Maddison Register Report Page 1 6/11/02 Kristin Carole Hall http://www.media.mit.edu/~kristin MADDISON FAMILY The Maddison family has proved to be a genealogical puzzle, based primarily on family lore and what little information can be gleaned from records in Massachusetts. A research expedition is planned for Halifax, but it is feared that records were lost in the explosion at Halifax during the First World War. A search of the Mormon Database has proved fruitless so far. The spelling of the surname is a great help ­ ³Maddisons² are fewer and further between than ³Madisons². As such, I¹ve made note of any genealogical tips that might connect later to the family. For example, in the Arcadia Record of Saturday, 5 March 1836, were found these two tidbits: ³Š died in London, Martin Maddison, aged 89.² and ³Madison, M (Mr) married in 1826². While it is clear that neither of these specifically apply to currently known members of the family, we may eventually find a link to them! First Generation ‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ 1. Mark1 MADDISON was born in somewhere in England, probably circa 1820-1825, based on the birth date of his namesake older son[1]. Mark¹s place of origin as England is derived from his son Mark R¹s. death certificate. His identity as Mark R.¹s father is also confirmed by his son¹s Marriage Record[1,2]. Mark married Martha [surname not known], whose first name is only known from their son Mark¹s Marriage Record[2]. They had the following children: 2 i. Mark R. ii. Thomas Generation: G2 (Great-great) Grandparents Person Numbers: 24/5 Second Generation ‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ Family of Mark MADDISON(1) & Martha [surname not known] 2. Mark R.2 MADDISON (Mark1) was born on 4 November 1845 in Halifax, Halifax co., Nova Scotia, Canada[1,2,3,4,5,] and died in Lynn, Essex co., MA on 22 November 1917; he was 72y. 18d[1]. He was buried on 24 November 1917 in Pine Grove Cemetary, Lynn, Essex co.,. MA[1]. Family lore claims that he died in the Influenza Epidemic, but his death certificate lists the cause of death as Pulmonary Tuberculosis[1]. During that terrible year, probably any death due to pulmonary reasons was attributed to the Flu Pandemic. There is a discrepancy in Mark¹s Birth Date. He listed 4 November 1844 on his naturalization record and his citizenship papers; 4 November 1845 is listed on his Death Certificate; yet his age on his 1884 Marriage Certificate is listed as 35 - giving him a birth year of 1849. I highly doubt that 1849 is correct ­ it is more than likely that he knocked 4-5 years off his age in order to get permission from her father to marry Lena. A man whose first marriage was taking place at age 39 or 40 was more suspect in the 1800s than it would be today. Mark had much to occupy his life before he married and settled down to raise a family with Lena. At age 18, he was a Clerk and apparently paid his first visit to Boston, Suffolk co., MA arriving on 20 October 1863 aboard the S.S. Brig America. He soon retuned to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. On the 6th or 7th of September 1869, Mark officially emigrated from Halifax to Boston -- booked in a cabin aboard the S.S. Steamer Oriental. He was listed on the ship¹s manifest as being age 24 with an occupation either as a Mechanic or an Upholsterer[4,5]. Not much has currently been found of Mark between his arrival in Boston in 1869 and his filing for Naturalization in 1880. After that, his trail is fairly easy to trace. His intention to be naturalized was recorded on 30 October 1880. At that time, he lived in the rear of Number 364 Main Street in Woburn, Middlesex co., MA and was a Currier[5]. He was living in Woburn when he met and married Alina/Aleen "Lena" O'CONNOR[3] (see O¹Connor), daughter of Michael O'CONNOR & Margaret McCARTHY, in Woburn, Middlesex co., MA[2,9]. They were married by The Reverend Leander Thompson on 19 April 1884 and Mark was 38 or 39, not the 35 he claimed on his marriage record. it is probable that he and Michael were Curriers together, since this was Michael¹s lifelong occupation and thus met Michael¹s oldest daughter, Lena. However, by the time of his marriage in 