Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday - Seavey-Richardson Families at Sandy Creek




Sandy Creek Cemetery, on a hill beside Willett Brook, is located on the present Pinook Road, facing the road to South Bridgton.  According to the published history of Bridgton,* "most of those living in this area when Sandy Creek was a thriving industrial village are buried here.  All the stones were removed at one time and the entire cemetery regraded and the stones replaced, presumably near to their original locations."  In 1843, Jonathan Seavey was one of the committee members tasked to "lot the grounds."  He and Harriet are my Great-Great Grandparents.


This cemetery has no sign or fence.  I only remembered where it was from exploring with Dad several years ago.  It was a beautiful October day when I ventured up Rt. 302 to take these pictures.   There are child graves from all 3 unions. 


A little time-line here:



  • 1824 Jonathan Seavey and Mary G. Blake wed.  They had 7-12 children, including a child born in Jefferson, NH and adopted (lists vary).

  • 1838 Eben Richardson and Harriet Cross Libby  wed.  They had 2 children.

  • 1844 Eben Richardson died at age 29.  He and Harriet were only married 6 years.

  • 1845 Mary Blake died at age 37, and Jonathan Seavey married Harriet C. Libby.  They had 7 children, and Jonathan adopted the two Richardson daughters.
                                                 


"The widow of Eben Richardson married a widower Jonathan Seavey, 19 years her senior, and outlived him 32 years." 

fr. Bridgton Families

compiled by Mr. Blynn Davis, Maine Historical Society





  Jonathan Seavey
    DIED
   Nov. 14, 1858
   AE, 63 yrs. 6 mos.

Farewell my wife and children all
From you a Father Christ doth call
Mourn not for me, it is in vain
To call me to your sight again
  
Mrs.
Mary G.
Wife of
Jonathan Seavy
died Feb 9
1845
AE 37 years, 2 mos
& 15 days

Sleep on thy lovely dust
I shall soon be summoned
To sleep with thee then our
Spirits will be reunited in
The peaceful realms of bliss
And happiness






Albion P.
Son of Mary G. &
J. Seavey
Died May 11, 1856
AE 12 yrs, 8ms
14 ds.


Mr.
Eben Richardson
DIED
Jan. 10, 1844
AE 29 yrs & 4 mo.


Sleep on dear brother
Take thy rest
God called thee home
He thought it best


Harriet C.
Wife of Jonathan Seavey
May 23, 1814
Mar 23, 1891


Yet love will dream and faith will trust
Since he who knows our needs is just
That somehow somewhere meet we must



Elizabeth B.
daught. of
Ebenezer & Harriet
C. Richardson, died
May 27, 1847
AE. 
3 yrs, 11 mo.
& 8 days

Thus fades the lovely blooming flower
Frail swelling solace of a home
soon our transient
(some words buried/unreadable) 





Eben G.
Son of Mary G. &
J. Seavy
Died May 11, 1856
AE 12 yrs. 8ms
14 ds.



Charles C.
son of Jonathan
& Harriet C. Seavey
DIED
Sept. 7, 1851
AE 2 years. & 2 mo.


Cora May
DAU. OF
J. & H.C. Seavey
DIED
Sept. 21, 1865


* History of Bridgton, Maine, 1768-1994, 2d ed., Bridgton Historical Society, 1993. P.463.

Monday, October 11, 2010

HOME

The time has finally arrived.  Thursday morning I head out from Mason, Ohio, for parts Down East.  Yes, I am driving; have done it many, many times.  Have my audio books to keep me company, plus I like to be in control of my schedule with my wheels on the ground.


Of course I am looking forward to seeing Mom, who is back in South Portland, at the Betsy Ross House, but I have lots of trips planned with regard to genealogy.


First off,  there's the Boston Family History Day on the 16th.  I have been looking forward to this since I first heard about it.  As it turns out, I have made plans to pick up Christine Morrill on the way, and we are going to meet, and attend the conference together.  In my August 22nd post, I published Nettie's story.  It is the touching story, written by Christine for Ancestry.com, of my great grandparents Clarence and Nettie Seavey. Christine is a descendent of Joseph Trumbull, who married Nettie after Clarence passed away.


