DIPHTHERIA

 In 1862 the last of three children and two grandchildren of John Cutter West and Arvilla (Ames)  died during a diphtheria outbreak in  Letter B Plantation in Oxford County Maine. It started with the death of their daughter in law Orpha Viette Reynolds West who died on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31st, 1861. She was 19 years old, and she was the first wife of my 2x great grandfather Jonathan Phelps West. They'd been married two months.

Then Jonathan and Arvilla's younger children began to die:


David Pingree West died on Jan. 17th , 1862. He was eight years old, the youngest of the
eleven children, and was mentally handicapped.

Ruth Ellen West died on Jan. 26th. She was ten.

16 year old Arvilla Electa West died on Feb. 6th.

Older brother Asa Atwood West had married and started his own family on his
farm in neighboring Andover, Maine. He lost two children to the outbreak:

8 year old Arvilla died on Feb. 18th.

2 year old Anna Pearl on Feb. 20th.

I don't know if the rest of the older sons and daughters came down with diphtheria as
well, but if they did they recovered because they all lived into the 20th century. Jonathan
Phelps West remarried which is why I am here telling this story. John Cutter West died on
July 24 1862 at age 60. Whether his death was caused by poor health after diphtheria
I do not know.

Emil Behring discovered a vaccine for diphtheria in 1913.

And every time I read an argument against childhood vaccination shots, I think of my 3x
great grandmother Arvilla West, and how grateful she'd have been for something that
might have saved her children and grandchildren.

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?

NAMING PATTERNS:THE J.P.'S & THE P.J.'S

Today is the 206th wedding anniversary of my 4x greart grandparents Jonathan Phelps
Ames and Polly Griffith. Besides the personal significance of that happy event(I would
not be here if they hadn't married), it's also significant for setting up a naming pattern
in my family.

Jonathan was the son of John Ames and Lydia Phelps.

Jonathan and Polly's daughter Arvilla Ames married my 3x great grandfather John
Cutter West.

They named their fourth child Jonathan Phelps West(my 2x great grandfather).

Jonathan Phelps West married Lousia Amata Richardson, daughter of Philip Richardson
and Esther Laughton. They named their second child Philip Jonathan West in honor of both their fathers. He was my great grandfather.

The name then skips two generations until my younger brother was born. He's named
Philip John West after our great grandfather.

And his oldest son is Philip J West, Jr!

Do you have a story about how names have been passed down in your family?

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. 

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.

 
.
   

JONATHAN WEST OF UPTON, MAINE

((This what my 2x great grandfather Jonathan  Phelps West told
William Brewster when they met on Back St. in Upton, Maine.
on Thursday, October 8th, 1907. I first posted it here back in 2007)) 
 

I first found this on the Oxford County Maine site
celebrating the county’s Bicentennial, but it now
appears to have been taken down. I’m not sure
who the person was who rediscovered the excerpt
while doing research at the Agassiz Museum at
Harvard University so if anyone reading this
knows their identity, please let me know so
I can give them credit.

I’m fairly certain that this could be my great
grandfather Jonathan Phelps West. While the
birth year is three years earlier than his (1834),
he was born and lived his entire life there.
A cached version of the website is here
and mentions several Abbotts.


"Jonathan West spent his entire life in Upton, having
been born on East B Hill in 1831. In his youth Lake
Umbagog was much less extensive in summer than it
is at present. It was then bordered in many places by
natural meadows where the farmers cut large of coarse
hay which they took off with horses and wagons, for the
ground was quite dry and firm except in early spring,
when it was flooded for a few weeks. The forest trees
growing at high water mark and for some distance back
of this, were chiefly white pines. They fringed the banks
of the Cambridge, the Androscoggin and the Magalloway
Rivers and sometimes occurred on highground, but not
very generally or numerously. Most of those near the
water were cut and rafted off by the lumbermen between
1840 and 1850. Very little clear white pine was wasted but
spruce trees were accounted no value and whenever the
encumbered land was desired for farming purposes they
were almost invariably piled up and burned, after being cut
down.



