Reuben Pridmore and Eliza Pridmore Ford
3 July 1911, photo by William Holmes Ford, son of Eliza
Tim’s 3rd-great-grandfather, William Pridmore, son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Bramston) Pridmore, was baptized 23 April 1815 in Thorpe Satchville (Leicestershire) England, at St. Michael’s Church, and died 3 September 1852 in Wisconsin. He married (as his second wife) 16 August 1838 at St. Luke’s Church, Gaddesby (Leicestershire) England, Anna Sturgess, who was born about 1814 in Gaddesby, and died 5 November 1853, daughter of William and Ann (—) Sturgess.
William had married (as his first wife) 13 October 1835 in St. Luke’s Church, Gaddesby, Mary Anne Smith, who was born in Gaddesby, and probably died there before William married Anna.
All of William’s children were born in England. He was a blacksmith, like his father. At the time of her marriage, Anna was employed as a servant.
According to their granddaughter, Gertrude Mabel (Hubbard) Hamilton (1874-1965), who wrote, after she went to England on a research trip: “William left Great Dalby May 12, 1852. Stayed at Syston until Friday May 14. Went to Liverpool and on board the ship May 15. Sailed Tuesday the 18th.” Sadly, by September of the same year he was in Wisconsin where he died of cholera, age 38. According to Gertrude, William was “Buried at Milwaukee Sept. 4 in Chestnut St. Burying Ground.” A little over a year later, in November of 1853, Anna died, age 38, too. It’s not indicated in Gertrude’s research notes where Anna was when she died.
There was a family story that said William went on a trip and never returned. So perhaps Anna and the children were not with him when he got sick and died, so far from home.
This sad turn of events left their children orphaned. Abraham was 15, Eliza, 14, Emma, 9, Reuben, 7, and George, 5. It’s unknown who looked after them but William had brothers living in New York and Indiana, where the children still lived as adults.
William & Mary were the parents of a son:
1. Abraham Pridmore, born before 20 May 1837 in Great Dalby (Leicestershire) England, died 8 January 1914 in Buffalo (Erie) New York. He married Hannah Cullen, who was born 1833 in England and died September 1902 in Rochester (Monroe) New York. Abraham & Hannah were the parents of three daughters.
William & Anna were the parents of six children:
1. Eliza Pridmore, born 6 June 1839 in Great Dalby, died 29 December 1914 in Rochester (Monroe) New York. She married John Stephen Ford, who was born about 1833 in England and died 5 June 1899 in Rochester. Eliza & John were the parents of four children.
2. Emma Pridmore (Tim’s 2nd-great-grandmother), born 11 January 1844 in Great Dalby, died 7 April 1917 in Batavia (Genesee) New York. She married 6 February 1866 in Marion (Wayne) New York, Delorma Brown Hubbard, who was born 8 May 1842 in Albion (Orleans) New York, and died there 21 March 1915, son of John and Lydia P. (Randolph) Hubbard. Emma & Delorma were the parents of three children.
3. Reuben Pridmore, born 6 April 1846 in Dalby Magna (Leicestershire) England, died 2 November 1928 in Albion. Reuben died unmarried.
4. George Pridmore, born 10 December 1847 in Great Dalby, died 14 March 1930 in South Bend (St. Joseph) Indiana. He married 20 December 1876 in Niles (Berrien) Michigan, Emma Sudreth, who was born 11 April 1853 in Bristol (Elkhart) Indiana, and died 2 June 1942 in South Bend, daughter of Thomas and Mary (—) Sudreth. George & Emma were the parents of three children.
5. Charlotte Pridmore, born 6 April 1849 in Dalby Magna, died there 22 June 1849, age 2 months.
6. Thomas Sturgess Pridmore, born 6 March 1852 in Dalby Magna. No further record.
Tragic story… sadly, all too common in those days.
Life could be so grim and heartbreaking back then, but in many ways, it still is, only with different risks.
History can weave quite a story. So many tragic things happened to families in the early 1900s.
I’m still reeling from discovering this story. What happened to this couple had been a mystery to me for so many years.
Sad as these death stats are, we can be thankful for modern medicine. I make that statement, but then look how interesting it was early on in the pandemic to draw the correlation between Covid and the Spanish Flu pandemic before the Covid vaccine was available. This week three years ago was when Covid entered our vocabulary in Michigan. They just announced on the news yesterday that the first death had been three years to the date: March 18, 2020.
It’s true, modern medicine has improved outcomes for many illnesses but there are other diseases taking the place of the older ones, including the plague of gun violence. We had similar covid anniversary news stories, including an interview with the first man in Connecticut diagnosed with it. He was middle-aged and spent 6 weeks in the hospital. He still has residual effects from the ordeal.
Yes, my neighbor has long Covid and I just thought he was lazy and didn’t want to return to work (he used to take days off just to lay in the sun to get a tan and Marge used to get mad at him for doing that), but then I had not heard of “Long Covid” then either. He got Covid before it emerged full force in March 2020. A woman at his workplace was taking care of her husband who was sick and she got sick and came into work and infected a lot of workers. He told me in 2021 he had been sicker than any other time in his life and has been in the hospital for breathing issues a few time. He suffered a heart attack last year – he has not returned to his job working in a plant. He has a two-year engineering degree, so I’m not sure what he did at that position before. But he has had fluid on the lungs several times, pneumonia a few times, so I guess he wasn’t lying about his symptoms.
I’m a big believer in the healing effects of sunlight on our bodies, including a good dose of Vitamin D. Your neighbor probably felt a little better after bathing in the sun.
I should have clarified better … sorry. Jeff used to lay in the sun for a tan only. He would get oiled up and lay out there. That was when he was still working. Marge would argue with him about it. I do think natural Vitamin D is good for you. I have a high school friend who lives near Rochester, New York and was told by her doctor to take Vitamin D because it was considered the grayest part of the U.S.