I hope to also drive up to North Conway, to North Conway Cemetery, to take pictures of some headstones, revisit the Sandy Creek Cemetery in Bridgton, Maine, look for some Leighton gravesites in Cumberland, maybe drive down to Rye and Greenland, NH, and take on my first FindaGrave photo requests, as part of my genealogy networking efforts.


I know that Dad would be proud of me, and glad to know I am keeping the record of all those Seaveys that came before us.  I miss him so much!





 
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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Those Places Thursday - Cushman's Bakery of Portland, Maine



Cushman's Bakery, in Portland, Maine, was one of  "those places" that played an integral part in the lives of many members of my family.  It could even be said that, but for Cushman's, I wouldn't even be here...


My maternal grandfather, Ross Bustin (1908-1990) worked at Cushman's as a truck driver, from a small neighborhood delivery truck, whose sides opened up to reveal the freshest bread, rolls, pies and donuts, to the longer distance trucks which had routes all over New England.  He ended his working career running the small retail outlet on Franklin St., on Munjoy Hill.  I remember stopping in many times in those waning days of Cushman's presence in Portland.

His brother Lawrence (1913-1969), whom I knew as Uncle Laurie, was foreman on the shipping floor for over 35 years at Store #5, at 107 Elm St.


It was there that their sister Vesta (1907-1964), whom I knew as Aunt Beck, worked in the office as a bookkeeper.  When we were little kids, Aunt Beck would always bring us discarded office paper for us to draw and color on (an early recycler!)  Her husband, Vanstone Tewksbury, also worked there at one time.


Dad (Richard Seavey) started at "the bakery" sometime around October 1953, after he came home from his stint in the Navy. He always worked in the Bread Room, which accelerated a mild asthma condition. He stayed with Cushman's until the company closed its Portland operations altogether in the '60's.

Mom (Marilyn Bustin) worked there in the Cookie Room during the summer of 1948, between her junior and senior year of high school, and then returned after graduation 1949.  A mutual friend played matchmaker and soon a budding romance was under way!  She continued working there after they were married until the end of December 1954, when she discovered she was pregnant with Yours Truly.


My memories of Cushman's include sitting in the family station wagon waiting for Dad to get off work.  We were one of many one-car families back then, and if Mom needed the car, she took him in and picked him up. Frequently, Dad would come to the window of the Break Room to let us know he had a chance to get some overtime, and we would wait it out. Our family knew so many of the workers that we would have lots of car-window visitors.  We would also have numerous plant tours with our Scout troops, etc.  And, of course, there was always the bread (I particularly remember a pastel-ly swirl loaf used to make canapes) and the donuts (in the see-through box).





The Maine Historical Society, on p. 4 of their Spring 2005 issue, published an excellent article on the history of Cushman's. And, just last summer, Colin Sargent published Cushman's "Secret" Scotch Cookie Recipe on his Portland Monthly website.




Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday - Grandpa Bustin

Have you ever plucked a random picture out of an assortment of relics, just to simply see how far you can go with it?  That's what I did the other day, with wonderfully unexpected results.


The following is the front and back of my picture, 2 x 3 in size (fitting in the palm of my hand).


 
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Of course, my first question was "Whose Grandpa?" I remember my great-grandfather, Frederick Parker Bustin (1886-1965), buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine. Was this his father or his grandfather?


My second question was "Where is Church Hill?" It was not a placename I was familiar with, although I had to assume it was in New Brunswick, where my great-grandfather grew up. Was this a church graveyard, or was this the name of a NB village, like Mechanic Settlement, where "Pap" was born.  


Google Maps led me to a Church Hill Rd near Mechanic Settlement, as well as Elgin, a town I had also heard mention of:

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After quite a bit of creative googling, going back and forth between Church Hill, Church Hill Cemetery, Church Hill United Church, I finally arrived at a list of Albert Co., New Brunswick, cemeteries, and lo and behold, there was my cemetery - Church Hill United Cemetery Est. 1865, in ELGIN! And it was annotated as being fully transcribed in 2010!  You can only imagine how excited I was!