"When Mr. West was a boy, moose were numerous,
although less so than in earlier times. There were only a few
deer and the first settlers had found but few. Caribou
occurred plentifully in certain locations. The Canada Lynx,
the fisher and the sable were common. The otter was perhaps
the most abundant of all the fur-bearing animals (except the
muskrat) which frequented the shores of the lake and that of
its connecting rivers. Partridge abounded in the forest.Wild
pigeons visited the clearings in enormous numbers sometimes
"darkening the sun" as their winged phalanges came between
it and the eye of the observer and doing much damage to the
farmer's grain. They appeared chiefly in spring and autumn
but Mr. West has never known more than a few scattered
pairs to breed anywhere about the Lake.He remembers when
the lake attracted innumerable water fowl, among which
were many Canada geese.

"According to Mr. West, Metalluk was a St. Francis Indian,
banished from his tribe because of some offense of a political
nature committed when a young man. After leaving Canada
he lived for many years about the lower lakes of the Rangeley
chain having a permanent camp at the Narrows on Richardson
Lake and one used less regularly, yet not infrequently on the
island in Lake Umbagog that bears his name. He was a
thoroughly "good" Indian, honest, upright, truthful and very
kind and friendly, in his dealings with the early settlers, all of
whom liked and trusted him. When they were hard pressed
for food he often brought them trout and moose meat, for, like
most of his race, he was an expert fisherman and hunter. He
frequently accompanied them as a guide and assistant during
their excursions into the forest and whenever he visited the
settlement of Upton he was cordially welcomed at their
houses. He stood in much fear of their dogs, however, and
Mr. West remembers that when he came to his father's
house on East B Hill he was accustomed to call from the road
requesting that their dog be tied before he would enter their
door. His only vice was drunkenness, to which he was hopelessly
addicted. But he was invariably mild-tempered and inoffensive
when under theinfluence of liquor."

The Birds of the Lake Umbagog Region of Maine
Professor William Brewster 1907

A VISIT TO BACK ST., UPTON, ME. 8OCT 1907

Earlier this month a gentleman named Steven Smith emailed me this image
from The Diaries of William Brewster. Brewster was a noted ornithologist
and the first President of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and often took
trips to Northern New England to observe and collect the local plants and birds.
In October, 1907 he took a trip to the Lake Umbagog area of Western Maine
and made entries in his diary about the trip.  This image are for the four days
he spent visiting the area around Upton, Maine, the town where many of my
ancestors lived.

As you can see, the entries are handwritten and while most of it was easy to
transcribe, there are some words I just couldn't decipher. These are denoted
in my transcription with a (sp?). The part of special interest to me is the entry
for Thursday, October 8th. I've underlined the relevant passage.



Lake Umbagog
Wed. Aug.7, 1907
Clear & warm with light S.W. wind.
Alva met me at the landing and took
me up Cambridge River in his canvas canoe.
Wilder, Pearl, and Bowman accompanied us
in another canoe. We went up to the middle
of the meadows. The river is unchanged.
It was at its very best as we paddled &
floated slowly back in the late afternoon.
I collected a lot of plants & made notes on
the vegetation. We got back at 5:30.
Some boys had had my canoe all day.
I sailed part of the way back to Lakelands (sp?)

Thursday 8
Brilliantly clear with fresh N.W. wind.
Spent the A.M. in my room writing.
Just after dinner Mrs J.P. West
of Upton called and took me to
her farm on Back St. where I had
a long talk with her husband who
was born on East B Hill in 1832.
I walked most of the way back
calling at Judkin's store to examine
the town records &  (sp?) Hollis Abbott.
The walk from Upton to (sp?) was
(sp?). I have (sp?) (sp?) (sp?) (sp?)
(sp? & mountains to (sp?) beautiful.

Fri, Aug,9, 1907
Brilliantly clear with light W.  to S.W. winds.
Just pleasantly cool yesterday & today.
Spent forenoon in my canoe behind
B.Point writing out the information obtained
yesterday. Sailed over to Upton just after
dinner to call at the Morse's. Saw the whole
family, I believe, Bennett Morse, his
wife(formerly Miss Peaslee) their attractive
daughter Miss Lucy & a younger daughter. Had
a long talk about early conditions here. (Bennett
Morse came to Upton in 1843) . Called on (Sp?)
Sargent but he was up the (Sp?) . Spent nearly
two hours at the Lake House taking notes.
Paddled back to (sp?) at sunset.

