Source: https://network.mainegenealogy.net/profiles/blogs/chapter-8-gladys-mable-hunt-whiting-1897-1991
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 12:32:20+00:00

Document:
The fabled Gladys Mable Hunt was born in Wellington, Maine, the only child of Della Tripp and Perdy [sic] Hunt. "Della" Tripp is actually Vidella M. Cook, using her nickname and her father's last name. Perdy Hunt is also known as Pearl, Perly or Perley Hunt.
Gladys Mable Hunt's birth certificate indicates that her color is "White", the same as both of her parents and all of their parents. In all cases, her pedigrees can be traced back to early 17th century England.
Pearl “Perly” Hunt was born in Kingsbury, Maine, his occupation is "Laborer" and Vidella "Della" Tripp, born in Harmony, occupation "Housework". Gladys’ parents, Vidella M. Cook and Perly R. Hunt are second cousins, descendants of Samuel Cook and Lydia Wentworth.
It is also a fact that Perly R. Hunt and Vidella M. Cook are both descended from William Hunt and Mary "Polly" Dunlap. Perly R. Hunt and Vidella M. Cook are double second cousins, sharing half of their great-grandparents. All their ancestors are of English descent.
Although the genealogy " The Descendants of Louisa Emily (Emmett) Sanders Tash" distributed in 2002 by Ellison "Durwood" Libby, claims that Gladys Mable Hunt is "a descendant of the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Canada", this statement is entirely untrue.
The Narragansett Tribe is from Rhode Island, not Canada and Gladys is not descended from them. In fact, Gladys Hunt's lineage intersects with the Cook family, who are not Native American either.
All of Gladys Mable Hunt's early ancestors were from England and originally settled within 35 miles of Boston, Massachusetts. The Hunts, Cooks and Wells families arrived to inhabit this New England coastline from Duxbury to Ipswich in the middle to late 1600's.
Gladys’ “Hunt” ancestors were English and immigrated to Duxbury, Massachusetts. The "Edmund Hunt" House at 8 Hounds Ditch Lane in Duxbury is one of the oldest surviving residences in the U.S.
In September of 1641, Edmund Hawes exchanged 10 acres of land for 2,000 feet of sawn boards and built a house on Green's Harbor Path near Hounds Ditch. He had scarcely finished the house when he sold it in 1642 to Edmund Hunt. The house was passed down from father to son and remained in the Hunt family for 228 years.
Some of the Hunt family later moved to the adjacent town of Amesbury, Massachusetts and then John Hunt, Jr. left Massachusetts in the early 1750's to relocate his family to Brunswick, Maine. This Hunt family eventually moved to Brighton Plantation, Maine, then later to nearby Kingsbury and Harmony, Maine, finally settling at Wellington.
Gladys' "Cook" ancestors came from England in about 1699 and settled at Salem, Massachusetts, then later at nearby Newbury, Massachusetts. Some of the Cooks made their way to Maine about 1810, stopping for a generation in the Campton, New Hampshire area.
Gladys Hunt's 4x great-grandmother, Judith Bartlett, wife of Samuel Cook, was the niece of Josiah Bartlett, the second signer of the Declaration of Independence. Gladys probably did not know this.
Gladys Mable Hunt was also descended from Deacon Thomas Wells, who emigrated from Essex, England. Thomas Wells married Abigail Warner on July 23, 1630. Thomas and Abigail were some of the earliest English inhabitants to settle in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Before his death, Thomas Wells had purchased 350 acres in the town of Wells, Maine. This property he bequeathed to his second son, John Wells in a will dated November 15, 1666. John Wells, already settled in Maine, married Sarah Littlefield of Wells on July 31, 1666.
Gladys Hunt's parents, Vidella M. Cook and Perly Hunt, both age 19 were married on October 14, 1896, in Wellington and Gladys Mable Hunt was born there slightly more than three months later. Perly and Vidella Hunt were divorced on September 23, 1898 in Somerset County, Maine, when Gladys was just a baby.
