| Notes |
- 1937: Graduated Bishop-Lee School of Dramatics, Boston
Earned her way through college by putting on dramatics, working summers at Camp Fleur-de-Lis (1937-41).
1942-1944: Taught school (HS English) in Bethel VT
1944: Studied at Columbia Univ
1944-45: Taught school in Simsbury CT
1960's: Active in civil rights movement.
1970's-80's: Volunteered to help elderly at home.
1993: After death of David, moved from 757 Webster St, Needham to 1208 Greendale, Apt 208, Needham with Mary Whitten.
Late 2000: Moved in with son Philip and wife Elizabeth at their home in Shirley MA (29 Chapel St).
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Notes written by Elizabeth M. Tucker (McGaw) in late 1983 to her children and grandchildren:
"Dear Children and Grandchildren,
"When my father, Sidvin Frank Tucker, died last August 7th and I received so many heartwarming notes and letters - many with touching remembrances - I thought how sad it would be that his descendants would know so little about him except facts. It seems as though his memory should be fleshed out a bit as well as the memory of his dear Ruby, my blessed mother who died too soon, but still at 77 a dear friend, loving mother, and devoted wife. But so much more - a wonderful person. You should know something of these people, and of *their* forebears as far as we can know.
"I am in a unique place in your history. I can remember my grandparents and even my great-grandmother on my mother's side - and I can pass along to you, my children and grandchildren, as well as to *your* grandchildren, something of the roots from which you spring. I will try to write about the Tuckers AND the McGaws as far as I can.
"Your Bell and [Turner] ancestors will have to be filled in by Mary Catherine Bell McGaw.
"Douglas Bruce McGaw was our firstborn, and my first most thrilling moment of birth was when I held him in my arms for the first time. I had been instrumental in the miracle of his life! His father David could hardly wait to see his firstborn, but since he was confined to a hospital with tuberculosis at the time, had to wait 3 months for his first glimpse of his son. By the time David was released from the hospital, Douglas was almost 6 months old, but his father made up for lost time quickly. They became very attached; there was all kinds of frolicking, trips, shore & sand, picture-taking, games, and rides in wagons and on sleds. It was a great year for father and son - spent in Wolfeboro, N.H. where David worked at Huggins Hospital, relieving local doctors after his own recuperation. Douglas was exposed to the N.H. mountains early in life - and seemed to have absorbed something of mountains and hills into his system. Maybe the Scottish McGaws who came from the Loch Lomond area of Scotland had passed along something in the genes -- who can tell?
"So, I'll begin with people I KNEW personally, including some tidbits that were told to me by others who knew them. The ones in large print I remember personally and will tell you what I can recall about them:
FLOYD-GILLMORE-TUCKER BRANCH
Sally Tewksbury Wyman
Sarah Wyman Floyd = [Ephraim] Buck Floyd
George
IDA FLOYD = HARRY GILLMORE
Pearl?
RUBY GILLMORE = SIDVIN TUCKER
ROBERT E. TUCKER
RICHARD G. TUCKER
F. ELSTON TUCKER
ELIZABETH M. TUCKER = DAVID McGAW
DOUGLAS B. McGAW
SEAN P. McGAW
SETH P. McGAW
ERIC M. McGAW
PHILIP A. McGAW
ANDREW K. McGAW
RALPH L. TUCKER
Laura
Winifred
EVA GILLMORE = HAROLD JENNISON
Frank
MARY WYMAN:
"I never knew my great great grandmother [Mary] Wyman, but I've heard my mother and her sister Eva tell of how they would return from school and find their great grandmother [Mary] sitting on her front porch, often with her husband [George W.] She always had many questions to ask about the school work, their teacher, and what they had learned that day. The children knew that great grandmother would have some peppermints in her apron pocket and would give one to each child AFTER they had answered all her questions. Was it that she really wanted to know about the school work? Or was it that she loved the children and wanted them to stay a little longer? Perhaps both. Obviously she loved them, and this seems to have been transmitted to her daughter Sarah and to *her* daughter Ida and to *her* daughter Ruby and to *her* daughter Elizabeth (the writer), for we all have had a special open heart for little ones and a keen interest in their welfare. Here the female line ends, for I have no daughters, but 4 fine sons who show evidence of their great fondness for children - their own and others. They enjoy playing with them and often can find a peppermint in their pockets to distribute...
