All in the Family ... Providence, Rhode Island's First Citizens

My husband and I visited Providence, Rhode Island this week, and stopped in at the Roger Williams National Historic Site.  On the wall was a map of the first settlers of Providence.  Going down the list, I found a number of my ancestors:

John Greene, Jr.  - most likely my 3rd cousin 12x removed, who served as Deputy Governor of Rhode Island from 1790 until 1800.

John Greene, Sr. - the father of John Greene, Jr., my 2nd cousin 13x removed.

Roger Williams, who is more of an ancestor-in-law.  His granddaughter, Mary Sayles,  married my 11th great uncle, John Holmes.

John Throckmorton was likely the father of Patience Throckmorton (b. 1640 in Providence), who married my 9th great uncle, John Coggeshall.

Alice Daniels who married my 2nd cousin 13x removed, John Greene, Sr. after the death of his wife, Joanna.

John Sweet is likely related to the John Sweet who married my 3rd cousin 12x removed, Mary Greene.

Thomas Olney, whose grandson, Thomas Sayles, married my 1st cousin 10x removed, Esther Scott.


Also, two of my 11th great grandfathers were part of the beginning of Providence:


Chad Brown and Richard Scott.

Eva Ursula Johnson 1896-1971

Chuck's grandmother, Eva Ursula Johnson, was born November 23, 1896 in Grafton, Illinois.  She was the tenth of 13 children born to Edward K. Johnson (1855-1915) and Ermina Rebekah McCauley (1856-1926).

On September 26, 1917, Eva Johnson and Albert Auston were married in Alton, Illinois by Judge Lessner.

Eva and her children

Eva and Albert had five children:
Bernadine Beatrice (1914-2011), married Franklin Fosha;
Benjamin Clarence (1918-1982), married Mildred Vinson;
June Marie (1920-2006), married Walter Ketchum;
Louis Antone (1925-1997), married Alma Forbes;
Sue Ann (1930-1999), married Valgene Harmon.

Alton Evening Telegraph, Oct 25, 1950

Alton Evening Telegraph, Oct 27, 1947

Eva was active in various organizations in Grafton, including the Busy Bee Club, the Bean Bag Club, the Order of the Eastern Star, American Legion Auxiliary, Royal Neighbors of America, and the VFW Auxiliary.  She was frequently mentioned in the Alton newspaper for her activities.  She often hosted  gatherings at her home, including birthday celebrations.  

Alton Evening Telegraph, Oct 10 1956

Auston family picnic

Alton Evening Telegraph, November 5, 1953

After her husband died in 1953, she remodeled her home into apartments and rented them out to workers at Pere Marquette Lodge, where she also worked in the kitchen.

In 1965, she sold her home to her daughter, Sue and her husband, Gene Harmon.  According to the newspaper article, Eva planned to move into a trailer.

Alton Evening Telegraph, Sep 4,1965

Eva died on December 24, 1971 at the age of 75.  She was buried at Scenic Hill Cemetery in Grafton.

Albert Clarence Auston 1886-1953

I'm doing a change up and switching to Chuck's family history in today's blog.  We are camped at Pere Marquette State Park, only a few miles from where his grandparents lived, and we have been chatting with Chuck's brother about the family.  So it seems fitting that today I write about Chuck's grandfather.

Albert Clarence Auston was born on May 4, 1886 in Grafton, Illinois.  He was the eldest of four children of Benjamin Callaway Austin (and Laura Stockton.  His parents died in about 1891, when he was about 6 years old.  He and his siblings were "farmed out" to the sisters of their father and relatives of their mother.  Albert was raised by his aunt Mahala Austin DeWees and her husband, Louis DeWees in Alton, Illinois.

In the 1900 census, Albert was living with the DeWees family at 312 Belle Street in Alton.  At that time, the family included Louis and Mahala, five of their children and Albert.  Although he was actually only 14 years old at the time, he is listed as age 21 and was working as a "glass laborer."





