AN AUTUMN POEM BY EMILY DICKINSON

Here's an Autumn poem by Massachusetts' own Emily Dickinson. It's
one of her more whimsical ones with the reference to elves and to
poetry written by others about the season:
 
Besides the Autumn poets singby Emily Dickinson

Besides the Autumn poets sing
A few prosaic days
A little this side of the snow
And that side of the Haze --

A few incisive Mornings --
A few Ascetic Eves --
Gone -- Mr. Bryant's "Golden Rod" --
And Mr. Thomson's "sheaves."

Still, is the bustle in the Brook --
Sealed are the spicy valves --
Mesmeric fingers softly touch
The Eyes of many Elves --

Perhaps a squirrel may remain --
My sentiments to share --
Grant me, Oh Lord, a sunny mind --
Thy windy will to bear!

GREAT GENEALOGY POETRY CHALLENGE REMINDER

There's only a week to go to the November 20th deadline for submissions
for the Third Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge. I'm hoping
to see a great bunch of submissions!


Please remember if you have already posted your entry to send me the
link to it if you haven't already!

ON VETERANS' DAY

On Veteran's Day I'd like to pay tribute to the members of
our family who have served our country from it's birth. I don't
have all the details of the service records, and I'm sure I will
discover more relatives with service records, but this is what
I have so far :



American Revolution: 
 
Jonathan Barker Jr. My 4x great grandfather
Was a Minuteman from Methuen Ma with rank of Sergeant.
He responded to Lexington and Concord with his sons
Served in Captain Samuel Johnson's Company in
Colonel Titcomb's Regiment for 2 months in 1777 in Rhode
Island and then with Nathaniel Gage's Company in Colonel
Jacob Gerrish's guards from Dec 1777 tol April 1778 guarding
the captured troops of General Burgoyne.


Jonathan Barker 3rd  My 5x great grandfather

Enlisted on 19 Apr 1775 in Continental Army, Capt. John
Davis' Company, Col. James Frye's Regiment, in the
Massachusetts line for 8 months in Cambridge, Ma. At the
conclusion of the term, he reenlisted for another 3 months in
Capt John Allen's Company, Colonel John Waldron's Regiment,
General Sullivan's Brigade in the New Hampshire Brigade at
Charlestown, Ma. He then enlisted a third time in June 1778
at Methuen, Ma., joining Captain Samuel Carr's Company, Col.
James Weston's Regiment, in General Lerned's Brigade at
White Plains, N.Y. and serving for another 9 months.


John Ames       My 5x great grandfather

Was a Minuteman under Capt. Asa Parker on April 18th,
1775. He then enlisted in the Continental Army under Captain
Oliver Parker, Col. William Prescott's Regiment and
in the Brigade that was commanded in turn by Generals
Putnam, Lee, and Washington and served for 8 1/2 months.
For a more detailed account of his service see my posts
about his Revolutionary War Pension File starting here.


Asa Barrows    My 4x great grandfather

A member of the militia from Middleborough , Ma. (south of
Boston) in the Company of Captain Joshua Benson, in Colonel
Cotton's Regiment, and General William Heath's Brigade for
8 months during the siege of Boston. In December 1776 he
joined a militia Company commanded by Captain Joshua
Perkins and marched to Barrington, R.I. and was stationed
there for 6 weeks. In July 1780 he again enlisted, this time
in a militia company commanded by Captain Perez Churchill
that marched to Tiverton, R.I. I posted about his
Revolutionary War Pension File starting here.


Moses Coburn  My 4x great grandfather

Moses Coburn got into the War late and by reason of being
"hired by a certain class of men in the then town of Dunstable
to go into the Continental Army in the summer of 1781."
When he reached Phillipsburgh in New York he was placed in
Captain Benjamin Pike's Company, in the Regiment of the
Massachusetts line commanded by Lt. Colonel Calvin Smith in
which he served for nearly two years until it was broken up.
He then transferred to the Company of Judah Alden in the
Regiment commanded by Colonel Sprouts until his discharge
in 1783.


Samuel Haskell   My 5x great grandfather

Samuel served in Captain Joseph Elliott's Company in Colonel
William Turner's Regiment and then under Captain Hezekiah
Whitney in Colonel Josiah Whitney's Regiment.


Amos Hastings   My 5x great grandfather

Amos was responded to the Lexington Alarm as part of
Captain Richard Ayer's Company and Colonel William
Johnson's Regiment. He later served in Captain Timothy
Eaton's Company in Colonel Edward Wigglesworth's Regiment
and was at the taking of the British General Burgoyne at
Ticonderoga.



Elisha Houghton   5x great grandfather

Enlisted at Harvard Ma as a Private in May of 1777 in the
Massachusetts militia and was at the Battles of Bunker Hill
and Stillwater. He then enlisted for three years in the infantry
company commanded by Captain Joshua Brown in Colonel
Timothy Bigelow's 15th Regiment of the Massachusetts line.
and took part in the Battles of Monmouth and Newport and
was at Valley Forge. He twice was promoted to Sergeant and
twice was busted back down to the ranks.


Amos Upton    My 5x great grandfather

Responded to the Lexington Alarm and marched there from
his home in Reading. He later joined the militia company
commanded by Captain Asa Prince as an orderly sergeant
and then enlisted for eight months in the Continental Army
under Colonel Mansfield for 8 months. He was at the Battle
of Bunker Hill. He was discharged in October of 1775.


John Griffith  My 5x great grandfather

Enlisted in 1781 as a Matross (he swabbed out the barrel of
the cannons after they fired, or so I've been told) in Captain
William Treadwell's Company in Colonel John Crane's
Artillery Regiment.



