THE STANSTEAD JOURNAL, 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1944

I attempted to transcribe the following article word for word from the newspaper. You may click on the title above to link you directly to the actual article.

TIMOTHY BYRON RIDER

                Before giving the biography of Timothy Byron Rider, we will take a brief glimpse at the ancestors whose records were found in the Congressional Library at Washington, D.C.  From the New England Historical and Genealogical Registers, we quote the following:

“Lieutenant Samuel Rider was the progenitor of the Rider family.  Born 1601, and died 1679, at Yarmouth, Massachusetts.  Samuel, the common ancestor was one of the Puritans, a zealous church member, a man who lived up to his professions, and was a very reputable citizen.”

                “In 1652, Lieutenant Rider and Captain John Gorham were the deputies of Yarmouth to the Old Colony Court.  In 1675, Lieutenant Samuel Rider was one of the assessors of Yarmouth.  In 1677 and 1679, he was one of the rate makers, facts that show he was considered a man of sound judgment.”

                “He served on a jury in Yarmouth, 1641.  In 1643, October 10, he was one of a committee appointed to choose a place for a fort at Yarmouth, and fortify it against sudden assault.  Under date of June 6, 1649, he is mentioned as surveyor of highways at Yarmouth.”

                “June 5, 1671, he was appointed member of a committee to collect and pay the salary of the minister at Yarmouth.”

                “In examining the characteristics of the Riders, a uniformity in their condition and character, rarely found in the history of families, will be noticed.”

                “In the list of those who proposed to take up their freedom at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, occurs the name of Samuel Rider, and there is no doubt he came with the first company in the winter of 1638-39.  The date of his marriage and wife’s name is not known, but his fourth child, Samuel, was born at Yarmouth.  He married December 23, 1656, Sarah Mary, a daughter of Robert Bartlett, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, November 18, 1657, a son was born to them, named Samuel.”

                In looking through the records of the New England Historical and Genealogical Registers, the most popular given names in the Rider family were Samuel, Seth, John and Ezra.  The first John Rider was born in 1715, at Chatham, Massachusetts.

                To the third Samuel Rider was born in 1768, at Haverhill, New Hampshire, a son named Seth Bartlett Rider.  He married but his wife’s name is not known.  After her death, he married Mary Hibbard who was born at Haverhill, New Hampshire.  She died January, 16, 1860, at Lisbon, Kendall County, Illinois.  Her father was a Colonel in the Revolutionary Army; her husband, Seth Bartlett Rider, died in  1834, at Stanstead.  Among their children were these names: Sarah, Samuel, Hibbard, Lucy P, Susan and Ezra Bartlett, born June 10, 1798, at Haverhill, New Hampshire, died at Fitch Bay, Quebec, November 1, 1862.  This Ezra Bartlett Rider was a graduate of a New Hampshire University.  He was a skilled worker of wood, and owner of a sawmill, two miles north of the village of Fitch Bay.  He was an interested member of the Masonic Order, of the Golden Rule Lodge, was the worthy master of this Lodge in 1852.  He was one of the charter members of the Golden Rule Lodge on the Summit of Owls Head Mountain.

                It is assumed by records found that Ezra Bartlett Rider came to Canada in 1825, nearly 120 years ago; settle at first  in Hatley, but later moved to Fitch Bay, where he spent the remainder of his life, so he was truly one of the pioneers of Stanstead County.

                Ezra Bartlett Rider’s first wife was Fanny Chandler, born at Piermont, New Hampshire, March 3, 1801, died Fitch Bay, March 19, 1843; after her death, he married Dorothy Ann Lee, October 18, 1843, at Fitch Bay, she was born January 4, 1824, at Fitch Bay.  Eight children were born by first marriage, and about 1844 they all moved to Illinois and Kansas.  By second marriage, there were four children: Timothy Byron, born January 8, 1848; Hamilton Milford, born December 14, 1851, died September 23, 1887; Helen Desdemonie, born August 25, 1857; Clara Annette, Born May 4, 1863.

