Adria Charleen Willett

Adria married Joel Carl Pearson 22 Mar 2003, Chicago, Illinois. Joel (son of Eric Lincoln Pearson and Dorothy Victoria Carlson) was born 20 Aug 1962, Rockford, Illinois. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Joel & Adria were married at North Park Covenant Church.

Adria married Jim Leonardo 12 Feb 2021, Chicago, IL. [Group Sheet]

Thomas married Elizabeth Ann Remington 28 Aug 1969, North Kingstown, RI. Elizabeth (daughter of Norman Chester REMINGTON and Edna Virginia BERRY) was born 27 Mar 1947, Providence, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I'm told that she was born on a Thursday.

Edward married Ruth Georgina Shea 19 Jun 1941, Syracuse, NY. Ruth (daughter of Adam Joseph Shea and Maude Mary Theodora Whitney) was born 18 Jan 1920, Houghton, NY; died 12 Jul 2015, GA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Obituary: Ruth Georgina Shea Willett, age 95, of Dahlonega, GA, died July 12, 2015, after a brief illness.

She was known and loved by many for her creativity, her hospitality, her wry sense of humor, her nurturing and encouraging spirit, her listening ear, her Christian wisdom, and her gifts of teaching, both of the English language and of the Bible.

Born in Houghton, NY, on January 18, 1920, of Canadian parents, she grew up in Ottawa, Canada, Jersey City, NJ, and Syracuse, NY. Her father, the Rev. Adam Joseph Shea, and her mother, Maude Mary Whitney Shea, served pastorates in each city. She graduated from Houghton (NY) College in 1941. That same year, she married Edward J. Willett of Syracuse, NY, who served in World War II. Following 20 years in business, the family moved to Houghton, NY, where Edward became Professor of Economics at the College from which both of them had graduated.

Four children were born to the family: Daniel Starbuck Willett, who married the former Karen Mikesell (now Mrs. Wally Lorimer) and worked for Syracuse University until his death at 47 in 1989; Thomas Leslie Willett, a linguist now based in Tucson, AZ, who with his wife, Elizabeth Remington Willett, has served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 40 years; Rev. Christine W. Greenwald, Assistant Pastor at the Dahlonega United Methodist Church, who came to Dahlonega in 1997 with her husband, the Rev. Gary Greenwald (now retired), upon his appointment to serve as Director/Manager at Camp Glisson; and Holly Beth Willett Gillette, who was a faithful pastor's wife to the Rev. John R. Gillette (now pastor of the Mooers, NY, Wesleyan Church), until her death at age 41.

In addition to her parents, husband, son, and daughter, Ruth was also predeceased by her seven siblings: Pauline Shea Lusk, Gerald Whitney Shea, Mary Shea Robinson, George Beverly Shea, Alton James Shea, Lois Shea Wright, and Grace Shea Baker.

A sister-in-law, Karlene Shea, of Montreat, NC, eleven grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and numerous nephews and nieces survive.

Notes:

I have two different copies of his birth certificate, one a card issued at Coventry, RI, and the other a paper from the RI Dept. of Health. I am told he was born on a Tuesday.

My dad Norman was born on the family farm off Knotty Oak Rd. in Coventry, RI. We have some pictures of the farm (see Remington section of the photo gallery, "Remington brothers together," at our web site). Tragically, the two-family farmhouse burned down when my dad was six years old. After this, his family moved into a shanty and stayed there for a while. Quoted below are some reminiscences from my dad Norman about his grandmother Angeretta (Whitford) Remington, about the big farmhouse, and about the fire there. They always believed the fire was set. The adjoining farm belonged to my dad's uncle, John Francis (we called him Uncle Fran), who kept cows there even when I was a child in the 1950s. We used to go blueberrying there, and I was afraid of being confronted face-to-face by a cow, which did actually happen once! In very recent years that property has passed out of our family, and part of it is now a new plat. One of the streets is Remington Farm Drive. On an old map, I've seen that another Remington may have owned that land adjacent to my great uncle.

About the farmhouse: "There were two front doors. The first one as one approached from the road led into a long hall way extending the width of the main section of the house. At the end was the door opening into the ell kitchen. Doors on the left were to my Grandmother's bedroom (used whenever she was with us) and to a downstairs bedroom. At a right angle to that was the door to the cellar stairs. The stairway to the upstairs rooms began near the door to the kitchen. From the right side of the hall were doors to the parlor (as it was called in those days) and the dining room.

"Grandma's bedroom windows were between the front doors. The second one was Aunt Velna's front door, which opened into a small entry, from which a door to the left led into her parlor.

"My grandmother [Angeretta] was a practical nurse, attending women about to give birth and for some time afterwards. Confinements lasted several days at that time. Between work opportunities she would be on the farm, sleeping in her room in our house, where the furnishings were hers. So my earliest memories are that she was with us from time to time. When she was there she was a great help to my mother. Later on she also worked as a housekeeper/cook. When I was in the second grade she kept house for a Mrs. Maynard (or Menard), who was legally blind. This was on Boston Street, Anthony, which is off the main street directly opposite the big mill.

