GRAVESTONE PHOTOS, COLLATERAL LINES & GENEALOGICAL SYNCHRONICTY

This is going to ramble a bit.

I live in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA.  My roots here go back to the Mayflower. So whenever I was doing photo requests in one of the old cemeteries I would also take photos of old  headstones that had any of my family names. It was for one of those ideas I had for a project, matching those names up to my family tree someday. I filed them in folders under the name of the cemetery, the town, and the date they were taken.

I haven't loaded many of them up to Find A Grave but over the years whenever I see a Photo Request for a family name I check those folders first and have fulfilled requests from them.

Here's the rambling part.

Lately I've been adding  and extending collateral lines on my Ancestry tree. The reason being I thought by extending those lines it might add more Shared Ancestor matches to my DNA results. And it has. But it's doing something else.

Today I saw a Photo Request for the headstone of Isaac Dunham and his wife Augusta (Packard) Dunham at a local cemetery. I have done requests before for that cemetery and I have Dunham and Packard ancestors, so I checked my cemetery folder and sure enough, I had taken a photo some years ago. So I Fulfilled the request, and then I checked my Ancestry tree to see if they were there and exactly how we are related.

It turns out Isaac is my 9th cousin 1x removed, the son of Isaac Dunham the lighthouse keeper I blogged about in 2012. I don't have a connection yet to Augusta Packard yet but I'm still collateral lines to that family so I hope to find that connection soon.

Genealogical synchronicity.

End of ramble.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 51: JOSEPH DUNHAM OF PLYMOUTH, MA.

My 6x great grandmother Abigail (Dunham) Thomas is my second line of descent from immigrant  ancestors John Dunham and Abigail Barlow through their son Joseph.   

Joseph Dunham's entry in Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts is brief:
Joseph Dunham, born Nov. 18, 1637, married (first) Nov. 18, 1657, Mercy, daughter of Nathaniel Morton, and (second) Hester Wormall, daughter of Joseph. Wormall, of Rowley. His children, born in Plymouth, were: Eleazer, born in 1058; Mercy, born in 1660; Nathaniel, born in 1665; Micaiah, born about 1680; Joseph, born in 1682; Benaiah, born in J683; Daniel, born in 1689.-p.1691

Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts: Containing Historical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families  J.H. Beers & Company,  Chicago, Ill. 1912

While you might think by that brief biography that my 8x great grandfather was a upright citizen, he seems to have had a bit of a naughty side which the Plymouth court records described as "lascivious":

5Mar 1660-1
Josepth Dunham. for diuers laciuiouse carriages, was sentanced by the Court to
sitt in the stockes, with a paper on his hatt on which his fact was written in
capitall letters, and likewise to find surties for his good behauior.
Joseph Dunham oweth vnto our sou lord the Kinge the sume of 20:00:00 shillings
John Dunham. Senir, the sume of                                                     10:00:00
Nathaniell Morton the sume of                                                        10:00:00

The condition, that if the said Josepth Dunham shalbee of good behauior towards
our sou lord the Kinge and all his leich people. and appeer att the Generall Court
to bee holden att Plymouth the first Tuesday in June next, and not depart the said Court without lycence ; that then, &c.

It was ordered by the Court, that Mary, the wife of Edward Cobb, of Taunton, should
bee sumoned to appeer att the Court to bee holden att Plymouth the first Tuesday in
May next, to answare for her miscarriages, as appeers by a deposition giuen in to the
grand enquest against Josepth Dunham. Vol3 p210

It looks like Joseph's father and his father- in- law Nathaniel Morton paid his fine.

Seventeen years later the by now forty something year old Joseph still had a bit of
a wild streak but the Court was a bit more lenient on this occasion:

5Mar 1677-8
Joseph Dunham, for laciuouse carriages vsed toward Elizabeth Ringe. fined
twenty shillings, to the vse of the collonie. Vol5 p253

One wonders how many other "lascivious carriages" Joseph may have committed without being brought into court.

I'm descneded from Joseph's son Micajah.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 41: JAMES THOMAS DUNHAM OF PARIS MAINE

My 3x great grandfather James Thomas Dunham Jr was born in Hebron, Maine on 22Jun 1805. He married Sarah "Sally" Houghton sometime before 1830 which was when their first child was born.

James bought some land in Paris. Maine  from his brother-in-law Samuel Houghton in 1832, paying $150 dollars. His occupation on the 1850 Census was wheelwright and on the 1860 Census it is given as mechanic.

James and Sally had eleven children:

Hiram b.1830
Octavius, b 1832
Florilla, b. 29Aug 1832
Sarah b. 1834
Mary A, b.1837
John, b. 1838
Franklin,  b. 1840
Charles, b. 1848
Martha J, b. 1846
George, b.27Apr 1851
Augusta, b. 1853

Sally (Houghton) Dunham died on 1 Dec 1852 after the birth of their daughter Augusta. James sold his land 1853 and moved to another location in Paris. On 23Mar 1854 he married his second wife, Polly Lowe, in Buckfield, Me.

James and Polly eventually moved to Bangor, Me where they apparently lived with James' youngest child Augusta (Dunham) Steward. James died on 8Nov 1888, and Polly on 13Apr 1896. James, Sally and Polly are all buried in West Paris, Me.   


