Aunt Madge Ran a Boarding House

My grandfather, Charles Canfield, moved from Massachusetts to Los Angeles when he was a small boy. His father died shortly after the family moved, and his mother didn't keep contact with their eastern relatives so we knew very little about them until fairly recently. Although I love to find distant ancestors, I am equally eager to learn about recent generations. What happened to my great aunts and uncles and their families?

A query to Forest Hills Cemetery a few days ago provided a puzzle piece I have been seeking. My grandfather's aunt, Margaret Lydia Canfield, aka Madge Canfield, died in 1953, probably near Boston. Aunt Madge was 77 years old when she died.

Madge Canfield's childhood home in Kingsville

Maggie Lydia (as she was known when she was a girl) was born and raised in Essex, Ontario, Canada, to David and Margaret Canfield. David W. Canfield and his father Rial had a number of business interests, many related to the lumber trade. But before the turn of the century, the family moved to the U.S. (where David had been born). In 1900, Madge is with her parents and one brother in Terrell, Texas, and is working as a stenographer. Ten years later, Madge is 34 years old and running a lodging house at 20 Concord Square, Boston. Nine lodgers were rooming with her. Her parents are also in Boston, about a mile away, operating a boarding house with ten lodgers at 521 Massachusetts Ave. Father David was working as a salesman of cash registers so it seems likely that Madge's mother Margaret was managing their boarding house. By 1920, Madge's parents had both died, and she was living at 29 Winchester Street, Brookline, Massachusetts where she operated a boarding house until at least 1944 and possibly longer.

Brookline Village, circa 1920

While Madge ran a boarding house, her four brothers engaged in various occupations. My great-grandfather Charles Canfield was a telephone operator as a young man; then he sold adding machines in Boston and New York City. He eventually became a manager for Burroughs Adding Machines. Brother Homer had been in the "bicycle business" but he later partnered with Charles as a sales agent. Brother Arthur was a commercial agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Texas while their remaining brother, David, initially worked for the Rock Island Railroad out of Illinois. From at least 1916 to 1936, he lived in Galveston and worked as a switchman, first for the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway and then for the Texas and New Orleans Railroad.

A Burroughs Adding Machine

While Homer never married and died at 38, and Charles followed a few years later at 42, the three remaining siblings lived into their 70s and 80s. Arthur and Madge did not have any known children, but David had three children - Floyd W., David H., and Walter E. They were my grandfather's first cousins.

Charles B. Canfield and son Charles in the middle. Are the other children Charles's cousins Floyd and David?

H. A. Cummings, Sales Agent

My grandfather, Charles Holland Canfield, told colorful stories of his mother, Harriet Adelphia Cummings. 

Harriet Adelphia (Cummings) Canfield,

born 1875

One of the best stories was about how Harriet met his father, Charles Benson Canfield, who was a territory manager for Burroughs Adding Machines. “Mother heard that a territory of Burroughs in New England was open. She got orders, asked for the territory and was given it. She sent in the orders using only her inititals—they didn’t know she was a woman. A crusty upstate banker wanted to know why Burroughs was sending a woman salesman. They sent my dad to check it out.” These events transpired by 1901, when Charles wrote a love letter to Harriet in Unadilla, New York. What makes this story even more interesting is that Charles was a married man in 1901. However, Charles' first wife, Rose, died at the end of 1902, and two years later, on October 29, 1904, Harriet and Charles were married in Manhattan.

Charles Benson Canfield, born 1869.

Photos, letters, news articles, and my grandfather's stories provide a timeline of events for his newlywed parents. One photo shows Harriet relaxing at Old Orchard Beach in Maine in 1905.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine

A 1905 Boston directory listed "Canfield Bros. Adding Machines," while a New York City directory for 1905-1906 lists "Canfield Brothers, Agents" with an office at 1300 Broadway and Charles's home at 550 Lenox Avenue. Pictures of Charles, his father, his brother, and Harriet are labeled "Lakeside Farm, April 30, 1906."

Lakeside Farm, April 30, 1906

A small card with a blue ribbon announced the 1907 birth of Charles Holland Canfield at 622 W. 137th Street, Riverside Apts. Shortly after, my great-grandfather wrote a touching letter to his newborn son.

In 1908, the family took a car trip to Cedar Rapids and Detroit.

Then, in 1909, Charles and Harriet moved to Springfield, MA. A year later, the 1910 census shows them living at 279 Washington Street, Groveland, MA. In August of 1910, the family was staying at the Bangan Bldg, in Providence, RI, and in October of the same year, they boarded a boat bound for Galveston. Their final destination was Los Angeles. Charles was ill with diabetes and they hoped the climate would be beneficial for his health.

On the boat to Galveston, 1910