110 How We Came To Be Americans
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Chapter 1--1
HOW WE CAME TO BE AMERICANS . Our Larsens and our Watkins came as fairly recent immigrants. The closest we can come to
documenting the exact moment of immigration is for the Watkins three things: a letter from Jane McBeath to her sister Flora congratulating her one finding a good husband in Portland, Oregon, a group photo taken in 1906, the year they left England forever, and little Flora Watkins’ health certificate given on their arrival to America. You’ll find the letter in Jane (McBeath) Watkins’ chapter, and the health certificate in Flora (Watkins) Hood’s chapter. Here is the Watkins family together with Grandfather William Watkins posing for a commercial photographer in the year they took their leave of the old man and sailed on their “Mayflower”, the Steam Ship Lake Manitoba.
Edwin and Jane Watkins family on the eve of their departure from England. From left: Annie, Edwin, Amos, Jane, Flora, Grandfather William, Alec. For Grandfather this was a bittersweet time. He knew that he would never see the family again. 1906 Photo
They crossed from Liverpool to Quebec [Aug 15- Aug 25, 1906] probably in “steerage” to get the cheapest passage in the lower decks. Tradition informs us that they crossed by Canadian Pacific to Vancouver and then to Portland where Jane’s sister Flora met the group, took one sniff, and unceremoniously plumped young Amos into a bath. No doubt the others were close behind.
Chapter 1--2
Leaving England was not easy. The family was in easy circumstances. Edwin had a good job as head gardener with Miss Spicer, a wealthy English woman. They had a secure place in the life of the community there. The tattered fragment of a letter to our right tells part of the story. Willliam Anderton the parish priest of a place near Tunbridge Wells wishes the family Godspeed in their great adventure. Do you sense apprehension in his tone? Does the good priest worry that old William Watkins, Edwin’s father will grieve for a family he will never see again?
Letter written in 1906 by Edwin Watkins parish priest wishing him Godspeed on the family’s great adventure.
Flora Watkins’ health inspection card.
Chapter 1--3
We don’t have such a seminal photo of either Laurits Larsen or his future bride, Johanne Marie Vibert. [Does Vibbert have one or two bs? I’m never sure.] We do have this early studio photo of Marie Vibert and her cousin Marie Christensen. You’ll see the picture enlarged in Marie Larsen’s chapter. This may be the earliest picture in the book. Both of my grandmothers worked as maids in order to escape poverty in their native lands. Marie Vibert came to America as a young single woman looking for a better life. Laurits Larsen came as a sailor on a Danish commercial vessel. He stayed because he fell in love with Marie. Jane McBeath emigrated to England from Scotland looking for a better life. There she worked as a maid, met and married Edwin Watkins, a professional gardener, and bore all four of their children before coming to America. Her sister, Flora McBeath, came straight to America from Scotland, worked as “nanny”, and met the love of her life, John Linklater, in Portland, Oregon. I feel certain that Flora convinced Jane to come to Portland, though that must have been easy to do. The Watkins came to get a better education for their children. I suspect that they also wanted to escape the class-limited society of England.
Johanne Marie Vibert and her cousin Marie Christensen sometime in the 1880s
When you read the chapters for the Watkins and the Larsen children you will see that the move was indeed a good one.
Chapter 1--4
Notes:
HOW WE CAME TO BE AMERICANS . Our Larsens and our Watkins came as fairly recent immigrants. The closest we can come to
documenting the exact moment of immigration is for the Watkins three things: a letter from Jane McBeath to her sister Flora congratulating her one finding a good husband in Portland, Oregon, a group photo taken in 1906, the year they left England forever, and little Flora Watkins’ health certificate given on their arrival to America. You’ll find the letter in Jane (McBeath) Watkins’ chapter, and the health certificate in Flora (Watkins) Hood’s chapter. Here is the Watkins family together with Grandfather William Watkins posing for a commercial photographer in the year they took their leave of the old man and sailed on their “Mayflower”, the Steam Ship Lake Manitoba.
Edwin and Jane Watkins family on the eve of their departure from England. From left: Annie, Edwin, Amos, Jane, Flora, Grandfather William, Alec. For Grandfather this was a bittersweet time. He knew that he would never see the family again. 1906 Photo
They crossed from Liverpool to Quebec [Aug 15- Aug 25, 1906] probably in “steerage” to get the cheapest passage in the lower decks. Tradition informs us that they crossed by Canadian Pacific to Vancouver and then to Portland where Jane’s sister Flora met the group, took one sniff, and unceremoniously plumped young Amos into a bath. No doubt the others were close behind.
Chapter 1--2
Leaving England was not easy. The family was in easy circumstances. Edwin had a good job as head gardener with Miss Spicer, a wealthy English woman. They had a secure place in the life of the community there. The tattered fragment of a letter to our right tells part of the story. Willliam Anderton the parish priest of a place near Tunbridge Wells wishes the family Godspeed in their great adventure. Do you sense apprehension in his tone? Does the good priest worry that old William Watkins, Edwin’s father will grieve for a family he will never see again?
Letter written in 1906 by Edwin Watkins parish priest wishing him Godspeed on the family’s great adventure.
Flora Watkins’ health inspection card.
Chapter 1--3
We don’t have such a seminal photo of either Laurits Larsen or his future bride, Johanne Marie Vibert. [Does Vibbert have one or two bs? I’m never sure.] We do have this early studio photo of Marie Vibert and her cousin Marie Christensen. You’ll see the picture enlarged in Marie Larsen’s chapter. This may be the earliest picture in the book. Both of my grandmothers worked as maids in order to escape poverty in their native lands. Marie Vibert came to America as a young single woman looking for a better life. Laurits Larsen came as a sailor on a Danish commercial vessel. He stayed because he fell in love with Marie. Jane McBeath emigrated to England from Scotland looking for a better life. There she worked as a maid, met and married Edwin Watkins, a professional gardener, and bore all four of their children before coming to America. Her sister, Flora McBeath, came straight to America from Scotland, worked as “nanny”, and met the love of her life, John Linklater, in Portland, Oregon. I feel certain that Flora convinced Jane to come to Portland, though that must have been easy to do. The Watkins came to get a better education for their children. I suspect that they also wanted to escape the class-limited society of England.
Johanne Marie Vibert and her cousin Marie Christensen sometime in the 1880s
When you read the chapters for the Watkins and the Larsen children you will see that the move was indeed a good one.
Chapter 1--4
Notes:
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