ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 29th

 

On This Date:

 

MARRIAGES:

29 Sep 1657 9x great grandparents William Green & Mary Crispe were married at Groton, Ma.

29 Sep 1684 7x great grandparents John White & Eunice Wilder were married at Lancaster, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

29 Sep 1648 8x great grandfather Lot Conant died at Beverly, Ma.

29 Sep 1856 5x great grandfather Joshua Greenleaf died at Mercer, Me.

29 Sep 1843 4x great grandmother Sally(Bancroft)Upton died at Albany, Oxford, Me.

29 Sep 1674 8x great grandmother Elizabeth(Walton)Conant died at Beverly, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 28th

 

On This Date:

BIRTHS:

28 Sep 1669 7x great grandfather Samuel Ayer was born at Haverhill Ma.

28 Sep 1673 8x great grandfather John Bumpus was born at Scituate, Ma.

28 Sep 1655 9x great grandmother Esther Ware was born at Dedham, Ma.

28 Sep 16539x great grandmother Mary Loker was born at Sudbury, Ma.

 

MARRIAGES:

28 Sep 1721 6x great grandparents Richard Kelley & Susannah Hoyt were married at Newbury, Ma.

28 Sep 1659 9x great grandparents Samuel Woods & Alice Rushton were married at Cambridge, Ma

 

DEATH:

28 Sep 1730 6x great grandfather Amasa Dow died at Seabrook, NH.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 27th

 

On This Date:

MARRIAGE:

27 Sep 1678 9x great grandparents Benjamin Rockwood & Judith Ellis were married at Medfield, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

27 Sep 1660 9x great grandmother Mary (Wright) Sabin died at Rehoboth, Ma.

27 Sep 1730 7x great grandfather Joseph Keith died at West Bridgewater, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 24th

 

On This Date:

 

BAPTIZED:

24 Sep 1609 10x great grandfather George Giddings was baptized at Clapford, Bedfordshire, England

 

BIRTH:

24 Sep 1737 5x great grandfather Lot Spaulding was born at Chelmsford, Ma.

 

MARRIAGES:

24 Sep 1734 7x great grandparents Daniel Boyden & Mehitabel Man were married at Dedham, Ma.

24 Sep 1678 8x great grandparents John Bancroft & Elizabeth Eaton were married at Lynn, Ma.

24 Sep 1723 7x great grandparents Samuel Griffeth & Eleanor Estey were married at Rochester, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

24 Sep 1778 5x great grandmother Mary (Spaulding) Nutting died at Chelmsford, Ma.

24 Sep 1662 9x great grandfather John Whitcomb died at Lancaster, Ma

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 23RD

 

One of those ironic days:my 5x great grandmother dying on the same day as my 3x great grandparents are marrying. They were from different sides of Dad's family so they wouldn't have known each other.

On This Date:

 

BIRTH:

23 Sep 1868 great grandfather Philip John West was born in Upton, Me.

 

MARRIAGE:

23 Sep 1827 3x great grandparents John Cutter West & Arvilla Ames were married at Sumner, Me.

 

DEATH:

23 Sep 1827 5x great grandmother Ruth(Safford) Haskell died at Waterford, Me.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 22nd

 

My only direct ancestor in our family to be executed for witchcraft died on this date in Salem, Ma.

On This Date:

 

BIRTH:

22 Sep 1765 4x great grandmother Nancy Swan was born at Methuen, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

22 Sep 1692 9x great grandmother Mary (Towne) Estey was executed as a witch in Salem Ma.

22 Sep 1679 9x great grandfather Robert Page died at Hampton, NH.

 

MILITARY

22 Sep 1654 8x great grandfather Simon Willard was appointed to lead an expedition against the Niantic Indians who were led by their sachem Ninigret

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 20th

 

On This Date:

BIRTHS:

20 Sep 1684 6x great grandmother Mary Barrett was born at Chelmsford, Ma.

20 Sep 1675 7x great grandmother Hannah Challis was born at Salisbury, Ma.

20 Sep 1654 8x great grandmother Elizabeth Gerrish was born at Newbury, Ma.

 

MARRIAGE:

20 Sep 1870 2x great grandparents Patrick J White & Mary Powers were married at Boston, Ma.

 

DEATH:

20 Sep 1657 10x great grandmother Hannah (Carter) Green died at Woburn, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 14th

