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Wait, She Was Famous?

Photo: Martha Moore Avery, from Boston Partridge’s article “America's Troublemakers” published in Pearson’s Magazine (July 1908), page 22

I knew that “Martha G.” on my family tree had married Millard Fillmore Avery (1845-1930), but I didn’t know her maiden name. Searching in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives, I quickly found their wedding announcement in the Portland Daily Press. Now I know that her maiden name was Moore.

Source: GenealogyBank, Portland Daily Press (Portland, Maine), 31 March 1880, page 2

Looking further in the old newspapers, I found her obituary

Wait – she was famous?

I assumed that this couple, like almost all of my early New England relatives, lived quiet, industrious lives out of the limelight.

Source: GenealogyBank, Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 9 August 1929, page 8

So, it was quite a surprise to find out more of her life story. Her obituary describes her early years as a Socialist activist, her conversion to Catholicism, and her work as a lecturer on both of these subjects.

Some genealogical information in the article includes:

I found dozens of newspaper articles about her lectures and career.

There is also a lengthy article about her in Wikipedia which includes her photograph.

Photo: Martha Moore Avery, from Boston Partridge’s article “America’s Troublemakers” published in Pearson’s Magazine (July 1908), page 22. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

I also found another article about her career, published in 1968:

Genealogy Tip: Search the old newspapers for all of your relatives. You might discover there is a lot more to their stories then you thought.

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