                Timothy Byron Rider was born at Fitch Bay, Quebec, January 8 1848, the oldest son of Ezra Bartlett Rider, and his second wife, Dorothy Ann Lee, who was a direct descendant of Robert e Lee, of Virginia fame, also of Jason Lee, the missionary.

                Timothy Byron Rider obtained his education at the rural public school, also the old Stanstead Academy, finishing his French course at St. Ocaire, Quebec, and always keeping his interest in this language of which he was a fluent speaker.

Helen Desdemonia Rider

                His father (Ezra Bartlett Rider) died when he was a lad of fourteen years, and, aside from time spent in school, he assisted in the sawmill, two miles north of the village, which, after his father’s death, was operated by his mother who was a woman of unusually great business ability and industry.

                Timothy Byron and younger brother Hamilton Milford were much interested in the work of the mill, and proved valuable help to their mother.  They remained at home to assist in the business until, at the age of twenty-one, each started out in life for himself.

                Shortly before these events, Timothy Byron Rider had met and fallen in love with Mary Shaw, who was a school teacher in a nearby district, and daughter of Jacob Shaw of Beebe Plain, who, when approached by your Timothy Byron Rider for the hand of his daughter: Said, if his daughter would choose to marry a man who could earn and save $1,000.00 before his marriage, he would present his daughter, with and equal sum.

                Timothy Byron, with his characteristic foresight, decided to try his fortune in the then far distant land of California, and obtained a position in a large mill establishment, sawing the big timbers for which that country was then famous.  In about one year, he was ready to return and made the trip, in the autumn of 1871, by boat, to the Isthmus of Panama which he crossed on mule back, the popular mode of travel across that section of country, continuing the remainder of the journey by boat to Boston and home by railway, or as near as that system of travel would bring him.

                The following events prove that, when he next presented himself to the lady of his choice, after fulfilling the required objection, he was accepted, as they were married November 30, 1871.  They lived in Magog where, for four years he was employed in the saw-mill.

                Four sons and one daughter were born of this marriage, namely: Burton Hamilton, Oral Kingsley, Lena Marillia, Ezra Byron, and Claude Percy.

Claude Percy Rider

                In 1873, he and his brother, Hamilton Rider, purchased  the general store at Fitch Bay, and began their mercantile life together, under the name of “T.B. & H. M. Rider.”  Their lives were so closely interwoven that it is difficult to write of one, without including the other.

                After improving the store property and making it one of the best of its kind, they bought  in 1878 the feed and sawmill in the village.  After purchasing and installing better equipment for grinding grains, they discovered that the wheat grown by the farmers at that time was of such inferior quality that they decided to introduce a superior grade of seed wheat, and sell it to the farmers.  This was accomplished, much to the satisfaction of both growers and millers.

The Home Of Timothy Byron Rider

                The sawmill was also thoroughly repaired, with good machinery installed, and made to supply, not only rough lumber, but shingles, clapboards, windows, and finished lumber, suitable for building.  This was also a great public service these young men made possible for their fellow citizens.

                About 1875, these two energetic brothers became interested, as were many people of that time, in the fad of developing perpetual motion by machinery, and with much careful study they invented a clever model designed to fulfill this startling mission.  The model which they built is in being at this time, showing much thought and skilled workmanship.  Needless to add, their scheme did not produce the expected results of the young would-be inventors, but no doubt they had real joy and visions in working out their ideas in this manner.

                Another clever bit of Timothy Byron Rider’s work – showing a creative genius – was a model made of wood and copied from the boat on Lake Memphremagog, name “The Lady of the Lake.”  This, it is said, received great admiration.

                After conducting business together for several years, these brothers thought best to separate it, Timothy Byron taking the store property, and Hamilton, the feed and sawmills.  Thus this store has been in the same family since 1873.

                From 1873, the swiftest and only communicating system available from Fitch Bay to Georgeville, Magog, Beebe, Sherbrooke, Montreal, Boston and New York, was telegraphy.  This public benefit was installed and operated at T.B. & H.M. Rider’s store.  This was indeed a great public service for the inhabitants of a rural community.

