THE ARNOLD FAMILY & ITS CONNECTIONS
LIttle
is actually know about the family of C.D. Arnold. As mentioned previously,
there is no known existing correspondance or any other paperwork concerning
the Arnold family. The only official data regards the Arnold family
come from Federal and New York State census records, from 1880 through
1920.
Charles
Dudley Arnold, born March 19, 1844, Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada.
C.D.
Arnold's family as reported:
Father - William Arnold, born England
Mother - Charlotte (no maiden name listed)born - England.
NOTE:
Canadian census records for the area of Port Stanley have provided no clues
on the Arnold family. Aside from the fact that Arnold was a very common
name, and scores of families are listed, no connection to this family was
found.
Furthermore,
census officials stated that some of the census records were destroyed in
a fire that included files on areas around Port Stanley.
The
fact that C.D. Arnold did not list his mother's maided name might indicate
he did not know her well nor her background. Possibly she died young and
C.D. had no knowledge of her prior to his coming to the U.S. in the mid 1860's.
Speculation could even posit that Arnold was an orpan when he left
Canada. There simply is no record of anything.
Again,
only because of census records do we have something approaching an official
record - or statement - that C.D. Arnold was actually married. Of
course it is not in disupute, but vital records, ie. marriage, birth, death,
were not actually recorded by many states at the time. Marriage records
were informal paperwork or signatures in a book, usually kept in a church
where the ceremony was performed. Nothing could be located on the Arnold
marriage in local existing church records.
Census
records would indicate that C.D. Arnold was married in 1865 or 66. in Buffalo,
New York, to Sarah Rowley, a resident of Buffalo.
Sarah
Rowley was born in Birmingham, England March 18, 1841.
Both parents were English born; father was James F. Rowley, mother - Mary
A. Mason. Sarah was brought to America (presumably Buffalo) when she
was about 3 years of age. Sarah had a younger sister named Lillian who would
remain a lifelong resident of Buffalo and marry a local man named Albert
K. Davis. This is the only remaining connection to the Arnold family, which
is by marriage.
Albert
K. Davis died 1928, his wife Lillian (nee Rowley) Davis died about 1944.
Interestingly, Mrs. Davis supplied the death certificate information for
her brother-in-law, C.D. Arnold in 1927, and her son, Harlow M. Davis, supplied
the information for Mrs. C.D. Arnold (nee Sarah Rowley) in 1937.
A
grandson of Albert K. & Lillian Davis is currently alive and well in
Buffalo, a retired
businessman,
Mr. Harlow Mason Davis Jr. Although Harlow Davis Jr. remembers
Mrs.
Arnold, his tender age at the time was not one which led to paying
attention
or
even asking questions about C.D. Arnold's life. The small amount of
information passed along to Harlow Davis Jr. by his father, Harlow Sr., was
minimal. Some family records from the Arnolds were most likely passed
on to Harlow Jr. but a few flooded basements made short shrift of whatever
may have remained of personal Arnold papers. A few photographs were all that
remained and were kindly shared with the author of this article. But in fairness
to the Davis family, in all likelihood most of the records were probably
discarded by Mrs. Arnold over the years following her husband's death. She
lived in a small apartment in Buffalo and surely a photographer's records,
negatives and prints would simply have had no place to
reside.
Some
prints and negatives were reportedly given to local historian James Nagle
by Harlow Davis Sr. to ostensibly keep Arnold's name and work alive.
Mr. Davis was upset, according to his son, upon learning that Nagle had been
using the material, mostly as slides, as those of his own making or not even
mentioning Arnold as the author. What became of those materials is unknown.
Nagle's reputation apparenlty was of a rather disorganized individual who
was also secretive about what he owned or where it came from.
