AFFIDAVITS OF DEATH FOR AMOS AND REBECCA HASTINGS PT3

As I said in the previous post about the Affidavits of Death for Amos Hastings
and his wife Rebecca (also known as Eliabeth or Betsey), I asked my genealogy
friends on Facebook what the purpose of such a document might be. It was
after that when I discovered that Abigail Hastings who filed the Affidavit was
the wife of Amos and Elizabeth's son John Hastings. That reminded me of
something in another file

Waaaaaaay back in July of 2007 I'd read on Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings
blog that the Footnote.com(now Fold3.com) website was offering free
access to it's Revolutionary War collection for seven days to celebrate
Independence Day. So I checked it out and found the records for many of
my ancestors, most of whose particpation in the war I hadn't known about.
Among those documents were Pension Files, including one for my 4x great
grandfather Amos Hastings.

But that file differed from most of the other Pension Files I downloaded
from Footnote.com in that it wasn't Amos himself applying for the Pension,
it was first his widow Elizabeth and then youngest son John. And this image
of a document from the Oxford County Probate Court is the last one in the file.
You can see the form has been altered with some words and one phrase
("was a Pensioner of the United States, and that he ..")crossed out.

Here's my transcription:

"STATE OF MAINE
PROBATE COURT
Oxford County,ss.
Be it Known, That on this sixteenth day of
September 1851 it has been satisfactorily proven in open Court,
being a Court of Record, That Amos Hastings
late of Bethel in said County, died at said Bethel
on the twenty eighth day of July 1829.-
And left a widow Rebecca Hastings
who died on the twelveth day of May 1846
and that Amos Hastings, Jonas Hastings, Betsey Russell, Lucinda 
Fletcher, Huldah Barker and John Hastings
are the only surviving children of the said Rebecca Hastings
an that she was not married after the death of her
husband aforesaid.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto affixed the seal of said Court, 
and subscribed my name this sixteenth day of September in the
year 1851-
Geo. K Shaw
Register of Probate for Oxford County."

Notice the date: 16 September 1851. That's the same date as the day on
which the Affidavits of Death were filed in the same Probate Court.
It's my belief that the Affidavits of Death were filed to provide John
Hastings with documentation of his parents' deaths for his claim on the
Revolutionary War Pension. I don't believe John was successful. While
a surviving minor age child might receive the Pension for a deceased
father, John was born in 1796 and was 55 years old at the time all this
took place.

I'll go more into that Pension file next.

BLOGIVERSARY: NOW WE ARE SIX

Six years ago today I started this West in New England blog, and as has become
tradition on my blogiversary I'm posting the story of its beginnng:

"."Yes, now it can be told. My first geneablog was a failure. I was new

to this whole idea and started out enthusiastically and wrote

five posts within a few days for my blog which I'd named

West of New England. But when I went to add a new post a day

or so later, I discovered I couldn't recall the password for the blog.

After about a half an hour I gave up and just recreated the blog.

I'd saved what I'd written so I created a new blogger account

and started a new geneablog, West in New England. And that's why

the first five posts are all dated Jan 23,2007."

And that's also how I learned the first rule of blogging, "Don't forget

your password!" "

During these six years I've had 130,169 page views and written
1300 posts. The top five most viewed posts were:

THE CANCELLATION OF "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" May 14, 2012, 6 comments	491
THE GENEALOGIST'S TIME CAPSULE CHALLENGE Feb 9, 2012, 11 comments	450
WHAT IS THE WORTH OF A GENEALOGY BLOG? Dec 20, 2010, 17 comments	352
THE GIPSY IN THE FAMILY Feb 9, 2012, 4 comments	318
THE HEIGHT OF GENEA-FASHION Mar 20, 2011, 6 comments	278

  
But I don't worry about how many people view West in New 
England or about making the "Best of" lists because what makes 
it enjoyable for me is sharing what I've found in researching my
family, especially with the relatives who've found me through 
this blog.

I want to thank all those who've read the blog and left comments,
those who've taken part in the memes and Challenges over the
years, and those who've provided suggestions and answers 
when I've been puzzled by something or other I've discovered 
along the way,
 
I'm still having fun writing about what I find researching my family
history, and I hope you all enjoy reading about it as much as I do
the writing!
   

AFFIDAVITS OF DEATH FOR AMOS AND REBECCA HASTINGS PT2

While I've been working on my family genealogy for about ten years now
there are still many thngs I don't know yet, and I'm not afraid to admit it.
I'm also not afraid to ask my fellow genealogists for their help and opinions
when I run into something that puzzles me. That's what I did with the
question of what the purpose of filing an Affidavit of Death might be.

I posed the following question over on Facebook:
"A question for my genealogy friends: why would someone have to file a
statement for a proof of death of a relative in a probate court? There are
no other documents in the file, no will or probate documents."

I got some interesting responses back from some very knowledgeable
people, all of which made perfect sense and could be the reason that
Abigail Hastings filed that Affidavit of Death. I'm sharing them with you  
with the consent of the writers:

"Lucie Marie Consentino
Perhaps to sell property if no will existed..when there is no will everything
goes through probate.

Marian-Pierre Louis
Sounds to me like no death certificate was presented when it was requested
and therefore a special request had been made.

I would imagine that all probate documents must start with proof of death
before the process can continue. Similar to how today, proof of death must
be established (in most cases) from a funeral home (or other authority)
before a newspaper will print an obituary. It's to prevent obits from being
printed for living people. Yes, people get up to that kind of stuff!

Laurie Pratt Sisk
The last part of your question makes it intriguing. If someone is missing and
presumed dead they have to be legally declared dead but I wonder why the
need for the statement when it appears no further legal action took place.
Hmmm...?

