Frances (Shaver) Wilkins

Frances Shaver passed away on October 6, 1911 after a bout of pneumonia. She was only 41 years old, leaving behind six children, a mother, and a husband. Although there must have been times of great happiness in Frances' life, one gets an overall impression of hardship and tragedy.

Frances was born in July 1870 in Waddington, St. Lawrence, N.Y. to John M. Shaver and Sarah Hitsman. Sarah was John's second wife. He married a woman named Sabrina A. sometime before 1850 and had two children, Julia A. (b. 1850) and William A. (b. 1859), with her. However, he must have had an extramarital affair with Sarah in late 1869. In August 1870, census-takers found John living with Sabrina A. and his son William in Waddington. An affair would be my best interpretation of the facts.

First Congregational Church of Norwood, N.Y. ,
where Frances's funeral was held in October 1911.
(From: Susan C. Lyman,
The Story of Norwood:A Nice Place to Live, 1850-1995)

It is possible that John's traumatic experiences as an artilleryman in the Civil War caused his marriage to deteriorate after the war. It was while serving in Company U, 14th Regiment, New York Heavy Artillery that John suffered an injury on 30 May 1864 near Bethesda Church, Virginia. Although I have not yet found any records showing what the injury was, it must have been severe; John was still in a Washington, D.C military hospital six months later on 1 December 1864. On that day, he escaped the hospital and deserted the military.

John married Sarah, who was 24 years younger than him, sometime after 1870. In addition to Frances, they had another child, Edward John, in 1880. John and Sarah eventually had marital difficulties of their own. By 1900, they lived apart from one another in Waddington, with John claiming that he was a widower. Unfortunately, the marital strife in the family would not end with this generation.

18-year-old Frances married George Franklin Wilkins in 1888. Over the next eleven years, Frances and George Franklin had six children: Nellie M., Eva Pearl, George Franklin, Bernice R., Florence M., and Henry E. In 1900, they lived in the village of Norwood in Potsdam, St. Lawrence, N.Y. George Franklin was a saw filer in nearby Raymondville. They lived near the intersection of Ridge Street and Blanchard Avenue on the west side of Norwood.

George Franklin suffered from typhoid fever in 1902, a sickness for which he must have been bedridden and required nursing for a time. It seems likely that Frances and his children cared for him. If they did, their care did not prevent him from leaving his family less than two years later. By 1904, George Franklin had separated from Frances and married his Norwood neighbor, Margaret (Hess) Crowder, who had also recently separated from her husband. Together they moved to Jackson, Livingston, Missouri, starting a new family there. Why Missouri? George Franklin had spent several years living there as a child with his family. George Franklin's actions are a difficult historical fact to interpret without judgement. However, it is important to recall that there are numerous details that we do not know from this present vantage point more than a century later. What were the dynamics of George Franklin and Frances's relationship? George Franklin had his own troubled family past going back to his father and grandfather--more on that another time.

Frances remained living with her six children in roughly the same location in Norwood. However, by the 1910 U.S. Census, she was renting her residence--in 1900, George Franklin owned their house. It must have been no easy task to raise a family of six children as a single woman in the first decade of the 20th century. This was before FDR's New Deal safety nets were in place. This was an age when women's wages were still well below those of men performing the same work. Frances found work as a servant cleaning houses. In 1909 Frances married George A. Scott of Prescott, Grenville, Ontario. At 39 years old, she must have felt optimistic about her prospects for happiness. She could not have known that only two years later, a bout with pneumonia would prove to be fatal.

Frances faced her life after George Franklin left her with a great deal of courage. She certainly did not allow her mean circumstances to affect her relationships with her children. The affection of her children for her was so substantial that eight years after her death, they published a memorial poem in the Norwood News.

"What is home without a mother;

  All the things a world may send.

For when we lost our mother,

  We lost our dearest friend.

She wore a crown of patience

  Through the years she struggled on.

And those hands at rest forever,

  Were the hands that made a home.

Mother dear, we are lonely,

  How we miss your smiling face.

But you left us to remember,

  None on earth can fill your place."

For Frances to face such hardship, yet retain such strong relationships with her children, was an amazing testament to her character. Frances was survived by her mother, her six children, and second husband George. One of her legacies in our family is her name. Her name was given to her granddaughter Frances (Wilkins) Bradley, who in turn gave her (modified) name to her son, Francis W. Bradley. And Francis gave his name to my mother, Margaret Frances (Bradley) Noll. 

Frances (Shaver) Wilkins was my 3rd great grandmother. If you're interested in viewing the family tree I've created on Ancestry.com, please send me an email; it's easily shared!