But here is the best part -- M. Helena Lewis, just this Augusttranscribed and photographed (!) every single grave, including those of my great-great Bustin grandparents.  Here they are, with full credit to Ms. Lewis for doing all the work:


 
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Samuel J Bustin

died Oct 29, 1897 aged 79 yrs 4 ms



 
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Mary E Bustin

died July 10, 1904 aged 55 yrs 10 ms



As I finish this post, I realize suddenly that Great Great Grandmother Bustin died when she was the age I am now - 55.  I can only speculate on her life, which undoubtedly was a hard one, and what caused her death.  But I am thrilled with this "best yet" genealogy discovery, and hope to make it down east someday to pay my respects.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Madness Monday - The Perils of Pauline

One of my most intriguing ancestors has been my Great Aunt Polly (1880-1958). What I have been told about her makes me want to know more about her life. My dad remembered her as "coming from New York" to live with them when he was a kid. Or perhaps it was that my grandmother, Mattie, always felt some degree of gratitude to Polly, as she had helped raise her, once her own mother, Polly's sister Alice (1886-1957), remarried and began a new family.

I have heard mentions of her working as a housekeeper and as a secretary to a doctor. She never married, but may have had a few gentlemen friends. In any event, I will always be fascinated by the kind of life this woman led.

Recently I came across a scrapbook of my grandmother's, which contained several pictures from her childhood. I am pretty convinced that this is Alice and Pauline, probably from the 1920's or so.



I was so thrilled to find this clipping of her obituary from the Portland Press Herald just the other day.  I suppose she will always be a woman I wish I knew more about.


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Friday, August 27, 2010

14 Children, 5 Child Graves

Recently, while working on sourcing my ancestor Jonathan Seavey, of Bridgton, Maine, I became increasingly fascinated with the many children he had, with two wives, and how many died as children. As I came to grasp how sorrowful this must have been, I wondered if it might help me to put his family life on a timeline.


Searching online for something quick and easy, I came across this free Excel timeline template and this (click on chart for better view) is the very cool result!



Sunday, August 22, 2010

Sentimental Sunday - Nettie's Story



The following is one of the most romantic and sentimental stories from my family tree. I reproduce it as it appeared on Ancestry.com, 3/29/2010, posted by ALMORRILL:
Nettie’s Story
This story comes from my grandmother (Constance dau. of Jospeh (sic) & Lena Trumble).  The story is backed up by supporting documents, such as census, marriage and death documents.

Nettie’s story is filled with love and enjoy (sic), combined with great sadness and loss.  She married Clarence Seavey, who she loved very much according to those that knew Nettie & Clarence.  They had six children within 10 years.

Upon Clarence (sic) illness, it is reported he asked a dear friend and neighbor Joseph Stephen Trumble (unmarried & never been married at this point) to care for his wife and children after his death.  Please marry her, care for her and the children.  Clarence died in Feb 1902.

Therefore, after a number of respectable months later Joseph married Nettie, who knew of her husband’s wishes too.  According to the oldest of the children, Joseph was a wonderful stepdad and husband to their mother, whom (sic) continue to grief (sic) over their father’s death.  Saddening the children had any great loss their mother only 2 years later (Dec. 1904).  At this time, Nettie’s family knowing of Joseph (sic) promise, felt he had more than met it, released him of the children’s care and his promise in Jan. 1905.

He remarried on Nov. 1905 to Lena Bell Cox of Poland, Maine.  They had 6 children of their own. However, according to my grandmother (one of their daughters) it was told to her by her mother (Lena) that Joseph (her dad) always continued to check in with the family members that completed the raising of Nettie & Clarence (sic) children.

