William Murphy (1830-1909): 52 Ancestors #74

William Murphy, my second great-grandfather (#24 in my Ahnentafel), was born 15 May 1830,¹ probably in or near Georgetown, Kings County, Prince Edward Island. If that date of birth is reasonably accurate, he was probably the second child of Michael and Magdelen (Morison) Murphy.

About 1853 William married Flora Ann McDonald, possibly in or near Vernon River.² They had ten children:

1. Dominic (1854-1914), married Rose Ann McIntyre in Bloomfield, PEI (my great-grandparents)
2. Lot (ca 1856-1917), married Nora Kelleher in Newburyport, MA
3. Flora Ann (1856-1923), married John Sanphy in PEI
4. Mary (1858-1933), married John Cummings in Newburyport
5. James (1860-?), possibly died young
6. Martha (1863-1949), married Edward Perkins in Newburyport
7. Daniel (1865-aft 1920), emigrated to Newburyport
8. Catherine "Kate" (1868-1922), married Patrick Hart in Newburyport
9. Elizabeth "Lizzie" (1871-1918), married George Blackwell in Lawrence, MA
10. William (1873-bef 1881)

1881 Canada census, Georgetown, Kings County, PEI, William Murphy household

Lot 51 in 1880 Atlas; red outlines the area of the detail below

The earliest I can definitely identify William in the census is 1881, when he and his family were enumerated in Georgetown.³ Oddly, the Lot 51 map in Meacham's 1880 Atlas shows a 100-acre lot on Baldwin Road (about 10 miles from Georgetown) labelled "Wm Murphy",⁴ yet they don't appear in Lot 51 in the census until 1891⁵ – located right among the neighbors expected from the 1880 lot map.

Another map (undated), showing the route of planned railway construction through Lot 51, also shows William Murphy as the landholder. The dates on similar railway maps of other Kings County lots indicate that it is probably from the early 1870s.⁶

William's daughter Flora had, about 1875, married John Sanphy who farmed a few properties down Baldwin Road from William's lot, so I can speculate that he may have acquired the land by the time the atlas was compiled, intending to move near to the Sanphys, but the farm may have been occupied by a tenant at the time of the census.

William Murphy is also listed in Baldwin's Road in the Fredericks 1889-90 Directory.⁷ I haven't been able to find a William Murphy who is likely to be "my" William anywhere in earlier available directories ranging from 1864 through 1880.

Detail of Lot 51 map showing Wm Murphy property (red outline added) in Baldwin Road, 1880

1891 Canada census, Lot 51, Kings County, PEI, William Murphy and "Domnic" Murphy households

Sometime around 1905-06, William and Flora emigrated to the United States, settling in Newburyport, Massachusetts,⁸ where four of William's siblings and at least five of his children had already gone over the years.

On 10 February 1909, William Murphy died of apoplexy and old age in Newburyport.⁹ His age of 71 on his death certificate is undoubtedly much too young; given that he appears consistently in three censuses as born 1830-31, he must have been 78 or 79.¹⁰ The informant was Daniel Murphy, probably his son, who was less likely to know his father's exact age than Flora would have been. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Newburyport.¹¹

William Murphy death cettificate, 10 Feb 1909, Newburyport, Mass.

My descent from William Murphy:

• William Murphy and Flora McDonald
• Dominic Murphy and Rose Anne McIntyre
• William George Murphy and Glenna Marie Rabideau
• Kathleen Marie Murphy and Roger Kirk (my parents)