"The fire destroyed the house December 27, 1924. It was discovered some time before daybreak, when my mother thought my father was trying to waken her. Later, she always said she thought it was an angel. Anyway, she smelled smoke, and woke my father. Our collie dog, Major, usually was in the kitchen overnight (no doubt, during cold weather), and he pushed open the door to the hall, again no doubt because of flames and heat. All of us were out of the house, and in my father's truck, in the big meadow across the driveway from the house, while it was still dark."

Dad enlisted at Providence, RI, on 29 Aug 1942, as a Private in the US Army. He was a resident of Providence, married, an insurance clerk with 2 years of college; height 74 inches and weight 158 lbs.

Norman married Edna Virginia BERRY 6 Sep 1941, Providence, RI. Edna (daughter of John Holland BERRY and Ellen COLEMAN) was born 25 Mar 1918, Providence, RI; died 20 Nov 2010, Warwick, Kent Co., RI; was buried 24 Nov 2010, Woodland Cemetery, Washington & Knotty Oak Sts., Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

My Mom says:
Until I was about ten years old, the only heat we had as I remember was the kitchen stove. On Saturday nights we took our baths in a big tin tub such as we have in our back yard here. We had our hair washed and fine combed to see if we had acquired any critters during the week at school. My parents slept in a room off the kitchen, but the rest of us were upstairs in two bedrooms where there was no heat. I think we closed off the parlor most of the time. It was a very small house.

Mom noted in her birthday book that she was born on a Monday.

Notes:

I have a copy of their marriage certificate. They were married three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor which brought America into World War II.

Dad & Mom were engaged on 27 Jan 1941.

John married Achsa Lucinda Ashbon 20 Jun 1907. Achsa was born 26 May 1884; died 25 Jan 1971. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Adam was a Wesleyan Methodist minister.

Adam married Maude Mary Theodora Whitney 1 Jan 1901. Maude was born 27 Feb 1881, Merrickville, Ontario, CA; died 1 Sep 1971. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I have a photocopy of his original birth entry at Coventry, Book of Births for 1894, p. 98. His gravestone has been photographed.

Apparently Chester & Laura and family were not listed in the 1920 Federal Census, nor were their Whitford cousins who lived with them in the duplex farmhouse on Knotty Oak Rd., Coventry, RI.

However, in the 1925 Rhode Island Census they are on Hope Rd., Coventry.

This family farm, located on what is now Old Hope Lane, was called the Linden Farm in the old days, because the driveway was lined with beautiful linden trees. My grandfather kept a herd of cows and had a milk route. Their two-family farmhouse burned to the ground during the night on 27 Dec 1924, when my dad was six years old. Because the insurance had lapsed, my grandfather was not able to rebuild, so the family lived in a shanty on the property for a couple of years before moving away. This property has changed somewhat since the 1920s, but much of it remains the same -- the old stone walls, the pastures, and the lay of the land. A new house has been built in one of the pastures, the old barn has been replaced by a smaller one, and a couple of additional houses have been built along the driveway leading into the farm. It is now called Old Hope Farm.

In the 1930 Federal Census, the family is living at 365 Jackson Ave., Johnston, RI. In 1935 they were living at 1226 Plainfield St., Johnston.

In 1940 they were living at 24 Kilvert St. in Warwick, RI. Norman, Raymond, Chester, and Richard were living with their parents.

Chester married Laura Russel CHAFEE 28 Apr 1917, Coventry, Kent Co., RI. Laura (daughter of Frank Paine CHAFEE and Mary Elizabeth ANDREWS) was born 28 Apr 1899, Bristol, Bristol Co., RI; died 14 Mar 1975, Natick, Middlesex Co., MA; was buried , Woodland Cemetery, Washington & Knotty Oak Sts., Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I have very happy memories of my grandmother, which is one reason why I named my older daughter after her. We would often visit her on Heath Avenue in Warwick. Once I even got to spend the night with her. The next day we walked a couple of miles to the shopping center across from Aldrich Junior High. I wanted to buy some doll clothes, but she said, "I can make those for you, Dear." And she did -- beautiful ones, for our baby dolls and grown-up dolls. She did lovely embroidery, too, which she gave as gifts in the form of pillows, table and bed linens, and framed pictures. In later years, when she moved to Ashland, MA, we would usually ride up to see her on Sunday afternoons. After I learned to drive, one summer day I borrowed my dad's car and drove up there with my cousin Barbara, and we took her to the seashore for lunch. Another time I rolled her hair up for her. In the early 1970s, Rich and I would drop in on her, and get her talking about the old days. Once she got started, the stories followed one after another. She'd get out the photographs, laugh about this or that event, and often give her opinion in no uncertain terms. More than once she said she had married too young, on her 18th birthday. But I'm glad she did, because my dad was born a little over a year later, the first of six sons. What a life! I'm sure her marriage, and her whole life, had its ups and downs. At one point their farmhouse burned down, and the family had to move into a little shanty for a while. My grandparents certainly set an example of hard work and determination for generations to follow. While I never met my grandfather, I know he was proud of his children and grandchildren. My grandmother was very much a part of our family, and I only wish she had lived to be a part of the lives of my children, too.

