elizabeth (prouty) stoddard drake

In my last post, I left off with Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard, whom I believe to be Elizabeth Prouty, marrying Perez Drake in Hanover on October 15, 1837.  After searching through records and looking closely at the marriage intention, her new husband's name is actually Bezar, not Perez.  I believe the Hanover book transcribed it incorrectly.

Now that I know Elizabeth is probably still living, I jumped forward a little bit to the 1850 census since this is the first census where every member of the household is named.  I was able to find an Elizabeth Drake (at bottom of image below) in South Scituate, with two children, Harriet and Bezar Drake.  Her husband is not in the household, he must have died not long after they were married; just like her first husband David Stoddard.  I have also highlighted other families that have the Prouty surname; showing evidence that Elizabeth's maiden name is probably Prouty, as I thought in my last post.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

Elizabeth is also listed in Scituate in the 1860 census; this time living alone, working as a seamstress.  Again, I also highlighted the Proutys living near her, which seem to include many siblings and nieces and nephews of Elizabeth Prouty.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

Since now I have more children of Elizabeth, I can search for their birth records to see if they list their mother's maiden name.  I did not have luck finding Harriet's birth, but I was able to find Bezar.  Bezar was born in Scituate in November 3, 1844 to Beza and Elizabeth Drake, no maiden name listed for Elizabeth.  I was also able to find Harriet's death record, which states she was born in Sandwich, MA and died in Scituate in 1865.  Harriet's death record also does not have her mother's maiden name, just her parents as Beza and Elizabeth Drake.

From these records, the only new piece of information I obtained is that Elizabeth and Bezar's daughter Harriet was born in Sandwich, MA.  I searched for Harriet Drake's birth, now knowing this new information, and found she was born in September of 1840 in Sandwich; but again no maiden name for Elizabeth.

So Bezar and Elizabeth must have been living in Sandwich at some point before they moved back to Scituate.  (see note 1)  With this new information I searched for them in the 1840 census in Sandwich.  Here is the household I found for them.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

Males Under 5:1(charles); Males 20-29:1(bezar); Females 10-14:1(hannah lapham stoddard); Females 15-19:1(elizabeth jane stoddard); Females 30-39:1(elizabeth)      

After doing some more research, I found that the child under 5 is Charles Drake, from Bezar's first marriage. The other children are from Elizabeth's first marriage with David Stoddard; the only one missing is their son David who would be about 20 years old.  He may still be living in Scituate.  I am confident that this is the correct census entry for Bezar and Elizabeth Drake.

So I now have found Elizabeth in the 1810, 1820, and 1840-1860 censuses.  I was unable to find her in the 1870 census, so I am assuming she died between 1860-1870.  Guessing she probably died between these years,  I searched for Elizabeth Drake's death in Scituate since that is where she was living in 1860.  I could not find her death recorded in the ancestry databases, so I searched the familysearch database, Massachusetts Deaths 1841-1915, and found her!  Elizabeth Drake died March 9, 1865 in South Scituate.

So does this elusive death record reveal Elizabeth's parents names, giving further evidence that it is the same Elizabeth Prouty that first marries David Stoddard.  It does list her parents names, but just as William and Hannah.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

I am happy with this information, as when I narrowed down her parents in my last post I believed she was the daughter of William and Hannah Prouty.  Even though the record does not give her parent's last name, I believe this is enough information, in addition to everything else, to show this is Elizabeth Prouty.

I did not stop with her death record though.  Plymouth Probate records are online at familysearch, so I browsed the index and fortunately Elizabeth Drake has a probate file!  Plymouth Probate 6654, does definitively tie Elizabeth with both David Stoddard and Bezar Drake as it lists all the heirs to her estate.  The heirs include both children from her first marriage to David Stoddard and her second marriage to Bezar Drake.  Those listed are David T Stoddard (my 3rd great grandfather), Elizabeth Jane Taylor, Hannal L Stoddard, and Harriet Damon, recently deceased.  Within the probate files, her other son Bezar Drake is also listed as she receives his bounty money from the government; I am assuming Bezar had passed also.