Saturday 10
Sunny but slightly hazy with cumulus
drifting before a fresh W. wind.
Warm  (sp?) (sp?) rising to 80.
Spent most of the day writing in my
canoe on the further side of B Point.
Paddled over at 8 a.m. & sailed back
at noon for dinner at the hotel.
Sailed both ways in the afternoon.
My favorite little cove is rich in bird
life. I saw there this afternoon a fine
adult Bald Eagle, a Fish  Hawk, 2 Herons,
100+ Brownish Grackles & many smaller birds.
Messrs. Pearl & Bowman took (sp?) for hours
this morning. I (sp?)(sp?) (sp?)

There is more written up the side of the entry about hearing the songs of some
species of birds but I can't make out anymore of it than that.


The "Mrs. J. P. West" and her husband were my 2x great grandparents  Louisa
(Richardson) West and Jonathan Phelps West. 

 Now, are you wondering just what Jonathan P West told Mr. Brewster? Well,
I already know, and I'll share that next.

Thanks to Steven for sending this image to me!

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!

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.

PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF.

I had intended to summarize what I'd learned about my great great
grandfather Jonathan Phelps West and his brothers from the 1850-1880
Nonpopulation Census Schedules. But I hadn't found the 1880
Agricultural Schedule for JP yet and I wanted to take a last shot at it over
at Ancestry.com. Searching by name hadn't turned up anything so I
decided to search every image for every town in Oxford County, Maine.
The 1880 images show two pages and theorizing that the missing page
with JP might be a right hand page indexed under the name of the town
on the left hand page, I narrowed my search by looking at the last image
for each town. Sure enough, after starting alphabetically with the town of
Albany, I found the missing Upton, Maine image at the end of the images
for Grafton, Maine.

I discovered why the name search hadn't worked when I added the
record to JP's profile: he'd been indexed just as "Jonathan P." with no
last name!

Figuring I was now on a roll, I decided to try my luck with the same
method for the missing second page of the 1870 Agricultural Schedule.
This presented a different challenge. The images show two pages, the
right hand one being the front page of a record and the left hand page
being the second page of the previous record. Reasoning this time that
the missing second page might be indexed with the first page of the
following town, I decided to search the first image for each town. The
main trouble with this was that those pages don't have the names of the
towns or citizens on them; that information was on the front page. So
how could I tell if a page was the missing Upton page?

I looked at the image I had of the front page for anything that might be
dark enough to show through onto the second page. Nothing. Then, I
counted the number of entries on the page. There were 33, so logically,
there should be a corresponding number on the missing second page. I
started looking at the images for the 1870 Schedule and once again I
lucked out! The page preceding the page for the town of Gilead had 33
entries! But not taking any chances, I went through all the towns to see if
there was another image with the 33 entries, but there were no others.

So I have a few more posts to write before that summary.

And that's why it pays to be persistent!

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.

DOWN ON HIRAM'S FARM

((Note-I've since found the missing page and added it to this post. This new material
is in red)


Listed on the same page of the 1870 Federal Census Agricultural Schedule as Jonathan Phelps West is his younger brother Hiram Ferdinand West. Born six years after John in 1838, Hiram's household included his wife "Villa M" (Arvilla Mary Ballard), their daughter Clara M. (2 years old), their son "Winnie H." (Hiram Winfield, 9 months old) and a farm worker, Charles Richards. Hiram's occupation as listed as "farmer/blacksmith". Looking at the Farm Schedule it doesn't seem that Hiram was having as much success at farming as J.P, but again the second page of the document is missing on Ancestry.com so I don't have a complete picture.