SARAH WYMAN FLOYD
IDA FLOYD GILLMORE
RUBY GILLMORE TUCKER
ELIZABETH TUCKER McGAW
"My great grandmother died when I was ___ years old, and I can remember her as a sweet old lady who was kind and peppy. The picture we have of her as a young woman reveals a pretty face but a strong one.
"My earliest recollection of her was my fascination with her ability to touch her nose to her chin since she never wore her false teeth (if indeed she had any)! I remember a snapshot of the four generations of females taken about 1925 or 6 in which I have a bit of knitting in hand and the yarn is in Gr. Grandma Floyd's apron pocket: [stick drawing appears here] This would have been the only picture possible of 4 generations of females since there have been so many males along the line. Grandma Gillmore's daughters had only sons except for my mother Ruby who had 4 sons and *me* -- I was the only girl in 17 grandchildren!
"The picture was taken in Greenland, N.H. where Grandma Gillmore had retired with her 2nd husband, Lewis R. Dunn, and *her* mother - Sarah Floyd - had gone to work as a housekeeper to the widowed gentleman nest door. She must have been in her 70's then.
"I remember little else about Gr. Gr. Floyd, but I do know that during the terrible typhoid epidemic at the turn of the century (1901-3?) she lost a daughter and two grand-daughters. Her husband Buck Floyd died in 1913, and he must have been an interesting character. My mother Ruby Gillmore Tucker wrote in her diary that she was very sad when he died, for she loved him dearly. He was a large man with a fine white beard and resembled a judge or mayor on an important town personage.
IDA MAY (MAE?) FLOYD GILLMORE
"My grandmother appears in her youthful photographs as a determined person and one not to be treated lightly. This seems to have been true as I came to know her. (She finished high school at a time when girls didn't often do that.) She married early - at 16 apparently - to my handsome, somewhat irresponsible grandfather, Harry Gillmore, a printer by trade. They had 4 daughters, Ruby (my mother), Laura, Winifred, and Eva - also twin boys that died at birth. Laura & Winifred both died in the typhoid epidemic in the early 1900's while both Ida and her daughter Ruby were hospitalized with the same thing. Grandma Ida was too ill to be told of her daughters' death at the time. Her first question upon returning home was, 'Where's Ruby?' since Ruby had been the sickest one. I have often tried to imagine what grief Ida must have known when she realized she had lost two daughters (8 & 12) as well as a sister during that awful year.
"Not much later, Ida realized that she had to earn some of the family's income since Harry Gillmore either didn't earn enough or was not bringing it all home. This is a bit fuzzy.
"At any rate, Ida worked with Dr. Metcalf, a much-loved Winthrop doctor for many years, accompanying him when heeded, and acting as a nurse in homes where she 'lived-in' to help out when a member of the family was ill. At these times, Ruby & Eva lived with their grandmother & grandfather Sarah & Buck Floyd on Cross St. in Winthrop.
"I must tell you here that there was another girl in the family named Norma Pearl who was 6 months older than Ruby and was known as one of the Gillmore sisters. She couldn't have been Ida's daughter because of the closeness of the birthdays, but she was always known as Ida & Harry's daughter. There are several possibilities:
- Pearl could have been an illegitimate daughter of Harry Gillmore's sister Norma.
- She might have been Harry's own child by someone and taken in by Ida.
- She could have been an orphan and brought up as Pearl Gillmore since Ida had had a miscarriage and she was depressed, so welcomed the child. (This was the version my mother Ruby gave.)
