🏠 » Collection » 1890 New Bedford, Massachusetts photo album
Compiled and written by Kimberli Faulkner Hull © Cool Adventures
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May Eleventh Stetson was born on 11 May 1872 in New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut to George R. Stetson and Ellen M. Stall.1
[Open Endnotes in separate tab]
By 1880, the family had moved to New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts and May was living with her parents and siblings, George, Nellie, James, and Jane at 55 Bedford Street.2 May attended Fifth Street Grammar School, then New Bedford High School, where she was captain of the Plantagenets in 1887; May is in front of the group in the photo.3
May graduated from New Bedford High School in 1890.4
After high school, May attended the Smith College School of Music in Northampton, Massachusetts.5
On 22 July 1896, May married Edwin L. Gardiner, also a musician, in New Bedford.6 The couple soon moved to 564 E. Broadway Street in Boston and, in 1901, welcomed a baby girl. Virginia, to their family.7
Tragically, only a few months later on 28 August 1901, May died of typhoid fever in Boston at the age of 29.8 May E. Stetson Gardiner was laid to rest in Rural Cemetery in New Bedford.9
May’s parents, George R. Stetson and Ellen M. Stall Stetson, died within two months of each other in 1915.10 Both are buried in Rural Cemetery in New Bedford.11
May’s daughter, Virginia Gardiner, graduated from Newton High School in 1920.12
May’s husband, Edwin Leander Gardiner, who had remarried to Susan A. Bourne in 1908, and married a third time to Mary Eliza Champlin in 1931, died in 1933.13
May’s daughter, Virginia May Gardiner Batchelder died on 18 May 1985 and is buried in River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island.14
Endnotes
1. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, Suffolk County, Return of a Death, no. 7544, May E. Gardner, 28 Aug 1901. Birth: 11 May 1872, New Haven, Connecticut. Age: 29 years, 3 months, 17 days. Maiden name: Stetson. Parents: George R. [Stetson] and Ellen M. Stall.
Both the back of the 1890 photo reads “May Eleventh Stetson,” and she is listed the same in the Annual Report of the School Committee of the City of New Bedford, with the Superintendent’s Annual Report, for the Year 1890, (New Bedford : Mercury Publishing Company, 1891, p. 23, New Bedford High School Graduating Class of 1890, May Eleventh Stetson.
2. 1880 U.S. census, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 115, page 40D, dwelling 352, family 415, George R. Stetson household.
Address: 55 Bedford Street
– George R. Stetson, age 43, machinist, born in Connecticut
– Ellen M., wife, age 43, born in Massachusetts
– George A., son, age 19, machinist, born in Connecticut
– Nellie M., daughter, age 11, born in Connecticut
– May E., daughter, age 8, born in Connecticut
– James A., son, age 3, born in Massachusetts
– Janie W., daughter, age 3, born in Massachusetts
– Ellen Kercher, age 15, servant
3. “New Bedford High School Plantagenets in 1887, New Bedford, MA”; photograph held by the New Bedford Free Public Library photograph collection, New Bedford, Massachusetts; published online at Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collection Online. Captain May E. Stetson Gardner, in front.
Also, “Admission to the High School,” newspaper article, The Evening Standard (New Bedford, Massachusetts), 10 July 1886, p. 5, col. 3.
4. Annual Report of the School Committee of the City of New Bedford, with the Superintendent’s Annual Report, for the Year 1890, (New Bedford : Mercury Publishing Company, 1891, p. 23, New Bedford High School Graduating Class of 1890.
Also, “New Bedford High School Class of 1890”; photograph held by the New Bedford Free Public Library photograph collection, New Bedford, Massachusetts; published online at Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collection Online.
5. Smith College Directory, 1892-1893, School of Music, p. 47, May Stetson of New Bedford.
6. New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Marriage Register 1896, vol. 9, p. 8, no. 374, Edwin L. Gardiner–May E. Stetson, 22 July 1896.
Groom: Edwin L. Gardiner, age 26, musician, first marriage, born in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. Parents: Leander F. [Gardiner] and Alice A. Palmer.
Bride: May E. Stetson, age 24, pianist, first marriage, born in New Haven, Connecticut. Parents: George R. [Stetson] and Ellen M. Stall.
7. 1900 U.S. census, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 117A, page 8A, dwelling 86, family 156, Edwin L. Gardiner household.
Address: 564 E. Broadway Street
– Edwin L. Gardiner, age 30, married 4 years, teacher, born in Sept 1869 in Rhode Island
– May E., wife, age 28, married 4 years, born in May 1872 in Connecticut, 0 children born
Also, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Births Register 1901, p. 7, no. 297, Virginia Gardiner, 24 Jan 1901. Parents: Edwin L. [Gardiner], born in Rockville, Rhode Island, and May E. Stetson, born in New Haven, Connecticut. Father’s occupation: Musical director.
8. Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Deaths Register 1901, p. 504, no. 44, Mary E. Stetson Gardner, 28 Aug 1901. Spouse: Edwin S. Gardner. Age: 29 years, 3 months, 17 days. Cause of death: Typhoid fever. Place of burial: New Bedford. Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut. Parents: George R. Stetson and Ellen M. Stall.
Also, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, Suffolk County, Return of a Death, no. 7544, May E. Gardner, 28 Aug 1901. Birth: 11 May 1872, New Haven, Connecticut. Age: 29 years, 3 months, 17 days. Maiden name: Stetson. Parents: George R. [Stetson] and Ellen M. Stall.
Also, “May E. Gardiner,” funeral notice, The Evening Standard (New Bedford, Massachusetts), 29 Aug 1901, p. 8, col. 2.
9. Headstone reads: May E. Gardiner / 1872 – 1901. Back of stone: Wife of / Edwin L. Gardiner.
Find A Grave, memorial 103668746, May E Stetson Gardiner (1872–1901), Rural Cemetery, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts with headstone photo.
10. “George R. Stetson Dies, New Bedford,” obituary, The Evening Herald (Fall River, Massachusetts), 27 Jul 1915, p. 10, col. 1.
Also, New Bedford, Bristol County, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Standard Certificate of Death, no. 93, George R. Stetson, 26 July 1915. Birth: 11 May 1837, Brooklyn, Connecticut. Married. Age: 78 years, 2 months, 14 days. Parents: James A. and Dolly Wilter. Burial: 28 July 1915, Rural Cemetery.
Also, “Mrs. Ellen M. Stetson, New Bedford,” obituary, Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, Massachusetts), 4 Sept 1915, p. 7, col. 4.
Also, New Bedford, Bristol County, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Standard Certificate of Death, no. 289, Ellen M. Stetson, 2 Sept 1915. Birth: 14 Mar 1837, Hadley, Massachusetts. Widowed. Age: 78 years, 5 months, 19 days. Burial: 5 Sept 1915, New Bedford.
11. Headstone reads: George R. Stetson / May 11, 1837 – July 25, 1915 / His Wife / Ellen M. Stetson / Mar. 14, 1837 – Sept . 2, 1915.
Find A Grave, memorial 103172375, George Ripley Stetson (1837–1915), Rural Cemetery, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts with headstone photo.
Find A Grave, memorial 103173876, Ellen Maria Stall Stetson (1837–1915), Rural Cemetery, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts with headstone photo.
12. Newtonian (Newton, Massachusetts: Newtonian Staff, 1920), p. 27, Virginia Gardiner.
13. “Edwin L. Gardiner,” obituary, The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 9 Mar 1933, p. 15, col. 4.
Also, 1910 U.S. census, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 1563, ward 20, sheet 4A, dwelling 46, family 95, Edwin L. Gardiner household.
– Edwin L. Gardiner, age 40, married twice, married 2 years, born in Rhode Island, music teacher
– Susan A., wife, age 34, married once, married 2 years, born in Massachusetts
– Virginia Gardiner, daughter, age 9, born in Massachusetts
– Mary A. Mackey, servant, age 24, single
Also, The Newton, Massachusetts City Directory 1931, (Boston, Massachusetts : Sampson and Murdock Company, 1931), p. , Gardiner listings.
– Gardiner, Edwin L, teacher (Watertown) h 44 Otis
– Gardiner, Susan B (Mrs Edwin L) died Sept 18 1930
Also, headstone reads: Gardiner / Edwin L. Gardiner/ 1869 – 1933 / His Wife / Susan A. Bourne / 1876 – 1930. Find A Grave, memorial 166047075, Edwin Leander Gardiner (1869–1933), Newton Cemetery, Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts with headstone photo.
Also, headstone reads: Mary Champlin Gardiner / June 24, 1883 / May 5, 1971.
Find A Grave, memorial 129035975, Mary Eliza Champlin Gardiner (1883–1971), River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island with headstone photo.
14. U.S., Social Security Death Index, Virginia Batchelder, May 1985. Birth: 24 Jan 1901. Last residence: Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island.
Also, headstone reads: Virginia G. Batchelder / Jan. 21, 1901 / May 18, 1985.
Find A Grave, memorial 129033476, Virginia May Gardiner Batchelder (1901–1985), River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island with headstone photo.
Citing this page: Kimberli Faulkner Hull, author, “May E. Stetson (1871–1901),” Cool Adventures (https://cooladventures.com/collection/may-e-stetson-1871-1901/ : posted 2021).