In 1894 Arno Preston Stanley (1865-1937) wrote a letter to his fourth cousin, Mabelle Estelle Stanley (1868-1955), daughter of Robert S. Stanley and Phoebe Jane (Gilley) Stanley, [both descended from Sans Stanley (1702-) and Mary (Charder) Stanley (1706-1748)] and asked for her hand in marriage: "Dear Mabel I love you with all my heart and I am willing to part with all on earth for your presents if you will join with me now at the present time but after you read this, and don’t see fit to join with me I will say no more about it and give up and die in despair I shall feel as if I have not a friend on earth if you say no if you choose others ways I hope you will be happy Through life and when I die I hope to meet with you in heaven if god is willing for me to please write on this peper and give me ether way you choose This is the way I feel I trust in god that we may be happy through life if you ascept please answer yes or no and give me this piece of peper back Yours Truly Arno. P. Stanley Live or die I shall think of you as a friend and one that love you well and you may think as you please" Mabelle added a penciled note, “Yes Dear,” in the space provided in his letter. They filed their intention to marry on October 25, 1894 and were married on November 3, 1894 at Cranberry Isles. Mabelle died on March 24, 1955, at the age of 86, at the Bay View Nursing Home in South Portland, Maine. She had saved the hopeful, loving letter Arno had written to her 61 years before. Her family buried her near Arno in the Stanley Cemetery No. 3 (Map 6 – Lot 1), Great Cranberry Island, Maine. Arno would have been living at his father, Enoch Boynton Stanley's house at Great Cranberry Island when he wrote the letter. Mabel's name was spelled Mabelle on her gravestone and curators use that spelling, but have left Arno's Mabel as it appears in his letter. Arno and Mabel's grandson, Ralph Warren Stanley, surmises that she was known as Mabel and that her relatives put on airs when they changed it to Mabelle on her gravestone.
Description: In 1894 Arno Preston Stanley (1865-1937) wrote a letter to his fourth cousin, Mabelle Estelle Stanley (1868-1955), daughter of Robert S. Stanley and Phoebe Jane (Gilley) Stanley, [both descended from Sans Stanley (1702-) and Mary (Charder) Stanley (1706-1748)] and asked for her hand in marriage: "Dear Mabel I love you with all my heart and I am willing to part with all on earth for your presents if you will join with me now at the present time but after you read this, and don’t see fit to join with me I will say no more about it and give up and die in despair I shall feel as if I have not a friend on earth if you say no if you choose others ways I hope you will be happy Through life and when I die I hope to meet with you in heaven if god is willing for me to please write on this peper and give me ether way you choose This is the way I feel I trust in god that we may be happy through life if you ascept please answer yes or no and give me this piece of peper back Yours Truly Arno. P. Stanley Live or die I shall think of you as a friend and one that love you well and you may think as you please" Mabelle added a penciled note, “Yes Dear,” in the space provided in his letter. They filed their intention to marry on October 25, 1894 and were married on November 3, 1894 at Cranberry Isles. Mabelle died on March 24, 1955, at the age of 86, at the Bay View Nursing Home in South Portland, Maine. She had saved the hopeful, loving letter Arno had written to her 61 years before. Her family buried her near Arno in the Stanley Cemetery No. 3 (Map 6 – Lot 1), Great Cranberry Island, Maine. Arno would have been living at his father, Enoch Boynton Stanley's house at Great Cranberry Island when he wrote the letter. Mabel's name was spelled Mabelle on her gravestone and curators use that spelling, but have left Arno's Mabel as it appears in his letter. Arno and Mabel's grandson, Ralph Warren Stanley, surmises that she was known as Mabel and that her relatives put on airs when they changed it to Mabelle on her gravestone. [show more]
Left to right: Edwin Marion Spurling (1896-1977) Francis Milton Spurling (1896-1958) - brother to Hervey Merton Spurling (1899-1971) Francis and Hervey were third cousins once removed from Edwin. There is a sidewheel steamer, possibly the "Mount Desert" in the background.
Description: Left to right: Edwin Marion Spurling (1896-1977) Francis Milton Spurling (1896-1958) - brother to Hervey Merton Spurling (1899-1971) Francis and Hervey were third cousins once removed from Edwin. There is a sidewheel steamer, possibly the "Mount Desert" in the background.
Left to Right: Cora A. Richardson, Mrs. Gilbert H. Rosebrook (1867-1954) Mabel Estelle Stanley Cora and Mabel would have been third cousins if Cora had been born to her adopted father as she and Mabel would both have escended from John (1741-1811) and Emma Cross Rich (1740-1803). Island relationships being what they were, the two women were distantly related by marriage to each other anyway.
Description: Left to Right: Cora A. Richardson, Mrs. Gilbert H. Rosebrook (1867-1954) Mabel Estelle Stanley Cora and Mabel would have been third cousins if Cora had been born to her adopted father as she and Mabel would both have escended from John (1741-1811) and Emma Cross Rich (1740-1803). Island relationships being what they were, the two women were distantly related by marriage to each other anyway.
Left to Right: Stanley - Esther Maybelle (Stanley) Spurling (1895-1984) - Mrs. Francis Marion Spurling - daughter of Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley Stanley - Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley (1868-1955) - Mrs. Arno Preston Stanley Stanley - Albert Ernest Stanley (1871-1949) - brother of Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley The woman at the far right of the photograph may have been Edna (Lewis) Coulter (1907-) - Mrs. Winfred Everson Coulter. Her husband, Winfred, was a first cousin once removed to Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley, according to Ralph Warren Stanley.
Description: Left to Right: Stanley - Esther Maybelle (Stanley) Spurling (1895-1984) - Mrs. Francis Marion Spurling - daughter of Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley Stanley - Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley (1868-1955) - Mrs. Arno Preston Stanley Stanley - Albert Ernest Stanley (1871-1949) - brother of Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley The woman at the far right of the photograph may have been Edna (Lewis) Coulter (1907-) - Mrs. Winfred Everson Coulter. Her husband, Winfred, was a first cousin once removed to Mabel Estelle (Stanley) Stanley, according to Ralph Warren Stanley. [show more]
Left to Right: "Kit" - the horse Charles Samuel Spurling (1880-1911) Viola Florence Joy (1887-1911) Bernice Spurling (1904-1929) Clarence Freeman Joy (1893-1988) In the wagon (tentative identification): Walter F. Joy (1891-1974) Clyde E. Spurling (1910-1934)
Description: Left to Right: "Kit" - the horse Charles Samuel Spurling (1880-1911) Viola Florence Joy (1887-1911) Bernice Spurling (1904-1929) Clarence Freeman Joy (1893-1988) In the wagon (tentative identification): Walter F. Joy (1891-1974) Clyde E. Spurling (1910-1934)
Left to Right: Clarence Freeman Joy (1893-1988) Charles Samuel Spurling (1880-1911) Bernice Spurling (1904-1929) - died of TB in Arizona In the wagon (tentative identification): Walter F. Joy (1891-1974) Clyde E. Spurling (1910-1934)
Description: Left to Right: Clarence Freeman Joy (1893-1988) Charles Samuel Spurling (1880-1911) Bernice Spurling (1904-1929) - died of TB in Arizona In the wagon (tentative identification): Walter F. Joy (1891-1974) Clyde E. Spurling (1910-1934)