Albert was featured in the Alton newspapers for various reasons during his life:

In 1905, as Albert DeWees, he sued the Queen City Quarry Company for $1500 for injuries he received on the job.

In February 1906, Albert was a participant in a 1 mile ice skating race, finishing 3 seconds behind Ed Miller of Upper Alton.

In 1907, there was a notice in the paper that he had left to make Denver his new home.  It wasn't specified if it was Denver, Colorado or Denver, Illinois.

He was back in Alton in 1908 when he was featured in an article about a reunion with his long-lost sister.  The article stated that his parents had both died 17 years before, leaving 4 children.  Two of the children had died in that time.  His sister, Belle, had been only 3 months old when their parents died.  Their uncle, Otis Stockton, helped them reunite.  He found out the family to whom Belle had been given.  She was apparently "handed about" to several families as the result of deaths of the heads of the families, and had married a Mr. Jackson when she was 16 years old.  Albert is reported to be age 20 at this time (he was actually 22).

At some point before 1910, he served in the Illinois Naval Militia for 7 years (according to his WWI draft registration).

In 1910, Albert was arrested after getting into a fight at the Jerseyville train station.  He reportedly had his hand slashed by a knife, then fled and caught the train back to Alton, where he was arrested.

In October 1916, Albert was working in the Illinois Powder Company factory near Grafton when about 50 tons of dynamite exploded, destroying the plant.  He was listed in the newspaper as having had a nail blown into his side near his heart.

When he registered for the draft in June 1917, Albert listed his occupation as a laborer at the Illinois Powder Manufacturing Company.  He also reported that he had lost one eye.

On September 25, 1917 Albert married Eva Johnson in Alton at the Justice of the Peace.  The article stated that the couple would make Grafton their home.

In January 1918, Albert had another work accident at the Powder Company.  He was burned in the face by ammonia.

In 1923, he was reported to have "moved to Roxana" after working at the Powder Plant in Grafton for nine years.

In April 1924, Albert purchased a shoe repair shop in Grafton.

In 1925, he was elected constable in Grafton.

In 1929, the Austins were involved in an interesting real estate exchange.  They moved into the Legate property in Upper Grafton, which they purchased.  The Legates moved into the house they purchased from the Cresswells, who moved into the house vacated by the Austins.

By 1935, Albert was a dealer of both ice and coal in Grafton at Klinke Ice & Fuel Company.  He was also working as a "truckman."  He had a radio stolen out of his truck while it was in his garage.  It is about this time that the spelling of his last name changed from Austin to Auston.  His daughter, Bernadine, told me that he changed the name because he had a fight with a cousin, A.J. Austin.  As far as I can tell, the only cousins he would have had would have been from his father's sisters, whose last names were Fox, DeWees and LaMarsh.  His father did not have any brothers that survived to adulthood.  A.J. may have been a 2nd cousin or otherwise related, but I have not found any Austin relatives other than his father and grandfather.

In May 1937, Albert was driving his truck near Grafton at 1 am, when a man stepped out into the road to hitch a ride.  Albert struck the pedestrian and killed him.  A coroner's inquest found the death an accident.

Albert and Eva had three daughters and two sons:

Bernadine Auston (1914-2011), married Frank Fosha, had children Jon, Jane, and Ann.
Benjamin Clarence (1918-1982), married Mildred Vinson, had children Clarence and James.
June Marie (1920-2006), married Walter W Ketchum, had children Walter, Charles and Kenneth.
Louis A (1925-1997), married Alma Forbes, had children Jeffrey and Jan.
Sue Ann (1931-1995), married Valgene Harmon, had children Janet, Paula, James and Jeannie.

Albert and Eva Auston (front)
Gene and Susie Harmon, Mildred and Benjamin Clarence Auston (back)

Albert Auston died on May 3, 1953, at 11:55 pm, 5 minutes before his 67th birthday.  His obituary stated that he was a member of the Masonic Lodge at Grafton.  His funeral was at the Grafton Methodist Church.  He was buried at Scenic Hill Cemetery in Grafton.

