Yesterday morning we were listening to the Sunday Morning Coffee House. Suddenly I was standing stock still mesmerized by the beautiful voice of Kate Wolf singing that song-- feelings of melancholy, nostalgia and ecstasy flooded my being-- Kate Wolf, her lovely voice silenced by death at the age of 44, the aching beauty of autumn, the joy of waiting for four babies to be born. Five great grandchildren for my parents, and my mother didn't live to see a single grandchild. Me, suddenly with a medicare card and fully feeling the passing of my life and the coming of the new generation. Sad but joyful at the same time, having had a full and marvelous life myself-- not long enough yet but neither too short. So very blessed, particularly in having John, my true companion for all these years.
A week ago John and I walked with Margaret and Andrew in the huge Evergreen Cemetery in Portland. The picture above shows a plot housing the remains of residents of Portland's "Home for Aged Women". Feeling nearly "aged" myself, I was taken with the scene and was inspired to see what I could learn about one of the inhabitants.
I imagine that Caroline Franklin would be amazed and pleased to think that nearly a century after her death someone is interested in learning anything about her life.
From her Maine death record I learned that Caroline Franklin, nee Drake, was born in August of 1822 in Seekonk, Massachusetts. There is no birth record but her parents, Albee and Rhoda (Tisdale) Drake had three other children born in Sutton and there is a census record for Albee in Sutton in 1820, so Seekonk may be wrong. The 1856 State Census of Iowa shows that Caroline, by now under her married name of Franklin, was living in Allamakee, Iowa. She was with her parents, Albee and "Rolla" and a one year old girl recorded as R.M.V. Franklin.
In 1860 Caroline was still with her parents and still in Allamakee but there is no young girl so we must assume that she died. In 1870, still in Allamakee, Caroline was living alone but there were at least two Drake families nearby. In 1880, enumerated as "Carrie" she was still in Iowa but a search of nearby households reveals no other Drake families.
By 1900 Carrie had returned to New England. Although there is no Maine connection previously, in 1900 Caroline, now 77 years old, was living with Henry Dexter, a nephew, age 39. He was born in Iowa.
By 1910 Carrie was in the Home for Aged Women and on 28 October 1915 she died. Cause of death was
"Hypostatic Pneumonia" and senility. From Wikipedia we learn that hypostatic pneumonia usually results "from the collection of fluid in the dorsal region of the lungs and occurs especially in those (as the bedridden or elderly) confined to a supine position for extended periods".
So what do we know about her other than bare bones? We know that she moved westward with her family, perhaps before Iowa became a state in 1846. (Lack of available census records hinders the research). We know from undocumented internet sources that Caroline Franklin married her sister Eliza's widowed husband, John Franklin. He was supposedly a physician. Since Caroline appears to have had a baby about 1855, Franklin must have died sometime in that year. It is possible, however, that the baby was not Caroline's but Eliza's and that the marriage to John Franklin may have been motivated by the desire to care for the motherless and soon completely orphaned child. Whichever the case, one cannot but imagine that there was grief and sorrow to spare in this pioneer family.
While we can know nothing about her personality, the fact that she was a widow for more than sixty years, that she had no children to surround her, that she eventually returned to New England and lived with a bachelor nephew and that she came to rest at last in the Home for Aged Women, gives plenty of scope to imagine what her life was like. Perhaps she was whining, querulous and a complete old nuisance but I prefer to think that she was a cheerful and industrious soul, always ready with a smile and a kind word.
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