Edith Rosemond
Hello,
I’m writing to ask if you can identify an Edith Rosemond as part of your family tree. Here’s the background.
I'm writing a biography of a Canadian, Daniel Freeman (1837-1918), a 19th c. pioneer of some note in Los Angeles. In 1873 he leased the Sausal Redondo and Centinela Ranchos SW of LA. Later in purchased the property and his lands later became part of Inglewood (which he founded) Redondo Beach, Westchester, Manhattan/Hermosa Beaches, El Segundo, etc. Needless to say he became a very wealthy man.
According to the County Clerk’s records, Daniel’s oldest son Archibald C. Freeman married Edith R. R. Reese in Yuma Arizona on 9 October 1903. I’ve been trying for over a year now without success to verify the genealogy of this Edith. We now believe she may have been born in Wales around 1880 and came to LA as a young woman (date unknown) to live with the family of her uncle, Samuel P. Rees(e). In the 1900 census of LA, there was both an Edith A. and an V. Edith Rees listed but no Edith Rosemond. We know that Edith married Archie in 1902 and that the couple lived on Gramercy St. in LA from 1903 until 1909 when they sailed for Europe. The Freeman’s apparently ended up living in Sevres (near Paris) off and on through WW I. In 1921 Archie married again and this Edith returned to NYC as a divorced lady. That’s all we know at the moment.
The name Rosemond enters the picture as follows. In 1912, while Archie and Edith were living in Paris, they both signed a complex legal agreement with Daniel Freeman and a related bank trust agreement, both of which were dulynotarized. On both of these documents, Archie’s wife Edith signed as Edith Rosemond Freeman. In addition, in Daniel Freeman’s hand-written 1918 will, he explicitly disinherited both his son Archibald and his wife Edith Rosemond Freeman. I’m guessing, and it’s only a guess at this point, that Edith was born Edith Rosemond (or some close spelling) in Wales and when she came to LA as a young person, possibly very young, she took up the last name of her uncle and foster parent.
Can you tell me if your genealogy records include an Edith Rosemond, born in Wales around 1880, living in Los Angeles in 1900 and Paris (Sevres) France after 1910?
If you think you’ve found her, I’m most anxious to learn more about her life. Would there be any living descendants that might have information about Edith’s life – other records, correspondence, diaries, pictures – anything?
Thank you so much for your help.
Paul N. Erickson
Penn Valley, CA