                Another sign of Timothy Byron Rider’s progressive spirit was when in 1892, being unable to secure telephone service in the country villages with the Bell Telephone Company, he organized his own telephone system, serving the people of the adjoining communities of Fitch Bay, Georgeville, Tomifobia, Apple Grove and Griffin, while at several points, connections were made with the Bell Telephone Company, thence obtaining for the citizens a wider scope of communication.

                Another activity of Timothy Byron Rider’s was that of inventing and building the Sunlight Gas Lighting system in the era between the common use of kerosene and electricity.  Many homes, stores and hotels, installed this system and it was in use until electricity became available in the rural districts.

                Much attention was also shown in the political situation of the country and at the general election in 1891, Timothy Byron Rider was requested to accept the nomination as a Liberal candidate for Stanstead County.  He consented and was elected to the Federal House of Parliament, being the first successful Liberal candidate of Stanstead County in 24 years.  In this capacity, he proved to be a man of sterling qualities, conducting himself in a manner which was an honor to his county. All appreciated the ability and devotion shown in this undertaking, by a splendid business gentleman and an honorable representative of Stanstead County.

                After his withdrawal from political life, in 1896, when he was an unsuccessful candidate, beside devoting time to mercantile work, he was still interested in the development of the country and continued to hold several public offices.  Was Justice of the Peace and in many matters of legal business assisted in the community, whenever there was a need.  Was Councilor for the Township of Stanstead for 24 years, Mayor for 20 consecutive years, taking his turn as Warden for the county, one year.  Was member A.F. and A.M Masonic Order, and was a regular attendant and supporter of the Congregational Church.

                He was one of the promoters of the Eastern Townships Telephone Company, and was for a time a director.

                He will always be remembered as a very courteous gentleman, with no bad habits, and out in the business world, he was held in high esteem by those with whom he came in contact.

                Truly, he was in every way one of the successful sons of Stanstead County.

               

                Among those who attended the meeting were:

                Miss Jessie M. Colby,  Mrs. Lola M. Poaps,  Mrs. Effie M. Poapst,  Mrs. Mary L Abbott, Miss Mary Flint, Miss Gertrude Belle Terrill, Mrs. Mabel L. Curtis, Miss Lillian V. Ross,  Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Tilton,  Mrs. Mabel Williamson, Mrs. H.P. Stockwell, Mrs. Ruth S. Lamb, E.B. Hill, Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Ferguson, Mrs. Sybil H. Parsons,  Joseph W. Maheux, A.E. Curtis, Mr. and Mrs. Alvah Hill, Miss Catherine I. MacKenzie, Jaunita H. Hill, Rev. Errol C. Amaron, Eileen M. Downing, Mrs. Frank Abbott, Nancy Jean Abbott, Stanstead; G. S. Molony, Mrs. Bertha Belknap, Miss Mirabel Robinson, Miss Etta V. Taylor, Rock Island; Miss Alice Robinson, Melrose, Mass; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur C. Cowles, Berby Line, Vt.; Mr. and Mrs. John T. Hackett, Mr. and Mrs. F. Winfield Hackett, F. Win. HackettII, Mrs. Grace E. Caswell, Mr. Orson Wheeler, Mrs. Marjory B. Curtis, and Miss Beatrice Donnelly, Montreal; Miss Elsie c. Wright, Outremont; Miss Dorothy Flint, Toronto; Mr. and Mrs. F.S Rugg, Miss Marguerite L. Sutherland, Miss Edna A. Beerworth, Sherbrooke; Mrs. Julia Gertrude Sowden, Tujunga, Cal.; Mrs. Elizabeth Cass, Beebe; William Partington, Magog; Miss Helen Norton, Ayer’s Cliff; Mr. T. Lee Quimby, Boynton; B.H. Rider, Fitch Bay; Mr. and Mrs. H.F. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Mills; W.F. Beattie, Huntingdon; Herberty H. Brown, Hatley;  Mrs. Vera Brown, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. Harry Hunter, Lennoxville,: Mrs. Marie MacDonald, North Hatley; Mrs. Margaret Mitchell, William Mitchell, Massawippi; Mr. and Mrs. Carlos T. Pierce, Newton, Mass; Mr. and Mrs. Willis Cramer, Way;s Mills.

