Sixteen
The Life and Times of my
16 Great-Great Grandparents
Frank and Jane
Millville got its name in the 1790s from the numerous mills and factories that were planned for the site. Because South Jersey has an abundance of silica sand (a fine white grained sand, similar to that of coastal beaches), it was perfect for the beginnings of the glass industry that we are proud of today.
- Courtesy of the City of Millville website
I don't have any likeness of Frank or Jane. Theirs is a story of hardship and struggle. Documents show a family that worked very hard and were very close.
Francis “Frank” Phifer was born on 8 March 1837 the second of 11 children. His parents were Thomas and Susanna Vanaman Phifer. Thomas was a box maker and later a farmer and the family lived in Winslow Township New Jersey, just north of Vineland.
Jane Dundas was born on 16 August 1844 somewhere in New Jersey, to Thomas and Susan Dundas. Both her parents were Irish immigrants. When she was six years old her family lived in Hamilton Township, much farther north in New Jersey. By the time she’s 17, her family has moved to Winslow Township, no doubt where she met and fell in love with Frank. Five years later the 1865 State Census shows the Dundas family still living in Winslow. But now Jane’s last name is Phifer and Frank has moved in with her family, narrowing down their wedding date to sometime between 1860 and 1865.
The Dundas home as it looked on Google Maps in 2018
Jump ahead five more years and they’ve moved into their own home and already have three children, the oldest William, is five years old so she must have been pregnant in the 1865 Census. They also have a six month old, Thomas, and a two year old, Frank Jr., my great grandfather.
Ten years later, the 1880 Census shows them living in Millville New Jersey and reveals a few surprises. Jane is now sadly listed as a widow, and there are two new children. They added their final child, James, in 1874, but surprisingly the other child is actually their oldest, Ella May. She is two years older than William, but why wasn’t she listed in any previous census? I was able to find an 1870 Census that showed her living with the Wolfs, not actual wolves but Godaloup and Amy Wolf and attending school at seven years old. I can’t find an explanation for this. I can only assume times were hard and it was beneficial to young Ella May. In 1880 she’s 17 years old, back living with her widowed mother, and working in the cotton mill. Three of her brothers were all working in the glass factory, presumably where their father had worked before his death, at the ages of 14, 11, and 10 years old. Only 6 year old James is attending school. Times were indeed hard.
1880 Federal Census
This is a picture found online of children working at a glass factory in Millville New Jersey. I am convinced that the boy second from the right is Frank's son, Frank Jr.
Lewis Hines was a photographer known for his documentation of exploited child workers and government projects.
More than 40 percent of American children under the age of 14 worked in 1900. Children labored in mills, factories, and shops; their employment was especially high in the textile industry. Deprived of regular education and exposed to dangerous working conditions, these young workers often suffered from impaired growth and life-altering injuries. In 1903 a strike by textile workers in Philadelphia provided a public stage for the child labor problem. Labor activist Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, determined that “no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit,” led a 92-mile march from Philadelphia to New York City, with the goal of meeting with President Theodore Roosevelt. Dubbed the “March of the Mill Children,” this ragtag group rallied supporters and raised money for the labor movement as they made their way to New York. While Mother Jones failed to meet the President, the March of the Mill Children attracted national attention to the plight of child workers.
Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children
More Millville boys working, can we get those boys some shoes?
Because the 1890 Census reports were lost in a fire, we have to skip ahead 20 years. In 1900 not much had changed. They have moved to another house in Millville, 334 East Broad Street. Sound familiar? Jane lives there with all five of her children ranging in age from 26 to 36. Ella May is now a Miliner (person who makes hats) and all the boys still work in the glass factory, William as a laborer, the rest Glass Bottle Blowers. The big change in 1900? A new Phifer. Lizzie Phifer who has been married to Frank for 2 years. Lizzie is Elizabeth Bell from the previous chapter, Daniel and Margaret’s daughter. The Census tells us that one child was born to Lizzie and Frank, but has died. The baby’s name was Frank and is buried at Mt Pleasant Cemetery where his parents would one day join him.
Jane died in 1917 and left the house to her 5 children (334 East Broad Street). Frank Jr. bought the remaining 4/5ths of the house from his siblings. He lived there with his wife Elizabeth and three children, Leon, Meredith, and Margaret. It was only a few blocks away from the house of Matilda Young (see map below), where Leon would meet her and marry her on her 18th birthday, much to the chagrin of her father.
Elizabeth would live in that house long after Frank Jr. died, even after her second marriage to Jerry Hoffman.
Frank's son, Frank Jr, with his father-in-law, Daniel Bell
334 East Broad Street, Millville NJ, as it looks on Google Maps in 2018
Their Children
Ella May Phifer was born 1 May 1863 in Fislerville New Jersey. She married John Mullen and lived the rest of her life in Millville, never having children. In her younger days, Ella May worked in a cotton mill and as a milliner, or hat maker. She died in 1959.
William Phifer was born on the forth of July, 1865. He worked in the glass factory as early as 14, and did that for almost his entire life. He never married or had children. In later years he lived with his sister Ella May. It's not clear when William died, but it was some time after 1940.
Frank Phifer Jr., my great grandfather, was born on 25 June 1868 in Clayton New Jersey. He worked in the glass factory as early as age 11. He married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bell on 28 May 1897 in Millville. Together they had 4 children, the first, Frank, died in infancy. The other three were Leon, Meredith and Margaret. Frank Jr. worked hard his entire life, never giving up, always wanting more for his family. He died on 21 February 1922 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Millville.
Frank Jr. may have worked in the glass factory as young as 11 years old, but he made sure his children went to school. This is the Millville High School graduating class of 1918. Handsome young Leon Phifer sits bottom right, well prepared to provide a nice life for his family.
This is Frank Jr's daughter Margaret Phifer Hunter
A day at the beach for Frank's two sons, Meredith and Leon
Thomas Phifer was born in November of 1869. He was working in the glass factory at 10 years old, and never went beyond the third grade. He worked there most of his life and never married nor had children. In his later years he lived with his widowed aunt, Susie Dundas. He died sometime after 1940.
James Phifer was born on 2 March 1874. He married a lady named Neda Frankle in 1906 and had two children Anna and James, 13 years apart. Like his brothers, James was a glass blower for most of his life. No record of his death, but was sometime after 1940.
We know Frank Sr. died sometime before 1880 and Jane died on 23 December 1917. They were buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Millville. I do not have a picture of their headstone, but I'm working on it.
Extras
Millville neighborhood where Leon and Matilda lived.
Newlyweds, Leon and Matilda Young Phifer
This famous German surname is occupational. It can describe either a piper, possibly in the military sense of pipes and drums, although more probably in the general sense of a musician who played the pipes at the various festivals and travelling theatres of the period.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Phifer#ixzz5LzfaL5Ti
I find it ironic that a family known for glass blowing and pipe smoking would have a surname that so aptly fit.
Painting by Matilda Phifer