       

      
       
      

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 40: JAMES DUNHAM OF HEBRON, MAINE

My 4x great grandfather James Dunham Sr was born in Carver, Ma on 25 May 1775, one of eleven children. Sometime before 1799 he and four of his siblings to what would eventually become Oxford County, Msine. There he married Cynthia Packard on 30 Apr 1799 in Hebron, There were nine children in their family:

Zilpha  b. 10Sep 1801,
Cynthia b.10Apr 1803; d. 14Mar 1808
James Thomas, b.22Jun 1805
Harvey, b. 21Jun 1807
Cynthiab  b.25Jul 1809
Louiza  b.16Jun 1811
Mary Ann  b.27Sep 1813
Lysander, b. 29Jun 1815
John   b. 3Apr 1818

I have a problem with James having to do with his identity. For one thing, he is sometimes referred to as James Thomas Dunham, so in some cases I'm not sure if a record refers to him or his son who is also called James Thomas Dunham. Also, there was another unrelated James Dunham living in the area. What I can say for certain is that my 4x great grandfather James was a farmer and that towards the end of his life he lived with his son Harvey's family. He died  in Hebron on 6 Dec 1864, three years after Cynthia's death in 1861.

I'm descended from James Jr.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 39: JOHN DUNHAM OF CARVER, MA.

My 5x great grandfather John Dunham is also my 2nd cousin 7x removed. This is because his mother, Mary Smith, was the granddaughter of our common ancestor Ralph Ellingwood Jr. John married Mary Thomas, the daughter of John Thomas and Abigail Dunham on 17Oct 1755 in Marshfield, Ma. She was John's third cousin.

John was made the administator of the estate when his father Ebenezer died but his siblings were not happy with his performance:

Plymouth  Co.- To Mr. John Donham of carver in ye County aforesaid administrator on the
 estate of Ebenezer Donham late of Plymouth in said county yeo-
-man deceased
Greetings

Whereas complaints on this day made to me on behalf of the Heirs
of the aforesaid Ebenezer deceased, that you unreqasonably neglect to
settle your final acount of administration to the great damage of
the heirs aforesaid___-you are therefore hereby cited to appear
before me at a Court of Probabte to be holden at the Probate
office in Plymouth aforesaid on Saturday next (at ten of the clock
in ye forenoon) being ye 31st day of this present month then & there
to make answer to said Complaints- Given under my hand at Plymouth
aforesaid March 27th 1772.
Joshua Thomas Judge Prob.

To the Sheriff of the County of Plymouth or to either of his deputies
or to either of the Constables of the Town of Carver aforesaid who is
directed to serve the citation & make Return thereof. 



 

Plymouth County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686-1881 Case6836 Image 16

The probate file doesn't say how the matter was settled but in June three men were appointed to divide up Ebenezer Dunham's real  estate among his heirs.

One of the things I did learn though was that while John was a farmer, two of his brothers were cod fishermen in Plymouth.

The children of John and Mary (Thomas) Dunham were:
Moses, born Jan. 23, 1757
Mary, born Dec. 15, 1758
Salome, born April 12, 1762
John, born Nov. 16, 1764
Thomas, born Oct. 2, 1766
Elizabeth, born Dec. 25, 1768
Abigail, born April 20, 1771
Caleb, born March 9, 1773
James, born May 25, 1775
Job, born April 20, 1777
Calvin, born April 11, 1781

Five of the children,  including my 4x great grandfather James Dunham, moved to Maine

John died on 30 Apr 1814 in Carver, Ma. and is buried there in Wenham Cemetery

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 38:EBENEZER DUNHAM OF PLYMOUTH, MA

My 6x great grandfather Ebenezer Dunham was born in Plymouth, Ma. on 24 Feb 1692.  On 12 Dec 1719 he married Abigail Smith in the nearby town of Middleborough Ma. He was a farmer, and had enough property to be divided between his children when he died intestate in on 21 Jan 1771.

His children were:

Abigail, b. 23 Nov 1720
Samuel, b. 9 Sep 1722
Ebenezer b. 21 Sep 1724
John,   b. 12 Jul 1726
Moses, b. Jul 1728
Mary, b. Jun 1730
Barnabas, b. Dec 1732
William, b. Jun 1734

Most of the children were still alive when Ebenezer died and are named in the settlement of his estate. His son John, my 5x great grandfather, was administrator of the estate and seems to have had problems with his siblings. I'll discuss that in my post about him.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 37:SAMUEL DUNHAM OF PLYMOUTH, MA.

Alright, I'm finally trying to move on after being tangled up in the Samuel Dunham conundrum.Here's a brief biography of Samuel, who is my 7x great grandfather:

(III) Samuel Dunham, son of John, born Feb. 25, 1651, at Plymouth, married (first) in 1680 Mary Harlow and (second) Jan. 15, 1693, Mrs. Sarah Watson. In 1699 he and his son Samuel enlisted under Capt. James Warren. His will was probated in 1718 at Plymouth. His children were: Samuel, born in 1681; William, born in 1684; Mary, born in 1687; Ebenezer, born in 1692; and Nathaniel, born in 1698.-p1648

Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts: Containing Historical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families  Vol3.. J.H. Beers & Company, 1912 - Barnstable County (Mass.)



