There was a man named Charlie who was born in 1861 and died in 1951. Strictly speaking he was not related to me, but my grandfather Marshall Jackson knew him as his father. Beyond that, it gets complicated.
Charles Albion Edgerly was born in Barnstead, New Hampshire in 1861, to Sylvester and Sarah Edgerly. Sylvester and Sarah had 10 children, and Charles was their second child by that name. The couple's oldest child Charles Henry Edgerly had died at the age of 7 in 1854.
The Edgerly family had lived and farmed in New Hampshire for generations. Sylvester's grandfather Samuel, for example, was born in New Hampshire in 1765. It's likely they go even further back, but the records are sketchy.
In November 1886 Charles married Elizabeth Ada McRae in Massachusetts. Libbie McRae was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1860.
Libbie and Charles had two girls, Ora Belle in 1888 and Winifred in 1891. They lived in Waltham, just outside of Boston. Charles was a carpenter building houses in neighboring Weston.
On October 8, 1892, Libbie Edgerly died from what was recorded as phthisie, which as I understand it was an already-obsolete term for tuberculosis.
On July 19, 1894 Charles remarried, this time to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Mongan. He is listed as a 33 year old carpenter from New Hampshire, entering his second marriage. She's a 30 year old seamstress born in England, and it's her first marriage. Other documents tell us that Lizzie was actually born in Ireland, and emigrated in 1890.
Charles and Lizzie had two children: Elizabeth (Elsie) was born in 1895, and Charles William Edgerly was born in 1897 but died in infancy.
Just to recap, we now have three Elizabeths in this story, but conveniently for us, they all went by different nicknames. Libbie was the first wife, Lizzie the second, and Elsie was the child of the second marriage.
This was a deeply unhappy household. Ora Edgerly White, writing some 65 years later, said that her new stepmother was hot-tempered and cruel. She broke Winifred's leg, and whipped Ora so viciously that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children temporarily took Ora out of that house. Her full daughter Elsie wasn't spared, either. Eventually Lizzie took to leaving the house with Elsie for weeks at a time. Charles sent the younger Winnie to live with her aunt, and ten-year-old Ora stayed home while her father worked nights clearing snow. She was afraid to sleep upstairs alone, so she would fall asleep at the kitchen table. From that table she had a view of her neighbor's window, where they kept a light burning to comfort her.
Eventually this was all too much for Charles. He sent Ora to live with her aunt as well, and left that life.
In the 1900 census, Ora and Winnie were living with Libbie's sister Bertha Howard in Cambridge. In the 1910 Census, Ora was working as a servant in a wealthy cotton broker's household in Weston. She married Joseph Alfred White some time before 1917, and they raised two daughters in the Boston suburbs.
After Charles left, Lizzie and Elsie continued living in Cambridge. In the 1900 census Lizzie was doing housekeeping work and already describing herself as a widow. It was common for divorced or abandoned spouses to describe themselves as widows or widowers.
I don't know much about what became of Lizzie and Elsie. In the 1910 census Lizzie was a cook in a posh household on Beacon Street, one of five servants. She again described herself as a widow. Elsie would have been about 15 at the time and wherever she was, she wasn't living there with her mother. Lizzie died in 1925.
Elsie showed up again in the 1930 census, confusingly described as a sister to Bessie Sandmann. Bessie was seven years older than Elsie, and had a daughter. Bessie and Elsie were both working at a grocery store. The 1940 census has the same household, but Elsie was now described as a lodger, and the two older women were working in the laundry of a hospital.
Elsie died in 1956; her obituary named no survivors.
At some point around 1900, Charles Henry Jackson sprung fully formed into the world. He would later explain that he changed his name because he was afraid of Lizzie tracking him down. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but he seems to have left without benefit of divorce, so changing his name was also expedient for him. I don't know where he picked up the last name Jackson, but I can't help noticing that he adopted the middle name of his sibling named Charles, the one who had died young.
In 1903 Charles married Bertha Lee (Simons) Ashcraft in Kentucky. Bertha was a 21 year old widow with a 2 year old son (my grandfather Marshall Jackson) from her first marriage. Charles Edgerly by then was 42 years old, but Charlie Jackson claimed to be born in 1865 and was therefore only 38. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Charlie adopted Marshall, giving him his fabricated name, and was the only father he ever knew. Charlie and Bertha went on to have two more children: Aline (1906 - 1909) and Mildred (1910 - 1995).
The 1910 census shows this family living in LaCenter, Kentucky. Charlie was a 45 year old carpenter born in Maine, whose parents were born in New Hampshire.
In 1911 they moved to Chicago so Charlie could work on the Illinois Central Railroad as a tank foreman. In the 1920 census they were living in Chicago at 1419 72nd Place, in a house they owned. Charlie was now a 53 year old carpenter from New York, whose parents were born in Massachusetts. I'm sure it's hard to keep your story straight. Apparently this defined Charlie's demeanor, since by necessity he was reluctant to talk about his past at all. None of the Jackson clan knew anything his former life. It must have distanced Charlie from his family.