Sometimes All We Have Is The Journey

Sometimes all we have is the journey.  As a self proclaimed, arm-chair genealogist I have found that the hunt is the driving force, and my true reward.
Last night as I sat down to my home computer after a long day at work I was prepared to throw in the towel, and order a birth certificate from the  Los Angeles County recorders office.
I hear it is often called hitting the wall.  When you reach that point in your research when you just can't seem to get a break, and move forward.  Many long hours has gone into my quest to find the ancestors of one of my dearest aunts. Aunt Pat.  Countless email letters sent to family members over and over with no response.  The long phone call interviews getting bits and pieces of information, most of it wrong.  Not intentionally, but wrong none-the-less.

Pat Mellen

I knew her as Aunt Pat!
I have fond memories of her.  Many visits to her home as a young boy.  She would always make me a sandwich, cutting off the crust of the bread, and cutting them into small bite-size wedges.  She kept a very neat and tidy home.  My mom would sit in the living room with her in fancy chairs with wooden arms sipping tea, and talking about who knows what.  I was only permitted into the living room on one occasion to see her sea shell collection which she had so meticulously arranged on a glass table in the front window.  Then it was off to the swimming pool in the backyard with my uncle Ivar to play and cool off during the hot Southern California summer.  Every year she would send me a valentine, and a birthday card, and I often received a package in the mail at Christmas time with a tin of sweets!  She loved sweets, and took joy in sharing them with me.
I feel my Aunt Pat played some roll in sparking my interest in genealogy, and family history.   I remember her giving me a small white card with a baby in a basket printed in black ink on the front cover. It had deckled edges and a soft cotton texture.  Inside, and onto the back cover she had written the names of my grand-mother, and grand-father, and some other people I had never met, and didn't know.  I don't remember what ever happened to that card, but to this day I can still see it in my mind, and remember the soft sent of her perfume that lingered on the paper. So, yes, I would have to say it left a major impression.

My research has grown over the years, so much since that early white card with the names written into it.  I now have well over twelve thousand names in my tree, and it continues to grow daily.  So, I felt a deep trouble, why I couldn't find who my Aunt Pat was, and where she came from.  Who did she descend from that made her so special in my heart.

Ivar & Pat Mellen

So, I was getting ready to send off $27.00 last night to order her birth certificate.   During my many fact finding missions I had been told that her name wasn't Pat. That Pat, or Patsy, was just a nickname.  Just like Whitey, a nickname she gave to my Uncle Ivar.  I have been given many names over the years that her name was Jane.  Or Louise.  When family gives you anything you cannot just discard it.  There is always a bit of fact somewhere in the stories.  People do change names over their lifetime.  Look at me.  I can't think how many different names I have had over my short life.

Currently I am indexing the 1940 U.S. Census.  I have indexed over three thousand names over the past couple months.  One thing you learn quickly when indexing is that you need to have skills to read other peoples handwriting.   I have become a master at using "wildcards" when trying to figure out how to spell someones name.  This just dawned on me last night, why not try it with my research to find the parents of my aunt.  Most of my research has been on Ancestry.com, but I also use FamilySearch.org, and Findagrave.com to name a few.

Everyone was fairly sure that her fathers name was William.  You can just imagine how many William Millers there are or were in Los Angeles, California during the 1930's.  Not only that, but her mother I was told was Mary.  So, here I have been looking for a Bill and Mary Miller living in Los Angeles during the 1930's.  I think I found over seven hundred thousand different combinations of those names just on Ancestry.com.  All I knew for certain was the date of her death.  When I used that on Ancestry.com I found a Jane L Mellen in the Social Security index.  She had died before my Uncle Ivar, so I was fairly positive that he completed the information for her death certificate with some degree of accuracy after being married to her for sixty years.

