Kathy: Loved your story ...! Yep, as kids, we do have these "selective" memories! I remember my grandmother, Julia Ann (DAVIES) ARNOLD b. RI, married in Stoneham, lived in Reading where husband, my grandfather Willard Clark ARNOLD was a minister. She told me great stories about her Scotish relatives, and how proud she was of her heritage, but at 8, all I could remember was the beheadings, and the head being carted off to Edinborough. All I could think of was the blood, dripping off the back of this horse. Not our links to this incredible "house" (ie castle) in Scotland! http://www.inneshouse.co.uk/ which dated to the 1600s, land to the 1100s, where an ancestor practiced witchcraft in this ancient Celtic circle of stones. (My cousin and I were there in 97 -- an incredible place!) So, suggest you pursue the land records/property records and/or tax records for all that you know. My grandparents, too were in this (Middlesex) county in the Depression, but lived simply ... but also managed to have a car, property on the coast in Maine ($600 for 200+ feet of ocean frontage overlooking Mt. Desert Island and Acadia Nat'l Park!!!) (wouldn't we all like to have THAT now !) and silverware (which I have inherited.) My grandparents built their house in Reading, on a loan by their son, an MD. Haven't followed the Mdlsx land records on that, but .... now that you bring this up, I know that grandpa only made some $3K/year as a minister, so where did he get the $600 to buy the land in Maine? Hmmm. Just rambling on my fingers as I'm typing. Ever get this sudden moment of "knowledge"? A lighhtning bolt ...? Had this about my grandfather, and now have to live with this horrible feeling that as a minister he had his hands "in the till" of the parishinors. A pretty awful realization, about your own grandfather, the "respected and revered" Rev. ARNOLD. I've only told his son and children. Obviously, now the list, although I suspect many would have not read this far and already deleted the message. You have some good and specific questions. Suggest: Land records for Billerica, MA; Judith Pt RI; and Scituate MA. All will give you some clues. Start there, and keep us posted. Also, purse any "probate" records for your grandparents. You suggest that your Mom doesn't know about a will, but it's at least worth a search. (Probate, ie > will). I know that's pretty basic, but so are "wax" apples. [Better go for the good old Macs!] Best wishes and luck, Marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Montgomery" <kathym@uvic.ca> To: <mamiddle@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 12:56 PM Subject: [MAMiddle] odd question . . . > Hi all - I have done a fair bit of genealogy, and learned interesting > stories and such about all sorts of ancestors and relatives. I have > learned > tons about my mom's family, and much less about my dad's. (And wouldn't > you > know it, my dad was curious about it all; my mom - "not so much.") > > However, my mom's sense of family mystery is less genealogy, and more > financial. She is 80, and the only question she ever asks me about family > history is in one area I see very little about. My mom's maternal > grandparents (my maternal great grandparents)appear to have modest income > partnered with very comfortable lifestyle. She has tried to think how > they > did that. It is the only family history mystery that keeps her in the > conversation. > > Her grandparents lived in a rented Cambridge apartment, owned a house in > Billerica, and a summer cabin at Point Judith RI. They had nice clothes, > china, sterling cutlery, etc. They ate well during the depression. I > found > a newspaper article that said she bought shore front land in Scituate. > But > in contrast, he worked behing the meat counter in a small grocery shop; he > did not own it. She did not work. My mom's question - where'd the money > come from? Neither of them came from families where they would have > inherited much. > > Her grandmother did not want her mother to marry - ever. So she eloped to > NH at age 17. She would never accept money or anything of particular > value > from her parents, even while trying to raise 6 kids through the > depression. > Thus my mom sort of worries that maybe they did something bad; but there > is > no known evidence of that. If anything, they were pretty strict from the > sound of it; much a part of the Victorian era. (As a 6 or 8 year old > budding family historian, I made the mistake of asking my grandmother how > old she was, and where she was born. trust me, I never did that again . . > . > I digress) > > My mom is the oldest of her generation still living; there is no one else > to > ask. > > so, my question - what clues are there to finances? Ideas I have had: > > 1) man from the above couple died in 1959 (before I was old enough to do > something so naughty as to ask how old he was!). But there doesn't seem > to > have been a will; or not that my mom ever heard. > > 2) I don't have any experience in using land records. maybe that would > help - any suggestions on land ownership in Cambridge and Billerica say > 1900 - 1960 as a timeframe? > > any suggestions? > > oh, and I can't resist adding - I do remember this great grand dad; he is > among my earliest memories. I was quite young, maybe just 4. We were > visiting him at the Cambridge apartment. They had a huge dining room > table > with one of those crocheted tablecloths. On it was a small bowl with the > most incredible looking apples I had ever seen; and I knew my apples let > me > tell you; my favorites for sure. So I asked him if I could eat one. He > said no, they were wax. I said that was okay, I liked all kinds. He said > no, you can't eat it, it is wax. Well wax was fine with me if that was > apples . . . I couldn't understand, I had never met an adult that would > not > let me eat an apple. We had to be rescued from the conversation by the > intervening generations! what a way to be remembered - all the things he > did in his life - and the only thing I remember about him is that he would > not let me have an apple! > > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MAMIDDLE-request@rootsweb.com with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject > and the body of the email with no additional text. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MAMIDDLE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. 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