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SOURCES

1. 1901 Canada Census, Kings County, Prince Edward Island, Township 51, p. 5, dwelling 37, family 38, William Murphy household; database and digital images, Library and Archives Canada, (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca : accessed 20 Feb 2012).
2. The year is an estimate based on the Dec 1854 birth of their first child, Dominic. While baptismal records for Dominic and Lot have not been located, their third through seventh children were baptized at St. Joachim's Church in Vernon River, making it a likely location for their marriage as well.
3. 1881 Canada Census, Kings County, Prince Edward Island, Georgetown Common & Royalty, pp. 3-4, dwelling 11, family 11, William Murphy household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Feb 2012).
4. "Plan of Lots 51, 52 & 66, Kings Co., P.E.I.," Illustrated Historical Atlas Of The Province Of Prince Edward Island (Philadelphia: J.H. Meacham & Co., 1880), pp. 107-108; digital image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com : accessed 28 Apr 2014), item 4475060. 
5. 1891 Canada Census, Kings County, Prince Edward Island, Township 51, p. 10, families 34-35, William Murphy and "Domnic" Murphy households ; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Feb 2012).  
6. Prince Edward Island Railway, map of the land appropriated by the Railway Commissioners in Lots 38 and 51, undated; digital image, University of Prince Edward Island Robertson Library, Island Imagined (http://www.islandimagined.ca : accessed 16 Feb 2019). 
7. Frederick's Prince Edward Island Directory, and Book of Useful Information, for 1889-90 (Charlottetown, P.E. Island: Frederick's Publishing Co., 1889), p. 524, entry for Murphy William, far[mer].
8. No immigration records have been found, but city directories show a William Murphy arriving in Newburyport around this time. In addition to his children noted in the list above as moving to/marrying in Newburyport, William's brother Daniel and sisters Mary, Catherine, and Elizabeth were also living in Newburyport (or nearby Amesbury) at the time he and Flora emigrated.
9. "Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915," database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Mar 2014), William Murphy death certificate #319, registered no. 25, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 10 Feb 1909.  
10. 1881 Canada Census (note 3), age 50, and 1891 Canada Census (note 5), age 60, both imply birth in 1830-31. 1901 Canada Census (note 1) gives full date of birth as 15 May 1830.
11.  William Murphy death certificate (note 9).

Nahum Alonzo Rand Sr.: 52 Ancestors #73

Nahum Alonzo Rand, my great-great-grandfather and #22 on my Ahnentafel, was born 29 Nov 1813 in Rye, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. He was the second of three children of Joshua and Elizabeth (Rand) Rand.¹ (Joshua and Elizabeth were first cousins, giving Nahum only six great-grandparents instead of the usual eight, as illustrated in My Collapsing Pedigree.)

Unlike his father and younger brother (the elder brother died young), Nahum didn't stay in Rye. I don't know just when he moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts – he's not a head of household either in Rye or Roxbury in 1840 – but that was his residence on 16 January 1842, when marriage intentions were published between "Mr. Nahum Rand and Miss Dolly Bristor both of Roxbury." They were married on 11 February 1842 at the Free Will Baptist Church of Christ.²

Marriage intentions (top) and marriage record for Nahum Rand and Dolly Bristor, 1842, Roxbury, Mass.

The Rands lived in Roxbury, where their first four children were born, until about 1849, when they moved to Andover, Oxford County, Maine. This was a homecoming for Dolly, who was born in nearby Byron, and whose parents and married sister Jerusha now lived in Rumford. In Andover they had four more children.

Children of Dolly Brister and Nahum Rand:

1. Nahum Alonzo Rand Jr. (1842-1920), married Lois Minerva Cutting
2. Sarah Elizabeth Rand (1845-aft 1908), married Edward Rhodes
3. Ezra D. Rand (1846-1847)
4. Ezra Davis Rand (1848-1922), married (1) Mary A. Crutchley Homan, (2) Augusta A. (Pulsifer) Buker, (3) Margaret Amber
5. Asenath Matilda Rand (1851-1871), unmarried
6. Kate Maria Rand (1855-1940), married Silas Marchant Hillman Hodsdon (my great-grandparents)
7. Samuel P. Rand (1857-1940), unmarried
8. Annie Grace Rand (1860-1925), married Frank Roberts

Nahum Rand death certificate, 1884, Philadelphia, Pa.

Nahum Rand died of "cardiac dropsy" on 4 Jan 1884 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It appears that he must have been visiting his eldest son, Nahum Jr., at the time; the residence of the deceased is given as "No. 56 Wister St" – probably a slight error on the part of the undertaker as the Philadelphia city directory in 1882 and 1884 gives Nahum Rand's address as 58 Wister.³ Two oddities in the undertaker's certificate are the occupation ("Gentleman") and place of birth ("England") of the deceased. Nahum Rand Sr. was listed as a farmer in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, and as a stone mason in 1870 and 1880.⁴ Perhaps "gentleman" was meant to convey that he was retired? As for his birthplace, I can conjecture that the Philadelphia undertaker misunderstood a statement that the man had been born in "New England."






