Longevity: Guy Blodgett and Sadie McIsaac - 52 Ancestors, #55

My direct-line ancestors aren't particularly exceptional in their longevity. Some time ago, for a couple of Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posts, I looked up ages at death for five generations, and found that my oldest known male ancestor was only 91 – 3rd great-grandfather Jacob Hodsdon (1787-1879), whom I already profiled; among the ladies, two 3rd great-grandmothers were allegedly over 90: Hannah R. (Gould) Green (ca 1787-aft 1879), at about 92, and Sarah (Chamberlain) Brister (ca 1790 - 1881), at about 91, but as you can see, I don't have exact years of birth for either of them, so I can't be sure.

Given this uncertainty and the relatively unimpressive ages involved, for this week's 52 Ancestors prompt of "Longevity" I decided to look for other (non-direct-line) relations for whom I had convincing documentation of demise at over 100.

The oldest male in my database turned out to be a second cousin twice removed named Guy Cleveland Blodgett, who died at the ripe old age of 109. Guy was born 17 January 1885, probably in Dummer, Coos County, New Hampshire, to Nathan Freelan Blodgett and Lillian Rush, the daughter of my 2nd great-grandaunt Hannah Washburn. Although I can't find a New Hampshire birth record for Guy, the birth date – as listed in the SSDI¹ and on his gravestone² – is corroborated by his WWI draft registration³ and is consistent with all census enumerations, including the 1900 census giving his birth as Jan 1885.⁴ His older brother Merlin, is listed in that census with a Jun 1883 birth, which matches his New Hampshire birth record, so it seems highly likely that Guy's Jan 1885 birth is accurate.

WWI draft registration card, Guy Cleveland Blodgett

Guy married Anna "Annie" Elizabeth Jones on 28 February 1911, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.⁵ They had three children: Freelan, James, and Catherine. Annie died in 1970 at the age of 85, and Guy outlived her by 24 years, dying 28 June 1994 in West Boylston, Worcester Co., Massachusetts.⁶ He and Annie are buried in Riverside Cemetery, Milford, N.H.⁷

Guy C. and Annie E. Blodgett gravemarker, Riverside Cemetery, Milford, Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire

My relationship to Guy Cleveland Blodgett

Sterling Elias Chatterton-Sadie Rosella McIsaac
marriage, 29 Nov 1929, Loch Lomond, N.B.

Discounting my half  7th great-grandaunt Lucy Hodsdon, who supposedly lived to 115 (her birth date is recorded as "about 1660" in The Descendants of Nicholas Hodsdon-Hodgdon;⁸ I am frankly skeptical), the oldest well-documented female in my database lived to 104. Born 17 April 1904 in Johnville, New Brunswick, Canada, to Gabriel McIsaac and Mary Sutton,⁹ Sarah "Sadie" Rosella McIsaac was my second cousin once removed; Gabriel was the son of my great-grandaunt Hannah McIntyre. Once again I don't actually have a birth record.¹⁰ What I do have is an obituary transcript giving a birth date of 17 May 1904. While clearly not a primary source, it's bolstered by the 1911 census (May 1905, age 6)¹¹ and 1921 census (age 17, implied birth year 1904).¹²

Sadie graduated from the Provincial Normal School and was a schoolteacher.¹³ She married lumberman Sterling Elias Chatterton on 29 November 1929 in Loch Lomond, New Brunswick.¹⁴ (Her given age of 25 on her marriage record again implies a 1904 birth.) They had two children, Fred and Patricia.¹⁵

Sadie died 7 February 2009 and was buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery (probably in Loch Lomond).¹⁶

My relationship to Sarah Rosella McIsaac

(This post was inspired by Amy Johnson Crow's 2018 "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge.)

