Here is Frank's biography from Workers in America.
Here's a link to Foster's biography in Wikipedia, which mentions that he was a trustee of the Boston Public Library (hooray!).
Showing posts with label Calvin Palmer Ladd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Calvin Palmer Ladd. Show all posts
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Frank Keyes Foster, Son-in-Law of Calvin Palmer Ladd and Polly Harmon
Our ancestors Calvin Palmer Ladd and Polly Harmon had a total of eight children before Polly's death in 1861 (Calvin would have one more child later in life with his second wife, Charlotte Welsh). We descend through Calvin and Polly's second child, Elizabeth Ladd, who married into the successful Bulmer family of Montreal. Elizabeth's youngest sister, Lucretia Ella Ladd, born in 1853 when Elizabeth was thirteen, had quite a different type of husband. In 1879 Lucretia Ella married Frank Keyes Foster, American trade unionist. The book Workers in America: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1 by Robert E. Weir (2013, ABC-Clio publications) has quite a bit of information about his career. A journalist, activist and would-be politician, life in the Foster home must have been very stimulating. I am left wondering what the relationship between the Bulmers and the Fosters would have been like--did politics create a divide between the sisters? By the time Lucretia married Frank, her mother Polly had passed away. Her father Calvin died in 1880, so could not have known his radical son-in-law for long.
Here is Frank's biography from Workers in America.
Here's a link to Foster's biography in Wikipedia, which mentions that he was a trustee of the Boston Public Library (hooray!).
Here is Frank's biography from Workers in America.
Here's a link to Foster's biography in Wikipedia, which mentions that he was a trustee of the Boston Public Library (hooray!).
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Tracing the Ladd Family in "The Ladd Family" and other Ladd Family Records
Back in 1890, a gentleman named Warren Ladd wrote a book entitled The Ladd Family: A Genealogical and Biographical Memoir of the
Descendents of Daniel Ladd of Haverhill, Mass., Joseph Ladd of
Portsmouth, R.I., John Ladd of Burlington, N.J., John Ladd of Charles
City Co., VA. It was "Printed for the author by Edmund Anthony and Sons, New Bedford Mass, 1890." And it traces the ancestors of Calvin Palmer Ladd, husband of Polly Harmon and father of Elizabeth (Ladd) Bulmer, right back to their earliest American roots. This book is somewhat anectodal, which makes it even better! The book is exhaustive and it's petty to quibble but some of the names of Ladd spouses are misspelled. Also he often doesn't give much detail about the birth families of Ladd mothers.
To begin with, here are a few documents relating to Calvin Palmer Ladd. Here's his death record; he died in Massachusetts on November 12, 1889.
It lists his occupation as "Inventor", his place of birth as Haverhill, and his parents as Joseph and Sarah Ladd. He died at 81 years, 2 months and 26 days of age and suppression of urine. He was married to his second wife at the time of his death.
We know from Calvin Ladd's application to join the Massachussets chapter of the "Sons of the American Revolution" society that his father was Joseph Ladd and his grandfather was Ezekiel Ladd, which fits nicely into Warren Ladd's chronology.
Here she's called Mary Payson Harman, and his daughter Elizabeth's husband is referred to as John Bulwer.
Samuel, in turn, was the son of Daniel Ladd, an original settler who came to America on the ship Mary and John which sailed from London, England, in 1633-4, and his wife Ann, last name unknown. Warren includes a lot of biographical information about this original Daniel Ladd but for now I'll just record the basics.
To begin with, here are a few documents relating to Calvin Palmer Ladd. Here's his death record; he died in Massachusetts on November 12, 1889.
It lists his occupation as "Inventor", his place of birth as Haverhill, and his parents as Joseph and Sarah Ladd. He died at 81 years, 2 months and 26 days of age and suppression of urine. He was married to his second wife at the time of his death.
We know from Calvin Ladd's application to join the Massachussets chapter of the "Sons of the American Revolution" society that his father was Joseph Ladd and his grandfather was Ezekiel Ladd, which fits nicely into Warren Ladd's chronology.
