(1834-1904) and Son Frank Perry Dresser

A Tale of Two Severings: Father Christopher Dresser Ph.D., FLS (1834-1904) and Son Frank Perry Dresser (1862-1927),

Frank Perry Dresser (12 Sept. 1862-25 June 1927) was the seventh child and fourth son of Christopher Dresser (4 July 1834- 24 Nov.1904), a noted British designer of ornament and design for industry. His main historical interest is being struck from Dr. Dresser’s will on the 8 th of April 1895 (see appended portion of the codicil, 8th April 1895) (fig.1).1 What follows focuses on Frank’s biography concluding with two possible models for understanding the codicil. Frank was born eight years into his parent’s marriage. His maternal grandfather, a Methodist, proselytized at Ironbridge for the interdenominational Country Towns and Villages Missionary Society.2 His paternal grandfather, also a Methodist, worked with Inland Revenue but took an interest in its mid-nineteenth century reform, chairing a Reformer’s meeting in 1854 and performing a marriage in the next year.3 Christopher and Thirza Dresser (1831-1911), Frank’s parents, do not appear to have been doctrinaire. In 1884 and 1885 they witnessed for the conversion of their four youngest back to the Church of England (original home of Methodism).4 After her father’s death, Nellie Mabel Dresser (1870-1954), one of the four who had converted, was ordained as a Deaconess with the Church of England in 1906.5

1

Lyons, Harry. Scan of will sent to Jane McQuiity as email document. “List of Missionaries.” The Town and Village Mission Record published under the superintendence of the Country Towns Mission Society, vole I, no. 9, July 1854, p. 72. 3 Respectively from “Meeting of Wesleyan Reformers.” The Huddersfield Chronicle, 30 Sep 1854, p6, and Halifax Courier. 20 Oct 1855, p8 4 "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J71C-DBV : 11 February 2018, Effie Beatrice Dresser, ); citing Sutton (near Croydon), Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,430//"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NK8D-J62 : 11 February 2018, Nellie Mabel Dresser, ); citing Sutton (near Croydon), Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,430//England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JW21-DZB : 11 February 2018, Ella Rosamond Dresser, 28 Sep 1884); citing Sutton near Croydon, Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,430//"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NR8V-L2Z : 11 February 2018, Stanley Lewis Dresser, 08 Jun 1867); citing Sutton near Croydon, Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,430. 5 “List of Deaconesses Ordained since 1862 in the Church of England.” Church of England Record Centre (CERC). CWMC/Peers/1 http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/content/cerc. Accessed 18 June 2018. 2

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Frank’s family were comfortable, and then, wealthy. His launch into life was experienced as abundance. Later he may give readers the impression of more concern for spiritual integrity than wealth, a trait probably helped by never feeling the pinch of want at a young age. He was born at 4 Swiss Cottages, 21 Peter Square. In the 1870s a selection of members of the arts society, chemical society, philological society, retirees from the colonies and academics resided in thie area. A nine-room-residence with garden could be leased for £45 a year.6 His home between three and six was #2 Myrtle Place, North End Road, Fulham, SW, London. This is the location where one first reads of his father advertising for articled pupils.7 Sisters Rosa Ada Lily Dresser (May 1865—21 Oct. 1943) and Florence Maude (May 1865—22 Dec. 1866)8 were born here. 10th child and 5th and last son Stanley Lewis Dresser (8 June 1867—5 Sept. 1889, Winnipeg, Manitoba) was the next arrival. The Times of London ran adverts for the property on September 14th describing it as a ‘beautifully decorated 10-roomed villa, the residence of Dr. Dresser separated by an invisible fence from apple and cherry orchards, has large billiard room.”9 The immediate family shrank by one in 1868 when older brother Henry (14) recalls leaving home.10 In the 1871 England and Wales census he is found living in as an apprentice, I believe from the address at Gask and Gask silk mercer’s in Oxford Street.11

6

“Events in and around Brompton 1860s: 1862: July.” George Borrow Society. http://georgeborrow.org/timeline/brompton1862.html. June 10, 2018 7 “Dr. Dresser has an Opening for Two Students of Ornament,” The Athenenaeum, London, no. 1952 Saturday, March 25, 1865, p. 405 https://books.google.ca/books?id=k6tHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA405&lpg=PA405&dq=2+Myrtle+Place,+North+End+Road, +Fulham,+SW+London&source=bl&ots=6rWtYoKBft&sig=5_y1YqZT7U6rNlc_NEHCuHFpzQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiagNv528fbAhUrw4MKHR88C8EQ6AEIPjAD#v=onepage&q=2%20Myr tle%20Place%2C%20North%20End%20Road%2C%20Fulham%2C%20SW%20London&f=false 8 Florence Maude died of a crib death. 9 Times of London, Mon. Sept. 14, 1868, issue 26229) 10 "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMFH-82Q : accessed 16 June 2018), Henry Dresser, Washington D.C. city, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 132, sheet 10B, family 207, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,164 11 "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VRN1-DY9 : 9 December 2017), Henry Dresser in entry for James F Fletcher, 1871.

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Tower Cressy taken on a twenty-one-year lease from Thomas Page starting 29 September 1868 that furnished Frank’s home from age six to eighteen and probably left the most solid impression. Sisters Effie Beatrice Dresser (Spring 1869—28 March 1928), Nellie Mabel Dresser and Ellen Rosamund Dresser (29 Dec. 1872—1907) were born here. The 1871 Britain and Wales Census notes 9 year old Frank, his 10 siblings, his parents and all time staffing high of five female servants.12 Frank’s years as young child in this striking seven-storey house must have been full of company, especially when one adds in articled students and employees at the outbuilding converted into a suite of offices that was a separate part of the property.13 At fifteen, a long fatherly departure of seven months occurred when Dr. Dresser made the famous trip to Meiji Japan as representative of South Kensington and advisor on Japan’s art industries. Moving forward, after 1877 and the return of Dr. Dresser, more sons began to leave. In the Christmas holiday of 1878, the family’s second oldest son and third child Chris, now twenty-one, left for Yokohama as a purchaser for Londos and Co. in Yokohama and Kobe.14 Third brother Louis Leo, a year and a half older than Frank, seems to have been exempt from the trend to leave, but not Frank. Frank Dresser, eighteen, salesman is found on the SS Samaria to Boston manifest of 24 February 1880.15 The US Census [taken beginning on 1 June] notes Frank Dresser, eighteen, as a store attendant, boarding with owner-employer Charles Porth (Germany 1823—New York, 6 April 1882) at 1435 2rd Avenue New York, the Upper East Side of Manhattan.16 Charles Porth, cutter, is one year into a wholesaling partnership with Walter G. DeLaMater (?-?) at Porth and DeLaMater (1311 3rd Avenue). The company specializes in

