52 Ancestors: #2 Stephen Morse (1803-1886)

Stephen Morse's Grave
Along With Both Wives and Son, Marshall

Webber Cemetery

New Gloucester, Maine

Stephen Morse, my 3d great grand uncle, was born in New Gloucester, Maine on this date in 1803, the third child of ten born to Enoch Morse and his first wife, Eunice (Russell) Morse. He is enumerated (as a tic mark) in the 1810 (age 7), 1820 (age 17), and 1830 (age 27) New Gloucester Census as being part of his father Enoch's household.

In 1832, at the age of 29, he married Joanna Merrill, 11 years his junior, in New Gloucester, on October 13th. In the 1840 New Gloucester Census, Joanna is enumerated with Stephen. A son, Osgood, soon followed in 1833. Subsequent children were: Marshall in 1835, Nancy in 1838, Lucinda in 1841, Elvira in 1848, and Alice in 1850. Aside from Marshall and Alice, I haven't been able to trace any records of the children of this marriage. Joanna died in 1857.

Stephen married for a second time Orintha Additon, on June 21, 1858, in Lewiston, Maine. Orintha was 19 years younger than Stephen, and had been married before to a Stephen Bliffin. She was from Greene, just up the road from Lewiston. 

Together, Stephen and Orintha Morse had one child, a daughter Flora, in 1861.

Stephen Morse lived and farmed in New Gloucester his whole life. He died, preceding Orintha by just 3 years, on October 24, 1886, at the age of 83.

Stephen's father, John Morse, is the DAR Patriot I hope to prove my lineage to in 2014!

This is the second in a series, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks," coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

You might also enjoy:

52 Ancestors #1: William Brackley, Jr. (1788-1873)

View New Gloucester, ME 04260 in a larger map

Sources:

"Maine, Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FW19-8VC : accessed 31 Aug 2013), Stephen Morse, 15 Jan 1803.

1810 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 11; Page: 272; Image: 0218682.

1820 U S Census; Census Place: Cumberland, Maine; Page: 282; NARA Roll: M33_33; Image: 155.

1830 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll Number: 46; Page: 149.

1840 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 138; Page: 313; Image: 556.

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

1860 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M653_437; Page: 16; Image: 579.

1870 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M593_540; Page: 389A; Image: 252.

1880 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 478; Page: 394D; Image: 0179.

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F48P-YJD : accessed 11 Jan 2014), Stephen Morse and Joanna Merrill, 13 Oct 1832.

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F46V-W8X : accessed 11 Jan 2014), Stephen Morse and Orinthia Blithen, 21 Jun 1858.

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

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 12 January 2014), memorial page for Stephen Morse (1803–1886), Find A Grave Memorial no. 33612164, citing Webber Cemetery, New Gloucester, Maine. 

Sunday's Obituary (from Nana's Scrapbook) ~ Mrs. Robert A. MacKay

Aileen McDonald Crockett MacKay (1915-1960)

My great grandmother, Melvina Jane Hamilton Bustin, kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, which I am fortunate to have inherited. She came to the States from Nova Scotia in the early 1900's, but kept very close ties with her family, and my great grandfather's family "down east." Tattered and worn, it has yielded many a story, memory, and genealogical gem for me. It is practically falling apart, so I usually have to "doctor up" the original, but it is well worth it!

This unsourced and undated obituary was  probably printed in a Truro, Nova Scotia newspaper, which Nana received in the mail, in Portland, Maine. It is for the wife of my 1st cousin 3x removed, Robert Alexander MacKay: Aileen McDonald Crockett MacKay 

As I've tenderly browsed through the scrapbook, I've enjoyed reading the style of the writing in these Canadian obituaries. They invariably mention the hymns that were sung at the funeral, and list the pallbearers (which can be an invaluable genealogical clue in itself).

I'll be gleaning as much as I can from this obituary as I continue climbing my family tree.

And, look for more of these treasures in this space in the future.

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

"Down East" Stock Yields High Family Tree Dividend

So I took Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge last night. The whole idea is that, going back 10 generations, you have 1023 direct line ancestors. If you estimate that an average generation is 25 years, ancestors in your 10th generation were born roughly 300 years ago. That's pretty awesome!!  How did I do? Well, needless to say, it sure helps to have well-documented New England and Canadian roots. I scored a whopping 84%!!

Looks like I have plenty of blog fodder for the foreseeable future. Now, all I have to do is find the time. Come on RETIREMENT !!