Valentine - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Around the World With Aunt Retta!

This post is part of a project called 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, created by Amy Johnson Crow.

The prompt for this week is Valentine.

Lauretta (O"Sullivan)
(Stewart) Kingsley

This week coming, up to Valentine's Day, I received an interesting and appropriate record hint from Ancestry.com.  It was a marriage record for Arthur Dennin Stewart and Barbara Vera Whitaker dated July 27, 1947 from the New Hampshire Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947 database.  Although he was always referred to "Dan", I knew this was Aunt Retta's son because of the marriage date, July 27, 1947.

Alexander (Junior)
Stewart

Dan was my father's first cousin and he and Barbara married on the same day as my parents, leading to half of the family attending each wedding.  This record had a lot of information, including the name and residence of the parents of both the bride and groom.  Dan's mother, Aunt Retta, was 45 years old and living in Columbia, South America.  I knew Aunt Retta was born in Revere, Massachusetts, married in Camden, North Carolina, lived in Tanners Creek, Virginia, when her children were born in Norfolk, and eventually settled in Jacksonville, Florida.  I was not aware that she had lived outside of the country.  Surely, this should be Columbia, South Carolina?

Arthur (Dan) Stewart

Yet, 13 months later to the day, on August 27, 1948,  Aunt Retta  left New York City on the Santa Isabel V. 33, bound for Columbia, South America and scheduled to disembark at Buenaventura. 

As it turns out, Retta's husband George Kingsley was a photographer, and they spent several years in Columbia while he was on an assignment for Forbes, working on a book.

I would love to be in touch with any of Aunt Retta's descendants, if you find this blog please contact me!

Timeline for Lauretta Josephine (O'Sullivan) (Stewart) Kingsley
April 20, 1902	born Revere, Massachusetts
April 21, 1910	living at 29 Newbury Street, Revere, Massachusetts in the 1910 US Federal census
January 26, 1916	death of father, Jeremiah O'Sullivan
June 21, 1919	married Alexander Truman Stewart at Camden, North Carolina
January 7, 1920	living at Virginia Street, Tanner's Creek, Virginia in the 1920 US Federal census
March 21, 1921	birth of son Alexander Truman Stewart at Norfolk, Virginia
December 4,1922	birth of son Arthur Dennis (Dan) Stewart, at Norfolk, Virginia
May 18, 1930	living at 5 Bay Road, Revere, Massachusetts in 1930 US Federal census
December 12, 1931	marriage to George Kingsley, Portsmouth, NH
April 5, 1940	living at 15 Hillside Avenue Saugus, Massachusetts in the 1940 US Federal Census
August 27, 1948	in New York City, en route to Buenaventura, Columbia, South America
1950	living at 30 Whittier Avenue, Haverhill, Massachusetts
October 28, 1994	died Jacksonville, Florida

Descendants:

Junior Stewart and
son Dennis

Lauretta Josephine, b. April 20, 1902, daughter of Jeremiah and Laura (Shaw/Chauvin) O' Sullivan, Revere, Massachusetts; m. (1) Alexander Truman, b. December 11, 1899, Wolfe City, Texas, son of Dennis and Cora (Danford) Stewart; he died July 3, 1967, Jacksonville, Florida; m. (2) George, b. June 8, 1903, Chelsea, Massachusetts, son of Francis and Sarah (Kingsley) Smith, and grandson of David and Josephine (Griffin) Kingsley;  he died March 31, 1966, Monroe, Louisiana; Lauretta died October 28, 1994, Jacksonville, Florida

Children of Alexander and Lauretta (O'Sullivan) (Stewart) Kingsley:

Alexander Truman (Junior), b. March 21, 1921, at Norfolk, Virginia; married July 9, 1946, Emma L. Collins; 1 son, Dennis, born July 7, 1949, died October 1969; Junior died October 30, 2001;

Dan and Vera Stewart
with sons Kevin and David

Arthur Dennis (Dan), b. December 4, 1922, at Norfolk, Virginia, married July 27, 1947, Barbara Vera Whitaker, daughter of Alvin and Vera (Partridge) Whitaker; Dan died October 27, 1977, Merrimac, Massachusetts; Barbara died October 21, 1996, San Diego, California; 2 sons, Kevin and David;

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