I have copies of Laura's birth, marriage, and death certificates, plus a copy of the page from the 1900 Census at Bristol which shows her family when Laura was one year old. Also, her gravestone has been photographed.

The birth record at Bristol says she is the second child born to Frank & Mary Chafee.

Notes:

They were married on Laura's eighteenth birthday. Chester was 23.

Notes:

John's birth record at Fall River identifies his parents as John H. and Eliza A.; father's occupation seaman; father's birthplace South Carolina; mother's birthplace Fall River. (Fall River Vol.123: Pg.108)

John's marriage record to Lillie E. Shippee names his parents as John Berry & Eliza A. Elsbree. (Attleborough Vol.352: Pg.83)

John was 52 when married in September of 1912, and 70 when he died. However, the marriage certificate gives his age as 59, and the gravestone appears to give his birth year as 1854. However, the official record for his second marriage in July 1884 gives his age as 24, more in agreement with the 1859 date as recorded at Fall River, MA.

In the 1870 Federal Census, census, he is age 10, and in 1875 he is 15. At the age of 15 he is listed as a jeweler on the census.

In 1880 he and Mabel are living in Providence; he is 20 and she is 16. John "works in jewelry.".

In 1900, John H. Berry and his third wife, Laura, are living at 222 Swan St. in Providence. With them is "Eliza Alison," John's widowed mother. John's occupation is given as "silversmith." According to census data, John & Laura have been married 3 years; and, at age 19, Laura has had three children, none of whom is still living.

In the 1910 Federal Census, John & Nellie are living at 10 Bowditch Place, Providence, with their two young daughters, Helen & Loretta. The census data states that they have been married four years, and that this is a second marriage for both. Grandma Allison, age 77, is in the home. John is a silversmith in a jewelry shop, and Nellie is a bench hand in a jewelry shop.

In actuality, they were officially married in 1912, and it was a fourth marriage for John, and a second marriage for Ellen. Apparently they had been together since 1906.

From my mom, Edna:
"Both my parents worked in making jewelry, and of course you know that until recently RI was the jewelry capital of the world. That bracelet I gave you once was made of yellow gold by my father as a gift for my mother. For graduation gifts for Helen and Loretta, he gave them watches with bands made by either himself or where he worked. He gave me a bracelet which I still have, though not for graduation, since he had died by then. He had made that also. Elsie had a pendant with a semi-precious stone."

At one time I thought maybe our grandparents had twins that died. John & Ellen Berry had boy/girl twins who were born 27 Oct 1923 in Providence. They both died two hours later. However, the death records for these infants show that the parents lived in Pawtucket and were born in Scotland. There is a another couple named John & Ellen Berry in the 1930 census, living childless in Pawtucket; according to the census data they were married c 1924.

John married Ellen COLEMAN 10 Sep 1912, Providence, RI. Ellen (daughter of Joseph COLEMAN and Elizabeth SLACK) was born 4 Apr 1877, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England; died 26 Oct 1953, Warwick, RI; was buried , North Burial Ground, Providence, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Place of birth / family residence at time of birth: 61 Plantation Street, Mansfield, Nottingham, England. She came to America when she was 17, arriving on 24 Oct 1894, along with sister Eliza and brother William. Her name on the passenger list is "Nellie Coleman."

Ellen died at home with her daughter Edna and family at 87 Darrow Drive, Warwick, RI, USA. According to the funeral booklet, she was age 76 y 6 m 22 d. The funeral was on Thursday, 29 October 1953, from 2 pm to 3:30 pm at the Juhlin-Pearson Funeral Home on Broad Street. The pastor was Joseph G. Bodie. Musical selections played were Nearer My God to Thee, Beautiful Isle of Somewhere, My Jesus I Love Thee, Rock of Ages, The City Foursquare, and Jesus Lover of My Soul. Bearers were Pasco Mitola, Wallace Powers, Norman C. Remington, and Richard Remington. Interment was at North Burial Ground, Providence, at 3:45 pm on the 29th.

Notation in my mom's birthday book: "Mother died 1953, Monday (Ellen Berry)"

According to the 1910 census, "Nellie" had 8 children of whom 3 were living at that time. I don't understand that. Did she have children who died in infancy, or were stillborn? It makes more sense if it refers to John's children; 8 born and 3 still living as far as I know. I suppose as she answered the census taker, she was referring to the family head in answering that question.