Howard Clarence Seavey, my grandfather, was born on this date in Bridgton, Maine, the fifth of seven children born to Clarence Seavey and Nettie Griswold, and their first son.
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| Howard with his sisters. His brother Archie (born in 1902) not pictured. |
He enrolled in the the Naval Reserve in 1917 and served until 1919, mainly on ships in and around the Portland, Maine, area.
Sometime during the late 1920's, he met my grandmother, Mattie Louise Leighton. a young woman nine years his junior, and they were married in the parish house of the Chestnut Street Methodist Church in Portland, Maine, on January 30, 1930.
My father, Richard Packard, was born to Howard and Mattie on November 12, 1930. My aunt, Pauline Lovell, would arrive three years later.
My grandfather worked a variety of jobs, from the Eastland Hotel, to Hannaford Brothers, to Maine Steel, to the Post Office. When my dad and aunt were small they moved frequently, almost every time the rent went up.
From 1934 (when my dad was 3 years old), to 1937 (when my dad was 6), they lived at 44 Beach St, 20 Day St., and 77 Deake St., all in the Willard section of South Portland. From 1938 to 1940, they lived at 81 Pine St., in the Ferry Village neighborhood of South Portland.
They moved to Portland after that and lived at 243 Valley Street, where my dad remembered walking to Nathan Clifford School. From Deake Street forward to 1956, their household included my grandmother's Aunt Polly, who had been a great support to her as a child.
But as the children grew older, the decision was made to move back to South Portland, so, the story goes, that they could graduate from South Portland High School.
He and my grandmother bought their first and only home at 18 Bayview Avenue, atop Meetinghouse Hill, in South Portland.
My grandfather's ties to Bridgton remained strong throughout his life, where the family frequently went for swims in Woods Pond, often when his younger brother, Archie, was visiting from New York.
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| From left, Richard Seavey, Archie Seavey, Howard Seavey |
On a September Sunday morning in 1956, just shy of my parents' 2nd wedding anniversary, and me just over a year old, my grandmother came downstairs and spoke to my grandfather, as he was reading the sports page of the Sunday paper. He had suddenly, and without warning, passed away. He was only 59 years old.
My grandfather, Howard Clarence Seavey, is buried at Forest City Cemetery, in South Portland, Maine.
Sources:
Ancestry.com.
Maine Military Men, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com
Operations Inc, 2000, Howard C. Seavey.
Howard C. Seavey grave
marker, Forest City Cemetery, South Portland (Cumberland County), Maine;
photographed by Pamela Schaffner on 8 August 2009.
Maine.
Department of Health and Welfare, copy of a record of live birth, Office of the
Clerk of Bridgton, Maine, issued 12 Oct 1970, Howard Clarence Seavey.
Maine
Department of Human Services, record of a marriage, Howard Clarence Seavey and
Mattie Louise Leighton; Office of Vital Records, Augusta.
Maine
Department of Human Services, copy of certificate of death
#034030-1803403(1956), Howard Clarence Seavey; Vital Records Unit, Augusta
Portland
(Maine) City Directories, 1934-1950.
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This is the 16th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.
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