She was the daughter of Lyman Howe and Electa Wilder (Southwick) Balcom. She married Jesse Wheeler Babcock on 7/4/1883 in Marlboro, Middlesex County, MA.
Nellie was a member of the Society of Friends and believed in living her life by their tenets. When the Bonnazoli family moved to Bolton from Italy, there were some folks in town that were not very friendly or open to them. Nellie took to visiting them, teaching them to speak English and helping them get settled and accepted in the town. The Bonnazolis are always spoken of warmly in my family; I remember visiting them with my Dad and Mom when I was a child. There was a strong bond between the two families, mostly I feel, due to the hospitality and acceptance of Nellie.
My dad (her grandson) remembers that she would fill a large tub with water to do the dishes. The family would eat with her at the home of her daughter, Mae C.(Babcock) Ridley and her husband, Walter, in Dedham each Sunday.
No matter how hot it was outside and no matter how wilted everyone else was, Grandma never wilted. Dad said that he always thought that she stayed that starched because her clothes and hair didn't dare wilt on her!" She had an outhouse and a hand pump for water in the kitchen......she also kept a "Thunder Jug" (commode) under her bed.
In the 1930 Census, she is enumerated with Marvetta Chandler in Leominster as a lodger.
Nellie was a member of the Society of Friends and believed in living her life by their tenets. When the Bonnazoli family moved to Bolton from Italy, there were some folks in town that were not very friendly or open to them. Nellie took to visiting them, teaching them to speak English and helping them get settled and accepted in the town. The Bonnazolis are always spoken of warmly in my family; I remember visiting them with my Dad and Mom when I was a child. There was a strong bond between the two families, mostly I feel, due to the hospitality and acceptance of Nellie.
My dad (her grandson) remembers that she would fill a large tub with water to do the dishes. The family would eat with her at the home of her daughter, Mae C.(Babcock) Ridley and her husband, Walter, in Dedham each Sunday.
No matter how hot it was outside and no matter how wilted everyone else was, Grandma never wilted. Dad said that he always thought that she stayed that starched because her clothes and hair didn't dare wilt on her!" She had an outhouse and a hand pump for water in the kitchen......she also kept a "Thunder Jug" (commode) under her bed.
In the 1930 Census, she is enumerated with Marvetta Chandler in Leominster as a lodger.
She was the daughter of Lyman Howe and Electa Wilder (Southwick) Balcom. She married Jesse Wheeler Babcock on 7/4/1883 in Marlboro, Middlesex County, MA.
Nellie was a member of the Society of Friends and believed in living her life by their tenets. When the Bonnazoli family moved to Bolton from Italy, there were some folks in town that were not very friendly or open to them. Nellie took to visiting them, teaching them to speak English and helping them get settled and accepted in the town. The Bonnazolis are always spoken of warmly in my family; I remember visiting them with my Dad and Mom when I was a child. There was a strong bond between the two families, mostly I feel, due to the hospitality and acceptance of Nellie.
My dad (her grandson) remembers that she would fill a large tub with water to do the dishes. The family would eat with her at the home of her daughter, Mae C.(Babcock) Ridley and her husband, Walter, in Dedham each Sunday.
No matter how hot it was outside and no matter how wilted everyone else was, Grandma never wilted. Dad said that he always thought that she stayed that starched because her clothes and hair didn't dare wilt on her!" She had an outhouse and a hand pump for water in the kitchen......she also kept a "Thunder Jug" (commode) under her bed.
In the 1930 Census, she is enumerated with Marvetta Chandler in Leominster as a lodger.
Nellie was a member of the Society of Friends and believed in living her life by their tenets. When the Bonnazoli family moved to Bolton from Italy, there were some folks in town that were not very friendly or open to them. Nellie took to visiting them, teaching them to speak English and helping them get settled and accepted in the town. The Bonnazolis are always spoken of warmly in my family; I remember visiting them with my Dad and Mom when I was a child. There was a strong bond between the two families, mostly I feel, due to the hospitality and acceptance of Nellie.
My dad (her grandson) remembers that she would fill a large tub with water to do the dishes. The family would eat with her at the home of her daughter, Mae C.(Babcock) Ridley and her husband, Walter, in Dedham each Sunday.
No matter how hot it was outside and no matter how wilted everyone else was, Grandma never wilted. Dad said that he always thought that she stayed that starched because her clothes and hair didn't dare wilt on her!" She had an outhouse and a hand pump for water in the kitchen......she also kept a "Thunder Jug" (commode) under her bed.
In the 1930 Census, she is enumerated with Marvetta Chandler in Leominster as a lodger.
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