Colleen McHugh
Not sure if this will play into it or not, but at least in Arizona, if an adult is filing
for legal guardianship of an incapacitated adult (say an adult with severe 
cognitive disabilities that render him/her unable to make independent decisions on
medical care, finances etc), they petition for the guardianship in Probate Court.
Therefore, not all transactions in Probate Court relate to a death. ????


Bill West
Ok, I think I may have an answer. The statement was by an Abigail Hastings about
the death of my 4x great grandfather Amos Hastings. Now do far I've only paid
attention to his daughter Huldah, my 3x great grandmother and her brother
John who was applying for Amos' Rev.War. Pension benefits after Amos died.
It turns out Abigail was John's wife, Abigail(Straw) Hastings. I think maybe that
may be why she filed the statement on Amos' death.


Kevin Shue
Excellent question, Bill! In Pennsylvania there are, "Death Affidavits." They are
part of the probate court records. Every probate or any other legal record,
records part of a legal process.

Most of the time, death affidavits were recorded for individuals with wills, but
also sometimes for intestate proceedings.

The affidavits were not used in every instance, so I don't think it was a legal 
requirement just based on the fact there was a probate action.

It may also be because of a certain valuation of the estate legal requirement.
For example, required for all estates valued over a certain amount which would
then would be taxed or non-taxed, hence the need to document and attest to the
death.

Laurie Pratt Sisk
 Bill, yours is a perfectly reasonable explanation. If I understand this correctly,
Abigail was the sister-in-law of Amos and thus could come forward to make the
statement having no financial interest in the claim.

Pat Richley-Erickson
Submitting proof of death concerning an heir is part of an administrator or 
executor's responsibility when calculating how the remains of an estate should 
be distributed.

Bill West
Thanks for all the input, folks. Laurie, Abigail was Amos' daughter in law. Pat, the
affidavit was made in 1851, 22 years after Amos' death and 5 years after the death of
his wife Elizabeth, (aka Rebecca).

For those genealogists who might be sceptical about whether Facebook is of
any use to their research, I can tell you it's been a great help to me not only as a
place to ask questions and seek help, but also as a way to establish friendships
with genealogists from the world over.

As I said in the above conversation, I think I found part of the answer to what purpose
that Affidavit was meant to serve and I'll discuss that next.

AFFIDAVITS OF DEATH FOR AMOS AND REBECCA HASTINGS

The shortest document I found in the Maine, Oxford County, Probate
Estate Files, 1805-1915 was quite puzzling at first. The cover of the file
simply says

"Amos and Rebecca Hastings
1829 & 1846 Affidavits of Death"

There's no will, no probate records at all, simply two statements, one
from a Moses Mason, the other from an Abigail Hastings. Hers reads:    


I Abigail Hastings of Bethel, County of Oxford,
having been sworn do testify and say
I was present at the  of Amos
Hastings, He died in Bethel on the
28th day of July 1829 & the name (?) of his
death made as about the time it took
place now remains upon the Bible of
the family and which I have now examined
and which is recorded as having taken
place July 28, 1829.
Rebecca Hastings died at Bethel the
twelveth day of May 1846.
Abigail Hastings

Oxford Co. Sept 16 1851 Abigail Hastings made
oath as to the truth of the above statement by
this subscribed(?) this day
Before me
          D. R. Hastings } Justice of the Peace.

I confess I haven't done much research on my Hastings ancestors siblings.
Amos Hastings and his wife Elizabeth(Wiley) Hastings were my 4x great
grandparents. For some reason Elizabeth is often listed as Rebecca, maybe
because her mother's name was also Eliabeth. Using Rebecca might have
been the way the family differentiated between mother and daughter.
I know of their daughter Huldah, my 3x great grandmother, and their son
John because I've run across his name in Amos' Revolutionary War Veteran
Pension File, but so far I haven't researched the rest of their eleven children.
So I wasn't sure how Abigail Hastings was related to them, nor, for that
matter, who D.R. Hastings was either.

it turns out Abigail was Amos and Elizabeth's daughter in law, Abigail (Straw)
Hastings, the wife of John  Hastings, and D.R.Hastings was David Robinson
Hastings, John & Abigail's son, who had graduated from Bowdoin College in
1844 and was studying law with a Bethel, Maine law firm.

So now I knew who had filed the affidavit of death. Now I needed to figure out
the why,

WHERE THERE'S A WILL

I had another lucky break in late 2012 that I haven't had the chance to blog
about yet. In November FamilySearch posted a new file, the Maine, Oxford
County, Probate Estate Files, 1805-1915. My Dad was from Oxford County and
many of my ancestors lived there, so I was hoping to find some of their wills
among the images.  I did better than I thought I would. Even though I didn't
find any images for my  direct West ancestors I found them for other families.
I'll be posting the transcriptions  here along with whatever observations
and thoughts occur to me in the process.

I found images for the following:

5x great grandfather John Ames, d. 1833
great grandfather Frank W, Barker, d.1905
4x great grandfather Moses Coburn, d.1848
4x great grandfather John Ellingwood, d.1847
5x great grandfather Samuel Haskell, d.1825
5x great grandfather Amos Hastings, d. 1794
3x great grandfather Cyrus Moore, d. 1846
2x great granduncle Asa A West, d.1909
2x great granduncle Hiram F West, d. 1914

That should keep me in blogging material for a bit!

2012: ONE HECK OF A GENEALOGY YEAR!

I've been mulling over the usual "Best Blogposts of the Year" post for this
blog in 2012. Last year was my least productive year for West in New
England with the fewest blogposts since I began writing here, and much
of what I posted reposts from earlier years.(I hope to do less of that this
year.) I also gladly participated in the 1940 Federal Census Indexing
project which cut a bit into both my blogging and researching time (but I'd
do it again!).

