Furniss/Furness Families of NH - Part 8 of 10

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The Furniss and Furness Families
of Portsmouth and Durham, New Hampshire

Prepared by Sean Furniss

          

39. James4 Rogers (Robert3, Margaret2, Robert1) He was born 31 March 1833 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was married on 18 February 1864 to Abbie Hall of Chester. They settled on the Waterman Place, a 1,400 acre cattle and sheep farm.[140]

Abbie Hall was the daughter of Captain Moses Hall and Mary Cochrane of Chester. Her maternal grandparents were John Cochrane and Jemima Davis of New Boston. Jemima Davis' father was Benjamin Davis, a captain in the Revolutionary army.[141]

50.iElizabeth Furness5 Rogers a graduate of Pinkerton Academy 1884, died 11 September 1885.
51.iiMary Cochrane Rogers educated at Pinkerton & Salem Normal School, Massachusetts, taught school in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1930, Grace Livingston Furniss wrote "I have a distanct cousin a Miss Mary Cochrane Rogers, ... address her Copley Square Hotel, Boston, Mass., ... She has written a history of her own distinguised ancestor, Rogers, and lives in the shade of family trees."[142]
52.iiiHelen Grace Rogers graduated Pinkerton in 1891, entered Wellesley College in 1893.
53.ivAnn Crombie Rogers graduated Pinkerton in 1893.
54.vJames Arthur Rogers pursued a course in the business college in Manchester.

      

41. William Ponsonby4 Furniss (William3, William Ponsonby2, Robert1) He was baptized 2 October 1858 at St. Thomas Church, which was then located at Broadway and Houston Street, New York City, He was "buried on 13 July 1929 in the family plot in the Kensisco Cemetery, Westchester County, New York."[143]

His occupation was listed as clerk in 1883-85 when his two children were born. Lewis Cook in his report on the Furniss Family of New York reported that "William P. Furniss took a degree at the Sorbonne, in Paris, and practiced as an engineer in New York City."[144] No other references to his occupation have been found.

He was married 25 January 1883 at St. John's Church, Staten Island, New York City, by Rev. Dr. John.C. Ecclleston to Hetty Hart MacFarland. Hetty Hart MacFarland was born 16 December 1862 at Hartford, Connecticut, into the family of William Wallace MacFarland and Sarah Bailey. She died of broncho-pneumonia and peritonitis on 12 April 1904 at New York Hospital, New York City, and was buried in the MacFarland family plot at the Moravian Cemetery, Staten Island, New York City.[145] ( Additional information about the parents of Hetty Hart MacFarland can be found in The Spencer - Brainerd - Bailey - MacFarland Families by Sean Furniss.)

The marriage of William P. Furniss and Hetty Hart MacFarland was written about in 1894, when the New York Times reported " On December 12, Judge Patterson of the Supreme Court continued the injunction obtained by Mrs. Hetty Furniss against her husband, William P. Furniss. William P. Furniss has also begun action in New Jersey for divorce on the grounds of abandonment." Her father was reported to "... have opposed the match and two years later acted as his daughter's counsel when she brought suit for divorce." After separating from William Ponsonby Furniss, Hetty Hart MacFarland and her two children moved back to her parents home on Staten Island, New York City. She was listed as a "widow" in the 1900 census,[146] presumably because it was not socially acceptable to be listed as divorced.

William P. Furniss later married a Salvation Army worker. An article in The World (about 1911-12), stated that in 1909, his second wife had "...sought relief through divorce proceedings. In court she testified that she had wed her husband to 'save and tame him,' and had failed. She declared he had illusions, drank to excess and once threatened her with a revolver." In May 1912 he was reported to have recently been a defendant in a separation suit. The name of the woman was not reported in either newspaper article. [147]

His known places of residence were 16th St., Bayonne, New Jersey (Dec. 1883), possibly Vineland, New Jersey (Apr. 1885), possibly Lakewood, New Jersey (1894), New York City (May 1912), and 7 W. Eighth St., New York City (Jan. 1916).

