Knight Sprague 1711-1804, my 6th Great Grandfather. A “minute-man.”

Sometimes, when you delve into a previously unknown story about one of your ancestors you end up with as many questions as answers! The circumstances of this ancestor’s location in Massachusetts and his birth year place him in a time era and context for becoming an American patriot. As I “unpack” the stories about Knight, I have come up with so many questions. Questions about the start of this nation, various battles that ensued and time period historical events. What role did Knight have in the formation of America? As a soldier of his times, what had he seen in battle? Where is his historical accounting of the 1757 siege that will be referenced in the quotes below?

For now we begin at the start of Knight Sprague Sr.’s story. He was born on October 12, 1711, in Hingham, Massachusetts. His father, Jeremiah, was 29 and his mother, Priscilla, was 25. Knight’s namesake was his mother’s maiden name. She had been born as Priscilla Knight.

Knight married Mary Lewis and they had six children together. He then married Mary Beal and they had five children together. He died in 1804 at the impressive age of 93.

Knight served in the Minute Men as an American revolutionary patriot. He was also involved in 1757 in trying to defend the British held Fort William Henry from a French siege. This particular event is the subject of the book “The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper. Fort William Henry was located at the southern end of Lake George, and Fort Edward on the Hudson River. The French troops in concert with nearly 2,000 Native Americans from various tribes caused the British troops holding the fort to surrender their control and occupation of the fort. The defeated British troops were to be escorted out of the fort and taken as prisoners. Instead, as the British were leaving the fort they were killed by the Native American forces in what is historically termed a massacre. Knight, obviously, was a survivor.

I found out more about my 6th great grandfather because of documentation in American Biography, A New Cyclopedia https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=EmYUAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA86

“Knight Sprague, son of Jeremiah and Priscilla (Knight) Sprague, was born October 12, 1711, at Hingham, and died at Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1804, aged ninety-three years. He lived at Hingham until 1760, when he sold the old place and removed to that part Old Leicester that is now Spencer. He was a private in Captain Ebenezer Mason’s company of Minute-men, of Colonel Jonathan Warner’s regiment, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, and served five days. This was not his first military service, for when he was but sixteen, he was a soldier in Colonel Benjamin Lincoln’s regiment and barely escaped with his life at the time of the Indian massacre at the surrender of Fort William Henry in August, 1757. He afterwards wrote a vivid description of the horrible incident, which has been preserved for us. The next year he participated in the attack upon Fort Frontinac, under Colonel Bradstreet, when that fortress was captured. Knight Sprague married (first), at Hingham, May 26, 1735, Mary Lewis, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Marsh) Lewis, by whom he had six children, as follows : Mary, born May 27, 1736; Sarah, born April 1, 1738; Knight, born March 25, 1740; Anthony, born June 29, 1742; Olive, born June 24, 1744; Thomas, born July 28, 1746. He married (second) Mary Beal, daughter of David and Rebecca (Stodder) Beal, of Hingham, where she was born December 21, 1717. The wedding took place at Boston, October 23, 1747. The children of this union were as follows: Asa, baptized July 24, 1748; James, mentioned below; Thomas, baptized April 26, 1752; Caleb, baptized July 20, 1755; Lucy, baptized October 4, 1761 ; David, baptized January 8, 1764.”

I have been unable to find the above referenced account written by Knight Sprague regarding the Indian massacre at Fort William Henry. But here is another link to information about Knight Sprague and the attack of Fort William Henry:

https://books.google.com/books?id=B2ElTqsiebMC&pg=PA173&lpg=PA173&dq=knight+sprague+and+fort+william+henry&source=bl&ots=hYZWasAhvV&sig=FRcF7fnGT7-NE4x90pJcqq8f5bA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_xYX3horYAhUJxWMKHU0mBXUQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=knight%20sprague%20and%20fort%20william%20henry&f=false

A general history of the attack at Fort William Henry may be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_William_Henry

At first I was confused by the quote below that makes reference to Knight being a mere 16 years old while serving as a soldier in Colonel Benjamin Lincoln’s regiment AND barely escaping from the massacre at Fort William Henry in 1757. Obviously, these are 2 facts being referenced in a strange sentence structure. Because with a birth year of 1711, Knight would have been 46 years old during the siege on Fort William Henry and then must have been 16 while serving as a soldier in Benjamin Lincoln’s patriot regiment.

