Thursday, October 4, 2012

If This House Could Talk

 
Cambridgeport History Day was this past weekend and part of that event is a week long walking tour called "If This House Could Talk."  The event encourages residents to research the history of their homes and write a sign sharing something about their house for others to read.  This is a fun way to get everyone involved and raise awareness of the rich history of our neighborhood.
 
In the past, I've focused my signs around how and where I got information that helped me restore the exterior of my house to its original condition.  This year, I decided to write about one the house's longest residents Jennie T. Ray.
 
For those of you that have been around from the beginning of my blog, I wrote a post on how I used old maps and Ancestry.com to learn about the people that lived in my house before me.  You can find that post here.  And since the 1940 census was recently released, there's a lot of new information available.
 
 
I do have an update to that story though.  In my old post, I wasn't sure if Jennie's daughter Frances survived.  In the 1880 census, Jennie had one daughter Frances and in the next census, Jennie indicated that she had had two children but one had died. 
 
When I searched for Jennie recently on Ancestry.com, I found her attached to someone's family tree.  I contacted that person and found Jennie's great great great granddaughter Sheena.  Frances married, had eight children of her own, and lived just a few blocks away.
 
Despite Jennie's many hardships, it was some nice closure.

36 comments:

  1. How grand to be able to find the history of the folks who once lived in your home. I love the idea of writing, "If this house could talk". Have a wonderful week!

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  2. I think this History Day is such a wonderful idea. I was greatly interested in Jennie's story. I know a little history of our house, but not nearly enough! I'll have to get on it.

    xo
    Claudia

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  3. Thanks Steve. I could spend days wandering around reading those signs. You've remindedme to do a much overdue one on the original Annie of this house. You sort of feel you owe it to them somehow.

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  4. Hi, Steve - How wonderful that you know the history of your house! I know there's a special satisfaction in knowing just how one fits into the continuity of ownership, and you've inspired me to write a future posting about the history of my own house!

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  5. Not to sound all metaphysical or paranormal or anything but do you feel the presence of all of these people that have lived in your house? I don't mean ghosts- I just mean their essence (whatever that means).

    I have never lived in an older home and have lived in homes that only had a few previous owners.

    Just curious.
    Karla in CA.

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  6. it is so great that you have kept up with the ancestry site. i find it fascinating. and i love that your neighborhood does this.

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  7. I so appreciate your interest in the personal history of your house. I never thought of using Ancestry.com to check out someone else's family history.

    Is the Cambridgeport walking tour always the last week of September? lovely time of year for a walk!

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  8. Awesome! I love the stories behind things that have some age to them, whether people or houses or antiques.

    I know about the early history of our house and plan to do a post on it in the near future. I actually met the man who was born in our house in 1922. It's a cool story that I hope others will enjoy reading. Thank you for sharing this story about your home's history. Fascinating stuff!
    Claudia

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  9. Karla,
    That's a good question. It's one of the things I love about an old house. I don't think I feel their presence in any kind of spooky way but I'm aware those that others were here before me,not all the time but at times. That awareness sort of rises to the surface when you see or touch a ding in a piece of molding or in the brushstrokes in paint.

    Mark,
    I look forward to that!

    Rosalind,
    Yes, it's always the same time each year. A beautiful, crisp time for a walk around the neighborhood.

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  10. What a great idea and what a treat to read about the history of each house!

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  11. That is so cool--really bringing history to life!

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  12. That is very cool, Steve. Tom and I are the third owners of our old house (not as old as yours though). We know a little bit about the family that was here before us....they lived in the house for over 60 years. But it's been difficult finding info on the very first owners.

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  13. I love this!
    I went back and read that post, it was so interesting and made me realize that I really need to go back and read from the beginning and catch up! I'm obviously missing many great posts.
    In my effort to declutter, I found the abstract to my house & it's at least 3"'s thick! One of the owners (a woman) was married FOUR times in the 40's. One of the times in the court papers it said that her husband divorced HER because she burnt him with her cigarette. Later a spinster owned it and then it was 2 sisters...how funny that it seems all women have owned my home. And now I own it! Another "Spinster". Ha!

