Dora Forrest,
was ninth of the eleven children of Spencer and Amelia
Forrest, of Smithfield, PA. She worked for various
families in
Mansfield, PA and later in Elmira, NY. She was
a very good seamstress
and could do fine tailoring. She had to go to work
when she was very
young and her sewing skills helped her to get good jobs.
She was in
her early twenties when she married George Harrington of
Mansfield, PA. On May 23, 1895, in Lambs Creek,
PA, Milfred Harrington,
son of George and Dora Harrington, was born.
Dora had worked
in George's parent's home in Mansfield. The parents
were not pleased with the marriage and disowned their
son and his family.
George was always sickly and in 1916
he died. Dora had to continue
to work to support herself and her son. They moved
to Elmira, NY.
Dora married
a second time, in April 1921, to Fay Serles Elliott, whose
parents lived in the village of Lowman, NY. Fay
was a twin, and his
brother, Ray, married Dora's niece, Olive Newell.
Fay was raised on a
farm and when they were married he went to farming
in Chemung, NY, but
he didn't really like farming, so when WW II began they
moved to
Metuchen, NJ and Fay worked in the ship yards.
Dora died of cancer in
1953 at the home of her son at 369 10th Ave., Paterson,
NJ. Dora is
buried in a tiny family cemetery on the farm near Lowman,
NY, in the town
of Ashland, that had for many years the home of the Serles,
then the farm
had been home to three generations of Elliott's.
Milford
.
Milfred Harrington
was born 0n May 23, 1895 in Lamb's Creek, PA. He
lived with his mother in Elmira, NY and went to school
in Elmira, NY.
When a woman worked in a job like seamstress, she was
often expected to
live in the home and that wasn't always convenient with
a rammmbunctious
young son. Milfred often stayed with his aunts
and uncles - he spent so
much time at the home of Blanche and Mert Newell, that
he and my father,
who was about a year older than Mil, felt a brotherly
attachment that
lasted all their lives.
(Picture of young Mifred)
As a teenager, Milford worked on farms summers and several summers he
worked on the excursion boats on Lake Seneca from Watkins Glen to Geneva.
He may also have worked on the ships on the Great Lakes.
Milfred served in the Navy during WW I. After he got out of service he
went to Patterson, NJ and worked in a factory there. He had developed
severe asthma. He quit his job in the factory and took all the money he
could raise and fitted out a truck to peddle odds and ends, sewing
supplies, cooking flavorings andn spices, etc. and he headed out for CA.
He did not get relief from the asthma anywhere in the west. He returned
to Patterson and lived out his life there.
Milfred married on February 23, 1921 to Marie Eva Jenett DeSaBarre, who
was born in 1897 in the state of Maine, d. September, 23, 1963. in
Patterson, NJ.
Milfred and Eva adopted a boy they named John Harrington. I know very
little about the boy except that he married and had a large family. In
Milfred's last years John, or Jackie , as he was always called, and his
family moved in with Milfred and cared for him. As far as I know, they
still live at 369 10th Ave., Patterson, NJ.
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