52 Ancestors: #4 Betsey Brackley (1813-1891)

Betsey Brackley, my 3rd great grand aunt, was born on this date, in 1813, in Freeman, Maine, a small farming community in Franklin County. She was the second of six children born to William Brackley, Jr. and Anna Clayton, and their only daughter.

It is hard to imagine what life was like for a young woman growing up in rural Maine in the early 1800's. Martha Ballard, the diarist, offered a glimpse. Undoubtedly, Betsey remained at home as an essential contributor to the ever growing household.

At the time of the 1850 census, she was, at age 37, still at home with her aging parents and younger brother Howard (my third great grandfather).

Not until 7 years later did she marry a 46-year old widower, with 7 surviving children, Simeon Walker Weymouth. The mother of his children, Lucetta Getchell, had died a year earlier, so the assumption can be safely made that Simeon needed help caring for all these children.

By the 1860 census, Betsey was listed as Simeon's wife, along with her youngest four step-children, Almon (20), Virginia/"Jennie" (18) Albert (17), and Tobias D. (14).

But only 3 years later, Simeon filed for divorce.

There is no record of children from Betsey's marriage to Simeon. What is interesting, however, is that, at some point after the divorce, she assumed her maiden name.

Simeon went on to marry Phebe Elizabeth Mosher in 1864, so there is the possibility that there was infidelity in his second marriage. Simeon and Phebe had three children, Ulysses/"Ulie", Hortense/"Tensie", and Fred.

From the time of her divorce in 1863 until her death, nothing is known of Betsey Brackley's life in Freeman. In the 1870 and 1880 censuses she was listed as living there with a William Brackley, aged 15 and 25 respectively. possibly a nephew (the son of my third great grandfather and his first wife Hope). In the 1880 census she was listed as "widowed," the common nomenclature for a divorced woman, masking the stigma of a failed marriage.

Betsey Brackley died on December 2, 1891, at the age of 78. She is buried in the Starbird Corner Cemetery in Freeman. Her headstone reads BETSEY BRACKLEY.

Sources:

1850 U.S. Census; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: M432_253; Page: 229A; Image: 443.

1860 U.S. Census; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: M653_435; Page: 846; Image: 261.

1870; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: M593_543; Page: 78B; Image: 160.

1880; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: 479; Page: 438C; Image: 0633.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 26 Jan 2014), memorial page for Betsey Brackley (1813-1891), Find A Grave Memorial no. 123969226, citing Starbird Corner Cemetery, Freeman, Maine.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 26 Jan 2014), memorial page for Simeon W. Weymouth (unknown-1886), Find A Grave Memorial no. 103420387, citing Tuttle Corner Cemetery, Freeman, Maine.

Ancestry.com. Maine, Marriage Records, 1713-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Thompson, George A. and F. Janet Thompson. A Genealogical history of Freeman, Maine, 1796-1938, in three volumes. 3 vols. (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1996), 3:276,280.

"Maine Divorces, 1799-1903," database, Maine Genealogy (http://www.mainegenealogy.net/individual_divorce_record.asp?id=19247 : accessed 27 May 2013), entry for Simeon W. Weymouth & Betsey Weymouth, 1863, citing Maine Divorce Index, Maine State Archives.

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F4F6-N62 : accessed 26 Jan 2014), Simeon W. Weymouth and Betsy Bruckley, 12 Feb 1857.

***

This is the fourth in a series, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, " coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

You might also enjoy:

52 Ancestors #1: William Brackley, Jr. (1788-1873)
52 Ancestors #2: Stephen Morse (1803-1886)
52 Ancestors #3: Frederick James Dargavel (1901-1987)

Sunday's Obituary ~ Mary Letitia Graham Deyarmond (1912-1960)

This is another newspaper clipping from my great grandmother's scrapbook. Mrs. Arthur Deyarmond was the wife of Nana's first cousin, 1x removed, Arthur Salter Deyarmond. The handwritten date is undoubtedly Nana's writing. It is slightly incorrect, however, as I was able to verify her death date at Nova Scotia Genealogy as October 3, 1960. While there, I was also able to verify her birth date as January, 26, 1912, making her 48 years old at her death.

What I find remarkable about this obituary, probably from a Truro newspaper, is the notable absence of the female deceased's maiden name. I had to resort to Ancestry.com, and then to my own FTM database to figure out how she was related.

FTM's Relationship Report

It is pretty remarkable that, in 1960, in small town Nova Scotia, a woman would be best known as her husband's wife. There is also no mention of her burial. I found out at Colchester Historeum that she is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Upper Stewiacke.

52 Ancestors: #3 Frederick James Dargavel (1901-1987)

Frederick James Dargavel, the husband of my 1st cousin 2x removed, Eva Isabella Bustin, was actually born James Frederick Dargavel, on this date, in 1901, in the small community of Molus River, Kent County, New Brunswick. He was the fourth of nine children, and third son, of James Clarke Dargavel and Mina Isabell Olsen.

