52 Ancestors Week 47: Soldier

From Amy Johnson Crow:

Week 47:

"Solider" in the theme for Week 47. What discoveries have you made regarding ancestors who served in the military? What about an ancestor who tried to stay out of the military? You could also interpret it as someone who "soldiered on," always trying to reach a goal despite some hardships.

“When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree by the river of truth, and tell the whole world 'No, You Move.”-- Amazing Spider-Man # 537, J. Michael Straczynski (Inspired by Mark Twain.)

There's nothing like a good old Captain America quote and that one up there was written by comic legend J. Michael Straczynski. You might have heard of him. His works include shows like Babylon 5 and comics such as Amazing Spider-Man and Superman. The quote itself was the first thing I thought of when I first read this week's prompt. Over the years, there have been so many variants of it. It's hard to pin down the original. Still, it definitely applies to more than a few of my ancestors who soldiered on despite adversity and hardships.

Last week, I discussed the hardships my great-grandfather, Giuseppe had to endure as an Italian immigrant from a part of Italy which suffered during the unification period. This week my attention turns to my great-grandfather, Austin Wilfred Felker. This life could not have been that easy. And yet like the quote said he planted himself like a tree and told the world "No. You move."

Austin Felker and Henrietta Legault

Austin was born on September 25th, 1892 to Wilfred Felker and Gertrude Frances Stevens and from what I've recently discovered, his parents probably did not have the best relationship. They got married fairly young in 1891 as she was sixteen and he was twenty. The marriage did not last long as while Gertrude was pregnant with Austin, Wilfred had an affair with a woman named Anna Pierce and she became pregnant with his child.

This already beginning to sound like one of those daytime soap operas isn't it? Anna gave birth to George Amos Felker in Newburyport, Mass on February 2nd, 1893, just months after Austin was born. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out what happened next.

Sufficed it to say, Gertrude filed for divorce on what I assume to be adultery charges. I won't know unless I look up the court records. But, it's very, VERY likely. The marriage was annulled and on September 13th, 1899 there was a custody battle over Austin. Neither side were awarded custody and Austin was sent to live with his grandfather, Jeremiah Smart Felker and his wife, Elizabeth Fellows.

Austin and Henrietta's marriage certificate.

Austin lived with his grandfather up until 1913 when he met and married Henrietta Frances Legault, my great-grandmother. During that time, he still couldn't have had an easy life because his father lived in town and started a second family with Anna after they got married in 1901. His mother ended up marrying Walter Howard Senter in 1899 and had several children with him. They ended up in Farmington, New Hampshire.

I honestly get the feeling that he had a better relationship with his mother than with his father because my mother remembers growing up hearing about and meeting the Senter children. In fact, a few of them were at my parents' wedding along with Austin and Henrietta. Take that for what you will, gentlereaders.

I'm not one to read into it. But, sometimes in life you have to read in between the lines. I wouldn't make any conclusions. I'll leave that up to you! Wilfred passed away some time in 1951. I hope that before he died Austin and his father patched things up. There's no way of knowing. I just hope that they did. Gertrude passed away in 1944 and I know my great-grandfather kept in touch with the Senter clan as evidenced by them being at my parents' wedding and the stories my mother told me about the family.

Toward the end of their lives in the 1970s, tragedy did strike the Felker clan as Henrietta had a stroke which caused her to speak mostly French. I would imagine Austin had to brush up on the language when that happened. According to my mother, that's exactly what he did.

Despite his hardships growing up, Austin still managed to do several things.

1. He served in both World Wars.
2. He raised my grandmother and her siblings very well.
3. Was a great grandfather to my mother and her siblings.

Austin ultimately soldiered on through a tough life and managed to bring some sense of stability to an otherwise chaotic story. His father went off with his mistress. His mother left him to live with his grandfather, but still managed to maintain close ties. It takes a strong person to deal with that and come out the other side still willing to fight.

In the end, Austin's life was a testament to how much one man can endure in a crazy world. It's hard to imagine how he dealt with it until you take a minute and walk in his shoes. It was tough. But, in the end he planted himself like a tree and told the world "No. You move." And I think he did alright for himself. See ya next time!

The Felker clan circa 1950.