Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry provides photos and genealogy of people found in New Bedford Public Library scrapbooks, 1918-1929. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

For today’s article, I’m examining scrapbooks from the New Bedford Public Library collection in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Unless noted, all images are courtesy of the library, and some are enhanced AI. I utilized GenealogyBank for additional information on my subjects, including the census records.

1918: Naval Wedding

Laurina Helen Darling (1896-1982), daughter of Edgar Winfred Darling and Gertrude Annie (Dugdale) Darling of 15 Campbell Street, married Ralph Gordon Spooner (1894-1985), son of Rufus A. Spooner and Sarah Jane “Jennie” (Pittsley) Spooner of 112 Pierce Street, on 21 July 1918.

At that time Ralph was a chief machinist’s mate in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force.

I found the couple in the 1930 census listed with their two daughters, Helen E. and Gertrude D., living in New Bedford. Ralph is listed as an engineer working in a cotton mill.

Helen Elizabeth Sooner (1921-2012) married Samuel Standfield Wagstaff (1918-2004), son of Samuel Wagstaff and Agnes L. (Townson) Wagstaff. They left descendants including Dr. Samuel S. Wagstaff Jr. and Millicent (Wagstaff) Meckowski.

Gertrude Darling Spooner (1926-2020) married Stephen Henry Neary Jr. (1925-2014), son of Stephen Henry Neary Sr. and Alice (Methot) Neary. The couple left one daughter, Helen Elizabeth (Neary) Levesque. Gertrude was a member of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants.

1918: Departure for Young Fellows Eager to Serve Country

This photo features the first black men to leave for Fort Devens, Massachusetts, in February of 1918. The men received many gifts and well wishes from friends and family as they saw them off.

The photo is labeled as follows: (back row, left to right) Henry Powell Onley; Raymond Barboza (1893-1957); Claude M. Ellis; (front row, left to right) John Adams Onley; Otis John Guinn (1894-1919), son of John Guinn and Elmira Croswell (Brady) Guinn.

Two of the young men pictured above, Henry Powell Onley and John Adams Onley, were brothers born to William Gifford Onley and Lavinia F. (Powell) Onley.

I found the two brothers in a 1900 census living in New Bedford with their parents and siblings Mary and Charles D. Onley.

William Onley was listed as a barber, and both parents were born in Virginia.

The New Bedford Historical Society featured the Onley home as part of their series “Black History Trails.” Below is a photo of the house known as the Martha and Henry Onley House located at 147 Smith Street.

According to sources, William Onley’s parents, Henry Joseph Onley and his wife Martha (Faggins) Onley, built the home about 1850.

William’s son Charles Dudley Onley (listed in the above census) would use the house as a funeral home, and it passed from family ownership in 1981.

1920: New Bedford Gold Star Mother

Mrs. Frank Milliken, born Susan Crowell to James A. Crowell and Elizabeth (Booth) Crowell, was chosen to head the Women’s Auxiliary.

Her son, Lt.  Alfred Standish Milliken (1891-1918), was killed at age 26 on 30 March 1918 in France. Below is a photo of him and a newsclip on a dedication in his name.

The dedication ceremony in Alfred’s honor was held 19 April 1920.

This article reports:

Maj.-Gen. Clarence R. Edwards will participate on April 19 in the dedication of a new battery of 12-inch guns at Fort Rodman in memory of Lt. Alfred S. Milliken, son of Frank and Mrs. Susan C. Milliken of New Bedford, the first officer from that city killed in the war. He was a member of D company, 6th engineer regiment. Three men of his company enlisted from New Bedford will unveil the bronze tablet presented officially by the city in recognition of the young hero. He was a New Bedford high school graduate and attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology prior to the war.

1929: Still Drives His Horse

A 1929 photograph shows Edward Payson Lawrence (1840-1934), son of Ansel Lawrence and Mary R. (Jenkins) Lawrence, a colorful fellow and a Teaticket octogenarian, once widely known on Cape Cod as a peddler. He continued driving his horse and buggy in good weather despite being nearly 90. (“Teaticket” comes from the Wampanoag word “Tataket,” which translates to “at the principal tidal stream.”

As cited in Suckanesset: Wherein May Be Read a History of Falmouth, Massachusetts, Edward P. Lawrence was one of the last of the living whalemen in Falmouth. He first went to sea at 17, when he shipped on the Gazelle of New Bedford, commanded by Captain Michael Baker.

Captain Baker’s wife accompanied him on the voyage. Lawrence recalled that she was an accomplished navigator who taught promising crew members. After two years cruising the Pacific, the crew left her on a small island with a missionary family while the Gazelle continued whaling. They returned a month later and brought Mrs. Baker, her baby, and a goat aboard, with the goat providing milk for the child.

Lawrence recalled an amusing episode from his voyage on the Gazelle. In 1862, while stopping in Sydney, Australia, for supplies before sailing home, the crew first learned of the American Civil War. Local English residents warned Captain Baker about privateers and persuaded him to protect his valuable cargo of oil by sailing under the British flag. Off Pernambuco, Brazil, the Gazelle met an American ship carrying a circus to South America. During their exchange, the homesick crew invited the circus aboard for dinner, hoping its band would play for them.

“My band couldn’t blow a note under that damn rag of an English flag you have flying!” was the blunt answer of the Yankee skipper, and off he went with his circus. The Gazelle’s crew took the cue and went home the rest of the way under their own colors.

In 1867 Edward married Lydia Sanford (1842-1916), daughter of Thomas Sanford and Lydia (Howland) Sanford. Below is their marriage announcement.

1929: A Young Casey Jones!

George Francis Mosher Jr. (1925-1987), son of George Francis Mosher and Margaret Elmira (Ball) Mosher, is pictured here in 1929 inside this improvised locomotive – and reports say he got a real kick when opening the throttle.

He married Dorothy E. Brayton (1925-2005), daughter of Elmer Brayton and Dorothy (Canton) Brayton, and left descendants.

More to come…

Create a free account at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.

Note on the header image: North Water Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts, part of the New Bedford Historic District, a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. Credit: Daniel Case; Wikimedia Commons.