12

"England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VBF6-Q2N : 12 December 2017), Frank P Dresser in entry for Christopher Dresser, 1871. 13 “Conditions and Particulars of a Singularly Desirable Freehold Detached Residence” George Upton Robins and another v. Robert Allan McLean and others. In the High Court of Justice Chancery Division, 1880. Ref J46.JPG 14 Lepach, Bernd."D" Meiji Portraits. http://www.meiji-portraits.de/meiji_portraits_d.html. Accessed May 15, 2018 15 "Massachusetts, Index to Boston Passenger Lists, 1848-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV51-QWTP : 16 March 2018), F H Dresser, 1880; citing Immigration, ship Samaria, NARA microfilm publication M265 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1969), roll #M265. 16 "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZX3-HBG : 7 September 2017), Frank Dresser in household of Charles Porth, New York, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district ED 594, sheet 48C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0896; FHL microfilm 1,254,896.

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painter’s supplies, artist’s materials, wall papers and window shades with a corps of workers ready to do decorative painting, sign painting, paper hanging and general carpentry.17 It is hard to know what to make of an 29 October 1880 Southampton to New York City manifest a few months later crossing out the name of a Frank Dresser born 1862. 18 This marking on the manifest usually means a cancellation or a no show.19 It suggests that Frank returned to London, and though scheduled to return to New York, did not do so. Christopher Dresser writes in his foreword to Japan: Its Architecture, Art and Manufactures (1882) that illness delays him in the years 1877—1882 and holds up publication.20 However, Charles Porth died on the 6 April 1882.21 This is an area for more research. The April 3rd, 1881 Census for England and Wales, records Frank Perry Dresser, still eighteen, at Tower Cressy with his brothers and sisters. Louis Leo is noted as a designer of ornaments, his father as an ornamentalist and merchant, and Frank simply as a son22 Many see the years 1881-1883 of Dr. Dresser’s participation in the Art Furnishers Alliance as well other advisory positions as a crescendo before a diminution in involvement in direct design and a turning of energies to sales.23 They are years in which Frank’s involvement, if any, in his 17

History and Commerce of New York, 1891. American Publishing and Engraving Company, 1891. Google Books.https://books.google.ca/books/about/History_and_Commerce_of_New_York_1891.html?id=TSEaAAAAYAAJ &redir_esc=y, June 16, 2016 18 SS W.A. Scholten of the Holland America Line (fig. 1) travelling from Rotterdam to Southampton to New York City Family Search, scanned passenger list from New York collection "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVSK-GH5Y : 12 March 2018), Frank Dresser, 1880; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm . 19 (PDF) “A New Look at Immigrant Passenger Manifests: Annotations Made Prior to Arrival.” https://lisalouisecooke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Passenger_Manifests.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2018. 20 Christopher Dresser writes in his foreward to Japan: Its Architecture, Art and Manufactures (1882) that illness delays him in the years 1877—1882 and holds up publication. 21 "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2W3T-8NC : 10 February 2018), Charles Porth, 06 Apr 1882; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,322,619. 22 "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK65-9GNS : 10 December 2017), Frank Dresser, Kensington, London, Middlesex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 19, Piece/Folio 26/22, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,319. 23 "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK65-9GNS : 10 December 2017), Frank Dresser, Kensington, London,Middlesex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast

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father’s concerns is unknown. Dresser children, male and female, did work for the Art Furnisher’s Alliance and in his design studio. John Lowry curator for an 1952 Victoria and Albert exhibition on the Victorian and Edwardian decorative arts left notes of Nellie Dresser telling him she entered the studio in 1889 and also that her sister Ada tried to continue the studio after her father’s death.24 Another area for research is whether Frank’s exclusion from benefit in his father’s estate at his father’s request has any tie back to events not publicly known from these years. In any case, Frank is next documented on the December 1883 manifest of the S.S. Nova Scotian bound for Halifax, in steerage, as a labourer. 25 He was three months into being twentyone and having legal control of his person. This was the cheapest possible fare for a young man. 26

When his oldest brother Henry left for New York in November 1871 on the Erin, he also

identified as a labourer. 27 This is also the case for all other trans Atlantic manifests mentioning Frank. However, Stanley appears on the SS Peruvian manifest to Halifax four years after Frank in 1887 as a clerk at twice the expenditure. 28 It would be helpful to know how Chris Dresser travelled to Yokohama. When Frank next appears, eight years have elapsed. The document is his first marriage licence 11 February 1891 where he has gone from store attendant to now an actor.29 His wife is Annie May Grant (20 November 1871—c.20 October 1896 ) (fig. 2) (undated). In the section for the groom’s parents, Thirza is spelled ‘Theresa.’ Christopher Dresser’s occupation is written (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 19, Piece/Folio 26/22, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,319. 24 interview notes with Nellie Dresser 1 April 1952. V&A archives. ref: MA/1/D1586. (Thanks to Harry Lyons for sending a PNG photograph of this document 15 December 2017. 25 "Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2Q92-N4J : 11 March 2018), Frank Dresser, Nov 1883; citing Immigration, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, C-4512, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. 26 See poster, Allen Line, Royal Mail Service for Canada: Assisted Passage. http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_shiplist.asp?co=allan. Accessed 21 May 2018. 27 "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVPV-5JRJ : 11 March 2018), H Dresser, 1871; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm . 28 "Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2Q9L-5KX : 11 March 2018), Stanley L Dresser, Mar 1887; citing Immigration, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, C-4513, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. 29 "Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KMG6V3J : 8 December 2014), Frank P. Dresser and Annie M. Grant, 1891, Marriage; citing p. 256, volume 1839, , Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax.