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SOURCES

1.  Social Security Administration, "U.S. Social Security Death Index," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Jul 2017), entry for Guy C. Blodgett, 15 Jun 1994, SS no. 017-36-8426.
2.  Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi  : accessed 19 Jul 2017), memorial 156452200 for Guy Cleveland Blodgett, with digital photo of Guy C. and Annie E. Blodgett gravestone; both by Shan Clark (28 Dec 2015); citing Riverside Cemetery, Milford, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. 
3. "U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Jan 2018); card for Guy Cleveland Blodgett, serial No. 3418, order no. A846, Medford, Massachusetts.
4. 1900 U.S. census, population schedule, New Hampshire, Hillsboro County, Milford, enumeration district (ED) 116, sheet 6A, p. 188 (stamped), dwelling 131, family 135, Nathan F. Blodgett household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Jul 2017).
5. "Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1785-1934," database with images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Jul 2017); Guy Cleveland Blodgett-Anna Elizabeth Jones marriage, no. 004305, 28 Feb 1911, Kingston.
6. "U.S. Social Security Death Index," entry for Guy C. Blodgett, 15 Jun 1994, SS no. 017-36-8426.
7.  Find A Grave, memorial 156452200 for Guy Cleveland Blodgett.
8. Andrew Jackson Hodgdon and Almira Larkin White, ed., Genealogy of the Descendants of Nicholas Hodsdon-Hodgdon of Hingham, Mass., and Kittery, Maine, 1635-1904 (1904),  p. 20; digital images, Open Library (http://openlibrary.org).
9. "Obituaries," database, Fitzpatrick's Funeral Home (http://www.fitzpatrickfh.com/obituaries/42627 : accessed 18 Jan 2018); Sarah Rosella (McIsaac) Chatterton obituary, died 7 Feb 2009. 
10. Frustratingly, out of nine McIsaac children, Sarah is one of the two whose birth records seem to be missing from the New Brunswick Provincial Archives. Probably the surname is simply misspelled; the search engine requires an exact surname with no wildcards. It does have a Soundex search that will show you all the "sounds like" surnames in the database, but none of the variants turns up Sarah. 
11. 1911 census of Canada, New Brunswick, district 25, Carleton, sub-district 8, ED 19-1/2 in Kent Parish, p. 19, dwelling 184, family 191, Gabriel McIsaac household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2018). 
12. 1921 census of Canada, New Brunswick, district 48, sub-district 21, [Kent Parish], p. 5, dwelling 49, family 49, Gabriel McIsaac household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2018). 
13. Sarah Rosella (McIsaac) Chatterton obituary.
14. "Federated Database Search," database and digital images, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/FEDS/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA); Sterling Elias Chatterton-Sadie Rosella McIsaac marriage, 29 Nov 1929, Loch Lomond, reg. no. 003475. 
15. Sarah Rosella (McIsaac) Chatterton obituary.
16. Ibid.

When did Samuel Orcutt Washburn die?

When I profiled my third great-grandfather, Samuel Orcutt Washburn, as #38 of my 52 Ancestors posts, I noted that while his gravestone pretty clearly says he died on 22 Jan 1850,¹ this doesn't jibe with his appearance on the 1850 census in September,² or with the two youngest children in his widow's household in 1860.³ (The 10-year-old could be his child, born after his death, but the four-year-old? That's a stretch.) I hypothesized that his gravestone might have been erected long after his death, by someone who misremembered when he had died, and that his actual death was sometime between 1855 (a year that appears in many online family trees, although unsourced) and 1859.

Samuel O. Washburn gravestone, Mead Hill Cemetery, Holland, Vermont

That's where I left it... until I found this newspaper article the other day after subscribing to GenealogyBank.⁴

"Found Dead," The Caledonian (St. Johnsbury, Vermont), 16 Feb 1850, p. 2, col. 4

Well, so much for my "miscarved gravestone" theory. This article appeared in mid-February 1850, stating that Samuel Washburn was found dead in Holland on the morning of January 24. While this implies he died on 23 January (not 22), it's likely the newspaper got the date wrong by a day (the item was published about three weeks after the fact, and who knows who the informant was).

It seems pretty obvious that the man described here is the same one who's buried in Mead Hill Cemetery in Holland, under a stone with a 22 Jan 1850 death date. And since that stone is for Samuel O. Washburn, born 5 May 1799, it's equally clear that this is Samuel Orcutt Washburn, born 5 May 1798 to Jeremiah Washburn in Sutton. (In this respect – the birth date – the stone is incorrect by a year, but the 5 May matches, and the birth date on a gravestone is a lot more likely to be suspect than the death date.)

So now I'm left with two mysteries.

First, why on Earth is this man listed in the census as living, a good eight months after he died from exposure and was buried? The only explanation I can think of is a possible misunderstanding about the mortality schedule, which was new in 1850 (as was the whole idea of naming every individual instead of simply noting numbers). Could the enumerator have asked for something like "the names of everyone in the household, as well as anyone who died in the preceding 12 months," and have misunderstood the current status of the 52-year-old Samuel Washburn named? (For that matter, if the 10-year-old Harmon listed in 1860 was, in fact, a posthumous child, then Mary Washburn would have been so visibly pregnant in September 1850 that it might not even have occurred to the enumerator that her husband was deceased.)

