Beginnings Cont'd, B

Lets go to the Neill side of the family. James Lisk married somebody and they produced John Lisk, who married Sarah Ann Herron. They produced William Lisk, his brother John Henry, and sisters Ellen who married a Russel, Lanna who married a Beyans, Rachel who married a Cinnamon, Matilda who married a Rock, Eliza Ann who married a Russel, Sallie who married a Hall, Margaret who married a Johnson, and Isabel who married a McCabe.

The above William Lisk (my great grandpa), married Sarah Johnston in the Drum Kree church in 1848, in Portadown, Armagh County, northern Ireland. She had a brother named John Johnston. Wm & Sarah Lisk produced my grandma Neill in 1855 who died Feb. 2, 1937 in Rockville, CT. But they also populated Rockville, CT with vast quantities of Lisks (& others), as John Lisk who produced Benjamin & William, Frank who produced Wm, Jas, Jn, Sam'l, Fred, Lilly, Sarah, & Paul; Samuel who was a bachelor; James who produced Wm., Jas., Stewart; Matilda who married Thos. Lutton, and they produced "the Lutton Girls" Sarah & Annie (Lilly) plus Thos. & Wm.; Elizabeth who married Edw. Quinn, and they produced Julia, Edw. & Iola; Thomas who produced Pearl, Lorenzo, Eugene, and Warren; George who produced Linie, Charlie, Henry, Harold, Naomi, Florence, and Anita. My grandma Neill (Sarah Lisk Neill) came to the US with her large family at about age 16 in a sailing vessel. She had blue eyes and a very strong Irish accent. She was a very strong believer, but I think maybe the only one in her family.

One of "the Lutton Girls", Sarah or Lil, had gall bladder trouble and went to the hospital. The doctor wanted to remove the gall bladder. She asked "Why?" He said "Because it is not functioning." She said, "Well, if you remove it, it still won't function, will it. Get me my clothes, I'm going home!" Later in life only one of them had a drivers license, but she was virtually blind. So they always travelled together, and the one who could see told the driver where to steer. Don't believe the girls ever married. The Luttons had a bottling works, and also owned the Silver Dollar Tavern in Rockville. In Rockville High School, my English teacher, Natalie Ide was related to me, as were three of my classmates, Wilton Lisk, Eleanor Lisk, and Donald Neff.

Let's go back to the Neill side of the family (rather than the Lisk side of the Neill family). To the best of my knowledge, Patrick Niel married Mary Forscythe, and they produced my grandpa Neill and at least his brother. My grandpa Neill (Joseph Niel / Neil) was born in 1845, and died Sep 15, 1887, buried in Aspen Grove Cemetary, Ware, MA, now under Quabbin Reservoir (but the cemetary was removed to dry ground somewhere, I saw it once).

My grandpa Neill (Joseph Niel / Neil)and his brother came from County Kildare in what is now the Irish Republic, and went to Iowa and took up land. They both married and had a dairy farm together. But my grandpa's wife died having a baby, so he abandoned his half of the farm, and went east to Massachusetts, and married my grandma, Sarah A. Lisk. He never shaved in his life, and his beard was as soft as the hair on your head. There used to exist a nice photo of him. He died at an early age, after waisting away for about one year, believed by my Dad to be tuberculosis. They lived in Gilbertville, MA (now under the reservoir), and also in Manchester, CT. When he died my grandma had 4 boys and moved to Rockville, probably to be close to her parents and relatives. The census of 1880 shows: Joseph Neil, age 40, occupation Weaver, parents birthplace, Ireland. Wife Sally Neil, age 32, occupation housewife, parents birhplace, Ireland, Daughter Nellie Neil, age 1, parents birthplace, Ireland. It is probably them, though Joseph Neil's age isn't right. I believe their only daughter died shortly therefafter.

My grandparents, Joseph Neil and Sarah Lisk produced 4 boys: William (bachelor) b. 1880, d. Jun 9, 1952 in Rockville CT, Thomas James (my dad) b. Feb 15, 1882 in Manchester, CT, d. Mar 16, 1973 in Tenafly NJ, David Alexander(bachelor) b. April 10, 1885, d. Mar. 22, 1971 in NJ., and Joseph Samuel, b. 1888 in Gilbertville, MA, d. Mar 17, 1965 in St. Petersburg, FL. He had married Pearl Pease, but they married late in life and had no children.