Looking back, though, I found blogposts that reminded me just how great
a genealogy year I had in 2012.  When you see my list, I think you'll agree:   

1. Meeting My White Family Cousins.
In December I was contacted by a cousin who's related to me through my
maternal grandfather Edward F White Sr.  My grandparents divorced when my
Mom was four years old and there had been no contact between her and her
father since before I was born. My cousin found me through this blog and sent
me a picture of my great grandmother. I've since met his father and hope to
someday meet him  as well.
 
2, "Devil in The Shape of a Horse" 
My ancestress Rebecca Eames/Ames was accused of witchcraft at Salem in
1692. I found her confession and posted this transcript.

3."Exsedingly Tormented"...Benjamin Abbott vs Martha Carrier  
I also had an ancestor, Benjamin Abbott who testified against his neighbor
Martha Carrier This was the transcription I did of his testimony.

4 The War of 1812 Pension File of Nathaniel Barker- 
Last fall Fold3 started posting images of the pension files of War of 1812
veterans. That's how I found out for the first time that my 3x great grandfather
Nathaniel Barker was one of them. This was the first post in a series about
his file.

5 Down Mexico(Maine) Way- 
In September I found a newspaper clipping online that told about a trip my
aging 2x great granduncles Asa A West and Hiram F West took on horseback
across Maine, sort of a "Last Hurrah" I think.

6. Visiting the  Harlow Old Fort House -
In June I visited the Plymouth, Ma. home of my 8x great grandparents
William Harlow and Mary Faunce. I took some pictures.

7  The Second New England Geneablogger Bash -
In May I attended a get together of New England geneabloggers and enjoyed
meeting people I'd only known online. Thanks again Erica Voolich for the
ride! Again, I took pictures!

8 The Question of Lizzie Ellingwood Blanchard -
Also in June I received an email from a lady who'd found some hidden letters
while remodeling a house in New Hampshire. They were written by the
children and relatives of one of my distant Ellingwood family cousins, and
this was the first post in the series I did about them.

9 My First Genealogy Conference-
 In March I attended  the 2012 New England Family History Conference
where I met among others Lucie LeBlanc Consentino,  Marian
Pierre-Louis, and Alice Kane. I took pictures! 



10. In Sunshine or in Shadow -
The other big revelation about my Mom's side of the family last year also
came from having a McFarland cousin find my blog. Information he shared
led to the discovery of two great granduncles I never knew about, one of
whom died in a horrible accident.

11 Thomas, a Slave -
I knew as a historian that there had been African American slaves in colonial
Massachusetts but never suspected any of my ancestors had owned slaves.
In my research last January I found that that had been the case in two of my
family lines, the Uptons and the Mavericks.

Finally, along with all these, there were the three Challenges I hosted , the
Genealogist's Time Capsule, the Second American Civil War, and the
Fourth Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenges.


So I had some firsts, made some new family connections and found out
things I hadn't known before. It was one HECK of a year!

It's going to be hard to have a better year than I did last year!

JOHN EMERY OF NEWBURY: CONCLUSION

John Rolfe won his case against Henry Greenland. Unfortunately, I haven't
been able to find out what reparations Greenland was ordered to make for
his advances to Mary Rolfe. It wasn't jail time because Greenland was involved
in other lawsuits, mainly over money owed him for his medical services.
After a few years he left Newbury for Maine where he had several scrapes with
the authorities, one involving a charge of mutiny. Somehow he managed to
stay out of jail and eventually left New England to settle in New Jersey with his
wife and raise a family near Piscataway.

 John and Mary Rolfe removed to Nantucket for a few years, then to Cambridge.
They too raised a family  but John died in Newbury in 1681 at his brother's house.
Oddly enough he had purchased land in Woodbridge New Jersey shortly before
his death, and Mary moved there with most of their children. I wonder is she
and Henry Greenland ever met again.

In time my 9x great grandfather John Emery regained his seat on the Grand Jury.
I am of the opinion it was his entertaining Quakers in his house rather than
his involvement in the Greenland case that had caused him to lose it in the
first place. He died in Newbury on 3Nov 1683.

The story of Mary Rolfe and Henry Greenland has been cited in three books
about women and the social history of colonial America.In writing about it
myself I was more interested in the actual events and how my ancestor and
his family were involved. I will say the whole thing reinforces my belief that
we can't judge our ancestors by modern standards,  I believe that "when a
woman says no, she means no!" and that her decision should be respected. 
But in this case, it's hard to know if Mary Rolfe really meant "NO!",  given
the testimony from witnesses.

Certainly the reaction of the neighbors and townspeople of Newbury wasn't
what we'd expect today. Here's a woman who had a man climb through a
window and into her bed, had another man chase her ardously around a barn
in the dark, and spent the night with a third man, a hatter. Other than a bit of
gossiping, nothing much was done about it until her mother complained to the
Selectmen.

Another point this story illustrated is that life for our New England ancestors
was not the stereotyped image many have of the dour pious Puritans. It was
more of a mix of "Merry Old England" with Puritanism, There were periods
when one or the other would be in ascendancy, such as the religious
hysteria of the Witch Trial period but then the pendulum would swing back
the other way, In short, our ancestors weren't saints. Occasionally, they
fought, or cheated, or stole, sometimes to such an extent they woud
end up in court.

I'm glad they did, because there are records for me to find, and stories such
as that of John Emery, the Rolfes, and Henry Greenland for me to share with
you. 

