Marriage of Frederick Beesley

Frederick Charles Beesley

Married

BIRTH: 11 Sep 1896, in Bridgeport, CT

BIOGRAPHY:

        Frances graduated from Yale Business College (later Stone College) in New Haven. She got a job as a typist at the Shelton Writer Press and was taught how to operate a Monotype machine used for casting or setting type. It had the same keys as a typewriter.

        Next, she worked for the Ansonia Sentinel where she was taught to use a Linotype, a keyboard operated type setting machine that casts an entire line of lead type on one slug.

        In 1917, at the age of 20, Frances worked for the New Haven Union (newspaper) and became the first woman Linotype operator in the New Haven area. Her male co-workers called her Frank Murphy because they were mostly Irish. She became an active union member, and was elected delegate to the International Typographical Union Convention in Vermont.

        When the Union ceased to exist, she went to work for the New York Times, where there were two or three other female Linotype operators. She didn't like New York City, so she came back to CT and worked for the Waterbury Republican. She got mad at the paper and went to work for the Waterbury Democrat where she was the only woman, and they all called her "Ma". When the Democrat folded, she went back to the Republican.

        Her talents were always in demand, especially for editorials, because she set what was called a "clean type". She was particularly careful when printing an obituary, because it is "the last thing a man has, and it should be printed correctly".

        Her husband, Frederick C. Beesley, from London, England, had stopped to visit his sister, Bessie Petitjean, in CT, on the way to accept a job in Australia. He met Frances, and stayed in CT to marry her instead. He was also in the newspaper business.

        At the time of the 1930 Census, Frances K. was 33 years old, and living with her husband, Frederick (36), and their adopted son, Edward F.(6) at 22 Cypress Street, Waterbury, New Haven County, CT (4-WD - Series: T626; Roll: 280; Page: 49; District: 255).

According to the Waterbury, Naugatuck, and Watertown, Connecticut City Directory, 1932, Frances was living with her husband, Frederick, at 503 Piedmont Street, Waterbury, CT. Frederick was listed as being a printer at the Waterbury Republican.

In the Waterbury, Naugatuck, and Watertown, Connecticut City Directory, 1946, Frances was listed as being a linotype operator for the Waterbury Democrat, Inc. Frederick was a printer at the Naugatuck News. They were living at 172 Newbury Street, Waterbury, CT. Their son, Edward, was in the U.S. Navy and renting at their home.

According to the Waterbury, Naugatuck, and Watertown, Connecticut City Directory, 1948, Francis was living with her husband, Frederick, at 172 Newbury Street, Waterbury, CT. Frederick was a printer at the Naugatuck News. Their son, Edward, had moved to Southington, with his wife, Marion.

In 1950, the Beesleys moved to St. Augustine, FL, where she worked on the St. Augustine Record, the oldest paper, in the oldest town in the country.

Francis spent the later years of her life as a resident at the Masonic Home and Hospital in Wallingford, CT, where she remained active with games, weekly discussion groups, and crafts. She was a favorite with the "candy stripers", who called her "grandma".

DEATH: Frances died on 19 Mar 1985, at the Masonic Home and Hospital, in Wallingford, CT.

Children

Frederick E. Beesley (formerly Edward F.)

BIRTH: 19 Jan 1924

BIOGRAPHY:

        At the time of the 1930 Census, Edward F. was 6 years old, adopted, and living with his Father, Frederick (36), and his Mother, Frances K. (33), at 22 Cypress Street, Waterbury, CT (4-WD - Series: T626; Roll: 280; Page: 49; District: 255).

         In the Waterbury, Naugatuck, and Watertown, Connecticut City Directory, 1946, Edward was in the U.S. Navy and renting at his parents' home at 172 Newbury Street, Waterbury, CT. His Mother, Frances was listed as being a linotype operator for the Waterbury Democrat, Inc., and his Father, Frederick, was a printer at the Naugatuck News.

        According to the Waterbury, Naugatuck, and Watertown, Connecticut City Directory, 1946, Edward, had moved to Southington, with his wife, Marion.

        Edward's name was changed to Frederick E. Beesley, and he was living in Georgia at the time of his Mother, Frances' death, 19 Mar 1985.

DEATH: Frederick died on 15 Dec 2003, in Columbus, Muscogee, Georgia.

Evelyn Beesley

BIRTH: 17 Aug 1930

BIOGRAPHY:

        Evelyn married William Robinson and lived in Old Saybrook, CT, until her death, at the age of 41.

DEATH: 29 Jan 1972

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