This is a hard story to write because I feel like today's readers will judge Mabel harshly and I have come to feel very protective of her! You see every day when I sit at my kitchen table I look at the picture I have of Mabel hanging on the wall across from me.(1) I have thought about her life so often I feel like I actually know her and not just "know" of her!
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| Kitchen view of Mabel |
So I ask that before you judge her please try to put yourself in Mabel's shoes and pretend you are trying to make decisions that will not only affect you but all of your children in the year 1906.
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| Mabel Brown Stratton Kingston |
Sometime after Mabel married David Kingston in 1906 she moved with her husband back to his native home of Canada.(2) She took her two sons Edwin and Samuel but left her daughter Mary behind. Mary would of been about 6 years old when Mabel left her in the care of her mother Ellen Brown. (3).
Honestly, as a mother it is so hard to imagine leaving my baby behind. I wish I could tell you for sure what her reason was. I obviously can't but I can imagine what those reasons might have been... and this is what I have come up with:
Honestly, as a mother it is so hard to imagine leaving my baby behind. I wish I could tell you for sure what her reason was. I obviously can't but I can imagine what those reasons might have been... and this is what I have come up with:
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- Mabel and David Kingston moved to David's family farm in Enniskillen, New Brunswick, Canada. The above map is of Enniskillen , New Brunswick in the year 2020. From the map you can see that this area of Canada is about 80% forested. In 1906 when Mabel and David returned this was a very small isolated farming community. Even the journey to New Brunswick would of been hard for a 6 year old little girl never-mind imagining little Mary living there.
- Mary was born in Sutton, MA but when she was one month old she moved to her grandparents home in Providence, RI. This was the only home she had ever known.
- According to Mary's daughters (4) Mary was never bitter or unhappy that she stayed in Providence.
- There were many more opportunities for young Mary in Providence than in New Brunswick. Providence at the turn of the century was a thriving bustling port city compared to rural isolated New Brunswick. Mabel grew up in the rural farming community of Sutton, Ma. Maybe she wanted something better for her daughter.
- Possibly, Mabel felt guilty taking Mary away from her grandmother who had been recently widowed.
(1) Picture from collection of Mary Bradley Maroney given to Robin Walker-Maya in the late 1970's.
(2) Oral history of Mary Bradley Maroney
(3) Mabel's father, Darling Wade Brown died in 1904 of Pleurisy.
(4) Oral history of Kathleen Bradley Walker and Mary Bradley Maroney
(4) Oral history of Kathleen Bradley Walker and Mary Bradley Maroney
It's difficult to fully understand all the factors that contributed to decisions people make. My great, great grandfather's first wife died soon after the birth of their 4th child, who they named Mabel. He left her with either a distant relative or friend and then moved away with his son and 2 other daughters and eventually remarried. We don't know whether Mabel had contact with her family as a child but late in life she did have contact with her siblings.
ReplyDeleteNo one but Mabel walked in her shoes...one must never judge...Thanks for sharing!
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