Person:Samuel Follansbee (4)

The earliest record I have found of Samuel Jr. as an adult is in Athol, MA in the late 1880-1890s working as a jeweler. He returned to Leominster after his fathers death in 1892, possibly for his mothers sake. On the 1920 Leominster, Ma. Samuel, b. 1860, and his wife, Fannie, b. 1864, are listed as owning their home at 353 Pleasant St. Leominster, Ma. Samuels occupation is 'watchmaker/ jeweler.

Fannies father was from Scotland and her mother was from Ma..  Samuels mother, Susan, is listed as being born in Vermont. Her mother was born in NY. 

5/5/2004 I located a business card on ebay that is from Samuels jewelry store in Athol, Ma featuring the 'Boss Pat. Cases' watch case which I purchased. This is the 1st piece of ancestor history that I have acquired. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Oct. 17, 2005: I met with my new found cousin, Jack & his wife Nancy today. They are from Washington state and have come out here to meet with family and Nancy has a 50th High School Reunion to attend in Melrose this coming Sat. We had a wonderful visit at Pat's art studio in Nbpt with Pat & Tina also. Jack was telling us about his mother Esther and his grandfather/ Esther father, Samuel N.. At one stage in their lives after Jacks father died when Jack was 4 yrs old Esther, Jack & his brother moved in with Esther's parents. This of course gave Jack lots of memories of his grandparents. He said that Samuel N. was very slim. And that besides working on watches he had a small 5-7 acre fruit farm. He did raise cows for a bit but it wasn't profitable as the cows never passed the tests so that the milk could be sold to the public.

FOLLANSBEE

Esther, d. Samuel N. and Fannie, b. Aug. 9, 1898.

Jack Taylor, grandson of Samuel N. Follansbee, wrote the following in 2005 while on a 'Going Home' trip with his wife, Nancy: Athol: We visited the Library archives. They have annual directories for Athol and surrounding communities from about 1880 on. In some years, there even seem to be competing directory publishing efforts. In fact, in 1893, S. N. Follansbee is listed as a jeweler in one directory and as a farmer on Chestnut Hill Road in another. This was the year of the “Panic of ‘93”, so Gramp may have lost the store and started farming as an alternative. Two years later, they moved to Leominster, where I think he had a jewelry store again until 1898, when he traded property to own the small fruit farm at 353 Pleasant St.

As a result of using some of the directories and the history of Athol MA by Wm. G. Lord, we had 3 downtown locations for Gramp’s various stores. These were the Hutchinson Block, the Stockwell Block, and 111 Main St. We could not locate any of these as existing structures. None of the surviving blocks bear either name, and 111 Main St is part of the property of a church. We drove on Cottage St. where they lived at one time, and up Chestnut St., which is a steep hill. We assume it was formerly called Chestnut Hill Road.

1. ↑ The Census shows Albert M. as born in 1861, and that they have been married for 16 years..
2. ↑ 1910 Census.
3. ↑ 1920 Census.
4. ↑ 1930 Census.
5. ↑ Use the northern entrance, beside the chapel and opposite Priest St. Drive in beyond the chapel and an adjacent building, turn left (north), find the first block of Avenue E. It is due north of the above buildings. Look for four cedar trees at the corners of a lot. They are about 3 stories high and 15 feet apart. This is the lot where Samuel Harry Follansbee, his wife Edith Cozzens, and son Verne Scott Follansbee are buried.
   
   30 feet south of the southwest cedar tree, is the lot where Samuel Nathaniel Follansbee, Fannie D. Smart, Esther Follansbee Taylor Ladeau, and Leroy Taylor are buried.
6. ↑ 1880: The indexer misread the name as Tollansbee: The Samuel Follansbee household in Leominster consists of Samuel 73, Susan S. 60, daughter Genette C. 30, and son Samuel 20, daughter Floretta C. Smith (now widowed) 26, and grandson George A. Smith 5. Father Samuel works in a comb shop, Genette works in a box shop, and Samuel N. works in a jeweler shop.
7. ↑ From Samuel Harry's birth record in the Athol Vital Stats:
   
   http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/Database/mass_bmd/sid_dispatch.asp?downstat=1&img=289.sid&page=1&vol=369&pn=289&nav_type=view&yr=1886
8. ↑ 1900: The Census lists Samuel 40 and wife Fanny 38 at 353 Pleasant St., Leominster MA. The children are Harry 13, Ray7, and Esther 1. Samuel is listed as a watch maker and repairer. The property is listed as a farm and mortgaged.
9. ↑ 1910: The Census lists Samuel, Fanny, Ray 17, and Esther at 353 Pleasant St. The other data are the same as in 1900.
10. ↑ 1920: The Census lists Samuel and Fannie at 353 Pleasant St. He is listed as a “watchmaker, own shop”. That probably refers to his working from the home.
11. ↑ 1930: The Census lists Esther back at home with Samuel and Fannie. Samuel is listed as a farmer, retail milk, and Esther as a public school teacher. The indexer misread the last name as Hallensber. I found them more easily by using a neighbor, George Smith, who lived next door. He is a nephew of Samuel, cousin of Esther's. His wife Emma, son George, daughter Lillian M. Johnson (“Marguerite”), and son-in-law Al lived in the household.