Florence Paterson (1900)

Born 30 Mar 1900 in St. Charles, Saginaw, Michigan

Ancestors

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Biography

Events surrounding the life of Florence Paterson are uncertain, Here is what is available:

• The 1968 Paterson family tree shows Florence as the third child of Archibald Paterson and Clara McDiarmid [1]. It shows Ralph Excel Samuel Russell as her husband (no such person has yet been found). • The obituary for the mother of Florence (Clara McDiarmid) refers to one of her surviving daughters as Mrs. Solvay A. Perry living in Oneida, New York (it is “A. Solvay Perry”)[2]. • A birth record shows a Marion Patterson (sic) born on March 30, 1900 in St. Charles, Michigan [3]. The parents are Archibald and Clara Patterson. This is the third child of Archibald Paterson and Clara McDiarmid and perhaps the full name of the child is “Florence Marion” or, perhaps, the original “Marion” changed her name to “Florence” at some point in her life. • The parents of Florence (or perhaps Marion) show up in the 1901 Canadian census where Archibald is working as a carpenter at a fishing camp somewhere on the shores of either Lake Huron or Georgian Bay [4]. There is no doubt this is the correct Archibald and Clara as the census record lists the two brothers of Florence (or Marion) and gives their correct birth dates. But, no baby Florence (or Marion) is shown in the census record. Perhaps the census taker forgot to list her? • A US 1910 census record shows Archibald and Clara living in Detroit with a 10-year old daughter, Marion [5]. • Florence (or Marion) Paterson cannot be found in the US 1920, 1930 or 1940 census records. (She may have had a different surname by these dates.) • There is a Solvay Perry living in Oneida, New York, when Florence (or Marion)’s mother dies there in 1948. He is a retired New State Police Lieutenant. In fact there is a web page devoted to him with several interesting pictures (including several that appear to show him with his wife). • A 1940 US census record shows “A Solvay Perry” living in Oneida, New York [6]. He is a Lieutenant with the New York State Police; he has two young sons; and his wife is a 36-year old Helen R. Perry. • A cemetery stone in Glenwood Cemetery, Oneida, New York shows that the wife of A. Solvay Perry is Helen C (not “R” as in the census record) Perry [7]. She died in 1943. • A newspaper published in March, 1953 has an obituary for A. Solvay Perry [8]. It gives enough information (State Police, name of sons) to be certain that this is the Solvay Perry of interest. The obituary then states that he is survived by his wife, “Mrs Florence Paterson Perry.”

So, to the extent a story can be told about Florence (or Marion) Paterson, this is what is known: She is born in St. Charles, Michigan on March 30, 1900. St. Charles is about 160 kilometres northwest of Detroit. She is the daughter of Archibald Paterson (1849-1920) and Clara McDiarmid (1865-1948). Both parents were born in Canada West (which became Ontario in 1867). Her father married Mary Elliot and moved to a farm in North Dakota. But Mary Elliot apparently dies in the mid-1880s and Archibald returns to Ontario to marry his second wife, Clara. At the time of this marriage (1888), Archibald is living in Austin, Potter County, Pennsylvania. After the wedding, he returns to Pennsylvania. The couple have three children, Florence (or Marion) being the third, and they move from place to place: late 1880s – Pennsylvania; 1900 - St. Charles, Michigan; 1901 – fishing camp in Ontario, Canada; 1910 – Detroit.

Other than knowing that Florence (“Marion” in the census record) lived in Detroit in 1910, nothing else is known about her until the mid 1940s when she apparently marries the widowed A. Solvay Perry. This may have been her second marriage. She is the wife of Solvay Perry in 1948 when her mother comes to live in Onieda, New York. Her mother dies shortly after moving to Onieda and Florence has her buried in the Glenwood Cemetery.

Her husband, the retired Lieutenant A. Solvay Perry, dies in 1953 and he, too, is buried in the Glenwood Cemetery. No record of Florence (or Marion) has been found after 1953.

Can you add any information on Florence Paterson? Please help grow her WikiTree profile. Everything you see here is a collaborative work-in-progress.

Sources

[1] The 1968 Paterson family tree by Marjorie Paterson show Florence as the 3rd child of Archibald Paterson & Clara McDiarmid and it shows Ralph Excel Samuel Russell as her spouse. No children are shown.

[2] Daily Sentinel, Rome, New York, June 3, 1948: obituary for Clara (McDiarmid) Paterson: “Following a 10-day illness, Mrs. Clara M. Paterson. 82. died yesterday at her home. 433 Broad St. She was born Sept. 12. 1865 in Canada and came here a month ago from Cory, Pa. Surviving are two daughters. Mrs. Solvay A. Perry, this city, and Mrs. Adeline Schwartz, Los Angeles. Calif., and a son, Sherman Paterson, Batavia”

[3] "Michigan, Births, 1867-1902," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQ6F-CRS : accessed 12 December 2014), Marion Patterson, 30 Mar 1900; citing item 2 p 36 rn 538, St. Charles, Saginaw, Michigan, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,363,031. The record shows Marion Patterson (sic) born on 30 Mar 1900 in St. Charles, Saginaw, Michigan. The father is Archibald Patterson (born in Massachusetts !) and Clara Patterson (born in Michigan).

[4] 1901 census, Ontario, 44 Algoma 2, K-1 in Beaudrois Fishery, pg 2, household 18: Archibald Paterson (51), born in Ont 6 Dec 1849, carpenter; Clara (35), born in Ont 12 Sept 1865; Sherman (11), born in the U.S. on 19 Nov 1890; Adaline (8) born in U.S. on 16 Nov 1892. The family is labelled “Scotch” and the religion is Presbyterian. Archibald earns $700/yr. The year of immigration for the 2 children is shown as 1894.

[5] "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLT2-TS1 : accessed 12 December 2014), Marion E Patterson in household of Archibald S Patterson, Detroit Ward 8, Wayne, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 118, sheet 2A, family 37, NARA microfilm publication T624, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 1,374,696. The record shows a 10-yr old Marion E. Patterson (sic), who was born in Michigan, living in Detroit with her parents. Her parents are shown as Archibald S. Patterson, 45-yrs old & born in Canada, and Clara E. Patterson, 34-yrs old and also born in Canada.

[6] "United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K3YD-R2L : accessed 8 February 2015), A Solvay Perry, Ward 2, Oneida, Oneida City, Madison, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 27-40, sheet 61A, family 106, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 2624. The record shows a 47-yr old A. Solvay Perry in Oneida, New York. He is a Lieutenant with the New York State Police. His wife is a 36-yr old Helen R. Perry born in New York State. The couple have 2 sons: John A (9) & Richard L (6).

[7] www.findagrave.com – this web site has pictures of the headstones for A. Solvay Perry (1892-1953) and his wife Helen C. Perry (1903-1943). It also has a picture of the gravestone of the mother of Florence (Marion) Paterson – Clara McDiarmid (1865-1948).

[8] http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html - some newspaper in March 1953: obit for A. Solvay Perry; lived at 112 Smith Street, Solvay; was a retired State Police Lieutenant; he was a native of Solvay, but had lived in Oneida; was born Oct 6, 1892 in Solvay; retired from State Police in 1947; son of Andrew & Minnie Hill Perry; started with New York State Police in 1922; a veteran of WW I, he served overseas; surviving are his wife, Mrs Florence Paterson Perry and 2 sons: John A. Perry of Syracuse & Richard L. Perry.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Fred Nix for creating Paterson-763 on 24 Sep 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Fred and others.