THE WEST BROTHERS

After that long series on the Newbury, Ma. church dispute I want to do some
writing on topics that might not demand so many posts. Luckily I have some
ideas. For one thing, I've had the probate files for my 2x great granduncles
Asa Atwood and Hiram Ferdinand West to transcribe. I was thinking about
when I realized I could also post a few pictures here of the West brothers.

My 2x great grandfather Jonathan Phelps West was the fourth of eleven
children born to John Cutter West and Arvilla (Ames) West. He was also
the third out of six sons. Unfortunately, I have no photos of three of them:

Oldest son Asa Atwood West, about whom I have some information;

Third child John C.West. The middle name might have been Cutter, in
which case he would have been John C West, Jr.  He died young, at age
eighteen. The only record I've been able to find of him online is his listing
with the rest of the family on the 1850 Census.

Sixth son and youngest of the eleven children David Pingree West. He and
his sisters Arvilla and Ruth died during a diphtheria outbreak in 1862.

The other three brothers that I have photos of:

My 2x great grandfather Jonathan Phelps West:

Fourth brother Hiram Ferdinand West:

Fifth son and ninth child Leonidas West, shown here with his wife Valora Abbott.
 He is the only West in our family to have taken his name seriously and move West,
first to Minnesota and then Washington state:

I think Hiram and Leonidas look quite dashing. I'd like to think that
underneath all those whiskers, 2x great grandfather Jonathan was equally
as dashing!

I'll be posting Hiram and Asa's probate files soon. 

DOWN MEXICO (MAINE) WAY

I was searching Google's News Archive for old newspaper articles on my
Ellingwood family when I found this from The Lewiston (Me.) Evening Journal
for 12Sep 1898. It's an article with bits of news and gossips from the small towns
surrounding Lewiston:
  

"FROM MANY MAINE TOWNS
      __________________
                 MEXICO
   John Mason has moved from Ridlion-
ville into the Babb House on the Harlow
Hill road, Mexico.

   Horace Ellingwood of the 1st Maine
regiment is in town. He was one of the
number detailed for hospital service sev-
eral months ago. He was in fairly good
health until early in August when he
was laid up by measles and is now forty
pounds lighter than when he enlisted

   Asa West from Andover, Hiram West
from Upton and several others, eighteen
in all, passed through here recently on
their return from the eastern part of the
State where they have been to visit the
mother of Asa and Hiram West, who is
nearly 100 years old. During their visit
they corraled horses at night, set up
tents, cooked their own food and took
time leisurely...."

Now this is what I'd call a 2 for 1 deal! . Going by the 1898 date, Horace was a
soldier during the Spanish-American War, It's ironic that he had been assigned
to hospital service and then fallen ill himself, since the same thing happened
to my grandfather during WW1. Now I need to figure out how he's related to me.
I'd thought he was my first cousin twice removed Horatio Ellingwood  but  I
realized that Horatio was only a year old in 1898.

The third section is a real find though. Asa and Hiram West are my 2x great
granduncles, brothers to my 2x great grandfather Jonathan Phelps West. Asa would
have been 68 years old on this horseback trip, and Hiram 60.   Now their mother
Arvilla (Ames) West died in Hermon Maine  in 1907 where she was living with one
of her daughters. But in 1898 she wasn't as close to 100 as the article claims. She
was actually 88years old.

I checked and depending on which route you'd use on modern highways distance
between Upton and Hermon Maine is between 135 to 155 miles through terrain
that is wooded and mountainous. Given their ages, I'm in awe of Asa and Hiram's
energy and durability traveling that distance not by train or stagecoach but by
riding it horseback and camping out instead of staying at hotels or inns.  Perhaps
when they made this trip 114 years ago this week the brothers were making their
last hurrah, knowing it might well be the last time they'd be able to do such a
thing. (Asa would die in 1907, Hiram seve years later in 1914).

I wonder what Arvilla thought about two "boys" when they rode up to the house in
Hermon? Did she scold them over risking getting a chill coming all that way, or did
she enjoy a good long visit with them for perhaps the last time?

