https://www.theancestorhunt.com/blog/rhode-island-online-historical-photos-research

Other harp owners and musicians

Try to find other members of the Alhambra Mandolin Orchestra. No other members were listed in the Worcester Directory that I know of. It would be cool to find out where/when/what they played.

#141 was bought by J. Ed. Handy of Passac, NJ.
#143 was bought by Dr. D. R. Frazer of Newark, NJ. Possibly Rev D.R. Frazer?

H. L. Jacobs

And this was possibly her husband?  Nope!

Crazy cat lady confirmed!

Kitty!

The lady in the upper right corner is the original owner of my harp. I would not be able to pick her out of a lineup. Her cats are mentioned much more than she is, so I didn't get much new information about her.

Clicking on the image does not give a full enough image to read. Maybe I will transcribe the article here. Someday. Ha!

Thanks to the Ask-A-Librarian folks at Providence Public Library for finding this article for me!

Ask RI

Askri.org was only able to find a death notice, not a full obituary.

The following was printed in the Providence Journal from March 15, 1915, page 3:

JACOBS-- In East Providence, on the 14th inst. Mabelle L. wife of H. L. Jacobs.
Funeral private. Interment at Worcester, Mass.
Worcester papers please copy.

To me, that sounds like the Worcester papers would only print a death notice, as well.

The Chatauquan

Mabelle Lynn Childs is included in the 1898 vol 27 edition of The Chautauquan in a list of "successful and widely known American harpists".

Crazy cat lady!

I found an article about Mabelle Lynn Childs/Jacobs that is more on the cat side of things.

The article link was broken, but the cached version still works. The article is in the Providence Journal (where she married Jacobs in 1909 after moving from Worcester) and titled "Midweek Time Lapse: Pampered cats of 1913 lived like royalty in East Providence" by Sheila Lennon on Sep 2, 2014 at 2:48 PM.

She started the Rhode Island Cat Club, built a bungalow to house either her cats, or the chickens and rabbits to feed her cats, (or both?), and sold them for a lot of money.

I can't find the link in the article that's reference by "As our Jan. 19, 1913 story above (click it to read a full-size page)", but I bet I can find it!

ATL'd original article
Emailed askri.orgfor obit

Henry L. Jacobs, Merchant moved to Providence, RI in, or before, 1909, per the Worcester Directory of 1909. There was a Hattie Jacobs listed in a couple of the Providence directories as cashier, but at a different address in Providence Directory of 1914.

Also, she was the Director of the Alhambra String Sextette in 1901 in Worcester.

I'm taking this week to do some more digging on HMLKKBCJ - Hattie Mabelle Lynn Knapping Kittridge Barker Childs Jacobs.

I found another directory listing from 1897 in Worcester Mass for her as Mabelle Lynn, Mrs., a music teacher, at 345 Park Av. "h. do." What does that stand for?  In the abbreviation index it says h. = house and do. = ditto.  Ditto what? She lived and taught at home?

She's also listed in 1898 at the same address.  In 1899, she moved to 11 Murray Ave.

In 1906, she and Henry Jacobs are listed in the real estate record section of the Worcester City directory as follows:
Jacobs Henry L & Mabelle L. Childs, 5 Benefit, blds $5100; 4320 ft. $2800.
I'm going to assume she did NOT own a building with Henry and have that info published in a city directory while she was married to Harry. But hey, you never know.

The contents page says "Real Estate Record: A complete transcript of the city assessors' books relating to real estate, showing name of owner, size of lot, and valuation of every estate in Worcester." Why are there two prices? Does that mean they bought the building together before they were married?

She is listed in 1898 city directory as Alhambra Mandolin, Guitar and Harp Club Director, and in 1899 and 1900 as Alhambra Mandolin, Violin, and Harp Club Director.  She was also listed under orchestras as the Director of the Alhambra String Quartette.

I am trying to find any ancestors, and it seems that her cousin May Belle Grace Dadnum (1876-1941) married Henry Irving Everett (1877-1921), and they had a son Dana Whiton Everett(1915-1985). He married Doris Emily Jenner (1916-2000) and they had a daughter Dorothy L Everett who died in 1978 at the age of 40.  But she apparently had children, and so far that seems the only possible connection to Mabelle.

I tracked down Mabelle a little further along her timeline and found that, unfortunately, she died on 14 Mar 1915 in East Providence, Providence, RI.