Mary Harlow, Samuel's wife, was the daughter of  Willism Harlow and Mary Faunce.

I've found Samuel's Probate file over on American Ancestors. He died intestate and the estate was administered by his son Samuel Jr.

I am descended from Samuel's son Ebenezer Dunham.

THE SAMUEL DUNHAM CONUNDRUM

One of the most frustrating and sometimes painful things that happens for family historians is finding out that someone you believed to be your ancestor isn' t.The most common reason for this is that there is more than one person in a family or community that have the same name, and for one reason or another you have the wrong one.

And this is what happened to me in the case of John Dunham Jr. and consequently his son Samuel Dunham.

Oops.Let me explain.

I had John Dunham Jr in my tree as my 8th great grandfather and his son Samuel Dunham as my 7th great grandfather. But when I finally got around to transcribing John's will the other day, there was no mention of Samuel anywhere in it. So I started checking the other information I had on the family and discovered that John Dunham Jr's son Samuel died in a house fire in August 1687/88, five years before John's will was written, and had never married. So he wasn't my ancestor.

Eventually I figured it out. The Samuel Dunham I am descended from was John Dunham Jr's nephew, who was married to Mary Harlow. And his father Samuel Dunham Sr was John's btother.

So how did this happen? Well, the Ellingwood and Dunhams were the first of my ancestors I added to my family tree, using my cousin Florence O'Connor's book. And she used the book by Isaac Watson  for her Dunham information. All of her Ellingwood research has checked out but I hadn't worked extensively on the Dunhams until now. And as I've mentioned in a previous post, Isaac Watson's  book has since been proven to have some erroneous information. But fifty or so years ago the book information was widely accepted.

I made a classic newbie error when I didn't double check the information  when I entered it on my family tree.

Luckily for me, I don't have to remove a whole branch from that tree, just one generation from my line of descent. I've already done that on Ancestry and RootsMagic. And I will have to redo Week 37 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks with the correct ancestor this time.

Live and Learn!

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 36:JOHN DUNHAM SR.OF PLYMOUTH, MA.

My 9x great grandfather John Dunham Sr. has been the subject of much discussion by genealogists over the years. There is the question of John Singletary/ John Dunham which I won't go into here. And then there is the confusion caused by Isaac Watson's book which had many errors that were accepted by the genealogical community of the 19th century as fact.

I debated dicussing those errors here but then decided if I did so they might end up on someone's online family tree and spread further. Instead here is a link to the book, Dunham genealogy: English and American branches of the Dunham family. This is an edition published in 1907. What alarms me is that there are editions published as recently as 2017.

Luckily, more thorough research from reputable genealogists has produced these facts:
John Dunham  Sr was born in England around 1588/9. He married Susannah Keno around 1615 and they were part of the English Separatist community in Leiden Holland where they had three children together before Susannah's death. John's second wife was Abigail Barlow (or Ballou) who he married on 22Oct 1629 in Leiden. Their first three (possibly four) children were born in Leiden before the family arrived at Plymouth Plantation in 1632.  John's occupation is listed in the Plymouth records as weaver but he managed to acquire quite a bit of property and he was a prominent member of the community. He also was active in the town government  where he served on committees and worked as a town officer several times, He and his sons also occasionally were involved in some scurrilous incidents over the years. He died in Plymouth on 2Mar 1688/9.

John Dunham Sr.'s children with Susannah Keno, all born in Leiden, were:

John Jr., b. about 1616; died 6Apr 1692
Humility, b. around 1618
Thoma, b. around 1619; died around 1677

His children with Abigail Barlow/Ballou:
Samuel, b. in Leiden about 1623; died in Plymouth 20Jan 1711
Jonathan, b. in Leiden about 1625
Abigail, b. in Leiden around 1627
Joseph, b. 1631 (probably in Leiden)
Hannah, b. in Plymouth 1634; died in Plymouth 1Apr 1708
Persis, b. in Plymouth 1635
Benajah, b. in Plymouth 1637
Daniel, b. in  Plymouth 1639

I am descended from sons John Jr. and Joseph.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 35:THE DUNHAM DESCENT

There's been a change of plans in the next series of posts in the 52 Ancestors in 52Weeks series. Due to a question in establishing which John Ellis was the father of my 7x great grandmother Elizabeth (Ellis) Briggs I am going to postpone those posts for now. Instead I will be turning to the family tree of my 2x great grandmother Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood, who is a descendant of immigrant ancestor John Dunham of Plymouth. Here's the relationship chart:

I'll also be posting about the other families in her line.

THE ST. JOHN'S CROSS OF COHASSET, MA.

((In honor of St Patrick's Day, I'm reposting this from March, 2012))


I've written before about the way some work of chance leads me to
encounters with places related to my family's history. Last month
I took some pictures in a local cemetery that I thought might make a
good St Patrick's Day post, a reminder of the perils our Irish ancestors
braved to come to America. But when I researched the story behind
a stone monument, I didn't realize that while I was not related to the
dead it commemorated, I was connected to it in another way.

