Wow - great info, thank you very much!

So I should try a post on the Suffolk Cnty NY message board and see if anyone could find Robert Scott Sr.'s will - date of death for him is 5/28/1924(according to info from my post). According to the Census, Robert the son, was born in MA., I think I remember seeing that. I usually use the Boston Public Library to look at Census info online but they had budget cuts and have taken that away.

Do you know what Surrogates Court is?? Never heard the term before. I've heard of Probate Court - is that the same?

Thank you very much for helping me.

Margaret

If you know the address for any house you want to look up, try plugging it into Google and looking on Google Maps Street View. If the house is still standing and still has the same 'number' you will get to see it as it exists today. I was able to view my husbands G-G-G grandfather's house in Rockville Centre, Nassau Co. by doing this. It was built by him in the 1870's and it's still standing, lived in and cared for today!! I've also been able to find my Uncle's G-G Grandfather's house in Brooklyn, which is now Vinny's Iron Works. Google Maps Street View is a neat tool for seeing neighborhoods, buildings, etc.

-Janet

Bob

I didn't know that you could ask for a 'copy request' from FHL - is it self explanatory on the website or is there something I should be looking for?

Margaret

Margaret -

I went to the Municipal Archives today and looked up, among other things, the death certificates for Robert Scott and Ruth Eldredge. They were mostly mundane, except for a few tantalizing tidbits...

#4837 Manhattan, DOD 2-16-1925
Robert Walter Scott, 6 E. 82nd Street - White, married, male
b. 7-3-1860, Greenwich, England
FA = George Scott, MA = Mary Wall
In U.S. 63 yrs; in NYC 8 yrs
Carcinoma of the Tongue; cremated at Fresh Pond

#8081 Manhattan, DOD 4-7-1935
Ruth Agnes Eldridge, 134 E. 80th St. - White, widowed, female
wife of Robert A. Eldridge
b. 12-10-1890, Cambridge, MA
FA = Joseph A. Roper, b. Arlington, MA; MA = Ruth A. Furfey, b. Cambridge, MA
in U.S. - life; in NYC 18 yrs
Primary COD - Cirrhosis of the Liver (alcoholic) (1 yr duration); Secondary - Chronic Alcoholism (10 yrs duration)
buried - Cambridge Cemetery, Cambridge, MA

Did you catch the tidbits? Ruth's husband's name is the obvious one, but there is a more subtle one. Both Robert and Ruth arrived in NYC in 1917...one has to wonder if they came together. Thus, it would appear that Ruth's marriage (which occurred at age 21 (i.e. ~1912) according to the 1930 census) could not have occurred in NY. Maybe she married in RI? It's pretty close to MA.

A couple of other observations - first, that whoever filled out the death certificates was extremely well informed. Remember, the accuracy of these documents is only as good as the knowledge of the person filling it out. Even family members sometimes don't know names, dates, ages, etc. Both of these are very detailed (#yrs in NYC!, mother's maiden names!) - I wish some of my DCs were this good. Since she was buried in Cambridge, I have to assume that her MA family was informed of her death and further, I'd assume that the informant was her son. This means that some kind of contact was maintained over the years.

Second - the alcoholism started around the time of Robert Scott's death. A reaction to his loss - he was the 'love of her life'? Or a reaction to the stress of his wife's lawsuit? Or none of the above?

Anyway, hope this provides some new and fruitful info!

Lynn

You're wonderful!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for going to the Archives!!!
Do you need anything from MA - archives, libraries, deeds??

Another poster(BobNY) found out that Ruth and the son traveled to England and it happened to have the son's birth - 7/3 or 8/1916 in Swampscott MA. I'm dying to see if I can get his birth certificate! I'm also going to check to see if she married in MA - she dropped out of school in 1906 and that was the last I knew of her until I found the Deed that mentioned her. I think it is very coincidental(sp) that her husband's name was Robert! and she happens to hook up with a Robert!! I don't think she was married, I think the son is Robert Scott's!! I found an article in the 'Utica Observer' - the wife of Robert Scott was trying to get money from the will and said that when they were in Boston, parents were complaining to her about her husband making insulting remarks to their daughters. He brought Ruth home to his wife and wanted her to accept Ruth into the household and if she didn't he would find a 'love nest'!
Imagine!
My grandfather(Ruth's brother) died in 1933 and my grandmother lived with us and I never heard Ruth's name mentioned!!They had a brother, Joseph and a sister Helen - they had kids(cousins) and we knew of them - not real close - sad to say we lived in the same town. I don't know why my grandmother didn't stay close to that side. I do know that she struggled to raise nine kids after he died. He was a plumber and back then he was well off - according to my mother,uncles and aunts, everyone would come to their house for holidays and whatnot and they said that he was always helping someone out. So maybe when he died no one could help my grandmother out and she was bitter! Who knows! Anyway, when Ruth died she had a brother and sister still alive so I'm sure they were notified. There are two cemeteries in Cambridge she could be at - Cambridge Catholic where her parents are and Cambridge Cemetery where alot of the other family members are. I'll call tomorrow and ask.
I'ld love to find out about the son!!! What happened to him? BobNY found a death for a Robert Scott in Washington showing that his SSN was issued in NH which is where the Scott Knitting Manufacturing Co. was(Robert Scott Sr developed a couple of knitting machines) but when I looked at the obit it mentioned that he had a son Robert Jr. It should've been Robert III so I don't know if it's him, didn't mention mother.

