| Notes |
- July 1995
James Stafford was a "Plate Moulder" according to the birth certificate o f Lawrence of 1901. James made the decision, for reasons not known at t his time, to move his family from Oldham, England to America. It is be lieved that they departed England from Liverpool and it is known that t hey left in 1913. It is not known exactly which port they arrived in, i n the USA. It is believed to be either Boston or Fall River. The ship i s not known. The entire family (less Hilda who was already 21 at the t ime of the family petition for Naturalization) received their naturaliz ation papers on September 16, 1918. James' obituary indicates that he w as a member of Manchester, England I.O.O.F. International Organization o f Odd Fellows...see library article on the I.O.O.F.) of that city. At t he time of James' marriage to Clara, he is listed as a Coachman (Domest ic), while Clara was listed as a Cotton Reeler as seen on their marriag e certificate. The family had lived in at least 3 locations in Oldham b efore leaving Oldham. Family information indicated that they had lived o n Carsile St., for some time during their life in Oldham and had lived a t 3 Stockfield St. in Oldham at the time of Lawrence's birth, as evide nced by his birth certificate, Stockfield St. is listed as being in t he Chadderton area of Oldham, also on the birth certificate of Lawrence . We have guessed that James may have wanted to move his family to USA d ue to the build up of conditions leading to World War 1. Being that he h ad three sons at the age to go to war, James may have decided to move h is family. When in the USA, James lived in Fall River for some time (b ased on family info.) but then first moved to South Walker St. North Di ghton, Ma. for a period of time and then eventually moved to 1 Burt St. T aunton, Ma. Not sure when but, at some time in their lives, James and C lara also lived in an apartment over what is now the West Church Sunday s chool. Since they died living at Burt St., I assume that they lived on N orth Walker St., over the local store that is now the sunday school, be tween their stay on South Walker St., North Dighton and Burt St., Taunt on. Cemetery record is listed in the Taunton City Hall and he is liste d on page 317, item # 1615. His age in this record is listed as 75 yea rs, 7 months, 15 days. His grave info. is 2N CV 26 (Cement vault 26 in ches wide). He was buried on 7/15/1950, in lot number 372. His cause o f death is left ventrical failure and the undertaker was Leonard Farley .
September 1995: Many things have changed since the entry written above .
I have since found out a few facts that change many of the previous tho ughts about the family and the time frames. I have now proven that Jam es came over by himself to visit a "Brother in law" curiously named Sta fford (looks like the name of William) ...this alone causes a question. .if it was his brother in law, chances are he would have a different la st name. The brother in law lived in Fall River, MA. James arrived at t he Port of Boston on December 3, 1903, 10 years before previously thoug ht. As did most men of that time, James came over first to find work a nd get a bit settled before sending for Clara and the kids who were to a rrive on December 23, 1904. This too, was information we had not previ ously known. It must have been quite a Christmas present to be reunit ed, once again as a family, after a full year apart.
A copy of the Captain's Passenger List was also found on microfilm for J ames' trip over. It shows that the S.S. Ivernia left the port of Liver pool on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 1903 at 3:30 P.M. It was due to leave Boston f or it's return trip on Dec. 8, 1903 at 12:30 P.M. The Ivernia was one o f many steamships of the Cunard Line. The Passenger list included much i nfo. on the Cunard line and included classes of passengers, the high c lass "Saloon" 40 people, "2nd Cabin" class 101 people, and "3rd class" 5 35 people for a total number of 676 passengers. The Saloon and the 2nd C lass passengers' names had been printed in the Captain's log, while the 3 rd class passengers were each signed onto the ship according to group l etters..of which I have not yet figured out. James signed in as group B . This information was found in Pittsfield, MA Archives with a locati on code T790, roll 11, Boston book index 1899-1940, Nov 17,1903------> M ar. 27,1904. The Captain's name was Thomas Stephens and a few other im portant people in the crew were listed like the surgeon and the Chief S teward. A picture of the ship was included in the log and very fancy p rinting and general info. Other planned Service from England was liste d with the appropriate ship's name and related departure dates. The ad dress of the Head Quarters Cunard office and various other offices arou nd the world were also listed. On the last page before the 3rd class p assenger list, there was included a page showing all of the Lighthouse l ights that one would see as they left English shores and as they entere d American shores. James was listed under group B and was passenger nu mber 19 in that group.