Susan Estella Brown Huber (1876-1905)

Susan Estella Brown, my great grandmother, was born on November 11, 1876 in Faribault County, Minnesota to William Brown and Ann Bottomley Brown.  She was the fifth of their seven children.  She was raised in Winnebago, Minnesota and attended the State Normal School in Mankato.  After graduating in 1896, she taught school for three years.

On  July 12, 1899, she married Milton Milo Huber.  Susan and Milton had two children while living in Winnebago:  Philip (born 1901) and Charlotte (born 1903).  The family moved to Beltrami County, Minnesota in the fall of 1904, in the hope that  a different climate would improve Susan's health.  She died on March 1, 1905 at the age of 28,  in Liberty, Minnesota of consumption (tuberculosis).

Her remains were returned to Winnebago by train, and she was buried in Basey Cemetery.

Milton Milo Huber 1873-1965

Milton Milo Huber, my great grandfather, was born 9 Dec 1873 in Westford, Martin County, Minnesota.  His parents were Philip Huber and Elizabeth Styer, who had moved from Pennsylvania to Minnesota in the mid 1850's.  Milton was the youngest of their seven children.  The Huber family moved from Martin County to the Winnebago, Faribault County area in the late 1880's.

On July 12, 1899, Milton Huber married Susan Estella Brown.  Milton and Susan had two children:  Philip, born in 1901 and Charlotte, born in 1903.

Charlotte was my grandmother and has a post all to herself.

Philip led a short and fairly interesting life.  He also has a dedicated post.  http://mnkgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/philip-huber-1901-1940.html

 Susan died of consumption (tuberculosis) in 1905.

On June 12, 1907, Milton remarried to Jessie Wilcox.  Milton and Jessie had three children.  A baby girl, that was born and died on 30 August 1909; Leonard, born in 1910 and Walter, born in 1916.

Leonard married Anna Pehrson about 1936.  They had no children.  He worked for the fire department in Minneapolis and died in 2003.

Walter married Virginia Hubbard in 1950.  They had three children.  Walter was a farmer and remained in Faribault County until his death in 2007.  Virginia died in 2012.

Milton died on August 11, 1965 in Winnebago, Minnesota at the age of 91 as the result of a stroke.  His wife, Jessie, died in 1970.  He is buried in Basey Cemetery.

According to his obituary, Milton was a farmer in Faribault County, Minnesota all of his adult life.  He farmed in Winnebago Township and in Verona Township.  He also served as a county commissioner for Faribault County.

Martha Louise Groppel 1879-1954

Martha Louise Groppel, my great grandmother, was born on 5 August 1880 in St. Paul, Minnesota, according to the Ramsey County birth records index.  She was the youngest daughter of German immigrants Henry Casper Groppel (1834-1919) and Louise Kuether (1850-1934).  For some reason, her date of birth was given as 7 August 1879 in her obituary; however, census data supports the 1880 date as she was not listed with the Groppel family in the 1880 census and in the 1885 Minnesota census, Martha and her family were living in St. Paul, and Martha was listed as age 4.

The Groppel family left St Paul shortly after the 1885 census and moved to Danville in Blue Earth County, Minnesota where Henry apparently purchased a farm.  There is little else known about Martha's life up until her marriage to Daniel M. Nichols on 14 Oct 1899 in Blue Earth, Minnesota.

Martha and Daniel lived their married life in Winnebago, Minnesota.  They raised five children:  Harry Orville (1900-1990), Irene Mae (1903-1954), Agnes Elizabeth (1909-2007), Lucille Myra (1911-1986) and Audrey Violet (1917-1980).

Martha suffered a stroke in June 1954 and died from its effects in August 1954, only one week after the death of her daughter Irene.

Harry Orville Nichols- 1900-1990

Harry O. Nichols, was born on March 21, 1900 in Winnebago, Minnesota.  He was the oldest child and only son of Daniel Merton Nichols (1880-1959) and Martha Louise Groppel (1879-1954).  His sisters were Irene (1903-1954), Agnes (1909-2007), Lucille (1911-1986) and Audrey (1917-1980).