I'd like to think she did both things.

ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WEST BROTHERS

Prior to following up on the link Randy Seavers gave to the Ancestry.com
collection of the Federal Nonpopulation Census Schedules 1850-1880,
I hadn't really given much thought to how my West ancestors made their
daily living. I knew the regular census images said they  were farmers
which seems to have ended with my great grandfather P.J. West. My
grandfather Floyd Earl West Sr was a lumberman and his brother
Clarence worked as the caretaker of the  Azischohos Dam for over
fifty years. And frankly, I never noticed many farms up there when I
visited as a kid other than one near my Aunt Flossie's place in Milan,
NH. It wasn't until a few years ago when I found the Federal Census
images on Ancestry.com that I learned that my West ancestors had
been farmers. I thought they were all lumbermen.

These schedules have been invaluable. Now I know what crops JP
and his brothers grew,that they periodically changed what they grew,
that they supplemented the income from the farms by cutting wood on
their farms. I think that Jonathan and Asa sold their logs to Hiram or
used his mill to turn them into lumber to be sold. But while I now know
what they did, I wonder about the why and how. That entry for a crop
of hops on Asa's farm in 1870 for example. How long had he been
growing hops and why did he start?  Why did he stop by 1880? Was
it a case of it not being a good cash crop, or due to weather conditions,
or was it just a one year experiment that failed? What prompted
Hiram's decision to sell his farm and run a saw-mill and grist-mill
instead?(more on that later)

Where in Upton was the farm that John Cutter West and then JP West
owned? When was it sold and why? Was it because JP's sons Paul,
John and PJ had no intererst in farming or did financial reasons force
him to sell?

So you can see that while the Nonpopulation Schedules provided me
with information I hadn't known about my family, they've also given me
more questions for which to find answers.

To me, that's the fun of genealogy! 

(As to that sale of Hiram's farm:it turns out he sold it to my 2x great
grandfather Asa F. Ellingwood in 1877 who then sold it agaIn sometime
between 1880 and 1885. I found that in Florence O'Connor's book,
The Ancestors and Descendants of Asa Freeman Ellingwood and 
Florilla (Dunham)Ellingwood. I should have known to check there first
for answers about my Ellingwood line! )

DOWN ON JP'S FARM 1880

As I posted earlier, I recently found the missing 1880 Nonpopulation
Federal Census Agricultural Schedule for my 2x great grandfather 
Jonathan Phelps West farm. This helped me get a fuller picture of JP’s
life as a farmer and the dynamics between three of the four West 
brothers. It also made me curious about a few things. I’ll talk about 
those latter items first.


On the 1870 Census Jonathan and Louisa West’s children are given as John
C. (Cuvier) West and George P. I don’t know why that didn’t get my attention
sooner, but there’s no George P. West listed in JP’s family anywhere else
except on that Census. At first I thought perhaps it was a child who died in
infancy, but then looking at the 1880 Federal Census I realized what the answer
probably is:George P. is my great grandfather Philip Jonathan West. The ages
match up. So did his parents originally name him George P. but then changed 
their minds? Or was it the more likely error by the census taker?


The second question I have concerns my 2x great grandfather Asa F. 
Ellingwood. He and his family were close neighbors of JP’s, a fact which would
eventually lead to the marriage of Philip J. West and Clara Ellingwood. Yet I 
have found no record of Asa’s farm on the 1880 Agricultural Schedule. Was it
skipped over by the enumerator?


Ah well.


As to the information on JP’s farm in 1880, it shows a smaller farm with 
75 fewer acres of woodland. Did JP sell that off to brother Hiram the 
sawmill operator? Yet the total value of the farm and livestock had nearly 
doubled from $1150 in 1870 to $2000 in 1880. The flock of sheep had 
grown to 20 but two were apparently killed by dogs(or wolves?). The
biggest crop was 600 bushels of potatoes but there were also 60 cords
of wood cut and sold for a dollar a cord for $60. Again, I think that
they would have been sold to brother Hiram.