A tall Celtic cross sits atop a small hill in the midst of the Central Cemetery in
Cohasset, Ma, overlooking a tidal pond. On the landward side is the
following inscription:

This Cross Was Erected And Dedicated
May 30th 1914 By The A.O.H. And The L.A.A.O.H.
Of Massachusetts To Mark The Final
Resting Place Of About Forty Five
Irish Emigrants From A Total Company
Of Ninety Nine Who Lost Their Lives
On Grampus Ledge Off  Cohasset
October 7, 1849 In The Wreck Of The
Brig St.John From Galway Ireland
R.I.P.

Edwin Victor Bigelow gives the details of the wreck of the St.John in
his A Narrative History of the Town of Cohasset, Massachusetts, published
by the Cohasset Town Historical Commission in 1898:

On Sunday morning at seven o'clock, October 7, 1849, under a heavy northeast
storm, the British brig St. John, loaded with immigrants brought from Galway,
Ireland, was driven upon Grampus Ledge near Minot, and ninetynine lives
were lost. Another brig, the Kathleen, had managed to creep into the mouth
of our harbor and to anchor; but the St. John was farther out where the gale
struck furiously and made her drag anchors.

The masts were cut away, but still she dragged on. After the first heavy thump
on the Grampus Rock the old hulk rapidly tumbled to bits. Previous to the
breaking up, the jolly-boat was hanging by the tackles alongside when the
stern ringbolt broke and she fell into the waves. Captain Oliver, the second
mate, and two boys jumped into her to clear her, when about twenty-five
passengers poured into her and swamped her so that all perished but the
captain. The first mate hauled in the captain, who caught the end of a rope.

Then the longboat was loosed and the captain with the first mate and eight
of the crew and two passengers scrambled into her, reaching shore at the
Glades. Many more passengers were drowned in their desperate endeavors
to get into the longboat which saved the captain and crew. Ten others, upon
a piece of the deck which was wrenched off by the waves, were floated
safely to shore, seven men and three women.

The St. John was only an hour in tumbling to pieces under the incessant banging
of the waves upon her. Ninety-nine lives were lost and twenty-two were saved.
One of the survivors was a young woman who afterwards settled in Cohasset,
marrying a man whose name was by strange coincidence St. John. (pp463-464)


You can also read about the aftermath of the wreck by no less an author than
Henry David Thoreau who happened upon the scene the day after the storm
as bodies were being recovered and buried by the townspeople of
Cohasset. His account of the incident can be found in his book On Cape Cod.

Now we come to the coincidence:

The wreck of the St John took place while construction was being completed
of a lighthouse at nearby Minot Rock. On page 463 of Bigelow's book, just
before his recounting of the tragedy, there is this on the lighthouse:

"It was finished in the fall of 1849, and Isaac A. Dunham took charge of it,
lighting the lamp for the first time on December 13, 1849."

Isaac Dunham was the first Keeper of Minot Light. Even though it was not
in service at the time of the storm that sank the St John, he was present in
Cohasset and part of the group dealing with the aftermath. He stayed 
at Minot Light only ten months, resigning in 1850 because he felt the
structure was unsafe. A year later the first Minot Lighthouse was destroyed
by a terrible storm, taking the lives of two men stationed there.

My great great grandmother was Florilla Dunham, Isaac Dunham is my 2x
cousin 7x removed, and many of his relatives qre buried in Mt. Vernon Cemetery
here in Abington,

And I wouldn't have known about him except for taking these pictures in
the cemetery in Cohasset, and then using two of them for a St Patrick's
Day post!

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2017:AN OVERVIEW

For the 2017 edition of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks I'm going to work om the Ellingwoods and the
and the other families on that branch of my family tree.  I've already written quite a bit on the
Ellingwoods and some of that material will be reused and reexamined as I go along,  but before beginning I thought I'd give a brief overview.

Here's a descent chart from my immigrant ancestor Ralph Ellinwood Sr down to  my 2x great grandfather Asa Freeman Ellingwood:

While my ancestors on my Grandmother Barker's side of the family are all from the areas north and west of Boston, the West and Ellingwood sides have many ancestors from south of Boston in Plymouth County. A large number of them come from Asa Ellingwood's wife, Florilla Dunham.
Despite that Dunham line being predominantly from the Plymouth area, a marriage nearly two hundred years earlier made Asa and Florilla 5th cousins:

There's a lot of things here to cover, and these lines should keep my busy into next year.  I'll be starting off with Ralph Ellinwood Sr., my 8x great grandfather.

MOTHER'S DAY PT2

In honor of Mother's Day, here are pictures of our Dad's female ancestors.

First, on his mother's side:

Amos H Barker & Betsey J (Moore) Barker

Our 2x great grandmother Betsey Jane Moore was born on 16 Aug 1842 at Waterford,
Oxford, Me. She married Amos Hastings Barker in 1856 and they raised a family of
12 children, 11 of whom survived to adulthood. Betsey died 12Mar 1924 at age 82.

My great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker is the lady on the right.