By the 1930 census this family had split up. Mildred said they had separated in 1926, and my Mom thought they were divorced around 1928, but no documentation exists. Bertha was the proprietor of a delicatessen and described herself as widowed. She was living with her sister Kathryn, Kathryn's daughter Wilma, and Wilma's husband John. Bertha is listed as the head of household.
Charlie had moved across the street to 1420 72nd Place with Mildred, now a 19 year old comptometer operator. They were now renting, for $45 per month. Apparently 1419 was sold during the divorce, and Bertha had used her portion to buy the delicatessen. Charlie was still working as a carpenter, and still describing himself as married. His parents are now from Maine.
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| Charles Albion Edgerly. Also Charles Henry Jackson. 1940s. |
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| Sylvester Edgerly (1820-1887) |
Charles Albion Edgerly was born in Barnstead, New Hampshire in 1861, to Sylvester and Sarah Edgerly. Sylvester and Sarah had 10 children, and Charles was their second child by that name. The couple's oldest child Charles Henry Edgerly had died at the age of 7 in 1854.
The Edgerly family had lived and farmed in New Hampshire for generations. Sylvester's grandfather Samuel, for example, was born in New Hampshire in 1765. It's likely they go even further back, but the records are sketchy.
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| The Marriage of Libbie McRae and Charles Edgerly, the last couple listed here. |
In November 1886 Charles married Elizabeth Ada McRae in Massachusetts. Libbie McRae was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1860.
Libbie and Charles had two girls, Ora Belle in 1888 and Winifred in 1891. They lived in Waltham, just outside of Boston. Charles was a carpenter building houses in neighboring Weston.
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On October 8, 1892, Libbie Edgerly died from what was recorded as phthisie, which as I understand it was an already-obsolete term for tuberculosis.
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| Marriage register from July, 1894. |
On July 19, 1894 Charles remarried, this time to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Mongan. He is listed as a 33 year old carpenter from New Hampshire, entering his second marriage. She's a 30 year old seamstress born in England, and it's her first marriage. Other documents tell us that Lizzie was actually born in Ireland, and emigrated in 1890.
Charles and Lizzie had two children: Elizabeth (Elsie) was born in 1895, and Charles William Edgerly was born in 1897 but died in infancy.
Just to recap, we now have three Elizabeths in this story, but conveniently for us, they all went by different nicknames. Libbie was the first wife, Lizzie the second, and Elsie was the child of the second marriage.
This was a deeply unhappy household. Ora Edgerly White, writing some 65 years later, said that her new stepmother was hot-tempered and cruel. She broke Winifred's leg, and whipped Ora so viciously that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children temporarily took Ora out of that house. Her full daughter Elsie wasn't spared, either. Eventually Lizzie took to leaving the house with Elsie for weeks at a time. Charles sent the younger Winnie to live with her aunt, and ten-year-old Ora stayed home while her father worked nights clearing snow. She was afraid to sleep upstairs alone, so she would fall asleep at the kitchen table. From that table she had a view of her neighbor's window, where they kept a light burning to comfort her.
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| Gravestone for Lizzie and Elsie Edgerly. Michael Mongan was Lizzie's brother. |
In the 1900 census, Ora and Winnie were living with Libbie's sister Bertha Howard in Cambridge. In the 1910 Census, Ora was working as a servant in a wealthy cotton broker's household in Weston. She married Joseph Alfred White some time before 1917, and they raised two daughters in the Boston suburbs.
Winnie was still living her Aunt in 1910, but shortly afterward married George Albert Waldron. They moved to Kennebec, Maine in the mid-1910s and had two boys and a girl. But by the 1920 census George was gone, possibly dead. Winnie was working in a shoe factory and raising three young children on her own. In 1943 Winnie married Charles "Rocky" Amor and returned to the Boston area.
After Charles left, Lizzie and Elsie continued living in Cambridge. In the 1900 census Lizzie was doing housekeeping work and already describing herself as a widow. It was common for divorced or abandoned spouses to describe themselves as widows or widowers.
I don't know much about what became of Lizzie and Elsie. In the 1910 census Lizzie was a cook in a posh household on Beacon Street, one of five servants. She again described herself as a widow. Elsie would have been about 15 at the time and wherever she was, she wasn't living there with her mother. Lizzie died in 1925.
Elsie showed up again in the 1930 census, confusingly described as a sister to Bessie Sandmann. Bessie was seven years older than Elsie, and had a daughter. Bessie and Elsie were both working at a grocery store. The 1940 census has the same household, but Elsie was now described as a lodger, and the two older women were working in the laundry of a hospital.
Elsie died in 1956; her obituary named no survivors.
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| Charles and Bertha Simons Jackson circa 1905 |
In 1903 Charles married Bertha Lee (Simons) Ashcraft in Kentucky. Bertha was a 21 year old widow with a 2 year old son (my grandfather Marshall Jackson) from her first marriage. Charles Edgerly by then was 42 years old, but Charlie Jackson claimed to be born in 1865 and was therefore only 38. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Charlie adopted Marshall, giving him his fabricated name, and was the only father he ever knew. Charlie and Bertha went on to have two more children: Aline (1906 - 1909) and Mildred (1910 - 1995).
