My 64 ~ Researching My 4th Great Grandparents : William Brackley and Anna Clayton

William Brackley, my 4th great grandfather, was probably born January 7, 1788, probably in Dedham, Massachusetts, since his parents, William Brackley and Sarah Everett, were married there six months later. His father had been born in England and allegedly had fought with Burgoyne in the Revolutionary War.

"Surrender of General Burgoyne" painted by John Trumbull

In April of 1809, William married Anna Clayton in Farmington, Maine. She was the daughter of John Clayton, a British-born former soldier in the 20th Regiment of Foot and 17th Light Dragoons, who became a prison of war following Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga.

There is evidence that William may have fought in the War of 1812, although no information outside this index card is available.

William and Anna lived all their married life in Freeman, in Franklin County, Maine, where they raised six children:

Abel Everett, b. 1811

Betsey, b. 1813

John Clayton, b. 1817

Elias and Eli, twins b. 1822

and

Howard Winslow, b. 1829^*

^*My 3rd great grandfather

When the U.S. Census Mortality Schedule was published for Freeman, Maine, for the year ending June 1, 1870, both William and Anna were listed with their respective "Profession, Occupation, or Trade" as "Gentleman" and "Lady."

William and Anna are buried side by side in North Freeman Cemetery.

William and Anna Brackley Graves, North Freeman Cemetery

Footstones at the Graves of William and Anna Brackley, North Freeman Cemetery

Sources:

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

1860 US Census; Census Place: Freeman, Franklin, Maine; Roll: M653_435; Page: 852; Image: 267; Family History Library Film: 803435.

Ancestry.com. U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016).

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).

Vital Records of Farmington, Maine, 1784-1890 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016).

“War of 1812 Service Record Index,” database and images, Fold3 (www.fold3.com/image157/307523257 : accessed 24 April 2016); service of William Brackley, Jr. (3rd Regiment (Fairbanks’) Massachusetts Militia, War of 1812); citing Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War of 1812, Record Group 94, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

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