Wednesday, November 26, 2014

52 Ancestors: #44 Moses H. Jordan (1814?-?)



Moses H. Jordan, my fourth great grand uncle, was born on this date around 1814 probably in Lisbon, Maine, the fifth of five children born to Jedediah Jordan and Rachel Turner, and their second son.

He married Lucretia Whitman in 1839, and together they had four children, Horace, Margaret, Lucretia, and William . The young family appears in the 1850 US Census, living in Lewiston. Moses' occupation is listed as a laborer, aged 37. Ten years later, they were still living in Lewiston, and his occupation is more descriptive, "Dealer in tin ware."






Two more listings, from the Lewiston-Auburn city directories in 1864 and 1866, list Moses as a pedler. According to a tax assessment listing from this period, he was assessed a tax to operate as a Pedler 3d Class (meaning he had one horse). The tax stamp looked like this:




By this time, he had married a second time in 1864, this time to Elizabeth A. Strout. They are listed in the 1870 census living in Durham, Maine, with two of their three children, Mary Helen and Lillie. His youngest child, Roscoe Turner, would be born in 1872. His occupation again is listed as pedler.

Moses and "Lizzie A." are listed in the 1880 census living in Lisbon. By this time, he may have given up his pedler business, as his occupation is listed as carpenter. He was around 66 years old.

No evidence is available regarding Moses' death. One published genealogy indicates he lived in Freeport, and may have died there. However, there are so many inconsistencies which this source, it is not reliable. More research during a future trip to Maine will be necessary to fill in the gaps in Moses' pedler life.


Sources:

1840; Census Place: Lisbon, Lincoln, Maine; Roll: 145; Page: 347; Image: 707; Family History Library Film: 0009705.

1850; Census Place: Lewiston, Lincoln, Maine; Roll: M432_261; Page: 388B; Image: 566.

1860; Census Place: Lewiston, Androscoggin, Maine; Roll: M653_432; Page: 319; Image: 319; Family History Library Film: 803432.

1870; Census Place: Durham, Androscoggin, Maine; Roll: M593_536; Page: 88B; Image: 181; Family History Library Film: 552035.

1880; Census Place: Lisbon, Androscoggin, Maine; Roll: 475; Family History Film: 1254475; Page: 364D; Enumeration District: 016; Image: 0724.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Ancestry.com. U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.


Jordan, Tristram Frost,. The Jordan memorial : family records of the Rev. Robert Jordan, and his descendants in America. unknown: unknown, 1882, p. 364.

Ritchie, James. The tax-payer's guide; with an index : affording a convenient method for ascertaining all duties and penalties under the U.S. internal revenue law... (Boston: William H. Forbes, 1864), p. 11.

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This is the 44th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

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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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Thursday, November 20, 2014

52 Ancestors: #42 John C. Brackley (1818-1897)



John C. Brackley, my 1st cousin 5x removed, was born on this date in 1818, in Freeman, Maine, the second of eight children born to John Brackley and Mary Trumball, and their second son.


John married Lois B. Collins in Lowell, Massachusetts on November 13, 1842. However, there is no evidence of the couple residing in either Maine or Massachusetts in the 1850 US Census.



The married couple and their children do appear in the town of Freeman, in the federal censuses for 1860, 1870, and 1880. In each, John is listed as either a laborer or a farmer. Some evidence suggests that John went to California during the Gold Rush, which may explain the gap in the ages of daughter Julia and son Charles. Others mention that he held several town positions in Freeman during his life, including selectman and treasurer.

Together, they had six children:

Marcia, b. 1844
Orren, b. 1845*
Julia E., b. 1847
Charles Eugene, b. 1851
Silas Franklin, b. 1860
Walter M., b. 1865

*Son Orren fought with Co. B, 1st Battalion, Maine Light Infantry, during the Civil War, and rose to the rank of Corporal.

John passed away of April 13, 1897 in Freeman, at the age of 78. His wife Lois followed him in death three years later, in 1900. They are buried together in the Brackley Cemetery, in Phillips, Maine.



Sources:

1860 US Census; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: M653_435; Page: 851; Image: 266; Family History Library Film: 803435.

1870 US Census; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: M593_543; Page: 75A; Image: 153; Family History Library Film: 552042.

1880 US Census; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: 479; Family History Film: 1254479; Page: 438C; Enumeration District: 072; Image: 0633.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 20 Nov 2014), memorial page for John Brackley (1818-1897), Find A Grave Memorial no. 107441475, citing Brackley Cemetery, Phillips, Maine.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 20 Nov 2014), memorial page for Lois B Collins Brackley (1817-1900), Find A Grave Memorial no. 105773319 , citing Brackley Cemetery, Phillips, Maine.

Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980, images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-40629-20620-56?cc=2241461&wc=MFZM-1Z9:1019035401 : accessed 12 Sep 2014), Brackett, Mary L-Bragg, May M > image 198 of 1578; citing Maine State Library, Augusta, Maine.

"Public Member Trees," database, Ancestry.com, "C. Winter family tree," for John C Brackley (b. 20 Nov 1818), with linked images.

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), 1:340.

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This is the 42nd in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

52 Ancestors: #41 George Leighton (1727-1807)



George Leighton, my fifth great grand uncle, was born on this date in 1727 in Dover, New Hampshire, the fifth of eleven children born to Thomas Leighton and Susannah Chesley, and their third son.elat

George married Dorothy Hall, also of Dover, on August 22, 1753. She was the daughter of Hatevil Hall and Sarah Furbish. Like the Halls, George was a Quaker.

Sometime before 1760, with possibly three young children in tow, George and Dorothy settled in Falmouth, Maine, where George became a successful landowner. Land records from Cumberland County show dozens of George's land transactions. He often purchased the rights to common and undivided land from proprietors or their heirs. Often Dorothy would co-sign, waiving her dower rights. Most holdings were described as north of the Presumpscot River, but some were in Cape Elizabeth.

George is listed in Soldiers, Sailors and Patriots of the Revolutionary War / Maine as George Laten, not as soldier, but as a provider and hauler of timber.

Together, George and Dorothy had eight children, the oldest five born in Falmouth:

Pelatiah, b. c1753
Jedediah, b. 1757
Sarah, b. 1758
Hatevil, b. 1760
Abigail, b. 1762
David, b. 1767
Paul, b. 1770
Silas, b. 1771

It was commonly believed that many members of this particular branch of the Leighton family were laid to rest in a granite tomb off the Hardy Road, near the Blackstrap Road, in what is now West Cumberland, Maine. However, there is also a Jedediah Leighton's Family Cemetery in the area, where this photo was taken. Further research will confirm or deny that this is George Leighton's headstone.




Sources:

Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Births and Christenings Index, 1714-1904 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

"Public Member Trees," database, Ancestry.com, "Bennet-1," for George Leighton (b. 18 Nov 1727), with linked images.

Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Deaths [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.

Fisher, Carleton Edward and Sue G. Fisher, Soldiers, sailors and patriots of the Revolutionary War / Maine (National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1982, p.457)

Hall, David Brainerd, The Halls of New England (Albany: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1883), p.165.

Leighton, Perley M. A Leighton genealogy: descendants of Thomas Leighton of Dover, New Hampshire. Compiled by Perley M. Leighton based in part on data collected by Julia Leighton Cornman. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical  Society, 1989.) pp. 55-56.

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This is the 41st in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

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