This probate gave me a bit more information that I had not known.  Interestingly, Elizabeth Drake's property is described a bit, stating she lives in a house on the land of William Prouty; which I believe is her brother. Also, I thought that perhaps Elizabeth and David Stoddard's daughter Elizabeth had died as I could not find her in the records.  Now that I know she is still living in 1865 and married, I was able to find her death record in 1890 in New Bedford, MA.  I also found out that their other daughter Hannah was also living in New Bedford at this time.

At this point I have no doubt that Elizabeth was born in 1800 to William and Hannah Prouty, then married David Stoddard and eventually Bezar Drake.  She was unfortunate to have both husbands live not too long with her; but seems to have eventually made her way to the town she was born in, living near her siblings and other family.

notes:

1. The only other connection I have found so far with Elizabeth to Sandwich is that her sister Hannah marries in Sandwich in 1831.

david stoddard and elizabeth prouty

I decided to print out an ancestor chart from ancestry.com to see where I had some holes in my family tree. The obvious gaps in my research are mostly on my Italian side, as I do not have access to most of these records. On the other hand, my maternal grandmother's line is one of the lines I have been able to take back at least to the 1700's.  After looking at this chart; however, I did notice I do not have any birth and death dates for one pair of 4th great grandparents, David and Elizabeth Stoddard.  In the past, I have looked in the censuses for more information on this couple, but have been unable to find them.  So I figured I would start again with what I know.

Marriage

I know that David Stoddard and Elizabeth Prouty are my 4th great grandparents from my 3rd great grandfather, David Stoddard's, death record.  The record lists his parents as David Stoddard and Elizabeth, including her maiden name as Prouty, both born in Scituate.

With this information it was easy enough to find David and Elizabeth's marriage record on the ancestry database Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.  There are multiple entries, showing their marriage intention on January 23, 1819, and their marriage on June 7, 1819.  The multiple records show two different locations for their marriage, one in Scituate and one in Hanover.

One of the records is also in the book on google books, A Copy of the Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths and of Intentions of Marriage of the Town of Hanover, Mass. 1727-1857:


I always assumed David and Elizabeth were married in Scituate because their children's births are all recorded in Scituate, and their first marriage record I came across was from Scituate.  However; as the record is written above, it looks like they were actually married in Hanover, MA, a neighboring town of Scituate.  Their marriage was probably recorded in Scituate also as that is where they were from.

David and Elizabeth's first child, David Turner Stoddard, my 3rd great grandfather, was born in Scituate on August 13, 1820.  Since he was born in Scituate, I had searched the 1820 census for David and Elizabeth Stoddard in Scituate, looking for this family listed with one son under 5 years old.  I have never been able to find them in Scituate, and did not look too closely at other towns at the time.  After looking at their son's birth date though, I see it is later in the year of 1820, and David and Elizabeth could be living in Hanover before his birth.  I did another search for David Stoddard in the 1820 census in Hanover, MA; and there he was (I think)!  The household consists of :

Males 16-25:1 (david); Females 16-25:2 (elizabeth,?)

There is one person unaccounted for, a female aged 16-25.  This could be a sibling of either David or Elizabeth.  Their son David is also not included in this census, which as I stated above makes sense as he was born in August; probably after the census was taken.  I do think this is the correct David Stoddard, as they have to be living somewhere close and they do not seem to be anywhere else. (see note 1)  Also, the household matches up fairly well.

I usually go on to try and locate all the census records I can when researching a family as these records provide clues to birth dates and other family dynamics.  So my next step was to search the 1830 census. According to Scituate Vital Records, Elizabeth and David Stoddard had two more children, Elizabeth Jane Stoddard born in 1822, and Hannah Lapham Stoddard born in 1824.  Since their children were born in Scituate, David and Elizabeth still might be near Scituate in the 1830s.  I searched for them in the 1830 census in Scituate, but also included other towns nearby just in case.  I did not have any luck finding them this time.

Birth

I at least have one census record; though, so I can estimate David and Elizabeth's birth dates.  They were both between the ages of 16 and 25 years old in 1820, so that makes both of them born between 1795 and 1804.  I also know from their son David's death record, they were both born in Scituate.  Looking at the Vital records of Scituate, Massachusetts: to the year 1850, Volume 1, here are their possible birth dates and parents.