JOHN EMERY OF NEWBURY PT12

The testimony continued in John Rolfe's lawsuit against Henry Greenland
over the latter's advances on Mary Rolfe. My ancestor John Emery and his
stepdaughter Betty once more figure in the case:

"Grenland sent Betie to Mary Rolfe to meet him in the barn and asked her
to mitigate her charges, saying that if she would do so, he would bring no
evidence against her. "I tould him I could not Do it I Could not go bac from
 anie thing I had said he asked me why I said it being nothing but the truth
 and given upon oath: he said I might because it was not sworn before the
bench and yet he would leve it upon my Consideration and meet him and
give him an answer: but I would not meet him but sent him word the next
day I Could not for I would not go from what I had said nor meet him anie
more."

Next,

"Thomas Silver deposed that a day or two before he heard of the uncivil
behavior of Mr. Greenland toward Mary Rolfe reported about the town,
Goody Bishop, being at Mary Rolf's was very angry with deponent for
reporting that Mary Rolf entertained company that was to his disturbance.
She further said that he might have taken an axe and knocked one of her
cows in the head as to take away her daughter's good name. Goodman
Emery, sr., came in also and spoke in commendation of Mary Rolfe and
said that for his part he knew no hurt by her and threatened to present
deponent as an eavesdropper for reporting such a thing of her. Deponent
answered that he reported nothing but what he heard in his own house."
-Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts
, Volume 3 (Google eBook) Essex Institute, 1913 p88-90

Another piece of testimony puzzled me at first.

"Peter Cheney of Newbery, aged about twenty-five years, deposed that
Mary Rofe, wife of John Rofe, late of Newbery, told him that one evening
the last winter John Adkins came to her house; that said Mary and Elizabeth
 Webster were together in the house and said Adkins tarried there until
very late, so that Mary and Elizabeth went to bed, etc. Sworn in court."

So there was a third male pursuing Mary Rolfe. Then I recalled that in the
testimony submitted against Greenland the previous Spring Mary had
testified that apparently one of her encounters with Greenland had resulted
in some bruising and he'd said to blame it on "the hatter". Could this
John Adkins be that hatter?

I searched the rest of Volume 3, and found this a few pages later:
"John Attkinson bound his house and land for his appearance at the next
Ipswich court for further examination about his presentment.

Elisabeth Webster, aged twenty-one years, deposed that when she was at
John Rofe's house, about last Feb., 1662, John Adkinson, hatter, living in
Newberie, came there and sat talking with Marie Rofe until late in the night.
Deponent went to bed and, being awakened, she heard Marie Rolf tell said
Adkinson to go away, but he did not go, when it was daylight, he dressed,
and not being able to find his stocking, Marie said she must lend him one
of her uncle's stockings, which she did. Then said Adkinson went away.
Elizabeth Webster affirmed to the truth of the foregoing, before Robert
Lord, cleric."
p97

So what am I to make of all this, and what happened to the people involved
afterward?

I'll discuss that next in the final post about the case

JOHN EMERY OF NEWBURY PT11

Before the holidays I left off my examination of my ancestor John Emery
and the scandalous events involving his family, their neighbor Mary Rolfe,
and the amorous Richard Greenland. At that point I had gotten as far as the
return of Mary's husband John from Martha's Vineyard and his hiring a
lawyer to sue Richard Greenland. The case was brought to court in Ipswich,
Massachusetts in September of 1663:


"John Roffe v. Mr. Henry Greenland. For coming into the house of said Roffe
in the night season, Roffe being not at home and attempting his wife's
chastity in a foul manner. 

John Rof's bill of cost, 1li. 15s. 11d.

Writ, dated June 26, 1663, signed by Anthony Somerby, for the court, and
served by Steven Grenleff, constable."



Next came a statement from the selectmen of Newbury about what they
had learned about the situation after being goaded into action by Goody
Bishop. While much of it is information given in previous testimony,
there;s a few new nuggets:

"John Bishop's wife comeing unto us being selectmen by way of complaint
against one mr Greeneland, a phisition which is newly come into our Towne,
for offering violent and uncivell cariage unto hir daughter mary Roffe the
wife of John Roffe, which is gone vnto nantuckett, and we haveing examined
 the woman we find from her testimony, that this mr Greenland have offered
grosse and shamfull abuse vnto her, The first time the woman being at John
Emeryes house where this man soiornes, had ocation to lay hir on the bed to
sleepe and lay downe by it; this Mr. Greenland came up into the chamber and
offered to abuse hir there.

"The second time this man came unto his house and used many arguments to
hir tending to wickedness, first that he would have hir goe with him to nevis,
or Jemeco, or some other place, and that it was free that men might have many
wives, she answered then shee should sinn ags' God, and abuse hir husband &
hir selfe and his wife, he answered he had meanes enough, he could maintain
them both, another time being att John Emeryes house, and when she was to
come home she was afraide he would come after hir, and as she thought slipt
out of the house, and he came after hir, and overtooke hir & would goe home
with hir, and then she could not gett him away, although she spoke to him and
then she spake vnto hir uncle liveing in the house that he would not goe to bed
before he was gone, and would not warme his bed, the ould man eayd it was
time for all to goe to bed, he sayd he would stay till the morning but the ould
man should be a bed before he would goe, but by much pswading he did,
another time worse than the former, mr Greeneland came to her house, late
in the night and knocked at the window, shee being in feare mad noe answere
along time he continued calling bettye bettye, and desired her to lett him come
in and asked why she would let him stand there and starve with could, she
answered they weare abed and would not lett him in, and weare afraide of him,
then he still earnestly desired hir wishing great wishes upon himselfe that he
would doe them noe hirt, but desired to smoke a pipe of tobacco; soe she lett
him in (this bettye is John Emeryes wives daughter which keepes with John
Roffes wife), soe goody Roffe being in hir bed spoke to the mayd to make a
fire to give some light, and while the mayd was makeing of a fire . . . she
swounded away, and as the mayd saide was dead & very could, and gave hir
some strong liquours to comfort hir.

