GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

THE KORESHAN UNITY MEMBERSHIP LIST by Claude J. Rahn: N. Cornelia Hawes Critcher; Born: 26 Jul 1841, Norwich; Died: 11 Oct 1917.

BIO OF NANCY CORNELIA HAWES; Author unknown; Undated:
Nancy Cornelia Hawes was born 24 July 1842 in Connecticut (on the way to Cambridge, Mass.), the youngest of four children born to Madison Hawes and Nancy Nelson Dam.
When she was 9 years old, she traveled with her mother to California. The three month ocean voyage around the Horn brought them to San Francisco in 1852 where they joined Nancy's father, Madison, who had made the same trip in 1849. At this time Nancy was the only surviving child of Madison and Nancy.
They lived on Taylor Street between California and Pine in San Francisco. Nancy went to a private school, to a Mrs. Purkitt, and she graduated from the Bush Street Denman School in San Francisco at the age of 12.
When she was almost 15 years old, on July 1857, she married Henry Critcher in San Francisco. The story of how and they met and courted is recounted in letters which are reprinted in the Henry Critcher section of this genealogy.
Henry and Nancy lived in San Francisco from 1852 to about 1864 when they moved with her father, Madison, to the Octagon house in Brooklyn (now Oakland) in the East Bay. They lived there until sometime after the 1868 earthquake during which the house was badly damaged. Henry and Nancy and their children returned to San Francisco where they lived in the home built in 1854 at the corner of Taylor and Pine. Henry died there in 1904. The house was destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906, and later that year Nancy joined a religious organization called the Koreshan Unity located in Estero, Florida. She was on the editorial staff of "The Flaming Sword" and was considered to be one of the best posted writers in Scientific religion in the United States. Her death was caused by an accident when she fell and broke several bones. She retained her mental faculties until a few hours before she died. She was buried at the Horseshoe Bend Cemetery at the Koreshan Unity at Estero, Florida. She was 76 years old. (Died 11 Oct 1917).
The many letters which she wrote over the years, especially those to her daughter, Grace Valentine, give insight into the immense reservoir of strength, wisdom and love which characterized this very special lady. More information about her can be found in the Hawes family genealogy.

FOLKS WE KNEW WHILE IN THE K.U. by Marie McCready; Cornelia Critcher: "Had an almost bass voice; was for a short time caretaker at the children's cottage in Estero; was the mother of around a dozen children.(--Rosalea McCready) I remember somebody asked her why she did not live with one of her children and she replied that they all had big families, and children's activities were too much for her."(--Marie McCready.)

U.S. Federal Census/Estero/Lee County/Florida--1910; Enumeration date: 23 Apr 1910; Koreshan Unity; Enumerator: Walter S. Turner, Jr.; Microfilm number: Fl 1910-H T624; ED: 80; Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff, 4 Jan 1995: N. C. Critcher; Sex: Female; Race: White; Age 68; Marital Status; Widow; Place of birth: Massachusetts; Place of birth of father and mother: Maine; Language spoken: English; Occupation: None; Can read and write: yes.

EDITORIAL STAFF of THE FLAMING SWORD: N. C. Critcher served on the Editorial staff of THE FLAMING SWORD.

THE FLAMING SWORD; September 1907; Vol 21, No. 9, Page 21 and 22; Article, The Simplicity of the True Gospel, written by N. C. Critcher.

THE FLAMING SWORD; February 1908, Page 21; Practical Methods of Education written by N. C. Critcher.

THE FLAMING SWORD; August 1916; Vol 30, No. 8; Page 227; THE OPEN COURT OF INQUIRY by N. C. Critcher.

ARTICLE, MEMORIES OF SAN FRANCISCO by Nancy Cornelia Critcher, written to the Editor of the Grizzly Bear, January 13, 1913: Article describes Nancy Cornelia Critcher's neighborhood and gives a brief description of her life in San Francisco where she lived from 1852 until 1906 at which time she moved to Estero, Florida.

Excerpts from Nancy C. Hawes Critcher's letters:

Estero, December 28, 1906; Dear Children: The sisters wear a kind of combination corset cover and skirt, which takes the place of the usual skirt and is cooler than wearing so many garments. Moreover, as each one does her own washing and ironing, it is very desirable to have as few pieces as possible! They should be made of some thin material, not necessarily very fine. I suppose you know what thin material will wear best as you have lived in a hot climate so long.......You asked me to describe my room, etc. Everything here is very primitive and pioneery; the rooms are in dormitory fashion divided by sheets.....I have a very pretty little dresser that I bought in Chicago, and a single iron bed - a nice little rocker and the usual toilet articles, and am very comfortable....We quite often have visitors......I need a little money to supplement the diet, which is sometimes not quite up to the standard, especially in sweet things, which you know I am very fond of.

Estero, August 6, 1907; Dear Grace: ....I never knew time to fly so fast. I help in any way that I can - principally in the sewing line. Then I think I told you that, for a novelty, I preside (?) over a table of boys. I wish I could send you a photo of some of the features of the place. We have some beautiful bamboo trees and China Berry trees. The park is really beautiful.

