Memories of the Calls 7 - William Joslin

William Joslin was the oldest of mother's brothers and sisters. He was a man of extraordinary fine character. He was a very fine looking, patient, and kind. He was a Christian man, and a regular church attendant. He came to America with father. He was a carpenter by trade and worked at it all his life. He lived in Chelsea, Mass. and owned his own home, which was a two apartment house. This house was destroyed in the great Chelsea fire when practically all his accumulations were destroyed. Then he built a four (or more) apartment house. He had two lovely and unusually bright daughters. Charlotte, the younger, graduated from Boston University, and after some years of teaching, spent a year at Oxford. She was a great student and a very fine character. At her death - from tuberculosis - when she was about forty, she had been teaching at Woonsocket, R.I. The flag of the city was put at half mast, - the first time that honor was given a woman. Flora graduated from Boston Normal, but didn't teach long, as she soon married Charles N. Peabody, who rose from errand boy to be the head of a large furniture business. Flora was a prominent woman in Malden, Mass. where she resided the first part of her married life. She was leader in church Sunday school and Club activities. They have lived in Brookline on toward twenty years.

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Patty's notes on this entry.

William Joslin is in the back row on the left. Photograph of the 6 Joslin siblings taken in 1904.

William Joslin was born on October 27, 1832 in Filleigh, Devon, England, oldest child of Robert Bird Joslin and Mary Ann Adams. In 1856, William married Charlotte Blackmore (1830-1885) who immigrated to the United States with Charlotte Joslin who married Robert Call. On August 13, 1888, William married Janette Rice (1838-1930), widow of Edwin R Varney (1833-1884) in Chelsea, Mass. William died on February 23, 1916 in Chelsea.


Thu, Feb 24, 1916 – 9 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com

I have doubts about the accuracy of the statement that William Joslin immigrated with Robert Call. According to his naturalization papers, William stated he arrived in Boston on March 27, 1852.

Robert Call arrived in Philadelphia on the City of Glasgow on March 22, 1853.  The name above his on that passenger list is William Call, age 23. Robert Call did have a brother William who would have been 33 in 1853. William Call did immigrate to the US eventually settling in Wisconsin and then Minnesota. He was in Courtland, Columbia County, Wisconsin in 1860. I have never found a definite immigration date for him, so he may be the William who arrived with Robert in 1853.

The Great Chelsea Fire occurred on April 12, 1908. that killed 19 people and left 15,000 people homeless by the fire.  According to an April 22, 1908 notice in the Le Roy Gazette

"In Chelsea, Mass, fire which occured the 12th of this month Mrs. Robert Call's brother William Joslyn and family lost all their effects. Many friends here sympathize with them in this calamity. 

You can read more about the fire at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chelsea_fire_of_1908

William and Charlotte Joslin had two daughters named Charlotte. The first Charlotte Elizabeth Joslin was born February 22, 1858 in Chelsea, and died in Boston on September 24, 1860.

The second Charlotte Elizabeth Joslin was born June 3, 1867 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. She received an A.B. degree from Boston University in 1892. Charlotte was a student at Oxford University in England in 1900-1901. She was in the first group of women initiated into the Delta Delta Delta Fraternity in January 1889. She served as national Grand Secretary from 1893-1897. She died Dec. 9, 1908 in Chelsea.

Her bio in a 1907 book about Delta Delta Delta reads

Photograph in the Delta Delta Delta history

1894 Boston University Yearbook

Funeral notice in the Boston Globe

Sat, Dec 12, 1908 – 8 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Boston Globe article about her estate
Sat, Dec 19, 1908 – 14 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com

In Memoriam article from the Bostonia, Vol IX  No 4 Jan 1909 pp 21-22

Flora Francesca Joslin was born on July 6, 1864 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. She married Charles Newton Peabody (1862-1939) on October 4, 1888 in Everett, Massachusetts. Flora died November 23, 1953 in Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts.


Fri, Oct 5, 1888 – 8 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com

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