"att last, she came to hir selfe againe ... he bid hir lye still for there was one
without knocked at the dore and now there would be two witnesses, and now
 we shall be tryed for our lives . . . but the youth that was at the dore, came in
... and sayd he heard mr Greenlands tongue before he came in while he was
at the dore." Mary Roffe and Elizabeth Webster testified to the foregoing,
Jan. 24, 1662, before Daniell Denison. Copy made, Sept. 25, 1663, by Robert
Lord, cleric."
- Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts
, Volume 3 (Google eBook) Essex Institute, 1913 p88-90






I'm still bemused with the image of Richard Greenland knocking at a married
woman's window begging to be let in so he could "light his pipe". But Richard
Greenland seems to have been a smooth talker, even though he failed to tempt
Mary to run  off the Caribbean  islands of "nevis,  or Jemeco".

Whether Mary told her husband  all that had transpired in his absence, or he
heard the details from the selectmen or Goody Bishop, I don't know. But  one
way or another, he took action:

"John Rolfe, jr., of Newbury, on June 20, 1663, appointed Hugh March of 
Newbury his attorney to prosecute against Mr. Henry Greenland and John 
Emery, sr. Wit: Henry Jaques and Richard Dole."

GENEALOGY GOALS FOR 2013

 A new year, and another new list of genealogy goals. They're pretty much
the same goals as always, although there is one new one (#7). At least I'm
consistent in my goals.


1. Work more on my maternal lines
Plan: Thanks to being contacted by two of my White cousins I now know
more than I did last year. There still are some blanks I need to fill in yet
on the family tree.

2. Continue researching my paternal lines
Plan: I should finish working on the Ellingwood collateral lines by Spring.
I'll move on to the Houghtons and Barkers next.

3. Break down that John Cutter West brick wall!
Plan: Hope springs eternal!

4. Join a local genealogy or historical society.
Plan: I need to get this done. Actually attending any meetings will
have to wait until I get a car, though.

5. Continue with Find A Grave activities
Plan: Cemetery visits are curtailed until I get a car. However I still have
quite a backlog of photos from last Spring and Summer that need to be uploaded.

6. Trim My Tree
Plan: I need to be more agressive about this. I have too many multiple entries
for people.

7. Do some more indexing for FamilySearch
Plan: I enjoyed indexing the 1940 Census. I'd like to work on another project. I just
need to find the time.

8. Write more.
Plan: I should do better with this compared to last year since I don't have the
1940 Census to distract me. I've already posted more posts(2) than I did all
last year on The Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit. Here on West in New England, I
need to  write at least one more blogpost for each month than I did last year,

9. Organize, Organize, ORGANIZE!!
Plan: Same as last year: JUST DO IT!

10. Scan, scan, SCAN!
Plan:  See #9
And as I say each year, the number  one priority about doing all of the above is to
have fun doing it!

A NEW YEAR'S WISH

((I posted this in December, 2010. I like the sentiment. ))


A Facebook friend, Cheryle Hoover Davis, found this quote from
one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, at the City of Lights Bookstore
site. I had the good fortune of meeting Neil at the Lauriats Bookstore
at the Silver City Galleria  in Taunton, Ma where he signed copies of
Neverwhere. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

Anywhere, it's a great quote, and what I wish for all my friends and
family in the coming year:

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good 
madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who 
thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write 
or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere 
in the next year, you surprise yourself." -Neil Gaiman

And a Happy, Healthy New Year to all of us and our families!

REVIEWING MY 2012 GENEALOGY GOALS

We've come to the end of another year. Time to set my genealogy goals
for 2013! But before I do, let's review my goals for 2012 and how I
think I did with them. My comments are in red italics:




1.Work more on my maternal lines
Plan: Try to get into Boston and find the divorce record for my Mom's parents,
Send away for my McFarland great grandparents' death certificates and any
other documents which might definitely establish their place of birth
Results: This was my greatest success of this year. Not only did I obtain
the death certificates, I also was contacted by a White cousin and his father.
through this blog. I now know more about my Mom's side of the family. 

2.Continue researching my paternal lines
Plan: I'm hoping to have the Ellingwood collateral lines done by midyear and
continue working on the others. The more recent Barker, Dunham and Coburn
lines in particular. As in last year, I need to get out more to the NEHGS and the
local Family History Center. And I still haven't made it into the Mass State Archives!
The trips to the local cemeteries have turned up family connections so I'll be
continuing those. I also hope to attend the Ellingwood Reunion again this year.
Results: Mixed. I still haven't made it to the Mass. State Archives and didn't
get into the NEHGS again this year. I am further along on my Ellingwood lines
but haven't finished them yet because I hadn't factored in how much I would be
involved with indexing the 1940 Federal Census starting in April.


3. Break down that John Cutter West brick wall!
Plan: Same as last year: "A series of visits to the town halls and historical societies
of towns here in Plymouth County seems to be the only approach possible to
this mystery. The cemetery visits might also prove useful in this."
Results: Disappointing. I never made those visits to the town halls and local
historical societies, and  a Y-DNA test failed to turn up a connection with
any of the established West DNA haplo groups.


4. Join a local genealogy or historical society.
Plan: I'm ashamed to say I still haven't done this. I hope to change that soon. Work
schedule is no longer an obstacle.
Results: Fail. But the year isn't over yet.



5. Continue with Find A Grave activities
Plan: Get back to visiting the local cemeteries, taking pictures and posting them to
Find A Grave. This is a bit hindered right now by my lack of transportation but I
hope to have that taken care of by the end of this month.
Results: Good & Bad. I did take quite a few photos over the Spring & Summer
before Ping the Wonder Car's ultimate demise in August. But by and large  I've
yet to post most of them at Find A Grave.


