Edward Clennan - born October 24, 1877

UPDATED 23 MARCH 2019

Edward Clennan was born in West Brookfield on October 24, 1877.   His parents  Andrew and Margaret (McEvoy) Clennan were both West Brookfield natives.

Edward worked as a day laborer doing odd jobs in the area and continued living at home until at least 1910, when a young Minnie Frohloff  boarded in the Clennan home in West Brookfield while working as a stitcher in a local corset factory.   Minnie was the daughter of Julius Gustave and Wilhemena (Priebe) Frohloff.  She was born in Massachusetts on Dec. 22, 1891.  Her parents had come from Germany and settled in New Braintree.

According to Edward's World War I Draft Registration Card, dated September 12, 1918, he was still living in West Brookfield and had secured employment working for the local highway department.  I have not found Edward in the 1920 census.

Minnie Frohloff was still boarding in West Brookfield in 1920, but was living with the Boucher family. She had become a forelady in the corset shop by this time.

By the time of the 1930 census, Edward and Minnie had married and were living in Manhattan, New York where Edward worked as a carpenter.  They returned to Massachusetts in the late 1930's and settled in Holyoke.  Edward died at home in Holyoke in July of 1943 and was buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in West Brookfield.   Minnie lived on in Holyoke, and died in a Chicopee nursing home on July 12, 1971.  A brief obituary stated that she was cremated.  [No children were enumerated in the 1930 census and none were mentioned in either Edward's or Minnie's obituary.]

Edward Clennan and Minnie Frohloff were married in Albany, New York on 4 April 1921. I suspect that they were not married in a church, but cannot be certain.  Edward's family was Catholic and Minnie's family was Lutheran.  

A Quick Trip to West Brookfield - Always Beautiful in Autumn!

I just returned from a very short visit in West Brookfield.  I did not have time to do any family history research, but did see some family members I had not seen in quite a while, as we all celebrated some family milestones.  The leaves were beginning to show their beautiful fall colors and this coming weekend should be a wonderful time to drive in the country.  Howard's Drive-In will be closing for the season this weekend, so be sure to stop by for your favorite fare.  I certainly enjoyed the fried scallops and onion rings, as always.

West Brookfield researchers will be happy to hear about a new resource becoming available this week.  Due to the generosity of Alice Jay, each library in the Quaboag Plantation towns will be receiving a copy of a new book.  This book, entitled, Quaboag Plantation, the Beginning, includes transcriptions of early parish meeting records (Congregational Church) from 1754 - 1826.  I will try to find more details about the publication this week.

Coming very soon is the auction for the preservation of the Rock House Reservation.

Those whose research includes the village of West Warren, may be interested to know of an effort to compile a village history.  Pete Hastings is the person to contact for information.

Joshua Metcalf Chamberlain - born October 2, 1825

Joshua Chamberlain was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts on October 2, 1825 to Eli and Achsah (Forbes) Chamberlain, according to Brookfield Vital Records.  He was one of a family of ten children which included younger brothers, Daniel Henry and Leander Trowbridge Chamberlain.

Joshua became a Congregational minister who worked in Dubuque, Des Moines, and Eddyville, Iowa.  He did Christian Commission work and served the American Missionary Association as state agent.  He was mostly identified with Iowa College in Grinnell, Iowa where he served for thirty-six years as trustee, nearly twenty years as treasurer and financial agent, and six years as librarian.  He generously donated thousands to the college. A women's dormitory was built on the property where the Chamberlain home once stood.  This land was also a gift to the college.

He was at different times editor of the Grinnell Herald, the Grinnell Independent and Congregational Iowa.  He also contributed to various periodicals.

Joshua died on November 12, 1897 in Grinnell, Iowa, leaving his second wife, Eliza, and daughter Mary, from his first marriage. He was buried in Hazelwood Cemetery in Grinnell.

Sources:The pilgrims of Iowa; by Truman O. Douglass, Pilgrim Press, Boston, MA; Heritage Quest

Annual reports of the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898. Report of the Commissioner of Education. Volume 2. Containing Parts II and III.
Date: 1899-01-01; Publication: Serial Set Vol. No. 3767, Session Vol. No.25; Report: H.Doc. 5 pt. 5.2 & 5.3;  Genealogybank.com

Iowa Cemetery Records;  Ancestry.com

Charles E. Thompson - born Sept. 30, 1843

Charles E. Thompson was born Sept. 30, 1843 in South Hadley Falls, to Francis W. and Mary W. (Gilbert) Thompson. 

Charles lived in West Brookfield from a very young age and attended local schools.  He entered the shoe trade, as a young man.

He saw service during the Civil War enlisting as a Private in Co. D, 34th MA on 27 July 1862, and continuing to serve until his transfer out in Harpers Ferry, VA on Sept. 6. 1864.  That same day, he joined the Co. H of the 22nd VRC (Veterans Reserve Corps) as a Corporal, and continued his service until the end of the war.  He was discharged in Columbus, Ohio. [July 1, 1865]  He suffered from rheumatism and heart disease while serving in Harpers Ferry in 1864 according to records from  the US National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866 - 1938 database found on Ancestry.com.