LETTER, May 4, 1917; written to Grace V. Critcher Belshaw from Nancy Cornelia Hawes Critcher (signed "Mother"): Nancy tells about life in the settlement:
Estero, May 4, 1917; My dear Grace: ....You ask about our membership here and the work...We have about a hundred brothers and sisters here, (have not the exact numbers) and work of many kinds is carried on. We have a very well equipped printing establishment, where our two papers, The Flaming Sword and The American Eagle are published. The Sword is our religious and scientific magazine, a monthly, and the Eagle, a weekly secular paper, absolutely independent of politics, and advocating all measures for the public welfare....The printing office also does job work for outsiders, besides printing our own tracts and leaflets. We have a saw mill, carpenter shop, machine shop and an electrical shop; also a laundry where all who wish can have their washing done. Many, however, myself among the number, prefer to do their own; the ironing of the sisters' things is done by themselves. I have become quite an expert laundress! We have an agricultural dept, and a dairy, which supplies milk for the family; pigs and fowls, dogs and cats! Our park is greatly admired by visitors; it is the finest in the county. The recent freeze did a great deal of damage to our ornamental shrubbery, and some of the less hardy trees, but the general effect is as good as ever. I miss the fruit of California. The semi-tropical fruits such as guavas, mangos, papaws, etc. do not suit my taste like the pears, peaches, plums, etc. of the old time. But as I did not come here for the luxuries of the palate, I do not complain. I am satisfied that this is the best place for me, where all are agreed upon the religious plane, though still showing all of the human frailties on other lines! I read the articles in your papers, and found many good points in them. Where we differ fundamentally, however, is in our estimate of the Lord Jesus, who, to us, is all the God there is. We take for our standard the first chapter of John's gospel which makes that fact very plain. Our life here hinges entirely upon our belief in the fact that uses to the neighbor are the real test of all religion. Love to God and the neighbor is shown by the performance of uses of daily life, done unselfishly from love. That is the aspiration, not always successfully carried out, but always the aim. To return to the enumeration of our equipment, I find that I failed to mention two very important items, our boat and autos. We have two autos and many boats. One, a large freighting a passenger boat, runs to Ft. Myers three times a week, as a common carrier for the neighborhood. The others are used between our Mound Key place, and Estero Island, both for pleasure and service. On Mound Key our vegetables are raised by a brother who lives there, and the Island is very much appreciated as a place of rest and recuperation. A brother lives there, also, and raises vegetables and chickens, besides keeping the place in beautiful order. There is fine salt water bathing to be enjoyed there, also........We have in the river any amount of oysters, to say nothing of some very fine fish among which are mullet, which I consider as fine as any fish I ever ate with the sole exception of salmon. I believe I have now pretty well covered the subject of our numbers and resources. None of them are developed to the limit of their possibilities, because we have not enough men to fill so large a requirement. This reminds me that I have not told you much about the work of the sisters. The sisters and the children of whom there are ten, do the dining-room and dish-washing work; they, also (not the same ones) do mending for the brothers, and others sew for such of the sisters as cannot do their own. One sister makes shirts and overalls very expertly. Others make sheets and bed screens, etc. Many of the sisters are like myself......and cannot do very strenuous work, although not by any means deficient in power to do mental work. Our old ladies would be a credit to any Old Ladies' Home! The brothers, as a rule, are nearer middle age.

LETTER, September 25, 1917; written and signed, YOUR LOVING MOTHER; TO: All my own dear children and Carlina, my daughter by adoption: A round-robin letter of farewell to her children. After her accident, she felt she was not going to recover, and she sent what she described as a letter of "the few mother's parting words" to all her children.

TWO LETTERS, October 5, 1917 and October 6, 1917; written on Koreshan Unity stationery and signed "Ed" (probably Nancy Hawe Critcher's son Edward Payson Critcher): Letters written to family members while he is visiting his mother after her accident.

LETTER, October 9, 1917, signed by (Mrs. Virginia Andrews) and written to Mrs. Jack Belshaw: Virginia is answering a letter of inquiry from Mrs. Belshaw (a daughter) concerning Mrs. Belshaw's mother and her condition.

LETTER, October 17, 1917, signed Ed (see above) to his sister Annie: Letter explains how their mother's accident happened, the care she received from the Koreshan Unity after the accident, and asking her (Annie) to send him a $10 check so he can send it to the K.U. as a "slight testimonial of our appreciation for what they (the K.U.) have done for mother during her illness."

OTHER VARIOUS LETTERS; dated from October 1906 - December 1915, and sent to her children while she was living in Estero, Florida.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

OBITUARY; Mrs. N. C. Critcher (Newspaper and date omitted):
Mrs. Nancy Cornelia Critcher, relict of the late "Forty-Niner," Henry Critcher, known as the Admiral, who was one of the organizers of the San Francisco Stock Exchange, died today October 11, 1917, at the Koreshan Unity, located at Estero, Florida, a religious organization founded by the late Dr. Cyrus R. Teed. Mrs. Critcher was on the editorial staff of "The Flaming Sword," the organ of the community, and was considered by those who knew her, to be one of the best posted writers on scientific religion in the United States. She left a family of seven sons and four daughters,--Mrs. Charles H. Crowell, living in Spain; Mrs. Grace V. Belshaw at Antioch; Mrs. Virginia C. Brittson at Vallejo; Mrs. Reginald Atthowe of San Anselmo, all in California, and a granddaughter, Mrs. Engracia F. Freyer, wife of Lieut. F. S. Freyer of the United States Navy, of Washington, D. C. One of her sons, Edward Payson Critcher of the Chicago Herald, was at her bed-side when she passed away. Her death was caused by an accident several weeks ago, when she fell and broke several bones. She never recovered, but retained her mental faculties until a few hours before she died. She was buried at the Koreshan Unity Cemetery at Estero. She was 76 years of age, and lived in San Francisco from 1852 until 1905, when she moved to Estero, Florida.

Burial: Horseshoe Bend on the River--Koreshan Unity Cemetery--lot 2; Inscription: Nancy Hawes/Oct-12-17

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

!GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORIES (Hawes, Critcher, Payson, Dam, and Noyes); Researched and Compiled by Grace Valentine Critcher Belshaw; circa 1950; Revised by Nancy Cornelia Carmine Thornburg; 1984.