CLEARING UP THE PICTURE A LITTLE.

This is a picture of my 2x great grandparents Jonathan P West and Louisa (Richardson)
West with my grandfather Floyd West Sr and my granduncle Clarence West. It was
taken from The History of Wilsons Mills and the Magalloway Settlements
(Wilsons Mills, Me.: The Town of Wilsons Mills, Maine 1975.). As you can see,
it's somewhat faded:

Last night I was looking through a cd that my West cousin Lewis Wuori had sent me
sometime ago and found another copy of the picture:

 

I fiddled with it a bit with Irfanview and this is the best version I ended up with:

Seeing the picture holder on the cd version makes me think that multiple copies of the picture
were probably made and handed out to family members. Both versions show damage but the
cd had much less than the one used in the book. Louisa and Jonathan's clothes are darker
and so are the boys. It's possible now to see that is a white blanket on the rocking chair and
not a blank spot from damage. Also, I can see the picture hanging on the wall behind Louisa
more clearly now and I am positive it is this one of her father Philip Richardson:

 

I wonder what those pictures are on Jonathan's desk?

LOUISA

My paternal 2x great grandmother Louisa Amata Richardson was born  on 23Jan1837 to Phillip and Esther(Laughton) Richardson at Wilton, Me.  She was one of 16 children, nine of them from Phillip's  marriage to his deceased first wife Eunice Richards. He must have moved from Wilton to Letter B Plantation(later Upton)Maine sometime before 1850 when he is listed on the 1850 Census there as a farmer. It was a small town, and one of the other families there was that of my 3x great grandparents John C and Arvilla (Ames) West and their son Jonathan P. West.

I've written before about how Jonathan's first wife Orpha V. Reynolds died a few months after their marriage during a diphtheria outbreak in 1862 which also took his  brother, two sisters, a nephew and three nieces. all children. I don't know when or how he met Louisa, but I do know they were married on 31Jan 1865. It may have been a difficult situation for Louisa, succeeding a wife who had died so young and suddenly. The marriage seems though to have been a good one and a prosperous one as well. According to material sent me by Norman Mitchell, Jonathan owned two lots of land, and a tract of 37 acres, while Louisa herself  owned land. Jonathan was pretty well off for a farmer, although probably not as wealthy as his brothers Asa and Hiram.

Louisa and Jonathan had three sons, John, Paul, and Philip(my great grandfather).
John became a civil engineer, and Paul and Philip worked in various jobs in the
lumber trade.  They also gave Louisa and Jonathan  twelve grandchildren.
They had been married 52 years when Jonathan died in 1917. Louisa followed
him in 1925.

John & Philip West

Louisa & her son Paul West

Louisa & Jonathan with family & friends.

I believe a marriage that lasted that long has to have been a happy one.

 
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PICTURES OF LOUISA

Among the pictures cousin Lewis sent me on the cds were several
more of my 2xgreat grandmother Louisa Almata (Richardson) West.
I think I now have more pictures of her than of any other of my
ancestors.


This is the earliest picture I now have of her, and I'm guessing it was taken
sometime between 1865(the year she married my 2xgreat grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West) and 1880: 

The date on this picture says "September 15teenth 1892" and shows
Louisa with her second son Paul Leroy West. Paul was born on 20Jul 1876
so he'd have been two months past his 16th birthday.Louisa, having
been born 23Jun 1837, was 55 years old:

This is my favorite picture of Louisa, feeding chickens. I think it
might have been taken at around the same time the as the group
picture in the last post because it looks like the same outfit.

Finally here she is in another family group picture seated on the left front. Jonathan
is seated next to her with a grandchild on his lap. I'm not sure if that's John or Paul
standing in the back. Depending on which of my 2xgreat granduncles it is, the
woman standing next to him could be either Emily or Josephine Enman, since
the West brothers had married the Enman sisters!

