Effie Clara (Burrows) Orpet (1879 - 1958)

Born 14 Nov 1879 in Chard, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Wife of Albert Harold Orpet — married 14 Feb 1908 in Clinton, MA

Descendants

Died 11 Jul 1958 at age 78 in Glendale, California

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Barry Smith [send private message] and Weldon Smith [send private message]

Biography

Effie's birth date is known to family members^[1]. Effie's birth registration and christening records are public^[2][3]. She was raised with her four siblings, and early on with her older half-siblings, on Victoria Road in Chard (See parents' bios.).

In 1901, she was 21 and working for her keep as a barmaid in an establishment run by Edith Love on Fore Street, Chard^[4]. Edith's youngest daughter was named Hilda, perhaps the inspiration for the naming of Effie's second daughter.

We don’t know how she met Albert, but Albert had relocated from Gloucester to the Chard area as a young man, where his occupation was grocery manager^[5].

Albert moved about looking for work for the next few years, as revealed in some loving letters he wrote to Effie discussing his difficulties and their future together^[6]. Unable to secure continuous employment, Albert emigrated to the USA in 1907, to follow in his father's and brother's trade as groundskeeper for large estates. After Effie's father died in Autumn of 1907, she immediately joined Albert, and they married in February 1908 in Clinton, Massachusetts^[7]. On their marriage certificate, her occupation is shown as bookkeeper. The notice of their marriage was posted in the Western Gazette in Yeovil, Somerset^[8].

Their four children were born in Massachusetts in the Boston area. In 1920, the family was living in Brookline, MA^[9]. In 1930, the family was living in New Canaan, CT^[10]. Sometime before 1930, they had secured employment as groundskeeper and housekeeper on the Naumberg estate on Silvermine Road in New Canaan. They lived in a cottage at the entrance to the estate near the greenhouses, garages, and chauffeurs' quarters. After Albert’s death in 1942, Effie continued to live and work on the Naumberg estate.

Sometime before 1950, she gave up her position and moved in with Hilda and son-in-law Jim^[11]. When Hilda and family moved to Colorado in 1952, Effie moved with the Smith family^[1].

Around 1955, daughter Hilda having had a third child, Effie returned east to live with daughter Dorothy in less crowded quarters, then about 1956 moved to Glendale, CA, to live with youngest son Albert, where she resided until her death in 1958^[1]. In 1957, Hilda and family moved to the Los Angeles area also.

Effie is buried with husband Albert at Lakeview Cemetery, New Canaan, CT^[1].

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Family recollection
2. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2XNN-41G : 1 October 2014), Effie Clara Burrows, 1880; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006,"; citing Birth Registration, Chard, Somerset, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
3. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N1MK-M5Q : 25 February 2022), Effie Clara Barrows, 1882.
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XS88-9G5 : 29 August 2015), Effie C Burrows in household of Edith H Love, Chard Borough, Somersetshire, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census,"; citing Chard subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XS8H-8MK : 28 August 2015), Albert H Orpet in household of Robert A Bell, Taunton St Mary Magdalen Within, Somersetshire, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census,"; citing Taunton subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ Letters in possession of grandson Weldon Smith
7. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4FS-YQX : 17 February 2016), Albert Harold Orpet and Effie Clara Burrows, 14 Feb 1908; citing Clinton, , Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,315,508.
8. ↑ "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCL-CWFQ : 17 July 2018), Albert Harold Orpet and Effie Clara Burrows, Yeovil, Somerset, England; records extracted FamilySearch and images digitized by FindMyPast; citing Yeovil, Somerset, England, 13 Mar 1908, The British Newspaper Archive, Ireland; FHL microfilm
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX1P-KPJ : 14 December 2015), Albert H Orput, Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; citing sheet 12A, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,721.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMP7-S3M : 8 December 2015), Albert H Orpet, 1930.
11. ↑ 1950 Federal Census

• Acknowledgement: family researcher and grandson Weldon Smith.

Autosomal DNA

• A triangulation (Chromosome 8: 13-19, 10.9cM) is revealed at MH.
• The MRCA couple are Samuel Borrow+Grace Hurford.
• The testing descendants and MH predicted relationships are: WS (self), DC (3rd-5th cousin), and KS (3rd-distant cousin).
• The respective lineages and actual relationships are:
  • WS->Effie Clara Burrows->Edward Burrow->Mathew Burrow->James Borrow->MRCA (4th g-grandson)
  • DC->Zelda Scholey->Alice May Wright->Cuthbert Kerslake->Thomas Kerslake->Mary Ann Billing->Samuel Billing->Alice Borrow->MRCA (6th g-granddaughter, 5C1R to WS)
  • KS->Alice May Wright->Cuthbert Kerslake->Thomas Kerslake->Mary Ann Billing->Samuel Billing->Alice Borrow->MRCA (5th g-grandson, 5th cousin to WS)
• Based on this evidence, we can CONFIRM Edward as PATERNAL parent.

mtDNA

• We CONFIRM Effie has mitochondrial (mtDNA) haplogroup U5b1c2b, through genetic testing by her grandson. U5b1c is a western European clade, found in Southern Europe (Portugal and Italy) among mesolithic Western European hunter gatherers (WHG). U5 itself is an ur-European mitochondrial signature, likely comprising the majority of the female population of Western Europe 40 thousand years ago.