Bette Davis House -- Lowell, Massachusetts

The house is located in Lowell, Massachusetts, about a mile from where I live. Since Bette Davis is one of my favorite actresses, I still love knowing that she lived in Lowell for less than two years. Please see Wikipedia article.

Photo taken May 2019 by Barbara Poole

From The Sun newspaper of Friday, June 29, 2012, there was a section about Bette Davis, called, "One of Hollywood's most successful and feisty actresses born in Lowell."

Bette Davis house on Chester Street off of Westford Street. See the purple line to the Pink House. 

A few things I found interesting:

• In 1921, after seeing some movies, she she decided to become an actress and also changed the spelling of her name from Betty to Bette.
• Her first movie was the 1931 The Bad Sister, but her "big break" was in 1932 with her lead female role in The Man Who Played God. She was nominated 10 times for the Oscar in the Best Actress category, and won 8 times.
• After three failed marriages, she married Gary Merrill, who adopted one of her children. They then adopted two more.
• During that marriage, they visited Lowell to do a reading at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. During this visit, Bette went to the City Hall for copies of her birth certificate.
• In her later years, she had a stroke and breast cancer. Bette died on October 6, 1989, age 81 in France and was buried in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood.
• "Her son, Michael Merrill, attended the plaque unveiling and thanked people for honoring his mother."

1910 census page for Somerville, Massachusetts. Bette Davis was listed as Ruth E. age 2, born in Massachusetts.

Churchman, Dunlap, Bartlett, Brown, Leighton, Lowell, Massachusetts -- Tombstone Tuesday

CHURCHMAN

Libbie I.

1881 - 1920

Mary Dunlap

Leighton

1865 - 1935

DUNLAP

Harry

1857 - 1930

Agnes L.

1859 - 1833

Flora E.

1856 - 1934

BARTLETT

Julia

1824 - 1905

Lusylvia

1855 - 1908

Charles W.

1853 - 1867

DARZELLE DUNLAP BROWN
1858 - 1940


LEIGHTON
Walter French Leighton Jr.
1893 -1969

Lowell Cemetery
Lowell, Massachusetts

New England Blogger Bash, the Week Before -- Londonderry, New Hampshire

The lighthouse is in Maine, I took the picture to use as our logo.

Sharing some recent photos of Londonderry, to give you an idea of the town.

Below photos taken last week in Londonderry.

This smiling face will greet you on Saturday.

Vincent Rojo on the left, will also greet you, he is with my husband.

Searching for Roger Clap's Burial Place, Found in Front of Me!

With a detailed map, a photo copied from flickr, what more did I need? The old cemetery is located in Boston, I've been there many times, and have known for at least 10 years that Roger Clap was buried there. So why couldn't I find his grave? The answer will surprise you.

Boston, Massachusetts

King's Chapel photos.

 Shot of some stones from the church cemetery. Once home, I enlarged it, and saw Roger Clap's name on the stone.

Roger Clap

Born:  April 06, 1609, England

Died:  February 02, 1691, Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts

His wife,
(buried next to him)
Joanna Ford

Born: June 8, 1619, England

Died:  June 29, 1695, Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts

Map provided by the Church, Roger is in the third line from the bottom, where the dark circle is. I couldn't locate the stone because I was using the photo below as my guide, hunting for a crooked stone.

You can see, the photographer was the problem!

Wordless Wednesday -- The Engagement at Table 40

"Table 40 in Parker's Restaurant*  is where John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier." 

*Now known as Omni Hotels and Resorts. This location is in Boston, Massachusetts, and it was the first time I was able to take the photo without people in the dining room.

Tombstone Tuesday -- RACHEL NEWELL

In Memory of

Mrs. Rachel Newell

wife of

Mr. James Newell

who departed this life

October 27th AD 1789

in the 26th year

of her Age.

Ancient Burying Ground

Hartford, Connecticut

(I am not sure if James and Rachel are related to me through my large Newell line.)

Mayhew of Massachusetts -- Surname Saturday

My post the other day, titled, "Where An Ancestor Lived" was about Thomas Mayhew of Martha's Vineyard. In addition, I have been posting a lot of pictures of the Island on Massachusetts here and here.  Below, is my descendant report for two generations of Mr. Mayhew. My direct lines are in green.