The second is, whose child is the four-year-old Norman listed on the 1860 census? He appears in 1880 listed as a brother-in-law in the household of Charles Griffin (husband of Charlotte Washburn). But if Samuel died in 1850, Norman can't be Charlotte's brother. (Mary Palmateer Washburn did remarry, but not until 1872.) The most logical possibility seems to be that he was actually the child of one of Samuel's older children. Unfortunately, it appears he never married, and I haven't found a death record for him, so as yet I don't have anything that might reveal his parents.

If anyone has any information that might shed some light on either of these mysteries, please contact me. You can leave a comment on this post, or use the email link on my profile page.

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SOURCES

1. Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 Sep 2014), database and digital images, memorial # 22761238 for Samuel Orcutt Washburn (1799-1850), created by "Lar" (8 Nov 2007), with photographs by "Thomas"; citing Mead Hill Cemetery (Holland, Orleans County, Vermont).  
2. 1850 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Holland, page number illegible, dwelling 62, family 62, Saml Washburn household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2014). 
3. 1860 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Holland, p. 71, dwelling 547, family 552, "Widow Saml Washburn" household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2014).  
4. "Found Dead," The Caledonian (St. Johnsbury, Vermont), 16 Feb 1850, p. 2, col. 4.

52 Ancestors: #52, Nehemiah Washburn, New Year's Baby

After my Christmas Child post on my great-great-granduncle Charles Sukeforth, it seems only fitting to end this year of 52 Ancestors with a New Year's baby: my five times great-grandfather, Nehemiah Washburn.

Nehemiah Washburn was born on New Year's Day in 1743, in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He was the third of six children of Noah and Mary (Staples) Washburn.¹

Children of Noah and Mary (Staples) Washburn born in Bridgewater, Mass.

On 29 March 1770, Nehemiah married Ruth Egerton in Bridgewater.² She was born 8 November 1747 in East Bridgewater and died 19 November 1836 in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts.

Marriage of Nehemiah Washburn and Ruth "Eggarton", 1770

Nehemiah and Ruth had one one child that I know of, Jeremiah, born ca 1770 or 1771.

I haven't found a date of death for Nehemiah, but it was before 19 November 1836, as Ruth was described in her death record as the "relict of Nehemiah Washburn."³

My descent from Nehemiah Washburn:

• Nehemiah Washburn + Ruth Egerton
• Jeremiah Washburn + Hannah Orcutt
• Samuel Orcutt Washburn + Mary Palmateer
• Mary Washburn + Uriah Sawyer Woodward
• Eva May Woodward + Peter Louis Rabideau
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy (my maternal grandparents)

(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. “Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988,” database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Dec 2014), Bridgewater > Town Records, with Births, Marriages, and Deaths > image 1102 of 1466, p. 379, birth of children of Noah and Mary Washburn.
2. Ibid., image 1005 of 1466, p. 190, marriage of Nehemiah Washburn and Ruth "Eggarton," 1770.
3. Ibid., Northampton > Births, Marriages and Death > image 729 of 2680, p. 471, death of "Ruth relict of Nehemiah Washburn," 1836.

52 Ancestors: #42, John Washburn, Plymouth Colonist

John Washburn, my tenth great grandfather, was born in Bengeworth (later annexed to Evesham), Worcestershire, England, to John and Martha (Timbrell) (Stephens) Washburn.¹ He was baptized on 2 July 1597. On 23 November 1618, at Bengeworth, he married Margery Moore, the daughter of Robert and Ellen (Taylor) Moore.²

John and Margery had four children, all born at Bengeworth:

1. Mary, b. 1619, probably died young³
2. John Jr., b. 1620, married Elizabeth Mitchell⁴
3. Phillip, b. and d. June 1622⁵
4. Phillip, b. ca 1624, married Elizabeth Irish⁶

John migrated to the Plymouth Colony in New England about 1632, with his family remaining in England until he was established in the colony. The earliest mention of him in colony records is on 2 January 1632/3, when he sued a man for stealing a hog from him (he lost).⁷

When the Elizabeth & Ann set sail from London on 13 April 1635 bound for New England, her passengers included Margery Washborn and her sons, John Jr. and Phillip.⁸ (Mary did not accompany them, so it is assumed she probably died young, though possibly she had married by then.) Once joined by his family, John acquired land in Duxbury and made his home there. He took the oath of fidelity there and was admitted as a freeman on 2 June 1648. A tailor by trade, John served Plymouth Colony and the town of Duxbury in various capacities – among others, on a grand jury, viewing boundaries, and as surveyor of highways.⁹