It is unclear what Charles did immediately after his discharge in 1865, but he eventually returned to West Brookfield and married Emma Jane Bigelow there, on May 3, 1871.   The 1880 census in West Brookfield shows that Charles had returned to the boot trade, and that his wife had given birth to two daughters.  Estella, was born in 1872, and Carrie was born in 1874.

Charles applied for Civil War Pension as an invalid Sept. 5, 1890.  He was admitted to  the U. S. National Home for Volunteer Soldiers in Togus, Maine, in 1892, but was discharged dishonorably "for drunkenness and bringing liquor into the home with intent to distribute," in 1893.  He may have stayed in Maine where he died in Oakland, Kennebec County on December 23, 1906.  He was buried in Oakland, according to Maine records.

Emma Bigelow Thompson lived in West Brookfield until her death in 1937.  Daughter Carrie married William Edward Dixon in 1894 and moved away.  Estella, known to me as "Stella" stayed in town and never married.  She spent the last nine years of her life at Quaboag Nursing Home and died at Mary Lane Hosptial in Ware at the age of 99.

James Joyce - born September 28, 1866 - When and where did he die?

James Joyce, son of William and Julia (Hyland) Joyce, was born in West Brookfield on September 28, 1866.  He was enumerated in West Brookfield a the time of the 1920 census, and was probably the unnamed brother, aged 63, enumerated with Elizabeth Joyce in 1930.  The August 3, 1941 obituary of his nephew, William Edward Joyce, found in the Springfield Sunday Union and Republican, page 14A, named James and his sister Elizabeth as surviving relatives living in West Brookfield.

Please leave a comment, or contact me privately, if you have additional information about James, or the Joyce family of West Brookfield.

Jerome P. Ducy/Ducey - born Sept. 28, 1862

West Brookfield Vital Records show the birth, Sept. 28, 1862, of Jeremiah Ducy, son of James, Shoemaker, & Mary Martin, both born Ireland.  He was the seventh child in a family of eleven children.  He is called Jerome in the 1870 census in West Brookfield, and also in 1880, when at age 17, he was working in a boot shop.  After the death of his father James in 1890, Jerome, along with his mother and sisters moved to Worcester.  Jerome's mother Mary died in Worcester in 1899, and he continued to live there with his sisters.  The 1900 census taker enunmerated the family on Bancroft St.  Jerome, enumerated as Patrick, was working as a shoe stitcher.  Patrick and his sisters Mary, Martha, and Agnes lived on 20 Stoneland Rd. in 1910.  Patrick was employed in a shop as a machinist.

Sadly Jerome Patrick Ducy died of Lobar Pneumonia on April 27, 1913.  The record of his death included the following information: Patrick J. Ducey of Worcester, born West Brookfield, son of James and Mary (Gilmartin) both born Ireland, died at 20 Stoneland Rd. on 27 April 1913, of Lobar Pneumonia,, and was buried Apr. 29, 1913 in Sacred Heart Cemetery,  West Brookfield.  He was a stitcher for Warren Leather Goods.

A notice in the Springfield Daily Republican of April 30, 1913 read, "The body of Jerome P. Ducey, a former resident of West Brookfield, was taken there for burial yesterday morning for burial in Sacred Heart cemetery."  The notice also stated that he was born in West Brookfield.  Siblings who survived him were named as Frank [John Francis] Ducey of San Francisco, James Ducey of Brockton, and sisters Mrs. Kate Fitzpatrick, and the misses Mary, Marie, Mattie, and Agnes Ducey, all of Worcester.

[There were two families in West Brookfield with the name of Ducey or Ducy.  These families seem to have been unrelated.  The family of James Ducy, which included Jerome Patrick, most often spelled the name DUCY.  The family of John Ducey, most often spelled the name DUCEY. ]

More information about these and other West Brookfield families may be found at
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wb2006&id=I1626

Alvin M. Thompson and Mary Rice Bigelow - married Sept. 27, 1843 in North Brookfield

Alvin M. Thompson, born Feb. 22, 1823 in Brookfield, son of William and Ormacinda (Moore) Thompson, married Mary Rice Bigelow, daughter of Jonas Bigelow and Nancy Maynard.  The marriage was performed by Rev. Dr. Snell of the Congregational Church in North Brookfield on Sept. 27, 1843.

Alvin and Mary had four children including Ella Medora, who married Myron Sherman, twins Elnora and Nellie who died at six months old, and Henry Moore Thomspon who married Charlotte H. Maars.

Alvin enlisted in 1862, as a Private in Co. K of the 36th MA Infantry.  He was taken prisoner at Campbell's Station on Nov. 11, 1863 and supposed to have died at Andersonville Prison on March 4, 1864.

Mary died in West Brookfield on May 4, 1902, and is buried in North Brookfield.