A FALL RIVER GIRL'S LUCK

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A FALL RIVER GIRL'S LUCK

Post by nbcatlover »

I came upon this article when I was researching Alice Russell. Her mother's maiden name was Manley and her family had married into Manchesters so the story piqued my curiousity.
A FALL RIVER GIRL’S LUCK

HOW SHE LOST ONE HUSBAND AND GAINED ANOTHER.

Fall River, Mass., Feb. 4.—The Black Hill’s daily Pioneer, of Deadwood, Dakota, of Dec. 21, 1886, announces the marriage of Charles Rosebrough and Mrs. Lizzie Manchester, and says the Mrs. Manchester name above is a native of Fall River, and has had quite an eventful life. Her maiden name was Manley, and in her young days she was a domestic in this city. She was wooed and won by a George Manchester, and for a time they lived happily together. As a result of their union two children were born. Matters changed in their marital life, and Mrs. Manchester obtained a divorce from her husband, she retaining the two children. As it was impossible for her to earn her livelihood with the children dependent upon her one of them was admitted into the Children’s Home and the other was adopted by a family named Prew. After finding places for her children Mrs. Manchester again took a situation as a domestic, and subsequently went to the Isle of Shoals as a table girl at a hotel. While at this place she formed the acquaintance of a retired gentleman from Illinois who was staying at the hotel for the Summer, and the acquaintance ripened into a promise of marriage. She then left the Isle of Shoals and came to this city to prepare to go West to be married, her affianced keeping her supplied with money for her outfit. She called at the Children’s Home and took out her child without informing the matron at the home, and a cry was raised at the time that a child had been kidnapped. Mrs. Manchester had been informed that her child was to be taken from the home and given to some family, but, wishing to have it with her in her prospective home in the West she made an unusual move to get the child away. Early in the Spring of last year Mrs. Manchester started for Illinois there expecting to meet her affianced and be married. When she arrived at her destination she found to her surprise that her betrothed had been dead for two days and she was only in time to witness his funeral.

After this disappointment, Mrs. Manchester decided to go further west and try her fortune and soon found herself in Deadwood city, Dakota, where she began dressmaking to earn a livelihood. Here she became acquainted with Mr. Rosebrough, a business man of Deadwood City, and the acquaintance ripened into marriage.


The New York Times
Published: February 5, 1887
Copyright © The New York Times
The Isle of Shoals is made up of 6 island off the coasts of New Hampshire and Maine. Smuttynose is in the Isle of Shoals.
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Shelley
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Post by Shelley »

Isle of Shoals is amazing. Star Island is the big one with a convention center there. Appledore is famous for Celia Thaxter and her poetry and garden and American Impressionists like Childe Hassam who came to paint it and her. You can take a tour of it June- Sept. Celia was a lighthouse keeper's daughter. I went by the island of the famous "Smutty Nose" hatchet murders but there was not much to see. And the best part- the Kittery Maine outlets are close by when your boat pulls back into shore!
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Post by Kat »

Curious story, Cynthia! Thank you for providing it! :smile:
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Post by nbcatlover »

The story struck me because there were 2 Manley/Manchester pairings in Alice Russell's genealogy. The woman in the story could be a relative...

My family used to go up to Maine and New Hampshire a lot when I was a child, but except for the Smuttynose murder, I was really ignorant of the location. I had no idea it was such a popular place in the summer months.

Thanks, Shelley, for the tip about Celia Thaxter. I looked her up and saw some examples of her china painting.

This is an interesting site:

http://www.seacoastnh.com/shoals/index.html

Seems like some people believe Blackbeard's Treasure is hidden on one of the islands!
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Post by xyjw »

We sailed to the Isles Of Shoals in the summer of '67 and stayed for a week or so. It was deserted. We took a rowboat to each of the different little islands and swam in the coves around them. We explored the abandoned summer cottages and found some cool things that were left behind. All of them had the windows completely smashed out but there was still the threads of curtains hanging in them. The rock was very shiny, loaded with mica I think. I will never forget it. It was the most idyllic summer of my life.
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Post by nbcatlover »

xyjw-What is so interesting to me about the Isles of Shoals is that I live around serious "boat people", traveled to New Hampshire and Maine for summers for many years and never heard of them. It was the murder at Smuttynose that put them on the map for me. They do sound like the perfect setting for a classic tragedy--a romantic, idyllic place today.
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Post by Shelley »

The tale of the hatchet killings has been captured on film in The Weight of Water- it was just okay. http://www.mirage-mfg.com/html/body_nh_isles.html I am not a fan of Sean Penn I guess. But I am a HUGE fan of Celia Thaxter's ever since I read her book, An Island Garden which tells of her struggle to grow a garden on a salty soil island. She also wrote the words to some well-known hymns- amazing lady. Portrait below of an older Celia in her famous garden by American impressionist Childe Hassam
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Post by xyjw »

Wow, I love that painting Shelley. I also enjoy Celia Thaxters writing. The Shoals, at least as I experienced them, are the perfect moody place for an artist and that painting captures that feeling.
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Post by Shelley »

I was ecstatic to be able to go see that painting when it was touring with a collection of famous American Impressionists. The light at Appledore Island was and is a draw to artists-Childe Hassam had done quite a series there and along with many other notables- all friends of Celia's- formed quite a grande salon in the summer months which included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Whittier, and Sarah Orne Jewett, to name a few. Celia was on the spot for the Smutty Nose Murders and wrote an essay about them called A Memorable Murder. She would also find the body of her close friend William Morris Hunt washed up on the beach when he committed suicide in 1879 after a lengthy depression. Lizzie would certainly have known who Celia Thaxter was- she was one of the most popular female writers and poets in America during Lizzie's years. Celia died in 1894- and most likely had read all about Lizzie's trial. Ah yes- those fascinating Victorians! Now we get Madonna and Lady GaGa. Sigh. . . .
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Post by xyjw »

I've read some of Celia Thaxters writing online. I think Memorable Murder was at seacoastnh.com, but I'm not sure. I will have to find a book. I visited the House Of Seven Gables and Hawthorne's childhood home (moved to the same property) a few weeks ago. I've seen it before and still love to go back. I wonder if Lizzie felt like she was living in an era of very talented artists. The ones you listed Shelley, are among my all time favorites. There are some very talented artists today, but they have never captivated me the way the artists of the 19th century have. Ya, those Victorians!
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Post by augusta »

Isn't the House of the 7 Gables in Salem (MA)?

What a good article, nb! I love reading about real, everyday people back then.

I'm a little surprised that nobody has made the Smuttynose murder site into an interpretive history site. I would think enough people would be interested in seeing it.
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Post by xyjw »

Yes, the House Of Seven Gables is in Salem, MA. Hawthorne is one of my favorite writers of the 19th century. The House Of Seven Gables and Hawthorne's childhood home and birthplace are a wonderful place to visit if you are on the North Shore. Salem is full of beautiful historic houses and just a nice town to walk around in and read the historic plaques on the buildings. I think your idea of an interpretive history site for the Smuttynose murders is a good one Augusta. I don't have the know how to start such a site but if you do, you should start one!
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Post by Shelley »

When we went by the island where the Smuttynose tragedy occured, there was really nothing left to see except that rock which figured in the story. It is also very inaccessible as it is technically privately-owned. You can get a tour of the other islands and a pass-by Smuttynose seasonally. I know people who have taken a private small boat there and trespassed! http://www.seacoastnh.com/Places_&_Even ... _Shoals/3/
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