6. Trim My Tree
Plan: I am paying the price of heedless gedcom downloads from FamilySearch
from when I was a clueless newbie ten years ago, Multiple entries for one person
and more remote ancestors of dubious connections need to be removed. I made
a start of this in 2011 and must continue do so. The flip side of this is to be
more vigilant in adding new names and remember to cite sources.
Results: Fair. But there's still a lot left to be trimmed.

7. Write more.
Plan: Continue blogging and try to equal if not surpass my output of 2011. I had
248 posts on West in New England, and 42 on The Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit.
I enjoy sharing the stories that I've discovered in my research.
Results: Fail.Only 168 posts here on West in New England and just 1(!!!) on the 
Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit so far this year. Again, the Census Indexing had an 
effect:I wrote a total of 36 posts here from April through July during the period
I was indexng. This is my lowest productivity since I first started blogging in
2007.

8. Organize, Organize, ORGANIZE!!
Plan: Same as last year: JUST DO IT!
Results: Doing a bit better but can still be improved.


9. Scan, scan, SCAN!
Plan:  See #8
Results: Not as much done as I'd hoped.

Last year I said that a lot of what I would accomplish would depend on my health.
This year I'm happy to say I don't see my health as an obstacle. Transportation has
been a problem for the past few months but I'm hoping to have Ping the Wonder
Car back on the road soon.
I did get Ping back on the road and as I said, did visit many local cemeteries last
Spring & Summer. But Ping went to the Big Graveyard in the Sky and as yet I
haven't replaced him. 

But as it has been in previous years, my biggest goal in my genealogy research is
to keep having fun with it!

 And I did!

ADVENT CALENDAR: CHRISTMAS EVES 2012

 ((Originally posted in 2007))

Christmas Eve was sometimes hectic in our family, especially
those years when we lived in Dorchester, because Mom and Dad
would drive around to Mom’s cousins’ houses to drop off gifts for
the kids. Sometimes my sister and I went along but as we got
older and more responsible we’d stay home while the gifts run
was made.


Then there where Christmas Eves where we were all home
and spent the night wrapping presents for each other or other
relatives. I think I liked those quieter nights best.


The past two decades or so Christmas Eve is spent at my sister
and brother-in-law’s house. Gifts are given out and opened and
my sister’s youngest son Mike(now in his twenties) often ends
up with the handing out the gifts duties since he’s the youngest
family member. Then there’s food served buffet style. At that
point, I am just trying to stay awake because I’ve been dealing
with the last minute shoppers at the store all day and a good
meal on top of that makes me want to take a nap. And next
day I go back over for dinner.


All in all Christmas Eves over the years have been good ones,
sometimes saddened by losses of loved ones but we all enjoy
being together and relaxing after the end of the Christmas rush.

2009 Update: A new tradition began last year with the Christmas
Eve festivities moving to the home of my niece Sarah and her
husband Steve. And this year I am actually having a day off on
Christmas Eve, so I won't be so tired and sleepy!


2010 Update: Christmas Eve will be at my sister's this year and I'm
looking forward to some lasagna. I expect that Michael will be helped
with giving out gifts this year by my 2 year old grandnephew Noah!

2011 Update: Christmas Eve will again be at  my sister's house and
there will be lasagna! One change this year: since the bookstore closed
I haven't been working the Christmas shopping rush so I may not fall
asleep as early as I have in past years!

2012 Update: Christmas Eve was at my sister Cheryl's house with her
family and my brother Phil and his oldest son Phil. It was a great evening
and much lasagna was eaten. 

A MOMENT OF SANITY

((I first posted this three years ago in 2009. Working in a bookstore 
at Christmas could be hectic but there were times that made it worth
it. This was one of those times. Borders Books is gone now, but I 
still miss that store and staff. ))


 

We're in the midst of the Christmas shopping rush at the bookstore
and let me tell you folks, it can get pretty hectic at times, as it was today.

I was at the information desk looking up a book for a customer when
an older lady who was waiting nearby asked me if I could just point
out where she might find the new book about the Baker Chocolate Factory.
I told her it was on a display next to the local history section, that it
was a great book, and that if she couldn't find it I'd be glad to help her
after I finished helping the other customer. She thanked me and moved
off to find the book.

About twenty minutes later I was on my way up to help at the registers
when the same lady stopped me to tell me I'd helped make her day. I
thought she was referring to finding the Baker Chocolate Factory book,
but it turned out it was something else.She'd found the book alright, but
afterward she browsed my local history section and found the Images
of America book about the history of the Milton, Ma. fire department.

And in that book, she found a picture of her great-grandfather.

Now, she already had a copy of the picture in the book, but it was
a group photo and uncaptioned,so she hadn't known which firefighter
he was. But the copy in the book was captioned, and now she
could point directly to the man on the page who was her ancestor.
She teared up a bit but smiled when I told her how great that was
and that I knew how she felt because I'd had similiar moments
researching my own family history. She thanked me again, we
wished each other a Merry Christmas and then both of us moved
on to the cash registers, me to ring sales and she to purchase her books.

It was a long, hard, tiring day. I was very tired by the time my shift
was up, and my legs were aching and stiff.

But when I started to write about this encounter I found myself smiling.

I might have made that lady's day, but she made mine as well!

DEAR GENEA-SANTA

((First Posted in 2011))


Dear Genea-Santa,
I've had a pretty good genealogy year and thought It would be nice to share
some of that good luck with my fellow genealogists, So I've got some ideas
for genealogy gifts that you and the elves might be able to whip up in the
workshop:

1, The Brick Wall DeSTRUCTomatic:  You plug this little gadget into your USB
port on your computer, open your genealogy program, and BAM, it seeks out
and destroys those brick walls and provides you with the information you've
hunted for years on some elusive ancestor. Oh, by the way, you say the name
with emphasis on the "Struct" part. Trust me, it will sound good in the tv
commercial.

