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?

THIS DAY IN MY FAMILY HISTORY: 5NOV

The anniversaries of two of my direct ancestors fall on November 5th:

Amos Hastings Barker (my great great grandfather) died on 5Nov 1907.
He was 79 years old.

Philip Jonathan West (my great grandfather) died on 5Nov 1954.
He was 86 years old.

I've posted pictures of both men in previous posts and you can see them by
clicking on their names in the labels below this post.

WINTER, MALDEN, MA. 1953

As you can see from the above photo, I come from a long line of hardy
Maine people who thought nothing of going out to work and play in
harsh Winter weather. From left to right, that's my grandfather Floyd E.
West Sr., his father Philip J. West, and his stepmother Alphonsene
Turgeon West. The caption says "Some catch taken in Spring,1923"
and that would refer to the wildcat or bobcat slung over P.J.'s shoulder.
Of course, technically, it isn't a Winter photo but the weather conditions
are wintery.


As for myself, I take after my Mother's side of the family. I can't say all
Irish American's have a similar view but I do know both Mom and her
brother, my Uncle Ed, weren't the type to love the sight of the first
snowfall. My earliest memories of snow involve the house on Beach St.
in Malden. I have some pictures taken one winter day there. The first
is looking over towards Clapp St, which was one house away from ours.
The other is looking over towards the other side. Up until now I didn't
know what street those other buildings in the distance faced but a quick
look at Google Maps just now told me it's Springdale St.







There was a long driveway that opened up into a wide parking area
between our house and the Tedesco's next door, and in the early to mid
fifties, in the pre-snow blower age, everyone shoveled.(unless you were
lucky to know someone who drove a snowplow who'd do plow you out
when he did your street). The other photos show my Mom doing some
shoveling. I'm certain she did not do all that herself, but was probably
clearing the end of the driveway after the plow went by so that Dad
and Uncle Ed could get in when they came home from work. I suspect
my Aunt Emily took the pictures.







Meanwhile, as the adults worked, my cousins and I looked on,
mostly because we were too young to do much shoveling and besides,
we probably couldn't move much bundled in those snowsuits! But we
did make snowmen and have snowball fights and sled, having the
fun any kid has in the snow, heedless of the cruel shock that loomed
ahead of us like a tree at the bottom of the hill: adolescence and
snow shovels and the dreaded words: "Go help your father shovel the
driveway!"



Written for the 64th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy

AFLOAT IN GENEALOGY

Hmm. I almost forgot to enter a float myself!

Of course mine would be entitled “West in New England”
and the sides of the float would be painted to make it look like
one of the log jams I’d see on the Androscoggin River when
we visited up home. My grandfather Floyd E. West Sr. and
his father Philip Jonathan West worked around the lumber
business in their lives.

There’d be a large map of Massachusetts and Northern New
England (so far there is no evidence of any connection to
Connecticut or Rhode Island.) with three ships touching the
shore: The Mayflower at Plymouth, another 17th century
sailing ship to the north of Boston to represent my Essex
County ancestors of the Great Migration, and a 19th century
steamer between at Boston to represent my Irish McFarlands
and Whites and German Offlinchers.

My West ancestors would stand in a line down the center of
the float with the Elusive John Cutter West shrouded in a
cloud of steam(no smoking!!) since nothing is known of the
family before him, and off to either side would stand members
of the other branches of the family: Abbott, Ames, Barker,
Benson, Barrows, Coburn, Dunham, Edson, Ellingwood,
Griffith, Haskell, Hastings, Houghton, Laughton, Packard,
Richardson, Upton, and the others.

When the line reached my father, he would be joined by my
mother. Behind her would stand the assembled McFarlands
Whites and Offlinchers.

And at the front of the float would be my sister and my
brother in law’s family as well as my brother’s.

There’d be small model buildings as well to represent what
sort of work they’d done in life: a sawmill, a smithy, and a
farmhouse for my New England lines and a small elevated
railway train model to since John McFarland helped in
the construction.

And from a speaker in the back, there will issue the strains
of “Hot Cross Buns.”

As played on a flutaphone.

FOUR GENERATIONS

I'm not certain which one of my cousins Aunt Dot is holding in
this photo, but from left to right, this is my grandfather Floyd E.
West Sr., Aunt Dot and child, and my great grandfather Philip
Jonathan (P.J.) West. The photo must have been taken in the
late forties or early fifties. P. J. passed away in 1954 at 86.

SLOW NIGHT ON THE GENEALOGY FRONT

It’s one of those nights where I’m too tired to do
much genealogy blogging. My eyes have that burny
feel and the brain isn’t functioning on all cylinders.
I did manage to upload those photos I’ve scanned
to Snapfish. It’s free and I want to get as much of
the family pictures and genealogy saved as possible
for reasons I’ll go into tomorrow night.