In an application made by another descendant of Knight (some very distant cousin of mine) who wanted to be in the Sons of the Revolution based on his ancestor Knight – I have provided this information: (see photos)

Here is the how I relate to my ancestor:

Knight SPRAGUE Sr (Rev War) Sr (1711 – 1804)
6th great-grandfather

Anthony Sprague (1742 – 1831) (Note: Anthony Sprague is son of Knight and his 1st wife Mary Lewis.)
son of Knight SPRAGUE Sr (Rev War) Sr

Anthony Sprague Jr (1766 – 1850)
son of Anthony SPRAGUE

Mary “Polly” Sprague (1792 – 1852)
daughter of Anthony Sprague Jr

John Kellogg Bishop (1827 – 1906)
son of Mary “Polly” Sprague

Dorothy (Dora) Bishop (1857 – 1904)
daughter of John Kellogg Bishop

George Kellogg

Hess Sr. (1891 – 1969)
son of Dorothy (Dora) Bishop

Robert Lawrence Hess (1924 – 2017)
son of George Kellogg Hess Sr.

Linda Claire Hess
You are the daughter of Robert Lawrence Hess

Sources also include: Memorial of the Sprague fam, with fam, gen. By Rich. Soule. Boston. 1847. (12,191p.):109 Gen. Column of the ” Boston Transcript”. 1906-1941.( The greatest single source of material for gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period 1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.): 16 Feb 1910, 1160; 12 Jul 1911, 2116

Knight Sprague from application made for sons of the Revolution

I guess we were Puritans! My 10th great grandparents were Richard Warren (sailed on the 1620 Mayflower voyage) and Elizabeth Walker (sailed on the 1623 Anne voyage)

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Many historical and genealogical writings offer information on Richard Warren and Elizabeth Walker (my 10th great grandparents). Richard sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. He came to the new world alone making sure that things would be satisfactory for the rest of his family. So, YES, my 10th great grandfather was on the original journey of the Mayflower.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Warren “At the time of the Mayflower’s voyage in 1620, Richard and his wife had five daughters: Mary (my 9th grandmother), Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth and Abigail. But Richard came on the Mayflower alone, deciding to wait until conditions in the New World were satisfactory before bringing over his family.”

Elizabeth, (my 10th great grandmother) then arrived in the new world in 1623 and is described here: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/mn/m2332x2333.htm

“Elizabeth Walker followed husband Richard to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the Anne in 1623, accompanied by their daughters: Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah, and Abigail. Early Plymouth records suggest that Elizabeth was a woman of force and social position in the community. She was rated in the Plymouth tax list of 1632-3, and was one of the first purchasers of Dartmouth. She is usually spoken of as Mistress Elizabeth Warren, a designation by no means common, and she is one of the rare instances in that early colony of continued widowhood.

“Mistris Elizabeth Warren an aged widdow aged above 90 yeares Deceased on the [twenty-] second of October 1673 whoe haveing lived a Godly life Cam to her Grave as a shoke of Corn fully ripe shee was honoralby buried on the 24th of October aforsaid.” “Plymouth Colony vital records,”

Richard only lived until the age of 49 and died in 1628. The quote http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/mn/m2332x2333.htm here is from Nathaniel Morton’s 1669 book New England’s Memorial: “This year [1628] died Mr. Richard Warren, who was an useful instrument and during his life bare a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the first settlement of the Plantation of New Plymouth.”