Nahum was buried in the Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia,⁵ probably in a family lot – his son is also buried there.⁶ I don't know if he has a marker there (there isn't one on Find A Grave), but he does have a cenotaph in the Rand lot in Woodlawn Cemetery in Andover, Maine, on a stone shared with his son Samuel. Below the years of his birth and death is the inscription "Buried in Philadelphia."⁷

Nahum A. Rand cenotaph/Samuel P. Rand gravestone, Woodlawn Cemetery, Andover, Maine

My descent from Nahum Alonzo Rand:

• Nahum Alonzo Rand and Dolly Brister
• Silas Marchant Hillman Hodsdon and Kate Maria Rand
• Chester F. Kirk and Mary Milliken Hodsdon
• Roger Kirk + Kathleen Marie Murphy (my parents)

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SOURCES

1. Langdon Brown Parsons, History of the town of Rye, New Hampshire: from its discovery and settlement to December 31, 1903 (Concord, N.H.: Rumford Printing Company, 1905), p. 504.
2. "Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988," database and digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Jul 2016) > Roxbury > Roxbury Marriages Publishments, 1785-1864 > images 231-232 of 277; marriage intentions (image 231) and marriage (image 232) for Nahum Rand and Dolly Bristor, 1842.
3. "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," database and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 23 Mar 2014) > 004010284 > image 700 of 1324; Nahum Rand death certificate, 4 Jan 1884. 
4. 1850 U.S. Census, Oxford County, Maine, Andover, p. 397 (penned), p. 199 (stamped), dwelling 94, family 101, Nahum Rand household; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 12 Mar 2012). Also 1860 U.S. Census, Oxford County, Maine, Andover, p. 67, dwelling 492, family 491, “Naam” Rand household. Also, 1870 U.S. Census, Oxford County, Maine, Andover, p. 11, dwelling 66, family 69, Naham Rand household. Also, 1880 U.S. Census, Oxford County, Maine, Andover, ED 116, p. 4D, dwelling 36, family 40, Naham Rand household. 1860-1880 censuses, digital images, ProQuest, HeritageQuest Online (access through participating libraries : accessed 12 Mar 2012).
5. Nahum Rand death certificate (note 3).
6. Find A Grave, database (https://www.findagrave.com  : accessed 23 Feb 2014), memorial 116452444 for Corp Nahum Rand (1842-1920), by "Eugene Glenn Stackhouse" (2 Sep 2013); citing Northwood Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. 
7. Woodlawn Cemetery (Andover, Oxford County, Maine), Nahum A. Rand cenotaph, read and photographed by the author, 15 Aug 2012.

Isaac Hodsdon (1812-1890): 52 Ancestors #72

Isaac Hodsdon, my great-great-grandfather (#20 in my Ahnentafel), was born on 3 May 1812 in Hollis Center, York County, Maine, the third of six children of Jacob Hodsdon and Sally Huston.¹ (This surname has two variants, Hodsdon and Hodgdon, which are somewhat interchangeable. Jacob and his descendants generally used the Hodsdon variant, as seen in Isaac's birth and marriage records.)

Family record of Jacob and Sally (Huston) Hodsdon, with birth of Isaac Hodsdon, May 3rd, 1812

Isaac Hodsdon-Abigail Greene marriage, 30 Dec 1834, Hollis, Maine

Byron, Oxford County, Maine, 1858 (detail area outlined in white)

In the early 1830s, Isaac and his older brother John moved from Hollis to Byron, Oxford County, Maine, and married the Green sisters, Abigail and Adeline, of nearby Wilton, Franklin County. John and Adeline married first in 1833 in Wilton, while Isaac and Abigail on 30 Dec 1834 in Hollis.² The two couples farmed near each other on what was then called "Hodsdon Hill" in Byron. This map³ from an 1858 Oxford County atlas (which, alas, does not show the Hodsdon Hill name) gives names of property holders, including I. "Hodgdon" and J. "Hodgdon." (An example of the variant mentioned above.)