And along with his two older sons being of an age now where they could 
help out around the farm, JP had work enough to merit hiring on help for
ten weeks.


Here is my transcription of the entry for JP’s farm:


Tenure:
Owner:/
Rents for fixed money rental:
Rents for shares of crops:




Acres of Land:
Improved:
Tilled, including fallow and grass in rotation (whether pasture or meadow):20
Permanent meadows, permanent pastures, orchards, vineyards:20


Unimproved:
Woodland and forest:75
Other unimproved, including "old fields" and growing wood:




Farm Values:
Of farm, including land, fences and buildings:1500(dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery:100(dollars)
Of livestock:400(dollars)


Fences:
Cost of building and repairing in 1879:25(dollars)




Cost of fertilizers purchased in 1879:




Labor:
Amount paid for wages for farm labor during 1879, including value of board:
50(dollars)


Weeks hired labor in 1879 upon farm (and dairy),excluding housework: 10




Estimated value of all farm productions (sold, consumed or on hand) in 1879:400(dollars)




Grass Lands:
Acreage 1879
Mown:80(acres)
Not Mown:
Products Harvested in 1879:
Hay:25(tons)
Clover seed:
Grass seed:


Horses of all ages on hand June 1, 1879:2


Mules and asses all ages on hand June 1, 1879:


On hand June 1, 1879:
Working oxen:
Milch cows:3
Other:13


Meat Cattle and Their Products:
Calves dropped:2
Movement 1879:
Purchased:1
Sold living:1
Slaughtered:
Died, strayed and at (indecipherable word)and not recovered:
Milk sold, or sent to butter and cheese factories in 1879:
Butter made on the farm in 1879:200(lbs.)
Cheese made on the farm in 1879:


Sheep:
On hand June 1,1879:20
Lambs dropped:13
Movement 1879:
Purchased:
Sold living:9
Slaughtered:2
Killed by dogs:2
Died of disease:
Died of stress of weather:
Clip, Spring 1880, Shorn And To Be Shorn:
Fleeces:20
Weight:80(lbs)


Swine:
On hand June 1, 1880:6




Poultry On Hand June 1, 1880, Exclusive Of Spring Hatchlings
Barn-yard:10
Others:


Eggs Produced In 1879:50(doz.)




Cereal:
Barley 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Buckwheat 1879:
Acres:1
Crop:60(bushels)
Indian Corn 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Oats 1879:
Acres:3
Crop:100(bushels)
Rye 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Wheat 1879:
Acres:2
Crop:40(bushels)


Pulse:
Canada Peas (Dry) in 1879:
Beans (Dry) in 1879:3 (bushels)

Fiber:
Flax-1879:
Area in crop:
Seed:
Straw:
Fiber:
Hemp:
Acres:
Tons:
Sugar:
Surghum-1879:
Area in crop:
Sugar:
Molasses:
Maple-1879
Sugar:
Molasses:30(gallons)


Broom Corn-1879
Acres:
Lbs.:

Hops-1879:
Acres:
Crop:


Potatoes(Irish)1879:
Acres:3
Crop:600(bushels)


Potatoes(Sweet)1879
Acres:
Crop:


Orchards-1879:
Apples:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879:
Peaches:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879
Total value of orchard products of all kinds sold or consumed:
Nurseries:
Acres:
Total value of produce sold in 1879:


Vineyards:
Acres:
Grapes sold in 1879:
Wine made in 1879:


Market Gardens
Value of produce sold in 1879:


Bees:
Honey:
Wax:


Forest Products:
Amount of wood cut in 1879:60(cords)
Value of all forest products sold or consumed in 1879:60(dollars)






So by 1880 three West brothers, Asa A., Jonathan P., and Hiram F. were
enjoying a reasonable amount of success in their lives.


But what of their youngest brother, Leonidas?


I’ll discuss that next.

