DOUBLY CONNECTED

I received a series of emails from my West cousin Yvonne out in Washington
state tonight. She's my 3rd cousin once removed, descended from my 3x
greatgranduncle Leonidas West who decided to take his last name literally
and moved west. Anyway, Yvonne has been going through some of her
grandmother's things, among which was a pocketbook which contained
handwritten records of family births, deaths, and marriages. These are
going to be very helpful in filling in some information on my tree, but one
sheet in particular, the first, held a surprise.

 Yvonne's grandmother was Ethel Alvina Hope. Up until now I hadn't done
an research on her because I've been wrapped up in my own direct and
collateral lines. But according to this list, her grandparents were Orville
Clapp and Lydia Colburn. Now I have Colburns/Coburns on my Dad's
maternal line; one of his great grandmothers had been Elizabeth Coburn
who'd married Nathaniel S. Barker in Oxford County Me. and who was
descended from Edward Colborne and Hannah Rolfe of Ipswich, Ma.
I noticed on Yvonne's image that this Lydia Colburn was born in Vermont
so she came from the right neck of the woods, as they say. So was she also
descended from Edward Colborne?

Long story short: yes, she was. My line is from Edward Colborne's son Joseph.
Lydia Colburn(and cousin Yvonne) are descendants of another son, Robert, or
so a preliminary search indicates. By now I'm used to finding connections from
one family line to another in my Dad's family tree. New England is a small place
and there was a small population in Western Maine for many years so it is to be
expected that there would be a lot of instances of marriage between families.

What makes this one fun to discover is that this link between the two sides of
my Dad's family happened not in Maine but out in Spencer Brook, Minnesota.
Orville Clapp was from Canada, and Lydia Colburn from Vermont. But many
New Englanders, like Leonidas West, had migrated out to Minnesota to work
either as farmers or as lumbermen.

 I'm wonder where Ethel Alvinia Hope got her information. Judging by the headings
on the other pages(Register of Births, Register of Deaths, Register of Marriages) I'm
guessing she copied it from family bibles. I'm certainly glad that Yvonne discovered
these papers, because now we know we  have a double cousin connection!

THE WHEREABOUTS OF LEONIDAS WEST

I've been discussing three of John Cutter West's surviving sons lives in the 1870s and 1880's using the Federal Nonpopulation Schedules 1850-1880 for the state of Maine. Asa, Jonathan and Hiram West did quite well for themselves, in my estimation. But there was a fourth brother, Leonidas. Where was he in all this?


The answer is simple: like many young veterans of the Civil War, he went West. Leonidas was the youngest son and probably didn't receive a very large inheritance from John Cutter West's estate. On 18Jan 1872 he married Valora Abbott and probably headed west shortly afterward since the couple were living in Minneapolis MN when their oldest son Otis Leroy West was born on 8Jan 1873. Leonidas apparently never owned a farm and his occupation on the Federal and Minnesota Censuses that I've found is given as "lumberman". In fact, I haven't found any indication that he ever owned his own home. Minneapolis City Directories that I've found have him at two different rented locations, first at "401 North Av N cor. Adams " and then at "1228 Adams". I think that at least the latter was a rented house because in the 1905 State Census there are five adults at 1228 Adams: Leonidas, Valora, their three adult children and their daughter in law. If it was an apartment it certainly would have been a crowded one! I believe Leonidas rented his home instead of owning one because of his chosen profession.


Leonidas was a lumberman, and that meant that he would be off at a lumbercamp for much of the year for an extended period of time. If he'd also owned a farm, that would put a large load on his wife Valora's shoulders until his sons Otis and Frank were old enough to help. By renting a home in Minneapolis he spared Valora the ardous life that women such as my great grandmother Clara Ellingwood experienced when her first husband Charles Tidswell went off to work as a lumber camp cook and left her to manage the farm. I also have to believe that Leonidas liked his chosen profession because he stayed at it in Minnesota for much of his life. Perhaps he gained some on the job training working for his brother Hiram at Hiram's sawmill before he set out for Minnesota?


Eventually age must have caught up with Leonidas. Sometime between the 1920 and 1930 Censuses he and Valora joined their sons Otis and frank out in Washington State. Otis was the manager of a succesful lumber and sawmill company and Frank had bought a ranch, and the winter weather certainly must have been milder than that in Minnesota. He died there in 1932.