Pat Mellen a UCLA Bruin,
2nd in from the right

I didn't really keep track on how many searches it took, as I was determined this time to find her.  How could someone live for eighty years in Los Angeles, and I just couldn't find them.  I had found on my own that she had gone to UCLA.  I then had hope!  As I continued to dig, I then found a California birth index that listed the maiden name of her mother as Latton.  I began the quest using the obvious name Mary Latton.  Then Louise Latton, and Agnes Latton, and  so on and so on.  As these were some of the names I had been given over the years. I just kept adding and replacing names over and over.  Then I put in a "Wildcard" !  I took out the letter "L", from Latton, replacing it with a big old "?".  The name Patton became very clear.  I then repeated all my searches again using the surname Patton.  Behold! Hallelujah! I found someone.  The 1930 U.S. Census for Los Angeles had a Thos W Pattor living with a Patsy J Miller.  Had I found her?  Really found my Aunt Pat?  Several more steps ensued.  The documents started fitting together like pieces of a puzzle, making the image of her life ever more clear.  I found a cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The Homewood Cemetery.  What a great resource of names and dates of death.  The cemetery is 130 years old, and has over 70,000 people buried there.  Often you have to jump around in history to find who, and what you are looking for.  From birth to death and back again, putting the pieces together.

Thomas William Tatton
1862 - 1933

The name Thos W Pattor that I found on the 1930 census form was Aunt Pat's Grand Father on her mother's side.   His correct name I discovered was Thomas William Tatton.  See why you need to use "Wildcards?" Tatton is A surname which I found very common in the Homewood Cemetery.  I further discovered that Thomas William Tatton was from Worcestershire, in the midlands of the United Kingdom.  He arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1871 at the young age of eight or nine years old.  Arriving with his parents, Thomas and Jane Elizabeth Tatton.  Thomas married a Scottish girl by the name of Agnes Gilchrist Sword.  He was a coke drawer by trade.  I had an idea of what that meant, but had to look it up anyway just to confirm.  It appears he worked on furnaces in the steel industry for years.  He quickly advanced to become a puddler.  I found Thomas William Tatton working as a furnace worker on three census sheets from 1900-1930.  Well over thirty years.  It appears from the documents that I have found so far, that he had only three daughters. One of which, Mary Louise Tatton was the mother of my Aunt Pat.

So, to wrap up this story.  Aunt Pat was born Jane Louise Miller (March 17, 1921), and died Jane Louise Mellen (March 16, 2001), but through her entire life, and even to the census taker on April 04, 1930, Marie L. Brown.  She was Patsy, my Aunt Pat!

Pat Mellen, granddaughter Megan Myers, Ivar Mellen and grandson Travis Myers
sitting in the living room I remember all these years.

My goal has always been to take a family line back to the point of immigration into the United States.  Which I did.   James Miller (1854 - 1926) was from Ireland, and was her grandfather on her father's side. Agnes Gilchrist Sword (1862 - 1929) was from Scotland, and was her grandmother on her mothers side.  And Thomas William Tatton I mentioned earlier was from England.  His line goes way back.
It may appear that I have only been able to add one or two more generations to her branch of the family, and it may not look like much on a family pedigree, but it is the journey which is my reward! It has been A Long Way Home! For my Aunt Pat, and equally so for myself as I took her journey back.

Ivar & Pat Mellen
Their daughter Patricia & Charles Myers, grandchildren
Megan & Travis Myers.

I guess you could say that the journey is the elixir of the genealogist that keeps them, and me addicted to our work.
Patsy and Ivar are both gone now. They had two beautiful daughters of their own, and four grandchildren before their passing.  There has been one recent addition making one of her daughters a grandmother now herself.

Epidemic nearly wipes out entire family

Did you know that our first President of The United States of America was a survivor of smallpox?  In 1751, George, at the age of 19, went to Barbados in the British West Indies with his half brother to get some benefit from the warmer climate there, as he was suffering from tuberculosis.  It is said that he contracted smallpox during this visit, and If it were not for his experience, and first hand knowledge of smallpox, this dreaded disease brought by the red coats before the Revolutionary War ever got started may well have wiped out our militia, and our country might have turned out entirely different than what we know today.