The relationship between William P. Furniss and his son Clinton C. Furniss were undoubtedly strained and acrimonious at times. This can be illustrated by the following news article which appeared in the New York Times :[148]

"SON CALLS FURNISS INSANE. Then Doctor Fails to Appear After Causing Rich Parent's Arrest. Charged with being incompetent, William P. Furniss, 60 years old, heir to a million dollar estate, was taken before Magistrate Harris in the Tombs Court yesterday on a warrant obtained by his on, Dr. Clinton C. Furniss of 420 West 116th Street. Although he caused the old man's arrest, Dr. Furniss failed to appear in court to press his complaint and the hearing was adjourned until Monday. In the meanwhile the defendant was paroled in the custody of his counsel, Edward Claxton, of 16 Exchange Place, Jersey City.

When Dr. Furniss saw his father yesterday he tried to persuade a policeman to place the old man under arrest at once, but the patrolman refused to act without a warrant. Dr. Furniss then hurried to the Tombs Court and obtained a warrant on a short affidavit alleging that his father was acting in a strange manner and subject to hallucinations of persecution.

At Dr. Furniss's [sic] apartment after the court hearing, it was said he left for Maine and would not be home for several days. His father lives at 7 West Eighth Street.

Grace Livingston Furniss, the author, is a sister of Mr. Furniss. When questioned concerning her brother's sanity last night, she declared the charge made by his son, her nephew, was groundless.

`It is nonsense to say my brother is insane' said Miss Furniss. `I have not seen him for more than a year, but I know him to be perfectly safe. He has only had a very hard life. I don't think his son will ever appear in court to press the complaint.' "

+55.iClinton Chollet5 Furniss born 18 December 1883 in Bayonne, New Jersey, buried 12 February 1957 in the Oakland Fraternal Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas.
+56.iiRuth MacFarland Furniss born 17 April 1885 at Vineland, New Jersey, never married, died 10 February 1971 at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and is buried in the Stockbridge cemetery.

 

42. Grace Livingston4 Furniss (William3, William Ponsonby2, Robert1) She was born 15 March 1864 at Bayonne, New Jersey. She suffered from deforming arthritis for two years prior to her death. After an illness of seven days, she died of rheumatic fever on 20 April 1938 at the Crolley Sanitarium at 682 Forest Ave, Rye, New York. She was buried in the Furniss family plot in the Kensisco Cemetery, Westchester County, New York, with her mother and brother. Grace purchased lot 2285, in section 13 of the cemetery, on 4 January 1906, for the sum of $125.00.[149] She had lived in Rye, New York, for 15 years prior to her death. She was never married.

Her known places of residence in New York City were 478 Central Park West (1901-1902), Hotel Carlton, 203 W. 54th St. (located in the 22 Ward) (1905-1911) and 611 W. 111th St. (1916). Her last place of residence was 64 Orchard Ave., Rye, New York.

During a 1902 interview Grace Livingston Furniss related how she got started. "We were living out at Bergen Point, N. J. ... We were quite a dramatic colony. There was a lot of us who pursued amateur theatricals eagerly. I wanted a certain kind of play to play in myself, which I couldn't find anywhere. I wanted certain larky business in it - a pillow fight on the stage and a burlesque melodrama. I wrote the `Box on Monkeys,' which we produced with great eclat for the benefit of our admiring friends and relatives. Then I sold it to a New York publication for a story. I had no idea what was in it, but the entire edition sold out on the strength of it, and then it was snapped up and put on the stage, and has been played ever since, and that was seven years ago. Of course, I never got a cent out it as a play; but just then I joined the Twelfth Night Club, and met Martha Morton, who was the first of our American women playwrights, I think. She said to me, `Why don't you write for the real stage?' I replied that I didn't know enough. She encouraged me, and that, together with the success of the `Box of Monkeys,' was what made me think seriously of writing for the stage." As the interview continued she addressed the issue of the advantage of men over women in writing plays and chastised men for their attitudes toward women playwrights.[150]