Elizabeth Prouty (p 301):


The only entry that matches with a birth year between 1795 and 1804 is the last one, Elizabeth Prouty, born August 10, 1800 to William and Hannah Prouty.  This does not prove this is her birth date or parents, for many reasons.  I could have the wrong census entry for them and therefore the wrong birth range.  There could also have been other Elizabeth's that were not recorded in Scituate, or Elizabeth may not have been born in Scituate.  Their are also many reasons supporting this birth date though.  The first is the that the date makes sense for Elizabeth, married at age 19 and had children between the ages of 20-24.  I also could not find any other census entries in 1820, and her birth date of 1800 does fall between the age range in that census.  To obtain further evidence of her parents I would look at William and Hannah's probate, deeds, and Elizabeth's death record if I could find it.  If her death was after 1840, it would probably include her parent's names.

David Stoddard (p 339):


The only David that would match our birth range of 1795-1804 from the 1820 census would be the first entry, David Stoddard born Sept 27, 1795 to Hezekiah Jr. and Jane.  (The last entry is David and Elizabeth's son David, my 3rd great grandfather.)  Again for the same reasons as Elizabeth's possible birth date, this does not prove that I have the correct David's birth.  I will also have to look into Hezekiah and Jane's probate and deeds, if any, and David's death record if I can find it.  For all the information I have at this point, this David makes the most sense.

Finding more evidence to support David's birth dates and parents:

• probate - David's possible father, Hezekiah Stoddard (Plymouth probate 19550, year 1817) - appoints a guardian to Hezekiah for excessive drinking and wasteful spending.  No mention of David, or any other children.  David would have been 22 years old.
• deeds:

• there are many deeds for Hezekiah Stoddard but only one mentions a David Stoddard, cordwainer of Scituate, and applies to the probate above of selling off Hezekiah's land by his guardian. (Plymouth deed 133,61).  In this deed David buys 9 acres of Hezekiah's homestead in Scituate.  The deed also mentions Hezekiah's wife Jane; but it does not state David is their son.  David does not keep this land, but sells the same land to Thomas Simmons (Plymouth deed 133,62). Both deeds are dated 1817.

• There are also no deeds for a David Stoddard in Hanover, showing where he got his land. (see note 2)

• There are many deeds for a David Stoddard/Stodder in Hingham, but this seems to be a different David - a bricklayer.  

• death records - could not find for David
• census: the 1820 census includes nearby families of Henry Stoddard and David Prouty - but not sure who they are yet in relation to David and Elizabeth.  Hezekiah Stoddard does sell some land in Hanover to a David Prouty.  (Plymouth deeds 138,194; and 128,229)  Other neighbors include families of Barrell, Damon, Nash and Curtis.

Finding more evidence to support Elizabeth's birth dates and parents:

• probate - no probate for William or Hannah Prouty.  
• deeds - many deeds for William Prouty - none to Elizabeth or David Stoddard.  William does give most of his land to his sons before he dies through deeds, but do not see any for Elizabeth or David, or William's other daughter Hannah.
• death record - did not find death record for Elizabeth Stoddard 
• census : same analysis as David's above.

So I found some connections between Hezekiah Stoddard and David Stoddard, especially in the Hanover area as recorded in some of Hezekiah deeds.  I still have not found any additional evidence to support William and Hannah as Elizabeth's parents.  I really need to find their death records, hoping it will list their parents.

Death

Now that I have possible parent's names for both Elizabeth and David, and I could not find them in the 1830 and on censuses, I did a quick check for their possible parents' households in 1830 to see if they could have been living with them.  They do not look to be living with either parents though.  I looked at Elizabeth's possible siblings also, but again none match up. (see note 3)

So at this point I have only found David and Elizabeth's marriage record in Hanover in 1819, their census record with them living in Hanover in 1820, and their children's births in Scituate, ending in 1824.  I was beginning to think that either David or Elizabeth (or both) had died between 1824 and 1830, since the last record I have of them is their daughter's birth in 1824 and I could not find them in the 1830 and beyond censuses.  Below I list the process I have taken to find their death dates.