The story that Ida always told - and grew to believe - was that she had a double uterus and for 3 months carried two children!!!
Pearl was born Oct 15 1889. Ruby was born May 1 1890 -- 6 1/2 months later!! Ida used to say, 'I'm on the records at Harvard!' This seems quite doubtful, but - whatever the true story, the fact is that Pearl was always regarded as a sister to Ruby & Eva.
"Well, Ida worked as a nurse for some 20 years or so. Harry Gillmore in the meantime had his own room in Boston, but would come to Winthrop regularly to see his family. He probably helped a little financially, but Ida kept working, and Ruby went to work after graduating from the 8th grade. Eva was 7 years younger.
"Ida's last job was caring for Mrs. Lewis R. Dunn. She lived in their home and nursed Mrs. Dunn through a final illness, then stayed on as Mr. Dunn's housekeeper for a few years. Every time she said it was time for her to leave, Mr. Dunn would ask her to stay a little longer. Finally he asked her to marry him. Ida was still married to Harry Gillmore, but they had been separated for 10-15 years. A quiet divorce was accomplished, and in 1920 (?) Ida married Lewis Dunn.
"He was water commissioner in Winthrop. Since he had a bad heart, he was advised to retire. They moved to Greenland, N.H. where they raised chickens, had a large vegetable garden, and in the summer sold their produce at a very attractive roadside stand. This was an effort to have Lewis Dunn get lots of fresh air. He did, but he was a hard worker, and I think he worked harder with his garden & hens than he ever did as Water Commissioner.
"Lewis Dunn was a dear sweet gentleman who loved children. He had lost a few of his own and had one son, Lewis Jr., who became 'Uncle Louie.' 'Grandpa Dunn' became our beloved Grandpa, dearer than our biological grandfathers. He was able to listen to us, tell us stories, let us feed the chickens, collect eggs & wait on people at the veg. stand. Everyone loved Grandpa Dunn & he became 'Grandpa' not only to us by to our friends as well. My happiest childhood memories are of the vacation times spent in Greenland, N.H. at Grandma & Grandpa Dunn's nice home on the hillside. Grandpa & [his] horse 'Hiram' met us at Breakfast Hill Station on a February night during school vacation. We snuggled in the hay as the horse & buggy trotted us to their home [and] Grandma's hot chocolate. Days of coasting on the hill and making snow houses followed and the week flew by. I remember the kitchen with high beamed ceiling, great wood stove, willow patterned plates, and huge soup tureen. The kitchen & dining room were partly in the hill but the back door opened on a level place where the 2-holer toilet was located. This was an outing in the wintertime & sometimes the indoor 'chemical' was used.
"Upstairs was a living room, a more formal parlor and a den which Grandpa Dunn used as his office. On the third floor were 3 bedrooms - all prettily furnished. Grandma Ida made the bedspreads and curtains and could make aprons, potholders, runners -- and particularly stuffed toys which she did more and more as time went on. She was an excellent cook too. I remember so well her orange pudding which I could devour as often as she'd make it.
"A chicken dinner was prepared from scratch. First Grandpa Dunn would pick out a good fat chicken. He knew them all and would apologize to it before decapitating it on a sturdy tree stump with his trusty axe. He felt remorse at this duty, but we children were always fascinated at the procedure - especially when the headless hen would go fluttering and tumbling along the ground as its veins were cut. Grandpa would then retrieve the hen & remove the legs, which we would play with by pulling the cords to make the claws open & close. A grisly account, but we thought it was great fun at the time.