DOWN ON ASA'S FARM 1880

While Hiram West had abandoned farming by 1880 in favor of the
lumber and mill business, brother Asa West was still at it, albeit at a
smaller scale than in 1870. Sometime over that decade, Asa's farm
shrank by 35 acres, 20 of it farmland and the other 15 woodland.
Consequently the total value of the farm was down over a thousand
dollars to 2600 dollars.The flock of ten sheep was gone. Asa still grew
corn and oats but no longer buckwheat but he had made more use of
his woodland, drawing 30 gallons of maple syrup and cutting 10 cords
of wood valued at 10 dollars.


He'd also cut back on expenses by not hiring any help, a savings of
300 dollars from 1870.By now daughter Lizzie and son C. Scott were
teenagers and able to help out around the farm.If Asa was working
for Hiram at the sawmill, the pay or profit there would more than
makeup the monies that might have been made by growing more crops.

So here's my transcription from the 1880 Schedule 2-Productions of
Agriculture for Andover, Oxford, Maine, page 9:




Tenure:
Owner:yes
Rents for fixed money rental:
Rents for shares of crops:


Acres of Land:
Improved:
Tilled, including fallow and grass in rotation (whether pasture or meadow):30
Permanent meadows, permanent pastures,orchards, vineyards:50

Unimproved:
Woodland and forest:50
Other unimproved, including "old fields" and growing wood:


Farm Values:
Of farm, including land, fences and buildings:2200(dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery:100(dollars)
Of livestock:300(dollars)

Fences:
Cost of building and repairing in 1879:


Cost of fertilizers purchased in 1879:


Labor:
Amount paid for wages for farm labor during 1879, including value of board:
Weeks hired labor in 1879 upon farm (and dairy),excluding housework:


Estimated value of all farm productions (sold, consumed or on hand) in 1879:400(dollars)


Grass Lands:
Acreage 1879
Mown:30
Not Mown:
Products Harvested in 1879:
Hay:30(tons)
Clover seed:
Grass seed:

Horses of all ages on hand June 1, 1879:2

Mules and asses all ages on hand June 1, 1879:

On hand June 1, 1879:
Working oxen:2
Milch cows:2
Other:

Meat Cattle and Their Products:
Calves dropped:1
Movement 1879:
Purchased:3
Sold living:
Slaughtered:
Died, strayed and at (indecipherable word)and not recovered:
Milk sold, or sent to butter and cheese factories in 1879:
Butter made on the farm in 1879:100(lbs.)
Cheese made on the farm in 1879:

Sheep:
On hand June 1,1879:
Lambs dropped:
Movement 1879:
Purchased:
Sold living:
Slaughtered:
Killed by dogs:
Died of disease:
Died of stress of weather:
Clip, Spring 1880, Shorn And To Be Shorn:
Fleeces:
Weight:

Swine:
On hand June 1, 1880:2


Poultry On Hand June 1, 1880, Exclusive Of Spring Hatchlings
Barn-yard:8
Others:

Eggs Produced In 1879:30(doz.)


Cereal:
Barley 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Buckwheat 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Indian Corn 1879:
Acres:1
Crop:15(bushels)
Oats 1879:
Acres:3
Crop:100(bushels)
Rye 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Wheat 1879:
Acres:
Crop:

Pulse:
Canada Peas (Dry) in 1879:
Beans (Dry) in 1879:9 (bushels)

Fiber:
Flax-1879:
Area in crop:
Seed:
Straw:
Fiber:
Hemp:
Acres:
Tons:
Sugar:
Surghum-1879:
Area in crop:
Sugar:
Molasses:
Maple-1879
Sugar:
Molasses:30(gallons)

Broom Corn-1879
Acres:
Lbs.:

Hops-1879:
Acres:
Crop:

Potatoes(Irish)1879:
Acres:1
Crop:200(bushels)

Potatoes(Sweet)1879
Acres:
Crop:

Orchards-1879:
Apples:
Acres:2
Bearing trees:100
Bushels 1879:200
Peaches:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879
Total value of orchard products of all kinds sold or consumed:24(dollars)

Nurseries:
Acres:
Total value of produce sold in 1879:

Vineyards:
Acres:
Grapes sold in 1879:
Wine made in 1879:

Market Gardens
Value of produce sold in 1879:

Bees:
Honey:
Wax:

Forest Products:
Amount of wood cut in 1879:10(cords)
Value of all forest products sold or consumed in 1879:10(dollars)


I'll have some thoughts about what I've learned from all this in another post.

