Caroline's Diary

Caroline is my confirmation name and I think I took it because despite the fact we only met when I was but an infant, I believe we would have been kindred souls. Caroline is my paternal grandmother who was lovingly referred to as Nana Nickerson.

Let me back up a tad...a few years ago my cousin Gail bestowed upon me our grandmother's diary.  You would have thought she gave me a diamond ring as this was a great treasure to me.  There was only one diary which was meant to be used in 1935.

Why do I think my grandmother and I would have been kindred souls?  Because she was crafty and everything she wrote about was also what I was interested in as well!  Family, friends, current events, births, deaths, weather, employment, what time her husband arrived home, travels, visitors, types of crafts she made, hair appointments - you name it, there was a line or two in her diary.

This diary is red, slightly tattered with gold lettering and the pages have aged with time.  Every page is not written on and some pages not only have multiple entries, but from multiple years.  What gives it even more charm is that she has written in it in pen and at other times pencil and a small child, maybe Uncle Joe, Uncle Bill or Uncle Charlie or even my dad who she lovingly referred to as "Dickie".  Her cursive is large and slanted not unlike the way my dad writes!

Caroline O'Meara Nickerson's Diary

Let me highlight some of my favorite entries (comments about each diary entry below photo):

She commented when her father, Richard O'Meara died in 1940. I learned through the diary that he had been in a coma prior to dying. Throughout her entries she mentioned him having to stay home to rest because of a heart attack and that he had a stroke.
She often mentioned who had bought a new coat or that she had been out shopping.
Charlie was her oldest child. She often commented on her children which included their military service, when they got married, and she even mentioned when my dad got his first tooth and birth weight!
Caroline often spoke of the weather. Here she mentions the hurricane of 1938. In other entries she had mentioned a snow storm with snow past her knees and the difficulty my grandfather had making his way home. She also mentioned an earthquake in Boston that rattled the house so hard that it awoke them from sleep and knocked over some items.
Who was the artist in this entry? Uncle Bill? Uncle Joe? It will remain a mystery until the end of time.
Caroline often mentioned getting her hair done referring to it as a permanent wave.
Here is where my dad got his first tooth...just under 6 months old.
This entry is a mystery that I'm hoping my dad might remember.
Nana Nickerson (Caroline) crocheted a bed spread and it took a year to complete. I'm sure she was proud because she used it right away!
Caroline often mentioned that my grandfather, Charles Savol Nickerson, donated blood or talked about collecting tin cans. I believe this was her ways of showing her patriotism during WWII.
Sometimes she just wondered. Maybe she was feeling a little lonely here in this entry?

As you can see my grandmother, without knowing it, left me a gift that will last all her family a lifetime. Thank you Nana Nickerson!

Catharine "Joe" Leggett - A Spicy 1920s Love Story (52 Ancestors - #16)

After telling Oliver's story last week my mom's cousin Dotti dropped me a note saying that one of my future stories needed to be about "Joe" Leggett. She went on to tell me about my maternal great grand aunt, Catherine Josephine Leggett (aka "Joe). After reading what Dotti told me about her, I felt an urgency to write about Joe and I thought that there is no time like the present!!

Catharine Josephine Leggett was born on a cold Boston, January day in 1885 to William and Honora (Marnell) who were immigrants from St. John's, Newfoundland. She grew up with at least two sisters, Elizabeth (my maternal great grandmother) and Mary as well as two brothers, James and William. Catharine was second youngest.

Many knew her by "Joe" Leggett, including my cousin, my mom and my aunts.  It is not clear when she adopted her nickname.  As of the 1920s US Census, Joe was living with her sister Mary, brother-in-law John McDonough and her mother Honora on Second Street in South Boston.  She listed herself as a machine operator in a hosiery factory.  When asking folks what she was like or what she looked like, they all fondly remembered her being a tall thin woman with strawberry blond hair.  She was quite likeable and lived around the corner from my grand aunt Cassie (Griffin) Hurl.  From what I hear she loved to dress to the nines!  Wish I had a photo!!
 

1920 Census Listing the Leggetts (snippet taken from my tree in Ancestry.com)

This is where the story gets interesting!  According to my cousin Dotti, "Joe was the first forelady (aka: female foreman) in a stocking factory on B Street in Southie."  I tried to find a photo or the name of the factory with no luck.  Apparently a female foreman was unheard of for the time!  She was a modern woman of the 1920s, listed as single in the 1920s census, but not for long!

At some time between 1920-1924 Joe had an affair with a married man, Francis (Frank) Leo Cotter, who had an upper management job at the hosiery factory. He was so smitten with Joe that he decided to divorce his wife and marry her.  They were still married in the 1930s and 1940s US census and without children.  It did not seem that he was working as of the 1940's census and it showed that he was several years younger than Joe.

Sadly, Joe died in 1949.  I'm not sure of the cause of her death, but as any good genealogist would do, I'll research the death certificate next time I visit the Vital Records Office here in Boston.  

Note: If Joe were alive today, I would want to know what it was like to be a female foreman back in the 1920s.  I'm pretty sure her pay was not that of her male counterparts.  I would also like to know what happened to Frank's first wife and children.  Today families of divorced parents can find a way to get along for the sake of their children, but I wonder if that was the culture back then??  If anyone has photos of the B Street Factory or where I might be able to find that building, please email me at kbruynell1@gmail.com.  I would especially like to thank my cousin Dotti (Hurl) Cucinatta for her contributions to this story!!