Reuben Packard   My 5th great grandfather

A Sergeant in Captain Josiah Hayden's Company in Colonel
Bailey's militia. They marched to Lexington at news of the
Alarm. He also responded several more times as a Minuteman
for a total of nearly 8 months duty.


Jonathan Abbot    My 5x great grandfather

Served as a Sergeant in the Militia under Captain Henry
Abbott and responded to the Lexington Alarm

Samuel Stowe  My 5x great grandfather

Minuteman from Sherborn, Ma. Served in Capt. Benjamin Bullard's
Company in Col. Asa Whitcomb's 5th Massachusetts Bay
Provincial Regiment

Besides those direct ancestors, these other relatives fought
in the Revolution:

Moses Barrows, brother to Asa Barrows.

Samuel, Jesse, and Benjamin Barker, sons of Jonathan
Barker, Jr. and brothers to Jonathan Barker 3rd.

James Swan, brother in law to Jonathan Barker.

War of 1812
Although I haven't found any evidence yet that any of my ancestors
saw any action in the War of 1812, I do know John Griffith
served in Capt Elias Morse's Company, Col. Holland's Regiment
as part of a artillery company defending Portland, Maine.

Amos Hastings helped organize the militia in Bethel, Maine and rose
to the rank of Brigadier General  of the 2nd Brigade, 13th Division of
the Massachusetts State Militia.

Civil War
Asa Freeman Ellingwood
Enlisted in Company I, 5th Maine Infantry, on June 24, 1861.
He was at the First Battle of Bull Run after which he received
a medical discharge in Dec 1861. He reenlisted inCo "A" 9th
Veteran R Corps in September 1864 and served until the end
of the war when he was honorably discharged.

Other relatives who served in the Civil War:


 2x great granduncles:

 Leonidas West
 Enlisted in Company G 12 Maine Infantry Regiment on March 1,
1865. Mustered out on  18Apr 1866

Asa Atwood West
Enlisted in Company F of the Maine Coast Guard.

Oscar Phipps Ellingwood
Enlisted in Company E, New Hampshire 14th Infantry Regiment
23Sept 1862, mustered out 9Sep 1863. Transferred to Company
E,  U.S,.Veterans Reserve Corps 21st Infantry Regiment 9Sep 1863,
mustered out 11Jul 1865.

Cousins:

Charles O. Ellingwood
Enlisted 21 Dec 1863 in Company E, 9th New Hampshire Infantry.
Died 13Mar 1864 at Camp Burnside,Kentucky. (18 yrs old)


Henry O. Ellingwood Enlisted 25Oct 1862  Company K,  New
Hampshire 16th Infantry Regiment, died  1Mar 1863 in Carollton, La.

Franklin Dunham
Died in the War. Haven't found any details as yet.


Spanish-American War
Hollis J Ellingwood My cousin
Enlisted 2May 1898 in Company A 1st Regiment Maine Infantry
Discharged 28Oct 1898

World War 1

 Floyd E West Sr. My grandfather

Enlisted 29Apr 1918. Served in Company K,303rd Infantry. He was a
corpsman at Camp Devens, Ma during the Spanish Influenza outbreak
and was honorably discharged 12 Mar 1919


World War II

Floyd E West Jr  My Dad

 Enlisted 19 Mar 1943 at 18 years old. After washing out of the Air Corps
Bomber School, he served in the US Army Infantry in the Pacific Theater  and
11 Mar 1946 at age 22

 Edward F White, Jr. My Uncle

Enlisted in the U.S.Navy on 27Oct 1942 at 17years old. He was honorably
discharged 18Apr 1946, a week before his 21st birthday.

Charles Barger My Uncle
I don't know the specifics of his service yet.
 
Operation Iraqi Freedom
 Paul Skarinka My Nephew

My nephew Paul Skarinka

A PLACE FOR EVERYONE & EVERYONE IN THEIR PLACE.

Another interesting find from Google ebooks!

I have several ancestral lines from Amesbury so I googled for a
history of the town and found Joseph Merrill's History of Amesbury.
It includes records year by year of early colonial town meetings, and I
found this on pages 89-90:


July 9th. A general meeting was held for the purpose of seating the
people  in the new church, and "Liften Phillip Challes, Richard Currier,
William  Osgood, Rober Jones William Barnes, John Weed, Thomas
Barnard sen Nathan Gold, Georg Martyn thes men above retten" to
apoint every man and woman in the towen there pertecular seatc
to set in in the metten house acording to there best judgment, exept
thes men wich the town themselves have plased."

Accordingly they proceeded to exercise their "best judgment," as
follows:—

"Richard Currier is to set at the tabell.

Thomas Barnard sen is to set in the seat behind the tabell.

Roberd Jons and John Weed are to set in the nor West corner of the
metten house.

The 2 seate in the nor West side Georg Martyn and Nathan Gould are
 to set in.


Good wiffe barens is to set in the front seate at the tabell.

Good wide Osgood and Good wiffe Challes and Good wiffe Weed
are to set in the first seate in the sowethest sid of the metten house. 12

Good wiffe Currier and Good wiffe Barnard is to set in the second
seate in the sowett west side of the metten house.

Good wiffe Jons is to set in the second seate in the sowethwest side of
the metten house.

Good wiffe Gould is to set in the 3 seate in the soweth side of the
metten house.

Good wiffe Martyn is to set in the 3 seate in the soweth est side of
the metten house.

Georg Martyn do enter his contry desent to the plasen of his wiffe
in that seat.

