REVOLUTIONARY LINKS

Notes in my grandfather's papers indicate that two names, formerly unknown to me, who are my great-grandfathers five times removed, were active participants in the American Revolutionary War. Both of these names come from my paternal side. Abraham Cook (b. 1 January 1754 in Branford, Conn--died 3 December 1843 in Philadelphia) served in Connecticut. He enlisted April 1775 under Captain Samuel Barker. He marched to New York and then to Fort Ticonderoga under General Montgomery. There they made flatbottom boats and was sent down to St. Johns to disrupt communications with Montreal. He was wounded in a skirmish. He later enlisted in a New Haven company under a Captain Livingston and marched to Boston, helping drive the British from the city. He then joined a regiment under General Sullivan on a march to New York. This information was gathered from a pension application presented by a Theodora Wright of Trenton, New Jersey. Abraham married Elizabeth Carpenter in 1790, and his granddaughter Mary Ann Rossiter Turpin married Horace Townsend Tidd in 1851. Their son was my future great great grandfather Milton Tidd.

Another forefather was Aaron Hankinson (born 1735 in Rowland's Mills, near Flemmington, New Jersey and died 9 October 1806 in Stillwater, New Jersey). He served as a major in Colonel Ephraim Martin's 2nd Regiment, Sussex County Militia, 10 June 1775; as a colonel in the same militia 18 February 1777; later appointed a colonel in the New Jersey Continental Line (26 December 1780). He commanded a regiment in Bergen County, 7 to 12 April, 1777 and in Pennsylvania under Brigadier General David Forman, 19 September to 11 October, 1777. He fought at the Battle of Germantown, 4 October 1777. He served at Minnisink, several months each between 1778 and 1781. And was appointed commissioner to purchase horses, saddles, and other supplies for the cavalry in service to the United States in 28 March 1778. He married Mary Snyder 9 February 1764. His great great great granddaughter Anna Wesling Hankinson Everingham married Milton Tidd on 17 July 1889 in New York.

HARTPENCE

John A. & Lydia L. Hartpence. They raised my grandmother and were heavily involved with my father and uncle. This shot was taken around 1950, probably in Trenton, New Jersey.

FRANCIS LASHER TIDD

Herewith a nice portrait of my grandfather at age 20, taken around 1935.

GRIMLEY?

No, this is not Martin Short's Saturday Night Live character Ed Grimley, but a photograph of my dad, James, when he was about one year old, in 1936.

JIM & JOHN

My grandparents had two boys, James and John. After World War II they adopted a third boy, Alex.

In July of 1939 James and John were accompanied to the top of Baxter Mountain, in Keene Valley, New York (one of my Dad's favorite places) to pick blueberries. In this photograph (l-r) we have Hannah Lidia (Longmore) Hartpence, Lillian Morley (Sigley) Tidd, James Brook [later Francis] Tidd, John Armitage Hartpence, Esq, and in Hannah's lap is little John Armitage Tidd. Dad still has the somewhat cherubic look. Great Uncle John was a noted lawyer.

About a year later John and James posed with their mother, Lillian. Dad must have had one hell of a growth spurt, cause he has already the long gangly frame he was known for.

You can see even better Dad's well-known knobby knees in this one. World War II was on for America, and here we have the boys standing with Wilbur Shaw (who I do not know). Dad is holding a rifle, an early foreshadowing of his lifelong love for weapons, especially tinkering with them.

FAMILY PICS

Here are two pics, probably from 1970, while we were living in Edgewater Park, outside of Charleston.

Paul, Bobbie, Beth, and me.

Not sure the occasion, though perhaps xmas time, with the girls in their red dresses. Mom, me, Bobbie, Paul, Dad, and Beth.

By April of 1971 we were finally off of Anona Beach on the Gulf and in our only Florida home, on Lake Keystone in Odessa, which is about twenty miles north of Tampa, give or take. This picture was taken in the back yard (and fails to show the huge trees we had, a large oak and Australian pine, plus numerous cypress).

On the occasion of our parents' twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, we gathered at the homestead for a party and family picture. Dad is wearing his white Guyabara, I think, with the string of Hawaiian kokoa nuts. Bobbie, me, Mom, Paul, Dad, and Beth. You can see slightly out the huge window to the lake, with the limbs of the old oak.

MOM & DAD

Here are some pictures of Mom and Dad, from the late 1970s thru the 1980s.

The first comes from 1976. My parents are sitting on the loveseat in the livingroom, where we spent most of our time as a family, looking out on the lake through the huge plate-glass window, playing games, ironing, watching television. It was the biggest room in the house. You can see some of the cedar paneling that made the whole house a bit dark, but beautiful.