Here is HOW we connect to Richard Warren (1579 – 1628)
10th great-grandfather

Mary Warren (1610 – 1683)
daughter of Richard Warren

Elizabeth Bartlett (1636 – 1713)
daughter of Mary Warren

Jeremiah Sprague (1682 – 1759)
son of Elizabeth Bartlett

Knight SPRAGUE Sr ** (Rev War) Sr (1711 – 1804)
son of Jeremiah Sprague

Anthony SPRAGUE (1742 – 1831)
son of Knight SPRAGUE Sr ** (Rev War) Sr

Anthony Sprague Jr (1766 – 1850)
son of Anthony SPRAGUE

Mary “Polly” Sprague (1792 – 1852)
daughter of Anthony Sprague Jr

John Kellogg Bishop (1827 – 1906)
son of Mary “Polly” Sprague

Dorothy (Dora) Bishop (1857 – 1904)
daughter of John Kellogg Bishop

George Kellogg

Hess Sr. (1891 – 1969)
son of Dorothy (Dora) Bishop

Robert Lawrence Hess (1924 – 2017)
son of George Kellogg Hess Sr.

Johan Sprague born in Dorset, England in 1501 – my 13th great grandfather

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When I received my DNA results from Ancestry.com, I was amazed to see a high percentage of my heritage was attributed to Great Britain. If Ancestry has my DNA results right, Great Britain is the source of 53% of my heritage. As a little girl, I remember asking many times where my ancestors had come from, and the most common answer I received was, “Germany”. Indeed, I do have many German ancestors especially on my mother’s side of the family. But, here, in this blog on Johan Sprague, I continue my unfolding documentation of my father’s ancestors and I keep learning about my English/ Irish ancestry!

Johan Sprague was my 13th great grandfather. Here is a view of how Johan connects to my father, Robert Lawrence Hess:

Johan Sprague (1501 – 1526)
13th great-grandfather

Enos Sprague (1525 – 1554)
son of Johan Sprague

Tristram SPRAGUE (1550 – 1575)
son of Enos Sprague

Edward SPRAGUE (1576 – 1614)
son of Tristram SPRAGUE

William Sprague Sr. (1609 – 1675)
son of Edward SPRAGUE

Anthony William Sprague (1635 – 1719)
son of William Sprague Sr.

Jeremiah Sprague (1682 – 1759)
son of Anthony William Sprague

Knight Sprague (1711 – 1804)
son of Jeremiah Sprague

Anthony Sprague (1742 – 1831)
son of Knight Sprague

Anthony Sprague Jr (1766 – 1850)
son of Anthony SPRAGUE

Mary “Polly” Sprague (1792 – 1852)
daughter of Anthony Sprague Jr

John Kellogg Bishop (1827 – 1906)
son of Mary “Polly” Sprague

Dorothy (Dora) Bishop (1857 – 1904)
daughter of John Kellogg Bishop

George Kellogg

Hess Sr. (1891 – 1969)
son of Dorothy (Dora) Bishop

Robert Lawrence Hess (1924 – 2017)
son of George Kellogg Hess Sr.

Now, I am going to share a link from a writing project that was done on the genealogy of the Sprague’s. I am so very grateful for this story, but, is it only historical fiction? Is it just a tall tale? I have made my own conclusion, but I will let you make your own decision!

^1.0 ^1.1 Family History – The First Three Generations of Sprague’s Family. Written by students of International Training and Education Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Ms. Kelly Norman, teacher. It is not clear whether this unsourced material is based on research of the actual lives of persons, or whether it is historical fiction intended to illustrate the religion, politics, and health issues of the eras in which they lived. http://rubikgroup.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/family-history-the-first-three-generations-of-spragues-family.html. Accessed June 7, 2015.

” On a bitter cold day in 1501, Johan Sprague was born in Dorset, England in a Catholic family. From 1512 to 1516, he was studied in a church near his house, but deep down in his heart, he did not believe in Catholicism. By midsummer in 1516, he was married Marie – a pastor’s daughter in the church who taught him. Nine years later, in 1525, they was has a first son – named Enos Sprague. In 1527, they had twins girls, Ava and Mia, but Ava died when she was two years old because of influenza. Three years later, when Mia was five years old, many people in their village got and died of smallpox, and she also got it, she survived but sadly it made her blind. In 1534, Henry VIII dissolved England’s monasteries because Pope did not allow him to divorces his first wife. “After Henry’s death, England tilted toward Calvinist-infused Protestantism during Edward VI’s six-year reign”[1]. Many evangelical churches springing up, Johan Sprague and his family left Catholicism and became Protestant, but not much people in the village knew about that. He really found his faith in Protestantism. Unfortunately, after Edward died, Mary I (also known as “Bloody Mary”) was crowned, people endured five years of reactionary Catholicism under Mary I, she was beheaded and burned many Protestants, nearly 300 Protestants were burned to death. Governments and Catholics had no evidence of Sprague family were Protestants, therefore they can safe. Unfortunately, in 1556, Sunday morning, Sprague family were be burned at their house, Johan, Marie, Mia and Enos’s children all dead, just Enos and his wife can alive, the neighbors around said it was just an accident, but someone believe that Catholics did.”

Sadly, if this story is true, Johan had a life cut short by heresy laws that disallowed Protestant beliefs. Henry the VIII had allowed Protestant beliefs in order that he may divorce his wife. But, when Queen Mary I (or “Bloody Mary” ) came to power she had nearly 300 persons killed in her attempt to restore the Catholic Church and rid it of Protestants. If the story above is true, my 13th great grandfather, Johan and most of his family came to a horrible violent death. However, Johann may have never had the twin girls referenced and he may have died at the age of 26 in 1526 rather that 1556 as this story sites.

Additional research

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sprague-148

Note: Even though Johan’s death date is first listed as 1526 in this research, it is also within the same research document listed as 1556. Ugh…more confusion!

If his death date was really 1526, it makes the story of the twin girls and Johan’s death for heresy less likely!

Watch for more blogs on the Sprague family coming soon! I would be very grateful for any information you might wish to share on my family roots!

Luigi “Louis” Bravin and Thecla Melosso

My family and the Salem Witch Trials: Wildes and Bishop family

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My 8th great grandfather was John Wildes, Sr. who was born in Lanchashire, England in approx. 1620. His 1st wife and my 8th great grandmother was Priscilla Gould. She also had been born in England in approx. 1628. They emigrated and settled in Massachusetts.

My 8th great grandfather, John Wildes, Sr. was married 3 times. His first wife and my direct ancestor was Priscilla who died in 1663 at the age of 34. In the year of Priscilla’s death, John married a second wife Sarah Averill. This second wife would be wrongly accused of witchcraft and was hanged in 1692 along with other Salem citizens: Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth How, and Susannah North. (In the book The Salem Witch Trials: A day by day Chronicle of a Community Under Seige- page 186, this quote is made about John’s 2nd wife Sarah Averill: “…most evidence came from the family of her husband’s first wife, Priscilla Gould. For their sister was not even seven months dead when John Wildes married Sarah, who, they knew, had once been whipped for fornication and yet had the brass to flaunt finery above her station…”

John’s 3rd wife was Mary Jacobs ( a widow) and he had no children with his 3rd wife.

John Bishop, Sr. would have to suffer terribly during the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Not only had his second wife been accused of witchcraft and hung, but also his daughter (also a Sarah) and his son-in-law (Edward Bishop) were accused and imprisoned for witchcraft.

Sarah and Edward Bishop (my 7th great grandparents) were able to escape jail after 37 weeks! Once they escaped, they went to Rehoboth where Edward became an inn keeper. Later, they would be exonerated. Why had Sarah Wilde and Edward Bishop, wife and husband, been accused? Well, Sarah and Edward ran an unlicensed tavern in their home. In addition to serving drink, they also allowed the patrons to play games that included gambling at shovel board. (See the book The Salem Witch Trials: A day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege- April 1692, page 95) Townsfolk were indignant and sought to have them called out as witches before their “loose ways” affected others.

Here is a photo of me (Linda Claire Hess) in the play the Crucible. Funny that at the time that I played the lead, I did not even know about my family connection to the story!

Linda Claire Hess with Jim Greiner in the Crucible

George Kellogg Hess, Sr. 1891-1969

Robert de Montel Hess 1882-1907

1 Reply

When Robert De Montel Hess was born on April 8, 1882, in Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., Michigan, his father, Juan Hess, was 31 and his mother, Dorothy (Dora Bishop), was 25.

Robert de Montel and my grandfather, George Kellogg Hess, Sr. were brothers. They had two other siblings (also children of Juan and Dora) that had died as very young children. According to Michigan death records these two Hess children died in 1880 of diphtheria. They were Hattie (4 years old) and Perry Hess (2 years old).

I do not know why an obituary for Juan Hess written many years later on January 15, 1929, states that he only had 2 sons. Perhaps, it was the “fashion” at the time not to mention children who died in their youth?

This is the 1929 obituary (below) for Juan Hess (father of Robert de Montel Hess)

I chose to write this blog because I was intrigued that Robert de Montel may have been a namesake for my own father. There were 2 generations of the Hess family that had a child “George” and a child “Robert”. My father was Robert Lawrence Hess and his brother was George K. Hess, Jr. My father did not recall much about his Uncle Robert de Montel Hess, (the subject of this blog), because his uncle had been deceased for many years before my father was born in 1924. Even so, my father did believe that this was the relative that may have inspired the name “Robert.” If this is true, it also makes me wonder why my father was called only by his middle name “Larry” (short for Lawrence) as a child.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Quick reference review of the names George and Robert:

Juan Hess and Dora Bishop’s children included Robert de Montel Hess and George Kellogg Hess, Sr.

George Kellogg Hess , Sr. and his wife Henrietta Spruhan then had George Kellogg Hess, Jr. and Robert Lawrence Hess.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

The deaths of Hattie and Perry had happened before my Grandfather’s birth in September of 1891. But, sadly, my grandfather George Kellogg Hess, Sr. would know death of loved ones (other than these two older siblings) again soon being only 13 years old when his mother, Dora Bishop Hess, died and only 15 years old when his only remaining brother, Robert de Montel Hess, died.

Robert de Montel Hess, married Alice Susanne King on October 19, 1904, in Benton Harbor, Michigan. They had one child during their marriage. He died on January 18, 1907, in Berrien, Michigan, at the age of 24 from a liver abscess due to appendicitis. He was buried in Berrien County, Michigan. As stated, his death, was in part attributed to appendicitis. This is interesting to me as my father had a burst appendix at the age of 5 years old and made a rather amazing recovery.

At the time Robert’s marriage to Alice he was 22 years old. More surprising, is the fact that Alice was a mere 16 years old when they wed. This would make Alice only 19 years old when she became a widow. There seems to be a date conflict. All census records indicate that Alice was born in 1888. However, the News article pictured below, states that she was a graduate of Benton Harbor College in 1904-shocking considering that she was only 16??? Or…was someone trying to make Alice “older” than she really was??

So, Robert’s mother Dora died on October 15, 1904. He married Alice 4 days after his mother’s death on October 19, 1904.

https://books.google.com/books?id=E8VRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=alice+king+and+hess+higbee&source=bl&ots=I9_szOmwoV&sig=r7SPS7YZ041R2_4S-kQBVstEjSE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwid0bvWzdzUAhVJ7GMKHemzAZoQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=alice%20king%20and%20hess%20higbee&f=false

The news photo below is from 8 May 1929 – It highlights events from”25 years ago” and tells how Mrs. Juan Hess and son Robert (a college senior) entertained the Juniors at the Hess farm. Printed in 8 May 1929 in the News Palladium. This party took place 6 months before the wedding of Robert and Alice and 6 months before Dora’s death.

The child born to the marriage of Robert de Montel Hess and Alice King Hess was Hattie Lenore Hess. (Her first name being the same as Robert’s sister who had perished as a child). She was born on 17 September 1905.

Robert de Montel did not live long enough to be part of the 1910 census. Alice is in the 1910 census living with her parents in Michigan and her 4 year old daughter who is now going by her middle name Hattie “Lenore” Hess. In 1910, Alice states that she is a sales lady in a furniture store in Benton Harbor. Then, also in 1910, Alice would go on to marry a man named Harlow A. Hansley and live in Los Angeles. She died in 1957 in Los Angeles, CA. Her daughter Hattie Lenore Hess had been living with her mother and step-father in Los Angeles.

In the 1920 census, Alice and Harlow are still in Los Angeles with Alice’s daughter who is now 14 years old and using the name “Lenora”.

Please write and let me know if you have any other information on Robert de Montel Hess or the Hess family!

Zebina Shaw 1815-1881 and his wife Kate O’Brien

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Zebina “Zeb” had a really young second wife! He had been born on Christmas Day in Nova Scotia in the year 1815 . His wife, Katherine “Kate” O’Brien, was born in 1835 in County Tipperary, Ireland. Zeb and Kate’s age difference was enough to make me carefully check my source records. Their courtship was a bit of a whirlwind…they married shortly after meeting one another and very soon after Kate arrived in the states with her father! (Make sure to read the links provided in this blog to find out more about the couple’s meeting in Memphis!)

Both Zebina and Kate are the direct ancestors of my son-in-law (great, great, great, grandparents) and thus the study of this blog. There is a wonderful bio on-line regarding Zeb and family. It may be found here: http://kewauneecountyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/07/silver-creek-where-did-it-go.html

A quote from the above link spoke to me a bit about Zebina’s life: “As other young men, he grew up seeking adventure and went to sea. The close of 1850 found him in Memphis where he soon found an Irish bride, Katherine O’Brien.” And, as for Kate, according to this link, she apparently liked story-telling and a good pipe!

Another quote from this link refers to Christmas Trees and this certainly resonates with me as my son-in-law and his family like to go out each December and fell their own tree for the home-(perhaps I can tell my grandson the story of his ancestor): “Shaw was also one of the area captains who supplemented his income by cutting Christmas trees in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and transporting them to Milwaukee and Chicago.”

Zebina or “Captain” was not so much known for farming (as many of the family ancestors.) Instead, he was truly a man of the sea and from the Ahnnapee pier he mostly sailed out in the Armslie. His cargo was pier timber, ties, and cord wood. This link to an e-book tells about his nautical work and how he had spent part of his eduction in Nova Scotia on learning navigation. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/jh-beers–co/commemorative-biographical-record-of-the-counties-of-brown-kewaunee-and-door-w-ebh/page-96-commemorative-biographical-record-of-the-counties-of-brown-kewaunee-and-door-w-ebh.shtml

The e-book (link above) also tells us that at a later age (after many a year “on the wave”), he moved to Silver Creek and bought a farm on timber wooded land. He also then carried the first mail between Ahnapee and Two Rivers.

If you would like a PDF copy of the entire Shaw family tree please message me! Below is a small screen shot of the document…

This link pictures the headstone grave marker for Zebina: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=79918789&ref=acom

Recently I found a sad addition to the story of Zebina and Kate in this news article: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wikchs/Newsletters/2007-April-news-KCHS.pdf

“Zebina Shaw. they said, was a captain, and sailed lumber products from local piers to Chicago. On his return from one of his trips he found out that 8 of his II children had died from diphtheria in one week. 3 in one day alone. Some of the children are buried at Woodside/Shaw Cemetery while others along with Katherine. Zebina’s wife, are buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in town. This was because Zebina was a Baptist while Katherine was Catholic.”

Additional reading links:

http://algomahighschool.com/main/algoma_history.htm

My Ancestry research https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10440983/person/6964710520/facts

Jacob Wiesner 1842-1936

“Someday I Shall Be Old” by Maude Lillian Meador Groshans

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This article was written by Maude Lillian Meador Groshans who was my children’s great grandmother. Maude Lillian Meador was born on April 16, 1887, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, her father, Robert Meador, was 25, and her mother, Charlotte Shipman, was 22. She married Gottlieb Jack Groshans on June 12, 1912, in her hometown. She died on January 17, 1971, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at the age of 83, and was buried in Streator, Illinois. (note that Maude picked the name Robert Jack for her son. This must have been a namesake because her father was named Robert and her husband was Gottlieb “Jack” Groshans.)

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Submitted at the usual rates by Mrs. Jack Groshans
104 Wall St.
Eureka Springs, Ark.

SOMEDAY I SHALL BE OLD by Maude Meador-Groshans.

The warning whistle of “fair, slim, and forty”, bids me STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN. FOR THE ENGINE OF OLD AGE IS THUNDERING JUST BEYOND THE CURVE.

Now I have an ambition to be a healthy, happy, likable old lady. For some reason the opinions of the aged seem to set like concrete, therefore I will warn myself of the pitfalls before that time comes.

These are rules and regulations to guide me when I find myself “not so young as I was”.

Do be scrupulously clean physically. A dirty old person is an abomination. A soiled baby is sometimes cunning -an elderly person never. Bathe daily and see that the linen next your skin is spotless. Watch for bodily odors – and use a deodorant. Thus you avoid disgusting your friends.

Be careful of your appearance. I hope my grandchildren will be proud of “the way grandma looks”.

Keep the mind dressed in up to date ideas. You are as young as your mind; read new books, see new plays, hear new music, see new pictures-and do it with an unprejudiced mind -strive to get the modern viewpoint. Don’t let your mind stay in a rut twenty years behind the times.

don’t condemn present styles; they are as beautiful as what you wore thirty years ago and likely more sanitary. If you do not believe it, get out the fashions and examine the hats, skirts, sleeves, shoes, and think it over.

NEVER under any provocation offer advice. Keep still. You had to learn, and it developed you, didn’t it? Why deny others the chance to grow? Besides, people do not really want advice. They tell you their troubles and say “What would you do?” Honestly now, how many ever followed your advice? Can you recall one? And was your advice wise? Free advice is not valued highly. If the case is really serious, send them to a lawyer if it is legal, to a doctor if physical or mental, to a minister if spiritual, and to other professions if technical. At least you will be free from blame if their case is not rightly diagnosed. In the same way, avoid seeking advice from any except those competent to give it, and our friends seldom are – the very fact that they are friends may blind or bias their judgement.

Keep family affairs to yourself. You may be wrongfully treated, but it is human nature to take the side o the absent one (mentally, if not audibly). Besides it is undignified. If you have to live with the younger generation, your years should have taught you the art of adjusting yourself. Surely, you should be wiser than they. Loyalty is a wonderful thing. If you live with an in-law whom you detest, keep it to yourself. Don’t tell your children if you dislike their mates. There is a possibility they dislike you, too, you know, and it isn’t making it any easier for criticism to creep in.

Don’t, please don’t, advise young mother how to rear their children. They invariably resent it and modern methods are different to what they were when you reared yours. “The world do progress”. Besides their mistakes are a help to them. And never correct other people’s children. So many old folks have the annoying habit of admonishing “Now, now, you mustn’t do that. Nice little boys don’t do that”. “Why, Susie, that isn’t polite. What would Miss Blank think if she saw you do that?” Oh, but the children hate it and I have inwardly marveled at the control of the children in not answering as rudely as the questioner deserved . After all, if your grandchildren, or your friend’s offspring are rude, ill-mannered, ill-tempered nuisances, you are not responsible, and so why worry, and why annoy the mother by criticizing?

Don’t begin by being imposed upon by your married children. Taking care of the kiddies while parents take a vacation, or for the afternoon while mother goes to a party or lecture can soon become slavery and your time is no longer your own. There is a conspiracy among young folks that their parents never have anything they are interested in which they cannot leave without warning. They take it for granted that “Mother will be glad to keep the children”. Does the prospect appeal to you? Want all your time mortgaged? Well, I don’t. If you, at the beginning, let it be known that you ‘ll enjoy having them unless you have another engagement, or there is something else you would rather do, the children will soon learn that you do it as a favor. They will find a way to manage without making a drudge of you. Sounds selfish but to offset this, I say there are times when parents should sacrifice to help their children. If daughter is recovering from a wearing illness, or son has had a nervous breakdown and grandmother could keep the children a few weeks, it would be a duty shirked not to lend a hand. What I contend is, young people need the responsibility, as well as the joy of a family and you rob them of character development if you let them shift the load on you .

Get an interest in life – a hobby . Start a collection of something and learn all you can about your collection and similar ones. Study butterflies or birds – keep a record of kinds seen, time of arrival and departure, habitat. Photography may be as placid or as strenuous as you wish. Grow a special flower or vegetable; raise chickens or ducks or squabs or goldfish – do something that interests you. It will help to keep you fit physically, fresh mentally, probably keep you out of somebody’s way.

The most difficult accomplishment to acquire is that of being an intelligent listener.

We all like to talk but don’t we treasure that friend who by cleverly placed question or an apt answer makes us forget how we are monopolizing the conversation? And what a subtle way of acquiring reputation for wisdom.

A sunny natured old person is a joy. Not one of those determinedly jolly old duffers who meet you with a slap on the back and a “Fine day. Ha! Ha!” manner. Just simple good humor.

Don’t talk of aches and pains. All old people seem to have them. People hate to listen – and they seldom care. Tell it to your doctor. He is probably bored stiff but at least he can charge you for listening. ·

Avoid food which you know is injurious to you. Take care of your health. sleep long hours – rest in the middle of the day (a nap is better); drink large quantities of water; eat simple foods; don’t worry about other’s affairs. Life will continue when you are gone.

Cultivate friendships with younger generation, then when contemporaries pass on, there remain strong links with the present and you are getting a new viewpoint.

Save enough to be modestly independent. If you need care in old age, having the money to buy service takes away that humiliating feeling that your relatives are discommoding themselves and families doing what you should have had the foresight to avoid. Better to spend less now and have more later. “If youth but knew what age would crave, it would both make and save”.

So many old folks give away, or sign away their independence to someone on the promise of having a home and care as long as they live. DON’T DO IT. I have never yet seen it work successfully . Keep what you have and pay as you go. Then if you are unsuited you can go elsewhere. This is the most serious fault of the elderly, and I think someway ought to be devised by law to avoid it being done.

I should like to grow old gracefully – no, placidly, and they are not synonymous. Not from a desire to fool the public about my age. Who cares how old I am, anyway? Besides it is a waste of time to lie about your age in your home town. There is always some old woman to tell on you. We all know her. She begins sternly “She is fifty-four, I remember she was born the August after my Benny in June and he was fifty-four the fourteenth.

Don’t take root in a place. All of us are familiar with a pathetic old mother grieving herself to death for her old home and old friends. The prospect of settling down for life sounds peaceful, but we are not masters of our own destiny and changes may come that make it imperative that a change be made. How much better to teach ourselves to be adaptable and enjoy the move than to go mooning around, making everyone miserable around us over the unavoidable.

If you want to be a healthy, happy old person, begin now to lay the foundations. The cheerful, resourceful aged are not sudden products – they developed slowly from youth.

You cannot be a glutton now and otherwise abuse your body and be a hale old person, anymore than you can make a cesspool of your mind now and have a sane, clean outlook in later years. Nor can you let your spiritual life fester with doubts and “isms” and meet death tranquilly.

Be tolerant of other’s ideas and opm1ons. Taboo religious arguments, or political differences . Among women don’t discuss age, weight, or diet! don’t reminisce about yourself. Don’t talk of the good old days – “Today is the best day the world has ever seen, tomorrow will be better”. Don’t express the idea that young people are fools and immoral – our grandmothers said the same of us.

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telling life stories

A family history with photo memories

Knight Sprague 1711-1804, my 6th Great Grandfather. A “minute-man.”

I guess we were Puritans! My 10th great grandparents were Richard Warren (sailed on the 1620 Mayflower voyage) and Elizabeth Walker (sailed on the 1623 Anne voyage)

Johan Sprague born in Dorset, England in 1501 – my 13th great grandfather

Luigi “Louis” Bravin and Thecla Melosso

My family and the Salem Witch Trials: Wildes and Bishop family

George Kellogg Hess, Sr. 1891-1969

Robert de Montel Hess 1882-1907

Zebina Shaw 1815-1881 and his wife Kate O’Brien

Jacob Wiesner 1842-1936

“Someday I Shall Be Old” by Maude Lillian Meador Groshans