Harry, Irene and Agnes

Harry registered for the World War I draft, but was not called to serve.  At the time he registered (September 1918), he was 18 years old and was working as a farm laborer at the home of W.A. Nichols in Amboy, Minnesota. That was most likely his uncle, William Amos Nichols, who was listed as a farmer in Amboy on his WWI draft registration card.

Draft Registration Card

Harry graduated from Winnebago High School in 1920.  On October 4, 1925, he married Charlotte Mary Huber, the daughter of Milton Milo Huber and Susan Estella Brown.   They were married on a Sunday morning at the home of Reverend Deal and were attended by Harry's sister Agnes Nichols and Charlotte's brother Philip Huber.  According to the newspaper clipping, they took a short honeymoon by auto to "points not made known."  They returned to Winnebago and made their home there for the rest of their lives, celebrating 64  wedding anniversaries.

Harry worked for Standard Oil for 35 years, retiring in 1959.  He was also a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and a volunteer firefighter.  He and Charlotte spent many hours at their home gardening, raising both vegetables and flowers.

Harry and Charlotte had four children over the span of 10 years.   Marianna (1928-2010), Daniel George (1933-2015), Katharine Lee (1937- ),  and David Milton (1938-2011).  They had 15 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren at the time of his death.

Charlotte, Katharine, Marianna, Harry, Daniel and David

Harry died February 4, 1990, a little more than a month short of his 90th birthday.  He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Winnebago, Minnesota.

Daniel Merton Nichols (1880-1959)

Daniel Merton Nichols was born on 30 May 1880 in Blue Earth County, Minnesota.  Daniel was the seventh of eleven children born to Daniel Webster Nichols (1848-1910) and Hannah Elizabeth McColley (1847-1926).  Daniel was raised in and around Winnebago, Minnesota.  When his parents moved north between 1895 and 1900, he remained in Faribault County.

On 14 October 1899, Daniel married Martha Groppel in Blue Earth, Minnesota.  In the 1900 census, the Nichols family was living in Winnebago in the same neighborhood as Martha's sister, Sarah Ferguson, and Daniel's widowed sister, Emma Catlett.  Daniel was working as a farm laborer, and the couple had a two-month old son, Harry.  Daniel and Martha had five children total:

Harry O Nichols (1900-1990), married Charlotte Mary Huber in 1925.
Irene Mae Nichols (1903-1954), married John Marshall Messer in 1921.
Agnes Elizabeth Nichols (1909-2007), married Harry Merrill Shannon in 1929; married 2nd Raymond Ephraim Jeffries in 1972.
Lucille Myra Nichols (1911-1986), married Kenneth Ross Davis in 1938.
Audrey Violet Nichols (1917-1980), married John M Fenelon in 1941.

In 1905, the family lived on Oak Street in Winnebago, and Daniel was working as a day laborer.  In the 1910 census, the Nichols lived on Mill Street and Daniel was working as a plumber.  On his World War I draft registration, Daniel was listed as a plumber working for H.W. Cramer in Winnebago.  In the 1920 census, the Nichols were still on Mill Street, and Daniel was working as a plumber for a hardware store.  By 1930, only Lucille and Audrey were still living with their parents. Eighteen-year-old Lucille was working as a saleslady at a bakery.  Daniel was working for the public schools as a heating fireman.  In 1940, Daniel, Martha and Audrey were renting a home on Mill Street.  In the 52 weeks Daniel had worked in 1939, he had an earned income of $1300.  Audrey, age 22, was working as an assistant cashier at the electric company and had earned $840 in 1939.

According to his obituary, Daniel worked as a heating engineer for the public schools for over 30 years and retired at the age of 76, only three years before his death.  He died on December 3, 1959 after having been bedridden since September of that year.  He was living with and cared for by his daughter Lucille Davis during his illness.

In addition to his family and work, Daniel Nichols was a member of the IOOF Lodge and served for many years as a volunteer fireman in Winnebago.