William Sargent sen is to set at the tabell.

Edward Goodwin is to set at the tabell.

Jarret Hadden and Sargent Hoyt is to set in the seate at the
back of the tabell.

Edward Cottell and Edmund Elleatt and Hen Blasdell is to set
in the 2 seat on the nor west side of the metten house.

Samuel Foot, John Hoyt jr Thomas Barnard jr Thomas Sargent,
William Hoyt lsa Colby Thomas Kowell is to set in the ftrst seat
in the nor est side in the metten house.

William Huntinton Thomas Fowler, Thomas Nichols Rob Quinby is
to set in the 3 seat in the nor west side in the metten house.

John Pressy, Jemes Ercs, Ezckicll Worthen, John Huntinton is to set in
the 2 seate in the nor west side in the metten house.

Jemes Gorg Joh Barber is to set in the 3 seate in the nor est side of
 the metten house."

The record is very much worn and it is probable that a few more may
 have been seated. William Barnes was moderator of the meeting and,
of course, had a prominent seat assigned him. Forty or more were seated
 and these constituted the principal inhabitants at this time, excepting
children. The seating seems to have been satisfactory, with a single
 exception. Those seated at the table may have been deacons, but we
do not find the term used. They were, no doubt, seated somewhat
 according to their standing in town. The seats were rudely constructed
 settees or benches, and the whole outftt of the house was very simple
and plain.  (p89-90)
There's a bunch of my ancestors on this list: John Hoyt, William Barnes,
William Sargent, Philip Challis. I don't know if that meeting house still exists
in Amesbury but if it does I could walk in and from this have a pretty good
idea of where they were seated at worship.

It's like that saying goes: all in their places with bright shiny faces!

IN NOT SO PERFECT HARMONY

I'm grateful for my Dad's New Englander family.  While on the one
hand I have some brick walls, on the other hand, I have other ancestors
and relatves who are mentioned in many of the town histories. Even
better, through the wonders of Google, I can read those histories
online for free.

Tonight I was Googling the name of my 9x great grandfather Benjamin
Rockwood and found this story that mentions a Benjamin Rockwood,
Jr. The date would be about right for him to be the son of my Benjamin.
The story is from The History of  Medway, Massachusetts, 1713-1885 
edited by Ephraim Orcutt Jameson and discusses a subject I hadn't
really thought about before: how our New England ancestors sang hymns:.

Our fathers had their church troubles as well as those living now. Take for
example, the matter of singing in the early days. It often was at the greatest
remove from harmony.

The Old Way Of Singing was for the chorister to start the tune with the
pitch-pipe, the congregation to follow each in his own fashion at his own 
tune, and no two persons singing alike, but singing with all their might, 
"like the voice of many waters."

The Westerly Precinct of Wrentham, now Franklin, June 26, 1738, voted,
"To sing no other Tunes than are Pricked Down in our former Psalm Books
which were Printed between thirty and forty years Agoe and To Sing Them
as They are Prickt down in them as Near as they can."

This was a blow at the old way of singing, and March 8, 1739, that church 
voted not to sing in the old way: and near the close of that meeting the query 
was raised: "To see what notice the church will take of one of the brethren's 
striking into a pitch of the tune unusualy raised, Februarv 18, 1739."

And it was voted,

'Whereas, our brother David Pond, as several of our brethren viz.: David 
Jones, Ebenczer Hunting, Benjamin Rockwood Jr., Aaron Haws and Michael 
Metcalf apprehends, struck into a pitch of the tune on Feb. 18, in public 
worship on the forenoon raised above what was set, after most of the 
Congregation as is thought, kept the pitch for three lines and after our
Pastor had desired them that had raised it to fall to the pitch that was set 
to be suitable, decent or to that purpose.

"The question was put, whether the church apprehends this our brother 
David Pond's so doing to be disorderly, and it passed in the affirmative
and David Pond is suspended until satisfaction is given."

David Pond afterwards applied to the Church of Christ, in Medway,
for admission. Letters, which well illustrate the characteristics of the 
times, were exchanged by the two churches in regard to the case of 
Mr. Pond. It has been suggested that because of his uncommon height 
and muscular strength he pitched the tune too high. Whether this, or
because of willfulness, others must determine ; at any rate he was
excommunicated from the church, but some years after made 
confession of fault, was restored to good standing, and became one 
of the founders of the Second Church of Christ, in Medway.(p 107)

So basically, poor David Pond was a big strong guy, but he was
excommunicated because he couldn't carry a tune!

A LETTER OF PERMISSION

Among the items my Aunt Dorothy gave me a few years back was this letter,
It reads:

Upton, Maine, October 8, 1925.


 Permission is hereby given to Floyd E, West of Cambridge, N.H.,
to hunt and trap fur-bearing animals on landed  owned by David Pingree
et al 2/3 and Estate of Thomas Upham Coe 1/3 in Errol, N.H. and in
Cambridge N.H., during the fall of 1925 and winter of 1925-26.


S.F. Peaslee.
aGent.


 My grandfather ran traplines for many years. He didn't do it to be cruel
to animals. It was a way to bring in extra income to help support first
his family and later himself after the children were grolwn up with families
of their own. I know it's a painful thing for many of us today who don't
like the thought of the how trapped animals suffer, but we have to look at
trapping in light of the times. In a rural economy where income was hard
to come by, trapping put food on the table.

My Dad never talked about it much but I know he helped tend the traplines
when he was a kid. It was while doing so that he managed to
accidentally shoot himself in the foot.