2. The Flying Sourcer: This works like a combination GPS and Roomba Robot.
Before you visit a repository, library, or  cemetery, you plug it into the USB of your
computer and feed it the list of what record or grave you are looking for at your
destination. When  you get there, you turn it on and it flies right to the item you
want  and then calls you tio the location.  I'd recommend a Borg's voice: "Records
found! They WILL be assimiliated!"

3, Super Re-Citer: A computer app that automatically writes correct citations for
your online discoveries and then recites them. I think if you get James Earl Jones
or Sean Connery's voice it would be a winner. But definitely include a Gilbert
Gottfried option for laughs.

So there they are. I think we have a hit on our hands. I'd recommend once you
have the bugs worked out, you outsource them to Ronco....or Whammo. And we
should list them in the Acme Genealogy Answers Catalogue!

I don't want any monetary compensation , but when you get them ready for gift
giving, I'd like one of each! After all, I still have some brickwalls of my own to
break down and I think that the Ronco Brickwall DeSTRUCTOmatic would help!

Thanks, Santa!
Bill

ADVENT CALENDAR: IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

((originally posted in 2007))

Every Christmas Mom would break out the Andy Williams
Christmas Album to play on the stereo. There was also a Nat
King Cole album and a Mitch Miller “Sing Along With Mitch”
Christmas edition. But for me, even rock and roll dinosaur
that I am, it’s the Andy Williams album that “feels” like
Christmas to me. I need to hear that "It's the Most
Wonderful Time of the Year."



As I’ve gotten older and my musical tastes expanded, I find
myself listening to New Age and Celtic Christmas music. And
Josh Groban just put out a holiday album that we’ve played at
the bookstore since Thanksgiving and it’s easy on the ears.

As for caroling, well, there are some things that one should
never do in public and in my case, singing is one of them!

2010 Update: I splurged this year for the "Now That;s What
I Call Christmas Essentials Collection." It has the Andy Williams
song and Nat King Cole's version of "Christmas Song" on it,
and I plan to play it Thursday afternoon on my day off!

2011 Update Now that Borders has gone out of business and
I avoid the radio stations doing the "All Christmas, All the Time"
since mid-November, I haven't burned out on Christmas music
as early as previous years. But unfortunately, I am now tired of
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". Staples use of it
in the back to school ads was funny. But this year, the song has
been overused by retail stores and car dealerships so much
that it's like beating a dead reindeer! Bah, humbug!

2012 Update: My favorite piece of Christmas music this year
is this performance by Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Mariah
Carey. It makes me smile.

AUNT DOT REMEMBERS

This was originally posted back on 25Jul 2007. I thought I'd repost
 it again because of Christmas:

This the first in a series of posts which are my transcriptions
of 13 handwritten pages. They were written by my Aunt Dot
 (Dorothy West Bargar) and given to me yesterday when we attended
my nephew Paul's wedding.

Some explanations of the names mentioned: Phillip was
Phillip Jonathan West, Dot's grandfather and my great
grandfather. Hazel was her older sister and Flossie(Florence)
the youngest.

"Dingle" is a new term to me and sounds like a shed.


"Our family lived on Back Street in Upton from about 1830 to
1927. I have a picture of Bud and Hazel, taken Aug., 1926 that
was given me by Pop’s cousin Louie West (his dad was great
uncle Paul -Philip’s brother). This was the first I heard that I
ever lived in Upton. My birthday was in April of that year.

From conversations, I think I remember we probably moved
to Magalloway for a short time, then to Wilsons Mills. Phillip
stayed in Magalloway.

The first place I remember living was in a little square cabin on
the shore of Azichoos lake back a trail from the dam house.
There was a wagon trail past an old stone quarry and a foot
path along the lake shore. The quarry was home of the bear
that we always looked out for. The cabin was partitioned off in
one corner-a room big enough for a white iron double bed and a
built in double bed with a bunk (half size) up under the eaves.
There was a path between the beds wide enough for a dresser.
The remainder of the cabin was one L shaped room (except the
L was upside down & backwards) (end p.1)


The back door opened to a covered walk that led to a dingle
where we kept outdoor tools and dry wood for the fire. The
space from the door to the dingle was about the width of a
standard sidewalk. I have always remembered the dingle
because that is where the bag of toys that Santa brought was
kept. I only remember one Christmas that we received presents
and must have been when I was three because Flossie was not
yet in the family.

Don’t remember what Hazel & Mother got. Pop got a necktie,
Bud got pocket knife. (he would have been 5 years old) and I got
a pull toy -it was a green platform with red wheels & a red pull
string and had a white celluloid lamb on the platform. We also
got a tiddle wink game, which at my age was a great failure at,
but liked it anyway. That was probably 1929.

In years later we always decorated the house and had fun
making our decorations from newspapers and magazines. For
many years we had carefully saved the few fold out paper
Christmas bells and a few pieces of red & green rope that had
come with the family before any time that I recall."(end p 2)

IF I RAN CHRISTMAS....

...these are the rules I'd make.


Christmas sales and advertising would be banned until the day
before Thanksgiving.


BlackFriday would start at 9am local time sharp. No midnight
madness. No lines at store doors at dawn. People would instead
spend more time at home with their families and store personnel
would not have to leave Thanksgiving gatherings early because
they need to go prep the store for opening.


Shoppers would behave in a mature, civilized and orderly fashion.
If the store has run out of some item the shoppers would not
treat the salespeople as if they have suddenly become the spawn
of Satan but instead would move on to the next items on their
shopping list.