1884, Mark had changed occupations again and was now a Butcher[2]. Finally, Mark was made an American citizen on 19 February 1887. and his naturalization was officially recorded on 5 March 1887[6,7,8]. By the time of his death in 1917, the family had removed to 141 Walnut Street in Lynn, Essex co., MA[1]. And, once again, Mark had changed occupations. On his death record his occupation is given as Leather Worker[1]. Thus, it is probable that Mark moved his family to Lynn in order to work in the booming shoe industry in that city at the turn of the 20th century. Mark R. & Lena had the following children: 4 iii. Walter F. (1887-) 5 i. Arthur Blake (1889-1955) 6 ii. Leonard Generation: G1 Grandparents Person Numbers: 12/13 3. Thomas MADDISON (Mark1) was born on 4 November 1844 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada[13]. It would seem that either he and Mark R. were twins or both simply gave the same birth information to the Immigration Officials when they each applied for citizenship. Thomas emigrated from Halifax to Boston on 25 April 1872 and was an Upholsterer[13]. Beyond that, research has not been pursued on him. Third Generation ‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ Family of Mark R. MADDISON (2) & Lena O'CONNOR 4. Walter F. MADDISON (Mark2-1) was born on 7 April 1887 in Woburn, Middlesex co., MA[19,20]. 5. Arthur Blake3 MADDISON (Mark2-1) was born on 11 June 1889 in Woburn, Middlesex co., MA[3]. This is confirmed by the fact that he was 34 at the time of his marriage in 1922 and 66y. 11m. 26d. at the time of his death in 1955. He died in Lynnfield, Essex co., MA on 7 May 1955, aged 66y. 11m. 26d[14], of Arteriosclerosis & Heart Disease caused by Essential Hypertension. He died at a recuperative home at 165 Summer Street in Lynnfield. Essex co., MA, having been there for only 20 days before he died[14]. Family lore says that his widow vowed to never go there again, but 10 years later was placed there herself ­ not remembering this vow since she was suffering from what we now know as Alzheimer¹s. A.B. was buried on 10 May 1955 in Forest Hill, Lynnfield, Essex co., MA[14]. Arthur Blake Maddison was commonly known as ³A.B.² and was a man profoundly shaped by the Depression era in America. When you ask people to describe him, often the first thing said is that he was ³a man¹s man². His life¹s work revolved around construction, especially windows and installations. At the time of his marriage in 1922, he lived at 40 New Park Street in Lynn, Essex co., MA and was a Manager for a construction firm in Woburn, Middlesex co., MA[3]. By the time of the birth of his eldest child in 1923, the family had moved to Chestnut Street in Lynn, Essex co., MA and he was now a Sales Manager for the Woburn firm[15]. Family Lore has it that this construction firm failed quickly and catastrophically during the early years of the Depression. Literally, the men came to work one day and were told that they had been laid off retroactively to the previous week. In addition, the bank with the family accounts also closed and never again opened its doors. A.B. was out of a job and had no money or unemployment to fall back on. He decided to do what he knew best to do, but to be the boss this time ­ he formed his own construction company as a Steel/Construction contractor[14]. My mother, Barbara Ann Maddison, told of how one house after another on their street was foreclosed upon during this time. You could tell because a red flag would go onto the house when it was foreclosed upon. A.B. staved off foreclosure because he was starting his business literally in the basement of his house, with his wife, Marian keeping the books. A.B. Maddison & Company was a success. By the end of the 1930s, he had contracts for jobs such as the now-demolished parking garage in Post Office Square in Boston. His sons, Fred & David following him into the business and kept it humming until they decided to liquidate it after the death of their mother in 1984. They made a great team, with Fred dealing with the inevitable politics that go into bidding and labor relations and David in charge of actual constructions. Fred somehow also knew Albert DiSalvo, otherwise known as ³The