This picture is from  The History of Wilsons Mills and the Magalloway
Settlements Wilsons Mills, Me.: The Town of Wilsons Mills, Maine 1975.
When I look at it I remember that trip Dad and I took uphome on a
winter day. My grandfather brought in a fisher that had been on the
trapline. He looked pretty much like he does in the picture!

"OUR MOTHER LURANA"

As I said, I have a lot of family lines from southeastern Massachusetts
and many members are buried in the local cemeteries, my Dunham
cousins at the Mt Vernon Cemetery right here in Abington, for example,
There are cousins from other families buried there as well. Two of
those are the Packards and Edsons.

The first Edson headstone I found actually belongs to a woman
who married into the family:

The inscription reads:
"Our Mother
Lurana
Wife of
Joel Edson
Died June 17. 1875
Aged 78 yrs, 2 mo.
7days
Gone to her rest.".

Usng that information I looked up Joel Edson(1763-1830) over at
Rootsweb and  discovered he was from the Bridgewater area( most
of the family in Massachusetts are from there) and that Lurana was
named Lurana Jones. She was born 10Apr 1797 which matches
the information on the headstone, and she was Joel Edson's second
wife.

Joel/s first wife was named Hannah Packard. She died in 1818 and
Joel married Lurana two years later in 1820.

While I can't find any record of children born to Joel and Lurana, I
did find that Joel and Hannah had four children who would have
been adults when their mother died and their father remarried. I'm
guessing from the inscription that Lurana had been loved by her
stepchildren. I haven't seen Joel's headstone at Mt Vernon and he
probably is buried at one of the cemeteries in the Bridgewaters.where
he died.

As I suspected, Joel is a cousin, although I don't know yet to what degree.
Hus 2x great grandparents are my 9x great grandparents.Samuel Edson
and Susannah Orcutt. Likewise, Hannah Packard is another cousin. Her
great grandparents are my 7x grandparents Zacheus Packard and Susan
Howard.

While there are other Edsons buried nearby but none of them are Lurana's
stepchildren. Perhaps the other family members are the grandchildren
and great grandchildren of Joel Edson, and the headstones of earlier
generations toppled over and are buried beneath  dirt and grass as
Lurana's eventually will be. 

IN HARDWOOD GROVES BY ROBERT FROST

It's full Autumn in New England, and who better to write a poem about
it than Robert Frost?


In Hardwood Groves

The same leaves over and over again!
They fall from giving shade above
To make one texture of faded brown
And fit the earth like a leather glove.

Before the leaves can mount again
To fill the trees with another shade
They must go down past things coming up.
They must go down into the dark decayed.

They must be pierced by flowers and put
Beneath the feet of dancing flowers
However it is in some other world
I know that this is the way in ours.
-Robert Frost

SO MUCH TO LEARN!

((Important correction at the end of the post!))

This is one of those stories that has me slapping myself up the side of the
head and saying ":DUH!"

Bear with me and you'll understand why.

I spent many days this past summer taking photographs of headstones at
the local cemeteries annd that lead me to Find A Grave which is a great
website and help for genealogists. I plan to upload all the usable photos
I took there(some aren't usable and will be deleted. I'm still learning) and
I've become a volunteer, taking pictures of headstones for relatives who
request them.

One such request was for a group of headstones at the Hanover, Ma.
Center Cemetery of Barstow family members. I managed to find and
post ten of the requests to Find A Grave but didn't give much thought
to it when I did it other than fulfilling the requests

Another routine I've gotten into is to post the birth, wedding, and death
anniversaries of my ancestors as Facebook updates. The hope is that by
doing so I'll make a cousin connection with one of my genealogy friends.
Well today was the 372nd birthday of 7x great grandfather Robert
Barrows and after I'd posted that on Facebook I took a look at what I
had for sources for him and his family. One of these was his daughter
in law, Patience Simmons, whose mother was named Patience Barstow
and whose grandfather was William Barstow, one of the original settlers
of...Hanover, Ma. He built the first bridge over the North River and
had the second shipyard in the area.

I knew nothing of those accomplishments until today, nor did I realize
when I took those pictures of the Barstow headstones in the Hanover
Center Cemetery that they were possibly relatives.

To be honest, I have so many lines in my family tree it's hard to keep track
of some of the older ones. And I know most genealogists concentrate on
just a few lines.


But there's all this fascinating STUFF out there to learn about my ancestors!
Not just names and dates but things they've done.

I've said it before,  so many gedcoms, so little time!

And now, I'm adding "so much to learn" to that.

Correction-Earlier this year, Barrows cousin Martin Hollick sent me
a copy of an article he wrote about the Barrows family which disproves 
the earlier information I had that Robert Barrows was born on 5Nov 
1639 in Salem, Ma. He probably was born about 1641, perhaps in
Plymouth. While I'd  made the correction in one database, I hadn't yet
done so in the one I use for the birthdays calendar. That correction has 
now been made. Thanks, Martin!

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER PT8

Earlier this year I published a series of posts about looking for information
about my Mom's estranged father Edward F White Sr. Thanks to an act
of genealogical kindness from Michelle Robilliard I was able to learn the
names of his two sons by his second wife, and as of the last post in the
series in March, I was trying to decide if I would contact them.

It was another act of genealogical kindness by Find A Grave volunteer
Pam Hatton that provided me with  the impetus to finally try to make
that contact. I called Information and got the phone numbers of men
with the right names living in the towns listed in my grandfather's obituary.
There was no answer at the first number, and I got an answering machine
at the second. I left a  message, explaining who I was and the possibility
we were related. Fifteen minutes later, my Mom's halfbrother returned
my call.