In a 1907 interview with Ada Peterson, Grace Furniss said that her mother had encouraged her to write and then submit her work for publication. She recieved $45 for her first two act play, A Box of Monkeys, which was sent to Harper's. Her playlet The Angel was written for a Chicago competition and almost won her the prize. She felt that her early attempts at writing were not successful because of her inexperience, ignorance of technique and her lack of knowledge of the practical side of the stage. Abby Sage Richardson aided her in developing her skill in writing plays for production. She felt her success was due to learning about what went on behind the scenes. She climbed the gridiron to see what went on below and watched plays from the wings and front to she why they were a success or failure.[151]

Grace Livingston Furniss was an early believer in womens rights. She felt that "There is no reason why women should not be as successful in writing plays as men are ... but they lack what men have had, opportunity. ...We have all heard the argument that women are incapable of writing a big play. ... I do not believe this. ... Playwriting is not evidence of genius. It is a knack, a gift. Persons, men and women alike, are born with it. ... There is only one reason, in our time when women are able to make homes for themselves, why a woman should marry, that is love. ... The secret of success in playwriting is the secret of success in anything: concentration. I learned to lay aside sex in my transactions with managers. I expected no concession from them because I was a woman. ... I don't think there is any objection to women as playwrights. the objection is to incompetent playwrights of either sex. ... Men and women are growing more and more alike, even in playwriting."[152]

A September 1907 photograph of Grace Livingston Furniss taken by the internationally known photographer George Grantham Bain can be seen in the Library of Congress photograph collection.[153]

Her biography written in Who was Who in the Theatre on page 896 is as follows: "FURNISS, Grace Livingston, playwright; d. of Louise (Chollet) and William Furniss; b. New York City; educated in New York and studied largely at home; her first professional production was made in 1898, when "A Colonial Girl" was written in collaboration with Abby Sage Richardson, and acted by E. H. Sothern and Virginia Harned; in 1900, James K. Hackett appeared in her dramatisation of "The Pride of Jennico," made by the same authors in collaboration; in 1902 Miss Furniss's [sic] original drama, "Mrs. Jack," was given a production; in 1903, at Madison Square, "Gretna Green" was seen, and subsequently she was responsible for "Robert of Sicily"; in 1905 she made a successful dramatisation of Harold MacGrath's "The Man on the Box"; in 1907 she produced another original play entitled "The Man in the Case," subsequently also known as "The Best Man Wins"; she is author of a few short stories and a number of amateur plays. Recreations: Music and the theatre. Clubs: Twelfth Night Club, Professional Women's League, Pen and Brush. Address: Hotel Carlton, 203 West 54th Street, New York City."[154]