Boston Strangler², while the latter was in prison. The most notable, and notorious, project they worked on was the installation of the windows ­ twice -- in the I.M. Pei- designed John Hancock Building in Boston in the early 1970s. The first windows they installed in this glass-façade building soon began to pop out and cascade into shards on the street below. The windows were soon replaced with plywood (earning the building the nickname ³Plywood Palace²) while the principals involved sorted out blame and solutions. It was eventually determined that the specifications for the widow frames did not take into consideration how the widows would flex in Boston¹s notorious downtown winds and were just short enough that the windows would literally pop out when they flexed enough. Frames with larger lips were put in and the building remains a centerpiece of downtown Boston today. A terrific Pulitzer Prize winning article on the John Hancock debacle can be found at http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1996/criticism/works/CRIT-MAR3.html the building is now cited in "When Bad Things Happen to Good Buildings", by Thomas A. Schwartz, ArchitectureWeek No. 44, 2001.0404, pB1.1. You¹ll see that the problems with its construction went far beyond the widows. Interestingly enough, I went looking for a picture of the building in its plywood glory (an image I remember very well from the time), but could only find shimmering shots of the now-acclaimed building. The family soon moved into what the next generation considered ³Nana¹s House² at 515 Summer Street, Lynnfield, Essex co., MA, which stayed in the family through A.B.¹s death in 1955[14] and until Marian could no longer care for herself in the mid-1960s. The house is still standing much as it did at that time. At the time of his death and for many years afterward, the boys would find safe deposit keys and bankbooks hidden in the nooks and crannies of A.B.¹s office and home. His experience in the Depression had led to a grave mistrust of the banking system, so he had his assets scattered around many institutions. It is a family joke today that the family probably never found all his assets after his death. After all, how does one track down a random safe deposit box key found taped to the bottom of a drawer? In addition, the terms of his will all but mandated that the boys keep the family business going until Marian died. Having been badly burned once by having others in charge of his life, he was not going to let it happen again. According to his death record, A.B. never served in the military -- he was of the age which was too young to serve in World War I and too old to serve in World War II[14]. On 29 May 1922 when Arthur Blake was 32, he married Marion Louise NEWHALL (see Newhall), daughter of Henry Ernest NEWHALL & Mary Josephine NEWHALL, in Lynn, Essex co., MA[3] by The Reverend Herbert L. Johnson. Their intention was filed on 23 May 1922 in Lynn, Essex co., MA by Joseph W. Attwill. They had the following children: 7 i. Barbara Ann (1923-1988) 8 ii. Frederick 9 iii. David Generation: Grandparents Person Numbers: 6/7 6. Leonard MADDISON (Mark2-1) Nothing is really known of Leonard except that he died young. Fourth Generation ‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ Family of Arthur Blake MADDISON (4) & Marian Louise NEWHALL 7. Barbara Ann MADDISON (Arthur Blake3, Mark2-1) was born on 14 January 1923 in Swampscott, Essex co., MA[15] and died in Framingham, Middlesex co., MA on 25 February 1988; she was 65[21,22]. She is buried in Northborough Cemetery, Northborough, Worcester co., MA. She died after suffering the degenerative disease of Olivoponte Cerebellar Atrophy for many years. While the disease itself was not fatal, the lack of muscle control led to her aspirating a piece of food. This soon became Pneumonia, but she hung on for many months before succumbing to Cardiovascular Shock, Sepsis, Bladder Infection & Respiratory[21]. On 20 February 1943 when Barbara Ann was 20, she married Walter Kenneth HALL (see Hall), son of Laforrest Leroy HALL & Esther Gladys HOLST (see Holst), in Crane Chapel, Tufts University, Medford, Middlesex co., MA[23,24,25] by The Reverend George Ladd. They had the following children: iii. Heather (1944-) ii. Alan Maddison (1947-) i. Kristin Carole (1961-) Generation: Parents Person Numbers: 2/3 8. Frederick MADDISON (Arthur Blake3, Mark2-1) 9. David MADDISON (Arthur Blake3, Mark2-1) Sad to say, I really know far less of my immediate living family than I do of my long, dead ancestors. Hopefully I can rectify this someday soon. Sources 1. ³Mark R. Maddison Death Certificate,² 22 November 1917, Lynn, Essex co., MA, 1917, p. 269, Registered number 1293. 