Here's my transcription:

Acres of Land:
improved-50
wood-land-50
other un-improved-0
Present Cash Value:
Of farm-600 (dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery-25 (dollars)

Livestock June 1, 1870:
Horses-1
Mules and asses-0
Milch cows-2
Working Oxen-2
Other cattle-7
Sheep-0
Swine-1
Value of all livestock-315 (dollars)

Produce during the year ending on June 1, 1870:
Wheat:
Spring-25(bushels)
Winter-0
Rye-0
Indian Corn-0
Oats-0
Barley-0
Buckwheat-25(bushels)
Rice-0
Tobacco-0
Cotton-
Wool-5(lbs)
Peas and Beans-2 (bushels)
Potatoes: Irish-100(bushels)
Sweet-
Orchard Products-
Wine-
Produce of Market Gardens-
Dairy Products: Butter-225(lbs)
Cheese-
Milk Sold-
Hay-35(tons)
Seed: Clover-
Grass-
Hops-
Hemp
Flax
Flax-Seed
Silk-cocoons-
Sugar: Maple-
Cane-
Molasses-
Bees: Wax-
Honey-
Forest Products-
Value of Home Manufactures-
Value of Animals Slaughtered or Sold For Slaughter-160(dollars)
Total Value:Estimated Value of All Farm Production Including Betterments and Additions to Livestock-715(dollars)





So Hiram's farm was smaller than J.P.'s by 90 acres, yet the land itself was worth only $50
less than his brother's. The value of livestock is less as well, probably reflecting the fact that while J.P. had eleven sheep, Hiram had none. As for crops, Hiram raised smaller amounts of two, Spring Wheat and Buckwheat. And yet he had a hired hand where J.P. didn't!

Why?

The answer to that might be the entry for Hiram West on the 1870 Federal Census Industrial Schedule which I'll discuss next.

DOWN ON J.P.'S FARM

((Note-I've since found the missing page and added it to the post. The new material is
in red.))


By 1870 there had been drastic changes on John Cutter West's farm. In 1860 there had been ten people living on the farm, nine of whom were old enough to help out around the farm with the chores. Then came the Civil War and sons Hiram and Leonidas joined the Union Army. More devastating was the epidemic of 1862 in which three of the younger children had died, follwed by the death of John Cutter West himself later that Spring. Asa Atwood West, the oldest son, was already married with a farm of his own, so my great-great grandfather Jonathan Phelps West inherited the farm.

So by 1870 there were four residents of the farm listed on the Federal Census: J.P, his wife Louisa, and two sons, three year old John C. and nine month old George P. With that much of a reduction of people able to work the farm, a change in how the farm was run would have had to occur. Unfortunately, Ancestry.com is missing the second page of the 1870 Federal Agricultural Schedule for Upton, Oxford County, Me. but there's enough information from the first page to show that indeed there had been changes:


Acres of Land:
improved-40
wood-land-150
other un-improved-0

Present Cash Value:
Of farm-650 (dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery-25 (dollars)

Livestock June 1, 1870:
Horses-1
Mules and asses-0
Milch cows-2
Working Oxen-2
Other cattle-2
Sheep-11
Swine-0
Value of all livestock-475 (dollars)

Produce during the year ending on June 1, 1870:
Wheat:
Spring-35(bushels)
Winter-
Rye
Indian Corn
Oats-200(bushels)
Barley
Buckwheat-60(bushels)
Rice-
Tobacco
Cotton-
Wool-)
Peas and Beans-
Potatoes: Irish-100(bushels)
Sweet-
Orchard Products-
Wine-
Produce of Market Gardens-
Dairy Products: Butter-300(lbs)
Cheese-
Milk Sold-
Hay-25(tons)
Seed: Clover-
Grass-
Hops-
Hemp
Flax
Flax-Seed
Silk-cocoons-
Sugar: Maple-
Cane-
Molasses-
Bees: Wax-
Honey-
Forest Products-
Value of Home Manufactures-
Value of Animals Slaughtered or Sold For Slaughter-60(dollars)
Total Value:Estimated Value of All Farm Production Including Betterments and Additions to Livestock- 873(dollars)




The first change I noticed from 1860 is that the total value of the farm is down to $1150 from the $1600 dollars of ten years before with less equipment and it is ten acres smaller with the loss being in the "wood-land." Could it have been sold off to pay a debt or to raise cash for some other purpose? There is also less livestock: only two working oxen, two "milch-cows" and two "other cattle". J.P.'s brother Hiram Ferdinand West's farm is listed a few lines below on the same page and there are two oxen and seven "other cattle" on his farm so there might have been a division of livestock between the two brothers after their father's death. But there is one addition to the West farm: there are now eleven sheep!