Mom and Dad sitting on the concrete dock/boathouse on Lake Keystone. This was taken around 1980.

In April of 1985 my parents took a cruise on the SS Royale, with a few of their friends. On the left of my parents are Jim & Angie Lee, and on the right are Angie and Bill Colon.

One of my favorites, this picture shows my parents while hiking in March 1986. I think this is Bland Mountain, and it looks clear but chilly.

GRANDPARENTS (TIDD)

Herewith some nice portraits of my grandparents, Lillian (Lee) Morley (Sigley) Tidd and Francis (Frank) Lasher Tidd, taken in 1962.

JAMES F. TIDD, USN

My Dad was interested in the navy at least by high school, where he was a reservist, apparently a forerunner of our modern Navy JROTC. After graduating he enlisted and trained Aviation Ordnance (AO) in Jacksonville. Apparently, while stationed there he heard about the Navy prep school and applied in hopes of earning his way into the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He succeeded and entered the school in 1955, graduating in 1959. Herewith a few pictures of Dad as he worked his way up the ranks, having served on both surface and undersurface ships. He left active service around 1970, but remained in the Reserves until he earned his Captain's rank. While in the Reserves he served on a destroyer (McCard), commanding an amphibious assault unit (I think medical), and on the staff at McDill for the Middle East. Quite an accomplished career. If he could, he would still be in the Navy, I can assure you that.

Here he is in high school, 1953.

Midshipman 4/c, USNA, Fall of 1955.

I think, in your senior year you get to invite your best gal to the Ring dance, where you present a miniature replica of your own class ring to her. I could have that wrong, but I know my mom had one, and I think this picture was taken on that day.

Dad graduated with the class of 1959. There should be some pictures of him with his parents, but I haven't found them yet. But here he is in his official senior class picture, Midshipman 1/c.

Dad made Lt. Commander sometimes in the 1970s, possibly 1974 or 1975. This is his official picture from 1977.

And lastly, we have to have a picture of him as Captain. This picture was taken in Tampa in 1985.

FRANK TIDD

During World War II my grandfather Frank was a Second Lt. in the U. S. Army. He trained for participation in the D-Day Invasion of France, but at the last moment was transferred to be an artillery instructor. This photo was taken while he was in Yuma, Arizona in April 1944.

This is a picture of granddad in 1974, I believe still in Trenton, New Jersey. I think it might have been taken in a precinct office, but it could have been almost anywhere. (There was what looked like a precinct map on the wall, and he had been active in local Republican politics.

SENIOR AS JUNIOR

This picture is of my father, James Francis Tidd, at about age three; the photograph was taken in Ashbury Park, New Jersey.

MOM

Herewith a lovely picture of my mother, Lydia Oxana (Chmilewska) Tidd, taken in 1959, probably about the time she married my father.

LILLIAN TIDD

Herewith some pictures of my paternal grandmother, Lillian Morley (Sigley) Tidd (1914-1 May 1980), who was often called Lee. The first is of her around age eighteen, possibly wearing her high school graduation dress. She was long-limbed, which is partly where my sister and I got our statures, though I perhaps also got my size from a maternal great grandfather, I was told.

Not sure when this picture was taken, but likely around 1940s, maybe early 1950s, when she was probably well into her career with the New Jersey department of education.

Taken in 1969, this photo is of my grandmother with my grandfather, Frank. Not sure where it was taken, but you can see her signature hairstyle. She was a classy and warm lady, a very loving grandmother.

Also 1969, this picture was taken during a visit to our home in Charleston, Edgewater Park. This is how I remember her most.

She would hate that I included this next picture, because it was taken about six months before she died, as she struggled with lung cancer and chemo therapy. The picture, I think, was taken at her last home, in Clermont, Florida. She was weakened, of course, but she remained vibrant and upbeat, and fun to be with even the last few times I saw her. She was the first person whose death affected me directly.

MILTON TIDD

Milton Tidd (14 September 1855 - 16 November 1906)

Milton was the son of Horace Tidd (21 February 1815 - 28 April 1869), who hailed from Cortland County, New York. Milton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died in Trenton, New Jersey. He was the owner of Tidd's Pharmacy in Trenton. His son was Walter (born 1895), whose son was Frank (born 1915), whose sons were James [and John, my uncle], whose sons are James (born 1960) and Paul (born 1965) [and daughters Elizabeth (born 1960) and Barbara (born 1963)]. This dapper man therefore is my great, great grandfather. The picture was taken by Suder Photography, 4 Greene Street, Trenton.

BREAKFAST WITH TIDDS

Beth and Bobbie, with Dad in tow, traveled through Columbia last night and today, and the boys and I had breakfast with them this morning. It was really nice to see them, even for a few hours.