Margaret Ellen (Mullen) Wiswall

[the following short biogarphy was written by Anna Elizabeth Lynch (Robinson)]

Margaret E. Wiswall (nee Mullen) born August 25, 1864. Her friends and some relatives called her Maggie. I have never traced her lineage, but I expect she came from either Scotch or Irish stock.
Gram Wiswall did a great deal of sewing, at least during my young years. When I was in the lower grades (1 - 3) she made me cotton dresses, with bloomers to match, with a pocket in them for my hanky. Up until about sixth grade, a lot of my clothes were made by Gram from hand-me-downs, coats, dresses, etc. either altered or made entirely from used clothing. She had a special knack for turning something old and used into something new for a kid. Her sewing machine always stood open on her sun porch and she spent many an hour there. In fact, I think she ended up sleeping there, after giving up the upstairs bedroom - easier to live on one floor. She let Gramp have the monstrous feather bed in the next room. He died in that bed of old age. I never liked that feather bed, you almost disappeared when you sat on it! Gram also knit a lot. She knit two sweaters for me while I was in college, which I treasured. Dick (my husband) owned the last two pairs of socks she ever knit and he was very proud of them. In her spare time she used to sit in a rocking chair in the bay window in the dining room, where she had a good view of everyone coming and going on the street. In those days, you knew much more about your neighbors, and knew just about where they were walking to at certain times of the day.
After Gramp died, Gram sold the house and came to live at our house on Terrace St. It was a two family house and she took the other side. When she could no longer take care of herself, she went to live with Blanche Seaver on Water St. She died there on Thanksgiving Day in 1950.