Since the second page is missing I don't know if J.P. had a potato crop or not but from the first page there is one difference with what his father chose to plant and grow as J.P grew spring wheat instead of rye. And with eleven sheep I think it's a safe assumption that there would
have been more than the 30 lbs of wool listed on the 1860 schedule.

Without seeing the second page of the Schedule I can't be absolutely sure but I'm guessing the changes reflect a farm that would be a little less labor intensive and more manageable for just two adults.

Since I haven't found an 1880 Agricultural Schedule yet for J.P.West, I'll turn next to his brothers Asa Atwood and Hiram Ferdinand West.

COUSIN QUEST: THE FAMILY OF JONATHAN PHELPS WEST

This is the third in a series of posts that hopefully will eventually be
seen by other descendants of John Cutter West and Arvilla Ames
who might want to contact me. Their second son John Cutter
West Jr died at the age of 18 in 1850 without any issue. The third son,
Jonathan Phelps West, however did have children and many
descendants, including myself.

I have a few observations about some of the information here but
since this is so large I'll save them for the next post.



1. Jonathan Phelps West (b.16 Jan 1834-Letter B Plantation (now Upton),Me.;
d.8 Jul1917-Upton,Oxford,Me.)
sp: Orpha Viette Reynolds (b.30 Jun 1840;m.20 Oct 1861;d.31 Dec 1861)
sp: Louisa Almata RICHARDSON (b.23 Jun 1837-Wilton,Me;m.31 Jan 1865;
d.4 Oct1925-Upton,Oxford,Me)
2. John Cuvier WEST (b.10 Dec 1867-Letter "b" Township, Upton, Me;
d.8 Jul 1917-Upton,Me)
sp: Emily Enman (b.25 Jun 1872-Pownal, Queens, PEI, Can; m.28 Jul 1893
(Div);d.15 Nov 1939-Morris Plains, Morris, NJ)
3. Velma Susan WEST (b.21 Nov 1894-Berlin,Coos, Nh;d.24 Mar 1936-
Berlin,Coos,Nh)
sp: Lindsey Arthur Ferren (m.5 Sep 1917)
3. Pearl Louisa WEST (b.22 Oct 1896-Berlin, Coos, Nh;d.14 Feb 1981)
3. Nellie Ardelle Emily WEST (b.7 Mar 1899-Berlin, Coos, Nh;d.27 Jan 1997)
sp: John Rogerson (m.29 Sep 1917)
3. Florence Elizabeth WEST (b.4 Oct 1902-Berlin, Coos, Nh;d.1984)
3. John Enman WEST (b.27 Jul 1907-Berlin, Coos, Nh;d.21 Feb 1941)
2. Philip Jonathan WEST (b.23 Sep 1868-Upton, Oxford, Me;d.5 Nov 1954-
Wilsons Mills, Oxford, Me.)
sp: Clara Ford Ellingwood (b.6 Mar 1865-Dummer, Coos,Nh.;d.10 Apr 1901-
Augusta,Me.)
3. Floyd Earl West Sr. (b.14 Apr 1893-So.Paris, Oxford, Me.;d.28 Jan 1970-
Dumaway Me.)
sp: Cora Bertha Barker (b.27 Oct 1899-Bethel, Oxford, Me;m.24 Mar 1919;
d.Jun 1987)
4. Stanley Rayfield West (b.23 Feb 1920-Bethel, Oxford, Me.;d.26 Feb
1920-Bethel,Oxford,Me.)
4. Hazel Linnie West (b.2 Jun 1921-Bethel, Oxford, Me.;d.4 Aug 1973)
sp: G. Malcom Harvey
5. Stanley Ray West
5. Katherine Mabel Harvey
5. Margo Lea Harvey
4. Floyd Earl West Jr. (b.17 Jul 1924-Bethel, Oxford, Me.; d.22 Nov
1985-So.Weymouth,Plymouth,Ma.)
sp: Anne M. White (b.7 Jul 1927-Boston, Suffolk, Ma; m.29 Jun 1947;
d.28 Jul 1999-So. Weymouth, Plymouth, Ma.)
5. William West
5. Cheryl Anne West
5. Philip John West
sp: Wendy McGonigle (div)
6. Philip West
6. Matthew West
4. Dorothy Leona West (b.4 Apr 1926-Bethel, Oxford, Me)
sp: Charles Watkins Bargar (b.23 Jul 1924-Gnadenhutten, Tuscarawas, Oh;
m.24 Apr 1946)
5. Charles Bargar
5. Gary Dean Bargar
5. Diana Sue Bargar
5. Sara Louise Bargar
5. John Bargar
5. Bette Jayne Bargar
4. Florence Irma West
sp: J. Herbert Balsar
5. Robert Scott Balsar
5. Terry Ann Balsar
5. Marion Louise Balsar
3. Clarence Philip West (b.17 Mar 1895-So.Paris, Oxford, Me.; d.5 Jun 1983)
sp: Mabel Jane Illsley (b.31 Oct 1891;m.25 Jun 1919)
4. Lee West (b.6 Mar 1923)
sp: Anne Lee
4. Leita Edna West (b.21 Jul 1925)
sp: Henry LePage
4. Ruth Alma West (b.17 Nov 1927)
sp: Arthur Emerson
sp: Alphonsene Turgeon (b.3 Jun 1878-Placeville, Quebec, Canada ; m.1905;
d.16 Aug 1941-Magalloway,Oxford. Me.)
2. Paul Leroy WEST (b.20 Jul 1876-Upton, Oxford, Me; d.26 Aug
1954-Farmington,Lincoln,Me)
sp: Josephine Enman (b.7 Feb 1877-Mt.Pleasant,Prince,Prince Edward Island, Can;
m.Abt 1899;d.1975-East Sumner, Nh)
2. Mark WEST (b.Abt 1878-;d.DIED IN INFANCY)