A WEST REUNION PICTURE PUZZLE

Back when I first started doing genealogy online I made contact with Lewis, who is
descended from my great granduncle Paul Leroy West.  Then the motherboard
on my computer crashed and I lost everything  on it, including email addresses
(and learned the hard way to back up EVERYTHING!). Recently Lewis found me
again (I'm guessing through my blog) and we exchanged discoveries since the
last time we'd been in touch.

Lewis is sharing some family pictures with me and one of them is this one:

The caption reads "Back Street  Upton  West Reunion". Down at the
bottom are the names "Louisa +Jonathan West". Those are my great great
grandparents and they are the elderly couple in the front row.  There are
no other names given for the people assembled for the picture, nor a date
for when the picture was taken. But I can make a few guesses for both.

First the date. it was taken sometime after the late 1890's and before 1918.
I know the latter because Jonathan died in 1917 but I base the first part on
the only other picture I have of Jonathan and Louisa:

The two boys are my grandfather Floyd West and his brother Clarence. My
grandfather was born in 1893 and in this picture(he's the older boy) he looks
to be around 5 or 6 years old, so that would date this picture between 1898
and 1900.

Jonathan and Louisa had aged considerably by the time of the reunion photo
They were married in 1865 so it's possible the reunion might have been in
1915 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

But who else is in the picture with them?
Jonathan and Louisa had three sons: my great grandfather Philip J. and his
brothers Paul and John. I believe they are the three young men seated
in the row behind Louisa and Jonathan. Out of the three of them, the
man with the bangs is my guess to be P.J. based on a later photo:

At first I'd thought the teenager sitting at the far left with his hat on his knee
was my grandfather Floyd but looking at the light hair now I think it's
my granduncle Clarence.

As for the others, I've no idea as yet. I do know that Jonathan and Louisa
had a number of nieces and granddaughters so it's possible some of them
might be among the younger women. It's another family puzzle to work at!

Thanks Lewis for sending me this picture!

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN: TIME TRAVEL

It's Sunday afternoon and it's time for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun
over at Genea-Musings.

Okay, I'm a tad late with it but I wanted to give a little thought to this one. This week
the challenge involves time travel:

"Let's go time travelling: Decide what year and what place you would love to visit as a
time traveller. Who would you like to see in their environment? If you could ask them
one question, what would it be?"

I knew who I'd want to see, of course: my 3x great grandfather John Cutter West. But
what year should it be? At first I thought of 23Sep 1827, the day he wed Arvilla Ames.
But what red-blooded man would want to talk family history on his wedding day?

So I slept on it overnight and came back to the problem exactly 20 minutes ago after
taking a sip of coffee.(Caffeine is a wonderful igniter of my thought processes.) I was
looking at my PAF pedigree chart and inspiration smacked me up the side of the head.

It wasn't John Cutter West I'd want to visit: it was his son, my great great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West and his wife Louisa Almata (Richardson)West. It would be at
their home at Upton, Oxford County, Maine, and probably in the year 1870. They
would have been married five years with their two oldest sons already born(including
my great grandfather Philip J. West). My question would be a simple one: "Tell me about
your parents and grandparents."

I can't imagine that John Cutter West wouldn't have told his children about his parents.
Perhaps Jonathan had even met them, and would know not only their names but their
parents and where the West family had lived before settling in Maine. And by asking
Louisa the same question, I'd break down another brickwall, my Richardson line, since
I can only go back as far her grandfather Philip (Pierce?) Richardson who married Lydia
Dow. I have no vital records at all on Philip, so Louisa might be able to tell me that
information.

And with one question, I would bring down two brickwalls.

Maybe I should wait to ask the question until after we'd all had cup of coffee!