When my uncle Bill (William Neill, above, who was the oldest) started school, he came home and told his dad that the teacher said we weren't spelling our family name correctly, and it should be with two L's, not one. His dad told him, "I don't care, spell it any way you want." When uncle Bill was grown, he went to New York and studied electricity, but never did much with it He stayed home and took care of his Mom, who became blind from cataracts; later after she died, he stayed home and did the housekeeping while his brother Dave worked in the mill. My uncle Joe was a sergant in WWI, and went to France, but was behind the lines training troops.

My dad, Thomas James Neill, hated working in the woolen mill, and got out of there as soon as he could, working instead on various farms, etc. He worked for Fred Dart, who used to have a farm as you go west on Dart Hill Road in Vernon, and up the hill to where it levels out. He was one of the "hired men". They ate with the family. Once Mrs. Dart made some green tomatoe pie. She asked how it was. My dad said "Fine", so as not to hurt her feelings. The hired hand next to him immediately said, "Here Tom, you can have mine." Fred Dart needed a bigger house, so he raised his house on jacks and built another story under it. This was before the days of gas engines and electricity being available there on the farm.

But my dad spent a lot more time working as a "hired hand" on the Blankenburg farm. He had lots of stories about what it was like. The Blankenburgs had 7 children, but only 3 were boys, who probably were still too young to do much work. So there were hired men. Here are some random stories. Once in a while my grandma Blankenburg would get help from a neighbor lady to help with the washing of clothes (a big deal in those days, all done by hand). Thus the noon meal (the biggest meal, "dinner" in those days), was late. Mr. Blankenburg would come in from work with the hired men, find out the situation, and say, in a provoked tone "The wash is on!"

Another time, Mr. Blankenburg was across the road in the pasture trying to coax a horse so he could catch and harness him to take a load of produce up to Rockville to sell. All the Bankenburg children were just looking out the window watching him and laughing at him. None offered to help.

When my uncle Arnold (the youngest) was a tiny tot, planing in the sand pile outside the kitchen window (right where I played 20 years later), his brother Fred had caught an earthworm, took it over to his little brother, held it up to him and said "Essen", which is "eat" in German. I told this story to my Uncle Arnold in Kansas when he was an old man. He asked "Did I eat it?", but their Mom rapped on the kitchen window and stopped the shennanigans.

Another story: A close friend of the family had graduated from Renssalier Polytechnic Institute, in New York State, majoring in electrical engineering. But he contracted tuberculosis, and was dying. Late in the stage, he got someone to take him by horse and buggy to visit the Blankenburg family, but when he got there, he was quite weak, and just stayed sitting in the buggy to visit a bit. My aunt Esther came out to visit with him, and she said "Oh, how well you look!" But then Mr. Blankenburg came along and said right there to Esther "What are you lying to the man for!"

Mrs. Blankenburg (my grandma) saved up money and had a lead pipe put in, running from the well to a hand pump at the kitchen sink. It is also what we used when I was growing up.

The Blankenburg children were all quite bright. They all loved their mom, but you could not say they were all that "close" to their dad, especially the boys. My mother Emma was the oldest. She graduated from New Britain Normal School, in the standard college training of that time for teachers. Then she taught school for quite a number of years prior to marrying at age 30. Later in life she resumed teaching during WWII while I was in the Navy.

My aunt Esther was rather unusual. She was always full of stories, but I can't vouch for the accuracy of them all. She claimed that we were related to Benedict Arnold. I'd like to check out his ancestry some time to see if it is true. She used to go on cheap vacations by getting a state room on a 'banana boat" fruit freighter, and go to countries in the Carribean. She once borrowed $4,000 from her dad and formed an opera company, and put on an opera in Waterbury, CT, hiring famous singers such as Rosa Ponsell, etc. But the venture went broke and she lost all the money. I believe she attended a well-known college in Ohio for a year or two before she ran out of money. Later, when she settled in Providence, she attended art classes at Brown. I had one excellent oil painting of hers, an ocean view. She lived with my great aunt Louise Blankenburg in Providence in the governers former mansion, while my great aunt's health was in decline. Later she had her own apartment in Providence, and corresponded with cousin Ellis Arnold in Los Angeles, and also was "buddies" with Esther Hinderlighter. The two Esthers considered themselves "family outcasts" . She became a Christian Science member, but I went to visit her once, she wasn't home (she had been taken to a nursing home with a stroke but I didn't know it). Her landlady said that aunt Esther and another lady used to go to synagoge on Saturdays. I asked the landlady, "Was the other lady Jewish?" She answered, "She was as Jewish as she could be!"

Well, it's after 10 PM, and time for bed. And I haven't gotten much into my Dad's life, let alone mine!