 

On This Date:

 

BIRTHS:

16 Sep 1663 7x great grandfather Nathaniel Stow was born at Concord, Ma.

16 Sep 1672 8x great grandmother Martha Ward was born at Salem, Ma.

16 Sep 1687 7x great grandfather Mark Haskell was born at Gloucester, Ma.

16 Sep 1769 4x great grandmother Esther Spaulding was born at Pelham, NH

 

MARRIAGE:

16 Sep 1684 7x great grandparents John Wetherbee & Lydia Moore married at Stow, Ma.

 

DEATH:

16 Sep 1676 10x great grandmother Dionis (Stevens) Coffindied at Nantucket, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 14th

 On This Date:
BIRTHS:
14 Sep 1697 8x great grandfather Isaac Morse was born at Sherborn, Ma.
14 Sep 1711 5x great grandmother Deborah Barrows was born at Plymouth, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 13th

 

8 ancestors got married and another one was killed by Indians.

 

On This Date:

 

BIRTH:

13 Sep 1674 6x great grandfather Joshua Swan was born at Methuen, Ma.

 

MARRIAGES:

13 Sep 1735 6x great grandparents John Safford & Martha Haskell were married at Ipswich, Ma.

13 Sep 1764 6x great grandparents Hezekiah Boyden & Elizabeth Green were married at Worcester, Ma.

13 Sep 1666 10x great grandparents Thomas Larkin & Elizabeth Remington were married at Charlestown, Ma.

13 Sep 1657 9x great grandparents Robert Thornton & Mary Dowling were married in Boston, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

13 Sep 1850 4x great grandfather Asa Barrows died at Woodstock, Me.

13 Sep 1692 9x great grandfather James Blood died at Groton, Ma., killed by Indians.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 10th

 On This Day:
BIRTH:
12 Sep 1771 5x great grandmother Hannah Williamson was born at Pownalborough, Me.

MARRIAGE:
12 Sep 1633 9x great grandparents John Barnes & Mary Plummer were married at Plymouth, Ma.

DEATHS:
12 Sep 1655 10x great grandmother Remember (Allerton) Maverick died Marblehead, Ma.
12 Sep 1706 8x great grandfather Thomas Sawyer died at Lancaster, Ma.
12 Sep 1725 7x great grandfather John White died at Lancaster, Ma.
12 Sep 1715 7x great grandmother Abigail Dexter died at Yarmouth, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 10th

 On This Date:
MARRIAGE:
10 Sep 1778 4x great grandparents Amos Hastings & Elizabeth Wiley were married at Haverhill, Ma.

DEATHS:
10 Sep 1694 8x great grandfather Daniel Cheney died at Newbury, Ma
10 Sep 1696 8x great grandfather Samuel Davis died at Haverhill, Ma.
10 Sep 1731 8x great grandfather Eleazer Green died at Groton, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 6th

On This Date:

BIRTHS:

8 Sep 1662 8x great grandmother Elizabeth Eaton was born at Reading, Ma.

8 Sep 1651 9x great grandfather Benjamin Rockwood was born at Medfield, Ma.

 

MARRIAGE:

 8 Sep 1624 10x great grandparents George Bunker & Judith Major were married at Odell, Bedfordshire, England

DEATHS:

8 Sep 1677 9x great grandfather Thomas Low died at Ipswich, Ma.

8 Sep 1684 9x great grandfather Elias Maverick died at Charlestown, Ma.

8 Sep 1691 8x great grandfather Mark Haskell died at Gloucester, Ma.

 

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 3RD

 On This Day:
BIRTH:
3 Sep 1691  6x great grandfather John Hastings was born at Haverhill, Ma
3 Sep 1707 6x great grandmother Abigail Thorne was born at Salisbury, Ma.
DEATH:
3 Sep 1734 9x great grandmother Esther (Ware) Man died at Wrentham, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPTEMBER 2ND

On this date in family history:

BIRTHS:

2 Sep 1691 6x great grandfather John Hastings was born at Haverhill, Ma.

2 Sep 1688 8x great grandfather John Adams was born at Lexington, Ma.

DEATH:

2 Sep 1939 great grandfather Edward J White died at Boston, Ma.

ON THIS DATE:SEPTEMBER 1ST

 

On This Date in Family History:

BIRTHS:

