Saturday, November 22, 2014

52 Ancestors: #43 Thomas Herman Bustin (1881-1950)



Thomas Herman Bustin, my great grand uncle, was born on this date in 1881 in Mechanic Settlement, New Brunswick, Canada, the seventh of nine children born to Samuel Bustin and Mary Ross, and their fifth son.

Before the age of 20, Tom left home and came to the States. By 1910 he was living in Portland, Maine, and was working for the Maine Central Railroad, a steam railroad at the time.

That same year, he married Catherine "Cassie" Margaret Hamilton, from Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia. They were married on June 28, 1910, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the "Gretna Green" of its day, on the same day his brother Ben married Cassie's sister Agnes "Nessie." Tom and Ben's younger brother Fred, my great grandfather, had married Cassie and Nessie's older sister Vina, my great grandmother, in 1907. 



You can read how the Portland Evening Express covered this unusual marital phenomenon at the above tab entitled "3 Brothers Marry 3 Sisters."

Tom and Cassie had four children:

Eva Isabella, b. 1912
Annie Virginia, b. 1913
Mary Bernice "Bunny," b. 1914
Leslie "Let" Thomas, b. 1915

Tom continued to work as a machinist on the railroad, followed by 23 years at the Southworth Machine Company, as a watchman. The 1940 census also indicates he worked on a dairy farm.



Uncle Tom died at his home, 832 Stevens Avenue, in Morrill's Corner, Portland, Maine, on January 2, 1950. He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, in Falmouth.



Sources:

1891 Census of Canada; Census Place: Cardwell, Kings, New Brunswick; Roll: T-6301; Family No: 24.

1901 Census of Canada; Census Place: Elgin, Albert, New Brunswick; Page: 9; Family No: 75.

1910 US Census; Census Place: Portland Ward 9, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T624_539; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0099; FHL microfilm: 1374552.

1920 US Census; Census Place: Portland Ward 9, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T625_640; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 60; Image: 944.

1930 US Census; Census Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 831; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0080; Image: 879.0; FHL microfilm: 2340566.

1940 US Census; Census Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T627_1476; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 3-106.

"New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLC4-QB4 : accessed 27 May 2012), Thomas H. Bustin, 1910.

New Brunswick. Registrar-General.  Late Registration of Births (RS141A1b), 1810-1916. #1881-11-22. Code 1881-B-109. Microfilm F18768. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  and downloaded 6/23/2012.

“Thomas H. Bustin,” obituary, Portland (Maine) Press Herald,  3 January  1950.

Thomas H. Bustin tombstone,  Pine Grove Cemetery, Falmouth  (Cumberland County), Maine; photographed by Pamela  Schaffner on 24 August 2011.

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This is the 43rd in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

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