I do finally have a list of all of her husbands:
Married Willie E. Kittridge on 31 Dec 1884 when she was fourteen
Married Harry A. Childs on 12 Apr 1895,
and married Henry L. Jacobs sometime in the early 1900s

She doesn't appear to have had any children.

Coincidentally, her grandmother was also married three times.   Her mother was married just twice, first to Charles/Chas W. Lynn, (who may or may not have been in prison!), divorced in Windham Co, CT, then to Charles W. Barker.  Her mother's sister Julia F. (Knapping) Dadmun died in 1884 and step sister Anna (Balcom) Arbuckle died in 1871.  Julia F's husband died in 1907, but they left a child named May Belle.  May Belle was a soprano in the Boston area from at least 1899-1908. That name must have had some significance for that family! 

So Mabelle had the following last names over the course of her life: Lynn, Knapping, Barker, Kittridge, Childs, and Jacobs. Whew!


Mabelle and Henry lived in East Providence, Providence, RI, and are listed there on the 1910 census.  Interesting thing: the other members of their household are Raymond L Kirzman 28yo M from CT, and Kamichika  23yo M who emigrated from Japan in 1907.  I wonder what the story behind that is!

Now I'm curious what happened to my harp!  Was she still playing when she moved to Rhode Island? Did she sell it before then?  Did her husband Henry sell it when she died?  Did they keep it in the family? Did Kamichika take up the harp?

What happened to it?

One of my lovely coworkers who is a little nuts (in a good way!) for genealogy found a little more information about HMLC.  On the 1880 census, she is 12 years old (which makes her born in 1868/7, which means she lied on her marriage certificate? Tsk, tsk!) and living with her parents Charles W. Barker, 42, a policeman, wife Sarah E. Barker, 33, and Mother-in-law Julie A. Balcome, 52.  Mabelle is listed as "Mabel H".

So, so far, I have her with the last names of: Childs, Barker, Knapping, and Kittridge.  What did she go by after getting divorced? I wonder...  And I just noticed her marriage to Harry A. Childs was his first and her second.

And, of course, I got sucked in to looking for more info. Her mother died in 1903 at the age of 55 (Mabelle would have been either  34, 35, or 36) from interstitial nephritis, or kidney failure, and was living at 11 Murray Ave.  Sarah's maiden name was Knapping. Charles is listed on the 1910 census as widowed and living with Robert and Carrie Macmillan at 5 Benefit St, however Mabelle is not listed.  However, however, that's the same address Mabelle is listed under in the Worcester Directory in 1906 and '07. Hmm...  Did she get remarried in 1907? Did she DIE?  Augh!

Worked on Prelude 1 muscle memory.

Worcester > City Information >Business Directory
Listed under Teachers > Music
11 Murray Ave: 1903, 1904
765 Main: 1905
5 Benefit: 1906, 1907

Listed under Orchestras
Alhambra String Quartette, Mrs. M.L. Childs, Director
11 Murray Ave: 1903, 1904, 1905

She is listed in the 1906 Cat Register book as owning a cat with one Mr. James H. Howland.  Maybe that had something to do with the divorce?

On the 1900 census for Worcester Mass, there is a listing for Hattie M.L. Childs, musician.  It's got to be her!  She lived at 11 Murray Ave (possibly in an apartment) with her husband Harry A. who was a bookkeeper in a Printing? shop. She was born in Apr 1870, as was her husband.  They had been married 5 years and had no children.

Searching marriage records by Harry's name, I found a listing for him and Hattie M Lynn Kittridge on 12 April 1895,  so I really do think it's her. However on the marriage record, she's listed as a bookkeeper, too.  I wonder if she just up and decided to play the harp one day...

Her parents on the 1900 census are listed as: Charles W Barker,​ Sarah E Barker, on her marriage license they are: Charles W, Sarah E Knapping. ???

And sadly, Harry is listed as divorced in the 1910 census and living back at home with his mom.

On a whim, I emailed L&H to ask if they could tell me anything about my harp. I knew it was a style 21, but I now know it was definitely made in the early 1890s and the original owner was Mabelle Lynn Childs. I researched a little at work today and asked a couple Library Assistants to find out a little more about her, but no luck. She may have owned a longhaired female cat named Tootsie in 1906, but that is not confirmed.