1 Sep 1791 4x great grandmother Amata Greenleaf was born at Mercer, Me.

1 Sep 1687 7x great grandfather Jonathan Abbott was born at Andover, Ma.

1 Sep 1713 7x great grandmother Mehitabel Man was born at Wrentham, Ma.

MARRIAGES:

1 Sep 1655 8x great grandparents Thomas Mitchell & Mary Moulton were married at Malden, Ma.

1 Sep 1638 10x great grandparents Joseph Morse & Hannah Phillips were married at Dedham, Ma.

DEATH:

1 Sep 1709 8x great grandfather Thomas Mitchell died at Charlestown, Ma

1 Sep 1746 8x great grandmother Abigail (Stanley) Estey died at Topsfield Ma

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.

ADAMS ET AL V. WEST

((First posted in 2912))

 

Recently FamilySearch.org has been posting online  the Maine State
Archives Collections 1790-1966, including the  Court Records. So I
began searching them for any cases that might involve my ancestors,
which is how I found the following case involving my 3x great grandfather
John Cutter West:

Adams et al v West No.604

John M. Adams  George F .Shepley  and Asa W. F. Clap all of Portland in the
County of Cumberland gentleman doing business at said under the firm name
and style of Proprietors Eastern Argus Plaintiffs v. John West of Upton in the
County of Oxford Yeoman Defendant-In a plea of the case for that the said
Defendant at Letter B to wit at said Paris on the day of the purchase of this
writ being indebted to the Plantiffs in  the sum of Ten dollars and Sixty
three cents according to the account annexed in consideration thereof
there and then promised the Plaintiffs to pay them that sum on demand.~

And also for that the said Defendant at Letter B to wit at said Paris on the
twenty-seventh day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight-
hundred and fifty-seven by his promisery note of that date by him signed
for value received promised one John Appleton & Co. to pay them or bearer
the sum of Twenty-four dollars  on demand and interest, and the said John
Appleton and Company thereafterwards on the same day transferred and
delivered the said note then and still unpaid to the Plaintiff who thereby
became the lawful bearer thereof; by reason whereof the Defendant
became liable, and in consideration thereof, then and there, promised
the Plaintiff to pay him the contents of the said note according to the terms
thereof~

Yet the said Defendant, though requested, has not paid the same, but
neglects so to do, to the damage of the said Plaintiffs (as they say) the
sum of Seventy-five dollars. This action was entered at the present term
when the Plaintiffs appeared but the Defendant though called to come
into Court,does not appear, but makes default.

It is therefore considered by the court that the said Plaintiffs recover
against the said Defendant the sum of Forty-one dollars and eleven cents
debt or damage, and costs of suit, taxed at Ten dollars and Eighty-one
cents.

Execution issued, November 27, 1861~
Supreme Judicial Court records vol 09 Nov 1861-Nov 1862


So apparently my ancestor John Cutter West initially borrowed  $10.63
from John Appleton and agreed to pay him back $24 which seems steep
interest. Then Appleton sold my ancestor's  promisory note to the Eastern
Argus Company. (which seems sort of shady to me.) This took place on
May 27th, 1857 and the debt remained unpaid  by November of 1861
when the owners of the Eastern Argus Company brought the debt to
court. John West didn't appear to answer the suit against him so he lost
by default.

The Court Records aren't indexed yet so I browsed through Vol9 until
I found this and as I did I saw case after similar case. They were
so common that they are recorded on a form, the top being blank
where the particulars of the case are written and the judgement written
in the blanks of the preprinted section on the bottom.(I've used my
usual boldface font to denote the preprinted part.)

Oxford County Maine is in the western part of the state and the primary
industries there in the nineteenth century were farming and logging.
It was not uncommon in those days for farmers to borrow money to
buy seed or equipment and pay the money back after harvesting their
crops. But if the weather was bad or some other disaster befell them
they might not be able to pay off the debt right away. I believe that
must have been the case with my ancestor.

I don't know when or if John Cutter West paid off the note.The court
decision was handed down in November of 1861. Shortly after that
a diphtheria epidemic broke out and John would lose three children,
three grandchildren, and a daughter-in-law to the disease by the end
of February 1862. John himself died the following June.. If John
didn't pay off the debt himself, then my 2x great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West probably did.