Again thank you for all the information and for going to the archives - I appreciate it greatly!
If there is anything you need from MA please let me know!
Margaret

Lynn

I went to the Mass Archives today and looked high and low for a marriage for Ruth to Eldridge - tried every possible spelling of both last names and came up with nothing!!!

Looked for birth of son Robert Eldridge in Swampscott MA(this is the town BobNY found on a ships manifest) - nothing! I emailed Swampscott town clerk to see if she could find birth record and give me info but most of Mass's town/city halls have half days on Fridays so maybe she'll get back to me next week.

I also emailed cemetery to see if they could find her but they haven't gotten back to me yet - would love to see if she is buried with anyone - husband?

I did find Robert Scott's marriage to Virginia - it was his 2nd marriage in 1911, he was divorced, age=51, born in England, lists his occupation as manufacturer, living at the Parker House in Boston which is a very famous hotel. It was Virginia's 2nd marriage, didn't say divorced or widowed for her - 1st marriage name=Moore, maiden name=Cassidy, born in Reading, PA, she was living in Atlantic City, NJ, age=29. Interesting that only after 8 years of marriage he is bringing Ruth home to her to live with him!!!

If I find anything else about this 'juicy' story, I'll let you know!!! Everyone loves gossip!!!

Again, thank you very much for going to the Archives in NY!!
Margaret

Birth certificate - father is Robert A. Eldridge but the mother is Ruth Rogers born in Cambridge. Date is correct. I'm assuming it's Roper - my brother was born in 1951 and died 12 days later and both birth certificate and death certificate were all messed up as far as spelling of names = my mother's first name is Helen and they had it correct on the birth but had Ellen on the death. Father's name is George J. and they had just a J on birth and spelled the last name wrong.
Still waiting on cemetery.
Margaret

Lynn

Cambridge City Cemetery got back to me - Ruth is buried there.She is the only one in the grave and there is room for 3 more people! I find that very strange - why not be buried with 1st husband?and why such a big plot?Still trying to find info on son.

Thanks for all the info you got me!
Margaret

Margaret -

Glad to know that the info I dug out was such a help! Thanks for keeping me informed.

As for Ruth being buried alone, she likely outlived her first husband. And given the circumstances, it would be understandable if he didn't want to "rest in peace" with her. It seems more likely that the family was sold a standard plot and since she predeceased everyone by quite a few years, no one remember it by the time a burial spot was needed again. I can't remember - are other family members in this cemetery? It would be more odd if they didn't put her in an already existing plot. By the way, did the cemetery tell you who owned/owns the plot? That can sometimes be quite interesting info too.

Anyway, thanks for the update!

Lynn

Lynn,

More info -
Cemetery told me the owner is 'Joseph Hopen' but writing was terrible - I think it could be 'Joseph Roper' which would be Ruth's brother. Joseph Roper's son used to come to the family funerals and my mother would introduce us to him(her cousin). The last time I saw him was at my mother's funeral. That's the family that lived in the same town as us but we never really had much to do with them. Anyway, when I started digging into the family history, I wrote him a letter to see if he knew what happened to Ruth(he was the only one alive who might know) but letter was returned because he no longer lived in the town. I knew he had a son(same town) so I sent letter to him asking him to forward it, I explained who I was, he had been to my mother's funeral, I was just looking for info for family tree, etc. Nothing ever came of it. Strange!
If Joseph Roper did buy the plot, it's kind of weird because Ruth's parents are in Cambridge Catholic not Cambridge City - there wasn't room in her parents plot but I'm positive there were plots over there. My grandfather was in Cambridge City Cemetery when Ruth died but from the look of the map of cemetery the plots are not really close by. Joseph Roper and alot of the other family are buried in cemetery in Arlington,MA.
As for Ruth being buried alone, I'm pretty sure she was a widow on the 1920 Census - don't have access to it now, used to use Census on the Boston Public Library website but they had budget cuts and that was the first thing to go!

What an interesting story!! Still trying to see if I can hunt down the son!

Again, thanks for all the info!
If you happen on anything else let me know!
Margaret