Footnote on their deaths:
It is believed that Clarence died of TB.  Many said Nettie just died of a broken heart.  However, it is now believe (sic) although it may be true she to (sic) had a broken heart, that she actually had TB or complication of.  It was ruled pneumonia.
Clarence and Nettie Seavey were my great-grandparents. There were actually 7 children, as Nettie was pregnant with Archie Forrest Seavey (born 9/14/1902) when Clarence died. So, you see, Joseph really was a gentleman, in marrying Nettie at that time.
I connected with Christine (ALMORRILL) thu Ancestry.com this weekend. She and I have exchanged several emails. Hopefully I will get to meet her in October when I return to Maine for a visit.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday - Aunt Beck's Autograph Book 1925

Among the many treasures handed on to me is this autograph book belonging to my Great Aunt Beck. Born Flora Vesta Bustin (1907-1964), she was Fred and Vina's oldest child, the only daughter of four children. This book, with entries mostly dated 1925, contains many gems, favorite rhymes of the time. She would have been about 18 years old when she passed this around (high school graduation time perhaps), and obviously was dearly loved by her large family and close friends. I remember her from my childhood, and know she was very dear to my mother's heart.



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This entry is from her younger brother Lawrence (whom I knew as Uncle Laurie):


"May 11, 1925
Oh may your virtue
ever spread
Like butter on
hot gingerbread


Lawrence Bustin
D.J.H.S. (Deering Junior High School)"








And here, faintly, is a bit of wisdom from her mother:


"May 3rd 1925
Dear Vesta
Love many
Trust fun
And always
Paddle your own
canoe.
from your Mother"






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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

"Facebook" Page for a Hero

Following up on Tom MacEntee's lead regarding the use of a Google Docs Template to create a fake Facebook page for one of my ancestors, here's what I came up with.

Sgt. George Dalton Libby was my 1st cousin once removed, and was the first Korean War Medal of Honor recipient.

 
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday - The Lovell-Olsen Lot



I grew up always knowing this as Aunt Polly's grave. Dad and Mom were sometimes the only ones who tended to it, putting red geraniums in the urn. The urn has cracked now, and is quite pitiful looking. This is Dad, last summer on one of our last cemetery visits. On that day I was able to find out from the cemetery office that there are eight people buried on this lot in Forest City Cemetery, South Portland, Maine:




1. Mattie (aka Martha and Matilda) Packard Brackley Crilley, Pauline and Alice's grandmother (born a Packard - hence my father's middle name - he was not named for the car!)
2. Louisa L. Brackley Lovell Spalding Washburn, Pauline and Alice's mother
3. Pauline M. Lovell, who never married, as far as I can tell
4. Wallace Olsen, son of Lawrence and Alice
5. Lawrence B. Olsen, Alice's second husband
6. Alice N. Lovell, her sister, and my great-grandmother
7. Fred Olsen, son of Lawrence and Alice
8. Lawrence Olsen, Jr., son of Lawrence and Alice


Friday, August 6, 2010

Follow Friday - History of Bridgton, Maine

I am so glad that I was able to pick up a copy of this book from the Bridgton Historical Society several years ago. There are a few mentions in it of my ancestor Jonathan Seavey (1795-1858 ), who was a blacksmith there, and his son Clarence (1853-1902 ), my great-grandfather.

Jonathan was involved in laying out the lots for the Sandy Creek Cemetery, in Bridgton, according to this book, and is buried there, with both his wives, and some of his children from both marriages.







Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday - Nana and Pap

Frederick Parker Bustin and Melvina Jane Hamilton are buried under this gravestone in Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine. They are my maternal great-grandparents. Fred and Vina came from Canada, he from New Brunswick and she from Nova Scotia.


Actually, Fred and his two brothers married Melvina and her two sisters. There was a big write-up in the Portland paper about it, but that's a good story to save for another post!





Thursday, July 29, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday - SPHS Graduation 1949

My dad was a 1949 graduate of South Portland High School.


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Some of the teachers he had were just starting their teaching careers back then, but were still teaching when I went through SPHS, some in their last year before retiring.  In the program from his graduation ceremony pictured below, Miss Madeline Perazzi accompanied the singing of  " The Spirit of the Red and White." 

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 She was still there when I graduated in 1973.  And there's dad's name, Seavey, Richard Packard, under "General Course."  


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