In 1645, both John and John Jr. were among the 54 original proprietors of the plantation of Bridgewater when it was granted to Duxbury. (The land wasn't actually purchased by Miles Standish from the sachem Ousamequin, also called Massasoit, until 1649.)¹⁰

On 26 May 1666, he deeded his property at Duxbury to his son Phillip, and moved to Bridgewater, where he died probably soon after 22 May 1671.¹¹

My descent from John Washburn:

• John Washburn Sr. + Margery Moore
• John Washburn Jr. + Elizabeth Mitchell
• Samuel Washburn + Deborah Packard
• Noah Washburn + Elizabeth Shaw
• Noah Washburn + Mary Staples
• Nehemiah Washburn + Ruth Egerton
• Jeremiah Washburn + Hannah Orcutt
• Samuel Orcutt Washburn + Mary Palmateer
• Mary Washburn + Uriah Sawyer Woodward
• Eva May Woodward + Peter Louis Rabideau
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy (my maternal grandparents)

(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. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III," database and digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 9 October 2014), pp. 1937-39, sketch of John Washburn; citing Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 1995.
2. "Plymouth Colony, History and People," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 October 2014), search results for "John Washburn"; citing Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Incorporated, 1986); search results on this database present sections of text with general headings, which do not include page numbers from Stratton.
3. James Davenport, The Washbourne Family of Little Washbourne and Wichenford in the County of Worcester (London: Methuen & Co., 1907), pp. 35-58; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com/books : accessed 10 Oct 2014). 
4. "The Great Migration Begins," pp. 1937-39.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. "Plymouth Colony, History and People," search results for "John Washburn."
9. "The Great Migration Begins," pp. 1937-39.
10. Nahum Mitchell, History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Including an Extensive Family Register (Boston: the author, 1840), pp. 10-11, 338; facsimile reprint as Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, Massachusetts (Bridgewater: Edward Alden, 1897); digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofearlyset00mitcch : accessed 10 Oct 2014).
11. "The Great Migration Begins," pp. 1937-39.

52 Ancestors: #38, Samuel Orcutt Washburn

Samuel Orcutt Washburn, my great-great-great-grandfather, was born on 5 May 1798 or 1799, to Jeremiah and Hannah (Orcutt) Washburn in Sutton, Orleans County, Vermont.¹

Samuel Orcutt Washburn birth, 1798

Marriage of Samuel Washburn
and Mary "Polmeteer", 1829

Throughout his adult life, Samuel would repeatedly move back and forth across the U.S.-Canada border, between northern Vermont, southern Quebec, and northeast New York. In 1829, he was farming in Rougement, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, and on 10 March 1829, he married 17-year-old Mary Polmeteer at St. Paul d'Abbotsford Anglican Church in nearby Abbotsford.²

Over the next three decades, Samuel and Mary had at least 13 children, including two sets of twins, and you can trace their migrations by their children's birthplaces:³

1. Mary S. (1831-1917), b. Milton, Shefford, QC; married 1) Stephen Yates, 2) Uriah Woodward
2. Lydia Ann (1832-1902), b. Milton, Shefford, QC; married Charles Bennett
3. John P. (1834-1916), b. Milton, Shefford, QC; married Laura Armstrong
4. Samuel O. (1834-1864), b. Milton, Shefford, QC; married Mercy Moulton
5. David L. (1837-????), b. Chazy, Clinton Co., NY
6. Olive (1839-????), b. Chazy, Clinton Co., NY
7. Charlotte D. (1841-1890), b. Sciota, Clinton Co., NY; married Charles H. Griffin
8. George (ca 1843-????), b. Sciota, Clinton Co., NY; possibly married Stella Adams
9. Hannah E. (1845-), b. Farnham, Missisquoi, QC; married 1) James Rush, 2) George Rush
10. Diana P. (1847-1919), b. Farnham, Missisquoi, QC; married Leander Coffin
11. (Twin) (1847), b. Farnham, Missisquoi, QC
12. Harmon N. (1850-????), b. Canada
13. Norman E. (1856-aft 1900), b. Canada

Samuel died in Holland, Vermont, where he is buried in Mead Hill Cemetery. Vermont vital records,⁴ and his gravestone,⁵ concur that he died on 22 January 1850, at the age of 50 years, 8 months, and 17 days, which matches the 5 May 1799 birthdate on the stone.

Death of Samuel O. Washburn, 1850

Samuel O. Washburn gravestone, Mead Hill Cemetery, Holland, Vermont

It is, however, impossible to reconcile this death date with either the 1850 census⁶ in Holland – where 52-year-old Samuel Washburn was enumerated on 18 September along with his wife Mary, his son-in-law and daughter Stephen and Mary Yates and their first child, and seven of their children, misidentified as Yates children – or with the existence of the last two children, who first appear in the 1860 census⁷ in the household of "Widow Saml Washburn," next door to Stephen and Mary Yates.

