Monday, January 31, 2011

No Longer a Mystery: Arthur Homer Mylott 's Birthplace. Alternate title: "Birthing Babies on a Boat"


Right: Arthur Homer Mylot
 with his cousin Effie Van Hoesen
 on the left
 at Doyle City, Waterford. circa 1922
This may be Arthur in the wagon and older brother pulling
Arthur is the smallest kid in the group
The boy in black looks like older brother, Milo.




Arthur Homer Mylott,
daughter with the earmuffs,
and Arthur's mother, Edith Lida Glode.
Around the holidays 1956.


Until the day he died, Arthur Homer Mylott, never knew exactly where he was born.  In the early 1980s he applied for a passport.  When he went to get a birth certificate, he found out he had an interesting challenge.  There was no birth certificate in the village of Waterford, NY.  There was no birth certificate in the town of Waterford.  He was told the State of New York probably had a record of his birth and to write to New York State.  No record was found at the state.  Passport officials stated he could get a letter written by an older sibling stating he was a brother and always had been a brother and born in Waterford.  His brother Milo obliged and a notary signed the document.  He finally got a passport.  But the question always nagged him and he wondered exactly why he had no birth certificate and exactly where he was born.  He was always told he was born on the boat- the Champlain Canal boat his parents worked in summers.  He joked about it,  "I was born on the boat" but he was never certain.  Then while checking Ancestry.com for his great grandfather's birth in Québec, I passed right ofter a name that appeared in my search "Joseph Arthur Omer Mylott".  I was looking for "Robert Mylott" and that didn't seem close enough to pursue.  The next day I looked and there was "Joseph Arthur Omer Mylott" again.  This time it caught me off guard and I took a deep breath.  Could it really be my Arthur?
Yes it was.  Joseph Arthur Omer Mylott, son of Benjamin Mylott and Ida Glode, baptized on July 15th, 1918 in St Joseph's Church in Chamby, Québec!

Edith Ida Glode
1889-1965
A strong woman, a survivor.
Giving birth to babies on boats!
A widow and
mother of Milo, Edgar and Arthur
and several children who did not live to adulthood.
Grandmother, Great grandmother too.


St Joseph's, Chambly




The document states Arthur's father, Benjamin Mylott,  is a navigator.  Arthur Mylott was born on the canal boat while in the Chambly Canal!  





Unfortunately, he never knew...it was a little too late.



Joseph Arthur Omer Mylott
July 15, 1918 - October 14, 2006
The Best of the Best
 A hero, my "King Arthur"




Poestenskill Creek


Green Island, NY
In Panama Canal Zone 1939

and finally below are images of the canal at Chambly....





1 comment:

  1. Very interesting Mary Beth - I enjoy reading all your posts. You really have done a great job with this - Love, Cousin Carol Ann

    ReplyDelete