Here Lies buried
Mr Zenas Rider who
Dec'd Jan'ry 1766
With the Smallpox
in ye 41st year of
his Age

Also Bethia Sister to
above Named Dec'd the same
time in her 39th year

As a self-professed, armchair genealogist, I often encounter the great influence of epidemics in the United States upon the lives of my ancestors.  I must admit, when I first started out researching my families’ history my own knowledge of the history of our great country was limited.  I was unable to recognize the signs and the patterns that existed in the records and documents of my research.   My ignorance I suppose is from my American education where I was taught from an early age that my ancestor’s migration westward was for greater opportunity.  While there is some truth to that, it does not begin to explain why families that earned their livelihood, and put food on the table from the hard labors of farming the land they owned, would just sell off their land where they had actually built their home by hand, and move.  

Mr. & Mrs. Hand were second cousins.
Miss Esther England was my great aunt.
She was the High School Principle of Ayers
Cliff High School.  Gordon P. England
was a famous author, and my great uncle.
They were children of my great grandfather,
Rev. C.P. England.

The photo above is from the Nickerson Cemetery in Chatham, Barnstable county, Massachusetts.  Although, as you will read later in this story, I highly doubt that either body is truly buried in this location.

My first education into epidemics was when I found a 1920's newspaper clipping in among some old family photos.  My family was struck by the 1917 nationwide outbreak of Spanish influenza, which killed over 500,000 people, and to date has been the single worse epidemic in the United States. My family mentioned in the two articles to the right recovered, and survived the influenza epidemic.

My paternal Grandfather, William Rider Howie lived for eighty-three years.  He died in January 1965 in Southern California not much time before I was born.  William was a naturalized citizen, emigrating from Canada.  He was born January 1882 in Fitch Bay, one of the many small communities of Stanstead County, which lies in the heart of Quebec Canada.  William was third generation Canadian on his father, William George Howie’s side.  His forebears from his mother side, Helen Desdemonia Rider, my paternal great-great grandmother were from the United States.  Her father Mr. Ezra Rider, leaving New Hampshire, and building his family home in Fitch Bay. His son, Timothy
Byron Rider built a home there which still stands today.
Actuellement connu sous le nom du musée du château de Witch Bay!
(Pictured below)

The many Rider families found in New England were quite large, and scattered throughout New England.  I had many theories as to why, but no facts as to the reason for their vast migration north, south and westward.  

This past week while doing my genealogical research on Ancestry.com I came across a series of newspaper articles from a Nova Scotia newspaper titled New Englanders in Nova Scotia. (Pictured above)  One of the family lines the author highlighted was that of the Rider family.  This caught my attention.  As you will read here in this article, almost entire families of Rider’s were wiped out by the smallpox epidemic of 1765-66 in Cape Cod.  According to contemporary reports, the smallpox epidemic began in the Chatham family of Deacon Paul Crowell.  He was a prominent citizen, who had purchased clothing from the British West Indies, probably Barbados where smallpox was known to have come from.  While still other accounts hypothesize that it emanated from a bale of cotton, which had been purchased in the South, and sold at a store very near to the residence of Mr. Reuben Rider, who contracted the disease. 

Selectman James Covel, also of Chatham, compiled a chronologic list of persons who died during the epidemic.  Of 37 deaths that he recorded, 17 occurred in one family, that of the Rider family!  The aged, and well-to-do Mr. John Rider and his wife were taken by the disease; as was their daughter Bethiah, their son Zenas and his wife and children, and their son Stephen, along with his wife and nine of their ten children.

Every method was used to combat the spread of smallpox in Cape Cod.  Schools were closed, businesses were abandoned, and funeral services for the dead were omitted; replaced with family members burying the dead on the rear of their family farm, far away from the community, and not in the town cemetery. 

One hundred years ago, the Honorable James W. Hawes, speaking at the 1912 Chatham Bicentennial Celebration spoke to the memory of this tragic event that took the lives of sixty percent of the citizens of Chatham that were attacked.  As a sociologist, I love statistics, especially when used by politicians!  While I agree it was a tragic event, especially to the relatives of my forebears, the actual numbers were that 37 died, and 24 recovered.  Nine percent of the population of Cape Cod was affected during that epidemic.   Now you and I have a much better understanding of one possible reason our forebears moved north, and left their homes in Massachusetts.  A story that was probably known to my great grandparents, but has been lost, not passed down through history to the next generations.