William Waterman Aldrich II was the first born son of William Waterman Aldrich I and Martha Bassett Aldrich. He was a farmer, learning the trade from his father. In 1857 he bought land from Christian Saddler and built a house before marrying Jeanette Bates on June 12, 1862. They had ten children, all pictured here. It is said that for each child’s birth, a tree was planted on the lawn and the house was steadily expanded to accommodate the family. All seven daughters were married in the parlor of the house William built, and the funerals of William and Jeanette were held there. The house still stands at 366 Bassett Road.
Back row, left to right: Annabelle, Evalena, Martha Bassett, Howard Vincent, Imogene Rachel, Berthenia Capitola, and Edythe Amelia.
Front row, left to right: Gertrude Florence, William Waterman II, Clifton Irving, Jeanette Bates, and William Waterman III.
Imogene Rachel Aldrich
b. 6 May 1863, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 24 Mar. 1931, Dover Village, Ohio
Imogene was the first child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. She married George Alexander Williams on November 10, 1880. They had five children together. George ran a fruit farm on Center Ridge Road, which their son Leonard later took over after George’s death. Imogene passed away at the age of 68 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Westlake, Ohio.
Berthenia Capitola Aldrich
b. 2 May 1864, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 26 Apr. 1894, Carlisle Township, Ohio
Berthenia was the second child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. She married Robert John Smith on June 24, 1885. Robert was a farmer and both of his parents were from England. They had six children together. She passed away at the age of 30 and is buried in Ridgelawn Cemetery, Elyria, Ohio.
Martha Bassett Aldrich
b. 25 Nov. 1865, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 12 Aug. 1957, Chicago, Illinois
Martha Bassett Aldrich was the third child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. She was named after William’s mother. She married Isaac Beaucock on October 27, 1887. They had three children together. At some point between their marriage, and the birth of their son Clarence in 1897, they moved to Chicago where Isaac worked as a contract decorator and painter. Martha passed away at the age of 92 and is buried in Irving Park Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.
Evalena Jeanette Aldrich
b. 17 Mar. 1867, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 5 Mar. 1956, Lorain County, Ohio
Evalena (Evelyn) Aldrich was the fourth child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. She married George Linsley in 1896 and had a daughter, Grace, in 1898. She then married Heinrich Lade on March 22, 1903. They had a son, Bernhardt Lade. Henry passed away in 1907. Evalena then married John Meister, divorcing him in 1918 before marrying John W. Thomson who worked at a steel plant. Sometime before 1930, he passed away and Evalena and her son went to live with Evalena’s mother. She lived to be 89.
Howard Vincent Aldrich
b. 22 Aug. 1869, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 6 Mar. 1947, Cleveland, Ohio
Howard Vincent Aldrich was the fifth child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. He married Alice McCarty on November 17, 1889. They had two children together. Howard worked as a manager of a seed store in Cleveland. He passed away at the age of 78 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Westlake, Ohio.
Annabelle Hurst Aldrich
b. 30 Oct. 1873, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 9 Oct. 1950, Lakewood, Ohio
Annabelle was the sixth child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. She married Clayton M. Terry on January 25, 1897. He worked as a clerk at a steel plant in 1910. They had three children together. She passed away at the age of 76 and is buried in Butternut Ridge Cemetery, Eaton, Ohio.
Edythe Amelia Aldrich
b. 14 Aug. 1876, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 8 Jan. 1961, Elyria, Ohio
Edythe Amelia Aldrich was the seventh child of William and Jeanette Alrdich. She married Herbert Marcus Barker on April 5, 1905. Herbert had a younger sister, Mary Adeline Barker who married Edythe’s younger brother, Clifton. Edythe and Herbert moved to Elba, New York within a year, where Herbert started a farm. The couple had one child together, Gertrude Barker. Herbert passed away in 1924. By 1930, Edythe had moved back to Ohio where she made a home with her daughter in Elyria. She passed away at the age of 86 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Westlake, Ohio.
Clifton Irving Aldrich
b. 21 Nov. 1878, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 17 May 1970, Avon, Ohio
Clifton Irving Aldrich was the eighth child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. He married Mary Adeline Barker on August 27, 1903. Mary Adeline’s brother would marry Clifton’s older sister two years later. Clifton and Mary Adeline had three children together. They raised their children on the fruit farm Clifton owned. He passed away at the age of 92 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Westlake, Ohio.
Gertrude Florence Aldrich
b. 3 Apr. 1880, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 25 Dec. 1949, Benton Harbor, Michigan
Gertrude Florence Aldrich was the ninth child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. She married Frank Leslie Simanton on March 7, 1907. In 1908, when Gertrude gave birth to her first child, Edith, they were living in Illinois. By 1910 they had moved to Fargo, North Dakota where Frank taught high school. By 1920 they were living in Illinois again, in Brookside, where Frank was working as an entomologist with the U.S. government. Ten years later they were living in Benton Harbor, Michigan where Frank continued his work as an entomologist. The couple stayed in Benton Harbor for the rest of their lives, having a total of five children together. Gertrude passed away at the age of 69 and is buried in Crystal Springs Cemetery, Benton Harbor, Michigan.
William Waterman Aldrich III
b. 4 Sept. 1882, Dover Township, Ohio
d. 30 Sept. 1946, Toledo, Ohio
William Waterman Aldrich III was the tenth child of William and Jeanette Aldrich. He married Florence Mitchell on December 25, 1906, and they had one child together, Melvern William Aldrich. They lived in Rockport (now Rocky River) where William worked as a clerk at a coal office. The couple later divorced in 1918. William then married Ruby Teasdale on August 16, 1920, and they had two children together, William Waterman Aldrich IV and Norma Jean Aldrich. By 1930 he was working as a manager for a heating company in Elyria. Ten years later in 1940, he and Ruby were divorced and he was working as a timekeeper in Lorain. He passed away at the age of 64 and is buried in Ridgehill Memorial Cemetery, Amherst, Ohio.