DOWN ON ASA'S FARM

Before I move onto the 1880 Schedules for Hiram West, I'd like to complete my look at the state of three of the West brothers' farms by discussing that of the oldest, Asa Atwood West.

Asa was born in 1830 and married Matilda Barker Marston in 1854. Instead of waiting to inherit a share of his father John Cutter West's farm, Asa started his own in nearby Andover, Oxford, Maine. As we'll see from the 1870 Agricultural Schedule, he was quite succesful, but life was not without sorrow for Asa and his wife. One daughter, Diantha, died soon after birth and two others, Arvilla (age 8) and Anna Pearl(age 2) died in the diptheria epidemic of 1862. He also was absent from his farm during the Civil War, serving in Company F of the Maine Coast Guard.

But by 1870 things seem to have improved for Asa and his family. By then two other children had been born, a daughter Lizzie (age 7) and a son C.Scott(age 5). As the figures on the 1870 Agricultural Schedule show, Asa's farm was more prosperous than either Hiram's or Jonathan's places. My transcription:

Acres of Land:
improved-100
wood-land-65
other un-improved-0
Present Cash Value:
Of farm-3000 (dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery-200 (dollars)
Total amount of wages paid during year, including value of board-300(dollars)

Livestock June 1, 1870:
Horses-2
Mules and asses-0
Milch cows-3
Working Oxen-2
Other cattle-4
Sheep-10
Swine-1
Value of all livestock-530(dollars)

Produce during the year ending on June 1, 1870:
Wheat:
Spring-0
Winter-0
Rye-0
Indian Corn-20 (bushels)
Oats-80(bushels)
Barley-0
Buckwheat-30(bushels)
Rice-0
Tobacco-0
Cotton-0
Wool-80(lbs)
Peas and Beans- 60(bushels)
Potatoes: Irish-330(bushels)
Sweet-0
Orchard Products-20(dollars)
Wine-0
Produce of Market Gardens-
Dairy Products: Butter-200(lbs)
Cheese-0
Milk Sold-0
Hay-40(tons)
Seed: Clover-0
Grass-0
Hops-1300(lbs)
Hemp-0
Flax-0
Flax-Seed-0
Silk-cocoons-0
Sugar: Maple-0
Cane-0
Molasses-0
Bees: Wax-0
Honey-0
Forest Products-0
Value of Home Manufactures-0
Value of Animals Slaughtered or Sold For Slaughter-177(dollars)
Total Value:Estimated Value of All Farm Production Including Betterments and Additions to Livestock- 950(dollars)

Unlike the Upton, Oxford, Maine 1870 Agricultural Schedule image for Jonathan and Hiram's farms, there is a second page for Asa's. What I noticed immediately was that Asa's farm was about the same size as Jonathan' s but worth more than his brothers' farms combined! It probably was the result of his planting a more diverse range of crops, the most intriguing of which for me was the 1300 pounds of hops. This was something his father John Cutter West hadn't done back in 1860 and because of that missing page in Upton I've no idea as to whether Hiram or Jonathan had tried their hands at hops as well. Asa was also able to pay out $300 to hire help which(given the work involved with all the crops and livestock)he would need. The regular 1870 Census page lists a "domestic servant" named Susie Bigelow and a "farm laborer" named John D. Wood as part of the household. And Asa still had the time to help out Hiram at the grist mill!

That entry on "hops" still fascinates me. Was there a brewery nearby somewhere or did Asa sell and ship the crop elsewhere by rail, perhaps to Boston? Or is there another use for hops other than brewing beer that I'm not aware about?

We'll leave Asa and his family for now but there would be changes by the time the 1880 Census rolled around.