Vidella M. (Cook) Hunt remarried on August 19, 1899 in Palmyra, Maine to Seth L. Whiting. It was a first marriage for Seth Whiting, age 38. Although illegitimate, Vidella M. Cook alternately uses her father's last name "Tripp" on this marriage record and on her first to Perly Hunt.
On June 21, 1900, Gladys Mable Hunt is enumerated in the Census as Mabel G. Whiting, age 3, living in Vassalboro Town, Maine. Her mother is known as Ferdela [sic] Whiting, age 22 and Gladys’ step-father, Seth L. Whiting is age 39. Vidella and Seth Whiting are shown as having been married for less than a year.
Seth Whiting was a farmer, living on property that they were renting. Seth and Vidella Whiting would have one child together, Seth O'Dell Whiting, who was born in Wellington.
Vidella M. (Cook-Tripp) Hunt Whiting died in Wellington at age 23. Probably suffering from post-partum psychosis, Vidella committed suicide, leaving 4-year-old Gladys Hunt and newborn Seth O. Whiting. Cause of Death is attributed to “Circumcision of Right Arm”.
There are no 1910 Census records for Gladys M. Hunt, for her half-brother Seth O. Whiting or Seth L. Whiting. The next record for Seth L. Whiting was when he married for a second time to Lucinda T. (Hanscom) Mace Stinneford on January 1, 1913 in Garland, Maine. Both were age 51 and listed as residents of Dover, Maine at the time of their marriage. Gladys Hunt and her half-brother Seth Whiting would have been teenagers by this time, not needing a step-mother.
Gladys M. Hunt, age 19 and George E. Whiting, age 21 were married on January 31, 1917 in Garland. Intentions were filed on the 21st of January. Their first child Vidella Marian Whiting was born less than six months after their wedding.
At the time of her marriage, Gladys M. Hunt was a resident of Pittsfield, Maine and George Whiting lived in Garland. Records show that Gladys Mable Hunt has a seventh-grade education and George Elisco Whiting attended school for eight years.
Gladys Hunt and George Whiting had been raised as first cousins because Seth L. Whiting, Gladys' step-father and George W. Whiting, George E.'s father are brothers. Seth and George W. Whiting's parents, Francina Ann Spearin and Ephraim Whiting were also first cousins.
In 1920, in Garland, Gladys M., age 23 and George E. Whiting, age 24, live with their 2-year-old daughter Vidilla [sic] M. Whiting.
The other children of George Whiting and Gladys Hunt, all born in Garland are: Merle E. Whiting who died in Garland, at about 4 years old; Fred Elisco Whiting who died in Lewiston, Maine at age 63; Madeline Dora Whiting who died in Garland, age about 3 years, the same year as her brother Merle and their youngest child, Mildred Evelyn Whiting, who died in Clinton, Massachusetts at age 44.
In 1930, George Whiting, age 34, Gladys Whiting, age 33, Vidella M. Whiting age 12, Fred E. Whiting, age 6 and Mildred E. Whiting, age 2 all live in Garland. George Whiting is a "common laborer", doing "odd jobs" and he owns a home that is valued at $1,000.
Gladys and George Whiting divorced before 1940, but most likely they separated in the early 1930's when Gladys Hunt Whiting would give birth to an illegitimate daughter, Charlene Hester Whiting, born in Garland. It is unclear how Charlene ended up as a 'Welfare Child' living with Elton S. Jones and Ada M. (Dings) Jones in Barkhamsted, Litchfield County, Connecticut in the 1940 Census. But, Charlene’s foster mother, Ada M. Jones would live to be more than 105 years old!
