b. March 1895 Pembroke, Bermuda
d. February 1963 New Jersey, USA
She was my paternal grandmother. She died when I was 6 years old. I have few memories of her but always she was gentle, quiet, with a lilting voice, freckles and a mole on her left cheek. Her hair was curly and dark, always kept braided and wrapped around her head held in place securely. She loved miniatures and kept a neat and tidy home loving small and simple. She was grateful for what she had and was a very religious woman living her life through her faith.
I've been working on my family history lately and have been absolutely fascinated by my findings. I love history and geography anyway but putting facts, names, and places together brings history to life for me, and gives my relatives another breath and a voice. I believe their stories deserve to be told.
Bermuda has been in my mind for the last few weeks. My father's family were all born there before they immigrated in 1919 to the US. My father was the first in his family to be born in the states, which makes him an Anchor Baby in today's terms. The first baby born in the states is an American Citizen by birth and therefore valuable for an immigrant family.
Following is a 6 word story on my grandmother's life. Not complete but a good start.
- Born in Bermuda to a family not completely her own, Irene found love from one of the very handsome George brothers.
- At 24, the young Mrs. George sails off to America with her 3 children in tow to begin a new life following her husband's American dream.
- Her best friend and fellow adventurer died of TB at 26 years old in '21 leaving 5 children and a husband behind.
- Four years and two children later the books and desks were burned at the Avon School after they found that her two oldest sons both had Leprosy, being taken away to a Leper Colony in Carville, Louisianna.
- Six years later, at 36, she found herself a widow and single mother of 6 after her husband died in an accident at work, leaving her penniless during the Great Depression with no where to turn.
- From the onion fields of Bermuda, single motherhood, bearing the weight of her life alone, no one to torn to she perservered and lived in the first projects built in Newark in the 60s. Ending in an adorable victorian cottage in the historical town of Ocean Grove, NJ on the Jersey Shore, Irene’s life speaks to an immigrant woman’s journey.