1850 U.S. census, Holland, Orleans County, Vermont, Saml Washburn household

1860 U.S. census, Holland, Orleans County, Vermont, "Widow Saml Washburn" household

What to make of this? My hypothesis is that the gravestone was miscarved (perhaps erected long after his burial), and the vital records card was copied from the gravestone, rather than from town records.⁸ If so, when did he die? The numerous online family trees are about evenly split between 1850 (obviously from the vital records and gravestone) and 1855 – though no one gives a source for that year, and it's still too early to account for Norman. Conceivably the correct year may be as late as 1859.

My descent from Samuel Orcutt Washburn:

• Samuel Orcutt Washburn + Mary Palmeteer
• Mary Washburn + Uriah Sawyer Woodward
• Eva May Woodward + Peter Louis Rabideau
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy (my maternal grandparents)

(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. "Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908," database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Sep 2014), Samuel Orcutt Washburn birth, 1798. For the 1799 possibility, see his death record below.
2. St. Paul d'Abbotsford Anglican Church (Abbotsford, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec), church register, 1829, folio 5r, marriage of Samuel Washburn and Mary "Polmeteer"; digital images, "Québec, registres des églises protestantes, 1763-1967," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 22 Sep 2014), path: Abbotsford & Rougemont > Church of England in Canada Mission of Abbotsford and Rougemont > Baptisms, marriages, burials with index 1829 > image 7 of 20; citing Archives Nationales du Québec, Sainte-Foy.
3. The birthplaces are rather tentative; this family seemed to report their places of birth almost randomly in successive censuses, and vital records are very sketchy. Research is ongoing.
4. "Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908," database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Sep 2014), Samuel O. Washburn death, 1850. 
5. Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 Sep 2014), database and digital images, memorial # 22761238 for Samuel Orcutt Washburn (1799-1850), created by "Lar" (8 Nov 2007), with photographs by "Thomas"; citing Mead Hill Cemetery (Holland, Orleans County, Vermont).  
6. 1850 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Holland, page number illegible, dwelling 62, family 62, Saml Washburn household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2014). Samuel's given age in the census record corresponds to the 1798 date in his birth record.
7. 1860 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Holland, p. 71, dwelling 547, family 552, "Widow Saml Washburn" household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2014). Harmon (who disappears after this census so may have died young) might conceivably be explained as a posthumous child. I might have dismissed Norman as perhaps being a nephew or other relative, were it not that he appears in 1880 listed as a brother-in-law in the household of Charles Griffin (husband of Norman's sister Charlotte). He also appears in 1900 in the household of Leander Coffin (husband of Norman's sister Diana), though more ambiguously as a "boarder."
8. Ancestry.com's description of the database states: "In 1857, the state began requiring town clerks to create records of the previous year’s vital events and send them to the secretary of state. The state sent cards to cities and towns, where clerks filled them out with data extracted from their vital records and then sent them back.... There were also known gaps in early death records, and clerks were encouraged to fill these gaps with cemetery records [emphasis added]. You’ll find these among the records with dates prior to 1870 in this database."

Ahnentafel of Glenna M. (Rabideau) Murphy

Finishing up with my grandparents' Ahnentafels and pedigree charts, this week I have my maternal grandmother, Glenna Marie (Rabideau) Murphy.

Pedigree of Glenna Marie (Rabideau) Murphy (click image for a larger view)

1 Glenna Marie RABIDEAU. She was born in Milan, Coos, NH, on 22 May 1899. Died on 27 Apr 1968 in Dorchester, MA; she was 68. She was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery, Tewksbury, MA, on 21 Jun 1969. Cause of death: Heart attack.

She married William George MURPHY on 21 Oct 1922 in Littleton, NH.

2 Peter Louis RABIDEAU. He was born in Milan, Coos, NH, on 15 Apr 1870. Died on 15 Dec 1946 in Norway, ME; he was 76. He was buried in Milan, Coos, NH.

He married Eva May WOODWARD on 3 Nov 1894 in Berlin, Coos, NH.

3 Eva “Evie” May WOODWARD. She was born in Holland, VT, on 27 Jan 1871. Died on 24 Aug 1953 in Cumberland Center, ME; she was 82. She was buried in Milan, Coos, NH.