 Our great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker was youngest of  Amos & Betsey's
12 children. She was born on 3 Aug 1879 in Albany, Oxford, Maine and was known as
":Lottie". She married her first cousin Frank W. Barker on 16Oct 1898 and they had
4 children before Frank died in 1905 from pneumonia caused by "La Grippe" (the flu).
She was married three more times before her death on 3Jan 1944 at Bangor, Maine.   

Cora Berthella (Barker) West & her great granddaughter Mindy Sue West

Our grandmother Cora Berthella (Barker) West was born 27Oct 1899 and was the eldest
child of Frank and Charlotte. She preferred the name Bertha, although it was given as
Cora on her marriage certificate. Bertha married Floyd E.West Sr on 24Mar 1919 and
had 5 children, one of whom was our Dad.

 On his Dad's side of the family:

Arvilla (Ames)West

Our 3x great grandmother Arvilla Ames was born in Livermore, Androscoggin, Maine
on 25Jan 1810, one of 10 children. She married John Cutter West on 23Sep 1827
at Sumner, Maine, and five years later they moved to Letter B Plantation (later renamed
Upton), Oxford, Maine. She had 10 children, 3 of whom died in a diphtheria outbreak
in 1862. She died at age 97 at Hermon, Maine.

Louisa A.(Richardson) West

  Louisa Richardson, our 2x great grandmother was born in Wilton, Maine on
23Jun 1837 at Wilton, Maine.  She was the second wife of Jonathan Phelps West,
whose first wife had died in the 1862 diphtheria outbreak. Louisa and Jonathan
married on 31Jan 1865 and had 4 sons. She died 4Oct 1925 at age 88.

Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood & Asa F Ellingwood

Our other paternal 2x great grandmother was Florilla Dunham who was born 29Aug
1832 at North Paris, Oxford, Maine. She married Asa F. Ellingwood on 10Aug 1850
at Woodstock, Oxford, Maine and 11 children.(She was one of 11 children herself.)
She died in Paris, Oxford, Maine on 21Feb 1917.

Clara (Ellingwood) West

                                                                                                  

Finally, our great grandmother  Clara Ellingwood was the 8th child and youngest
daughter of Florilla and Asa. She was born 6Mar 1865 in Dummer, Coos, NH.
Her first marriage with Charles Tidswell ended in divorce and she married  our
great grandfather Philip J West on 25May 1894 at Shelburne, Coos, NH. She had
three children by her first marriage and two by her second, including our grandfather
Floyd E West, Sr. Sadly, Clara died young after an illness in Augusta, Maine on 10Apr
1901. She was only 36 years old.

And those are the pictures we have of the mothers in our family.

Happy Mother's Day! 

FATHERS DAY

In honor of Father's Day I'm posting pictures of some of the fathers on my family tree. From the Wests:

My Dad, Floyd E West, Jr.

 

Great grandfather Philip J. West, Cousin Stanley & Grandfather Floyd E West, Sr.

2x great grandfather Jonathan P.West & wife Louisa Almata (Richardson)West

3x Great grandfather John Cutter West

Some of the maternal grandfather's from Dad's family:

2x great grandfather Asa F Ellingwood & wife Florilla (Dunham)Ellingwood.

2x Great grandfather Amos Hastings Barker & wife Betsy Jane (Moore) Barker.

3x Great grandfather Philip Richardson

And the only picture I have from Mom's side of the family:

Great grandfather John McFarland & wife Annie (Kelley)McFarland.

Happy Fathers' Day!

MOTHERS DAY PART 2

In honor of Mother's day, here are pictures of some of our Dad's female ancestors.

First, on his mother's side:

Amos H Barker & Betsey J (Moore) Barker

Our 2x great grandmother Betsey Jane Moore was born on 16 Aug 1842 at Waterford,
Oxford, Me. She married Amos Hastings Barker in 1856 and they raised a family of
12 children, 11 of whom survived to adulthood. Betsey died 12Mar 1924 at age 82.

My great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker is the lady on the right.

 Our great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker was youngest of  Amos & Betsey's
12 children. She was born on 3 Aug 1879 in Albany, Oxford, Maine and was known as
":Lottie". She married her first cousin Frank W. Barker on 16Oct 1898 and they had
4 children before Frank died in 1905 from pneumonia caused by "La Grippe" (the flu).
She was married three more times before her death on 3Jan 1944 at Bangor, Maine.   

Cora Berthella (Barker) West & her great granddaughter Mindy Sue West

Our grandmother Cora Berthella (Barker) West was born 27Oct 1899 and was the eldest
child of Frank and Charlotte. She preferred the name Bertha, although it was given as
Cora on her marriage certificate. Bertha married Floyd E.West Sr on 24Mar 1919 and
had 5 children, one of whom was our Dad.

 On his Dad's side of the family:

Arvilla (Ames)West

Our 3x great grandmother Arvilla Ames was born in Livermore, Androscoggin, Maine
on 25Jan 1810, one of 10 children. She married John Cutter West on 23Sep 1827
at Sumner, Maine, and five years later they moved to Letter B Plantation (later renamed
Upton), Oxford, Maine. She had 10 children, 3 of whom died in a diphtheria outbreak
in 1862. She died at age 97 at Hermon, Maine.