• I did not find a death record for David Stoddard in the surrounding towns during the 1820s-1830s.  I also did not find death records for him after 1840.  I think it would be more likely that if he died later in life, the records would  be more accurate and I would be able to find it.  This leads me to believe that David died between 1824-1830, and it was not recorded.  
• I also did not find a death record for Elizabeth.  This could mean that she died young also, and the death was not recorded.  It could also mean; however, that if David died, she remarried.  Maybe I have not been able to find her death record because she has a different last name.
• If both David and Elizabeth died young, they would have left three young children behind.  If this is the case there would probably be probate documents identifying their guardians, which there are none in Plymouth Probate index. 
• I did not find a probate docket for a David Stoddard at this time, but there is a probate docket for an Elizabeth Stodder in 1827 in Scituate.  This could be Elizabeth or the Elizabeth that marries Hezekiah Stoddard, David's grandfather.  Since there is no identifying information in the probate, I am not sure who this Elizabeth is.  There is no mention of any children.  
• If David died before 1830, Elizabeth probably would have been enumerated in 1830.  There is an Elizabeth Stodder living in Hingham, but the household does not match.  She does not seem to be living with family members at this time according to their census households. (see note 3)

The research above leads me to believe that David probably died after his last child was born and Elizabeth remarried.  I have looked for a second marriage record for her in the past, but was unable to find one in Scituate.  Since I know now Elizabeth has a connection to Hanover, I checked their vital records also.  I did find an Elizabeth Stoddard who marries a Perez Drake in 1837 in Hanover.  The entry below is from A Copy of the Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths and of Intentions of Marriage of the Town of Hanover, Mass. 1727-1857:

This could possibly be our Elizabeth, but it does not give us any information if this is Elizabeth's second marriage.  I searched on the ancestry database, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, to see if I could find any more information on this event and found one interesting entry.

The marriage intention states Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard, which means she was married before and Stoddard is her married name.  This looks to be the correct Elizabeth to me, which means David's death was most likely between 1820-1830, or at least before this marriage in 1837.  This still does not explain why I cannot find Elizabeth Stoddard in the 1830 census as a widow.  She and her children must be living with some other family.

Now I have another name to search for Elizabeth, Elizabeth Drake.  I will explore what happened to Elizabeth (Prouty) Drake in my next post.

notes:

1. after I found out who their parents were, I looked at father Hezekiah Stoddard and her father William Prouty and they are not included with these families in the 1820 census.
2. Hezekiah Stoddard does seem to have land in Hanover as he sells some of it, as recorded in the Plymouth deeds.  In at least two of these deeds, David and his possible brother Michael, are witnesses (Plymouth deed 126,190 and Plymouth deed 128,229).   Since Hezekiah owns land in Hanover, maybe David is just living on his father's land and did not purchase it.
3. In 1830 they are also not with possible brothers Elijah Prouty, William Prouty or Lincoln Prouty.  I cannot find Elizabeth's sister Hannah Prouty either, they both do not seem to be with possible father William.  Their brother Isaac Prouty still seems to be in father William's household.  I did not look into David Stoddard's possible siblings household in 1830 because if Hezekiah and Jane are his parents, he would have too many siblings and half siblings to check.  

arthur t stoddard and helen l cowing

Arthur Stoddard and Helen L. Cowing married in Weymouth on May 11, 1884. Arthur was 23 years old, Helen was 19.  They were married by clergyman Jacob Baker.  I am not sure why they would marry in Weymouth. The only connection I find that Helen has to Weymouth is her father. Even though she lived in South Scituate with her family before she was married, her father George Cowing was originally from Weymouth, MA.  Maybe the Cowings still had a connection to a church in Weymouth and this is where they married.  It could also be that they knew clergyman Jacob Baker, and wanted him to marry them.  There does not seem to be a connection with Arthur to Weymouth.

Helen grew up only about 6 houses down the street (in South Scituate) from her future husband, Arthur; which is probably how they met. You can see from the South Scituate map from 1879 how close their families lived.

South Scituate, 1879 : Residence of Helen Cowing's family and Arthur Stoddard's family (DT Stoddar and GC Cowen)

view in zoomit

 
After they married, Helen and Arthur lived on High Street in Norwell, MA as recorded in the 1900 and 1910 US Federal censuses.  Plymouth County has deeds to land records online, searchable starting from 1926.  I was able to locate an earlier deed through a reference from a deed of Arthur's daughter.  The deed is dated August 27, 1885 and describes the sale of an acre of land easterly on High Street from Charles Scully to Arthur Stoddard, for ninety five dollars.  (Plymouth County Deeds, Book 536 p 135).  This must have been Arthur's first purchase of land after his marriage to Helen, and seems to be the place they remained throughout their lives.  Arthur did purchase an additional half acre of land from Charles Scully for sixty five dollars on High Street in 1901. (Plymouth County Deeds, Book 828, p 132) 