4 Louis RABIDEAU. He was born in Arthabaska, QC, on 23 Apr 1850. Died aft 1913; he was 62.

He married Marie Célina CLOUTIER aft 25 Sep 1869.

5 Marie Célina CLOUTIER. She was born in poss St. Christophe, QC, ca 1849-52. Died on 24 Jan 1881 in Berlin, Coos, NH; she was 32.

6 Uriah Sawyer WOODWARD. He was born in Danville, VT, on 10 Mar 1847. Died on 7 Mar 1881 in Holland, VT; he was 33. He was buried in Dummer, Coos, NH, in Mar 1881. He was buried in Milan, Coos, NH, in 1908.

He married Mary A. WASHBURN on 12 Apr 1867 in Morgan, VT.

7 Mary A. WASHBURN. She was born in Milton, Shefford, QC, on 27 Feb 1831. Died on 19 May 1917 in Dummer, Coos, NH; she was 86.

8 Louis ROBIDAS. He was born in Trois-Rivieres or Pointe-du-Lac, QC, ca Oct 1832. Died on 27 Nov 1921 in Sherbrooke, QC; he was 89. He was buried in St-Michel, Sherbrooke, QC, on 29 Nov 1921. Occupation: cultivateur.

He married Marie Pauline DESHAIES-ST CYR on 4 Jun 1849 in St. Norbert d’Arthabaska, QC.

9 Marie Pauline DESHAIES-ST CYR. She was born in Nicolet, Nicolet, QC, on 24 Oct 1829. Died on 10 May 1895 in Bromptonville, QC; she was 65. She was buried in Sainte-Praxède-de-Brompton-Falls, Bromptonville, QC, on 11 May 1895.

12 Royal WOODWARD. He was born in VT ca 1802-1808. Died in Oct 1879 in Phillipsburg, KS. Cause of death: Renal dropsy.

He married Mary Hawley SAWYER on 28 Sep 1831 in Danville, VT.

13 Mary Hawley SAWYER. She was born in Danville, VT, on 30 May 1815. Died aft 1870 in poss VT or KS; she was 54.

14 Samuel Orcutt WASHBURN. He was born in Sutton, VT, on 5 May 1798. Died 22 Jan 1855 in Holland, VT; he was 56.

He married Mary PALMATEER ca 1830 in poss NY or Canada.

15 Mary PALMATEER. She was born in Salisbury, VT, on 19 Jan 1812. Died on 3 Apr 1879 in Holland, VT or Dummer, NH; she was 67.

16 Jean-Baptiste ROBIDAS. He was born in Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, QC, on 16 Dec 1787. Died 14 Jun 1854 in Stanfold (Princeville), Arthabaska, QC; he was 66. He was buried in Saint-Eusèbe-de-Stanfold, Arthabaska, QC, on 17 Jun 1854.

He married Divine Louise “Ludivine” GIRARDEAU on 21 Nov 1814 in Pointe-du-Lac, Mauricie, QC.

17 Divine Louise “Ludivine” GIRARDEAU. She was born in Pointe-du-Lac, Mauricie, QC, on 13 Oct 1790. Died ca May 1875 in QC; she was 84. She was buried on 9 May 1875.

18 Jean-Baptiste DESHAIES-ST CYR.

He married Victoire LEMIRE on 5 Feb 1828 in St-Jean-Baptiste, Nicolet, Nicolet, QC.

19 Victoire LEMIRE.

26 Benjamin SAWYER. He was born ca 1780.

He married Elizabeth “Betsy” TAYLOR.

27 Elizabeth “Betsy” TAYLOR.

28 Jeremiah WASHBURN. He was born ca 1770.

He married Hannah ORCUTT in 1794 in Billymead (later Sutton), VT.

29 Hannah ORCUTT. She was born in Billymead (later Sutton), VT, in 1775.

30 John PALMATEER.

He married Mary CONNOR.

31 Mary CONNOR.

Index

CLOUTIER
    Marie Célina (ca1849 - 1881)    5
CONNOR
    Mary    31
DESHAIES-ST CYR
    Jean-Baptiste    18
    Marie Pauline (1829 - 1895)    9
GIRARDEAU
    Divine Louise “Ludivine” (1790 - ca1875)    17
LEMIRE
    Victoire    19
MURPHY
    William George (1886 - 1946)    spouse of 1
ORCUTT
    Hannah (1775 - )    29
PALMATEER
    John    30
    Mary (1812 - 1879)    15
RABIDEAU
    Glenna Marie (1899 - 1968)    1
    Louis (1850 - >1913)    4
    Peter Louis (1870 - 1946)    2
ROBIDAS
    Jean-Baptiste (1787 - ?1854)    16
    Louis (ca1832 - 1921)    8
SAWYER
    Benjamin (ca1780 - )    26
    Mary Hawley (1815 - >1870)    13
TAYLOR
    Elizabeth “Betsy”    27
WASHBURN
    Jeremiah (ca1770 - )    28
    Mary A. (1831 - 1917)    7
    Samuel Orcutt (1798 - ?1855)    14
WOODWARD
    Eva “Evie” May (1871 - 1953)    3
    Royal (ca1802 - 1879)    12
    Uriah Sawyer (1847 - 1881)    6