A list of published works found in the card catalog of the New York Public Library[155] and her biography is as follows: 1) A Box of Monkeys (Boston: W.H. Baker & Co., 1890), 31pp., A parlor farce in two acts; also (NY: Harper & Bros., 1891) 61pp.; 2) The Jack Trust (NY: Harper & Bros., 1891), 63pp; 3) The Veneered Savage (NY: Harper & Bros., 1891), 33pp.; 4) Tulu. (NY: Harper & Bros., 1891), 87pp. [note: 1- 4 were also published together as A Box of Monkeys and other farce-comedies (NY: Harper & Bros., 1898) 257 pp.]; 5) The Nyotalops or Nyctalopia or a Nyctalops or Myctalops 1891; 6) Second Floor, Spoopendyke (Boston: W.H. Baker & Co., 1892), 27pp; 7) Captain of His Soul (London?: n publ., n. date), 32pp.; 8) The Flying Wedge - a football farce (Boston: W.H. Baker & Co., 1896), 15pp.; 9) A Colonial Girl written in collaboration with Abby Sage Richardson (n. place: n. publ., n. date @1898-99), 16pp.; 10) The Corner Lot Chorus (Boston: W.H. Baker & Co., 1891), 19pp.; 11) The Pride of Jennico in collaboration with Abby Sage Richardson. 1900/1901; 12) Mrs. Jack (NY: Harper & Bros., 1902), typescript in New York City Public Library, Produced at Wallack's Theater, NY, Sept. 2, 1902; 13) Gretna Green, 1903; 14) Robert of Sicily, 1903, typescript at New York City Public Library; 15) Better Days, 1905; 16) Egypt, 1905; 17) Smoldering Fire, 1905; 18) Tandem, 1908; 19) The Goblin Market, 1908; 20) The Man on the Box, (NY: S. French, 1915), 114pp.; 21) Perhaps (NY: S. French, 1915), 18pp.; 22) A Dakota Widow (NY: S. French, 1920), 20pp.; 23) Father Walks Out. (NY: S. French, 1928), 88pp., A Comedy in Three Acts, On the cover of the play is written First Performance Thursday evening December 21, 1927 at Parson's Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut; and 24) The Man on the Case (NY, NY; LA, CA; London: S. French, 1931) 89pp Also known as The Best Man Wins. Publ. by Harper & Bros. Her manuscripts were reported to have been deposited in the New York City Public Library.[156]

Maureen Ruth Furniss has a copy of Father Walks Out which came from the estate of Jacqueline Jay Furniss and a copy of the Harper & Bros. 1898 publication of the first four works.  

43. William Pepperell4 Furness (Edward3, Patrick2, unknown1) He was born 24 May 1817 at Dover, New Hampshire. He died 29 April 1895. He is buried in lot 612 in Linwood Cemetery, Haverhill, Massachusetts. The headstone records the following information: Wm. Pepperell Furness 1817-1895, Abbie Choate his wife 1820-1901, Anna Choate Furness their daughter 1847-1938.[157]

Between 1865 and 1887, the Haverhill City Directories reported that William P. Furness worked as a wholesale produce dealer. During this period 1865-1895, he lived at a number of locations - Jackson near Washington, Nichols near White, White near Dustin, 15 White St., 32 Howard St., and 11 Pentucket St. After his death in 1895, his wife Abbie lived with her son William Frank Furness until her death in 1901.[158]

He was married by the Rev. N. T. Folsom on 27 November 1845 at Haverhill, Essex Co., Massachusetts to Abby (Abbie) C. Choate. She was born on 17 April 1820 at East Haverhill, Massachusetts, the daughter of Aaron Choate (born 28 December 1786) and Sophronia Chase (born in 1796). She died in 1901 and is buried with her husband in Linwood Cemetery, Haverhill, Massachusetts.[159]

57.iAnna4 (Annie) Furness born 21 April 1847 at Durham, New Hampshire, died in 1938, buried with her parents in the Linwood Cemetery, Haverhill, Massachusetts. Her occupation was listed in the Haverhill City Directories between 1889 and 1899 as clerk and bookkeeper. She lived at variouus addresses in Haverhill, including the following: 11 Pentucket (1889-1894), 111 Winter (1997-1899), 20 Summer (1900-1903), 29 Summer (1909-1911), 13 Summer (1913-1915), 18 Summer (1917-1918), 27 Summer (1919-1920) 76 Arlington (1921-1938).[160]
+58.iiWilliam Frank Furness born 29 December 1848 at Lawrence, Essex Co., Massachusetts, died 4 November 1915, buried in Linwood Cemetery, Haverhill, Massachusetts.
+59.iiiJames Choate Furness born 2 August 1854 at Lawrence, Essex Co., Massachusetts, died 31 July 1925 at Manchester, New Hampshire.

