the Army in 1918 during WWI.  He never saw battle overseas and was stationed at Fort Devens in Massachusetts. After the war, he returned to Corinna and married Ethelyn Skinner in 1919.  They took an old hen house from his father’s property and had it rebuilt into their home.  Donald used part of the house for his business and family lived on the other side.  They would have six children.  Donald found work in the local mill in Corinna as a weaver for several years.  He later did house painting like his father as well as doing wall papering in the area as his own business.  After the fire that his father’s home in 1946, he had the front business part of the house converted to a small apartment for him and his stepmother.   He died on November 11, 1967, in Corinna, Maine, shortlly before his grandson, Peter’s 4^th birthday party.  Donald left a will, but did not mention the watch chain.  His personal belongings and estate were left to his widow.  His oldest daughter, as executor of her mother’s estate in 1972, inherited the watch chain.

Hilma Edna Smith was born on May 11, 1920, in Corinna, Maine.  Her name, Hilma, was Swedish as she was named after a woman that her mother lived with in New Sweden, Maine when she was a teacher there.  She was raised in Corinna where she attended school and graduated from Corinna Union Academy in 1939.  She married Thurlow Knowles in October 1939 and was the mother of four children.  Hilma was always family-orientated and remembered fondly by her grandchildren, nieces and nephews, cousins, etc.   For many she was considered the matriarch of the family by keeping in touch with as many relatives as she could over the years.  She kept the watch chain until 1984, when she passed it to her nephew following her grandfather’s wishes to keep it in the Smith family if possible.  She was aware of his interest in family history and genealogy, and made the promise not to sell it, but cherish it for the next generation.  Hilma died February 21, 2011, in Bangor, Maine. 

 

Peter Michael Smith was born in 1963 in Dexter, Maine, the son of Glenn and Shirley (Buzzell) Smith.  His father being the youngest brother of Hilma Smith Knowles.  His interest in his family history began in 1978 at age 14 when he and his father visited his great-aunt, Leona (Smith) Judkins.   She told him the story of Joseph Smith going to California and the watch chain.  He received the watchchain in 1984 from his aunt, Hilma as a Smith male interested in family history and promised to pass it down to another Smith descendant.  His father Glenn Stanton purchased a pocket watch for the chain and gave it to him on December 24, 1989, as a Christmas gift.  Glenn died June 28, 1996, in Gorham, Maine.  Peter gave the watch and chain to his nephew in 2024.

 

Collins Michael Smith was born in 1997 in Hollis, Maine.  He received the chain and watch on July 7, 2024, as a gift for his wedding in October of that year.  He used them in his wedding to Sarah Picard.

The passing of the watch and chain  at the wedding of Collins and Sarah Smith, 2024

Uncle George

 

Uncle George

Uncle George was my grandmother, Myrtle (Moulton) Buzzell’s older brother.  My brothers, my cousins and I have often spoken of Uncle George in our memories as kids when we visited my grandmother.  Uncle George lived with her after her husband had died.  Sadly, our memories of him were mostly that none of us could understand what he was saying to us or anyone else.  He would be standing around their little house in Newport, Maine in the background smoking his pipe with a smile as everyone else talked.  Sometimes he said things that we thought our father understood as he would talk to him.  Later we asked our dad what he used to talk to George about.  He said sometimes he would talk about someone they knew or something that happened nearby, but most of the time, my father didn’t know what George was saying either.  If George laughed, my dad laughed also. 

We mostly remember him laughing, It was a high pitched “hehehe” kind of laugh.  My cousin, K Hartsgrove once said jokingly when I asked if she understood what he said? “George was probably saying what a bunch of idiots you are,” and laughed at us and we all laughed along too. 

George Henry Moulton was born on November 16, 1904, in Atkinson, Maine, the first child and son of Charles and Emma (Paine) Moulton.  George was raised in Atkinson, Maine where he attended school. 

Atkinson School 1910s, George is the last boy on the right, 2nd row
his sister, Myrtle little girl standing in front row

As the oldest son, George was expected to help his father by working early as a boy and helping provide money for his increasing number of siblings his parents were adding to the family.  George only went to school until the 5^th grade.  My mother said that George never went to school full-time, only for a few months at a time as the family could not afford him not to work.  Sadly, when George returned to school, he had to start at the grade level he left at.  Eventually his younger sister and siblings caught up to him and passed him in grade school.  George, being teased at being so old in the fifth grade, never returned.  The 1920 census record does state that he could read and write and had attended school within the past year at age 15.