52 Ancestors: #13, Eva May (Woodward) (Taylor) Rabideau

Eva May "Evie" Woodward, my great-grandmother, was born 27 Jan 1871, in Holland, Vermont, the third of six children of Uriah Sawyer Woodward and Mary Washburn.¹ Not long after her birth, Uriah and Mary moved to Dummer, Coos County, New Hampshire, where Eva first appears in the 1880 census.²

1880 U.S. census, Dummer, Coos, N.H., Uriah Woodward household

On 6 Sep 1887, Eva married David Taylor in the nearby town of Milan.³ They lived in Dummer and had a son, Ernest, in 1892, but in 1894 she sued for divorce,⁴ receiving custody of Ernest.

David Taylor–Eva Woodward marriage, 1887, Milan, N.H.

David Taylor–Eva Taylor divorce, 1894, N.H.

Eva married Peter Louis Rabideau in Berlin, New Hampshire, on 3 Nov 1894.⁵

Peter L. Rabideau-Evie M. Taylor marriage, 1894, Berlin, N.H.

Eva and Peter lived in Milan for over 25 years, raising Eva's son Ernest and their three daughters (Ermine, Glenna, and Thelma).^{6, 7} The three oldest had married and left home by 1920.⁸

Peter L. and Eva M. (Woodward) Rabideau, date unknown⁹

1900 U. S. Census, Milan, Coos, N.H., Peter L. Rabideau household

1910 U. S. Census, Milan, Coos, N.H., Peter L. Rabideau household

1920 U. S. Census, Milan, Coos, N.H., Peter L. Rabideau household

Thelma also married in 1923, but that didn't leave Eva with an empty nest. In 1922 daughter Glenna had divorced her first husband and remarried – with custody of her three-year-old son, Wilfred Thibeault, going to his grandmother Eva.¹⁰ By 1930, Eva and Peter had moved to Dummer with their grandson.¹¹ Daughter Ermine and her husband and two children were by then living in Norway, Maine, and around 1934, Eva, Peter, and Wilfred relocated to Norway.¹² There, Wilfred met Elizabeth "Babe" Perry/Poirier and married her in 1939; in 1940 the newlyweds were still living with the Rabideaus.¹³

1930 U. S. Census, Dummer, Coos, N.H., Peter L. Rabideau household

1940 U. S. Census, Norway, Oxford, Maine, Peter L. Rabideau household

Eva and Peter Rabideau, probably in Norway, Maine, July 1940¹⁴

Child of Eva Woodward and David Taylor:

1. Ernest Taylor, b. Feb 1892, married Erma Twitchell

Children of Eva Woodward and Peter Louis Rabideau:

1. Ermine Mona Rabideau, b. 1897, married Howard E. Tyler
2. Glenna Marie Rabideau, b. 1899, married (1) John Thibeault, (2) William G. Murphy, (3) Paul Costanza, (4) William Anderson
3. Thelma J. Rabideau, b. 1905, married (1) Glenn Swan, (2) Earl Brann

Eva M. Rabideau obituary, 1953

Peter and Eva remained in Norway until Peter's death in 1946.¹⁵ Eva apparently returned to Milan sometime after his death,¹⁶ then, around 1951, moved to the home of her grandson Wilfred, in Cumberland Center, Maine, where she died 24 Aug 1953.¹⁷ Eva and Peter are buried together in Hillcrest Cemetery in Milan.¹⁸

My descent from Eva May Woodward:

• Eva May Woodward + Peter Louis Rabideau
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy (my maternal grandparents)

Peter L. and Eva M. Rabideau gravestone, Hillcrest Cemetery, Milan, N.H.