Louisa A.(Richardson) West

  Louisa Richardson, our 2x great grandmother was born in Wilton, Maine on
23Jun 1837 at Wilton, Maine.  She was the second wife of Jonathan Phelps West,
whose first wife had died in the 1862 diphtheria outbreak. Louisa and Jonathan
married on 31Jan 1865 and had 4 sons. She died 4Oct 1925 at age 88.

Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood & Asa F Ellingwood

Our other paternal 2x great grandmother was Florilla Dunham who was born 29Aug
1832 at North Paris, Oxford, Maine. She married Asa F. Ellingwood on 10Aug 1850
at Woodstock, Oxford, Maine and 11 children.(She was one of 11 children herself.)
She died in Paris, Oxford, Maine on 21Feb 1917.

Clara (Ellingwood) West

                                                                                                  

Finally, our great grandmother  Clara Ellingwood was the 8th child and youngest
daughter of Florilla and Asa. She was born 6Mar 1865 in Dummer, Coos, NH.
Her first marriage with Charles Tidswell ended in divorce and she married  our
great grandfather Philip J West on 25May 1894 at Shelburne, Coos, NH. She had
three children by her first marriage and two by her second, including our grandfather
Floyd E West, Sr. Sadly, Clara died young after an illness in Augusta, Maine on 10Apr
1901. She was only 36 years old.

And those are the pictures we have of the mothers in our family.

Happy Mother's Day! 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #16:SAMUEL DUNHAM SR. "UNDER ADMONITION'

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. For this prompt
I've tried to concentrate on ancestors I haven't researched as much as I have others in
my family tree. But I ran across some new interesting stories about my 7x great grandfather Samuel Dunham Sr. (1651-1718) of Plymouth Colony. So they will be
the subject of my Week 16 post.

I've written before about the Dunham men and the court records I'd found of some of
their shenanigans, but I'd found no evidence of Samuel Sr. having broken any laws.
Well, today I discovered that while he hadn't broken any civil laws, he seems to have strayed a bit off the straight and narrow as far as the Church was concerned. I found
two instances in the Googlebook edition of Plymouth Church Records, 1620-1859,
Part 1 .The first is from 1683:

June, 17: Samuel Dunham senior was called forth to manifest his Repentance publickly in order to his Reconciliation with the church, his speech was psenitentiall & well tending to satisfaction, but one Brother alleadged some matter of scruple upon his spirit as to the sincerity of his Repentance, intimating he had both spoken & done something inconsistent therewith, upon which it was concluded to respite the issue of the matter a fortnight longer.

June, 27: at the conference-meeting, it was propounded to the church concerning Sam: Dunham; sundry of the Bretheren spake charitably concerning him that Brother who before had spoken in publick, said he should rest in the act of the church:

July, 1: Samuel Dunham senior was Reconciled to the church. p252

While the first incident played out over the course of a few weeks, the second took nearly
a year befored it was resolved, starting in 1689:

Nov: 20: the church stayed after the Lecture After prayer by the Pastor the Elders then declared matter of offence against Brother Samuel Dunham, partly in that he had taken the Name of God in vaine before many witnesses, in [o]ften saying those words, the curse of God is upon the head & pluck with many other unsavoury speeches; partly by intemperance in drinking which sister Jackson testifyed against him before [t]he Elders to his face, as to the next day after the sacrament in October last; others of the church then testifyed, that it was commonly reported of him, & they had divers times seene him disguised with drinke; said offender though he spake some good words yet not soe as to satisfy the church, & therefore by an universall vote of the church he was laid under Admonition & not to come to the Lords supper till he had manifested his Repentance for his inordinate walking by a reformed conversation, the Elder then concluded with prayer.p267

And it appears that's where matters stood until September of 1690:

Sep: 8: The church met at the Pastors house, after prayer performed by the Pastor, the Elder propounded to the church the desires of Samuel Dunham to be reconciled to the church, he being called to manifest his Repentance before the church, did expresse himselfe humbly & penitently, some bretheren1 Testifyed that of late they had observed some amendment of his conversation, the Issue was, by the vote of the bretheren he was accepted againe to communion with us.p270

Plymouth Church Records, 1620-1859, Part 1 (Google eBook) First Church of Christ (Plymouth, Mass.), Plymouth (Mass.). First Church  Colonial Society of New England 1920

I need to see if there's any mention of my other Plymouth area ancestors in this book!

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN: MY JOHN SMITH

The prompt for the latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun assignment from Randy Seaver's Gene-Musing's blog is this:
1)  How many persons named John Smith do you have in your genealogy management program or online family tree?  How many persons named John Smith are ancestors?

2)  Pick out one of those persons named John Smith and do some online research for
them in Ancestry, FamilySearch, or another set of record collections.  Your goal is to
add something to your database.

3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post
on Facebook or Google+.

 Well, as Ace Ventura would say, alrighty then:

I only have four John Smiths on my family tree, and as luck would have it, one of
them is my 7x great grandfather John Smith. There doesn't seem to be any birth
record for him but when he died in Middleboro,Ma. on 16May 1727 his age was
given as 69 years old, so that would put his birth year 1658.  Now the interesting
thing about John is who he married, and who his daughter Abigail Smith married. 
I'll get to Abigail later in this post. As to who John's wife was, he married Mary Ellenwood on 23May 1684 in Beverly, Ma. She was the daughter of my immigrant ancestors Ralph Ellenwood/Ellingwood and Eleanor Lynn. In researching this article
I learned John was a "coaster", someone who transported goods in small boats
along the Massachusetts coast between the port cities. Since he ended up in
Middleboro south of Boston, I believe he may have done his business between Beverly and Plymouth which is close by to Middleboro.