"Then the hen had to be plucked. First Grandpa would pull off the outer feathers; then Grandma & Mother would pluck off the rest, sometimes singeing the stubborn little ones. The stuffing had been made, so when the bird was thoroughly cleaned and prepared, it was stuffed, cooked, and served with great heaps of mashed potatoes and good vegetables. There would be a couple of apple pies as well. This would take all day to prepare, but we were children and didn't worry about that... Our turn came at wash-up time, but washing or drying Grandma's dishes wasn't any trouble. it seemed like a privilege to be in that homey old kitchen and look out the window at the fields & beyond, the woods----
"In summer the crickets kept up their chirping concert and the whip-poor-will sang at the same time every night while fire-flies danced in the bushes. Then we'd sit quietly on the porch and just enjoy the sounds and the comforting sense of being near each other.
"When Grandma & Grandpa could no longer care for the farm & garden, they accepted the opportunity to live in a lovely old farmhouse as caretakers for the owner who wanted to keep it in his family but lived out of state. So... they moved over to Lee Hook, on a quiet back road where there were only 2 floors instead of 3 - and no animals. Grandpa had a small garden and Grandma made jelly, jams, and canned enough vegetables to last through the winter. There was a small river down the road a bit, and it was there we learned to dive. How refreshing it was on a hot summer's day to cool off in that clear delightful brook!
"Grandpa Dunn's heart became less steady; he was hospitalized several times. We were desolate when we thought we had lost him, but he recovered several times. I was in college when he finally died in the late 1930's [1940]. It was the first really close death I had suffered. I remember buying a single rose from my meagre allowance and putting it in the casket. He had always called me 'Betty-girl' and I loved him with all my heart. He was not my biological grandfather, but he was closer than those that were, and he influenced us with his honesty, integrity, kindness and humor. He loved people, animals, the earth and its fruits, the stars, the sounds of nature, the seasons. He was part of it all and imparted something of his caring concern to those who loved him.
"Grandma Ida (Gillmore Dunn) lived on for another 15 (?) years [1953] until she was 80. She moved to Madbury near Dover N.H. and lived with her daughter Eva upstairs in Eva's son Charles' home. There she continued making stuffed toys, and quilts which brought in a little extra money and made her feel independent. She enjoyed playing cards, and whether it was 'Hearts', 'Michigan' or 'Poker', she had skill and luck which were almost invincible. she would play with her grandsons for small amounts - and invariably win. It was incredible.
"She visited us when Philip was two and I was pregnant with Andrew [mid-1952]. She would be doing her sewing with Philip standing by watching her with fascination, eyes wide and mouth-corners down. Grandma nicknamed him 'Horseshoe mouth' which name stuck until he grew up a bit and was smiling more. Now we laugh about it.
"Grandma enjoyed talking and could talk as she breathed in as well as when breath went out. It's quite a skill. She was in a hospital in Exeter ? Dover ? at the end. We took our newborn Andrew, her newest great-grandchild to meet her just a month or so before she died. She was chatting away with her roommate as we left, and we heard her talking as we walked down the hospital corridor.
"At her funeral I couldn't look at her dead body. She had always been so alive - and vital - that I wanted to keep her in my memory as I had known her -- a strong independent warm-hearted woman who had known tragedy, disappointments, disillusionment, hard times, good times, and always had the guts to come back fighting. If something didn't work out one way, she'd try another. I'm proud that her blood flows in our veins.
HARRY CREIGHTON GILLMORE
"My grandfather Harry C. Gillmore was the 2nd son of Capt. George Gillmore and Anna Kaulbach, both of Nova Scotia. The history of the Gillmore family has been researched and published by my own father, Sidvin F. Tucker. No doubt you have a volume that we gave your Dad when he was a young man. It's an interesting study which you may wish to peruse at length. [The Gillmore Saga] But for this purpose, I'll limit my remarks to my own personal observations of my grandfather Harry.
"I remember him as a quiet handsome gentleman who liked to visit us occasionally when he would come to Winthrop from his apt. in Boston and always had pockets full of peanuts. This led to our nicknaming him 'Grandpa Peanut' which amused him. At 23 he had married Ida Floyd who was just out of high school at age 16 or 17. He was in the printing business all his working life and would supply us with lots of scrap paper, a delight since our family used so much of it.