Detail of 1858 map of Byron, showing I. Hodgdon and J. Hodgdon homes

Isaac and Abigail had nine children (all born in Byron):

1. Jacob H. Hodsdon (1836-1921), married (1) Lydia Merrill, (2) Persis A. Mitchell
2. Mary Abigail Hodsdon (1837-1865), married Charles Cole
3. Luther Merrill Hodsdon (1840-aft Jun 1860), unmarried
4. Isaac Winfield Hodsdon (1843-1917), married Octavia Merrill (sister to Lydia)
5. Francis Ireland Hodsdon (1844-1921), married Emma Ireland
6. Silas Marchant Hillman Hodsdon (1847-1911), married Kate Rand (my great-grandparents)
7. Matilda Ann Hodsdon (1849-1938), married Alvarado Reed
8. Sarah [Arabelle?] Hodsdon (1851-aft Jun 1860), unmarried
9. Charles L. Hodsdon (1853-1922), married Mary Gilcrease

The first seven were recorded in this 1849 family record in the Byron town record book.⁴ The record was never updated with the other two children, and there seems to be no other record of their births, but they are captured in the 1860 census, while the two oldest are gone from the household by then.⁵

Family record of Isaac and Abigail Hodsdon, 1849, Byron, Maine, town record book

1860 U.S. census, Oxford County, Maine, town of Byron, Isaac Hodsdon household

Isaac died 22 Jan 1890 in Byron,⁶ and was buried in the Byron Village Cemetery.⁷ The family monument includes inscriptions for his wife Abigail and for two of their children who died young.

Isaac Hodsdon death record, 22 Jan 1890, Byron, Maine

Isaac Hodsdon family monument, Byron Village Cemetery, Byron, Oxford Co., Maine

While Isaac's death year on the monument is correct, I can't vouch for others – I haven't found death records for any of them in the Byron town records – and those of the two children (Luther in 1859 and Sarah in 1855) are certainly wrong: The 1860 census lists both Luther and a 9-year-old girl named Arabelle, the same age that Sarah would have been (assuming the 1851 birth year on the gravestone is correct), so probably is the same child, though frustratingly, there is no birth record (or any other record besides the census and the gravestone) for either a Sarah or an Arabelle. I can only conjecture that the children's graves were unmarked until the monument was erected for Isaac and Abigail, presumably in 1890 or later, and some thirty years after the fact no one could remember exactly when they had died. (They might even have misremembered the girl's name.)

My descent from Isaac Hodsdon:

• Isaac Hodsdon and Abigail Greene
• Silas Marchant Hillman Hodsdon and Kate Maria Rand
• Chester F. Kirk and Mary Milliken Hodsdon
• Roger Kirk + Kathleen Marie Murphy (my parents)

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SOURCES

1. Hollis, Maine, Town and Vital Records, 1781-1893, vol. Births 1785-1877: 26, Isaac Hodsdon birth, 1812; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/film/007595714?cat=135458 : accessed 30 Jan 2019), image 254; imaged from FHL microfilm 7,595,714.
2. Hollis, Maine, Town and Vital Records, 1781-1893, vol. 1820 Record of marriages and intentions of marriage: 109, Isaac Hodsdon-Abigail Greene marriage, 1834; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/film/007595714?cat=135458 : accessed 30 Jan 2019), image 457.
3. Henry Francis Walling and J Chace, Map of Oxford County, Maine (New York: Gillette & Huntington, 1858); image, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2012592367/ : accessed 1 Feb 2019).
4. Byron, Maine, Town and Vital Records, 1821-1891, vol. 1848-79: unpaginated (3rd page from end), family record of Isaac and Abigail Hodsdon; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/film/007595323?cat=343311 : accessed 30 Jan 2019), image 433; imaged from FHL microfilm 7,595,323.
5. 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, Maine, Oxford County, Byron, p. 33, dwelling 219, family 188, Isaac Hodgdon household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Mar 2012).
6. Byron, Maine, Town and Vital Records, 1821-1891, Births, Deaths, and Marriages register [1880-92]: unpaginated, Deaths section [p. 1], Isaac Hodsdon death, 1890; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/film/007595323?cat=343311 : accessed 3 Feb 2019), image 447.
7. Byron Village Cemetery (Byron, Oxford County, Maine), Isaac Hodsdon family monument, read and photographed by the author, 13 Oct 2013.

