52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

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Sunday, December 28, 2014

52 Ancestors: #52 Leslie Thomas Bustin (1915-2000)



Leslie Thomas Bustin, my first cousin twice removed, was born on this date in Portland, Maine, the fifth of five children born to Thomas Bustin and Catherine Hamilton, and their only son. During his youth, Leslie, always known as "Let," lived in Morrill's Corner, where his parents rented at 1245 Forest Avenue.





At the age of 23, he married Mavis Opal Fickett, a local woman with two small daughters from a prior marriage. They tied the knot in Conway, New Hampshire, on July 2, 1938. Following their marriage, Leslie and Mavis moved with the girls around the corner into 23 Eleanor St. 




For most of his working career, Let worked for Shaw's Supermarkets, in their West Gate location, on outer Congress St. Before his retirement, he was the Manager at that location.



Let passed away in Windham, Maine, on July 12, 2000. He is buried in Smith Cemetery, in Windham.



Sources:

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: 11B; Enumeration District: 3-104.

Ancestry.com. Maine, Birth Records, 1621-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry,com. New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 27 Dec 2014), memorial page for Leslie T Bustin (1915-2000), Find A Grave Memorial no. 115835839 , citing Smith Cemetery, Windham, Maine.

Maine State Archives, online search death database (http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/research/vitalrec.html : accessed 21 May 2012)


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This is the 52nd and last in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

52 Ancestors: #51 Josiah Skillings (1734-1745)



Josiah Skillings, my fifth great grand uncle, was born on this date in 1747 in Scarborough, Maine, the second of thirteen children born to Edward Skillings and Sarah Mills, and their first son.

At the age of nearly 10 years, on May 30, 1745, Josiah passed away. There is no record of the cause. But, at the time of his death, his mother Sarah was expecting her seventh child. As was the custom, this next child, born in the fall of 1745, was given the name of the older brother who had died.

This may not have been the best decision, if one were at all superstitious. This seventh child, named Josiah, did not live to his second birthday.



When a set of male twins was born to Edward and Sarah in 1752, one of the twin brothers was named Josiah, again!

Many 18th century families consisted of a large number of children, as insurance against the high childhood mortality rate.

The re-use of first names, as this example shows, was also very common.


Sources:
Descendants of Thomas and Deborah (?) Skillings of Cumberland Co, Maine (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arlene/Skillings/sources.htm#f418b)

Sargent, William M., Esq, "Records of the First Congregational Church in Scarborough, Maine," Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder multiple (Baptisms: 2:162; 3:8-12; Marriages: 2:83-90; 144-150; 238-243).

Skillings, Franklin. Memoir of Robert F. Skillings, with genealogy and poems (Portland: Smith & Sale, printers, 1911), pp.8-9.

“The Skillings Family,” Maine Historical and Genealogical Record, Vol. II, No. 2 (1885), p. 106.


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This is the 51st in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

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Thursday, December 18, 2014

52 Ancestors: #50 Benjamin Morse (1809-1890)



Benjamin Morse, my 3rd great grand uncle, was born on the date in 1809 in New Gloucester, Maine, the seventh of ten children born to Enoch Morse and Eunice Russell, and their fourth son.

When he was 28 years old, Benjamin married a widow named Sarah "Sally" Bennett, whose husband John had passed away two years before. With this marriage, he also welcomed Sally's five yo"ung children.

Benjamin and Sally soon started their own family in New Gloucester:

Ursula C., b. 1838
Horace "Nelson", b. 1841
Freeman H., b. 1844
Josephine M., b. 1846

By the 1850 U.S. Census, they were truly a blended family, with four Allen children, and three Morse children. "Nelson" died when only 4 years old.




Benjamin lived and farmed in New Gloucester his whole life, and died there on January 20, 1890.
I haven't found his grave yet, but will research it during a future trip to Maine.

Sources:

1840 US Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 138; Page: 313; Image: 556; Family History Library Film: 0009702.

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

1860 US Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M653_437; Page: 16; Image: 579; Family History Library Film: 803437.

1880 US Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 478; Family History Film: 1254478; Page: 394D; Enumeration District: 040; Image: 0179.