The town of South Scituate changed its name to Norwell in 1888; so this land Arthur purchased was close to where both Helen and Arthur grew up; actually the same town.  You can see on the 1903 Norwell map below how close High Street in Norwell is to Washington Street (then in South Scituate), where they grew up.  In fact, in the 1903 map, both Helen's mother, Lydia Helen Cowing; and Arthur's mother, Maria Stoddard (Mrs. DT Stoddard) are still living in the houses the raised their families in.  By that time, both the father of Arthur and Helen had passed.  Arthur and Helen were the only children from both families that stayed in Norwell.  Their siblings moved to other towns in Massachusetts, such as Weymouth, Brockton, Hingham, and Malden.

Norwell, 1903 : Residences of Arthur and Helen Stoddard; mothers Mrs. DT Stoddard (Maria) and Helen Cowing (Lydia)

view larger in zoom.it

 

Helen and Arthur had three daughters, Nellie, Ethel, and Carrie. Ethel was my great grandmother.  Their daughters stayed close; even after two of them, Nellie and Ethel, married.  Both daughters remained in Norwell with their growing families.  They had a total of 15 grandchildren. Helen was alive to see only 8 of their grandchildren born, Arthur was alive for all of his grandchilren's births. Unfortunately, two of those grandchildren died within a few days of birth.  Their other daughter Carrie, never married; and is still living with Helen and Arthur in the 1910 census.     

Carrie did not stay too long with Arthur and Helen, as she moved to Brockton to be a school teacher.  Unfortunately, things to did not go well for Carrie.  Helen and Arthur had to experience the death of their daughter, Carrie, by suicide.  Carrie died only a year before her mother Helen. The article in the newspaper at the time stated Carrie was a teacher and that she was having a hard time with her students. There was another article later stating this was not the case; and they did not know the reason for the suicide. This must have been a very difficult time for Helen and her family.

death of carrie e stoddard, school teacher November 22, 1913

death of Carrie Stoddard from Fitchburg Sentinel November 22, 1913, page 1

My grandmother (Ethel's daughter Helen, probably named after her grandmother) never got to meet her grandmother; as Helen Lydia (Cowing) Stoddard died on Decembe 11, 1914 at a young age of 49 years.  She died of Acute Bright's Disease.  Helen's mother, Lydia, also survived her by 5 years.   

Arthur Stoddard lived another 19 years after his wife's death.  In 1916, a couple of years after Helen's death, Arthur purchased another acre of land from Charles Scully on High Street in Norwell.  In 1920 Arthur is living with his brother, Joseph Stoddard, neighboring both of his daughters, Nellie and Ethel, still on High Street.  By 1930, Arthur has moved in with his daughter Ethel on High Street. There are some deeds dated in 1950 and 1961, showing that Arthur's land was eventually in the hands of his daughters, Ethel and Nellie. (Plymouth Deed Book 2161, page 216) 

1920 census Arthur Stoddard Norwell, MA

I am fortunate enough to have a picture one of the houses on High Street, which I believe was on the land that Arthur bought. According to the information handed down to me from my family, this house was Ethel's, Arthur's daughter and my great grandmother.  I believe that is Ethel standing in the doorway.

Ethel Stoddard Torrey's house on High Street, Norwell, MA

Ethel Stoddard Torrey's house on High Street, Norwell, MA in winter

Arthur died from cancer of the intestine on January 24, 1934 in Norwell, MA; at the age of 73.  Helen and Arthur are buried at the Washington Street Cemetery in Norwell with their daughter Carrie, and Helen's father George C. Cowing.  Helen's mother is also buried at this cemeter, but I have not found her stone and her name is not carved on Helen's gravestone.  In one of the above mentioned deeds, Arthur's probate is listed as Plymouth Probate # 44165; unfortunately, Plymouth Probate records are not available online so I was not able to view this document.  

From blog post arthur t stoddard helen l cowing

To do:
1. Find connection to Jacob baker - Arthur sibling also married by him - or to church in Weymouth?
2. Arthur's Probate : Plymouth Probate # 44165

memorial day

We just celebrated Memorial Day, which made me wish that I had spent some time at the cemeteries. I am not sure why I did not go out, I think that my kids would not have appreciated spending one of the first nice weekends walking through cemeteries searching for ancestors.