HIRAM WEST'S MILL IN 1870

As I mentioned at the conclusion of my post about Hiram West's farm on the 1870 Census Agricultural Schedule, even though Hiram had a smaller farm than his brother Jonathan Phelps West, his farm's value was only $50 less and he could afford to have a hired hand. The reason he could was that he had another source of income, two mills.

I found an entry for a "Haraig Y. West" on the 1870 Federal Census Products of Industry Schedule at Ancestry.com. That should give you an idea of how hard to read the handwriting is on the document. But I knew it was Hiram as soon as I saw the name "Asa" as his one employee. That had to have been Hiram's brother Asa West. Here's my transcription:

Name of Corporation, Company, or Individual producing to value of $500 annually:
West, Hiram F.
-Asa

Name of Business, Manufacture, or Product: Starch Mill
Capital(real or personal) invested in the business: 2000 (dollars)
Motive Power:
Kind of Power (steam, water, wind, horse or hand): water
If steam or water, no. of horsepower: no entry
Machines:
Name or Description: Grist Mill
Number: 1
Average Number of Hands Employed:
Males above 16 years:
Females above 15 years:
Children and Youth:
Total amount paid in wages during year:
Number of months in active operation, reducing part time to full time: 7
Materials (including Mill Supplies and Fuel)
Kinds:Potatoes
Quantities:8000 bushels
Value(omitting fractions of a dollar):2000 (dollars)
Production:
Kinds: illegible
Quantities:28 tons
Value(omitting fractions of a dollar): 2520 (dollars)

There follows a note scrawled across the page beneath the entry. I can't
make out the first two words in the two sentences and they seem
disjointed:

"(?) (?) described grist mill grins for owners & receives toll
(?) (?) described starch mill (?) potatoes and make (?) at their own 
risk"

What am I to make of this? Apparently Hiram was paid by those whose
grain he ground at the grist mill by a portion of the end product, but he
allowed those with potatoes to use the mill themselves at their own risk?
Was the profit he made only $520? And Asa must have been a partner,
not an employee. Trying to interpret this one is frustrating!

At any rate, it must have been a profitable operation because, as we'll
see, Hiram's business ventures had expanded by 1880.

POST #700

I've been coming up on blogpost #700 for awhile now and
debated with myself whether or not I should make mention of it
or just let it pass unnoticed.

Then last night as I was watching "Faces of America" (excellent, btw)
I noticed an email had come in on my computer with the subject
of "Leonidas West". It turned out to be a letter from a young lady
who is Leonidas West's great granddaughter and so is my
third cousin once removed. That makes three West cousins in the
last two months, including Betty(another third cousin once removed)
and Mark(a fourth cousin) and all three descended from different
children of John Cutter and Arvilla Ames West.

So it occurred to me this morning: what better way to mark the
700th post than celebrating hearing from a new cousin?

And that's what I've done!

MY COUSIN NINFERIA

I was doing my research for the next installment of "Cousin Quest" over at
Ancestry.com today, this time for the descendants of Hiram Ferdinand West,
when I ran across another er....unique....name transcription.

Hiram F. had a son Hiram Winfield(aka Winfield Hiram) and I was looking for him
and his family on the 1910 Federal Census. A search on Ancestry directed me to
a record for a "Ninferia West", his wife Eva amd his son "Cleanland". I know Hiram
W.'s son was named Cleveland, so I was pretty sure this was my cousin. Sure
enough, a look at the actual image confirmed this was him.The kicker is that the
"Ninferia" on the transcription has a "Winfred" in parentheses below it!

I'll be posting this "Cousin Quest" tomorrow or Tuesday this week since I'm on
a mini-vacation and want to confirm my findings and information with my newfound
cousin Betty, one of Hiram F.'s descendants before I post them.

And the other day I heard from another cousin, Mark, who's descended from
Asa Atwood West. So perhaps the Cousin Quest will find even more West
descendants!

