My great-grandfather, Frank Rowland Burdick, was born on May 10, 1885 in Hampton, Connecticut. He was the seventh of nine children of Abel and Susan (Phillips) Burdick.
Frank and Sarah's children, Bertha and Francis Burdick
When he was twenty-two years old, Frank married my great-grandmother, Sarah Hannah Clark, (in photo, right) the twenty-one year-old daughter of Hon. Levi and Carrie (Larkham) Clark of Canterbury, Connecticut. The date was June 7, 1907. Frank and Sarah (Sadie) settled in Norwich, Connecticut where Frank worked for the New Haven Railroad. Their first child, a son, was born two years later. A daughter, my grandmother, was born three years after this. The birthdates of the two children were as follows:
Francis Clark Burdick, born July 12, 1909
Bertha Melissa Burdick, born May 27, 1912
Frank's bride, Sarah Hannah Clark
When he was about 45 years old, Frank fell from a railway car and was seriously injured and was forced to retire early from his job with the railroad. Rheumatoid arthrithis and heart trouble complicated his health. Shortly thereafter, Frank and Sadie went to live with their daughter and son-in-law (my grandparents), Bertha and Constantine (Kotch) Patterson, in Waterford, Connecticut, where they remained for the rest of their lives. After Sadie died in 1955, Frank would spend some time in Canterbury at the farm of Sadie's sister, Bertha Davis. My second cousin, Beverly Wilber (granddaughter of Bertha Davis), has this childhood memory of my great-grandfather:
"...Frank went to visit and stay with my grandmother, Bertha, after she [Sadie] died. I remember one time that he was there during the summer, my mother told me that he had a bad heart and wasn't supposed to be doing anything. He was, however, working on clearing brush from a wall on my grandmother's farm. He worked very slowly with a pair of long-handled clippers. He would very slowly clip one piece of brush at a time and I picked it up and put it in a pile. It was great fun for me and we had great conversations, unfortunately, I can't remember what we talked about, but I'm sure it was very important at the time. I remember that he was very nice and nice-looking. He made quite an impression on me. I was probably about 9 years old then. On my next birthday, he sent me a card with ten dollars in it. That was a lot of money for me at the time and I will never forget the friendly gesture and the fact that he remembered me."
Frank died on January 12, 1960. He was buried next to Sadie at the Carey Cemetery (where Sadie's parents are also buried) in Canterbury, Connecticut.
Note: the photos, scans of old documents and poetry on my web pages are family heirlooms that may not be reproduced in any form without my express permission.
Copyright © 2001 by Sally Cox. All rights reserved.
A gathering in the mid- to late-1920s:
From left to right:
Front row: (standing) unknown man, Frank Rowland Burdick, (sitting) Bertha Melissa Burdick (my grandmother), unknown young woman, unknown young woman.
Second row: unknown woman, Sarah (Sadie) Clark Burdick, unknown young woman.
Back row: Carrie Larkham Clark (standing), Levi Nelson Clark (sitting).
Levi Nelson Clark's birthday party at Bertha Davis' house
(probably in the late 1920s - early 1930s).
From left to right,
Front row: Frank Burdick and dog, three little girls (unknown), Ellsworth Davis, Addison Davis.
Second row: Unknown man, Sarah Hannah Clark Burdick, Julia Melissa Larkham, unknown woman, Bertha Maude Clark Davis, unknown man, Levi Nelson Clark, unknown man.
Back row: unknown woman, unknown woman, unknown woman, Carrie Estelle Larkham Clark (sitting directly to the rear left of Levi Clark), Kenneth Davis.
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Written on back of photo:
Northwest Hose Company #8, New London, Connecticut. 1924.
Frank Burdick, Mr. Swatkins standing on the fire engine.
Frank Rowland Burdick |
Frank Rowland Burdick |
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