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

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F48P-YVS : accessed 14 December 2014), Benjamin Morse and Sally, Mrs. Allen, 27 May 1837; citing , reference yr 1745-1858 p 249; FHL microfilm 11,587

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F4N7-31V : accessed 14 December 2014), Benjamin Morse and Sally, Mrs. Allen, 27 May 1837; citing New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine, United States, reference ; FHL microfilm 11,587.

"Maine, Vital Records, 1670-1907 ", index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV3S-LS9Z : accessed 14 December 2014), Benjamin Morse and Sally Allen, 1837.

"United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M6D6-7K4 : accessed 14 December 2014), Benjamin Morse, Maine, United States; citing p. 7, family 42, NARA microfilm publication M593, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 552,039.

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This is the 50th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

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Monday, December 15, 2014

52 Ancestors: #49 Peter Suther Hamilton (1852-1929)



Peter Suther Hamilton, my second great grandfather, was born on this date in 1852 in Burnside, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, the sixth of eight children born to Hants Hamilton and first cousin Mary Hamilton, and their fifth son.

His grandfather, John Hamilton, had traveled with his family, as a two-year-old, from Armagh, in what is now Northern Ireland, to Nova Scotia, in 1771.

The Hamiltons were farming folks, and it can be assumed that the young Peter was raised with his share of chores.

The Hamilton Farm
 "The Old Home"


At the age of 25, Peter married 18-year-old Isabella Fulton MacKay, from Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Her father had emigrated from Scotland.



Together, Peter (or PS, as he was most often called) and Bella (as she was known) raised nine children:

George Bradford, b. 1878
Mary Ellen, b. 1880
Alexander Archibald, b. 1883
Melvina Jane, b. 1886 (my great grandmother)
Agnes Rachel, b. 1889
Catherine Margaret, b. 1892
Albert Thorburn, b. 1895
Stella Rowan, b. 1899
Daniel Gordon, b. 1901

Of their nine children, only George Bradford, known as Brad, and Albert Thorburn, known as Bert, remained "down east."  The rest of their children eventually immigrated to the States. Bert was the last of his generation to reside in the old farmhouse.

Here are two pictures of PS and Bella, from my great grandmother's collection:






Peter Suther Hamilton passed away on October 9, 1929, in the same farmhouse he was born in 76 years before. He and Bella were married for just over 50 years, the occasion having been marked by this family photograph:



He is buried in Pembroke Cemetery, in Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia.




Photo Credit:

Peter Suther Hamilton Grave Stone. The Sprague Project, Albert Arnold Sprague, IV, webmaster (http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/showmedia.php?mediaID=1498&medialinkID=2687)

Sources:

1864-1914 MARRIAGE RECORDS; on-line records at Colchester Historical Society Museum Archives, Colchester Historical Society Museum Archives, (http://colchesterhistoreum.ca/).

"Canada Census, 1871," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M4D3-F66 : accessed 24 Jun 2014), Hans Hamilton, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 40, line 10; Library and Archives Canada film number C-10559, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2229147.

"Canada Census, 1881," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MVX9-QVD : accessed 24 Jun 2014), Hans Hamilton, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 7; Library and Archives Canada film number C-13175, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 1375811.

"Canada Census, 1891," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MWKR-TLG : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter S Hamilton, Upper Stewiacke East, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario; Library and Archives Canada film number 30953_148113.

"Canada Census, 1901," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHK2-TGC : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter S Hamilton, U, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 12, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

"Canada, Marriages, 1661-1949," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F229-TSN : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter Luther Hamilton and Isabella Fulton Mckay, 16 Nov 1878; citing Up. Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, reference p 147 cn 127; FHL microfilm 1,298,865.

Nova Scotia. Historical Vital Statistics. Registration Year 1878, Book 1806, Page 147, Number 147. Peter Suther Hamilton and Isabella Fulton MacKay. (https://novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1806-147&Event=marriage&ID=17924  : accessed and downloaded 6/30/20113.

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1929, Book 119, Page 941. Peter Suther Hamilton. https://novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=119-941&Event=death&ID=202865 : accessed and downloaded 6/30/2013.

"Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KMLX-GCR : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter S. Hamilton and Isabella F. Mckay, 1878, Marriage; citing p. 147, volume 1806, , Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax.

"Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KML6-XRG : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter Suther Hamilton, 1929, Death; citing p. 941, volume 119, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax.

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This is the 49th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

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