Generation No. 1

---

1.	THOMAS MAYHEW was born BEF 1 APR 1593 in Tisbury, Wiltshire, England, and died 25 MAR 1682 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. He married ABT 1620 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. She died BEF 1635. He married JANE GALLION BEF 1635 in Watertown, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. She died BET 1666 AND 25 MAR 1682 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts.
	Child of THOMAS MAYHEW and wife was: 2   i. Thomas MAYHEW was born ABT 1620, and died 1657 in At Sea. He married Jane PAINE ABT 1648. Children of THOMAS MAYHEW and JANE GALLION were: + 3   i. HANNAH MAYHEW was born 15 JUN 1635 in Medford, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. 4   ii. Bethiah MAYHEW was born 6 DEC 1636 in Watertown, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, and died 1678 in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts. She married Thomas HARLOCK BEF 1659 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. She married Richard WAY ABT 1677. 5   iii. Mary MAYHEW was born 14 JAN 1640 in Watertown, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. 6   iv. Martha MAYHEW was born ABT 1641, and died AFT 1717. She married Thomas TUPPER 27 DEC 1661 in Sandwich, Bristol Co., Massachusetts.

---

Generation No. 2

---

3.	HANNAH MAYHEW (THOMAS MAYHEW1) was born 15 JUN 1635 in Medford, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. She married THOMAS DOGGETT 23 SEP 1657 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, son of JOHN DOGGETT and ALICE BROTHERTON. He was born 1630 in Watertown, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, and died 18 AUG 1691 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. She married Samuel SMITH.
	Children of HANNAH MAYHEW and THOMAS DOGGETT were: 7   i. Thomas DAGGETT was born 1658 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, and died 25 AUG 1726 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. She married Elizabeth HAWES 22 JAN 1683 in Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island. 8   ii. Samuel DAGGETT was born 1660 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, and died 26 FEB 1718 in Marshfield, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. He married Mary ROGERS 24 JAN 1682 in Marshfield, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. He married Bathsheba HOLMES 21 JAN 1690. 9   iii. John DAGGETT was born 7 SEP 1662 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, and died 7 SEP 1724 in Attleboro, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. He married Sarah PEASE 1685 in Attleboro, Massachusetts / Tisbury, Rhode Island. She was born ABT 1668. 10   iv. Joshua DAGGETT was born 1664 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. He married Hannah NORTON ABT 1685 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. 11   v. Jemima DAGGETT was born 1666 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. She married Thomas BUTLER 27 NOV 1682 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. 12   vi. Mary DAGGETT was born 1668 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, and died AFT 1708. She married Israel LUCE. She married Thomas HOWE 1693. She married Jeremiah HOWE 1693. 13   vii. Patience DAGGETT was born 1670 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, and died 11 OCT 1760. She married Samuel ANNABLE 11 APR 1695 in Barnstable, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts. + 14   viii. MARTHA DOGGETT was born 1672 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. 15   ix. Israel DAGGETT was born 1674 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, and died 6 AUG 1756. He married Ruth NORTON 31 JAN 1701. She was born ABT 1681. 16   x. Ruth DAGGETT was born 1674 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. She married Nathaniel BACON 11 NOV 1696 in Barnstable, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts. 17   xi. Mercy DAGGETT was born 1678 in Watertown, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts.

Those Places Thursday -- Where an Ancestor Lived

Whenever I travel to a distant town, state or an island, I always check my genealogy records to see if an ancestor had ties to that location. So I was delighted when I discovered that my ancestor Thomas Mayhew (large wikipedia article*) was an early settler of Martha's Vineyard (island) in Massachusetts.


Many of the photos will be shown on my Flowers From My Area blog, but a few new ones are below. Naturally, the houses were not there in 1647, when Thomas moved from Watertown, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts to Martha's Vineyard. But, I believe he probably saw the bluffs.


*"In 1641, Thomas secured Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, the Elizabeth Islands, and other islands as a proprietorship from Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Lord Sterling. This enabled him to transfer his business operations there. With the help of son Thomas, a settlement was established. Farming and whaling enterprises began."

Wordless Wednesday -- Painted at age 80

This painting isn't particularly beautiful or unusual, but it hangs in my dining room and I look at it every day. My grandfather painted it when he was 80. I have the copper jug shown in the photo and it displayed below the painting in that room. Apparently, he used it for holding water and swishing the paint off of his brushes! The evidence is on the inside rim. What was he thinking?


I believe the jug was purchased by him during one of his many trips overseas. Imagine Paris in 1927, bet he had fun. In the 30 years I've had it, I cleaned it once.

Very worn around rim, and thin band about to fall off.

Bottom of pot.

Children Died Young -- Tombstone Tuesday

Young children of Ward and Rebecca Seccomb Poole

Buried at:

Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Sally Poole

Born:  18 Apr. 1802

Died:  27 Feb. 1809.

Joseph

Born:  30 Dec. 1797

Died:  11 May 1798

Rebecca

Born:  4 Oct 1800

Died:  15 Oct 1801.

Children in the row on the right of their parents.