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as ‘Medical D’. According to this document he is now an actor. He is married by a Baptist minister in a Baptist church.30 Though there are always exceptions, normally to be welcomed to marry in a Baptist church he would need to have been a convert.31 At first glance one might think that Baptism would abjure theatre and therefore the profession of actor as it did gambling and taverns; however, Mark Blagrave's "Temperance and Theatre in the 19th Century Maritimes" inspires new ideas. It informs me that acting had a role in temperance, a big social movement in the nineteenth century Maritimes, “in order to compete with the public houses [temperance movements] had to provide 'counterrecreations'; and so elements of Music Hall (the adjunct of the tavern) were adapted to spread the teetotal gospel.”32 The Yarmouth Directory 1890 shows a Sons of Temperance Division Hall just down the road from one of two William Grant, blacksmiths in the town.33 In Blagrave I find out Temperance Halls had libraries and lecture auditoria. In Nova Scotia, Baptists were leaders of the local charge for temperance and prohibition.34 From temperance society actor to licentiate minister with the Baptist home missions would not be such a stretch. I speculate, that is all that it is at this point, it that Frank could turn up in playbills from this context or from the Mechanics’ Institute Theatre of St John, New Brunswick. I have not been to Yarmouth or Nova Scotia to research. This should be taken in the spirit of my best guess. During his marriage to Annie May, Frank begins a long connection to Lynn, Massachusetts and Lynn has a role in his life that I don’t yet understand. In his 1913 border 30

"Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KMG6-V3J : 8 December 2014), Frank P. Dresser and Annie M. Grant, 1891, Marriage; citing p. 256, volume 1839, , Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. 31

Frost, J.M. “Why Baptist and not Methodist.” Baptist: Why and Why Not. Ed. D.D. Venable The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1900, http://elbourne.org/baptist/whybaptist/05_notmethodist.html, Accessed 12 June 2018. 32 Blagrave, Mark, “Temperance and the Theatre in the Nineteenth-Century Maritimes.” Theatre Research in Canada TRIC/RTAC, vol. 7, no. 1, 1886, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/tric/article/view/7405/8464 Accessed: 2 June 2018. 33 See Yarmouth Town Directory. Yarmouth Times Job Office, 1890. Hathi Trust, p. 35 “Division Hall, Sons of Temperance, 468 Main.” and p. 49. Grant, William Blacksmith 456 Main. And Grant, William Blacksmith 32, North Alma. “https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxnvye;view=1up;seq=3. Accessed 15 June 2018. 34 th Dick, Ernest J. “From Temperance to Prohibition in 19 Century Nova Scotia.” Dalhousie Review, vol. 61, no. 3, 1981, p. 534. Dalspace Home. https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/handle/10222/60346. Accessed 15 June 2018.

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crossing record when he leaves Maritime Canada to establish in Maine, Frank responds to the question of previous residence in the US with, “Lynn. Massachusetts from 1900 to February 1902.”35 Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943 database indicates his connection to Lynn begins even earlier.36 

24 March 1892 SS Halifax from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Boston listed Mr F. P. Dresser, mechanic, English, estimated birth year 1852 and Mrs. F. P. Dresser, Nova Scotia, estimated age 20 on its manifest.37



3 July 1895, SS Boston from Yarmouth N.S. to Boston has on its manifest a tourist, Mrs. Frank Dresser going to Lynn, Mass. 38



1895, October 19. SS Yarmouth from Yarmouth N.S. to Boston, another three months have gone by and Mrs. F. Dresser, age 24, last residence N.S,. is destined to Boston as a tourist.39 Frank Dresser’s first and only child Alfred Clare Dresser (20th or 25th of October 1897—

16 September 1957) was born six years after his marriage.40 Birth and death records were not

35

"Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK31-8T7L : 16 March 2018), Frank P Dresser, 1895-1924; citing M1461, Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924, 131, NARA microfilm publications M1461, M1463, M1464, and M1465 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, publication year); FHL microfilm 1,472,931. 36 "Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK31-8T7L : 16 March 2018), Frank P Dresser, 1895-1924; citing M1461, Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924, 131, NARA microfilm publications M1461, M1463, M1464, and M1465 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, publication year); FHL microfilm 1,472,931. 37 "Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23DP-TWW : 13 March 2018), F P Dresser, 1892; citing Immigration, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication T843 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,404,127. 38 "Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23FQ-61H : 13 March 2018), Frank Dresser, 1895; citing Immigration, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication T843 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,715,569. 39 "Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:236Q-XVZ : 13 March 2018), F Dresser, 1895; citing Immigration, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication T843 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,404,143.

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kept in Nova Scotia between 1876 and 1908.41 All the same, it seems from late identifications of Frank as a widower that as was common, and tragic, Annie died in childbirth or shortly after.42 Though he went on to marry two more times, Frank never repeated the fathering of children. Alfred Clare became his maternal grandparents’ responsibility, as noted in the next two Canadian censuses (190143, 191144). Records such as his WWI Attestation show often out of date awareness of his father’s location.45 And what of potentially helpful paternal grandparents in London as joint guardians? I talked in June 2016 with the late Marjorie Louise Dresser (d. 29 November 2017) widow of Gerald Clare Dresser (1919-1969) only son of Alfred Clare.46 Gerald knew his father’s father was a clergyman from England and there it ended. If there had been presents and cards from London or visits to grandparents, no memory remained. Between November 1896 and October 1898, Frank carries out evangelical work once more in Nova Scotia, a Baptist Home Missions rather than Country Towns and Villages missionary like his Perry grandfather before him. 25 October 1898, two years after Annie May’s death, Frank Dresser (36) widowed minister of Half Island Cove marries for a second time.47 Lila May Uloth (1878-1906) is a German-Scots fisherman’s daughter born in Cole Harbour. Like

40

"Nova Scotia Delayed Births, 1837-1904," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVRF-245G : 8 November 2017), Alfred Clare Dresser, 20 Oct 1896; citing Birth, Yarmouth, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, certificate number 1940, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. 41 “Birth Records”:”Death Records,” Nova Scotia: Canada: Vital Statistics: Genealogy. https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/. Accessed 18 June 2018. 42 Vital Statistics Nova Scotia record Frank Perry Dresser as a widower on his second marriage licence. If more is needed, Annie’s older brother Charles Grant (b.1868--?) names his second daughter (b. 2 April 1900) Annie May, which suggests commemoration of a deceased sister. 43 "Canada Census, 1901," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KH27-9SM : 18 March 2018), Alfred Dresser in household of Elvira Grant, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 12, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa. 44 " "Recensement du Canada de 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV9RV1F5 : 16 March 2018), Alfred Dresser in entry for William Grant, 1911; citing Census, Yarmouth Sub-Districts 1-25, Nova Scotia, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2,417,689. 45 Personnel records of the First World War Attestation paper 1060049, Alfred Clair Dresser. http://www.baclac.gc.ca/fra/decouvrez/patrimoine-militaire/premiere-guerre-mondiale/dossiers 46 Conversation with Marjorie Dresser, Ingomar, Nova Scotia. October 5, 2016. 47 "Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KML2Q52 : 8 December 2014), Frank P. Dresser and Lila May Uloth, 1898, Marriage; citing p. 209, volume 1814, , Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax.

