Good Morning Gloucester

Mary Ryan Brotherton 1866 – 1943

Mary was my Irish immigrant Timothy Ryan’s daughter–she was born in 1866 and died 1943.  Her story is a very typical one of my Gloucester Irish fishing families. She lived her whole life in Gloucester, Massachusetts. This Mary appears to have been named after a sister Mary who died when she was 2 a few years before this Mary was born.  It may also have been a tribute to her mother Mary Squires Ryan.  This picture was obviously from later in her life but I see a little resemblance here to her brother William, my direct Ryan ancestor.

I recently obtained some new information about Mary after one of those “dope-slap” moments that often occur in life.  The Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters was originally based in Boston after its founding in 1879 by Irish immigrants to provide life insurance for its members.  It soon spread to other cities, so Gloucester Irish were among its target demographic.  In the past, I have found a couple of our ancestor’s files in this collection (now being housed at the University of Massachusetts).  Their applications for membership have been scanned and made available.  They are several pages long and provide intimate details of their lives at the time of the application.  They are especially helpful because applications were often made in a range of life span that often lacks detail in normal research.  Often, the applicants are heads of young families with living siblings and parents.  These details are extraordinarily helpful in pinning down the lives of the applicant as well as the life of their families.

And I made the CLASSIC mistake of only seeking the males in these files.  Since the files were recently transferred to UMass, more have become available and it finally dawned on me that I should look for some of the females (cue the dope-slap).  And Mary was my first discovery!

This is one page of the file showing the status of Mary’s parents and siblings as of 1913 when this application was made.  This helps establish her life circumstance in a period that is sometimes hard to research: “mid” life.  These policies paid $1000 upon the death of the member.  Mary’s Foresters file contains 16 pages all together and they are extraordinarily valuable and interesting.  You can bet I’ll be looking for others.

Earlier today Mayor Romeo Theken met with her senior managers to discuss the evolving coronavirus situation.  Due to ongoing coronavirus public health concerns the City of Gloucester is moving forward with unprecedented precautionary measures to help slow the spread of the virus.  Beginning Tuesday March 17, Gloucester municipal buildings will be closed to the public for at least two weeks.  For a detailed list of those closures please see attached notice.
Should you have any questions or need any other information please let me know.  

Regards,Vanessa
—
Vanessa KrawczykAssistant to the Chief Administrative OfficerGloucester City Hall
9 Dale AvenueGloucester, MA 01930

Dear friends and members of The Rocky Neck Art Colony,

As a result of the health concerns and restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 virus, The Rocky Neck Art Colony has determined that the safest course of action for the protection of our members and our staff is to close the Cultural Center to the public for a time.

The following events at The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck are canceled or postponed:

• Closed – The Cultural Center until it becomes advisable to reopen.
  • Rocky Neck Now 2020 will be extended after the Center reopens.
  • Beyond Likeness will be scheduled to follow Rocky Neck Now 2020.
  • Elements: Nature in Art has been removed for the schedule this year but we hope to include that topic in the future.
• Cancelled-  The BigTiny art making workshops scheduled for March 15th and 21st.
• Postponed- The April 16th Big Tiny event until the fall, when things will be looking brighter.
• Cancelled-  The Eric Coville concert scheduled for Friday night March 13th.
• Postponed- The March 18 Pastels with Susan Ellis workshop.
• Cancelled-  Monday afternoon Life Drawing sessions for the time being.
• Postponed- The Run/Walk & Team Challenge 5k on May 3rd.
• Cancelled-  Mahjong at The Cultural Center until the Center reopens.

Recognizing that the arts are an essential outlet and emotional comfort for many of us, we have already begun the work of providing art, entertainment and visibility for our members through on-line resources.

We welcome your comments and suggestions for unique and wonderful ways to help with this effort.

If you’d like to be involved or help us from the comfort of your home, please let us know by contacting our Operations Manager, Loren Doucette at rnac.operationsmanager@gmail.com

Our thanks for your continued support and enthusiasm.

Sincerely,
Kathy Archer
Kristie Bernard
Co-Presidents

Let’s keep Cape Ann COVID-19 free. Part 2

Word of the day: Fomite, something that is carrying something infectious like a coronavirus.
Getting gas this morning and a quart of oil I was thinking of the word. Fomite. This virus is not magical. It does not spontaneously appear. It has to move from point A to point B then get up your nose or in your mouth. So how can it do that?