1911 Census of Canada, Weldford Parish, New Brunswick

According to an email from a great niece, Bonnie Dargavel, who contacted me through WikiTree, Fred left home at an early age. His two older brothers, Lyle Christian and William Thomas, had been war heroes in World War I. Lyle was wounded in 1915, and William was killed near the end of the war, at age 22, and is buried in Wanquetin Communal Cemetery Ext., Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

For whatever reasons, one of which may have been living in the shadow of his older brothers, Fred left Molus River and came to the States in 1923, listing his occupatiion as "Woodsman" as he crossed the border. The 1930 U.S. Census finds him, along with two other young men in the 20's, boarding with the Hemphill family in Mechanic Falls, Maine. All three are listed as laborers in the lumber industry.

Fred's Border Crossing in 1923

Fred is not listed on the 1940 U.S. Census, but he enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 18, 1942, in Portland, Maine. His civil occupation is categorized as "unskilled lumberman, raftsman, and woodchopper." It is while he is stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, that he becomes a naturalized citizen, listing his address as 832 Stevens Avenue, Portland, Maine, the home of my great uncle and aunt, Tom and Cassie Bustin. He is single, with a grammar school education. Aunt Cassie was known to take young working men of Morrill's Corner into her home to give them a hot cooked meal.

Fred's Petition for Naturalization

Fred was undoubtedly one of the favorites in the Bustin home, as a romance bloomed when Fred returned from his stint in the Army. He and Eva, Tom and Cassie Bustin's oldest daughter, were married on December 19th in 1945. Eva was a young single mother, and Fred was a father to her son from the start.

From  Nana's Scrapbook

Fred and Eva's Marriage Record

Fred lost Eva in 1980, and although he intended to be buried by her side in Pine Grove Cemetery, in Falmouth, Maine, when he died seven years later, there was no longer any room on the plot, so it was decided that he be buried in the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Augusta.

Eva's Grave

Fred's Grave

Sources:

1911 Census of Canada, Weldford Parish, New Brunswick, Canada. http://automatedgenealogy.com/census11/SurnameSearch.jsp?surname=dargavel&districtId=28&description=Surname+search+in+1911+Census+of+Canada+in+Kent+district%2C+New+Brunswick

1930 U.S. Census;  Census Place: Mechanic Falls, Androscoggin, Maine; Roll: 828; Page: 19A;Image: 293.0.

Ancestry.com. Maine, Marriages, 1892-1996 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.

Ancestry.com. Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1954 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry.com. South Carolina, Naturalization Records, 1862-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission database. http://www.cvgc.org/

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 18 January 2014), memorial page for Frederick J. Dargavel (1901–1987), Find A Grave Memorial no. 63273870, citing Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Augusta, Maine.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 18 January 2014), memorial page for Eva Isabella Bustin Dargavel (1912–1980), Find A Grave Memorial no. 75660564, citing Pine Grove Cemetery, Falmouth, Maine. 

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 18 January 2014), memorial page for Pvt W T Dargavel (1896–1918), Find A Grave Memorial no. 56794225, citing Wanquetin Communal Cemetery Extension , Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. 

"Public Member Trees," database, Ancestry.com, "Murphy Family Tree," for Lyle Christian Dargavel (b. 19 Aug 1894), with linked images.


This is the third in a series, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks," coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

You might also like:

52 Ancestors #1: William Brackley, Jr. (1788-1873)
52 Ancestors #2: Stephen Morse (1803-1886)

Molus River, NB

52 Ancestors: #2 Stephen Morse (1803-1886)

Stephen Morse's Grave
Along With Both Wives and Son, Marshall

Webber Cemetery

New Gloucester, Maine

Stephen Morse, my 3d great grand uncle, was born in New Gloucester, Maine on this date in 1803, the third child of ten born to Enoch Morse and his first wife, Eunice (Russell) Morse. He is enumerated (as a tic mark) in the 1810 (age 7), 1820 (age 17), and 1830 (age 27) New Gloucester Census as being part of his father Enoch's household.

In 1832, at the age of 29, he married Joanna Merrill, 11 years his junior, in New Gloucester, on October 13th. In the 1840 New Gloucester Census, Joanna is enumerated with Stephen. A son, Osgood, soon followed in 1833. Subsequent children were: Marshall in 1835, Nancy in 1838, Lucinda in 1841, Elvira in 1848, and Alice in 1850. Aside from Marshall and Alice, I haven't been able to trace any records of the children of this marriage. Joanna died in 1857.

Stephen married for a second time Orintha Additon, on June 21, 1858, in Lewiston, Maine. Orintha was 19 years younger than Stephen, and had been married before to a Stephen Bliffin. She was from Greene, just up the road from Lewiston. 

Together, Stephen and Orintha Morse had one child, a daughter Flora, in 1861.

Stephen Morse lived and farmed in New Gloucester his whole life. He died, preceding Orintha by just 3 years, on October 24, 1886, at the age of 83.

Stephen's father, John Morse, is the DAR Patriot I hope to prove my lineage to in 2014!

This is the second in a series, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks," coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

You might also enjoy:

52 Ancestors #1: William Brackley, Jr. (1788-1873)

View New Gloucester, ME 04260 in a larger map

Sources:

"Maine, Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FW19-8VC : accessed 31 Aug 2013), Stephen Morse, 15 Jan 1803.