We talked on the phone for about twenty minutes and he's a nice guy.
I didn't think to ask him if he had ever been told about my Mom or my
Uncle Ed.  I'd been worried that contacting him might be upsertting
but he seemed to take it well.  Unfortunately, he didn't know much
about his father's side of the family either. From what he told me,
it appears my grandfather was as poor a husband and father to
his second family as he was to his first, We exchanged email addresses
and I've sent him the documents I've found and some pictures of my
Mom and Uncle. I'm curious to find out if he can see any family resemblance.

One interesting sidenote: Pam and I discovered we are distant cousins
through our shared Stow family ancestry.

I promised everyone back in March I'd let you all know how my search
turned out. And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, you know the rest of the
story!E

AN EARLY AUTUMN WEDDING

On 23Sep 1827 John Cutter West married Arvilla Ames in Sumner, Maine.
We don't know much about John's background before that day. He's THE
brick wall in our  family, the Elusive John C.  We know he was about 25
years old at the time of the marriage, and that's all up until then. The
marriage record doesn't include the names of the parents of the bride and
groom. Luckily, we do know a lot about Arvilla and her family family. She
was born on 25Jan 1810 in Livermore Maine so she was 17 years old when
she married John.  Her parents were Jonatham Phelps Ames and Polly Griffith
(Griffeth) and she was one of eight children. 

John and  Arvilla's first child, Ann Matilda was born the following June. She was
the first of  ten children, but not all lived to adulthood.  One son, 18 year old
John, died on Christmas Day in 1850. Three more children and three grandchildren
died in the diptheria epidemic of 1862, as did their daugkter in law, Orpha.
And that same year saw John Cutter West's own death after nearly thirty five
years of marriage.

Arvilla survived another forty five years, passing away in 1907.
She never remarried.

John and Arvilla don't have as many descendants compared to my Ellingwood
and Barker ancestors but today they are spread across the continent, from
New England and the Carolinas, to Ohio, Minnesota and Illinois, and to
Washington in the Pacific Northwest. The newest member of the family
will be born sometime soon to a descendant of their son Leonidas.

And it all started on an early Autumn day 184 years ago in Sumner,
Maine.

NANO, NABLO, NANOO NANOO?

It's November and the time of year when we writers indulge in the
masochistic pleasure of NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel
Writing Month. The goal is to produce 50,000  words of a novel
(although I understand that some folks prefer a non-fiction endeavor).
I've participated in the past but never completed the challenge
because I was working at the bookstore and as in all retail, November
was a very busy and tiring month. But I no longer have that problem so
I'm mulling over trying it again this year. Of course, I haven't started
yet and it's already November 3rd so I'll have to get my butt in gear
soon and start writing.

As soon as I figure out what I want to write, that is.


And November also has a National Blog Write More movement in which
bloggers subject themselves and their readers to a daily blogpost for the
month. While I'm behind on this one, I can write two posts today(of which
this would be the first) and catch up and proceed from there.

All I have to do is come up with something to blog about every day.

Since I can't make up my mind which one to do, I'm going to try both.


This could be very interesting....or messy.

Be afraid,. Be very afraid!

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS 20: LYDIA H DUNHAM

While working on the last blog post about my Dunham cousins buried right here
in Abington (which I posted waaaaay back in August!) I came across the name
Patrick O'Brien. as the husband of Worthy Dunham's youngest sister Lydia
Howard  Dunham. So I wasn't surprised to find the O'Brien family buried a few
feet away from Worthy's family.

The inscription reads:
Patrick O'Brien-1834-1879 Aged 45 years
Lydia H. His Wife 1834-1932 Aged 98 years
Angie F. daughter 1854-1930 Aged 76 years
Mansfield S. O' Brien 1868-1848 aged 79 years
Winifred E. His Wife  1883
Delia H. 1862-1864
________
Helen Florence Cole 1875-1916 Aged 41 years
Leonard M. 1904 Aged 3 days

What I hadn't realized was just how prominent a family this was.
Patrick O'Brien had been born in Ireland and emigrated to America
where he ended up here in Abington at a period when both the
shoe factories and the Irish population were booming. That's probably

how Patrick met Lydia Dunham, through business dealings in the
shoe industry with Worthy Dunham or another of the male Dunhams.
The fact that a young Irishman was able to marry the daughter of
a Protestant New England family was an indicator of the changes
in the Massachusetts society in the Industrial Age.

Patrick and Lydia were married on 4Oct 1853. Besides the three
children buried with them there were four other O'Brien children.
Here's the full family as given in The Dunham Genealogy (p169):

LYDIA H., b. Oct. 17, 1834; m. Oct. 4, 1853; Patrick O'Brien,
of Abington. Issue, b. Abington : 218. I. — Angeline Frances O'Brien;
b. Aug. 15, 1854; milliner, Abington. 219. II. — William Smith, b.
Aug. 16, 1856; boot and shoe heel manufacturer, Abington, Mass. 220.
HI. — Delia Hammond, b. Dec. 22, 1862; d. July 23, 1864. 221. IV. —
Robert Lincoln, b. Sept. 14, 1865, Washington, D. C. ; journalist. 222.
v.— Mansfield, b. 1867. 223. VI.— Charles, b. April, 1870. 224. VII.
— Ellen, b. July, 1872. 

Of the children, two had illustrious careers. William S O'Brien had a
successful shoe heel manufacturing company and was a president of
the Abington National Bank. His brother Robert Lincoln Dunham was
even more prominent, being a Harvard University graduate, a secretary
\of President Grover Cleveland and eventually became Editor in Chief of
the Boston Transcript newspaper.




