From Bangor to Hollywood:
The Life Journey of Charles T. Pinkham (1864-1946)
Created by Marie E. Velardi on July 28, 2008
Authors Note: the first draft of this article can be found on Charles T. Pinkham's Find-A-Grave memorial. It was posted by Debra Baktis, a friend of Joanie (Velardi) Wendt.
Charles T. Pinkham was born in Bangor, Maine and died 84 years later and 2,700 miles away in Los Angeles, California, longing for the grandchildren he never met..
He was born of a seafaring family on May 14, 1864, as the Civil War raged into its final year. He was most likely named Thomas C. Pinkham at birth, the name recorded in the 1850 and 1860 censuses (it was not unusual for 19th century folks to go by their middle names). His parents were Jordan A. Pinkham of Maine (1820/21-1872), a seaman of English stock born in Boothbay, and Harriett Gordon of Virginia (1823-1879), whose ancestors were probably from Scotland. They lived in the town of Greenbush, Penobscot County, before moving to the city of Bangor before Charles's birth. Charles had two older brothers -- George (born 1847/1852 in Boothbay, Maine) , who became a sailing master and a ship's captain, and Jordan A. Jr. (born about 1853), also a mariner. Charles lost his father when he was only 7 years old; his mother died when he was 15. They were buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Bangor.
Charles and brothers were living together on Essex Road in Bangor in 1880 and 1881, but are absent from subsequent directories of the city. Charles may have gone to sea for a while but only one thing is sure -- he left Maine.. The next record we have of him is a photograph taken on Broadway (New York City) in 1890, with his new bride (or bride-to-be) Julia Adelaide Jones of Rockaway Beach. Charles was 26, and Julia only 16. At left is the first known picture of them both.
The next recorded event was the birth of his first and only child, baptized Rowland Seaman Pinkham. Rowland, named for Julia's step-father, Rowland Seaman of Rockaway Beach, was born on 22 June 1892 in South Ozone Park, New York, which may have been his parents' place of residence at the time. Later, in 1898, they lived on Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn. However, Julia's residence was reported as Far Rockaway on 29 Sept 1898, the day of her death. She died at age 24 of typhoid fever in the Rockaway Beach hotel operated by her mother and step-father. By 1900. the widowed Charles and his son were living on East 97th Street in Manhattan. Constant relocation was to be a pattern of Charles' life.
The 1900 census was crucial in identifying Charles' parentage. In that year, his apartment at 146 East 97th Street (between Third and Lexington Avenues) contained four occupants: Charles himself, his six-year old son Roland [sic], plus his older brother George A. Pinkham, a sailing master, and George's second wife, Lila, a.k.a., Alice Lila (née Brann) Witham. It was through a descendent of George and Lila's son, John Richard Pinkham (1901-1978), that we first learned about Charles' parents and siblings. George disappears from the records after 1900. His wife remarried in 1904 in Washington state. However, there's some anecdotal evidence from his family to suggest that George was still alive in the late 1930s.
Charles must have remarried soon after the 1900 census was taken. The exact date or place of the marriage remains unknown because there's no record of it in in the City or State of New York. His second wife, Catherine Ader (born 9 Dec 1869) was probably a German immigrant who came with her parents from Germany in 1876 (as stated in the 1910 census, though subsequent censuses and her California death record, give her birth place as New York). At any rate, the woman so alienated Charles' son, Rowland, who claimed she did not want him, the boy left home as a teenager and went to live with his maternal grandmother (Kate Bedell Seaman) in Rockaway Beach. He dropped his surname and became known as Rowland Seaman.
Charles occupation as a electrician is recorded not only in the censuses, but in 1904-1911 Trow's New York City directories, which list him as the proprietor of a storefront business at 7th Avenue around 9th Street in West Greenwich Village (the exact addresses vary slightly). He was a member of The Independent Electrical Contractors Association of Greater New York. He was also a photography buff, and sold film, cameras, plates and other photographic equipment and supplies in his shop (photos of his shop will be added later). He continued his career as an electrical contractor and repairman after moving to Los Angeles, retiring at about age 65.
By the early 1900s (probably even earlier) Charles had become an active Freemason and eventually the Master of his Lodge. The men in the picture below were almost certainly members. Charles is standing in the middle, foreground, wearing a top hat, his hand gripping the Master's Gavel on a pedestal. This indicates his rank as presiding officer.