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  14. Wow what a cool story! So fantastic that you have learned so much about the history of your home. Very interesting.

    Love your blog!

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  15. Jennie ray would probanly be pleasd at the good care you are taking of her home. You've. Eenlarged her family.

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  16. So cool! Jenny is smiling somewhere, seeing the care you take with her home-a place she obviously loved, if she stayed there after her hardships.

    We just found out that the person who built our house was the very first Mayor of our lil town!

    House history is so much fun.

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  17. Awesome story and history of your home! I love finding that stuff out! Even though our home is about 80 years old we're only the 3rd owners!

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  18. As the two houses I have lived in during my adult life have been new and my childhood home was built by my grandfather, the only history my homes have had have been made by my family. How wonderful though that you were able to find all that information on your home.

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  19. I wish every town with old buildings did this. Years ago i lived in a big Victorian and my husband's grandfather told us that the family tipped him well as a news boy and were the first to have electric lights in the town. I eat this stuff up.

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  20. Isn't it wonderful when we can find so much history about our homes? We live in a house that was built in 1790 and the land was purchased before the house was built for 3 crowns. I know every owner that has lived and died in our home. Yes people died here after living very long lives in our home. One lady is buried on our back tier and another gentleman under a white pine. It's nice knowing they loved our home so much they didn't want to leave it.

    Enjoy your weekend!
    XXX
    Debra~

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  21. What a wonderful thing to do Steve!

    I have often wondered about the people who built my cabin. There are pictures of similar ones in historic records, marked simply 'Indian cabins on the bay' - I'll have to find a way to do more research on mine!(beyond knowing the people before were keen motor cyclists who dismantled their 'hogs' in the main room).

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  22. what an incredible idea. we were the third owners of my childhood house, the family prior to ours owned the house for 40+ years, and we owned it for 30. The "new" owners have owned it for 15 years.

    The original owner never lived there, having disappeard during its construction in 1899. The house sat empty for seven years until he could be declared dead. The first family that actually lived there also spent 25+ years in the house.

    I should research my 1890's farm house.

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  23. A wonderful wonderful story, Steve. And a reminder of how we're all connected and intertwined. So much better than what we see and read on TV and in the newspapers these days.

    Have a great weekend!

    Cheers,
    John

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  24. Super idea! We're surrounded by history here in Newport but not sure that any of us know the history of our houses as well as you and your neighbors. Would love to "steal" this idea. Any idea how yours got started?

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  25. What an interesting life you life, even your neighborhood is original.

    I get rather teary eyed at this honoring of the past and those that came before.

    A round of applause for your hood.

    xo jane

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  26. Steve,

    Thank you for your reply. Your comment "touch a ding in a piece of molding or in the brushstrokes in paint" really put it in perspective for me. It is a perfect way to describe what I meant with my question. Thanks again.

    Oh, and Trica Rose's comments blew me away! Imagine having the previous owners buried in your backyard! WOW!

    Have a great weekend adding more brushstrokes and dings to your home's history.

    Karla in CA.

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  27. Oops, my apologies. I meant Acquired Objects's comments regarding her New Hampshire home.

    Karla in CA.

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  28. WHAT a GREAT event for your neighborhood!! LOVE this idea, and dear Jennie...Doncha feel like you know her?? <3


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  29. It was a great tour by Charlie Sullivan of the Cambridge Historical Society and I'm so glad I got to see your house in person.

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  30. This is a very interesting way to do a home tour. Most enjoyable for the passers by!

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  31. This is fascinating Steve! That's the beauty of living in an area rich with history...you - Our houses out here are so young...we bought ours from the original owners...very little history to find. Thank you for the update.
    Love,
    Tracey
    x0x

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  32. I remember your post very well, Steve, and I LOVE this idea: I can see this working well in Salem. Thanks so much--I'm inspired, as usual.

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  33. Now that is cool.....I must look up my home. We bought in 1992 from the original owner...our house was built in 1946. Boy....they just don't build them to last very long now.....

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  34. I absolutely LOVE this idea and wish our little community would do something similar.

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