The theme for Week 45 is "Rich Man." I encourage you to be creative with this theme. Of course, if you have the proverbial "rich uncle," feel free to write about him, but think about other ways that one can be "rich." Also think about names. Any Moneypennys or Banks in the family tree? How about an ancestor with the first name of Wealthy?
Hmm.....If only I was related to a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. I am seriously going to have to reach for this one. So, like Amy said. I am going to have to get creative. This week I'll be talking about my 5th great-grandfather, Richard Sprague Frothingham. He was the first person in the tree I could find who had anything to do with riches. He was also the first "Richard" I could find. I don't have any Ricardos. Would be cool, though because Ricardo is an awesome name.
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| Look at the mutton chops on this guy! |
It's unknown if Richard actually had money or anything. I'm not completely sure. I say this because his father, James, died without a will in 1801 and was a chaise maker. Chaises, by the way, are carriages. He could have made a decent living making them. I just don't know at this time.
Since his father died when James was only eight, he most likely had to rely on his mother and his siblings for support while he was growing up. His siblings were:
1. James (1785-)
2. Johnathan (1786-1820)
3. William (1794-)
4. Sara (1794-)
5. Phebe (1796-)
6. Sally (1798-1869)
That's a nice size family, right? I think so. I'd have linked their Wikitree profiles. However, I haven't gotten around to making them. Perhaps I will after I finish the blog. We'll see.
Life wasn't TOO bad for Richard. His middle name, Sprague, was actually the last name of one of his ancestors who came to the New England colonies during the Great Puritan Migration. His name was Ralph Sprague. He descended from a long line of Spragues and his paternal grandmother was Huldah Sprague. So that's where the "Sprague" part of Richard's name came from.
Richard ended up marrying a woman named Eliza Folsam Pillsbury and believe it or not there's a connection with her and the Pillsbury pastry company we all know and love. She was the 5th cousin once removed of company founder, Charles Alfred Pillsbury. Pretty cool. The things you find online.
I digress. Richard and Eliza had eight children including my 4th great-grandmother Frances Miranda Frothingham from 1817 to 1842. Not bad. Perhaps there's a lesson here. Money can't really buy happiness and you CAN be rich in other ways. Not just monetarily.
Richard lived a long life as he passed away on July 26th, 1864 at the age of seventy-two. His death certificate in Danvers listed him as a tallow chandler. That is a person who makes and sells candles for a living. Before the advent of electricity a decade or so later, I am sure his services were much needed in the community.
Most of the information I got for Richard came from a variety of sources. Records in Massachusetts are always so helpful. If you find that you have ancestors from the Bay State, check them out. You will find rabbit hole after rabbit hole of information. It's second only to Minnesota. I also checked out The Frothingham Genealogy book. Information there is pretty solid. But, like most genealogy books you are going to want to be careful. Some of them have errors. Some are good. It's a gamble to see which is which. Always a good idea to cross reference with the actual town data.
As far as Richard goes? Well, I think he was rich in that he had a large family and was fortunate that most of his children survived to adulthood. Was he a simple candle maker? Yeah. But, that still doesn't mean he wasn't rich in other ways.
See you next time!
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