I'd always wondered how he'd met Mary if he was in Middleboro and she lived in Beverly. But the following information I found in an old edition of National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volumes 6-11 shows they were both living in Beverly at the time

they were married:

We find John Smith joining in an agreement of division of the Ellenwood land under date of April 17, 1695, in right of Mary, his wife—how long he had been married does not appear. (Salem Deeds, Vol. II, p. 192).

Nov. 19, 1702, John Smith of Beverly, with consent of his wife, Mary, sells his house and lot in Beverly to Robert Hale for £100. His brother, Benjamin Ellenwood, is mentioned as an abutting property owner. (Salem Deeds, Vol. 15, p. 261). 


About—1702, John Smith removed from Beverly to Middleboro, in Plymouth County, Mass. We find of record at Plymouth, the following deed: John Doggett and Samuel Doget, both of Marshfield, sell to John Smith, late of Beverly, in the County of Essex, Marriner, for £55, lot No. 26, in the 26 Men's purchase on Whetstone Brook, containing 100 acres. The deed is dated Feb. 11, 1702-3. (Plymouth Deeds, Vol. 6, page 127).
Oct. 6, 1712, John Smith sold onehalf of this lot to his son Jonathan.

According to the stone in the Old Cemetery, in Middleboro, John Smith died May 16, 1727, in his 69th year. He was born, therefore, about 1658. His widow Mary was appointed administrator July 3, 1727 (Plymouth Probate Records, Vol. 5, p. 266). Since he died intestate, the estate was divided among the heirs by agreement (Plymouth Wills, Vol. 12, p. 222.)
-COREY (CORY), CLEAVES AND SMITH FAMILY LINES. By Prof. Arthur Adams, Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. Vol. VII APRIL, 1918 No. 1

I found the images of the probate record and agreement online at FamilySearch. It's going to take me awhile to transcribe them since the handwriting is difficult to read and the last page has some really small and messy added writing at the bottom of the page. So that is the material I've added to my database as a result of the assignment.

The Smith family estate agreement is on the left hand page.

Now, as to the marriage of Abigail Smith, John and Mary's daughter: on 12Dec 1719 she
married my 6x great grandfather Ebenezer Donham/Dunham in Middleboro, Ma. And
131 years later their descendant Florilla Dunham married my 2x great grandfather Asa
Freeman Ellingwood. I don't think they would have known about that family connection.

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS 28: BENJAMIN C. DONHAM IN KOREA, 1908 Pt3

In a previous post in this series I listed some questions I had about my  distant
cousin Benjamin Curtis Donham and his family after I found that "Certificate
Of Registration Of American Citizen" issued to him at Seoul, Korea in 1908.
Here are those questions and the answers I found for them:

1. What sort of waterworks was Benjamin C Donham constructing in Seoul, Korea?
Based on the book he wrote while still at M.I.T., I feel he helped construct the
municipal water and sewage systems.

2. Were he and his wife Edith McKean married in the U.S. or in Korea?
It's fairly certain from the two news articles I found that he and Edith
were married either in Hong Kong or Yokohama.

3. Were the two children Benjamin's children or stepchildren?
 Because of the information in the M.I.T. alumni newsletter and the news articles
I now know they were the children were his and Edith's.

4. The Certificate was issued in 1908, yet the two children had been born in Seoul
    previously in 1904 and 1906. Had Benjamin left Korea for some reason and then
    returned to Seoul in 1908?
    I haven't been able to determine this.

5. Who were the two men who identified Benjamin as an American and what was
   his relationship with them?
    I have determined they were his employers.

Benjamin and his family left Korea sometime before September of 1908. They took
ship in Yokohama, Japan on September 19,1908 and arrived in San Francisco on
October 17th. By April 1910 they were living clear across the country in East Orange,
New Jersey where they were enumerated on the 1910 Federal Census. They lived
in New Jersey for at least twenty years and had a third child, a daughter, Dorothy.
Benjamin owned his own firm for awhile but by the 1930 Census he was once more
employed by a construction company as an engineer. I haven't been able as yet
to find a death record for him.

So that's everything I've learned about 3rd cousin 3x removed Benjamin Curtis
Donham, and it all started with my finding his parents' gravestone in my local
cemetery! 

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS 27: BENJAMIN C. DONHAM IN KOREA, 1908 Pt2

Earlier this month I shared a post about my distant cousin Benjamin Curtis
Donham. I'd discovered that Benjamin had been working in Korea in the
ealy 20th century, and a document from the American Embassy in Seoul
had raised  some questions about his professional and private life that
made me want to try to find the answers online.