It did get me thinking of which cemetery I most wanted to visit. About once a week I drive past the Hanover Center Cemetery. I always glance at the stones as I drive by looking for familiar names. One of my third great grandmothers, Maria (Harding) Stoddard is buried in Hanover according to her death record. Maria died in Norwell on August 11, 1908. I have yet to take the time to try to find her though. I thought rather than going to a cemetery this Memorial Day, I would focus on finding where exactly Maria is buried.

I called the Cemetery department for Hanover, which is in the Public Works department. I spoke with a very nice person who looked in her records for Maria, but was unable to find her. She looked under both Harding and Stoddard. She also searched for Maria's husband, David Stoddard, but no luck. She said there were about two pages of Stoddards though; unfortuantely, not from my family.

I then emailed the Quincy Public library to ask for a look up of Maria's obituary for me. I have had so much luck emailing and getting Patriot Ledger newspaper articles and obituaries from the librarians in Quincy. Again, no luck this time. The librarian stated that most of the obituaries during this time were from Braintree, Quincy, and Weymouth.

I searched a little bit to see if there were other newspapers in Norwell or Hanover during the early 1900's, but I did not come up with any. I think my next step would be to visit the local libraries, Norwell and Hanover, to see if they have any advice. I also came across a South Shore Genealogical Society website, which would be interesting to see what kind of information they have. I emailed them for information on membership, but their website does not look to have been updated since 2009.

I am more determined now to find where Maria is buried and finally visit her.

UPDATE: (sept 2013)
I found Maria!  I went to the Union Cemetery, Assinippi, in Hanover, MA to try to find some Stoddards that were referenced in a deed to have bought land in this cemetery.  According to Plymouth deed 76(261), Hezekiah Stoddard, my 5th great grandfather, (Maria's husband David Stoddard's grandfather), would be buried here.  I went looking for him, and came across the stone for David T Stoddard and Maria Harden Stoddard, buried with three of their children, David, Henry and Joseph.  I was not expecting to find them here, but I am so happy I did!  (I never did find Hezekiah, but I think that his stone has either faded or is missing)

From memorial day maria harden stoddard

helen l. cowing stoddard

Helen L. Cowing, my great-great grandmother, was born March 22, 1865 in South Scituate, MA. Her parents were George Clinton Cowing and Lydia Helen French.

Helen was the second oldest of four children to George and Lydia.  She had an older sister, Mary and two younger brothers, George and Percy.  Percy was actually born much later than the rest of the siblings.  Helen was fifteen years older than Percy and would only live in the same house as him for about 4 years. 

1870 census

From helen lydia cowing

1880 census

From helen lydia cowing

Helen was 19 years old when she married Arthur T. Stoddard in Weymouth on May 11, 1884.  They probably met when they were young, as they lived only six houses apart, according to the South Scituate map from 1879.  I have written a bit about Arthur and Helen in this blog post; which includes the map of South Scituate for 1879.

After they married, Helen and Arthur lived on High Street in Norwell, MA.  The town of South Scituate changed its name to Norwell in 1888, so they were still living close to home; really in the same town as they grew up in.   Helen's siblings did not stay in Scituate/Norwell, but moved to towns of Malden, Brockton and Hingham in Massachusetts.  They probably did not see much of each other once they married and had families of their own.  Helen and Arthur had three daughters, Nellie, Ethel and Carrie in Norwell.

Helen died at a young age of 49 years, of Acute Bright's Disease. Helen is buried at the Washington Street Cemetery in Norwell with her husband Arthur, her daughter Carrie, and her father George C. Cowing.


Helen was survived by her mother, her husband and two of her daughters, Ethel and Nellie.  As I wrote in another blog post, her daughter Carrie took her own life a year before Helen died.  Her two surviving daughters did marry and had children of their own, all in Norwell, MA.  Helen was alive to see 8 out of 15 of her grandchildren born; although, two of those grandchildren died within a few days of birth.  My grandmother (Helen, probably named after her) never got to meet her grandmother, Helen.  She was born 15 years after Helen died.  She never spoke much about her family, maybe because she did not know all that much herself.