No national chain stores open on Christmas Day. Christmas is
Christmas, period. Forget about sales for one day and let your
employees enjoy the day with their families. Mom & Pop stores
can open but half the day only so that folks who run out of milk or
butter can get some quickly and easily.


People would hold doors open for other shoppers and give up
their bus seats to senior citizens. Young children would not throw
temper tantrums and older children would not curse at their
parents.


Everyone would have someplace to go to and someone to be with
on Christmas Day. No one would be alone and no one would be
cold or hungry.

Drunk drivers would be unable to start their cars and so have to
take cabs or other means of transportation.


All our Armed Forces would be home to safely celebrate the
holidays with their loved ones.

There’s much more that could be added, I’m sure. But I’d be
happy with these for starters.

((First published in 2008))

2012 Update: I've added a new one:
There'd be no commercials using Santa to sell cars.

And no commercials with Christmas carols sung badly and loudly
off key for supposed "comic effect". (Are you listening, Target?)

ADVENT CALENDAR: STOCKING STUFFERS 2012

 ((First posted in 2007. I've added a bit to this that is in italics))



It’s been a long time since the last time my Christmas stocking
was hung up for Santa.

When I was small we didn’t have a fireplace so I’m not sure
where we hung them. Perhaps stuck to a doorframe with
thumbtacks? Although one year we had a cardboard red brick
light-up fireplace that I hadn’t thought about in years until just
now. And on Capen St. in Dorchester I think we hung them on
the “windowsill” of the wall mural my Dad made. Mom picked
out some large picture of Cypress Gardens and it was hung on
the wall, framed by a wooden  picture window frame so it
looked as if you were looking out at all those flowers! ((Dad
even wired it with a lightbulb inside the frame to light it up
at night. This worked well until the plastic model of a bird
I'd placed on the sill fell in and melted against the lightbulb.))



The house in Abington had a real fireplace (and a real picture
window) so the stockings were hung by the chimney, etc. and a
new one was added for my kid brother. A year or so after that
we hung one for the pets as well. But over the years as we
moved one place or another there would be Christmases where
no stockings were hung at all because we couldn’t figure out which
box they’d been packed away in during the last move. 



As for what was inside, as I mentioned once before there was
one year I got a lump of coal, but for the most part it would be
candy canes and an orange or apple. One year there was the new
wristwatch my folks bought me.


I’m not sure where those stockings are these days. My best guess
is that they are downstairs in my storage bin packed away with
the few Christmas tree ornaments that have survived!


Update 2010: The Christmas stockings and those few old
Christmas ornaments have gone to the great storage bin in the sky
during my latest move.

SIX REASONS WHY I LIKE THE "A CHRISTMAS STORY' MOVIE 2012

((First published Dec 2011))

It may not snow every Christmas but there is one thing of which we can be
 certain:  the 24 hour "A Christmas Story" marathon on cable tv. Now some
folks might be tired of seeing the movie but to me it is like looking back at
my own childhood. No, Dad didn't win a Leg Lamp(and no way our Mom
would have let him put it in her living room if he had) but there are certain
things in the film that bring back memories for me:

1. Ovaltine- Yes, I drank Ovaltine when I was a kid, but by the time I came
along in 1948 Little Orphan Annie was no longer the big radio hit it once was.
In fact, when I was Ralphie's age it was Captain Midnight who was telling us
to drink our Ovaltine in the secret decoder messages.

2. The cars- There were still many of the older model cars around well into
the mid 1950's with cool things like running boards and rumble seats. The
nursery school I went to in Malden, the ABC Nursery School, used to pick up
students in a big old car with a rumble seat and I dimly remember riding in it.

3. The clothes- Here's a picture of me with Santa. As I've said before, stick a
pair of glasses on it and I could be Ralphie. And in the picture of the car above,
that's me and my cousin Winnie (Winifred).  While I can't recall if it was hard
for me to get around in a snowsuit, I do remember it seemed to take HOURS to
get in and out of them. And Randy looks a lot like one of my younger White
cousins trying to walk around in it once he was bundled up.

4. The school- The first elementary school I went to was the Linden School in
Malden, Ma which was a new building and very modern for the times. But when
I was eight years old we moved to Boston and I went to the Frank V. Thompson
Elementary School, an older building, and the classrooms looked very much like
Ralphie's: the blackboards, the shelves of books, the desks, even the windows!

5. The Lifebuoy- I told fibs when I was a kid. Several times I got the Lifebuoy in
the mouth punishment.  It tasted well...like soap.  Blecch. No, I didn't go blind.

6.The BB Rifle- I don't recall hearing Red Ryder on the radio when I was a kid and
I don't remember ever seeing the tv series. It may have been on at the same time
as one of the other shows I would watch, like the Lone Ranger or the Cisco Kid.
But I do remember seeing the ads in the back of the comic books for a Red Ryder
BB Rifle from Daisy. I wanted one badly. Hey, with a last name like West, a guy just
had to dream about being a cowboy! And just like Ralphie, I heard the same
warnings from my Mom about shooting myself(or someone else) in the eye. Now
my Dad had grown up around guns and was a bit more sympathetic. After all,
he hadn't lost an eye (although he did shoot himself once in the foot with a .22).
So eventually my parents reached some sort of compromise and I got a bb rifle
either for Christmas or my birthday but my Dad was the keeper of the BB
pellets. Eventually the novelty of shooting a rifle that didn't actually have
ammunition wore off and the rifle ended up in the closet. It and the pellets
did, however, make a reappearance a few years later when we were living
in Abington and Dad used it to drive off the more persistent male dogs who
were uh....paying court...to our female dog Brownie.

So that's why I like watching "A Christmas Story" every Christmas!
At least once, anyway.