It's hard to believe that a businessman such as Calvin didn't leave a will, but I can't find one for him.
Here are some excerpts from The Ladd Family, beginning with Calvin P. and going backwards from there.
Actually, our ancestor Calvin P. Ladd married Mary Patience Harmon, not Mary Parson Harmon.
And here are his parents, Joseph Ladd and Sarah Ring.
Here's a bit about Ezekiel Ladd and his wife Ruth Hutchins.
Ezekiel was the son of Daniel Ladd and Mehitabel Roberts.
Daniel was the son of another Daniel Ladd, and his wife Susannah Hartshorn.
Daniel was the son of Samuel Ladd and Martha Corliss.
Samuel, in turn, was the son of Daniel Ladd, an original settler who came to America on the ship Mary and John which sailed from London, England, in 1633-4, and his wife Ann, last name unknown. Warren includes a lot of biographical information about this original Daniel Ladd but for now I'll just record the basics.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
More About The Bulmers From Various Sources
We descend from the Bulmer family through Ida Bulmer, who married William Rutherford Junior. She was the daughter of John Bulmer, who was born in Quebec (Trois Rivieres) in 1836. John was the son of Thomas Bulmer, who immigrated from England to Quebec with his family in 1832. The original connection between the Bulmers and the Rutherfords was probably through business, as John Bulmer was a building contractor in Montreal, where the Rutherfords owned a lumber factory. It is also possible that there was a connection between William Rutherford Jr. and John Rutherford's older brother Henry, who were both involved in Montreal politics. Here are a few miscellaneous bits of information about the Bulmer family.
Marjorie Bulmer's recently published (2000) book Bulmer Genealogy agrees with other sources in stating that Thomas Bulmer and Mary Bowling were originally from Hatfield, England.
"Hatfield, York Co., England, Montreal, Canada.
Thomas Bulmer b. ca. 1793 m. 2 July 1816 Mary Bowling b. 1792 in St. Lawrence Church, Hatfield, Yorkshire. They came to Canada in 1832 with four children born and baptised in Hatfield. [They would be Thomas Jr., William, Henry, and the first John, who died young.] They settled first in Quebec P.Q. where 4th son John died and a daughter Mary was born. The next move was to Three Rivers, P.Q. where a son John was born, Thomas was listed as a bricklayer in the parish records. Later they moved to Montreal P.Q. where they finally settled..."
Thomas Bulmer would have been about 39 years old when he brought his family to Canada. He appears to have worked as a bricklayer throughout his life, which was a long one. His daughter Mary's Quebec birth record refers to him as a "bricklayer and plasterer". His death record from the St. George Anglican Church of Montreal register reads: "Thomas Bulmer died on the twenty-fifth day of April One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-one and was buried on the twenty-seventh day of the same month and year. Aged eighty-seven years and seven months."
I also found a death notice for Thomas Bulmer in, surprisingly, the True Witness and Catholic Chronicle newspaper of April 27, 1881. On page it reads "Yesterday morning Mr. Thomas Bulmer, while ascending a ladder, lost his balance and fell to the ground a distance of some twenty feet. He was at once conveyed to his home and Dr. McCallum summoned. Despite the exertions of the doctor, Mr. Bulmer never recovered, dying yesterday afternoon from the effects of the injuries."
I'm curious about what a man of roughly 87 years was doing twenty feet up a ladder away from home. Was he still involved in construction? He must have had remarkable stamina.
Here is the death record for Mary Bowling, age 90, 1882. Thomas Bulmer predeceased her by just under a year. This is from St. George Anglican Church, Montreal.
Her death notice in the Montreal Gazette on June 12, 1882, reads:
"Bulmer. At the residence of her daughter, No. 40 Catheart street, on the 10th instant, Mary Bowling, relict of Thomas Bulmer, aged 90 years. The funeral will take place from No. 40 Catheart street, this (Monday) afternoon, the 12th inst., at 2:30 o'clock. Friends will please accept this intimation."