I'll have to check around Mt Vernon Cemetery to see if I can find any
of the other O'Brien children buried there.

Meanwhile, I'd found another member of the Dunham family buried
a bit further away from the others as I'll explain in the next post in this
series.

ORPHA REVISITED

(I'm working on a post about a Fall wedding in my family for the next
edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, but thought I'd repost this one 
that I did for an earlier COG back in September of 2007. You can
read the comments from that earlier post here))


Her name appears on the 1860 Census of the Town of Upton,
County of Oxford, State of Maine at the end of the list of names in
John Cutter West’s family.


Orpha Reynolds. 18 F. Further over on the line it states she was
born in Maine.


She is a bit of an enigma in my genealogy research,



There aren’t any other Reynolds listed on the census in Upton
that year so her family might have been living elsewhere. Perhaps
she was a hired woman who helped Arvilla Ames West run the
household, for Arvilla was now fifty years of age and while most
of her children were grown, she still had 9 year old Ruth and 6
year old David to care for. Ruth in particular might have been
challenging; she was listed as an “idiot” on the 1860 census and
would have perhaps needed more supervision. (19th Century
terminology for intelligence levels differ, I think, from modern
assessment. I’ve no way of knowing how mentally impaired Ruth
might have been by today’s standards.)


At any rate, Orpha lived with the West family, one of whom was
the 26 year old Jonathan Phelps West. I cannot say how or when
they fell in love since I don’t know of any letters or diaries by
either of them that might shed some light on their courtship.

The couple married on October 20, 1861.


A little over two months later, their marriage would come to an
end.



During the year 1861 diphtheria raged throughout the area but
up until now it had not touched the West family. Now it struck it
hard. It could have come to the family from a guest invited to the
wedding who wasn’t as yet displaying the full symptoms of the
disease.



Orpha Viette Reynolds West died on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31st,
1861. She was 19 years old.


David Pingree West died on Jan. 17th , 1862

Ruth Ellen West died on Jan. 26th.

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

Older brother Asa Atwood West lost two of his children to the
disease as well:

8 year old Arvilla died on Feb. 18th.

2 year old Anna Pearl on Feb. 20th.

Another grandchild died in March, but cause of death is not given.

So by Spring of 1862 Jonathan Phelps West had lost a brother,
two sisters, two nieces, and his bride Orpha to the epidemic. And
that Summer he lost his father as John Cutter West passed away
at the age of 59.


I cannot begin to imagine how Jonathan could have coped with
such losses in so short a time. But he did.


He did what generations of New Englanders before and after him
have done: he survived and got on with life.


Three years later, on Jan.31st, 1865,Jonathan married Louisa
Almata Richardson. They would have four sons, the second of
whom was my great grandfather Philip Jonathan West.


I of course would not be sitting here typing this had Jonathan not
lost his first wife Orpha and later married Louisa. But still I
cannot help but feel sympathy for him. I wonder if he ever looked
back at his memories of that October wedding? It took place after
harvest time on a farm, so was wherever it took place decorated to
celebrate both the wedding and Harvest?


Did Jonathan revisit that memory with a smile or did the
knowledge of what came after make it too painful?


And did he ever wonder what life might have been like if he had
not lost his Orpha?

THE CITATION: OR, A GENEALOGY HORROR POEM

 (With apologies to Edgar Allen Poe)


Once upon a weeknight dreary, as I Googled, with eyes weary
For a site with information of forgotten ancestral lore
Suddenly I saw with terror I had made a foolish error
Such a simple obvious error that I had not seen before
"Tis just a typo," I muttered "that I did not see before,
Only this and nothing more."

But I could not remember , was it May or in December
When I'd found the  information that my family tree now bore?
Where did I find this aberration? Where oh where was my citation 
I searched and hunted in vexation, as the clock tolled three, then four.
Searching through sites and gedcoms til my eyes were red and sore:
"It's a typo, nothing more!"

And  the sad uncertain clicking of my mouse as I was checking
Thrilled me-filled me with frustration that I knew I 'd felt before,
So my head I started beating on my desk , each time repeating,
Sound advice that I was needing, "Cite your sources first before
You move on to your next reading, do them right, not like before,
And you'll have problems nevermore!"

LUCY STOWE'S AHNENLIST

I've spent the last few days researching back along 3x great grandmother
Lucy (Stowe) Coburn's ancestry and filled in a lot of gaps on my tree. A
lot still needs to be filled in though and eventually I'll fill in the siblings
and collateral lines. But for now, here's an ahnenlist for Lucy. (Anyone
recognize any of their own ancestors?)



Generation 1

1. Lucy Stowe: born 1808 in Maine; died 4 Jan 1855 in Albany, Oxford,
Me.

Generation 2

2. Melvin Stowe: born 6 Jul 1774 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Ma.; married
15 Jun 1805  in Charlestown, Suffolk, Ma; died 6 Apr 1839 in Newry,
Oxford, Me..

3. Anne Mayhew.

Generation 3

4. Samuel Stowe: born 17 Apr 1742 in Grafton, Middlesex, Ma; married
26 Feb 1767  in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; died 21 Jan 1835 in Oxford,
Chenago, NY.

5. Abigail Dana: born 6 Jun 1746 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma.

Generation 4

8. Thomas Stowe: born 25 Feb 1699 in Concord, Middlesex, Ma; married
17 Jan 1725  in Stow, Middlesex, Ma; died 6 Sep 1748 in Grafton, Worcester,
Ma.

