Hildred May (Wambolt) Oldford (1893 - 1975)

Born 28 Jun 1893 in Camperdown, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ancestors

Daughter of [father unknown] and Margaret Mary Ann (Wambolt) Beaton

Wife of Stewart Oldford — married 28 Apr 1917 in Cambridge, MA

Descendants

Died 4 Jun 1975 at age 81 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chris Whitten [send private message]

Biography

Hilda and both her parents were born in Nova Scotia. She came from a town called Camperdown. She later moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her parents.

According to Peg Nelson, Hilda's name at birth was "Hildred" but she changed it.

The 1901 Census of Canada has Hilda living in Bridgewater, Lunenberg, Nova Scotia with Leonard Womboldt (spelled Wambolt) and his wife Olivia as well as their sons Isaac and Bennett. Hilda is listed as Leonard's adopted daughter. ^[1]

According to Peg (Oldford) Nelson:

"Hilda lived with Olivia when she was small and thought she was her mother until one day she heard the old man Leonard tell Olivia that Maggie (Nana Beaton) should come and get her own brat. Leonard was old and feeble and probably rather jealous of the attention given Hilda. Hilda adored her grandmother (who also adored her). Hilda (our mother) said that Ruben Boliva was a very kind, dear man."

She came to the US in 1906 as a minor with a sponsor, her aunt Adelia. Apparently Adelia and her family had a boarding house.^[2] This is where she met Stewart.

She married Stewart April 28, 1917.

At the time of the 1920 census, the family (with just Jimmy and Elsie) were living at 6 Stanford Terrace in Somerville, Mass.

Hilda was a charter member of V.F.W. in Billerica and was honored by them as a Gold Star mother.

She lived at 23 Church Lane in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Rock and Harriet (Howes) Boyd rented the little house below Hilda and Stewart. For the first years of their marriage, Bill and Barbara (Oldford) Waldroup rented the upstairs apartment in Hilda and Stewart's own house.

Sources

1. ↑ 1901 Census of Canada
2. ↑ This was reported by Peg Nelson and is supported by the 1910 census.

• From Peg: "There is a man in Nova Scotia named Ivan Womboldt who has all the family history. He gave Bud and I quite a bit." Some people spell the Womboldt name without the "d," but Peg always knew it with the "d". Elsie (Oldford) Howes spelled it Wamboldt (unless her cursive o's just look like a's, and Elsie's birth certificate has it recorded this way (but her birth certificate also has her father's name as Steward). Peg (Oldford) Nelson spells it Womboldt. Barbara (Oldford) Waldroup is confident it is Wambolt. Barbara has naturalization papers and other official documents with this spelling.

• "Canada Census, 1901", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHK1-VZ7 : 1 February 2017), Hilda May Wambolt, 1901.

• From the 1910 Census for Cambridge Ward 7, Middlesex, Massachusetts:
  • Charles E. McPhee, age 38, married 16 yrs, b. Canada, Parents b. Canada, Came to the US in 1870, Occupation: Tailor
  • Adelia C. McPhee, wife, age 38, married 16 yrs, had 3 children, 1 living child, b. Canada, Parents b. Canada, Came to the US in 1870
  • Roy E. McPhee, son, age 8, b. MA
  • Hilda Wambolt, niece, age 16, b. Canada, Parents b. Canada, Came to the US in 1906.

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by multiple DNA test matches between Chris Whitten and Wambolt descendants including three great-grandchildren of James Albert Wambolt: R.B. and his son E.B. on 23andMe who share a 30 cM segment on chromosome 8 between 4000000 to 19000000 on 23andMe, and D.Y. on Family Tree DNA who shares a 24 cM segment on chromosome 8 between position 5216304 and 19765113.