Jane (Miller) Sukeforth: 52 Ancestors #71

Jane Miller, my great-great-grandmother (#19 in my Ahnentafel chart), was born on 30 Jul 1810 in Friendship, Lincoln County, Maine.¹ Analysis of Friendship census records and other sources indicate that she was the oldest of five children of William Miller Jr.; their mother's name is unknown.²

Jane and her first cousin, Simon Sukeforth, entered their intentions of marriage on 8 August 1834 in Thomaston³ (her residence at the time) and on 16 August 1834 in Washington⁴ (his residence). No record of the actual marriage has been found, but they likely married shortly after 16 August, as the 1850 census implies that their oldest child was born in 1834.⁵

Marriage intentions for Simon Suckforth and Jane Miller, 8 Aug 1834, Thomaston, Maine

They had eight known children:

1. Thomas Sukeforth, b. 1834, married (1) Sarah A. Sprague, (2) Sarah A. Norwood
2. James Llewellyn Sukeforth, b. est 1836, married Eliza M. Clapp
3. Sarah C. Sukeforth, b. 1838, married Silas Kirk (my great-grandparents)
4. Mary C. Sukeforth, b. 1845, married George H. Chadwick
5. Addie E. Sukeforth, b. 1846, married Lyman B. Weever
6. William A. Sukeforth, b. 1850, married Mae Isadora Moolekamp
7. Franklin M. Sukeforth, b. ca 1851-52, d. 1875 unmarried
8. Lawrenton M. Sukeforth, b. ca 1854-56, married Abbie H. Clark

Jane (Miller) Sukeforth gravestone

Jane died on 29 Apr 1879 in Washington, Knox County, Maine, and was buried beside Simon and their son Franklin in Maple Grove Cemetery, Washington.⁶ For a view of all three stones, see 52 Ancestors: #16, Simon Sukeforth.

Unusually for these old gravestones, the following lines engraved on her stone are still clearly readable (closeup below):

     Dear mother, thou art gone to rest,
     The toils and cares are o'er.
     And sorrows, pain and suffering now
     Shall ne'er distress thee more.

Verse on Jane (Miller) Sukeforth gravestone

My descent from Jane (Miller) Sukeforth:

• Simon Sukeforth and Jane Miller
• Silas Kirk and Sarah Sukeforth
• Chester F. Kirk and Mary Milliken Hodsdon
• Roger M. Kirk + Kathleen Marie Murphy (my parents)

Jane is also my first cousin four times removed by descent from Johann Wilhelm Müller (William Miller Sr.) and Eve ______.

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SOURCES

1. Melville Bradford Cook, editor, Records of Meduncook Plantation and Friendship, Maine, 1762-1899 (Rockland, Maine: Shore Village Historical Society, 1985),  p. 75, birth of Jane Miller, 10 Jul 1810 (parents not named).  
2. Marshall K. Kirk, “Miller: Waldoboro & Friendship, Maine,” undated typescript of unpublished research notes, Marshall K. Kirk Research Files; privately held by the author, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
3. Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: Town of Thomaston - 1727-1893, digital images (PDF), CD-ROM, 2 CDs (Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 2005), CD 2: image 102; "Volume 2nd of Town Records of the Town of Thomaston," p. 193, Simon Suckforth-Jane Miller marriage intentions, 8 Aug 1834.
4. Ella M. Hewins, "Washington, Maine early records", p. 41, Simon Suckforth-Jane "Millett" marriage intentions, 16 Aug 1834; FHL microfilm 859,058, item 5, image 746; typescript of extracts from original town records of Washington, Maine, of families, marriage intentions, and marriages, 1812-1871. 
5. 1850 U.S. Census, Lincoln County, Maine, Washington, p. 576 (penned), dwelling 296, family 296, Simon Suckforth household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 Apr 2012).
6. Maple Grove Cemetery (Washington, Knox County, Maine), gravestone of Jane (Miller) Sukeforth, read and photographed by the author, 14 Aug 2012.