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Annie May, the daughter of a long-established local family.48 She is twenty, he is thirty eight. Christopher Dresser (Sr) is again inaccurately recorded as a physician, but this time Thirza’s name is spelled correctly. 49 The doctor of divinity or medical doctor errors allowed to stand in Frank’s first two marriage licences are worth comment. They may reflect oblivion arising in the Canadian retail norm of selling under the house mark of Canadian wholesaler/importers no matter where the product had originally been sourced. 50 It is also quite possible they are directly fed to clerks by Frank. If the first case they could easily have been put right, but were not, one hint among others that Frank obscured his family ties. Frank’s next Home Missions assignment is The Charlottetown Guardian reports on Tyne Valley, Prince Edward Island. 51 As noted in his 1913 border crossing form, Lynn, Massachusetts is home from 1900 to February 1902,52 with a return to Nova Scotia and a placement in Seal Harbour in 1903.53

48

Aged three, there she is with her parents resident in Whitehaven Harbour not so terribly far away from Cole Harbour. "Canada Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MV62-35W : 11 March 2018), DEFAULT RECORD TITLE - CHANGE ME, White Haven, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 17; Library and Archives Canada film number C-13167, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 1,375,803. 49 F H Beals (ordained 1887, Hebron, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia) Baptist minister, solemnizes while William Riu and Rev. J.B. Layton witness. Her father, William Alexander Uloth (b. 23 Feb 1847 Guysborough, Nova Scotia d. 31 Jan 1944 New Harbour, Nova Scotia), was a German Methodist fisherman. Her mother is Frances Cordelia Sangster (b. 22 Feb. 1849 New Harbour, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia – d. 19 May 1915 Cole Harbour, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia) Scots Baptist. "Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KML2Q52 : 8 December 2014), Frank P. Dresser and Lila May Uloth, 1898, Marriage; citing p. 209, volume 1814, , Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. 50 Collard, Elizabeth. “Nineteenth-Century Canadian Importers’ Marks.” Material Culture Review:Revuede la culture materielle 16 Fall/Automne 1982, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17139/22846. Accessed 2 June 2018. 51 Tyne Valley SS [Sunday School] Association. The Guardian, Charlottetown. 1 September 1899. and “Local Briefs.” The Guardian, Charlottetown, December 11, 1899. Island Newspapers: UPEI: Robertson Library http://www.islandnewspapers.ca/islandora/search/Dresser%20Tyne%20Valley?type=dismax&f%5B0%5D=PARENT _decade_s%3A%221890%22. 52 "Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK31-8T7L : 16 March 2018), Frank P Dresser, 1895-1924; citing M1461, Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924, 131, NARA microfilm publications M1461, M1463, M1464, and M1465 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, publication year); FHL microfilm 1,472,931. 53 Clark, Emily, Special Collections Assistant, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University, Nova Scotia.. E-mail to Jane McQuitty. 18 November 2017.

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The years of candidate status and placements end when Frank is 42 and he is invited to lead the congregation of Port Elgin, New Brunswick in 1903 where he stays until 1905.54 In the following year, 1904, Christopher Dresser dies in his sleep on Nov 24 on a solitary business trip to Mulhouse, Alsace, France. 55 There is very little to suggest they were in contact since Frank left for Halifax in 1883. Winning an invitation to pastor (and with it offical ordination) had not been meteoric. Frank had spent twenty years at this quest. From Port Elgin he took up Millstream New Brunswick in 1906 . In his total of three years in New Brunswick he also added converts to Baptism at extra meetings as an invitee to other parishes. Years later he was remembered in a local oral history,

In 1903-1906, Reverend F.P. Dresser held special meetings for Elgin, Mapleton, and Goshen and baptised 50 new members. Rev. Dresser when shaking hands at the end of his services was known to pull little backs of candy from the pockets of his long-tailed coat for the children. With the large families those days, his pockets must have been bulging! In 1908 the pastor’s salary was $700 a-year with the added benefit for hay and wood for the parsonage.

56

54

Clark, Emily, Special Collections Assistant, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University, Nova Scotia.. E-mail to Jane McQuitty. 18 November 2017. 55 Probate record: Dresser Christopher of “Elm Bank” Barnes Surrey died 24 November 1904 Mulhausen, Alsace, Germany. Probate London 19 December 1904 to Mary Dresser spinster, Louis Leo Dresser Gentleman and Anne Dresser and Rosa Ada Lily Nettleton Dresser spinsters. Effects 39?1 ps 1 shilling 3 pence. ( Source: Ancestry Library Edition in San Francisco, CA). In July 1905, Elm House, The Terrace, Elm Barnes is sold at auction. It is described as having, “a five roomed lodge and grounds of about three-quarters of an acre, well situated, facing the river Thames at the corner of Elm Bank-gardens [...] the house is approached by carriage drive with handsome iron gates at the entrance. It contains six bedrooms, bathroom, lavatory, entrance hall with cloakroom, handsome suite of three reception rooms and a long conservatory about 100 feet, study and library; in the basement kitchen and complete domestic offices. The land is laid out as pleasure gardens with fine old timber trees and affords a capital building site....” 56 Steeves/Lazar, Idella. “Goshen Story: News and Views” Maritime Motor Sports Hall of Fame. Vol. 5, no.5, September 2014,pp. 8 & 16, Compiled from, Tucker-Fundy, Vera. The History of the Goshen Church; folklore by Mamie (Wilbur) and Marianne Steeves. Monuments of Yesteryear: The History of Elgin, n,d. PDF, PDF, accessed 17 Nov. 2017, https://www.maritimemotorsporthalloffame.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/10/140901_sep72dpi.pdf, accessed 17 Nov. 2017,