"He and Ida had twin boys who died at birth. They had 4 daughters (5 if you count Pearl). Harry and Ida lived in Dorchester during the years the girls were growing up. They must have known some very sad times since in 19[04] their family was struck with typhoid in the epidemic then rampant. His wife Ida as well as three of the girls had it. (Ruby remembers that her head was shaved at this time.) Both Laura (7) and Winnie (11) died of the disease exactly one month apart. Ida was so ill, she wasn't told until later. Harry must have been devastated losing two beautiful daughters.
"He became devoted to his remaining children.... but something must have happened at this time. Perhaps the tragedy affected Ida & Harry differently; perhaps finances were a problem. At any rate, Ida went to work as a practical nurse in Winthrop & Harry kept a room in Boston. Pearl lived with her grandparents Sarah & Buck Floyd while Ruby & Eva had a small apt. with Ida. Harry would come to Winthrop on weekends occasionally. After Ruby was married to Sidvin Tucker (1910), Harry came less & less often to Winthrop, and when he came, it was their home he visited. He and Ida simply drifted apart. I remember that my mother Ruby would visit him between his visits to our home. After church on Sunday morning, she'd feed us a big dinner, then she'd take me with her to visit her father. We took the narrow gauge train from Winthrop to Rowe's Wharf on Atlantic Ave. in Boston, then take the elevated train to Dudley Sq. in Roxbury which, during 1920's, was not the run-down dismal area that it later became. The landlady shuffled to the door in her slippers to let us in.
"Upstairs grandpa would welcome us and while he talked with my mother, I would entertain myself with making pictures or looking at his magazines. The room was large and dark & two windows looked out toward the elevated train. Grandpa always had a bottle of port wine. I don't remember whether my mother had any with him (I rather think not) and the rich aroma seemed to permeate him. I never saw him drunk, and I never heard that he drank heavily, but perhaps he did indulge more than Ida liked. After all, her family & she were all faithful Baptists & I never saw a spot of wine in *her* house! Who knows? At any rate, I enjoyed the occasional trips to Roxbury with my mother & "Grandpa Peanut' loved having us come. Once in a while one of my brothers would go with us, but I remember going alone with mother for the most part.
"By this time Harry & Ida were divorced, and several years later - 193_ - Harry, who had become diabetic, married Muriel Tucker, his own daughter's sister-in-law (Sidvin Tucker's sister). This was an embarrassment to Sidvin since Muriel was much younger than Harry and not well. She was asthmatic and very frail. I don't remember visiting them, but no doubt they must have been of some comfort to each other. The marriage lasted only __ years. After Muriel died, Harry's diabetes exacerbated; one leg was amputated. I visited him with my mother when he was in the hospital and remember how pale he seemed. Apparently I was away working when he died and don't have any recollection of his death or funeral. Apparently I had no deep feeling of grief since we had never been especially close. As I look back, I am struck by the apparent sadness in Harry's life. One of 6 brothers & __ sisters, his own family with Ida seems to have fallen apart. Eva and Pearl never had much to do with him after Ida & Harry separated. Only Ruby kept up the relationship and would relay information about him to Ida through the years.
"When Harry died, he was buried in Everett in the plot that belonged to Ida's second husband, Lewis Dunn. And later, Lewis was buried there also. So Ida's 2 husbands are buried together while Ida was buried in Winthrop in the old Floyd plot.
MILLERS, TUCKERS
Elizabeth Miller = George Tucker
Sidvin
Muriel
Geraldine
Arnold
Dorothy
Leslie A.
GEORGE TUCKER
"I have a photograph of my grandfather George - taken in England before coming to this country - in which he is dressed in an Elizabethan costume. I have no idea whether or not he ever took part in any theatricals, but the fact that he had his photograph made (about 1880 ? or earlier) indicates that he wanted to memorialize something. There must have been something of the debonair in him, however, & some of his reported actions seem to support this.
