Bissell Family History

Adelaide Lyon Boutelle history with notes about her children to whom she gave herself without reservation       [Rev05-06-2014 by George H. Bissell] 

       

[Quote from “Mom”: “For who can read another’s thoughts, say nothing of reading another’s memories”; with that caution, I’ll try to stick to the facts]

 

Born February 28, 1908

Lived on Kemp Street, West Groton, Mass.

 

PICTURE???

 

Youngest of 3 children; siblings were Vivian, born 1905; Eugene, born 1906

Attended elementary school grades 1 thru 8 at Tarbell School, West Groton

Eliza Lyon Boutelle, Addie’s mother, died 1915, Addie age 7

 

ADD ELIZA'S OBITUARY COLUMN???

 

Winters of grade 6 & grade 7, Addie went to Lantana, Florida with family friends Lila Kemp Shepley and her husband Joseph Shepley and attended school there; Addie’s name was on published honor roll in 7th grade as was the name of her friend Margaret Garnett The Shepleys wanted to adopt Addie but either she or her Dad said no.

 

Attended high school in Groton, Mass. She was class treasurer and she graduated as salutatorian, GHS Class of 1926. [Note, her friend Margaret Garnett was valedictorian of the Class of 1926 at Lake Worth, FL. H.S.]

 Attended theater frequently; along with friends or family, attended many sports events at Lawrence Academy. Was invited to and attended dances at L.A. and Ayer Order of DeMolay.

Attended a Northfield Conference of Religious Education at E. Northfield, MA.. for one week, summer of 1925.

She worked at the Estes Taffy candy store at Brandt Rock, MA the summer of ’26; summer of ’27 she worked at The Hamilton on Chebeague Island waitressing. Photos show her at Lake Samoset in Leominster, MA in July 1929. 

 

1926/27& 1927/28 Attended Bridgewater Normal School where she was class treasurer, head of bowling, captain of basketball team, and played on the field hockey team; she graduated from the two year course to become an elementary school teacher. See notes in her year book which Joyce will share with you. 

 

!928/29 &1929/30 taught school in Goshen, Mass.[ Herbert Hunt Bissell was on the school committee of the Goshen school]; she had grades 1 thru 4 in one room. [Note, Uncle Warren was not one of her students; he was in grade above hers] 

7/2/1929 Clinton T. Boutelle [Addie’s father] married Flora Whitney Kemp [Flora became referred to as Mother Flora]

Addie boarded at Mrs. Packard, also known as Aunt Lizzie; for transportation the first year, she used Rhodes Express from Northampton train station to Goshen and back{ Richard Bissell was the driver of that Express at times]; she road the school bus with the kids to and from school. The second year she had her own Ford that she called “blue independence”.

Addie’s sister Vivian married Roy E. Garnett; their only child, Lillian was born 11/ 1931.  

 

June 20, 1930, Addie married Richard M. Bissell; they were married by a justice of peace in Elkton, Md. because Richard was working in that area and was concerned that if he took time off to travel to Goshen to get married as they had planned, he might not have a job when he returned..

 

1931 Joyce born 6/8/31; when Addie & Joyce came home from Northampton’s Coolie Dickerson Hospital, they moved into the house that Dad had just purchased on Rt 9 called the Avery house. The water was taken manually from their well in the yard; no indoor plumbing; no electricity.

!932 Meredith born; 1934 George born.

1935 Family moved to W. Groton, to the Boutelle house on Kemp St. where Addie had lived when she was born. This house had a manual pitcher water pump in the kitchen sink; the out house was in a shed that connected the house to the barn.; there were a couple of stoves for heat. The chamber pots froze over some winter nights.

!935 Gwen born; 1937 Roger born; 

1939 Family moved to house on Shepley Street. This house had town water with a bath and a half!! 

1939 Arthur born; 1942 Eleanor born; 1944 Norman [Chip] born; 1946 Carolyn born; 1948 Betsy born

1948 to 1952, George went to Mt. Hermon School.

1949 to 1953, Joyce at Bridgewater State College, Addie’s alma mater

1950 Meredith graduated from Lawrence Academy in Groton; he then lived with Garnetts during the school year while attending Jr. College in Florida; after those 2 years there he went to U.Mass Amherst where he graduated in 1954. After he started teaching school, Meredith earned his Masters Degree at Fitchburg State. 

1952 Family moved to the renovated Kemp Farm on Kemp Street.

1952 George enlisted in US Air Force; discharged Dec. 1956; received BSEE degree  from Clemson College, 1960.

1953 Clyde born

1953 Gwen graduated GHS and went to Nurses training at Deaconess for 3 years; then enrolled at BU; 30 years later Gwen transferred core class credits from BU to Boise State Univ. ID.toward her BA in Literature, she then completed her Masters degree in Literature at BSU. 

1953 Roger went to Worcester Boys Trade High School in his Jr. year where his specialty was painting and decorating; he completed his academic high school requirements in 1955 and the 3600 hours of required shop in 1957 in order to be awarded the full diploma; the biggest part of Rogers shop work requirement was met working for Johnson Paint, a large commercial painting company in Florida. Roger joined the 111 Inf. Div. of the National Guard in 1956; he received a Honorable Discharge dated 9 July, 1962 as PVT in USAR where he was listed as Charles R. Bissell, ER 24 659 400.

1957 Arthur graduated GHS and enlisted in USAF; was discharged in 1961. He later earned a degree from North Eastern Univ.

1960 Eleanor graduated GHS and went to nurses training at Deaconess for 3 years; then went to nurse in a psyc [mental health] hospital in Saskatchewan, Canada for 1 year; then a year at BU, renting living space from Connie & Earl Kimball, then 2 years at McGill Univ., Montreal in Canada where she graduated with BS in Nursing.  

1962 Chip graduated GHS and went college at Hampden- Sydney College, Va.; after 2years US Army [Oct.4, 1966 till Aug. 15, 1968], he taught in Colebrook, N.H.; then he enrolled in and graduated from Masters Program at Fitchburg State. In 1977-78, he attended ILIFF School of Theology in Colorado; Chip also attended the Bread Loaf School of English in summers of 82, 83 and 87 in Vermont and as part of that program attended Oxford in 1986. He has taught high school in N.H., Mass., and Colorado and in Jr. Collage in Kansas.

1964 Cal graduated GHS and went college at Mt Wachusett and then graduated at U.Mass, Amherst.

1966 Family moved to 3 Kemp St. west Groton, across the road from the Kemp Farm. 

1966 Betsy graduated GHS and went college at Westfield State, graduated 1970; in 1992 Betsy earned a Masters Degree in speech & hearing science from University of Maryland. [“The letters after my name are M.A. CCC-SLP, which means I have masters in speech/language pathology with a certificate of clinical competence”] 

1971 Clyde graduated GHS, went to Mt Wachusett Jr College and then graduated at U.Mass Amherst

1972Clyde & Carol married

1992 Clyde & Carol died in West Groton, MA. as result of auto accident

1997 Addie died in hospital in Ayer, MA

1999, July 9, Arthur died in Florida as result of auto accident

2002, Feb. 6, Richard M. Bissell died in hospital in Ayer, MA.

 

For notes about Richard M. Bissell, see your copy of the booklet titled Politics & Prose by Richard and printed by Betsy in 1999.