Frank Henry DeBoise, the father of James, was born December 10, 1884 in Worcester, the son of Elias and Rose (Anderson) DeBoise. Frank was 13 when his father died from pneumonia, leaving him an orphan. His mother was already dead at the time of his father’s death. Frank was adopted by Joseph and Jane Collins. Joseph and Jane were from North Carolina, and had no other children. Joseph was a brick mason and Jane was a laundress. In 1900, they were 69 and 60 respectively.

Frank had two sisters who were still living at the time of their father’s death – Agnes and Bessie. Agnes was 21 years old when she married John Paxton in 1903, was a widow by 1912, and probably died before 1930. It appears that she did not have any children. Bessie was 16 years old when she married (1) Charles E. Reese in 1905, and 33 years old when she married (2) Isaiah Wilbur Smith in 1922. Bessie lived in New Haven, Connecticut. She did not have children of her own, but she and Isaiah (Uncle Billy) became guardians of her brother Frank’s two youngest children, Theodore and Barbara, upon Frank’s death. Continue reading “Frank DeBoise and Patience Perkins” →