Thomas Campbell Bulmer, their grandson (he was the son of Thomas Bulmer Jr. and Emma Phoebe Fearon), was a successful businessman in Montreal before he ended his own life (see previous post). Here is a brief biography of Thomas from the book Montreal 1535-1914 Vol. 3 by William H. Atherton, p. 398-99.
"THOMAS CAMPBELL BULMER. The attractive suburb of Westmount is largely the monument to the business enterprise and progressive methods of Thomas Campbell Bulmer, now deceased, who was almost a lifelong resident of Montreal, and for a long period an active factor in its business circles. He was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, in 1846, and was educated in the public schools there and in Montreal, being brought to the latter city when a youth of ten years by his father, Thomas Bulmer, who was a native of Yorkshire, England, and on coming to Canada settled at Three Rivers, but in 1856 removed to Montreal, where for many years he was active as a contractor and builder. He married Anna Phoebe Fearon, [sic--her name was Emma Pheobe Fearon and she was actually T.C. Bulmer's mother] also a native of England.
When his school days were over, Thomas Campbell Bulmer served an apprenticeship to the book binding trade, became proficient as a workman and in 1868 joined Henry Morton and Charles Phillips in a partnership under the style of Morton, Phillips and Bulmer. The business developed and grew until until the firm occupied a prominent position among stationers, blank book makers and printers. A few years prior to this death Mr. Bulmer withdrew from that connection, in which he had realized a handsome profit, to engage in the real-estate business at Westmount. He was recognized as the father of that beautiful suburb, having been one of the first men to foresee the value of that section as a residential district. He was actively engaged to the time of his death in its improvement, development and upbringing and made it one of the most beautiful suburban districts of Montreal.
Mr. Bulmer passed away on April 7th, 1902. For many years he had been an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity and had been equally faithful as a member of the Anglican church. Sterling motives and high principals guided him in all of his relations and made him an upright man, so that he left behind him not only the substantial rewards of earnest, persistent labor, but also that good name which is to be chosen in preference to great riches."
Thomas and Mary's son John Bulmer (our ancestor) married Elizabeth Ladd, the daughter of Calvin Palmer Ladd and Polly Harmon, and grand-daughter of the explorer Daniel Williams Harmon and his half-native wife Lisette. Here is a copy of John and Elizabeth's marriage record:
I love this record, because it has so many family signatures on it: not just John and Elizabeth, the newlyweds, but also Calvin Palmer (C.P.) Ladd, Henry Bulmer, a member of the Maxwell family (Henry Bulmer's wife was Jane Maxwell), and lastly, a Harmon signature. Too bad it's only initials--I wonder if it could be the signature of Abby Maria Harmon, who would be Elizabeth Ladd's aunt?
Marjorie Bulmer's recently published (2000) book Bulmer Genealogy agrees with other sources in stating that Thomas Bulmer and Mary Bowling were originally from Hatfield, England.
"Hatfield, York Co., England, Montreal, Canada.
Thomas Bulmer b. ca. 1793 m. 2 July 1816 Mary Bowling b. 1792 in St. Lawrence Church, Hatfield, Yorkshire. They came to Canada in 1832 with four children born and baptised in Hatfield. [They would be Thomas Jr., William, Henry, and the first John, who died young.] They settled first in Quebec P.Q. where 4th son John died and a daughter Mary was born. The next move was to Three Rivers, P.Q. where a son John was born, Thomas was listed as a bricklayer in the parish records. Later they moved to Montreal P.Q. where they finally settled..."
Thomas Bulmer would have been about 39 years old when he brought his family to Canada. He appears to have worked as a bricklayer throughout his life, which was a long one. His daughter Mary's Quebec birth record refers to him as a "bricklayer and plasterer". His death record from the St. George Anglican Church of Montreal register reads: "Thomas Bulmer died on the twenty-fifth day of April One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-one and was buried on the twenty-seventh day of the same month and year. Aged eighty-seven years and seven months."
I also found a death notice for Thomas Bulmer in, surprisingly, the True Witness and Catholic Chronicle newspaper of April 27, 1881. On page it reads "Yesterday morning Mr. Thomas Bulmer, while ascending a ladder, lost his balance and fell to the ground a distance of some twenty feet. He was at once conveyed to his home and Dr. McCallum summoned. Despite the exertions of the doctor, Mr. Bulmer never recovered, dying yesterday afternoon from the effects of the injuries."
