© Kathy Duncan, 2022
Newspapers provide information and stories that flesh out the life and times of people and add color to what is known about them. With that in mind, I researched Izannah Walker's immediate neighborhood during her residence there. Life on Illinois Street in Central Falls, Rhode Island, was filled with both excitement and sorrow.
Izannah Walker probably took up residence in her house at 14 Illinois Street shortly after she purchased it in 1871. Even though the house number changed to 24 Illinois Street shortly after her death and eventually to 60 Illinois Street, during her lifetime, the house was number 14, so that will give the reader a rough idea of the proximity of these events.
By 1876, Pray's had opened a greenhouse at 6 Illinois Street, which would have been just down the block from Izannah, located near the intersection of Illinois Street and Central Street. Pray's offered cut flowers and was within a reasonable walk from the railroad depot. We learn from this advertisement that 30 trains a day arrived in Central Falls from Providence. Izannah was only fifteen minutes away from Providence if she traveled by rail.
In 1882, curbing was added to Izannah's side of the street.
Funerals were frequently held from the residents' homes on Illinois Street, and they would have also been social events. William Worden's funeral in 1883 was an elaborate and highly attended event. His residence was just north of the intersection of Rand Street and Illinois Street.
Mostly, these funerals were for the elderly. It was not uncommon for there to be more than one funeral a year in the immediate neighborhood. Emily E. Burnham's funeral in 1883 would have been held in a house almost directly across the street from Izannah.
Large birthday parties for the young were also neighborhood events. In 1884, fifteen-year-old, Carrie Vaslet's birthday party was attended by thirty-five of her closest young friends! It would have been a day filled with the happy sounds of singing and games. The Vaslets would have lived in a house on Illinois Street located between the intersections of Rand and Central.
A few months later, Izannah's own tenant, Catharine Trafton, died and the funeral was held from Izannah's house. Since it was a two-family house, the service was likely held from the Trafton's residence. Catharine Trafton and her daughters can be found in Izannah's house on the 1880 census.
That summer, the neighborhood was abuzz with the shenanigans of a flower thief who was creeping around Illinois Street near the intersection of Rand Street, stealing flowers from people's yards. It seems very likely that Izannah, the grower of Concord grapes, may have been one of his or her victims.
A little more than a month later, a large party gathered in the evening at the residence of Alonzo Burt to see a night-blooming cactus. Burt's house would have been across the street from the old Pray's Greenhouses. It is easy to imagine Izannah and Emeline in that curious group of onlookers.
A few weeks later, the neighborhood was shaken by what many believed to be the aftershock of an earthquake that rattled windows and dishes.
That fall, the local Republicans paraded through Central Falls during the presidential campaign season. The streets were lit with small fires, the houses were decorated and illuminated, and the paraders carried torches. Some houses offered refreshments. A band accompanied them through a portion of the parade route, which crossed Illinois Street at the intersection of Summer Street. From the description of the parade route, it seems like they may have turned south at Illinois Street and traveled down it to Rand Street, then turned west at Rand and headed toward Dexter Street, and then south toward Cross Street. This would have taken them along the northern side of Izannah's house. If you like old maps, you can try to recreate the parade route here.
In 1885, the funeral of Henry Pearse was held from the location of the old Pray Greenhouses.
Also, in 1885, homeowners on Illinois Street were actively taking in boarders and advertising in the Providence newspaper.
By 1886 the neighborhood may have been in transition. A stray bullet, fired off by a gang of men at the intersection of Illinois Street and Central Street, passed through Timothy Vaslet's dining room window. This was the same home where a large, happy birthday party for his daughter had been held just two years before.
Finally, in January of 1888, shortly before Izannah's own death, James B. Taylor died and his funeral was held from his home at 4 Illinois Street.