Daniel Merton Nichols was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Winnebago, next to his wife, Martha who preceded him in death.

Mae Evelyn Peterson Armstrong 1907-1998

My maternal grandmother, Mae Evelyn Peterson (or May Evelyn Peterson, it's been written both ways in the records) was born on 1 May 1907 in Lanesboro, Minnesota.  She was the daughter of John O. Peterson (1863-1935) and Agnette "Nettie" Johnson (1873-1943), the 7th of their 8 children.

John O Peterson family.  Evelyn is the one with the bow in the middle of the photo.

Known as "Evelyn" throughout her life, she graduated from Lanesboro High School in 1925 in a class of 31 students.

From her class photo

After graduation she attended the Teacher's College in Valley City, North Dakota.  She taught school for several years. I have not definitively determined where she taught school, but there is an Evelyn Peterson listed in the 1930 census in Mineral Springs, North Dakota.  She was a teacher.  There was also an Evelyn M. Peterson listed as a teacher in the Windom, Minnesota census in 1930.

The Peterson children (Evelyn is on the right)

According to the article about her marriage, Evelyn also was employed by the Southern Minnesota Benevolent Society in Lanesboro and St. Paul, Minnesota after her teaching career and before her marriage.

Evelyn and her children, about 1985. (L-R:  Tom, Kay, Ev, Ann, Jon, Carroll)

Evelyn and her children, 1994

In May 1934, she married Thomas Emmet Armstrong.  The article in the Lanesboro newspaper noted that she was "one of the most popular of Lanesboro's younger set."  Evelyn and Thomas Armstrong made their home in Harmony, Minnesota where they raised five children:  Thomas, Ann, Kathryn, Jon and Carroll.  

Evelyn partnered with her husband to form the Armstrong Insurance Agency in Harmony.  She was also a tax consultant.  In addition to her work and raising a family, Evelyn was involved in many community organizations, and was a member of the Greenfield Lutheran Church.  She was also an avid crocheter.

Evelyn and her children at her 90th birthday party:  Kay, Ann, Jon, Carroll and Tom

She died at the Harmony Community Nursing Home on June 22, 1998, leaving five children, 13 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.  She is buried next to her husband at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Thomas Emmett Armstrong 1893-1961

My grandfather, Thomas Emmet Armstrong was born May 7, 1893 in Canton, Minnesota.  He was the son of Michael Emmet Armstrong (1856-1898) and Emma Catharine Ryan (1869-1954).  He was the fourth of six children.  He was baptized in the Catholic Church in Canton on 25 July 1893.

WW I

On 15 November 1898, Thomas's father, Michael, died, leaving Emma with five living children aged 1-6 years old.  Thomas's brother, Raymond, died in 1891 at the age of 1.  His sister, Leona, died at the age of six, only a few months after their father's death.  After the death of her husband, Emma and the children moved to Harmony, Minnesota where her family lived. Emma's second marriage was to Joseph J. Martin, in 1907.

Thomas Emmett (who was often called Emmet) was living in Harmony and working on a farm owned by Paul Walsh when he registered for the World War I draft in 1917.  He is described as being medium height, medium build, with dark hair and blue eyes.   He served during World War I in the United States Army.  He served from February 1918 until June 1919 in Company B, 139 Infantry, 35 Division.

According to "The Story of the 139th Infantry" by Clair Kenamore (1920), the 139th was involved in the Battle of Argonne in September-November 1918.  They wintered in the Commercy area, living in unheated billets, haylofts and the like.  There was a chronic shortage of clothing. Colds and pneumonia "grew alarmingly."  The soldiers were ordered to LeMans in the spring and returned home shortly afterward.

In the 1920 census, T.E. Armstrong was either living in Harmony, Minnesota or in Minneapolis, Minnesota.   Thomas Armstrong is listed as a "daughter" living with Joseph and Emma Martin.  However, a Thos E Armstrong (born abt 1894) and a William F Armstrong (born abt 1896) were listed as lodgers at the home of W.E. Bowers in Minneapolis.  Thomas had a brother, William Forrest, who was born in 1895.  Thos E Armstrong in Minneapolis was working in the auto industry as a tire vulcanizer.  Thomas Armstrong in Harmony was working as a hardware salesman.  It's possible he lived in both places during 1920.

