Rita’s Red Notebook

My mother’s notes:

The following paragraph was written by my maternal grandmother ( Margaret M. Coleman ) in a book that contains a record of my grandmother’s expenditures and contains information from 1909 to 1932. 

“ Tuesday, Sept. 6, 1911 

Commenced teaching at Baldwin’s school. The day is going off rather slowly as I have but four pupils.  It is cold and dark and gloomy today. We have the threshers at home.” 

The following is my mother’s ( Rita O’Donnell Fries ) handwriting:

In February 1901 Frank Coleman slipped on a huge, icy boulder sustaining a compound fracture of the leg. He seemed to be well on the road to recovery, in fact, the Doctor had given him permission to get up the next day, when approximately six weeks later, on Good Friday evening, April 2, 1901, while reading in bed with his little daughter, Noreen, he died unexpectedly of a blood clot, (I believe it was called apoplexy).  When Frank died suddenly at the age of 39, he left his wife, Hannah ByrneColeman with seven children and one on the way - Kathleen was born in September 1901, six months after father’s death. 

My grandmother, Margaret M. Coleman, who was fourteen years old at the time, was home with her Mom and Dad and little sister, Noreen when her Dad dropped the book and fell back on his pillow. None of the boys were home at the time, and Margaret ran alone to try to get help but to no avail as Frank had died instantly of a blood clot. Hannah Byrne Coleman, who was only 35 years old at the time of Frank’s death, was a brave, energetic, loving woman raised eight children alone.  Since Margaret was the oldest (14 years old - having been born on February 16, 1887)much of the responsibility fell on her shoulders. 

Her brother, Lawrence, was born a year after Margaret, on March 31, 1888, and the relationship between Lawrence and Margaret was a close and loving one.  My grandmother told my Mother that she was closer to Lawrence than to any of her other brothers and sisters. 

After Christopher (Chris), came Martin (Mart), Anna May,  Francis, Norine (? Noreen). There were two other children who died in infancy (one was named Mary). Kathleen, the youngest, was born posthumously, in September 1901.