I'm curious about what a man of roughly 87 years was doing twenty feet up a ladder away from home. Was he still involved in construction? He must have had remarkable stamina.
Here is the death record for Mary Bowling, age 90, 1882. Thomas Bulmer predeceased her by just under a year. This is from St. George Anglican Church, Montreal.
Her death notice in the Montreal Gazette on June 12, 1882, reads:
"Bulmer. At the residence of her daughter, No. 40 Catheart street, on the 10th instant, Mary Bowling, relict of Thomas Bulmer, aged 90 years. The funeral will take place from No. 40 Catheart street, this (Monday) afternoon, the 12th inst., at 2:30 o'clock. Friends will please accept this intimation."
Thomas Campbell Bulmer, their grandson (he was the son of Thomas Bulmer Jr. and Emma Phoebe Fearon), was a successful businessman in Montreal before he ended his own life (see previous post). Here is a brief biography of Thomas from the book Montreal 1535-1914 Vol. 3 by William H. Atherton, p. 398-99.
"THOMAS CAMPBELL BULMER. The attractive suburb of Westmount is largely the monument to the business enterprise and progressive methods of Thomas Campbell Bulmer, now deceased, who was almost a lifelong resident of Montreal, and for a long period an active factor in its business circles. He was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, in 1846, and was educated in the public schools there and in Montreal, being brought to the latter city when a youth of ten years by his father, Thomas Bulmer, who was a native of Yorkshire, England, and on coming to Canada settled at Three Rivers, but in 1856 removed to Montreal, where for many years he was active as a contractor and builder. He married Anna Phoebe Fearon, [sic--her name was Emma Pheobe Fearon and she was actually T.C. Bulmer's mother] also a native of England.
When his school days were over, Thomas Campbell Bulmer served an apprenticeship to the book binding trade, became proficient as a workman and in 1868 joined Henry Morton and Charles Phillips in a partnership under the style of Morton, Phillips and Bulmer. The business developed and grew until until the firm occupied a prominent position among stationers, blank book makers and printers. A few years prior to this death Mr. Bulmer withdrew from that connection, in which he had realized a handsome profit, to engage in the real-estate business at Westmount. He was recognized as the father of that beautiful suburb, having been one of the first men to foresee the value of that section as a residential district. He was actively engaged to the time of his death in its improvement, development and upbringing and made it one of the most beautiful suburban districts of Montreal.
Mr. Bulmer passed away on April 7th, 1902. For many years he had been an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity and had been equally faithful as a member of the Anglican church. Sterling motives and high principals guided him in all of his relations and made him an upright man, so that he left behind him not only the substantial rewards of earnest, persistent labor, but also that good name which is to be chosen in preference to great riches."
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| An advertising calendar from the firm Norton Phillips & Bulmer, 1883. |
Thomas and Mary's son John Bulmer (our ancestor) married Elizabeth Ladd, the daughter of Calvin Palmer Ladd and Polly Harmon, and grand-daughter of the explorer Daniel Williams Harmon and his half-native wife Lisette. Here is a copy of John and Elizabeth's marriage record:
I love this record, because it has so many family signatures on it: not just John and Elizabeth, the newlyweds, but also Calvin Palmer (C.P.) Ladd, Henry Bulmer, a member of the Maxwell family (Henry Bulmer's wife was Jane Maxwell), and lastly, a Harmon signature. Too bad it's only initials--I wonder if it could be the signature of Abby Maria Harmon, who would be Elizabeth Ladd's aunt?