COUSIN QUEST: THE FAMILY OF ASA ATWOOD WEST

This is my second post in search of other descendants of John Cutter West and
Arvilla Ames.

Asa Atwood West was their eldest son. He was married three times, his first wife
being Matilda Barker Marston, the sister of his brother in law Abel Gage Marston.
Asa and Matilda's first three children were daughters who all died young. One
died in infancy, the other two died in the diptheria outbreak of the winter of
1861-1862. Their two youngest were born after the epidemic and both lived
to adulthood and married, but only their daughter Lizzie seems to have had
children.

Asa remarried after Matilda's death in 1877 but his second wife Maggie Hoyt
died after only three years of marriage without having a child. His third
marriage, with Alda Bryant, took place twenty years later and likewise was
without issue.

Typing this I was struck by the fact that while my grandfather Floyd Earl West
Sr was facing the Spanish Influenza outbreak at Camp Ayers , Ma., his cousin
David Richards, Lizzie's son, was succumbing to it at Camp Green in North
Carolina.

1. Asa Atwood West (b.11 Mar 1830-Canton,Oxford,Maine;
d.31 Jan 1909-Ridlonville,Me.)
sp: Matilda Barker Marston (b.3 Feb 1829-Andover,Oxford,Me.;m.18 Mar 1854;
d.20 Apr 1877)
2. Arvilla West (b.18 Jun 1854;d.18 Feb 1862-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
2. Diantha West (b.20 Aug 1859-Andover,Oxford,Me.;d.1859)
2. Anna Pearl West (b.12 Aug 1860-Andover,Oxford,Me.;d.20 Feb 1862-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
2. Lizzie F. West (b.5 Nov 1863-Andover,Oxford,Me.;d.15 Sep 1907-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
sp: David Parsons Richards (b.22 Sep 1858-Upton,Oxford,Me.;m.23 Apr 1882;d.1 Feb
1940-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
3. Bertha May Richards (b.9 Feb 1883-Andover,Oxford,Me.;d.3 Mar 1933-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
sp: Hervey E. Hall (b.25 Oct 1880-Andover,Oxford,Me.;m.13 Feb 1904;
d.23 Apr 1924-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
4. Richard N. Hall (b.29 Apr 1909-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
4. Herbert Hall (b.16 Jul 1914-Andover,Oxford,Me.;d.May 1970)
3. Harold West Richards (b.7 Sep 1887-Andover,Oxford,Me.;d.27 Nov 1938)
3. David Alton Richards (b.26 Apr 1890-Andover,Oxford,Me.;d.22 Jan 1918-Camp
Green,Charlotte,Mecklenburg,No. Car.)
2. C. Scott West (b.21 Sep 1865-Andover,Oxford,Me.)
sp: Maud Blaisdell
sp: Maggie Hoyt (b.1851;m.25 Dec 1878;d.8 May 1882)
sp: Alda Bryant (m.3 Jun 1906)

BLOGGING BRUNCH 14

I’m getting spoiled! Another day of sleeping in late.


So as I usually do on days off, I started the day with breakfast at
the computer and browsed the genealogy blogs, but I think many
are taking the holidays off or have been rendered hors d’ combat
aftertheir Christmas celebrations!

The weekly NEGHS enews email had a link to a story in the
Boston Globe concerning the naming of the John Alden House
Historic Site as a national historic landmark.


Then I tried googling a few family members and found a few
bits of information at two sites others with Maine relatives might
not know about.


First, at the Andover, Maine website I found the obituary of 2x
great granduncle Asa Atwood West and then a transcription of
his family gravestone at the Old Woodlawn Cemetery in Andover.


Then I found a site with an 1840 Census of Pensioners
Revolutionary or Military Services and found among others
Benjamin Barker, the brother of my ancestor Jonathan Barker,
was living with Moses Coburn, Jr, the son of my ancestor
Moses Coburn, another war veteran. The younger Moses
Coburn was married to a Hannah Barker but I’m not sure as yet
if she was a daughter of Benjamin or a niece.


So it was a productive cup of coffee, at least genealogy wise!