"My only meetings with Grandpa Tucker were as a teenager when he visited us briefly - once alone and once with his wife Laura Belle. All I can recall is that he was about 5'8" and rather bald, was pleasant and glad to see us. He didn't remain overnight. I think he was living in the mid-west and I don't know why he was in Boston.
"The facts of his life as I have heard are that he was born in England [in 1853], worked as an apprentice to an organ builder & became one himself. He was married to Margaret Westcott [1877] who bore him 3 children: Mildred, Cecil, & Leonard. Margaret died in childbirth with a fourth child (unnamed). So, as a young widower with 3 children, he eventually found Elizabeth Miller Tolley whose husband either died or left her. She had a daughter Ethel Tolley. When Elizabeth married George, they had a ready-made family of four children.
"Their own children were:
5 - Sidvin Frank 1888 - born in England
6 - Muriel - born in England
7 - Arnold Robert - born in Canada
8 - Geraldine - born in Canada
9 - Dorothy - born in Canada
10 - Leslie Albert - 'Bert' 1898 - born in Canada
"In 1892 the family emigrated to Canada with six children, the last four being born in Canada. I've heard that he travelled 1st class while his wife & 6 children came steerage. That seems incredible, if true. To give George credit, perhaps he wanted to make a good appearance for future business!
"According to the information I have heard from family members, I think he must have been an excellent craftsman and an irregular provider for his large family. As an organ builder and organ-repairman, he sometimes had to travel and be away for various lengths of time. Mildred, his oldest child, was very close to my family. She was known as 'Auntie Mil' and has told us how she was sent to live with an aunt who treated her shabbily, and she was unhappy until she was able to return home where she helped with the younger children until she herself was able to get a job and help the family a little - financially.
"My father was Sidvin, the oldest of George and Eliz's 6 children. His name is a combination of Sidney and Vincent, two of Eliz's (?) brothers. He was devoted to his mother (I was named Eliz. in her memory) as he knew how hard she had to work to see that her children had enough to eat and clothes to wear. He apparently had little respect for his father and I have read some correspondence they had which indicates that he upbraided his father for being unreliable. His father responded by saying that Sidvin didn't know the whole story.
"Sidvin told us of how his father had done some organ repair work for a church and, with a grandiose gesture, refused any compensation, saying it was his offering to the church. This, while a wife & 10 children needed clothing and many other necessities.
"No doubt George was charming and needed some ego-building which he may not have received very much at home, but the fact remains that he came & went wherever the jobs were, and as soon as the children were able to get jobs, they all helped out.
"Eliz. died on New Year's Eve 1916. By that time Sidvin had married Ruby Gillmore (1910) and Mildred had married Charles Weston (1910), Leonard & Cecil had left the home, and Arnold was about to go into the Army (WW I). The youngest - Bert - was about 18 and the girls: Muriel, Geraldine, & Dorothy were trying to support the home with a little help from Sidvin & Arnold - and maybe even George.
"It must have been about 1930 when I remember meeting my grandfather - but he never meant very much to me. I always think of Harry Gillmore and Lewis Dunn as my grandfathers.
"Sid's cousin Amy Miller Davis at age 95 in Wales (1982) told me that George married Elizabeth in order to have a mother for his first 4 children and also because he was sorry for her. According to Amy, Elizabeth Miller had married Tolley while being pregnant with another man's child. When he learned of this, he left her. This was a disgraceful situation, so by marrying George Tucker, she was able to hold her head up. So -- George deserves a little credit for helping Elizabeth while helping himself. After having two of their own children, one assumes that they wanted to start a new life in America."
[Note: George is recorded as being buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Pittsburg, KS, but a visit there in 2006 turned up empty; the city had no record of anyone with his name interred there. - Douglas McGaw]
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1917 - 2005 (87 years)