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By 1907 Frank transferred to Seal Harbour, Guysborough Country, home of Lila’s sister and near her immediate family.57 F. P. Dresser, Seal Harbour, is listed as one of the Treasurers of Denominational Funds for Nova Scotia as an officer of the United Baptist Convention, Maritime Provinces in 1909-1910.58 In late October of 1909, his wife Lila May, a cipher-like figure in his biography, entered the Nova Scotia Hospital of Dartmouth, County of Halifax, suffering chronic gastritis. She was treated by F.E. Lawler for two months and died December 29 th, 1909 at 31 years of age.59 Lila was then buried at Cole Harbour in its small Baptist Cemetery (fig. 5) her marker reading, “DRESSER, Lila May, February 20, 1878 - December 29, 1909. Wife of Rev. Frank.”60 Lila May’s older sister Leonora Alice Uloth Manthorne (1875-1949) gave her 4th son and 6th child Harry Manthorne (b. Seal Harbour, September 1909-d. 1990) the middle name Dresser in advance commemoration several months before Lila’s death. Frank had most likely already met his third wife in the months of Lila’s decline. Miss Winnie Leigh Fanning ( 5 March, 1893-1933) is noted as “Miss Minnie Fanning” and “Mrs. W. Fanning” in Seal Harbour records among a small list of those who “allowed themselves to spend and be spent in service of the church.” 61 1910, December 9, almost a year after Lila May’s death, Frank and Winnie married at the ministry of Frank’s first ordination in Port Elgin, New Brunswick. The registry information reads: Frank Dresser , Residence Elgin, Born London, England, a widower, Baptist Clergyman, Christopher and Thirza Dresser names are correctly noted, with no notation of either set of

57

Clark, Emily, Special Collections Assistant, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University, Nova Scotia.. E-mail to Jane McQuitty. 18 November 2017. 58 Canadian Almanac and Miscellaneous Directory, Copp Clark Company, 1909, p. 386. https://books.google.ca/books?id=N8FFAQAAIAAJ&dq=Canadian%20Almanac%20and%20Miscellaneous%20Direct ory%201910&source=gbs_book_other_versions. Accessed 17 June 2018. 59 Her remains are released to J. Spenser, undertaker, and taken to Mulgrave, Guysborough County for interment. "Nova Scotia Deaths, 1890-1955," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK9S-FRTR : 8 November 2017), F P Dresser in entry for Lila May Dresser, 29 Dec 1909; citing , Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, certificate 596, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax . 60 “Baptist Church Cemetery: Cole Harbour: Guysborough County.” Guysborough County Geneology. http://guyscogene.net/cem/cole.html. Accessed 17 June 2018. 61 Clark, Emily, Special Collections Assistant, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University, Nova Scotia.. E-mail to Jane McQuitty. 27 November 2017. Scans of a type written sketch of the history of the Seal Harbour Baptist Church.

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parents’ occupations.62 It seems a quiet marriage possibly out of sensitivity to the presence of Lila’s immediate family in Seal Harbour and the couple immediately move from Guysborough County to take a circuit in PEI. In this marriage to Winnie Leigh Fanning (1893-1933), born Drumhead, Guysborough County, Baptist, Spinster the age gap is wider than ever.63 Winnie is 17. Winnie takes her birth date back a year recording her age as eighteen. It a relationship that might have begun when Winnie was 16. Newspapers of the time and region demystify the attraction across age a little bit. Frank, or any minster, was a celebrity and object of great admiration in this era in the Maritimes. Anne of Green Gables (1908) author Lucy Maude Montgomery (1874-1942) married a Reverend in 1906.64 Following the minutia of Frank’s career in Maritime newspapers has shown me the extent to which special meetings, their topics, the demeanour of visiting ministers were newsworthy and covered with the kind of interest might gather critics at a film or theatre first night today. The right minister could pack seats and get an audience out on weeknights in mid winter. The celebrity factor makes it easier to understand that a young woman might seek Frank’s affections. More than either earlier wife, Winnie (fig. 3) (undated photograph), (fig. 4)(undated photograph), seems to have truly shared Frank’s enthusiasms. She presented at the Baptist 1912 PEI Baptist Conferences, then published in Tidings Atlantic Women’s Baptist magazine, she was very much part of his work. Their union was long and only eventful in the right way. As with the union with Lila, the marriage stayed childless. Frank leaves a record of happy congregations who feel lucky to have had him, which it is possible to follow in small news items in newspapers published in PEI, then Maine, up to Frank’s death in Richmond Maine, 5 September 1927. When Frank died Winnie was 37, and so valued by the Richmond, Maine 62

"New Brunswick Provincial Marriages 1789-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVBF-ZNGX : 13 March 2018), Frank P Dresser and Minnie/Winnie L Fanning, 09 Dec 1910; citing , Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada, p. , Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 2,024,738. 63 Her parents are Andrew William Fanning (1859-1946, burial Hillside Cemetery, Guysborough County) and Isabelle Fanning (1854-1935, burial Hillside Cemetery, Guysborough Country). The witnesses are Josephine H. McLatchy and Mrs E B McLatchy of Moncton New Brunswick. Married by license rather than Banns and solemnized by E B McLatchy. 64 “About L.M. Montgomery.” L.M. Montgomery Institute: University of Prince Edward Island. https://www.lmmontgomery.ca/about/lmm/her-life. Accessed 17 June 2018.

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congregation that she was invited to become their minister in Frank’s place—an invitation so become ordained so unusual in being offered to a woman that it was covered in the Boston papers.65 The Rev. HS Erb (1864-1938) his long-standing New Brunswick friend of the earliest placements and years at Eldon, PEI, who had also moved to Maine, conducted the obsequies before the coffin’s departure.66 Three obituaries cover Frank’s death. In the longest and the only one to mention parents, readers are told he was, “the son of Christopher and Cherso Dresser.” 67 The misspelling of Thirza speaks for itself of the lack of written references to family in household papers. Nothing in Frank’s probate record, which documents a very small estate, suggests any memento of his father’s productions although one can speculate about a fondness for books, an aptitude for holding an audience, many examples of conviviality, and a single “Art Square” of relatively high value as possible kinds of inheritance.68 Though they lived 24 years among Mainers, beginning in Manset, Frank’s remains--and very shortly after Winnie’s--were returned to tiny Hillside Cemetery, Seal Harbour, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. He is buried with Manthornes and Fannings immediate family of his second and third wives.69 Recursively this account ending in Richmond, Maine takes me back to Elm Bank, Barnes, London on the 8th of April 1895 where Edwin Henry Jeffrey (b. 1866 Chelsea, London – d. Brentford, Middlesex, England) designer of textile fabrics and studio manager70 and Edmund Horace Percy von Weber (b. 1873 Wandsworth--?) decorative artist and designer of indoor