1810 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 11; Page: 272; Image: 0218682.

1820 U S Census; Census Place: Cumberland, Maine; Page: 282; NARA Roll: M33_33; Image: 155.

1830 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll Number: 46; Page: 149.

1840 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 138; Page: 313; Image: 556.

1850 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M432_250; Page: 79A; Image: 350.

1860 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M653_437; Page: 16; Image: 579.

1870 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M593_540; Page: 389A; Image: 252.

1880 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 478; Page: 394D; Image: 0179.

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F48P-YJD : accessed 11 Jan 2014), Stephen Morse and Joanna Merrill, 13 Oct 1832.

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F46V-W8X : accessed 11 Jan 2014), Stephen Morse and Orinthia Blithen, 21 Jun 1858.

Ancestry.com. Maine, Death Records, 1617-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 12 January 2014), memorial page for Stephen Morse (1803–1886), Find A Grave Memorial no. 33612164, citing Webber Cemetery, New Gloucester, Maine. 

Sunday's Obituary (from Nana's Scrapbook) ~ Mrs. Robert A. MacKay

Aileen McDonald Crockett MacKay (1915-1960)

My great grandmother, Melvina Jane Hamilton Bustin, kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, which I am fortunate to have inherited. She came to the States from Nova Scotia in the early 1900's, but kept very close ties with her family, and my great grandfather's family "down east." Tattered and worn, it has yielded many a story, memory, and genealogical gem for me. It is practically falling apart, so I usually have to "doctor up" the original, but it is well worth it!

This unsourced and undated obituary was  probably printed in a Truro, Nova Scotia newspaper, which Nana received in the mail, in Portland, Maine. It is for the wife of my 1st cousin 3x removed, Robert Alexander MacKay: Aileen McDonald Crockett MacKay 

As I've tenderly browsed through the scrapbook, I've enjoyed reading the style of the writing in these Canadian obituaries. They invariably mention the hymns that were sung at the funeral, and list the pallbearers (which can be an invaluable genealogical clue in itself).

I'll be gleaning as much as I can from this obituary as I continue climbing my family tree.

And, look for more of these treasures in this space in the future.

52 Ancestors: #1 William Brackley, Jr. (1788-1873)

Over at No Story Too Small, Amy Crow issued a challenge that I could not possibly pass up, to write about one of my ancestors during each of the 52 weeks of the year.

Having recently calculated that I have an enviable family tree score (see "Down East" Stock Yields High Family Tree Dividend"), I realize I am more fortunate than most in the area of Found People. So, it is time for me to write about what I know about their lives (as well as about what I don't know).

I should have a birthday for each of the 52 weeks, so will pick one lucky ancestor each week, on the anniversary of their birth, unless I hit on one whom I have written about before (where's the fun in that?).  I printed out the calendar report from Family Tree Maker, highlighted just birthdays and came up with the assortment for each month.

William Brackley, Jr., my 4th great grandfather, was born on this date in 1788, in Dedham, Massachusetts, the oldest child of William Brackley and Sarah Everett. William Jr.'s father had fought in the Revolutionary War under British General Burgoyne. Following the war, the senior Brackley moved his young family first to Pownalborough, Maine (more or less present-day Wiscasset), then to Farmington, and finally to Freeman, Maine, as a founding settler of that new town.

In 1808, at the age of 20, William took Anna Clayton as his bride. They were married in Farmington on April 23rd. Their marriage was perhaps preordained, since Anna's father, John Clayton, was a former British Dragoon, and an old comrade of William Brackley, Sr. William and Anna's marriage officially marked the merging of the Brackley and Clayton families.

William and Anna lived in Freeman their whole lives, raising 6 children, including one daughter, Betsey, a set of twins, Elias and Eli, and my 3d great grandfather, Howard Winslow Brackley, who fought with the 28th Maine during the Civil War.

A farmer his whole life, William died of "old age" in Freeman, November 13th, 1869. He is buried, along with Anna and other members of his family in the North Freeman Cemetery.

You can bet I'll be visiting his grave during my next trip to Maine in 2014.

This is the first in a series, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks," coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

Sources:

Find A Grave. Find A Grave Memorial # 121565540 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=121565540.Grave of William Brackley (1788-1869).

Maine State Archives; Augusta, Maine; U.S. Census Mortality Schedules, Maine, 1850-1880; Archive Collection: 3; Census Year: 1869; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Page: 1.

Thompson, George A. and F. Janet Thompson. A Genealogical history of Freeman, Maine, 1796-1938, in three volumes. 3 vols. (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1996), 1:339.

View Freeman Township, ME 04983 in a larger map

"Down East" Stock Yields High Family Tree Dividend

So I took Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge last night. The whole idea is that, going back 10 generations, you have 1023 direct line ancestors. If you estimate that an average generation is 25 years, ancestors in your 10th generation were born roughly 300 years ago. That's pretty awesome!!  How did I do? Well, needless to say, it sure helps to have well-documented New England and Canadian roots. I scored a whopping 84%!!

Looks like I have plenty of blog fodder for the foreseeable future. Now, all I have to do is find the time. Come on RETIREMENT !!