An addendum to my entry on the portrait of Clara
Ford Ellingwood. This is her line of descent from
Henry Phelps showing where it ties into the Abbott
and Dunham lines. She and my great-grandfather
were 7th cousins through their common descent from
from Henry Phelps and Eleanor Sharp


Henry Phelps m. Eleanor Sharp
Edward Phelps m. Elizabeth Adams
Samuel Phelps m. Sarah Chandler
Samuel Phelps m. Hannah Dane
Hannah Phelps m. Ephraim Abbot(t)
Mehitable Abbot(t) m. Jonathan Abbot(t)
Zerviah Abbot(t) m. John Ellingwood
John Ellingwood Jr. m. Rachael Barrows
Asa F. Ellingwood m. Florilla Dunham
Clara Ellingwood m. Philip J. West

MY WEST LINE

1. John Cutter WEST (b.8 Oct 1802-Plymouth,Ma.;d.24 Jul 1862-Upton,Me.) sp: Arvilla S. AMES (b.25 Jan 1810-Livermore,Me.;m.23 Sep 1827;d.25 Apr 1907-Hermon Me)
2. Ann Matilda WEST (b.4 Jun 1828-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Oxford,Me;d.23 Mar 1913)
2. Asa Atwood WEST (b.11 Mar 1830-Canton,Oxford,Maine;d.Jan 1909)
2. Jonathan Phelps WEST (b.16 Jan 1834-Letter B Plantation (now Upton),Me.;d.8 Jul 1917- Upton,Me.) sp: Louisa Almata RICHARDSON (b.1837-Wilton,Me.;m.31 Jan 1865;d.4 Oct
1925-Upton,Oxford,Me)
3. John Cuvier WEST (b.10 Dec 1867-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Me;d.5 Mar 1927-
Upton,Oxford,Me)
3. Philip Jonathan WEST (b.23 Sep 1868-Upton,Me.;d.5 Nov 1954-Wilsons Mills,Me.)
sp: Clara Ford ELLINGWOOD (b.6 Mar 1865-Dummer,N.H.;d.10 Apr 1901-
Augusta,Me.)
4. Floyd Earl WEST Sr. (b.14 Apr 1893;d.28 Jan 1970-Dumaway Me.) sp: Cora
Bertha BARKER (b.27 Oct 1899-Bethel,Me.;m.24 Mar 1919;d.Jun 1987)
5. Stanley Rayfield WEST (b.23 Feb 1920-Bethel,Oxford,Me.;d.26 Feb 1920-
Bethel,Oxford,Me.)
5. Hazel Linnie WEST (b.2 Jun 1921-Bethel,Oxford,Me.;d.4 Aug 1973)
5. Floyd Earl WEST Jr. (b.17 Jul 1924-Bethel,Oxford,Me.;d.22 Nov1985-
So.Weymouth,Plymouth,Ma.) sp: Anne M. WHITE(b.7 Jul 1927;m.29 Jun 1947)
5. Dorothy Leona WEST
5. Florence Irma WEST
4. Clarence Philip WEST (b.17 Mar 1895-So.Paris,Oxford,Me.;d.5 Jun 1983)
3. Mark WEST (b.Abt 1878-Upton,Oxford,Me;d.1878)
3. Paul Leroy WEST (b.20 Jul 1880 Or 1876-Upton,Oxford,Me;d.26 Aug 1954-
Farmington,Oxford,Me.) 2. Vienna Ames WEST (b.14 Apr 1836-Letter "b"
Township,Upton,Oxford,Me;d.14 Oct 1913)
2. Hiram Ferdinand WEST (b.18 Nov 1838-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Oxford,Me;d.Feb 1914)
2. Clarinda Britton WEST (b.29 Apr 1841-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Oxford,Me;d.8 Nov 1900)
2. Arvilla Electa WEST (b.29 Jun 1844-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Oxford,Me;d.6 Feb 1862)
2. Leonidas WEST (b.21 Jul 1847-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Oxford,Me;d.28 May 1932-Brewster,Okanogan,Wa.)
2. Ruth Ellen WEST (b.6 Mar 1851-Letter "b" Township,Upton, Me;d.26 Jan 1862-Upton,Oxford,Me)
2. David Pingree WEST (b.6 Oct 1853-Letter "b" Township,Upton,Me;d.17 Jan 1862)

SO WHAT DO I KNOW?

Alright, I'm faced with some roadblocks on both my maternal and paternal lines. My mother was a White and her father walked out on the small family during the Great Depression. My mother and uncle never talked about their father around me and when they did it was very little and usually preceded by a few choice terms I won't repeat here. Both my parents and my uncle are deceased now so that avenue of questioning is closed to me.

And on her mother's side we can only go back one more generation to the McFarlands who came over from Ireland.

My father was a West and while my Aunt Dorothy (and others) have traced the line back to John Cutter West on the 1837 Maine Census, none of us who've climbed that family tree have been able to find his parents or a record of his supposed birth in Plymouth, Ma. in 1802. It's through his marriage to Arvilla Ames that I can trace my descent from many early Ma. colonists. And his grandson, Philip Jonathan(my great grandfather) married Clara Ford Ellingwood who is another link to the early settlers.

Besides my aunt's earlier research I have a copy of a book on the history of Wilson's Mills, Maine and a book on the Dunham and Ellingwood families (more on these later.) I have a copy of the marriage certificate and divorce decree of my mother's parents. I also have a copy of the 1880 census with my mother's grandparents the McFarlands and their children alive at that time listed on it.

I've two letters from relatives on each side of the family with information on births, deaths, and marriages.

So while I have some brickwalls I also have more information than many others have when they started up.

When I began my genealogy work I used an older computer
jokingly known as George but recently he has been replaced
by Elaine, a Christmas gift from some of the best friends I could
have ever have. And my sister and her family gave me a nifty
printer/scanner/fax machine which I've named Newman. These
make things much easier and I can't thank them all enough for it.

I also have a secondhand laptop I call Kramer which is the backup
now.

And there it is. What I have information wise and what tools I have to work with while climbing my family tree. .