Benjamin was working as an engineer in Seoul, so I googled using his
name and the words "Korea" and "engineer" . The first thing I found was this:

"B. C. Donham is chief engineer for Collbran & Bostwick, general and railway
contractors of Seoul, Korea. News comes of a daughter born November 13, and
it is needless to say that "Ben" is proud and happy. Just now he is too busy to
 write,—building a water-works system for Seoul, among other things,—but
the secretary hopes to have a "foreign letter" from him by our next issue."- 
P 104  Technology Review Volume 9 Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1907

Benjamin Donham was a MIT graduate! This was confirmed when I found  an online
"Class Day" edition of The Tech, the MIT student newspaper from June 1895. It has
the names of members of the graduating class, and Benjamin C Donham is among
them with a "Course One" Bachelor of Science degree.

Also, in 1895 he co-authored a book with a Harold Kildreth Barrows, A Design of a
Water Supply System for the Town of Weston, which was published by MIT Press.
Perhaps this was Benjamin's senior thesis?

And finally, the 1908 Year-book of the American Society of Civil Engineers lists
Benjamin on p 150 as the Chief Engineer of the Collbran-Bostwock Development
Co. of Seoul, Korea.



Next I searched for Benjamin's wife Edith McKean to find information on their
wedding. I found two newspaper stories:

WILL WED IN YOKOHAMA Miss McKean Sails for the Orient to Become a Bride
ALAMEDA July I5 - When the steamer Iorlc sailed to - day for the Orient Miss Edith
McKean of this city said good - by to friends and home to become the bride of
Benjamin Donham in far Japan The bride - elect was given a pre - weddihg reception
here and received many handsome wedding presents which she Is taking with her to
her home in distant Corea. Miss McKean and Ben Donham were warm friends only
when he left here two years ago to try his fortunes in the Corean mines. Later they corresponded and it was by letter that they became betrothed and that her consent
was won to venture across seas to become his wife. Donham Is a civil engineer in the
employ of Coburn & Bostwick. Mr and Mrs Donham will reside in Seoul the capital of
Corea and will make that country their home for a number of years He will meet her
in Yokohama where they will be marrled.
 San Francisco Chronicle › 1902 › July › 17 July 1902 › Page 5

GOES TO A GRAVE OF HIS OWN CHOOSING
James IV McKean Selects Final Rest-
ing-Place Two Weeks Before Death Comes.

ALAMEDA, Aug. 24.— Two weeks ago James F. McKean, an old and respected 
resident of this city, went to San Lorenzo Cemetery and selected the plat that 
was to contain his grave. Last night he passed away at his home, 1216 Versailles avenue, and will be buried In the spot that he chose for his final resting place. 
He had been ill but a few days.

James F. McKean was born in County Armagh, Ireland, seventy-three years ago.
He came to California in 1854 and for many  years followed the fortunes of a 
miner. Twenty-eight years ago Mr. McKean, with his family, moved to Alameda. Deceased conducted a watch and jewelry  store on Park street until failing health compelled him to retire Iast June. Complications due to advanced years caused 
death. 

Surviving the deceased is a wife and grown family. A son, Winfield M. McKean,
is the cashier of the Bank of Alameda. Miss Minnie E. McKean, a daughter, is
a teacher in the local school department. Another daughter, Miss Edith, recently
went to Hongkong, where she became the bride of Benjamin Donham, a civil 
engineer.
San Francisco Call, Volume 87, Number 86, 25 August 1902


So Benjamin and Edith had been married overseas, either in Yokohama, Japan, or
Hong Kong, China., depending on which newspaper story had the correct place.

I'll summarize what all this told me in the next post in the series.

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS 26: BENJAMIN C. DONHAM IN KOREA, 1908

As I mentioned in the previous post of this series, I'd found a "Certificate
Of Registration Of American Citizen" over on Ancestry.com for my distant
cousin Benjamin Curtis Donham. It had been issued by the American Consulate
in Seoul, Korea which was amazing, considering the year in which it was done.
But what was my cousin doing here, and could the document help me find out
the answer?

Examining it, I learned:
1. It had been issued on May. 20, 1908, according to the stamped date at the top
     of the document.

2. Benjamin C. Donham had arrived in Seoul on October 6 1905. There is no
     mention of whether he had been there on earlier occasions.

3. He was there "for the purpose of constructing waterworks."

4. He was married to Edith McKean, who had been born in San Francisco and they
    were residing in Seoul with two children.

5. Son George Alden Donham was born in Seoul  Korea  on February 7 1904.
     Daughter Dorothy E. Donham was born there on November 13, 1906.

6. Benjamin had been identified by two men as an American citizen. The first
    man's name is hard to read and appeared to be H.E. Collbran. The second name
    is E.Hamilton Holman.

7.The Certificate was due to expire in a little over a year on April 8, 1909.

The questions I now had were:

1. What sort of waterworks was Benjamin C Donham constructing in Seoul, Korea?

2. Were he and his wife Edith McKean married in the U.S. or in Korea? 

3. Were the two children Benjamin's children or stepchildren?

4. The Certificate was issued in 1908, yet the two children had been born in Seoul
    previously in 1904 and 1906. Had Benjamin left Korea for some reason and then
    returned to Seoul in 1908?

5. Who were the two men who identified Benjamin as an American and what was
    his relationship with them?

I set about looking for answers.

To be continued.