Charlene Whiting graduated from The Gilbert School in Winsted, Connecticut in 1952. She soon married Floyd Victor Haynes on December 25, 1952 in Barkhamsted, Connecticut. They had four daughters: Alice Ada Haynes, born in 1955; Rhoda Ann Haynes, born in 1958; Carlotta May Haynes, born in 1960 and Brenda Haynes, born on September 1, 1962 in Winsted.
Charlene (Whiting) Haynes was granted an uncontested divorce from Floyd V. Haynes on August 9, 1968 in the Litchfield County Court. Grounds for divorce: Cruelty. Curiously, this decree shows that there are eight or more children under the age of 18 at the residence of the “Plaintiff” (Wife-Charlene). Did Charlene and Floyd Haynes have four more children between 1963 and 1968 or is this an error?
Floyd V. Haynes was born in Connecticut and is known as Lloyd V. Haines in the 1930 Newington, Connecticut Census. In 1940, Floyd is living in Barkhamsted Town, Connecticut with his parents and younger siblings, Paul and Patricia. This would be the last year that Floyd V. Haynes attended school. He was 13 and in the eighth grade.
After the divorce from Charlene, it appears that Floyd Haynes had a brief marriage in Marion County Florida. Floyd Haynes married on March 28, 1975 [sic] and then divorced on June 2, 1975 from a woman named “Sylvia”. There is a record for Sylvia Ann Miller, who married on March 3, 1973 in Orange, Florida to spouse “Haynes”. There is a record for a marriage in Orange County, Florida for Sylvia Ann Haynes on October 17, 1987. This record also shows her name as Sylvia Ann Uhls.
Floyd Haynes married again on February 14, 1979 in Manchester, Connecticut to Theresa P. Barile. They moved to Orange Park, Florida, where Theresa died and then Floyd eventually moved to a town in Marion County, Florida. I don’t know what happened to Charlene Hester (Whiting) Haynes after her divorce from Floyd, but in 2018, she would be 84 years old and might still be alive. I would like to find her.
Gladys Hunt Whiting's illegitimate son, her 7th child, Chester Judkins Kimball Whiting was born in Sharon, Connecticut, although it is recorded as Sharon, Maine. Chester Whiting died at age 15 days and is buried in an unmarked grave in Hillside Cemetery in Sharon, CT.
In the 1940 Census, Gladys M. Whiting has two "lodgers", Carroll Edison Richards, a widower that had been living there since 1935 according to the record. But it probably wasn't until after the death of his wife in 1936. Carroll E. Richards was a "painter" in 1940.
Carroll E. Richards was first married on August 19, 1928 to Sadie Scott, a widow whose first husband, Eugene C. Mcdonald had died the year before. Sadie Scott and Eugene Mcdonald were married on November 16, 1912 in Garland and had six children.
In the 1930 Census records, Carroll E. Richards is known as Carvel E. Richards, living with his wife Sadie and her five children in Garland. The children are incorrectly enumerated as Alma, Leia, Arnold E., Frederick C. and Irene E. Richards. In actuality, the children's names are Albina Mcdonald, Lera Mcdonald, Arnold Lee Mcdonald, Frederick Chester Mcdonald and Irene Emma or Eunice Mcdonald.
Albina C. Mcdonald married Lawrence G. Godsoe on October 25, 1931 and then she married Henry J. Theriault , Sr. on July 1, 1957. Lera Mcdonald married Arnold V. Gould. Irene E. Mcdonald married on December 5, 1938 to Leon H. Leathers in Corinna, Maine and on April 17, 1958 to Clyde M. Maskell.
The other "lodger" living on Notch Road in Garland with Gladys Hunt in 1940 is William M. Farrell, a widower, whose occupation is listed as "Blacksmith". William Farrell has completed two years of College according to this record but has only worked for 5 weeks during the previous year in 1939.
It is quite likely that Gladys Whiting and William Farrell had been previously acquainted, because William Farrell had been married to Leona Elizabeth "Lizzie" Noyes, the younger half-sister of Gladys' sister-in-law, Myrtle V. (Willey) Whiting. Myrtle Willey was married to Gladys' half-brother, Seth O'Dell Whiting.