Leonidas was just as succesful a man as his three older brothers. He just chose a different place and profession in which to do it!

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.

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!

COUSIN QUEST: THE FAMILY OF LEONIDAS WEST

This is the latest in a series of posts about the descendants of the
children of John Cutter West and Arvilla (Ames) West in the hopes
it will put me in contact with some of my unknown distant cousins.

John and Arvilla's eighth child was their fourth daughter Arvilla
Electa West who died unmarried at the age of seventeen during the
diptheria epidemic of 1862. (you can read about it here))

Their ninth child was Leonidas West, their fifth son. Leonidas
married Valora Abbott in 1872 and holds the distinction of being
the first West family member(that I know of) to leave New England
and head west, living for a time in Minnesota before moving on to
Washington state. I don't know for sure what prompted the move.
Leonidas was a Civil War veteran; perhaps there was a land grant
he took advantage of using? More likely is that he might have just
been looking for work in farming or thew lumber industry.

I had some information on Leonidas and his children to start out
with and found more online including cousin Zac Anderson's family
tree over on Ancestry.com:


1. Leonidas West (b.21 Jul 1847-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Oxford,Me;
d.28 May 1932-Brewster,O,Washington)
sp: Valora Abbott (b.25 Aug 1846-Upton,Oxford,Me.;m.18 Jan 1872;
d.24 Mar 1936-Brewster,Okanogan,Wa)
2. Otis Leroy West (b.8 Jan 1873-Minneapolis,Hennepin,Minnesota
;d.23 Feb 1939)
sp: Ethel Alvina Hope (b.1879;m.6 Nov 1901)
3. Ernest Lee West (b.12 Feb 1912-Everett,Snohomish Co.,Wa;
d.4 Mar 1977-Tacoma,Pierce Co.,Wa)
sp: Arlene Winifred Hilton (b.26 Dec 1925-Napavine,Lewis,Wa;
d.20 Oct 1993-Tacoma,Pierce,Wa)
4. Alvina West
2. Frank Ernest West (b.27 Mar 1874-Minneapolis,Hennepin,Minnesota
;d.20 Aug 1954-Brewster,Okanogan,Wa)
2. Clarinda Britton West (b.22 Apr 1876-Minneapolis,Hennepin,Minnesota
;d.2 Aug 1959-Minneapolis,Hennepin,Minnesota)
sp: Frank Llewellyn Keller (b.29 Sep 1870-Minneapolis,Hennepin,
Minnesota;m.1 Jun 1899;d.30 Sep 1935-Minneapolis, Hennepin,Minnesota)
3. Russell West Keller (b.22 Nov 1900-Minneapolis,Hennepin,Minnesota;
d.Abt 1972)
3. Dorothy Keller (b.2 Jul 1902-Minneapolis,Hennepin,Minnesota;
d.17 Jan 1943-Minneapolis,Hennepin,Minnesota)
sp: William Mansford Coffman (b.20 Nov 1903-Salem,Washington,Indiana;
m.23 Nov 1927;d.3 May 1971-Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota)
4. Farrell Jane Coffman (b.1 Jun 1935-Edina, Hennepin,Minnesota;
d.14 Oct 2009-Billings,Yellowstone,Wy)
sp: Robert Stewart (m.8 May 1958)
3. Robert Keller (b.11 Feb 1907-Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota;
d.29 Feb 1964)
sp: Helen Delaney
2. Louisa Belle West (b.20 Mar 1881;d.12 Apr 1960)
sp: Charles McVoy (b.1877;m.1 Jun 1905)
3. Margaret McVoy (b.1907)
3. Marian McVoy (b.1909)

This concludes the series on the descendants of the children of
John Cutter and Arvilla (Ames) West.(Their two youngest children,
Ruth Ellen and David Pingree West perished in the diptheria
epidemic.) I've tried not to include living members of the families
out of respect for their privacy and security. I apologize if I've
inadvertently listed them here.

I'll post some thoughts and corrections on the whole series soon
and I'm in the process of looking into a connection between
Valora Abbott and others of my ancestors.