McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)
A recent wonderful trip that we are affectionately calling the ‘Our Family’ World Tour: Past, Present, and Future took us 2600 miles in 16 days.
The “Past” portion of the trip included memories, photos, and artifacts shared, cemeteries visited, and walking the land of our ancestors.
The “Present” included an 80th birthday party and delightful visits with family members both young and young-at-heart. We even met cousins that we had corresponded with for over ten years, but had never gotten to hug them in person, until this trip!
The “Future” aspect of the trip was fulfilled by the lovely wedding of two very dear people. Welcoming a new person to the family, the promise of young love, and maybe eventually the addition of another generation to our line, are all so sweet.
It was a dream trip for anyone who loves family, and especially for one who loves genealogy too!
Sorting out information, scans, and family treasures shared on the trip may take a while, but as Edward Biron Payne might well say, it is joyful work.
As the trip progressed, sorting families, events, and stories in one’s mind and on the computer became a regular task. The trip reinforced how important it is to sort genealogy files and label in a useful manner, or have a system that makes them easy to find quickly.
Two years ago, a newspaper article was found describing the Christmas Day presentation of a pocket watch as a farewell gift to Rev. Edward Biron Payne by church members when he left his Leominster, Massachusetts pastorate at First Congregational (Unitarian) Church, before his second move to Berkeley, California:
The “Mrs. Payne” in the article is Edward’s first wife, Nanie Maria (Burnell) Payne, and they were both 44 years old; their daughter Lynette was 12 years of age. Nanie had gone blind in her early twenties, and descendants think that she may have had diabetes. The Payne family took the train to California and settled again in Berkeley. Tragically, Nanie later went insane and had to be committed- that could be a result of kidney failure brought on by diabetes. She died in 1898, in the institution.
The rest of the newspaper article is hard to read as the ink has faded, so it is transcribed here:
“Mr. Payne quickly recovered from the surprise and controlled his feelings, then replied in most eloquent language, thanking the hundreds of friends that there gathered around him in words they will long treasure. The watch is of the best quality of gold and the works are said to be among the finest sold in the country. There was a sadness prevailing the closing hours of this gathering, as the people felt this is the last Christmas we shall see the pastor we so much love and honor.”
It had been feared among some family that the watch had been lost in the Great Berkeley Fire of 1923, when the house of Edward and his second wife, Ninetta (Wiley) [Eames] Payne, burned to the ground. In that 17 September 1923 fire, 600 Berkeley homes were destroyed, including that of the Payne’s, turning their library and many (most?) of their belongings to ash. It also is unknown what Ninetta kept after Edward’s death, and what happened to her things when she passed away in 1944, so this part of the family did not have much hope of ever seeing the watch.
One of the great joys found on this trip, however, was information about this gold pocket watch. It was wonderfully surprising to learn that the watch had been passed down in the family! We do hope to be able to share some pictures of the watch in an upcoming post.
Notes, Sources, and References:
- Photo from family treasure chest.
- The church in Leominster has gone through a number of iterations, and from First Congregational (Unitarian) Church to its current name, First Church Leominster, a Unitarian-Universalist Church. See https://firstchurchuu.org
- Fitchburg Sentinel (Massachusetts), 28 Dec 1891, page 6, column 3.
- Here is actual video of the Berkeley Fire of 1923, both during the fire and the aftermath: https://archive.org/details/Berkeley1923
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I found a very old book of love poems called Tender and True by George H. Ellis in the thrift store. It is a small book. The cover is blue with gold flowers … very intricate detail, with gold edged pages and a fold out marriage certificate signed by Rev. Edward B. Payne, 1891, Leominster, Mass.
The book sounds lovely, and having the marriage certificate inside with Rev. Payne’s signature is quite a plus, at least for descendants! I sent you an email a week or so ago, and am interested in learning more. What were the names of the couple? Would you be interested in scanning the certificate? We may have some information on the couple, too. Hope to hear back from you soon, and thank you for reading.