2. ³Mark Maddison & Lena O¹Connor Marriage Record,² 19 April 1884, Woburn, Middlesex co., MA, 1884, v. 353, p. 267. 3. ³Arthur Blake Maddison & Marian Louise Newhall Marriage Record,² 1 June 1922, Lynn, Essex co., MA, 1922, 455, A436015 - Registered Number 347, Intention Number 360, Commonwealth of MA Vital Records. 4. ³Mark R. Maddison Citizenship Papers,² 30 October 1880, U.S. District Court, Boston, Suffolk co., MA. 5. ³Mark R. Maddison Application for Citizenship,² 19 February 1887, Fourth District Court of East Middlesex - Woburn, 1885-1906, 32, 32A, 32B. 6. ³Federal Archives, Waltham, Middlesex co., MA.² 1885-1906-32. 7. ³Mark R. Maddison Citizenship Papers,² 19 February 1887, Fourth District Court of East Middlesex County- Woburn, 1885-1906, 32+. 8. ³Mark R. Maddison Citizenship Intention,² 30 October 1880, U.S. District Court. 9. ³Commonwealth of MA Vital Records,² [MAVR], Marriage Records, 1884, 353, 267. 10. ³Alina O¹Connor Birth Record,² 2 August 1865, Winchester, Middlesex co., MA, 1865, v. 178, p. 235, #34. 11. ³Lena O¹Connor Maddison Death Certificate,² 6 January 1959, Lynn, Essex co., MA, 1959, p. 34, Registered Number 19. 12. ³Commonwealth of MA Vital Records,² [MAVR], Death Records 1959, v. 65, p. 34. 13. ³Thomas Maddison Citizenship Papers,² 25 October 1880, U.S. District Court, Boston, Suffolk co., MA. 14. ³Arthur Blake Maddison Death Record,² 7 May 1955, Lynnfield, Essex co., MA, 1955, 160, A436098 - Registered Number 14 in Lynnfield, Commonwealth of MA Vital Records. 15. ³Barbara Maddison Birth Record,² 14 January 1923, Swampscott, Essex co., MA, 1923, 8, Paper, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vital Records. 16. ³Marblehead, Essex co., MA Vital Records,² [MarbleheadVR]. 17. ³Commonwealth of MA Vital Records,² [MAVR], Birth Records 1893, Volume 430, Page 451, #1104, Lynn [Marion Louise Newhall]. 18. Ibid. Death Records 1984, #042443. 19. ³Walter F. Maddison Birth Record,² Woburn, Middlesex co., MA, 1887, v. 377, p. 310. 20. ³Commonwealth of MA Vital Records,² [MAVR], Birth Records, 1887, 377, 310. 21. ³Barbara Maddison Hall Death Record,² 1988, #022743, Paper, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vital Records. 22. ³Commonwealth of MA Vital Records,² [MAVR], Death Records, 1988, #022747. 23. ³Hall Family Record 2,² Marriages Page, Kristin Hall, Written Records in Family Bibles, Paper. 24. ³Hall-Maddison Marriage Certificate,² 20 February 1943, Crane Chapel, Tufts University, Medford, Middlesex co., MA, 1943, Actual Certificate from the Reverend George Ladd., Certificate in possession of Kristin Hall. 25. ³Hall Family Record,² Marriages Page, Kristin Hall, Written Records in Family Bibles, Paper. 26. ³Hall Family Record,² Births Page, Kristin Hall, Written Family Records from Family Bibles. 27. ³Hall Family Records 2,² Children¹s Names Page, Kristin Hall, Written Family Records from Family bibles, Paper. 28. ³Walter Kenneth Hall Birth Record,² 6 January 1920, Boston, Suffolk co., MA, 1920, 1, 6, 225, Paper, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vital Records. 29. ³Kristin Carole Hall Birth Record,² 26 May 1961, Portland, Cumberland co., ME, 1961, 271821, Paper, State of Maine Vital Records. 30. Family Notes Transcription. Notes originally in Walter K. Hall¹s, Barbara M. Hall¹s or Heather Hall¹s hand. 31. 1939 The World Almanac, [1939Alm], 918. 32. ³Heather Hall Birth Record,² 27 November 1944, Melrose, Middlesex co., MA, 1944, 488, 605, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vital Records. 33. ³Alan Maddison Hall Birth Record,² 27 October 1947, Melrose, Middlesex co., MA, 1947, Melrose, 46, 871, Paper, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vital Records.