The 1910 census shows this family living in LaCenter, Kentucky. Charlie was a 45 year old carpenter born in Maine, whose parents were born in New Hampshire.
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| Mildred Jackson, circa 1915 |
Charlie had moved across the street to 1420 72nd Place with Mildred, now a 19 year old comptometer operator. They were now renting, for $45 per month. Apparently 1419 was sold during the divorce, and Bertha had used her portion to buy the delicatessen. Charlie was still working as a carpenter, and still describing himself as married. His parents are now from Maine.
Mildred married Ray Clevenger in 1931, and the three of them lived together during the lean years of the depression. Mildred notes that she didn't see her mother for many years.
I haven't found Charlie in the 1940 census. My Mom was a young child in this period, and she wrote that around this time Charlie lived with a family in St. Charles, Illinois, working as a handyman. She remembered that he would take a train and a bus to visit the family, always bringing a bag of candy. He was fond of chewing tobacco. The kids loved the candy, but not the chewing tobacco.
According to Mildred, Charlie lived a peripatetic life. He would show up somewhere with his suitcase, stay a few days, and then be off again. He often visited Mildred's in-laws Jerry and Nola Clevenger, who had retired to Winamac, Indiana. He had no fixed address, rather a series of extended visits.
In 1948 Charlie took a trip back east to try to track down his sister, as he told the family. At this point he was in his late 80's, so a long trip would have been arduous and notable. He sent Mildred a postcard from Boston Common.
Charlie Jackson died in 1951 of liver cancer, while staying with the Clevengers in Winamac. His son Marshall was the informant for the death certificate, but was understandably unable to supply the names of Charlie's parents or his birthplace. There was a service in Winamac, where Charlie was known from his frequent visits, and then Mildred brought the body back to LaCenter, Kentucky, so he could be buried next to his daughter Aline. Marshall and Bertha drove down to attend the burial.
After Charlie died, his daughter Mildred eventually looked through his wallet.
There was a photograph of Charlie with two women, and the name and address of Ora Edgerly White, Charlie's daughter from his first marriage. Years later, Mildred finally entered a correspondence with Ora and got the rest of the story. It turns out that during that trip back east in 1948 Charlie had reconnected with Ora and Winnie, 50 years after the last time he saw them. Ora related the whole story repeated here in a letter to her newly-discovered half-sister Mildred. She had fond memories of her father and never blamed him for escaping, while at the same time deeply regretting his long absence from her life.
I haven't found Charlie in the 1940 census. My Mom was a young child in this period, and she wrote that around this time Charlie lived with a family in St. Charles, Illinois, working as a handyman. She remembered that he would take a train and a bus to visit the family, always bringing a bag of candy. He was fond of chewing tobacco. The kids loved the candy, but not the chewing tobacco.
According to Mildred, Charlie lived a peripatetic life. He would show up somewhere with his suitcase, stay a few days, and then be off again. He often visited Mildred's in-laws Jerry and Nola Clevenger, who had retired to Winamac, Indiana. He had no fixed address, rather a series of extended visits.
In 1948 Charlie took a trip back east to try to track down his sister, as he told the family. At this point he was in his late 80's, so a long trip would have been arduous and notable. He sent Mildred a postcard from Boston Common.
Charlie Jackson died in 1951 of liver cancer, while staying with the Clevengers in Winamac. His son Marshall was the informant for the death certificate, but was understandably unable to supply the names of Charlie's parents or his birthplace. There was a service in Winamac, where Charlie was known from his frequent visits, and then Mildred brought the body back to LaCenter, Kentucky, so he could be buried next to his daughter Aline. Marshall and Bertha drove down to attend the burial.
After Charlie died, his daughter Mildred eventually looked through his wallet.
There was a photograph of Charlie with two women, and the name and address of Ora Edgerly White, Charlie's daughter from his first marriage. Years later, Mildred finally entered a correspondence with Ora and got the rest of the story. It turns out that during that trip back east in 1948 Charlie had reconnected with Ora and Winnie, 50 years after the last time he saw them. Ora related the whole story repeated here in a letter to her newly-discovered half-sister Mildred. She had fond memories of her father and never blamed him for escaping, while at the same time deeply regretting his long absence from her life.
Even that reconnection was fleeting, however. After staying with both daughters for about 10 days each, he resumed his travels and they never saw him again. He did send Christmas cards, but omitted a return address. He hadn't told them about his assumed name. Charlie lived his adult life on the run, albeit in slow motion. Mildred noticed that although little address book had his name written in it, he had used his tobacco knife to carefully obscure the last name.
Charlie What's-his-name led an interesting life, and had a big impact on my Mom's family. In a time before computerized records, identification numbers and credit reports, it's frankly surprising that more people didn't just shed their complicated old life and start up elsewhere. Maybe they did?
Charlie What's-his-name led an interesting life, and had a big impact on my Mom's family. In a time before computerized records, identification numbers and credit reports, it's frankly surprising that more people didn't just shed their complicated old life and start up elsewhere. Maybe they did?
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