9. Anne Wetherbee: born 1695 in Stow, Middlesex, Ma; died 12 Feb
1778 in  Framingham, Middlesex, Ma.

10. Nathaniel Dana: born 1 Feb 1717 in Amherst, Hampshire, Ma;
married  2 Jan 1737  in Boston, Suffolk, Ma; died 5 May 1777 in
Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma.

11. Abigail Dean: born 21 Jul 1721 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma.

Generation 5

16. Nathaniel Stowe: born 18 Sep 1663 in Concord, Middlesex, Ma; married
 3 Dec 1690 in Concord, Middlesex, Ma; died 17 May 1724 in Concord,
Middlesex, Ma.

17. Ruth Merriam: born 1670 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma; died
14 Jul 1718  in Concord, Middlesex, Ma.

18. John Wetherbee: born 1650 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Ma; married
16 Sep 1684  in Stowe, Middlesex, Ma; died Apr 1711 in Stowe,
Middlesex, Ma.

19. Lydia Moore: born 6 Apr 1660 in Lancaster, Worcester, Ma;
died May 1724  in Stowe, Middlesex, Ma.

20. Samuel Dana: born 7 Sep 1694 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma;
married 10 Apr 1716 in Massachusetts; died 22 Aug 1770 in Pomfret,
Windham, Ct.

21. Abigail Gay: born 2 Feb 1694 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; died
1Jun 1718 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma.

22. Jeremiah Dean: born 24 Mar 1685 in Dedham, Middlesex, Ma; married
26 Jul 1711  in Dedham, Middlesex, Ma; died Feb 1756.

23. Mary Fisher: born 24 Jul 1687 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; died 1770
in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma.

Generation 6

32. Nathaniel Stowe: born 1622 in England.

40. Jacob Dana: born 2 Dec 1654 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma; married
10 Nov 1673 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Ma; died 24 Dec 1698 in Cambridge,
Middlesex, Ma.

41. Patience Sabin: born 28 Feb 1655 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Ma; died
Jun 1712 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma.

42. Nathaniel Gay: born 11 Jan 1643 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; married
1675 in Dedham, Norfolk, MA; died 20 Feb 1712 in Dedham, Norfolk,
Ma.

43. Lydia Starr: born 1652 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; died 6 Aug 1744
in Medfield, Norfolk, Ma.

44. John Dean: born 1650 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; died 12 Dec 1727
in  Dedham, Norfolk, Ma.

46. Joshua Fisher: born 9 Jan 1651 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; married
23 Apr 1674 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; died 26 Jan 1709 in Dedham,
Norfolk, Ma.

47. Esther Wiswell: born 7 Jun 1654 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma; died
Apr 1711 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma.

Generation 7

64. John Stowe.

80. Richard Dana: born 31 Oct 1617 in England; married 1648 in Cambridge,
Middlesex, Ma; died 2 Apr 1680 in Cambridge , Middlesex, Ma.

81. Anne Bullard: born 1628 in England; died 5 Jul 1711 in Cambridge ,
Middlesex, Ma.

82. William Sabin: born 1609 in England; died 17 Jul 1687 in Rehoboth,
Bristol, Ma.

83. Mary Wright: born 1618 in England; died 27 Sep 1660 in Rehoboth,
Bristol, Ma.

84. John Gay: born 1615 in England; married 4 Mar 1638 in Dedham,
Norfolk, Ma;  died 4 Mar 1688 in Dedham, Norfolk, Ma.

85. Joanna Borden: born 1612 in England; died 14 Aug 1691 in Dedham,
Norfolk, Ma.

SAMUEL STOWE'S PENSION FILE PT2

I got a kick out of several things in Samuel Stowe's Revolutionary War Pension
file statement.

The first is the reference to his being made Sergeant Major because he was
 a veteran of the French war of 1756.  I have many ancestors who fought in
the colonial New England Indian wars and I've written posts about some of
them, but this is the first time I've found a statement by one of them  concerning
their service .  In this case the "French war" was the French & Indian War.

Another thing is Samuel's name dropping and telling tales on General Washington's
low opinion of the discipline of the troops. I first learned about Washington's
dismay over the Massachusetts militia a few years back when  I read David
McCullough's 1776. There's a lot I'm still learning about the Revolutionary War.
(Although I have a degree in History I was more interested in Ancient and Medieval
History when I was younger. Boy the stories I could tell about Achaemenids, Hittites
and Plantagenets....)

Since Samuel didn't have any documentation or witnesses I checked for his War
Record or the War Roll for his Company at Fold3. I found three images but they
seem to be for another Samuel Stow from a different regiment.

I didn't find any images there either of his Company's Roll. But a Google Search did
lead me to some more information. At this site I found out that Captain Bullard's first
name was Benjamin, Lieutenant Gardner's first name was Thomas, and the Ensign
whose name Samuel couldn't recollect was Joshua Leland. Samuel was listed as
one of four sergeants and one of the men in the Company had the unique name of
Perley Death!

From a site on the Massachusetts Line I was able to figure out that Colonel
Whitcomb was Asa Whitcomb, His regiment was originally designated the 5th
Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment and then became the  23rd Regiment of
Foot.

Since Samuel didn't make claim to any other service after the Battle of Bunker Hill.
I'm guessing her was one of the men of the Massachusetts Militia who didn't enlist
in the Continental Army but instead went home to their farms(much to Washington's
chagrin). After all. Samuel had three young children at home all under the age of five
to feed, including my ancestor Melvin Stow!