According to his daughter, he was a mule skinner (mule driver) when the city of Harmony got electricity, and he got the nickname "Skinner"  which stuck for the rest of his life.

I have not been able to find Thomas E. Armstrong in the 1930 census.  His stepfather died in 1929, and his mother was living in Minneapolis with two of his sisters.  In 1934, he married Evelyn Peterson of Lanesboro, Minnesota in Canton, Minnesota.  Thomas and Evelyn made their home in Harmony, Minnesota, where they raised five children:  Thomas, Ann, Kathryn, Jon, and Carroll.

T.E. and son Tom

T.E. and sons Tom and Jon

In the 1940 census, Thomas E. Armstrong was listed as a garage employee.  In the 1942 World War II draft, he was noted to be working at Feda Motor Sales.  At some point after 1942, Thomas and Evelyn established the Armstrong Insurance Agency in Harmony.

In May 1961, Thomas was hospitalized and he died on 1 September 1961 in the Veteran's Hospital in Minneapolis.  He is buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Charlotte Mary Huber Nichols - 1903-1997

Charlotte Mary Huber was born March 21, 1903 in Winnebago, Minnesota.  She was the second child of Milton Milo Huber (1873-1965) and Susan Estella Brown (1876-1905).  Her older brother was Philip Huber (1901-1940).

When Charlotte was two years old, her mother died of consumption.  Her father remarried in 1908 to Jessie Wilcox (1883-1970).  Milton and Jessie had a daughter who died at birth in 1909 and sons Leonard (1910-2003) and Walter (1916-2007).

After her mother's death, Charlotte lived with her maternal grandmother, Ann Bottomley Brown (1843-1933).  She was listed as a member of the Brown household in the 1910 census.  In the 1920 census, she was listed with her father's family and attending high school.  According to a 1993 article in the Winnebago Community News, published before Charlotte's 90th birthday, her grandmother saw to it that Charlotte received a proper education, and made arrangements for her to stay in Winnebago during the week in order to attend school in town.

Charlotte's high school graduation picture.  Charlotte sewed her own dress.

After graduating high school in 1921, Charlotte became a teacher.  She attended Mankato Teachers College for two years, commuting between Winnebago and Mankato by train.  She completed her education and taught school, first at the Woodland School and second in a private school, which (according to her daughter Katharine) was actually a home in Huntley, Minnesota where the parents wanted their children home schooled.

On October 4, 1925, Charlotte married Harry O. Nichols (1900-1990).  According to the wedding announcement, it was the joining of "two of Winnebago's most popular young people."  Another article said that Charlotte was "one of our most talented young women and is loved by all."

Harry and Charlotte on their wedding day

Agnes Nichols and Philip Huber, attendants at the wedding

Charlotte and Harry remained in Winnebago, raising four children there:  Marianna (1928-2010), who married Wayne Eiselt (1926-2013); Daniel George (1933-2015) who married Joann Heinrich; Katharine Lee (1937-) who married Merlin Anderson (1937-1996) and David Milton (1938-2011) who married Ann Armstrong (1936-2015).  In addition to raising four children, Charlotte was active in the community.  She was a charter member of the Friendly Garden Club when it formed in 1941, and was still a member in 1993.  The Nichols also attended the Presbyterian Church, and Charlotte served in its circles.  Charlotte also served on the board of the local hospital.  She was an enthusiastic card player, and enjoyed attending the Senior Citizens card club.

After Harry retired from Standard Oil in 1959, the Nichols enjoyed traveling, and were able to see most of the nation, according to Charlotte's memories in the 1993 article.

Charlotte, Harry and their children

Charlotte's children and their spouses

Charlotte died on December 12, 1997.  She was buried alongside her husband at Riverside Cemetery in Winnebago.