65

Boston Daily Globe. (Sometime just after August 3, 1927). Daily Kennebec Journal 27 June 1927. 67 Daily Kennebec Journal 27 June 1927. 68 He left Winnie (Albert renounced his claim), a Ford touring car, $36 of books, and a $25 art square (reversible weave carpet of 3 or four yards from the 1880s) in small estate of $325 US. 66

Schedule of Real—Personal—Estate. 11 August 1926. Court Appraiser’s Report. Probate Records of Frank Perry Dresser. Sagahadoc County, Maine 69

“Hillside Cemetery: Seal Harbour: Guysborough County: Nova Scotia.” Guysborough County Geneology. http://guyscogene.net/cem/hillside.html. Accessed 17 June 2018. 70 "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9HJ-QNP : 8 April 2016), Edwin H Jeffrey, Fulham, London, Middlesex, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing South Fulham subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

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decorations71 are witnessing a codicil. Christopher Dresser is unequivocally striking struck Frank Perry Dresser (32) off the status of beneficiary to his estate, writing,

[...] and I further declare that all expressions and gifts contained in my said will and referring to any child or children of mine an having reference to the disposal of my estate both real and personal and the disposal thereof shall be construed so as not to include my son the said Frank Perry Dresser whom it is my wish and intention to exclude from participation in any of the benefits of the provisions for my children contained in my said will [....]72

As usual, documents are never sufficient. I began finding Frank Perry Dresser interesting because he lived in the same country I do and there was the intrigue of his disinheritance. Researching history is never like one thinks it will be. I thought I might find a juicy first-rate villain who dishonoured women. Instead his record is virtuous and likeable, and so, the more fool the Father! Perhaps this is the conclusion you the reader might be at at this point because I’ve drawn out instances where Frank has intentionally kept his family background obscure in some manner and has shunned bringing in his own people as allies of their grandson hoping you will think like me that he has decided there is no communicating with his birth famiy. I’ve also hoped you would notice how hard it is to lay the fault his disinheritance at Frank’s door: no murders, deserted wives, criminal cases or other events one would expect to find if an individual was immoral, or dishonest, or worthless, or unreliable. In this ending it seems Dr. Dresser’s intolerance of Frank being his own person might have brought the whole estrangement about. If so, it lost him a son who did nothing but live in a way that would ordinarily make his family recipients of public praise.

71

"England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X94V-YFN : 8 April 2016), Edmund H P Von Weber, Fulham, London, Middlesex, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing North-West Fulham subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. 72 Lyons, Harry. Scan of will sent to Jane McQuiity as email document.

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Here’s why this paper is a tale of two severings, two perspectives. Very late in the day, in quest of understanding of the legal process for probating a will with a missing beneficiary in the Victorian era, Google search results threw up the “The Tichborne Case” (shared below), a real inheritance story from Victorian England. It was the thought of Lady Tichborne’s desire to have her son back at any cost, even in the form of an implausible fraud, that got under my skin. Finally, I felt sorry for Frank’s London family and less approving of Frank again. If Frank had gone incommunicado since 1883 as I thought and sustained it past his parent’s deaths, wasn’t that an unreasonably punishing way of making a point about the value of his own choices? This is why my second ending is “the more fool the Son!” Here is “The Tichborne Case” as Wikipedia tells it. Please note my highlighting of one date. The Tichborne case was a legal cause célèbre that captivated Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s. It concerned the claims by an individual sometimes referred to as Thomas Castro or as Arthur Orton, but usually termed "the Claimant", to be the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy. He failed to convince the courts, was convicted of perjury and served a long prison sentence. Roger Tichborne, heir to the family's title and fortunes, was presumed to have died in a shipwreck in 1854 at age 25. His mother clung to a belief that he might have survived, and after hearing rumours that he had made his way to Australia, she advertised extensively in Australian newspapers, offering a reward for information. In 1866, a butcher known as Thomas Castro from Wagga Wagga [NSW] came forward claiming to be Roger Tichborne. Although his manners and bearing were unrefined, he gathered support and travelled to England. He was instantly accepted by Lady Tichborne as her son, although other family members were dismissive and sought to expose him as an impostor. During protracted enquiries before the case went to court in 1871, details emerged suggesting that the Claimant might be Arthur Orton, a butcher's son from Wapping in London, who had gone to sea as a boy and had last been heard of in Australia. After a civil court had rejected the Claimant's case, he was charged with perjury; while awaiting trial he campaigned throughout the country to gain popular support. In 1874, a criminal court jury decided that he was not Roger Tichborne and declared him to be Arthur Orton. Before passing a sentence of 14 years, the judge condemned the behaviour of the Page 15 of 28

Claimant's counsel, Edward Kenealy, who was subsequently disbarred because of his conduct. After the trial, Kenealy instigated a popular radical reform movement, the Magna Charta Association, which championed the Claimant's cause for some years. Kenealy was elected to Parliament in 1875 as a radical independent but was not an effective parliamentarian. The movement was in decline when the Claimant was released in 1884, and he had no dealings with it. In 1895, he confessed to being Orton, only to recant almost immediately. He lived generally in poverty for the rest of his life and was destitute at the time of his death in 1898. Although most commentators have accepted the court's view that the Claimant was Orton, some analysts believe that an element of doubt remains as to his true identity and that, conceivably, he was Roger Tichborne. In this severing, Dr. Dresser realizes his affairs should be tidied up in the case that Frank never reappears and never resumes contact. If not, a nightmare might await his family. It will probably reflect more on your experience of fathers and sons than on the answer’s closeness to historical reality which cause of breaking off you find most credible. [6673]