So the next time you are worrying abut how you are going to pay the
bills, look at it as something you probably have in common with your
ancestors.

THE VALUE OF A COMPASS PT2

 

John Cutter West

Continuing the story, my ancestor John C West was lost on a frozen lake in Maine
in a snowstorm with his friends Enoch Abbott and  Joseph Chase. When Chase
decided to lay down and take a nap, my 3x great grandfather took drastic measures:

"West applied the brad, then laid his
goad the length of his back, at the same
time in  peremptory tones commanding
him to get up and walk or he would take
his pelt. Chase with a temper at fever
heat leaped from his recumbent position
and for a few minutes a fierce fisticuff
ensued. Chase was by this time well
roused and after due explanations peace
was restored and they resumed their
journey.

They soon came to more fresh tracks
when West ordered  halt,  "Now," said
he "we have all this time been playing
fool We are beyond a doubt traveling
in a circle like all bewildered people.
These cattle know their way and can
keep their course much better than we
can. Now I propose to turn them loose
and let them take the lead. They are
tired and hungry and will make the near-
est habitation." All agreed and the poor
tired creatures were soon set at liberty.
The master ox belonging to West with
a low cow bossy call to the others start-
ed off followed by the entire herd.

As it proved the ox knew best. On
they plodded for a half hour or more,
when the leader began toi low and quick-
en his pace.  "Good!" exclaimed West,
"we are near some habitation. Old Star
never tells lies."

Anon they found themselves in Joe
Stone's dooryard. Joe hearing the low
of the oxen came out to bid then wel-
come. The house though small would
accommodate the men but how about
the oxen. A small log hovel for his cow
was all the out-house he possessed. A
stack of hay stood near the hovel to
which the oxen made way. Joe
came out, mounted the hove, thence the
haystack, undid the fastenings at the
top and completely buried the oxen in
hay. "There." said he, " they are all
right for to-night, now for supper."

After a hearty supper of moose and
deer steak, they looked to their oxen to
find them all resting on the soft hay,
each ox beside his mate. Next morning
the cattle made their way to the sleds,
were yoked and sped for home."

THE VALUE OF A COMPASS PT 1

 ((First posted in 2007))

I've posted about this incident before but never actually transcribed the article
until now. It's about my3x great grandfather and two friends, Enoch Abbott and
Joseph Chase lost in a snowstorm in northwestern Maine. As we just weathered
the Blizzard of 2015 here in Massachusetts, I thought this was appropriate:

Oxford County Advertiser, Friday, February 3, 1905

The Value of a Compass
by Mark Tapley

We have often admonished people
 who frequent the unbroken forests, espec-
ially those unaccustomed to hunting and
camping,  of the safety in having a pocket
compass, which can be obtained at the
cost of a few cents, and may ofttimes
save the possessor much trouble and
even save a life. We are cognizant of sev-
eral instances where people even old
foresters have become bewildered, in
which case they can always travel in a circle,
and were saved by the instinct of domes-
tic animals, which is seldom at fault.

It was some sixty years ago, before
the Berlin Mills Company monopolized
the timber throughout the Lake country,
that Enoch Abbott, John West, and  Jo-
seph Chase, three prominent citizens of
Upton, then known as Letter B, started
one fine winter's morning each with two
pairs of stalwart oxen laden with hay
and bound for the loggers' camp sit-
uated on the Swift Diamond stream, a
tributary of the Magalloway river. The
sledding was fine and the teams in good
heart. They arrived at their destination
and disposed of their loads before noon.

At one o'clock they started for home
but long before they reached the lake
the sky became overcast and soon devel-
oped into a a thick northeasterly snow
storm. The old track was soon obscured
and the blinding storm completely ob-
scured the distant shore. But on they
drove thinking to reach the opposite
shore before dark. Every few minutes
fresh tracks were discerned in the dim
twilight. These they thought to be part
of the old track leading off the lake.
This would give the fresh courage and
serve to quicken their pace. Darkness
came on and still no signs of land.

Chase began to lag behind but finally
caught up with his sled, threw himself
down complaining of drowsiness and
concluded to take a nap. The others
well knew this to betoken the sleep that
knows no waking, so they combined to
rouse him if possible. But shaking and
warning  of the impending danger was of
no avail. So like the old man with the
saucy boy in the apple tree they resorted
to force.

To be continued, like all good cliffhangers.