In the 1910 census, James & family was listed as living on 299 (I think ) Spring St. Dighton, MA. Clara, Frank, Hilda, Lawrence and Harry were a ll listed. They are still listed as aliens and James is listed as an i nspector in the Bleachery...probably one of the mills in Dighton. The r ecord indicates that they rented their home. The record can be found i n the 1910 US census for Dighton, MA., Bristol County, Supervisor's Dis trict # 119, Enumeration Dist.# 107, Sheet 14 B. The record was taken o n May 3, 1910.
When Clara came over on Dec. 23, 1904, she is on a "Record of Detained A lien Passengers" after entering the New York port aboard the "S.S. Balt ic." She is listed as group A and she and the kids make up numbers 10- 14. Her youngest son Harry, was listed as being under 1 year of age. C lara's "Cause of Detention" was to meet her husband. Her disposition wa s listed as meeting her husband James of 89 Ash St. Fall River, MA. Sh e was discharged by an inspector the same day at 5:25 and an additional n ote indicates that the 4 children received supper. Clara's information i s listed as entry 95 on the Detained list. I believe the page number i s listed as 113.
October 6, 1995
On October 6th I received a return note from the Fall River Historical S ociety. They had listed all the Staffords that had resided in Fall Riv er from the time of 1902 till 1915. She had looked up in the city dire ctories in those time and listed any James Staffords that were listed. S ure enough James was listed as living at 89 Ash St., the same address l isted on Clara's port of entry information, from 1905-1908. It also li sts James as working at Algonquin, which was a textile mill based on Ja mes' past experience...I have written a return note asking that questio n. Sometime between 1905 and 1906, James moved his family to 61 Slade S t. Fall River. Dad has checked and found that the house no longer stan ds. Since James is not listed at all in Fall River after 1908, I assu me he moved his family to Dighton, 299 Spring St. between 1908 and 190 9. By 1910 U.S. census, he is already in Dighton.
January 22, 1996
Today I received James' original petition for Naturalization. Much of t he information was already known but, I did confirm what I believe to b e his real birthdate and also what I believe is Clara's real birthdate. H is birthdate was listed as Nov. 29, 1875 and Clara's was listed as Sept . 30, 1873. This is the second time that I have seen Clara's listed as t his date and I believe that the incorrect date of birth was listed on t heir Marriage record where James is listed as the same age as Clara.
March 2, 1996
Spoke to Dad today and he remembered a story that I thought was notewor thy here under James. Dad remembers that each year on Christmas eve, h is grandfather, James, would insist that the whole family go outside at t he stroke of midnight, all dressed up warm with their coats, to sing Ch ristmas carols. He was reminded of this as we discussed the findings o f a letter from Dave Bradley an English Archivist. He also mentioned h ow everything was a joke to James. Apparently one would never know for s ure if he was kidding or serious during any given discussion. It's my f ather's memory that James was always laughing and he mentioned that his f ace would always get very red as he laughed. In the past, Dad has ment ioned to me that he remembers James drank much beer and spent a lot of m oney gambling. In fact, it is my father's guess that James' move near t he Taunton dog track was probably so he could be closer
to the track. He lived in the first house on the right as you go up Wi lliams St. along side of the old track, a house that I also lived in du ring my first marriage. See Lizzy notes for additional information
January 12, 2003
I printed a 1901 Oldham England census off the internet today. There h as always been some question about whether my great grandfather, James, w as 1 or 2 years younger than his wife, Clara. In the census record, re corded in March 1901, ther record points out that Lawrence, my grandfat her was not yet born and that would be true as he was born in June late r that year. It also shows his two older sisters in the household with f ather James and mother Clara. They lived at 3 Stockfield St. Oldham. T he census lists James as 27 and Clara as 28 in March when the informati on was collected. Since Clara was born in September and James in Novem ber, neither had celebrated a birthday in that year, so it appears that C lara was only 1 year and 2 months older......I believe this might be tr ue based on other records that had questions. This family tree file, a t this point, still shows his birth year to be 1875 when it might be th at it is 1874 or Clara's may actually be 1874 and not 1873. Until I de termine the actual I will keep them as is in this file.
March 1, 2003
Today on the internet I found this for either James or his father Henry b ecause one of them was listed as a joiner.
JOYNER or JOINER: skilled carpenter
Immigration:
- Boston Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1943 Boston Passenger and Crew L ists, 1820-1943
Name: James Stafford
Arrival Date: 3 Dec 1903
Age: 29
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1874
Gender: Male
Ethnic Background: English
Port of departure: Liverpool, England
Ship Name: Ivernia
Port of arrival: Boston, Massachusetts
Friend's Name: Wm Stafford
Last Residence: England
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1875 - 1950 (74 years)
