Norma Louise Whitford

Harold married Ruth Evelyn Brown 8 Feb 1941. Ruth was born 1911; died 1973; was buried , Maple Root Cemetery, Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I am not sure whether Charles was born in West Greenwich or Coventry.

We knew him as "Uncle Jerry."

The gravestone of J. Nelson & Velna E. Whitford at Maple Root Cemetery has been photographed. It includes an "infant," Jan 8, 1924.

Jeremiah married Velna Estelle Andrews 1 Sep 1907. Velna (daughter of Oscar Andrews and Anna Andrews) was born 30 Sep 1886, RI; died 17 Oct 1966; was buried , Maple Root Cemetery, Harkney Hill Rd., Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

In the 1900 Federal Census, Velna E. Andrews is a girl of 13, living at Coventry, RI, with her parents and brother Frederick B.

Notes:

I have a photocopy of his original birth entry at the Town of West Greenwich. Charles Carmi was named for his two grandfathers, Carmi Whitford and Charles Tibbetts. I also have a photocopy of his death entry in the Book of Deaths for 1910, p. 30, in the Town of Coventry.
We have one picture of my Great-great-grandfather Whitford. This is posted at our family website [www.thesorensens.net]. Also there is a photograph of his gravestone at Maple Root Cemetery.

All of the children and their birth dates are listed in the book "Records of the Bailey Family," p. 61.

In the 1860 Federal Census at West Greenwich, Charles is 25 and living with his parents, along with his married sister, Marcy W. Church, 29. In the 1870 Federal Census, Charles C. 34 and his wife Harty 21 are still living at West Greenwich, RI. They have a child Hattie L., age 1. The family is in the household of Jeremiah & Sally W. Whitford, ages 64 & 61, Charles's parents. The 1880 Census at West Greenwich shows him married, age 45, with his wife and five daughters, again living in the household with Jeremiah and Sally Whitford, Charles's parents. This is probably the family farm on Rt. 3 in West Greenwich, where there is now a motel and gas station, at the intersection of Interstate 95. He is age 65 in the 1900 Census at Coventry, and is listed as the head of the household which includes his children as well as two grandsons, Angeretta's sons. I have photocopies of the pages from these three censuses.

Example -- 1880 Census:
Charles C. Whitford age 45
Harty P. Whitford 30
Hattie L. 11
Angeretta W. 9
Julia E. 6
Lena M. 4
Olive 2

Charles was elected to the Exeter Town Council in 1888 (was this a different Charles Whitford?).

There is a paragraph about Charles C. Whitford and his family on p. 1343 of J. R. Cole's "History of Washington and Kent Counties," published in 1889. Although the writer has made two mistakes (names Charles's grandfather as Jeremiah instead of Carmi, and names his wife as Hattie instead of Harty), he does offer other information that is more reliable. We are told that Charles was born in 1834 in West Greenwich, and that he has been a farmer all of his life, having bought the farm where he now lives in 1884 (probably the farm on Knotty Oak Rd. in Coventry). It says he was married to [Harty] in 1866, and lists his children as: Hattie L., Angeretta W., Julia E., Lena M., Olive L., Charles W., and Nelson J. Lastly, he comments that "the family is said to be of Welsh descent."

Of the individuals in this family, the ones I have personal memories of are Angeretta, who was my great-grandmother Remington; Olive, who was my great "Aunt Ollie"; Charles W., who we called "Uncle Will"; and J. Nelson, who was my great "Uncle Jerry."

My dad, Norman Remington, says he remembers driving by the site of the old family homestead, which was on Rt. 3 between Harkney Hill Road and the present Interstate 95. About where the Best Western/Congress Inn is today, there was a spring. Further up the road, where the plat Wood Estates is now located, there must have been a family burial site, because when the plat was being planned (perhaps in the 1960s?), certain Whitford heirs had to sign, acknowledging there were interments on the property, and giving their permission for the project to proceed.

Charles married Harty Potter JOHNSON 25 Nov 1866, Richmond, RI. Harty (daughter of Philip JOHNSON, Jr. and Tryphena Hoxsie GREENE) was born 12 Apr 1850, Coventry, Kent Co., RI; died 27 Nov 1917, Coventry, Kent Co., RI; was buried , Maple Root Cemetery, Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

We have a picture of Great-great-grandma Harty Whitford, taken in 1912 in a five-generation group which includes her father. More recently I was given a picture of her as a young mother. These and other family pictures are posted at our family web site [www.thesorensens.net].

I have a photocopy of her original death entry in the Book of Deaths in 1917, p. 51, for the Town of Coventry. Also, her gravestone has been photographed.

I think she must have been named after Harty (Potter) Johnson, wife of her uncle Caleb Johnson.

Notes:

The original marriage entry is at the Richmond Town Hall in the "Book of Marriages and Deaths, 1850-1910, p. 14. It says, "In Richmond, Nov. 25th (1866), Charles C. Whitford born in West Greenwich, age 31 -- a farmer, and Hatty P. Johnson born in Coventry, age 17; parents of each: Jeremiah and Sally W. Whitford, Phillip and Tryphena H. Johnson; married by Gilbert Tillinghast, Minister of the Gospel." It was the first marriage for both of them.

Oscar married Anna Andrews Abt 1881. Anna was born Jun 1854, RI; died Aft 15 Apr 1910. [Group Sheet]