SAMUEL STOWE'S PENSION FILE PT1

As I previously  posted, I recently found the Revolutionary War 
Pension file for my 5x great grandfather Samuel Stowe. It's interesting
for several reasons that I will go into in my next post, but for now, here's
the images of the statement he made about his service  and my transcription
of it:

Here's my transcription:

Declaration
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress
of the 7th of June 1832.
State of New York
County of Chenango:


On this the 24th day of December 1832, personally appeared before me
John Tracy first Judge of the Courts of Chenango County Samuel Stow a
resident of Oxford in Chenango County aforesaid aged ninety years,
who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth on his oath make the
following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress
passed June of 1832, that he entered the serviceof the United States under
the following named Officers, and served as herein stated.

He lived in Sherburn Suffolk County State of Massachusetts near Boston,
and in the year 1775 enlisted into a company of minute men of which
Captain Bullard was Captain, the first Lieutenants name was Gardner,
the Ensign he does not recollect neither does he recollect the time,
but it was previous to the battle of Bunker hill. The Colonel of the
Regiment was Whitcomb of the Massachusetts Troops. On the Alarm that
the British were coming out of Boston, the company to which he belonged
were called out went upon Bunker hill in which Battle he was engaged.
After said Battle of Bunker hill he this deponent, in the company and
Regiment aforesaid, marched to Cambridge where he this deponent
staid in sentnal service eight months. During this term eight months he
this deponent acted as orderly sergeant major of the Regiment. Having
been a soldier of the old French war of 1756 he was appointed to this birth.
He was at Cambridge when General Washington  came and took the
command, General Ward had previously been commander in chief. He was
sent with a letter by General Washington to General Ward who came to
General Washington's Quarters and General Washington thinking the
discipline of the troops not so correct as it ought to be , this applicant
heard him say to General Ward he had been esaming(?) his orders and
found them generally good, and they must and should be obeyed.
This applicant has no documentary evidence and knows of no person, whose
testimony he can provide,  who can testify to his service.

He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except
the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of the
agency of any State.
Saml Stowe
Sworn to and Subscribed the day and year aforesaid
John Tracy first Judge
of Chenango County
State of New York
 

PANICS AND PENSIONS?

So as I said in the previous post, Dr Bill Smith posted a link to his article in the
Springfield Genealogy Examiner "Panic and Depressions are more common in
our past than we may think". In it, he discusses Susan Farrell Bankhead's
blogpost "Catch the Real Villain: Factor in the Economy." Susan  talks about
how economic hard times may have effected our ancestors lives. One of the
examples she gives is how a volcanic eruption in Indonesia in the year 1816
caused crop failures in New England and triggered the migration of many
New Englanders westward.

Both Susan and Bill provided another link, this one to the History Box site
and a list of past recessions. As I looked at some of those dates I had a sudden
thought and checked my files. Look at these names and dates The larger group
are my direct ancestors, the second their brothers 

John Ames   27Sept 1832
Jonathan Barker  24April 1818
Asa Barrows  20Aug 1832
Moses Coburn  8Apr 1818
Elisha Houghton  6May 1818
Amos Upton  20May 1818
Samuel Stowe  24Dec 1832

Jesse Barker 17Sept 1832
Benjamin Barker 17Sept 1832
Moses Dunham  14Apr 1818

These are the dates on which these ancestors or their brothers filed
for their Revolutionary War pensions; five filed in 1818 and the other
five in 1832. Besides the "Summer That Never Was" of 1816, there was
widespread financial problems in the period leading up to the Panic of
1819. In 1832 there was another era of uncertainty caused by the struggle
between the Second Bank of the United States and President Andrew
Jackson. Those who filed in 1818 did so within two months of the Act
of Congress passed in March 1818 that set up the pension;  the 1832 Act
was dated 7Jun 1832 and four out of the five applied for their pension
by September. Were the 1818 group in worse shape financially than
those fourteen years later, and so filed quicker?  Did they apply because
of the problems with the economy, or merely because the pensions had
happened to become available? Unfortunately, there's nothing in their
applications that supply me with a definite answer one way or the other.

Another thought struck me looking at the list of all the upheavals: we've had
it pretty easy since the Great Depression national economy wise compared 
to all the turmoil our ancestors went through in the 19th and early 20th
centuries!

Thanks to Bill Smith and Susan Farrell Bankhead for calling this to my attention!

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER...

Last September I published a blogpost about a death certificate I'd found
on FamilySearch  that I thought might help me find who the parents of
my 3xgreat grandmother Lucy Stow(Stowe) were, which led to a comment
from cousin Chris Dunham who told me Lucy's parents were Melvin Stowe
and Anne V Stowe. He also gave me the names of Melvin Stowe's parents,
Samuel Stowe and Abigail Dana. I added the information to my tree, researched
for and found some records citations, and moved back in both lines a few
generations.

Then the other day, Bill Smith posted a link on Facebook to an article on
past economic Panics and Depressions in American history....

...which gave me the idea for a blogpost....

...which lead me to checking the dates some of my ancestors took a
certain step....

...which then lead me to check and see if there were any other ancestors
who had taken this action that I might not have been aware of yet...

...which lead me to Footnotes....er...Fold3 where I discovered
that 5x great grandfather  Samuel Stowe had filed his Revolutionary
War pension application upon which he states he was also a veteran
of the French and Indian War...

...which means that Bill Smith's link has given me not one but two blogposts
(or three, if you count this one!)

Genealogical Serendipity, thanks to Chris Dunham  of The Maine Genealogy 
Network  and Bill Smith of Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories!