Evaline B Jeralds of Yalesville, Connecticut

2019-09-03T00:00:00-04:00

1882 postal cover from Wilmore, Pennsylvania, to Miss E B Jeralds, Yalesville, Connecticut

In September 1882, Miss E B Jeralds of Yalesville, Connecticut, received a letter from someone in Wilmore, Pennsylvania. What can we find out about Miss Jeralds and her correspondent in Wilmore?

This postal cover interested me because my grandfather was born in Wilmore, his grandfather having settled there about 1850. Unfortunately, that wasn't much help with identifying the sender, as we shall see.

Evaline B Jeralds

I am pretty sure that the recipient of the letter was Eva Jeralds, who in 1880 at the age of 17, was living in Yalesville, a section of Wallingford, Connecticut, with her parents Isaac and Ellen. She is listed as "Evaline B" on later censuses. Her uncle Bennett Jeralds was part owner of a company in Yalesville that manufactured Britannia spoons, and her father Isaac evidently worked for the company. He was listed as "spoon maker" in contrast to Bennett's "spoon manufacturer" on the censuses, but had real estate worth a few thousand dollars, so I don't think he was a common laborer in the factory.

From various biographical histories I learned that Isaac's father was Ransom Jeralds, possibly a native of Cheshire, Connecticut, who moved to and died in Wallingford. Ransom's father was "a seafaring man [who] lost his life on the water." No one seemed to know that man's name or origin.

Evaline Jeralds never married. From 1900 to at least 1940 she lived in Bethlehem, Connecticut, on her cousin Dwight Baldwin's farm. In the same household were her sister Edith and later her brother Frank. Evaline died April 1, 1943, in Bethlehem.

Who sent the letter?

Basically, I haven't a clue. I looked at two people in Cambria County who were born in Connecticut, but I didn't find a connection between either one and Eva Jeralds. The first was Lizzie (Rist) Friedhoff, who lived in Ebensburg, but the Rists were from New Haven City, not Wallingford. The second was Bridget (Kelly) Watts, born in Connecticut to an Irish mother. She lived in Gallitzin, but I found no trace of her at all in Connecticut.

I would say Lizzie Rist was the more likely of the two, since Ebensburg is closer to Wilmore than Gallitzin is. But the sender of the letter could just as easily be someone else completely.

Conclusion

Well, I was halfway successful with this postal cover—at least I found the recipient. And I enjoyed working on a letter that was postmarked in Wilmore. My great grandmother's brother Morris Kiel was postmaster of Wilmore from April 2, 1861, to September 26, 1864. He was succceeded by my great great grandfather, James Hamilton. But by 1882, when the letter to Evaline Jeralds was mailed, the Hamiltons and Kiels had cleared out, so they didn't postmark it. I don't know who did.

A quick update. The postmaster at the time was Henry W Plotner, who served from 1876 to 1885.

Charissa (Barrows) Pike, of Danielson, Connecticut

2019-08-13T00:00:00-04:00

Postcard, Quonochontaug, RI to Danielson, CT, front

In September 1906, Mrs C H Pike of Danielson, Connecticut, received a picture postcard of Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, sent by O C Barrows. The message on the back reads:

Sept 2/06
We leave here on Tuesday at 9:50 for a week to Niagara Falls and Dayton, Ohio.Come and see us when we get home. Love to Uncle Glenn. Children all well.
O. C. Barrows

What can we learn about these two people?

Charissa (Barrows) Pike

As it turned out, they were brother and sister. Charissa (Barrows) Pike was born June 1, 1849, in Providence, Rhode Island, the daughter of Fayette Barrows and Sarah H Reynolds. She married Dr George A Pike on September 9, 1874, in Providence, while a resident of Scituate, Rhode Island. On the 1880 Census the Pikes were in Bristol, Rhode Island. Dr Pike died there in 1892 and is buried in Bristol North Burial Ground. The Pikes had no children.

Charissa had trained as a nurse, and lists that as her profession on the 1900 Census of Danielson, Connecticut, where she is living with her uncle, Glenn Reynolds. She remained in the area until her death July 10, 1936, in Killingly. She is buried in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, as are her parents.

Postcard, Quonochontaug, RI to Danielson, CT, back

Ozro Carey Barrows

Charissa's brother Ozro was born October 4, 1846, in Johnston, Rhode Island. He had four or five children by his first wife Helen Alverson, who died in August 1886. About July 5, 1888, Ozro married Jennie Augusta Eddy, in Providence. Their three children are probably the ones referred to on the postcard. Ozro Barrows died June 10, 1928, in Providence and is buried in Bristol North Burial Ground. His wife Jennie died in Granville, Ohio, in 1946.

If you look back up at the address side of the postcard you will see at the top "Published by O.C. Barrows, Prov. R.I." I've researched a lot of postcards, but this is the first one I have seen signed by the publisher! 🙂 I didn't find any reference to Ozro Barrows, publisher, on the censuses, but Google Books had a copy of Volume 1 of "Missions: A Baptist Monthly Magazine" which said that O.C. Barrows, of 107 Sorrento Street, Providence, was the man to talk to if you wanted a subscription to the magazine. In the 1907 Providence City Directory he is listed at 107 Sorrento as a bookkeeper.

The Barrows and the Reynolds families

Usually when I research a person on a postcard I include a sketch of their ancestry, but these families are well covered. You can start at familysearch, Charissa H Barrows, or at ancestry, Clarissa Huntington Barrows. My brief outline of the family is here: The Barrows Family.

By the way, the lady's name was Charissa, like her grandmother, not Clarissa.

My Old Ohio Home - Connecticut

Evaline B Jeralds of Yalesville, Connecticut

Evaline B Jeralds

Who sent the letter?

Conclusion

Charissa (Barrows) Pike, of Danielson, Connecticut