More PastRemains

 Flora G Bancroft (Tilton)  My great grandmother wrote a will the year she died. The will is short and reflects how much (or how little she possessed).   Floras' life was circumscribed by difficulties and some personal tragedies. Born after the end of the Civil War, she lived through the so-called Spanish-American War, World War 1, the "Spanish Flu", the Crash and the Great Depression, and World War 2, dying in 1949. She buried two husbands in her lifetime. Her father had served in the Civil War. Her  mother died when she was young.  I am not sure where she was schooled but I'm sure her father made certain she got it (possibly why they moved from the farm?)   Like many people of the era she lived nearly her entire life with extended family. This post is a time line of her life events-connecting them to those people I believe she was closest to. After all, what affects our loved ones, affects us, I believe it relevant information when writing a personal...

Peter Sanford (PS) Bancroft was the subject of post #1. He went from being a fellow on a farm out in the country, to being a professor, a head of an academy, a Civil War Captain, a journalist and an editor. One day the little city of Butler sought to honor its Civil War veterans. I am told he was asked to be the guest of honor in Butler at a Civil War Dedication. As it is with most stories I hear, I wasn't paying attention to the date, but to the story. It may have been the unveiling of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Butler, (which was as late as 1902) or it may have been 50 years after the war, 1915. PS Bancroft, by now a widower and respected townsman, was gussied up nicely, dressed in his finest clothes that day. He was on the dais, but they wished to place him near the cannon. He obediently moved to it, not realizing their intention was to shoot it off.  What his immediate reaction was, we don't know (did he jump, or yell?). He remembered that day every day afterw...

 “Most people are good-natured as long as nothing is bothering them at the moment.”  We live in our ancestors’ future, merely read about our ancestors’ lives, but are unshaken by their setbacks or tragedies. Of course, they had to take every day as it came, unaware of the tragedies or the small triumphs ahead. As I read it, Flora Bancroft was thrust into situations beyond her control repeatedly. But she sailed through the storms of life, enjoying the end of her life at her daughter-in-law and son’s (and her three grandchildren) home.  Flora was the only daughter of Peter Sanford (PS) Bancroft and Bella Brinker . Lucky for me, her son taped his memories in the 1980s, and he included pieces of his childhood memories and her life. From those recordings, it was clear Flora went through a long stretch of rough patches.  Early Years, the Farm and Loss   Her father had joined the Union Army and at the first battle, one of his arms was shattered and rendered useless. H...

Peter Sanford Bancroft, Professor, Captain, and Editor Vitals  Peter Sanford Bancroft    B. 24 Dec 1830 Canaan, CT    D. 16 May 1916 in Butler, PA    M. April, 1865 Isabell (Belle) S Brinker, youngest daughter of Jacob Brinker who was B. 1846 Butler, PA D. 1874 Butler, PA    Children:    1 * Flora Gertrude Bancroft 1867-1949    2 Earl D Bancroft 1868-1927    3 Grove Graham Bancroft 1869-1899  Peter Sanford (PS) Bancroft was born in Connecticut but moved at 8 years old with his parents, who settled on a farm near in northwest Pennsylvania in Meadville. His father was the Rev. Earl Bancroft , a retired minister and local preacher of the Methodist church. His mother was a daughter of Grove Pinney . PS Bancroft worked on the farm, attended county schools and then Allegheny College, from which he graduated in 1855 magna cum laude.   Career 1 - Professor of Greek and Latin For the next few years he was Profe...