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References A New Look at Immigrant Passenger Manifests: Annotations Made Prior to Arrival.” (PDF) https://lisalouisecooke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Passenger_Manifests.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2018. About L.M. Montgomery.” L.M. Montgomery Institute: University of Prince Edward Island. https://www.lmmontgomery.ca/about/lmm/her-life. Accessed 17 June 2018. About Us: 200 Years of the Old Vic: 1879-1880.” Old Vic: Entertain Something New-London. https://www.oldvictheatre.com/about-us/200-years-of-the-old-vic. Accessed: 2 June 2018. Baptist Church Cemetery: Cole Harbour: Guysborough County.” Guysborough County Geneology. http://guyscogene.net/cem/cole.html. Accessed 17 June 2018. Birth Records”:”Death Records,” Nova Scotia:Canada: Vital Statistics: Genealogy Blagrave, Mark, “Temperance and the Theatre in the Nineteenth-Century Maritimes.” Theatre Research in Canada TRIC/RTAC, vol. 7, no. 1, 1886, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/tric/article/view/7405/8464 Accessed: 2 June 2018. Blagrave, n.p. , https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/tric/article/view/7405/8464 Accessed: 2 June 2018. Boston Daily Globe. (Sometime just after August 3, 1927). Canada Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MV62-35W : 11 March 2018), DEFAULT RECORD TITLE - CHANGE ME, White Haven, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 17; Library and Archives Canada film number C-13167, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 1,375,803. Canada Census, 1901," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KH27-9SM : 18 March 2018), Alfred Dresser in household of Elvira Grant, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 12, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa. Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2Q92-N4J : 11 March 2018), Frank Dresser, Nov 1883; citing Immigration, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, C-4512, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2Q9L-5KX : 11 March 2018), Stanley L Dresser, Page 17 of 28

Mar 1887; citing Immigration, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, C-4513, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Canadian Almanac and Miscellaneous Directory, Copp Clark Company, 1909, p. 386. https://books.google.ca/books?id=N8FFAQAAIAAJ&dq=Canadian%20Almanac%20and% 20Miscellaneous%20Directory%201910&source=gbs_book_other_versions. Accessed 17 June 2018. Clark, Emily, Special Collections Assistant, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University, Nova Scotia.. E-mail to Jane McQuitty. 18 November 2017. Clark, Emily, Special Collections Assistant, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University, Nova Scotia.. E-mail to Jane McQuitty. 27 November 2017. Scans of a type written sketch of the history of the Seal Harbour Baptist Church. Collard, Elizabeth. “Ninetheenth-Century Canadian Importers’ Marks.” Material Culture Review:Revuee la culture materielle 16 Fall/Automne 1982, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17139/22846. Accessed 2 June 2018. Conditions and Particulars of a Singularly Desirable Freehold Detached Residence” George Upton Robins and another v. Robert Allan McLean and others. In the High Court of Justice Chancery Division, 1880. Ref J46.JPG Daily Kennebec Journal 27 June 1927. Dick, Ernest J. “From Temperance to Prohibition in 19th Century Nova Scotia.” Dalhousie Review, vol. 61, no. 3, 1981, p. 534. Dalspace Home. https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/handle/10222/60346. Accessed 15 June 2018. Dr. Dresser has an Opening for Two Students of Ornament,” The Athenenaeum, London, no. 1952 Saturday, March 25, 1865, p. 405 https://books.google.ca/books?id=k6tHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA405&lpg=PA405&dq=2+Myrtl e+Place,+North+End+Road,+Fulham,+SW+London&source=bl&ots=6rWtYoKBft&sig=5_y 1YqZT7U6rNlc_NEHCuHFpzQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiagNv528fbAhUrw4MKHR88C8EQ6AEIPjAD #v=onepage&q=2%20Myrtle%20Place%2C%20North%20End%20Road%2C%20Fulham% 2C%20SW%20London&f=false England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VRN1-DY9 : 9 December 2017), Henry Dresser in entry for James F Fletcher, 1871.

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England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VBF6-Q2N : 12 December 2017), Frank P Dresser in entry for Christopher Dresser, 1871. England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK65-9GNS : 10 December 2017), Frank Dresser, Kensington, London,Middlesex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 19, Piece/Folio 26/22, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,319. England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK65-9GNS : 10 December 2017), Frank Dresser, Kensington, London, Middlesex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 19, Piece/Folio 26/22, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,319. England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9HJ-QNP : 8 April 2016), Edwin H Jeffrey, Fulham, London, Middlesex, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing South Fulham subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X94V-YFN : 8 April 2016), Edmund H P Von Weber, Fulham, London, Middlesex, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing North-West Fulham subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J71C-DBV : 11 February 2018, Effie Beatrice Dresser, ); citing Sutton (near Croydon), Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,430// England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NK8D-J62 : 11 February 2018, Nellie Mabel Dresser, ); citing Sutton (near Croydon), Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,430// England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JW21-DZB : 11 February 2018, Ella Rosamond Dresser, 28 Sep 1884); citing Sutton near Croydon, Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm Page 19 of 28

994,430//"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NR8V-L2Z : 11 February 2018, Stanley Lewis Dresser, 08 Jun 1867); citing Sutton near Croydon, Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,430. Events in and around Brompton 1860s: 1862: July.” George Borrow Society. http://georgeborrow.org/timeline/brompton1862.html. June 10, 2018 Halifax Courier. 20 Oct 1855, p8 New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVSK-GH5Y : 12 March 2018), Frank Dresser, 1880; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm . Nova Scotia Deaths, 1890-1955," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK9S-FRTR : 8 November 2017), F P Dresser in entry for Lila May Dresser, 29 Dec 1909; citing , Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, certificate 596, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. Hillside Cemetery: Seal Harbour: Guysborough County: Nova Scotia.” Guysborough County Genealogy. http://guyscogene.net/cem/hillside.html. Accessed 17 June 2018. History and Commerce of New York, 1891. American Publishing and Engraving Company, 1891. Google Books.https://books.google.ca/books/about/History_and_Commerce_of_New_York_18 91.html?id=TSEaAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y, June 16, 2016 interview notes with Nellie Dresser 1 April 1952. V&A archives. ref: MA/1/D1586. (Thanks to Harry Lyons for sending a PNG photograph of this document 15 December 2017. Lepach, Bernd."D" Meiji Portraits. http://www.meiji-portraits.de/meiji_portraits_d.html. Accessed May 15, 2018 List of Missionaries.” The Town and Village Mission Record published under the superintendence of the Country Towns Mission Society, vole I, no. 9, July 1854, p. 72. List of Deaconesses Ordained since 1862 in the Church of England.” Church of England Record Centre (CERC). CWMC/Pers/1 http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/content/cerc. Accessed 18 June 2018. Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23DP-TWW : 13 March 2018), F P Dresser, Page 20 of 28

