52 Ancestors #5  William Augustus Bristol Makes the US Postal Museum

William Augustus Bristol, the son of Charles B. and Adrianna M. (Miller) Bristol, was born on September 29, 1873 in Lima, NY. According to the National Postal Museum he resided in Green Cove Springs, Florida in March of 1888 with his aunt and uncle, Mary and James Yerkes. At that time his father was living in the Dakota Territory. This fact was discovered by a member of a philatelic genealogy buff who emailed me about a postal cover on the US Postal Museum website. They featured envelopes that had weather reports stamped on the covers by the post office. I was excited to see it especially because I didn’t have any idea that my great grandfather had ever lived in Florida. I visited the museum with my stamp club and was hoping to get a picture with me holding the envelope but it wasn't possible because they needed advanced notice to retrieve it from their files. 

 By 1892 he was living with his father in the newly formed city of Great Falls, Montana. His father died on Feb. 10, 1892 after which he moved back to New York. As an adult he moved to Batavia, NY where he married Mattie Hadley in 1895. He had two children, Hazel Bonalyn Bristol and Mabel Arlene Bristol. He had his arm amputated because of a tumor but the cancer continued to grow and he died in Buffalo, NY on April 21, 1899.

#William Bristol, #52 Ancestors, #US Postal Museum