Sunday's Obituary - Uncle Laurie

Lawrence Albert Bustin
Born August 21,1913
 Died January 12, 1969

Deering High School, Portland, Maine, 1931

Working at Deke's Drug Store, Morrill's Corner, Portland

Buried with wife Flora, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland

Will Bustin Liked August 19th!

William James Bustin was one of nine children born to Samuel James Bustin and Mary Elizabeth Ross. His brother, Frederick Parker Bustin, was one of his five brothers and my great grandfather.  The family lived in Mechanic Settlement, Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada.

According to the 1891 Census of Canada, Will Bustin was born August 19, 1872.

Will Bustin married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Maud Kyle on August 19, 1895.

Unfortunately, he didn't quite mark the date with his passing, as he died on August 6, 1947.

Mappy Monday–Mrs. Seavey’s Place in 1871

Mrs. Harriet Cross (Libby) Seavey (1814-1891), my second great-grandmother, had been widowed for 13 years in 1871. Born in nearby Harrison, Maine, she was 19 years younger than her second husband, Jonathan, and together they had 7 children.

This 1871 map of Bridgton, Pin Hook, and South Bridgton, Maine, a research print of which I obtained from Historic Map Works, in Portland:


shows many residences and businesses, including that of “Mrs. Seavey.” on the left hand side of a road running along the southeast shore of Woods Pond.



The history of Bridgton, Bridgton, Maine, 1768-1994: An Updated Bicentennial History, includes this hand-drawn map showing roughly the same area, along with this description:

"Just beyond the road divides near the old Alley-Seavey place. The Joseph Trumbull family lived here.* Today it is owned by Pioneer Camps, located on the shore of Woods Pond." -- p.349.

Google Maps shows the same road, off Rt. 117 in the Sandy Creek village of Bridgton, and the pinpoint shows where the house stood.



By the time of the 1880 Census, Harriet C. Seavey was 66 years old, a widow, keeping house, living here in Sandy Creek with the Berry, Merrill, and Martin families as neighbors. Her 27 year old son, Clarence Howard Seavey, my great grandfather, still lived with her. He would marry Nettie Griswold 9 years later in 1889.

*The Joseph Trumbull family referred to here is undoubtedly descendants of the Joseph Stephen Trumbull who married Nettie after Clarence died.

A Penny Postcard for Her Thoughts

I love this postcard from Alice Leighton (my great-grandmother) to her mother, Louisa Spalding (my great-great-grandmother). Alice had recently given birth to her first child, Mattie Louise, on January 5, 1906.
She had married her cousin Mark Leighton the prior September out of necessity.  By this time, her mother had married her second husband, Fred Spalding, and was living in Brooklyn, New York.
The picture is captioned:

After the Theatre, Riverton Park

Greetings from Portland, Maine

Her note across the top reads:
“With Love from Daughtra (sic) Alice. You will get baby’s pictures this week coming.”
It is postmarked in Portland on May 5, 1906, so her baby was 5 months old, having been born on January 5th. It was again postmarked in Brooklyn on January 15th.

I can only imagine Alice’s feelings as she lived through a very difficult time.  She would not stay married to Mark very long, and would remarry in 1909, to a Norwegian immigrant named Lawrence Olsen, and have seven more children.
Louisa would eventually marry a third time, and is buried with Alice and her Olsen family in Forest City Cemetery in South Portland, Maine.