Fabulous Females: The Last Letter on Board

I skipped the prompt for the 7th about a recipe, but I'm adding a second post about a family letter. I love this letter sent in 1927 from a transatlantic voyage.

My grandmother's sister, Mary Meeneghan, was not to be trifled with.  She was the first of eight children of Irish immigrants.  She set the pace for her siblings by graduating from high school in 1907 in Springfield, NY.  She went on to train as a nurse, and had a variety of assignments, including enlisting as an Army nurse in 1918.  She served in several U.S. hospitals, including Walter Reed in Washington, DC.

In September 1927 Mary crossed the Atlantic to France on the TSS Caledonia with nurses of the American Legion.  She wrote to her sisters at a Cooperstown address:

Dear girls,

This is my last letter on board.  We anchor tonight at ten and leave Cherbourg at 9 tomorrow—Paris at 3 p.m.  It has been a fast and furious trip.  4 a.m. I dragged to bed this morning and I slept until12.  I have a few minutes, must go down and pack so I won’t be as rushed as I was last time leaving N.Y.  It has been the shortest ten days I’ve ever known.  Saw the coast of Ireland this a.m.  I can’t imagine what land will seem like again, a week from today I’ll be steaming back again.  I am being taken to Jennie Walkers dinner in Paris on Tuesday.  This gang wants to do so much and I want to do so much; wonder if there will be time.  Of course Phelan will dash from place to place sight seeing, but I’ll try and plan for a few evening parties in Paris.  Tonight they have their final party on board.  Guess they have brought up all the champagne and scotch on board.  They stand in with every one from the Captain down.  I didn’t get the radio off, but you’ll know everything is ok.  I am picturing Ellen and Mamma real busy.  I’ll call you up when I get in New York. I often think, Gee, I’d like to telephone home and find out what’s what, how you made out about Peg, etc.  I wanted a few words with the Judge but didn’t have the chance.  I hope Caroline won’t be in New York because it interferes too much with other things I want to do.  I’d like to see Peg again before I go upstate.  I had planned to make a list and whatnot on the boat and here I haven’t done a darn thing. Will mail this in France and see you in a couple of weeks.  

Love to everyone, Mary   

Saturday p.m.

What an adventure for this small-town girl!  I wish more of her letters had been preserved.

I have a more comprehensive blog post about Mary's life here.

Fearless Females: March 8 "Love, Mother"

My grandmother and my mother wrote to each other at least weekly. The distance that separated them was only 40 miles and we got together often when I was young.  They were quickly written as my father went out the door to the post office, some had rings from coffee cups.  They were of the generation that picking up the phone did not happen too often.

Although those letters are gone, I have a collection of letters that they exchanged when her daughters were first away from home in the early 1940s.  They shared the every day occurrences that are so valuable to hear today, when we can no longer have those conversations.

Postmark October 26, 1943

Dear Margaret,

I spent Monday in bed.  I coughed and had such a pain under my shoulder.  Today I am washing.  It's lots warmer.  Mrs. Parrette asked me to help her with a lunch at the Legion rooms on Thursday, and Saturday I go to Richfield with Mary Callahan to a lunch at the new Park Inn.

You can still smell the effects of the fire.  We put a new pipe upstairs.  The one we took down was open work.   I don't know what saved us.  There wasn't a full stove or else-- Maggie called here yesterday to say Mary & Betty got in at 3.30.

We got a full barrel of cider now.  The men brought the barrel they got Sunday back full.

Sunday night we could not find Duke when we came home.  Daddy went up the road and whistled and we all called.  When the bus stopped he went out with me and I thought he followed it.  Finally we had to leave and as soon as I started the motor he came running all out of wind.

It sure is lonesome here now.   We were wondering what all happened to you yesterday.  I had a call from the hospital to come up and help wash dishes with the electric dishwasher.  I said no.  Mary Betsy gets $10 a week in Newberrys.

Must get dressed and get my clothes out, such a wash.  Tell Herbert his apple pie was good Sunday night and Mamma killed three of her pet chickens.

               

Love,

Mother 

Duke came home 

March 6: An Heirloom

I've been wearing Aunt Bess's initial ring for a while.  My mother wore it too, if I remember correctly.  It is quite nicely carved, with two tiny rubies or garnets.  The inscription: EC also looks a lot like a B when turned upside down.  That worked for Mom either way.  She was born Mary Elizabeth Coleman, named after her Aunt Bess, but she was always called Betty. I like the continuity of wearing a piece of jewelry for the third generation.