One of the clearest memories I have of Uncle George was after my grandmother’s funeral, Uncle George, my parents and my aunt Bea were all in the same car driving out to the cemetery.  On the way, George said that an old girlfriend used to live in a house we passed.  We were all shocked to think that uncle even had a girlfriend.  After some teasing my mother or my aunt asked him why he didn’t marry her?  He said so clearly for the first time in my life I understood exactly what he said. “She gone and got knocked up is what she did.”  We were all laughing so hard from the shock to hear him say that phrase and so clearly, we had to laugh.  But I wonder what he thought of us laughing at his tragic love life as George never again was known to have a girlfriend afterwards.  Later we found the crumbled photo of a young George and his girlfriend, Irma Hawthorne, who we think was older than George.

George and Ima Hawthorne 1920s?

Few photos of George exist of him in his 20s

George with brother Reggie and his father at the truck, blueberry picking for work

George’s occupation on the 1930 census was a “woods laborer” which meant working cutting down trees like his father, either clearing for roads to for lumber companies.  On the 1940 census, George was listed as a “teamster” working in the woods as well. This meant driving teams of horses or oxen in the woods.

During World War II, all four of George’s younger brothers enlisted in the service.  Although not strictly enforced there was a “sole survivor” policy.  This came about after the five Sullivan brothers all died on the same ship leaving the family with no male heirs to carry on the family name or support the family.  George remained at home while his brothers served in the war.  George appears in photos of the family in the 1940s.

George staning in the background between his mother and sister-in-law

By 1950 his father found a house on a farm in Bradford, Maine where he and George worked.  George was listed as doing farming and lumbering as was his father and youngest brother, Reggie.  The story that was always told of George while they lived in Bradford every Saturday night, he would make several miles walk on foot to Grange Hall.  He would take a pail with some drinks and sit watching everyone else dance and listen to the band that played.  No one ever remembers seeing George dance, but he would sit there and just enjoy everyone else having a good time. 

Bradford Grange Hall in 2020

My mom remembered a story of how when her grandparents were living in Bradford, her cousin, Sharon Moulton had come to visit or stay with her grandparents for a time.  There was a well that was either poorly covered or not covered and Sharon somehow fell in the well.  No one knew how long she was in the well, but it was only because Uncle George was outside smoking his pipe that he heard her crying for help.  My mother doesn’t remember how they got her out, but she said Uncle George, her grandfather and mother somehow got her out of the well.  My mother said she knew after that to never go near that well, but she was also surprised that George, who didn’t have the best hearing by then had heard her cries. 

Otherwise, my mom claimed that “George was the sweetest man she ever knew and never said anything bad about anyone.”

George and some of his siblings, Reggie, Bob, Clarence, Myrtle and Gladys

Uncle George was always attended reunions and once was made vice-president of the Moulton-Thompson reunion in 1956. After his mother’s death in 1958, George went to live with his youngest brother, Reggie.  George had no say where he wanted to live and had to go where someone was willing to take him in.   His father went to live with his sister’s family.  No one knows if he was happy with the living arrangements, but having no place else to go, he accepted it.  Then he lived with his sister, Myrtle until her death in 1980 and for a time he remained in Newport in the house with his brother Bob staying with him. 

Uncle George at the Moulton-Thompson Reunion

Before he died George was taken to Eastern Maine General Hospital to stay.  I remember going to see him there and he was sitting on his bed eating his dinner like he had never had such a good meal.  My mother later remarked, who knows how well he ate with her mother or even what she cooked for them was any good.  He probably thought he was having the best meals in his life at the hospital.

Uncle George died on September 13, 1985, at Bangor, Maine.  His funeral was held in Corinna, Maine at the Crosby Neal Funeral Home.  I went with my parents to the visiting hours.  Unlike my grandmother’s visitations, which were sad and somber.  It was a small reunion with my aunts and uncles there, my great aunts and uncles and cousins attending.  "It was like a party inside there," my mother remarked when she left, with everyone talking loudly and laughing and sneaking out for beer in the parking lot.  She said I wonder what the funeral home people thought of this group of mourners.  There was no crying, no one sitting in silence or even paying much attention to George in the casket.  Upon reflection, I bet George wouldn’t have wanted any other way, he was there in the background enjoying everyone else having a good time at his farewell party.