1892; citing Immigration, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication T843 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,404,127. Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23FQ-61H : 13 March 2018), Frank Dresser, 1895; citing Immigration, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication T843 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,715,569. Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:236Q-XVZ : 13 March 2018), F Dresser, 1895; citing Immigration, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication T843 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,404,143. Massachusetts, Index to Boston Passenger Lists, 1848-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV51-QWTP : 16 March 2018), F H Dresser, 1880; citing Immigration, ship Samaria, NARA microfilm publication M265 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1969), roll #M265. Meeting of Wesleyan Reformers.” The Huddersfield Chronicle, 30 Sep 1854, p6 New Brunswick Provincial Marriages 1789-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVBF-ZNGX : 13 March 2018), Frank P Dresser and Minnie/Winnie L Fanning, 09 Dec 1910; citing , Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada, p. , Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 2,024,738. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVPV-5JRJ : 11 March 2018), H Dresser, 1871; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm . New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2W3T-8NC : 10 February 2018), Charles Porth, 06 Apr 1882; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,322,619. Nova Scotia Delayed Births, 1837-1904," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVRF-245G : 8 November 2017), Alfred Clare Dresser, 20 Oct 1896; citing Birth, Yarmouth, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, certificate number 1940, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KMG6-V3J : 8 December 2014), Frank P. Page 21 of 28

Dresser and Annie M. Grant, 1891, Marriage; citing p. 256, volume 1839, , Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KML2-Q52 : 8 December 2014), Frank P. Dresser and Lila May Uloth, 1898, Marriage; citing p. 209, volume 1814, , Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KML2-Q52 : 8 December 2014), Frank P. Dresser and Lila May Uloth, 1898, Marriage; citing p. 209, volume 1814, , Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax. Paper Read by Mrs. Dresser at the PEI Baptist Conference: Uigg.” Tidings Magazine, 1912, p. 11. Personnel records of the First World War Attestation paper 1060049, Alfred Clair Dresser. http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/fra/decouvrez/patrimoine-militaire/premiere-guerremondiale/dossiers Probate record: Dresser Christopher of “Elm Bank” Barnes Surrey died 24 November 1904 Mulhausen, Alsace, Germany. Probate London 19 December 1904 to Mary Dresser spinster, Louis Leo Dresser Gentleman and Anne Dresser and Rosa Ada Lily Nettleton Dresser spinsters effects 39?1 pst 1 shilling 3 pence. (Source: Ancestry Library Edition in San Francisco, CA). Recensement du Canada de 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV9R-V1F5 : 16 March 2018), Alfred Dresser in entry for William Grant, 1911; citing Census, Yarmouth Sub-Districts 1-25, Nova Scotia, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2,417,689. Schedule of Real—Personal—Estate. 11 August 1926. Court Appraiser’s Refort. Probate Records of Frank Perry Dresser. Sagahadoc County, Maine. See poster, Allen Line, Royal Mail Service for Canada: Assisted Passage. http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_shiplist.asp?co=allan. Accessed 21 May 2018. Yarmouth Town Directory. Yarmouth Times Job Office, 1890. Hathi Trust, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxnvye;view=1up;seq=3. Accessed 15 June 1890. Yarmouth Town Directory. Yarmouth Times Job Office, 1890. Hathi Trust, p. 35 “Division Hall, Sons of Temperance, 468 Main.” and p. 49. Grant, William Blacksmith 456 Main. And Grant, William Blacksmith 32, North Alma. “https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxnvye;view=1up;seq=3. Accessed 15 June 2018. Page 22 of 28

Source Emily Clark, Special Collections Assistant, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University, Nova Scotia Steeves/Lazar, Idella. “Goshen Story: News and Views” Maritime Motor Sports Hall of Fame. Vol. 5, no.5, September 2014,pp. 8 & 16, PDF, accessed 17 Nov. 2017, Compiled from, Tucker-Fundy, Vera. The History of the Goshen Church; folklore by Mamie (Wilbur) Steeves and Steeves, Marianne. Monuments of Yesteryear: The History of Elgin. Times of London, Mon. Sept. 14, 1868, issue 26229 Tyne Valley SS [Sunday School] Association. The Guardian, Charlottetown. 1 September 1899. and “Local Briefs.” The Guardian, Charlottetown, December 11, 1899. Island Newspapers: UPEI: Robertson Library http://www.islandnewspapers.ca/islandora/search/Dresser%20Tyne%20Valley?type=dis max&f%5B0%5D=PARENT_decade_s%3A%221890%22. United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZX3-HBG : 7 September 2017), Frank Dresser in household of Charles Porth, New York, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district ED 594, sheet 48C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0896; FHL microfilm 1,254,896. United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMFH-82Q : accessed 16 June 2018), Henry Dresser, Washington D.C. city, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 132, sheet 10B, family 207, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,164 Venable, D.D., Ed. Frost, J.M. “Why Baptist and not Methodist.” Baptist: Why and Why Not. The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1900, http://elbourne.org/baptist/whybaptist/05_notmethodist.html, Accessed 12 June 2018. Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK31-8T7L : 16 March 2018), Frank P Dresser, 1895-1924; citing M1461, Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924, 131, NARA microfilm publications M1461, M1463, M1464, and M1465 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, publication year); FHL microfilm 1,472,931. Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK31-8T7L : 16 March 2018), Page 23 of 28

Frank P Dresser, 1895-1924; citing M1461, Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924, 131, NARA microfilm publications M1461, M1463, M1464, and M1465 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, publication year); FHL microfilm 1,472,931. Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK31-8T7L : 16 March 2018), Frank P Dresser, 1895-1924; citing M1461, Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924, 131, NARA microfilm publications M1461, M1463, M1464, and M1465 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, publication year); FHL microfilm 1,472,931.

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Fig. 1 Excerpt from Codicil to Dr. Dresser’s will, 8 April 1895.

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Fig. 2 Annie May (far right, back row) her parents and her brothers. Scan of photograph forwarded by Barry Grant to Jane McQuitty. August 15, 2016.

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Fig. 3 “Dresser - Franklin Perry Dresser (1862-1928),” Southwest Harbor Public Library Digital Archive, accessed June 17, 2018, http://swhplibrary.net/digitalarchive/items/show/9348.Item 13360

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Fig. 4 “Franklin Perry and Winnie Leigh (Fanning) Dresser - Baptist Minister Of Manset Church,” Southwest Harbor Public Library Digital Archive, accessed June 17, 2018, http://swhplibrary.net/digitalarchive/items/show/6643.Item 9233

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