March 5: How Did They Meet?

The story was that Dad dated Mom's roommate in Albany, and he decided he liked Mom better.  They didn't talk much about the early days, but I know Mom was working as a surgical nurse at Albany Medical Center while Dad was at Albany College of Pharmacy.  They used to watch "the fights" at local bars.  I know Mom wasn't happy when I found a package of their love letters.  As a teen, it was interesting to find out that they were once silly kids in love.

Joseph Szymanowicz and Berry Coleman on their wedding day, 30 June 1951

Fearless Females, March 4: My Grandparents' Wedding

Coleman-Meeneghan Nuptials

Wedding of Well Known People Takes Place at Springfield Center in Church of Blessed Sacrament

Cooperstown, Oct. 28 -- On Saturday morning at 10 o'clock in the Church of Blessed Sacrament at Springfield Center, occurred the wedding of Miss Sarah Meeneghan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dominick Meeneghan, and T. William Coleman, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Horace Coleman of Cooperstown.  The ceremony was performed by Rev. Father Francis Gustomski of Cherry Valley.

The bride was attended by Miss Elizabeth M. Coleman, sister of the groom, and William Meeneghan, brother of the bride, was the best man.  The ushers were Herbert Bradley and John Meeneghan, both of Schenectady. The bride's gown was blue canton crepe, embroidered in silver, and she wore a taupe hat and a corsage bouquet of white roses.  The bridesmaid was attired in black roshanara crepe. Her hat was black and silver and her corsage bouquet was of pink roses. Following the ceremony a wedding breakfast was served at the bride's home. Both house and church were decorated with yellow and white chrysanthemums.

Following the wedding trip Mr. and Mrs. Coleman will be at home in Cooperstown. Among the guests were persons from Cooperstown, Albany, Schenectady, Scranton and Washington, D.C. The following members of the clergy were present: Rev. William J. Donnelly and Rev. Maxine Sarrault of Ilion, Rev. Edward A Dalton of West Winfield, Rev. John A. Collins and Rev. William A Sheridan of Haines Falls.

Both Bride and groom are highly respected people whose many friends will wish them only happiness.

Photo of Blessed Sacrament Church, closed in 2009, from St.Thomas of Cherry Valley web site

The wedding announcement was printed in at least two newspapers, because two yellowed clippings remain, but the source has not been found.

Fearless Females March 3: H or No H?

We know that spelling variations for surnames are not unusual. I am named after my grandmother who seemed to vary the spelling of her first name with the wind. She was Sarah on her baptismal certificate. The Social Security Death Index lists her as Sara.  "Sarah" is carved on her gravestone, but the obituary calls her "Sara." The marriage register in Springfield, NY lists her as a Sarah. Nearly all of the censuses spell her name "Sarah," but who knows if the census taker would have asked if that was correct? In her will, her name was typed "Sarah M. Coleman," but was signed "Sara" in 1961. The inconsistency is noted on a probate document from the Otsego County Surrogate Court, which is written "Coleman, Sara (Sarah) M."

I can only assume that when I was born it was "Sara" because that is the name that I was given. I even remember having a discussion over the spelling with a girl named Sarah Heavenower in kindergarten, trying to convince her that the H belonged to her last name.

Then there is the question of her middle name, which she thought was Veronica, but that doesn't show up in any records. I'm guessing that was the name she took for Confirmation. In my world, she was "Gram" and that's all that really matters.

Grave photo from St. Mary's cemetery, Index, New York.

Fearless Females: Walerya Zawacka Szymanowicz

The March 2 prompt asks for a photo of a female ancestor.

I didn't know my grandmother. She died when my father was only eleven.  This shot was cropped from a family portrait taken about 1927.  The portrait is especially precious because it was sent to me from a relative in Drohiczyn, Poland several years ago.

This photograph was proudly sent back to the family in Poland fifteen years after she emigrated.  It is a classic photographer's portrait, with formal attire, down to the twins in their sailor suits. She left Poland with a toddler in her arms, having lost her first son a year before.She may not have been fearless, but she faced those fears as she sailed from Antwerp, following her husband and her brothers and sister to Easthampton, Massachusetts.

She had six more children born in Easthampton. She kept house, learned English, applied for citizenship, and was a founding member and President of the Polish Women's Aliance when a new chapter was formed. They bought a house and moved to Northampton, where they opened a neighborhood grocery store. She faced uterine cancer, and traveled to Boston hoping for a cure.

When you look into her eyes, you know she faced it all head-on.