Leona "Lizzie" A. Noyes, was born in Bingham, Maine and on June 11, 1917, at 15 years old, was married there to Charles H. Brown. They had a son Perly Fred Brown, who was born in Athens. The marriage was extremely short-lived and ended before 1920.
Leona Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Noyes) Brown Farrell died giving birth to her sixth child, son Franklin Delano Roosevelt Farrell at home. Lizzie had been sent home from the hospital only days earlier, even though they knew her life was in danger once she went into labor.
Her oldest daughter, Lena A. "Annie" Farrell, was sent to the firehouse to call for an ambulance, but she stumbled in the snow and lost a boot. By the time she reached her destination, crucial time had passed. When the ambulance arrived at their house, her mother was already dead. Lizzie Farrell was 31 years old. She left her husband, five daughters and two sons, one a newborn.
Annie Farrell blamed herself for her mother's death and suffered from grave depression throughout her lifetime. Eventually, she drank chronically and never left her apartment. She died in New York at age 61 from untreated metastasized breast cancer.
Lena Angie "Annie" Farrell Jackendoff is the subject of a memoir by her daughter, Beth J. Harpaz, entitled "Finding Annie Farrell".
The family soon split up after Lizzie L. (Noyes) Brown Farrell's death and the children were separated from their father and each other. William Farrell was sent to jail because he didn't have the money to care for his children and then they were all sent to live with strangers, because he refused to let them go to school.
In the 1940 Census, William's daughter Lena Farrell, age 17 is employed as a housekeeper in Southwest Harbor Town, Maine with the family of F. Lawrence Stewart [sic], a Public High School Principal. William Farrell's 15-year-old daughter Leona Farrell is a resident of the Maine State School for Girls in Hallowell, Maine.
William's daughter Achsah Farrell age 12, is living as a 'Boarder' in Hartland, Maine in the home of Ida Gee, a 71-year-old widow. Eleven-year-old William Farrell, Jr. is in a rural section of Cornville, Maine called Cass Corner, living as a 'Boarder' with Sarah Nichols.
William Farrell, Jr. did not attend school that year according to the record in 1940. It was said by family members that William Farrell, Jr. was feeble-minded. The youngest child, Franklin "Frankie" D. R. Farrell had been run over by a car and died two years prior to the Census.
William Farrell's two youngest daughters Nadine [sic] Farrell, age 8 and Leathene Farrell, age 7 were living in Caanan Town, Maine in the 1940 Census with Alton and Nellie (Holt) Goodridge.
William Michael Farrell died in Howland, Maine under suspicious circumstances, according to his daughters. The police dismissed their claims and there never was an investigation.
On April 7, 1950 Gladys Whiting purchased property from Clyde H. Judkins for less than “$100 and other valuable considerations”. The parcel of land was part of Lot #3 in the 10th Range in Garland, Maine described as “all that part of said lot lying west of the “Notch Road”, conveyed to N. W. Johnson by Benj. C. Hatch by deed dated June 17, 1863 and recorded in the Penobscot Registry of Deeds Vol 328 P 506.
Gladys M. Whiting continued to live in very primitive conditions into the late 20th century. There was no electricity or running water, just a hand-pump in the kitchen sink. The privy was out back, relocated as the need required. She had goats for milk, but without refrigeration, fresh food and sustenance must have been day to day.
In her final days, Gladys was placed in a nursing home in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine and after her death, the property on Upper Notch Road was willed to two of her grandchildren: Richard Arthur Tash and his wife Elaine Joyce (Safford) Fontaine Tash, who are first cousins. That is definitely one way of keeping it all in the family, including DNA.
Gladys Mable (Hunt) Whiting died in the Dover-Foxcroft nursing home at the age of 94. As Caucasian as the day she was born.

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