   

44. Edward J. W.4 Furness (Edward3, Patrick2, unknown1) He was born 16 September 1819 at Durham, New Hampshire. He drown 10 April 1852 at Piscataqua River, New Hampshire, and buried in Lot 3 at Old Durham Cemetery, School House Lane, Durham, New Hampshire.[161] He was married on 6 October 1844 at Lee, New Hampshire, to (Hanna) Lucinda Stevens.

60.iEmma I.5 Furness born 28 August 1847 at Durham, New Hampshire, died 28 November 1851 at Durham.[162]

   

49. George W.4 Furness (Edward3, Patrick2, unknown1) He was born 24 November 1831 at Durham, New Hampshire. He was a merchant. He died 14 October 1892 at Northwood, New Hampshire, and is buried at Northwood. He was married to Aura A. Hill, probably before 1869. She was born about 1844 in Northwood, New Hampshire. During the 1880 census the family was living at a home on Washington St., Boston, Massachusetts.[163]

61.iMary L.5 Furness born 5 September 1869 at Dorchester, Massachusetts.

 


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References

[140] Willey, Willey's Book of Nutfield; Willey's book contains information about place and date of birth, and marriage.

[141] Willey, Willey's Book of Nutfield; Willey's book contains information about his wife.

[142] "Grace Livingston Furniss to Lewis D. Cook," letter dated 19 February 1930, Furniss Family Files, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 122 East 58 th St., New York, NY.

[143] "Helen A. James, Secretary to the Rector, Staint Thomas Church, to Lewis D. Cook," 12 June 1962; seen in Furniss Family folder in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Library, NY; Lewis D. Cook, "The Furniss Family of New York;" "Eugene V. Gedney, Vice President, The Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, NY to Lewis D. Cook," 17 April 1962.

[144] Lewis D. Cook, "The Furniss Family of New York."

[145] New York Times 26 Jan. 1883, p. 5, col. 4; marriage certificate of William Ponsonby Furniss of Bergen Point, NJ, and Hetty Hart MacFarland of Staten Island, NY, seen in Furniss Family folder in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Library, NY, copy in possession of writer; C. M. Little, History of the Clan MACFARLANE, MACFARLAN, MACFARLAND, MACFARLIN (Tottenville, NY: n. pub., 1893), p. 75; the copy annotated by Clinton C. Furniss is in the possession of Malcolm Furniss, Moscow, ID, partial photocopy in possession of writer. Little cites the birth dates for all the children of William Wallace MacFarland and Sarah Bailey. While this is the only record of Hetty Hart MacFarland's birth that has been located, it should be noted that many of the other dates in Little's book are not correct. The reporting of Hartford, CN, as the place of birth is inferred since this was the area where the MacFarland family lived in 1862. While William Wallace MacFarland and Sarah Bailey lived in Hartford, CN, they lived at 75 Edwards St., 1862-1867; 77 Buckingham, 1868; and 13 Charter Oak Place, 1869-1872. William W. MacFarland had an office at 345 Main Street, Hartford, CN, from 1862-1868. All the above information was found in the Hartford, CN, City Directories for June 1862 - July 1872; ____ Vosburch, chairman, Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences, Moravian Cemetery Records (place, publisher, year), vol. 1, p. 222; Death Certificate for Hetty McF. Furniss, 12 April 1904, Certificate of Death 14007, Department of Records and Information Services, Municipal Archives, 31 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007; copy of death certificate in possession of writer.

[146] New York Times 19 Dec. 1894, p. 14, col. 1; 1900 U.S. Census, ED 609, Sheet 5, Line 39, Richmond Co., NY, Microfilm T623, Roll 1154; The World (New York City, NY), undated article about 1911-1912, "Aged Women Win in Contest over A Huge Estate", includes information about the marriages of William Furniss, photocopy in possesion of writer.

[147] The World (New York City, NY), undated article about 1911-1912, "Aged Women Win in Contest over A Huge Estate", includes information about the marriages of William Furniss, photocopy in possesion of writer; New York Times 22 May 1912, p. 10, col. 3.