In December 1911, Charles was presented with a magnificent lamb-skin and silk apron. The inscription under the flap reads:
Presented to
Wor.' Bro. Charles T. Pinkham
By
Lodge of Antiquity No. 11
F. & A.M.
As a Token of Esteem
December 14, 1911
Wor.' Bro. means "Worshipful Brother", a title of respect among Freemasons. The Lodge of Antiquity No. 11, the presenter of the gift, is still active in Brentwood, Long Island.
At the center of the apron are a compass and square, two readily identifiable symbols of Freemasonry. We are told that Charles would not have worn this apron at regular meetings, and unlike the apron he received at his investiture, it was meant to be passed on to his heirs. It is now in the possession of his granddaughter, Vivian Seaman Velardi.
The photo on the right, showing him wearing the apron, may have been taken at the 1911 presentation.
To the best of our knowledge, Charles never served in the military -- by the time World War I began, he was too old to be drafted. Besides photography, he liked hunting and fishing, which he enjoyed at his house in Huguenot, Orange County, where he also hosted gatherings for his friends. He considered it his "home" and the decision to sell it when he moved to California would be one he regretted decades later. Photographs of the house and grounds will be added soon.
At the prodding of his wife, Charles moved to California around 1912 and as far as we know, he never returned to New York and never again saw his son, though they communicated before his death. We assume he continued as a Freemason, though we have no facts yet. He had at least 7 different addresses in Los Angeles over a span of 35 years, indicating he never lost his restless spirit. He worked as an electrical contractor until he retired about age 65
Catherine Ader Pinkham died in Los Angeles on 9 September 1943, at age 72. Charles was to live three more years, perhaps the loneliest time of his life. He began a correspondence with his two granddaughters in New York, whom he never met in person. Here's the only surviving letter (typos, misspellings and all)
Feb. 8th, i944 .
My Dear Vivan.
I just dident know what to do with myself
today as it is raining and therefore it is
not a very nice day to be sitting out
in the yard so I thaught the next best thing for me
to do was to write a letter to my lovely
Grandaughter . Well I wish I could be with
you all i sure would be pleased but its a
long way to go but may be some day we will
all be together and OH boy there will be
something doingand we will celebrate YOU
[see/]. Ho i wish i could have all the Chil-
dren with me . I just got a card from my
.son and how glad i am to receive just a few
lines from one of you. you know your mother
has promised for a long time to send a few
lines to me BUT i am still waiting-.Now get after the other children and get
them to sit down and write a letter to their old
grandad -- and i bet he will answer it.
Oh boy how it is raining at this very minute.
You know my dear i just hate this
town its the most back woods place i ever
got into ? but what can i do i just have to stay
where they put me. you know that when you
cant walk like others why your just out of
luck. and its still worse when you are alone.
i once had a beautifull home but its all gone
now- iam living in a room i0xi2
thats my home. i was a fool to ever sell my
home - But its too late now to regret it isgone" .
Well i will now close with lots of love
to all. and please write me soon.
Your old Grandad.Chas T. Pinkham [signature]
I220 Cnntura St.
Studio City.
California
Click to enlarge original letter
The "home" Charles said he regretted selling was most likely the house in Huguenot, New York. The small room where he lived when he wrote the letter may have been in a nursing home or old age home (he was clearly an invalid). However, it was not final stop on his life's journey. When he died two and a half years later in L.A. County General Hospital ,his residence was given as 1057 W. 49th Street. He passed away of heart disease at age 82 on September 20, 1946.
Click to enlarge death certificate
His apron and gold watch were passed on to his granddaughters, who also received some jewelry, including a diamond ring and a silver necklace. It's not known for certain if the pieces belonged to their grandmother, Julia Jones Pinkham, or to Charles' second wife, Catherine.
Charles was entombed near Catherine in a vertical crypt in the Colonnade Mausoleum at Hollywood Memorial Park. The cemetery is known today as "Hollywood Forever" (click the link for a video tour), the final resting place of movie legends such as Rudolph Valentino, Cecil B. de Mille, Douglas Fairbanks (Sr. and Jr.), Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, John Huston, Tyrone Power, Jayne Mansfield, Peter Lorre and Fay Wray, as well as TV, music and gangster celebrities like Mel Blanc, Don Adams, Estelle Getty, Darren McGavin, Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone (of The Ramones), and Bugsy Siegel. If you're ever in L.A. in search of the stars, consider paying "Old Grandad" a visit next door. He'd be delighted to see you.
Photograph of crypt by kadcisr
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