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!

A WEST BY ANY OTHER NAME

I’ve been downloading census images from Ancestry.com the
past few weeks after signing up for a monthly subscription
which I can now afford and have run across some errors
transcribers had made indexing them. I’ve cited one already
that was probably a result of unfamiliarity with a style of
penmanship, but last night I found one that is IMHO the
result of a sloppy census enumerator.


I’d found every census record for my great great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West except for the one from 1910. When
I searched Ancestry, I got a listing for a “Johnathan P. Yuet”
with a marker for a possible alternate of “Johnathan P.
West” and when I looked at the image, I could understand
why the transcriber would have problems.


The page is a mess. But I'll stick to that part which concerns
my family.


To begin with, it looks like the ink faded on the line with the
family name so that the “West” is barely visible. The first
member of the family listed is “West, Louisa” which the
beleaguered transcriber translated into “Yuet, Paulina” but
the whole entry is faded and if I didn’t know anything about
Jonathan P.’s family I might not have been able to read that
line correctly myself.


Next comes “_______ Johnathan P.” and things really get
messy. The enumerator realized that he’d put the wife first
as Head of Household and sought to rectify the situation by
using a two-headed arrow to connect from “Husband” next
to Jonathan to the “Head” next to Louisa’s name, and a
smaller “wife” written in the upper corner of the box.


The third name in the household is my granduncle Clarence
who is correctly identified as “grandson”.


So that is why my great great grandfather is indexed as
“Johnathan P. Yuert” on the 1910 Federal Census for Upton,
Oxford County, Maine.


I’ve developed some sympathy for transcribers.

ANNIVERSARIES

Yesterday, January 31st, was the wedding anniversary date
for two couples among my ancestors.

The first couple are Nathaniel Barker and Huldah Hastings.
They were the children of Revolutionary War veterans
Jonathan Barker and Amos Hastings and are my 3x great
grandparents. They were married 189 years ago on 31 Jan
1819.

The second couple are Jonathan Phelps West and Louisa
Almata Richardson, my 2x great grandparents who were
married on 31 Jan 1865. I’ve written a bit about them before
on my post on Jonathan’s first wife Orpha and the diphtheria
outbreak of 1861-2. I have some pictures of them but they
are in a book and I’m not sure if posting them here would be
a copyright violation so I prefer to err on the side of caution
and not post them. I think I admire them most out of my
West ancestors since they kept the family going after a
horrendous event when many other families ended.