Sometime in the fall of 2020 I decided to test Jane's DNA at 23 and Me, just to fish in a new pond, so to speak. Perhaps there would be an unturned stone which could provide a link to some facts about Bessie's family, Jane's maternal line.
I glanced at the results and noticed an extremely high match, a close relative. But I quickly concluded it to match in common with Jane's known paternal cousins so I cast it aside. A few days later I gave it a second look. He was the son of my mother's half sister. Since I too had tested I checked my test results and yes, I appeared to match, as a half first cousin. Hmmm, my mother never had a half sister, at least not that she knew of.
A few weeks of research and I think that I can see the who, what and where's of it. Ruth was not an only child, she had an older brother Richard. The first thing that I needed to do was establish their mother, Helen Martin, in the community and see where her path crossed with Adrian's.
Born Helen Martin in 1895, she's living on Prairie Avenue, Providence, R.I. on the 1900 Census with her parents, John Martin and Mary (Dawson) Martin and sisters, Beatrice and Dorothy.
The 1910 Census places Helen on Haskins Street, Providence, R.I. with her mother Mary Martin, aunt Alice Dawson, grandfather Peter Dawson, cousin Marguerite and sister Hope. Peter Dawson died in 1914.
Alice Dawson is the head of family in 1920 Census, she lives with her four nieces, Beatrice, Helen, Dorothy and Hope on Hammond Street, Providence, R.I.
Shortly after 1920 the family moves to Duncan Avenue, just around the corner from Camp Street, where Adrian is living (with his wife and family). On May 4, 1922 Helen gave birth to a baby girl, Ruth Martin. This would place Helen and Adrian around August 1, 1921.
In 1925, Alice, niece Helen and her boy Richard are living together on Duncan Avenue, Providence, R.I. but there is no baby girl Ruth.
I found Ruth Martin living as a boarder, in a sort of foster home, on the 1925 Census, along with three other toddlers.
By 1930 Ruth Martin is now living with her mother Helen and the family on Friendship Street, Providence, R.I. Helen Martin has changed her marital status to widowed.
I have to compare where Adrian is and how he fits with Helen, and when. In 1920 Adrian is married to Bessie and has one daughter, Adeline. They live at 46 Camp Street and his parents and brothers live next door, all a short walk from Duncan Avenue.
In 1921 Helen Martin moves to Duncan Avenue with her aunt Alice Dawson and her young son Richard. Because Richard is not with his mother in the previous census' he must have been in foster care.
Summer of 1921 Helen and Adrian meet in the neighborhood.
Ruth Martin is born May 4, 1922 and placed in foster care.
Adrian and his family move to Locust Street, Warren, R.I. about 1922. They appear on the 1925 Census.
