Dublin Core
Title
Centennial Monograph: Ruth Trent - Cousin to Abraham Lincoln
Description
Mrs. Ruth Trent, 1822-1918, was a cousin to President Abraham Lincoln and a resident of Maynard for some time.
Creator
Birger Koski, Janette Taylor
Date
1964-11
Identifier
2019.211
Document Item Type Metadata
Text
It seems to be in the nature of human beings to want to bask in the reflected glory of some institution or illustrious person - like the the fellow that tells you as he extends his hand: "shake the hand that shook the hand of the President". So also is the case of communities that bask in the glory of a person of great renown is claimed as a native son - so also in any town is felt pride that some of the citizenry claims ancestry back to the Mayflower. In this monograph we have another instance of this pride. The following is taken verbatim from the Maynard News of February 21, 1913. The News was a weekly predecessor to the Assabet Valley Beacon.
Cousin to Abraham Lincoln
Mrs. Ruth Trent bore that Relationship
Mrs. Ruth P. Trent of 32 Parker Street is a cousin to Abraham Lincoln. Her father was an own brother to Abraham Lincoln's Mother. Mrs. Trent will be 91 years of age on the 29th day of August and she is one of the very smart old ladies of this county and appears like one much younger than she really is.
She goes about the house with the aid of the cane, but does sewing and knitting with great dexterity. She can see to thread her needle - with the aid of of spectacles, but then that is common to all ages. One of her most enjoyable occupations is the making of braided rugs. She cuts and sews the rags together without assistance and makes some very beautiful rugs, and her homie is well supplied with these articles of her own manufacture. Within the past year she has made three patchwork quilts and the work is so nicely done as to arouse the envy of many young and middle aged ladies who call themselves expert sewers.
No withstanding the fact Mrs. Trent is well along toward the century mark she retains her mental faculties to a remarkable degree and is a good conversationalist. She likes to to tell stories of her younger days and remembers all the details as if but yesterday. Upon many subjects she is very interesting for she is a remarkably well posted(?) woman. She is a reader and every day she scans the daily papers for she wants to keep up with the times, and she enjoys talking over the current events with friends that call on her.
Mrs. Trent is a devoted Christian, a member of the Congregational Church, and although she is now unable to attend Church Services, she highly enjoys the devotional exercises which are held with friends who call and see her.
She was born in Attleboro. Her father was Minor Phillips, a well to-do farmer, who a few years after the birth of his daughter Ruth, moved to Winslow, Maine, where he remained for a number of years, then went West and later returned to Attleboro where he dies. Mrs. Phillips, Ruth's mother, died and was buried in Winslow, Maine.
At the age of 30 years, Ruth married John S. Trent of London, England, an Englishman who came over to this country, and the newly married couple settled in Middlefield in this state. Four children were born to them. Anne F. and Julia A (twins), Mae and Maude, 3 of which are now living. Anne and Julia, the twins, were never married and are living in Ballarsville. Maud married James Higgins who is a resident of Maynard and proprietor of the grocery store at 5 Waltham Street.
The house that Mrs. Trent lived in is the present home of Sikka and Alric French. The store James Higgins occupied was in the approximate Iocation of the United Cooperative gas station on Waltham Street.
Mrs. Trent died September 5, 1918, 96 years old and is interred in Glenwood Cemetery. There were no records kept, or if kept were poorly organized, for a search of Gienwood Cemetery files disclosed a James Higgins lot: his wife Maud and her sister Julia buried in the Higgins lot but no Ruth Trent. It is a large lot adjoining the G.A.R. lot and the assumption is that that is where Abe Lincoln's cousin is buried.
I'm indebted to Miss Janette Taylor for aid in this monograph.
B.R. Koski - November 1964
Cousin to Abraham Lincoln
Mrs. Ruth Trent bore that Relationship
Mrs. Ruth P. Trent of 32 Parker Street is a cousin to Abraham Lincoln. Her father was an own brother to Abraham Lincoln's Mother. Mrs. Trent will be 91 years of age on the 29th day of August and she is one of the very smart old ladies of this county and appears like one much younger than she really is.
She goes about the house with the aid of the cane, but does sewing and knitting with great dexterity. She can see to thread her needle - with the aid of of spectacles, but then that is common to all ages. One of her most enjoyable occupations is the making of braided rugs. She cuts and sews the rags together without assistance and makes some very beautiful rugs, and her homie is well supplied with these articles of her own manufacture. Within the past year she has made three patchwork quilts and the work is so nicely done as to arouse the envy of many young and middle aged ladies who call themselves expert sewers.
No withstanding the fact Mrs. Trent is well along toward the century mark she retains her mental faculties to a remarkable degree and is a good conversationalist. She likes to to tell stories of her younger days and remembers all the details as if but yesterday. Upon many subjects she is very interesting for she is a remarkably well posted(?) woman. She is a reader and every day she scans the daily papers for she wants to keep up with the times, and she enjoys talking over the current events with friends that call on her.
Mrs. Trent is a devoted Christian, a member of the Congregational Church, and although she is now unable to attend Church Services, she highly enjoys the devotional exercises which are held with friends who call and see her.
She was born in Attleboro. Her father was Minor Phillips, a well to-do farmer, who a few years after the birth of his daughter Ruth, moved to Winslow, Maine, where he remained for a number of years, then went West and later returned to Attleboro where he dies. Mrs. Phillips, Ruth's mother, died and was buried in Winslow, Maine.
At the age of 30 years, Ruth married John S. Trent of London, England, an Englishman who came over to this country, and the newly married couple settled in Middlefield in this state. Four children were born to them. Anne F. and Julia A (twins), Mae and Maude, 3 of which are now living. Anne and Julia, the twins, were never married and are living in Ballarsville. Maud married James Higgins who is a resident of Maynard and proprietor of the grocery store at 5 Waltham Street.
The house that Mrs. Trent lived in is the present home of Sikka and Alric French. The store James Higgins occupied was in the approximate Iocation of the United Cooperative gas station on Waltham Street.
Mrs. Trent died September 5, 1918, 96 years old and is interred in Glenwood Cemetery. There were no records kept, or if kept were poorly organized, for a search of Gienwood Cemetery files disclosed a James Higgins lot: his wife Maud and her sister Julia buried in the Higgins lot but no Ruth Trent. It is a large lot adjoining the G.A.R. lot and the assumption is that that is where Abe Lincoln's cousin is buried.
I'm indebted to Miss Janette Taylor for aid in this monograph.
B.R. Koski - November 1964
Storage
SU9-4