52 Ancestors: #29, Mysterious Mary, Part 2: Mary (Campbell) Bowlen Green – Still Unrelated?

When we left Mary Bowlen and her children at the end of part 1, it was 1860. Mary's husband George, and their second son Albert, had both died from consumption the previous year, and Mary had appeared with her three remaining children in the 1860 census.

When they surface once again, in the 1865 Massachusetts state census, it's only the children who are still named Bowlen. They are now in the household of Daniel W. Green, who appears to have married their mother and given them a half-sister:¹

• Daniel W. Green, 28, b. Mass, laborer
• Mary A. Green, 32, b. Prince Edw Island
• Sarah W. Green, 4, b. Mass
• George W. Bowlen, 11, b. Mass
• Edward W. Bowlen, 10, b. Mass
• Annabel Bowlen, 6, b. Mass
• Caldwell Bowlen, 28, b. Nova Scotia (apparently another half-brother of the late George Bowlen)²

1865 Massachusetts state census, Newburyport, Daniel W. Green household

The presence of the Bowlens in the household clearly confirms that Mary A. Green must be Mary Bowlen, but I have searched in vain for a record of a marriage – between 1859 (George Bowlen's death) and 1861 (Sarah Green's birth) and beyond, in Newburyport and all of Massachusetts – of a Daniel Green with a Mary of any surname. Neither Mary Bowlen nor Daniel Green are in the 1864 Newburyport directory. Daniel W. Green, dresser (and once, a junk dealer), does appear in all of the available Newburyport city directories from 1866 through 1879; beginning in 1874, he lived at 41 Market Street.³ (You'll see this address again.)

Daniel and Mary had three daughters:

1. Sarah Worthen Green, b. 1861, parents D.W. & Mary Green (b. Clinton, Mass, and Prince Edward Island)⁴
2. Idela F. Green, b. 1866, parents Danl & Mary (Campbell) Green (b. Clinton, Mass, and Prince Edward Island); d. 1866, age 8 mo 17 da, of water on the brain, parents David [sic] W & Mary A Green (b. Clinton, Mass, and Nova Scotia)⁵
3. Mary F. Coffin Green, b. 1870, parents Daniel W. & Mary (Campbell) Green (b. Clinton, Mass, and Georgetown P[EI])⁶

In the 1870 census, the three Bowlen children are still in the Green household along with Sarah. Mary is 37 and once again claiming to be from Nova Scotia; Daniel and the children are all born in Massachusetts.⁷

1870 U.S. census, Newburyport, Mass., Danl W Green household

In 1879, Mary once again lost a husband to consumption, when Daniel died at the age of 43.⁸ In the 1880 Newburyport directory, Daniel W. Green is listed as having died November 27, 1879, followed by "Green Daniel W. Mrs. widow," still living at 41 Market Street.⁹

Death of Daniel W. Green, 1879, Newburyport, Mass.

1880 Newburyport, Mass., city directory, listings for Daniel W. Green (deceased) and his widow

And the 1880 census shows the household of Mary A. Green, 45, widow, with daughters Sadie W. Green (19) and Mary F.C. Green (9) and sons George W. Bowlen (26) and Edward W. (24). (Oddly, Mary's birthplace, and those of the boys' father and mother, are all given as England.)¹⁰

1880 U.S. census, Newburyport, Mass., Mary A. Green household

Mary continued to live at 41 Market Street throughout the next couple of decades, first as "Mrs. Daniel W Greene", then as "Mary A Greene, widow of Daniel W".¹¹ One by her children married and moved out: Annabell to Nicholas Varina in 1877; Edward to Rachel Berry in 1881; Sarah to Benjamin Rowand in 1882; George to Fannie Page in 1883;¹² and finally, Mary to William Decie in 1891.

Up to this point, we've seen no indication that Mary might be a Murphy. All the records so far appear to indicate that she was Mary A. Campbell (or possibly Mary M.?), born sometime between 1829 and 1836, either in Nova Scotia or on Prince Edward Island – with P.E.I. having a slight edge, both in number of references and the detail of Georgetown in two records.

So, why do I still think she might actually be a Murphy? Well, for starters, I can't find any George and Martha Campbell having kids in P.E.I. around the appropriate timeframe, nor is there any George Campbell in the 1841 or 1861 P.E.I. censuses. And then, there is the matter of her marriage to that third husband, some 18 years after Daniel's death, as well as Mary's death record. Stay tuned for "Mysterious Mary, Part 3: Mary (Murphy) Bowlen Green Bamber – GGG Aunt?".

(Note: This post is in response to Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge at No Story Too Small.)

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SOURCES

1. 1865 Massachusetts State Census, Essex County, Massachusetts, Newburyport Ward 5, unpaginated, dwelling 65, family 95, Daniel W. Green household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 17 Feb 2014).
2. "Public Member Trees," database, Ancestry.com (http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/23464675/person/1662694820/ : accessed 16 Jul 2014), story "WC Bowlen Memories" attached to profile of William Caldwell Bowen, in "Huss - LeSage Family Tree," owner "LoriLesage167"; also public comments on the story, 16 July 2012, from Kenneth Bowlen.
3. The Newburyport Directory... [year] (Newburyport, Mass.: Hosea T. Crofoot, 1864-73, 1877-79; Steven H. Fowle, 1874), entries for Daniel W. Green, p. 57 (1866), p. 51 (1869), p. 49 (1871), p. 52 (1873), p. 54 (1874), p. 53 (1877), p. 57 (1879); database and digital images, "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2014). There are no entries 1n 1864 for Daniel Green (p. 63) or for Mary Bowlen (p. 31).
4. "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," database and digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 18 Feb 2014), Newburyport, Essex, Mass., vol. 141, p. 306, birth of Sarah Worthen Green, 1861; citing “original records held by the Massachusetts Archives”. 
5. Ibid. (accessed 26 Apr 2014), vol. 186, p. 248, birth of unnamed female Green, 1866, and vol. 192, p. 202, death of Idela F. Green, 1866.
6. Ibid. (accessed 18 Feb 2014), vol. 223, p. 277, birth of Mary Coffin Green, 1870.
7. 1870 U.S. Census, Essex County, Massachusetts, Newburyport, p. 39 (penned), p. 183 (stamped), dwelling 297, family 311, Danl W Green household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Feb 2014). 
8. "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910" (accessed 18 Feb 2014), Newburyport, vol. 310, p. 256, death of Daniel W. Greene, 1879.
9. The Newburyport Directory, 1880-81 (Newburyport, Mass.: Hosea T. Crofoot, 1880), p. 57, entries for Daniel W. Green and Mrs. Daniel W. Green; database and digital images, "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Feb 2014).
10. 1880 U.S. Census, Essex County, Massachusetts, Newburyport, ED 226, p. 13 (penned), p. 476 (stamped), dwelling 138, family 153, Mary A. Green household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Feb 2014). 
11. The Newburyport Directory, [year]... (Boston: Sampson, Davenport, & Co., 1882-1884) and The Newburyport and Amesbury Directory, [year]... (Boston: Sampson, Murdock, & Co. 1886-1896), entries for Mrs. Daniel W. Greene (1882, 84, 86, 89, 91, 92) and Mary A. Greene (1894, 96); database and digital images, "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2014). All entries are for 41 Market Street. Also, George W Bowlen is listed as "boarding" at 41 Market in 1879, 1880, and 1882, and Edward W. Bowlen likewise in 1880.
12. Sadly, George died at age 29 in 1884, like his father before him, of consumption. He and Fannie had no children, and she died only two years later, of septicemia.