BOSTON-L Archives
Archiver > BOSTON > 2003-02 > 1044276275
From: "BBFFRRPP" <>
Subject: [BOSTON] Orphanages in South Boston .. 1900 .. (CLARK, DEXTER, YOUNG)
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 07:45:40 -0500
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone knew which "Homes," orphanages, "asylums," etc.
were available in South Boston around 1899 or 1900.
When my grandmother lost both of her Adoptive parents* in 1899, she believes
she was "taken to" a "Home" or some type of "orphanage" on ... D Street
in South Boston.
She would have been Age 11 .. and that leads me to another question. When
she was "a foundling" in Boston or Greater Boston on .. Feb. 1st, 1889, she
became "a Ward of the State" at Age 3 months. She was Adopted in Melrose,
MA, in Mar. 1892. When she was "orphaned" again in the spring of 1899,
would she have become "a Ward of the State" again? Or, was Age 11-12 ..
one of those "in between ages" for "children" ??
Thanks to my "cousin" in CT and a "friend" in ME, I have found out a whole
lot more about the Adoptive parents .. John and Mary (CLARK) DEXTER .. The
most important fact being that John Dexter did not "disappear into thin air"
in 1899. It seems that he "disappeared into Tewksbury State Hospital" in
1899. He died there in 1905 and was buried on the property.
("Right under my nose")
This is very strange as when Mrs. Mary "Molly" Dexter died in Melrose, MA,
in Apr. 1899, her "remains" were returned to Killingly, CT, for burial
there. .. I have also found out that "Molly's" father, James CLARK, was
a Mariner, and "went out to sea" in 1844 when she was about 7 years old.
He was never seen again, but not because he was "lost at sea," he "deserted"
in Sydney, Australia.
..I am now beginning to think that my grandmother, Adopted name, Mary Anna
Clark DEXTER, did not go to live in "The Temporary Home for Women and
Children" at 41 Chardon Street in Boston until 1905 (coinciding with the
death of her Adoptive father) (OR, coinciding with her reaching the age of
16....) So, she might have only lived at "The Chardon Street Home" from
1905 to 1909/1910. (aka "the HAUSER Sisters' Home)
*All along it was "a guess" of my grandmother's children and grandchildren
that she was the grandchild of John and Mary (CLARK) DEXTER. Brand-new
information coming to light .. shows that she might have been "a change of
life baby" .. of Mrs. Dexter. The only child of John and "Molly"
DEXTER who lived to adulthood was their daughter, Clara DEXTER, who was born
in Killingly, CT, in 1857. She would have been 31 years older than her
Adoptive sister, born in 1889.
We found out that a grandson of Mrs. Clara (DEXTER) YOUNG wrote a "family
history booklet" about his YOUNG family in the 1980's. Of course, the
DEXTER family of Killingly, CT, was mentioned. But, there was absolutely
no mention at all .. of my grandmother. Winthrop YOUNG was the author,
and his father, Earl YOUNG, was the only child of Abner and Clara YOUNG, and
Earl would have been the nephew of my grandmother, and he would have been ..
7 years older than she was. ... This YOUNG family reportedly .. KNEW ..
about my grandmother, but she was not "talked about."
Betty (near Lowell, MA)
P.S. My cousin in CT and I have finally remembered to compare family
photographs, and we have discovered that her grandmother and my grandmother
look enough alike to have been sisters or first-cousins. The "key" to
their possible relationship is through:
Mrs. Rhoda (MANCHESTER) (LAVARE) CLARK who lived her entire life in
Westport, MA. Both women would have technically .. been .. grandchildren
of Rhoda (if our "guesses" are correct).
Karen in CT is trying to "prove" that Rhoda's parents were Gilbert
MANCHESTER and Mary TOMPKINS from Little Compton, RI, and thus .. "Mayflower
descendants."
"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children;
one is roots, the other is wings."
Hodding Carter, Jr.
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