Gravestone, Pine Grove Cemetery
Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

Whatever happened to Peter Woodward of Bradford, Maine

 

In genealogy, when compiling information of your ancestor’s siblings or children, you may have missing information from vital records or family knowledge.  One of these relatives was my Peter F. Woodward or Woodard, brother to my ancestor Benjamin Woodward.  I could trace him through census records until 1870 and then he seemed to disappear.  I knew he had married Frances Myra Curtis on January 18, 1862, in Orneville, Maine.  They had three sons, and a daughter, who with their mother were buried in Riverside Cemetery in Newport, Maine.  Peter was missing from the gravestone and there was no evidence he had ever lived in Newport. 

Gravestone, Riverside Cemetery, newport, Maine

What had become of Peter Woodward?   Peter was born about 1827, based on his age on census records (age 23 in 1850; age 33 in 1860; and age 43 in 1870).   According to the first two census records, Peter was living at home with his parents, and he seemed to have waited late in his life for that time to marry at age 35 and his wife, age 19 years.  In 1870, he was living Bradford, Maine with his wife and two eldest sons.

1870 census of Bradford,Maine

Peter and his wife and children have not been found on the 1880 census under any spelling of Woodward or Woodard.  In 1896, when Peter’s daughter Ella Woodard married George Reed, she listed her parents as Peter and “Sophrona” Woodard, both living in Bradford, Maine, proving neither of her parents were deceased at the time.

Reviewing the death records under the surname of Woodard, revealed a death certificate for a Peter Woodard who died February 29, 1903, in Bradford, Maine, aged 79 years (making his birth year about 1824).  It listed his father as Benjamin Woodard.  As no informant was listed, it may have been a guess or that someone knew he had both a son named Benjamin or even a brother, Benjamin and confused that name as his father.  

As there were no other Peter Woodards known to be living Bradford, Maine, this would likely be him, but why wasn’t he buried with his family in Newport, or they buried with him?

The newspaper provided little information on his life other than what had occurred before his death.  His death certificate listed the cause of death as Cerebral Apoplexy or a stroke.

Bangor Daily News, Dec 2, 1903

Town Reports were a big help in piecing together the years before his death.  Starting in 1890, Peter Woodard began to appear in the Town Reports of Bradford needing town assistance for 22 weeks of that year.  The following year in 1891, he only needed help for 4 weeks.  No reason for why he needed help from the town for either lack of finding work or being unable to work.

In 1895, Peter reappeared in the Town Reports of being in the Almshouse for 49 weeks of that period.  There was also a line in the report for a bill that was paid by the town for the cost of getting P Woodard from Belfast of $22.50.   Why was Peter in Belfast, Maine.   A newspaper search revealed much about Peter and his condition.

From The Commercial, April 9, 1895

Then Commercial, April 22, 1895

Why Peter had run away to Belfast or where he may have been intending to go, is not known.  How insane was Peter?  If Peter was a danger to himself and especially others as he was in Belfast, he could easily have been placed in the State Mental Hospital in Augusta, Maine, by the authorities or the town selectman.   But Peter remained in Bradford despite being placed in Almshouse of Bradford every year afterwards.  The Reports were published after the annual Town Meeting held in March for the previous year’s accounting period from March to February. 

1897 & 1898, Peter Woodward in Almshouse for 52 weeks

1899 Peter Woodard in the Almshouse for 52 weeks

1900 Peter Woodard was only in the Almshouse for 31 weeks

1901 Peter Woodard does not appear in the Town Report which covered the year 1900 nor does Peter Woodard appear on the 1900 census in Bradford or elsewhere.  He again returns the Reports for the year ending in March 1902, being in Almshouse for 37 weeks.

1903 Peter Woodard was in the Almshouse for 52 weeks. He died in November 1903, so his final appearance in Town Reports was the in the 1904 report.  The town paid Dr. A.K.P. Smith for his professional services for P. Woodard of $1.25 and paid L. R. Lassell $5.00 for burial.  Again, Peter had been in the Almshouse for 52 weeks.

Being a pauper and having no family to claim him, he was buried without a gravestone in a local cemetery.  His wife never divorced him, but they do not appear to have remained together in Bradford.  She probably deserted him due to his sanity and possibly her own safety.  In 1900, Frances and her sons were already residing in Newport, Maine.

1900 Census of Newport, Maine

None of his surviving siblings took him off the town’s hands either because of being unable to support him financially or provide with the care he needed with his mental conditions. 

It was a sad ending to his life, but now we know what became of Peter Woodard and why he isn't buried with his wife and children.