[148] New York Times 8 Jan. 1916, p. 6, col. 3

[149] Lewis Cook, "The Furniss Family of New York"; New York Evening Post (New York, NY), May 1857; Death Certificate for Grace Livingston Furniss, 20 April 1938, Certificate of Death 27026, Division of Vital Records, Department of Health, Albany, NY 12237; "Eugene V. Gedney, Vice President, The Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, NY to Lewis D. Cook," 17 April 1962; Deed No. 2320 issued to Grace Livingston Furniss of 203 West 54th St., New York City, New York, given to writer by Bill and Emilie Lord.

[150] New York Daily Tribune day month 1902, p. col.

[151] Ada Patterson, "The Story of a Successful Woman Playwright," The Theatre Magazine, New York (Nov. 1907), pp. 301-304 & xii; Nashville Public Library, Nashville, TN; p. 301 has two photographs of Grace l. Furniss, one of which is taken within her summer home and shows some of her possessions.

[152] Ada Patterson, "The Story of a Successful Woman Playwright," The Theatre Magazine..

[153] Photograph of Grace Livingston Furniss by George Grantham Bain, Biographical File Index, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; reproduction in possession of writer.

[154] Gale Composite Biographical Dictionary, Series 3, Who Was Who In The Theatre (Npl, Pitman Publishing Co., 1978), p.896.

[155] NY Public Library, Public Library Dictionary Catalog of the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library, 1911-1971 (NY, G. K. Hall & Co., 1979), vol. 290, p. 276-277.

[156] Lewis Cook, "The Furniss Family of New York."

[157] E.O. Jameson, The Choates in America, 1643-1896, John Choate and His Descendants (Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son, Printers: 1896), p. 299, lists date and place of birth, date of death, seen in the Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution; William W. Roberts, compiler, Records of Interments in Linwood Cemetery 1845-1945, typescript, Haverhill Public Library, Haverhill, MA; Headstone seen by writer on a visit to the cemetery on 21 August 1993.

[158] Haverhill City Directories, 1865-1942, Haverhill Public Library, Haverhill, MA.

[159] Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1911), Vol. II, Marriages and Deaths, p. 126, Haverhill Public Library, Haverhill, MA; Massachusetts Vital Records, Vol. 18, p. 87, entry 21, Marriage record for William P. Furness and Abby C. Choate, LDS microfilm 1,428,256; E.O. Jameson, The Choates in America, 1643-1896, John Choate and His Descendants (Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son, Printers: 1896), p. 299, lists date and place of birth, date of marriage, parents names and dates of birth, seen in the Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution; William W. Roberts, compiler, Records of Interments in Linwood Cemetery 1845-1945, typescript, Haverhill Public Library, Haverhill, MA.

[160] Stackpole and Meserve, History of the Town of Durham, New Hampshire , Vol. II, p. 200; E.O. Jameson, The Choates in America, 1643-1896, John Choate and His Descendants (Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son, Printers: 1896), p. 299, seen in the Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution; William W. Roberts, compiler, Records of Interments in Linwood Cemetery 1845-1945, typescript, Haverhill Public Library, Haverhill, MA;Haverhill City Directories, 1865-1942, Haverhill Public Library, Haverhill, MA.

[161] International Genealogical Index, New Hampshire, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, birth information for Edward J. W. Furness; Durham Historic Association, Inscriptions on Stones Found in Graveyards in Durham, New Hampshire, typescript, p. 26.

[162] Durham Historic Association, Inscriptions on Stones Found in Graveyards in Durham, New Hampshire, typescript, p. 26.

[163] 1880 U.S. Census, Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts; Vol. 32, ED 780, Sheet 29, Line 49, National Archives Microfilm T 754, Roll 23; Massachusetts Vital Records Births, Vol. 215, p. 304, entry 197, birth of Mary L Furness, LDS microfilm 1,428,072, includes mother's maiden name and place of birth.


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