JEREMIAH SWAIN PART1: "BELOVED OF MARS"

On May 29,1844, at the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Founding of
Old Reading, Massachusetts (now three towns: Reading, North Reading,
and Wakefield), the Honorable Lilley Eaton stepped forward and read a
poem he'd written about the history of the town and some of it's important
citizens. Among these was my ancestor Jeremiah Swain(also spelled
Swayne or Sweyn)

"At my old map I looked again,
And found the house of Major Swayne ;
'Twas situated near the ground
Where Stowell, Issacher, is found.
This Major Swayne, the records say,
Was a great warrior in his day,
And in our ancient Indian wars,
A victor chief, beloved of Mars ;
And when King Philip with his troop,
With tomahawk and dread war-whoop,
With poisoned arrows and firebrand,
Bore down upon the pilgrim land,
Old Major Swayne, with courage true,
Forth to the post of danger flew,
Was made commander of the free,
And led them on victory.
And once, 'tis said, it so fell out,
While Major Swayne was on a scout,
Exploring swamps and other by-land,
Within the State of old Rhode Island,
He found the Indians, whom he sought,
Gathered in force, within a fort.
Our hero's numbers being few,
He wished to hide them from their view,
So lurking near their palisade,
Concealed them there in ambuscade ;
Then bold as e'er a lion was,
His glitt'ring steel the Major draws,
And, mounting on a rising stone,
He cries in loud, undaunted tone,
"We've found the foe, let's storm the fort,
To drive them thence will be but sport;
Come, Captain Poole and Sergeant Brown,
Wheel up your squadrons into line."
The Indians heard this fearless boast,
And thought there came a mighty host ;
With terror struck, and wild dismay,
They quit the fort and ran away ;
Our little band, with triumph then,
Into the empty fortress ran,
Unfurled the flag of liberty,
And gain'd a bloodless victory."

Lilley Eaton & James Flint, Historical Address and Poem: Delivered at the Bi-centennial
Celebration of the Incorporation of the Old Town of Reading May 29, 1844, (Boston, Ma.
S.N. Dickinson, 1844) pp.73-74

Now I'm well aware of poetic license but as I'll show in future posts Lilley Eaton took
quite a bit of it in his description of my ancestor's part in what is also known as the
Great Swamp Battle. Suffice it to say at this point that while Jeremiah Swain would rise
in rank in the Massachusetts militia, he was only a lieutenant at the time of the battle,
and the victory was hardly as bloodless as Mr. Eaton portrays it. But two hundred
years had passed and there was no internet around to consult about the actual event
so Lilley Eaton no doubt relied on tradition in composing his poem.

As I said, there'll be more to come, but for the moment, this is my descent from
Jeremiah Swain and his wife Mary Smith:

Jeremiah Swain m. Mary Smith
Sarah Swain m. John Laughton
John Laughton Jr. m Hepzibah(Hepzibath) Stimson (Stimpson)
John Laughton 3rd m. Jane Adams
John Laughton 4th m. Lydia Ann McGraugh
John Laughton 5th m. Amata Greenleaf
Esther Laughton m. Philip Richardson
Louisa Almata Richardson m. Jonathan Phelps West (my great great grandparents)

BLOGGING BRUNCH 16

I'm on vacation this week and slept in today. I do have plans
for this week involving some genealogy research but I need a
haircut badly. The problem is my barber who I've gone to for
years is closed on Monday, so I'll get the haircut tomorrow
and take the train into Boston Wednesday and/or Thursday
depending on how much I find out at the three places I want
to visit.

I need the haircut so I will not be mistaken for one of the
homeless people who hang around inside the Library when I
visit the main branch at Copley Square. There's been some
unfortunate incidents involving muggings and fights there,
which is a sad statement both on the state of the library and
the state of a society where people need to use it for shelter.

So for today I've been catching up on reading other folks'
geneablog posts and doing some writing while keeping an ear
out for the approach of thunderstorms which are forecast for
all day. I've parked Ping under some trees in the parking lot
in the hopes it will keep most of the rain off since Ping does
not do well with damp wires.


And Happy Birthday to my late great-great grandmother,
Louisa Almata Richardson who was born 171 years ago on
this date, 23Jun 1837.