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Great Exhibition of The Works of Industry of All Nations, London, 1851
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| The Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, 1851 |
Variously known as the Great Exhibition, the Hyde Park Exhibition, and the Crystal Palace Exhibition, this mammoth international event took place in Hyde Park, London, England, from May 1st to October 15th in the year 1851. Organized by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, its goal was to showcase the fruits of the industrial revolution in the Western World (particularly Britain), as well as to showcase the artistic and cultural accomplishments of 19th century Britain, her colonies, and Europe. A spectacular exhibit hall made of iron and glass, the Crystal Palace, was custom-built for the great event. The Exhibition was a huge success, attracting six million visitors and thirteen thousand exhibits from a variety of countries, including Canada. Among the visitors were Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the rest of the British royal family, and celebrities such as Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Lewis Carroll, and George Eliot. Among the exhibitors representing Canada was Calvin Palmer Ladd, inventor, iron-worker, and my husband's great-great-great grandfather.
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| View of the Interior of the Canadian Division at the Great Exhibition of 1851. |
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| "Canada" in Dickenson's Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851", from the originals painted for H.R.H. Prince Albert |
Now, you'd think that it would be a fairly simple task, here in Canada, to discover a lot of information about our participation in this famous event. You'd be wrong. The National Archives has some engravings (see above), a few medals and some correspondence to and from Lord Elgin, who seems to have been involved in an organizational capacity. But where are the photographs? Where are the committee minutes? Where is the record of the triumphal return? There's so much I want to know.
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| Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, p. 968. "151A. Ladd, C.P., Montreal. Patent balance-scales to weigh 20 cwt.; various chopping-axes". |
A search at the Quebec archives tipped me off to the fact that Quebec had chosen its contributions by hosting an industrial exhibition of its own, on October 17th, 1850. Monetary prizes were offered for items in a variety of categories, and the goods of the first prize winners would be considered for display at the Crystal Palace. A guide-book for this event mentions Ladd (he is given the title "C.P. Ladd, Esq.") among the Executive Committee organizing the expedition to London. Ladd was rubbing shoulders on this project with the likes of Georges Etienne Cartier, one of the fathers of Confederation. Apart from Cartier and the Hon. E. P. Tache, it's a very Anglo list.
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| List of Prizes for the Provincial Industrial Exhibition: to be held at Montreal on Thursday, the 17th October, 1850, with a view to the collection and selection of articles, the production of Canada, for transmission to the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, to be held in London, in 1851. |
Ladd was definitely the inventive one in the family. He seemed to specialize in improving implements which were already in use. Here are some of Ladd's patents, in no particular order. The first is for an improved lamp wick:
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| An improved lamp-wick. US Patent # 123,917. Feb. 20, 1872. |
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| An Improved Felting-Machine. U.S. Patent # 110,574. Dec. 27, 1870. |
A heddle frame for looms. (According to Wikipedia, a heddle is made of cord or wire suspended on the shaft of the loom, and is used to "separate the warp threads for the passage of the weft".)
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| Heddle for Looms. U.S. Patent # 407,078. July 16, 1889. |
And my own personal favourite, the Canadian sarcophagus (or "metallic burial case"). Here Ladd is patenting a coffin design. It looks quite form-fitting.
In Montreal, Ladd was mostly known for the manufacture of stoves. The McCord Museum has two illustrations of his products. They are both marked as patented designs, but I haven't yet found these particular patents. Looking up old patents isn't as straightforward as you might think.
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| Catalogue Illustration of a C.P. Ladds Stove, 1850-1885, 19th century Ink on paper on supporting paper, wood engraving, John Henry Walker. |
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| Catalogue Illustration of a C.P. Ladd's Stove, 1850-1885, 19th century Ink on paper on supporting paper, wood engraving, John Henry Walker. |
Here are a few advertisements for Ladd's Montreal companies (originally called City Foundry, later called Ladd & Ellsworth). These are taken from the Montreal Business Directory, 1849-50 (pg. 30) and MacKay's Montreal Directory (p. 276).
I'd love to know if Ladd was inspired by his trip to the Great Exhibition. He must have met a great many other inventors and manufacturers--wouldn't it be wonderful to have a diary or letters from this time in his life? There is an unconfimed report on a Ladd family website that Calvin received a medal from Prince Albert during his participation in this event. A number of medals were given out, so it's very possible. At some point I'll try to get Ladd's will to see if he left it to anyone in his estate.
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