(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. "Eva M. Rabideau" obituary, Lewiston (Maine) Evening Journal, 25 Aug 1953, p. 2; digital images, Google News Archive (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=oQQVFBP0nzwC : accessed 28 May 2013). Gives her date of birth and parents' names. The place of birth is given incorrectly as Milan, N.H.; her census and marriage records all note her birthplace as Vermont (the record of her marriage to Peter specifies Holland, Vt.).
2. 1880 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Dummer, ED 38, p. 4D, dwelling 32, family 33, Uriah Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012). 
3. “New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947,” database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Mar 2014), David Taylor-Evie Woodward marriage, 1887.
4. “New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947,” David Taylor-Evie M. Taylor divorce, 1894.
5. “New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947,” Peter L. Rabideau-Evie M. Taylor marriage, 1894.
6. 1900 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Milan, ED 268, aheet 4B, dwelling 85, family 86, Peter L. Rabideau household; digital images, ProQuest, HeritageQuest Online (access through participating libraries : accessed 9 Dec 2010). 
7. 1910 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Milan, ED 67, aheet 3A, dwelling 33, family 34, Peter L. Rabideau household; digital images, ProQuest, HeritageQuest Online (access through participating libraries : accessed 9 Dec 2010).
8. 1920 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Milan, ED 53, aheet 3B, dwelling 58, family 60, Peter L. "Rabadeau" household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Mar 2014).
9. Dummer Bicentennial Committee, History of Dummer, New Hampshire, 1773-1973 (Dummer, N.H.: Dummer Bicentennial Committee, 1973), p. 52.  
10. Divorce decree, Glenna M. Thibault vs. John W. Thibault (5 Sep 1922), Colebrook, Coos County, New Hampshire; Kirk-Murphy Family Collection, photocopy of original privately held by the author, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Whereabouts of the original is unknown. “Glenna M. Thibault of Berlin ... Libellant against John W. Thibault of said Berlin Libellee ... Custody of Wilfred Thibault committed to Eva Rabideau of Milan, N.H. ...”
11. 1930 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Dummer, ED 4-27, sheet 3A, p. 279 (stamped), dwelling 36, family 78, Peter L. Rabideau household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 7 Aug 2012).
12. "Peter L. Rabideau" obituary, Lewiston (Maine) Daily Sun, 17 Dec 1946, p. 2; digital images, Google News Archive (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=IT5EXw6i2GUC : accessed 28 May 2013); states "He came here [Norway] 12 years ago from Milan."
13. 1940 U.S. Census, Oxford County, Maine, Norway, ED 9-38, sheet 9B, household 205, Peter L. Rabideau household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Apr 2012).
14. Photo of Eva and Peter Rabideau, probably in Norway, Maine, July 1940; Kirk-Murphy Family Collection, privately held by the author, Virginia Beach, Virginia. This photo came from a photo album compiled by one of the Rabideaus' granddaughters, the author's mother, from whom she inherited the album in 1993. The "July 1940" date is in her handwriting.
15. "Peter L. Rabideau" obituary.
16. "Norway News Briefs" column, Portland (Maine) Press Herald, 12 Sep 1950, p. 25; digital images, NewpaperArchive (http://newspaperarchive.com/portland-press-herald/1950-09-12/page-25 : accessed 13 Jan 2014); "Mrs. Eva Rabideau of Milan, N. H., formerly of Norway, is visiting her grandson, Ronald Tyler and Mrs. Tyler."
17. "Eva M. Rabideau" obituary.
18. Hillcrest Cemetery (Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire), Peter L. and Eva M. Rabideau marker, read and photographed by the author, 11 Oct 2013.

52 Ancestors: #9, Uriah Sawyer Woodward

Uriah Sawyer Woodward, my great great grandfather, was born circa 1846-47¹ in Danville, Caledonia County, Vermont,² the seventh of eight children of Royal Woodward³ and Mary Hawley Sawyer. He first appears as 4-year-old "Uri" in the 1850 census,⁴ and again at 13 in 1860 (not shown).⁵

1850 U.S. Census, Danville, Caledonia, Vermont, Royal Woodward household

 He appears to have lied about his age, claiming to be 18 – he would actually have been only about 16, or at most 17 – when he enlisted as a private in the Vermont Third Battery Light Artillery on 28 Oct 1863. He mustered in on 1 Jan 1864, and mustered out on 15 Jun 1865.⁶ Eventually, on 1 May 1886, his widow would file for a pension based on his Civil War service.⁷

Excerpt from the Roster of Volunteers, Report of the Adjutant & Inspector General of the State of Vermont, 1863-1866

Pension index card for Uriah S. Woodward

Uriah was a farmer, first in Holland, Orleans County, Vermont,⁸ and later in Dummer, Coös County, New Hampshire.⁹ He married Mary A. (Washburn) Yates in Morgan, Orleans, Vermont, on 12 Apr 1867.¹⁰ (Although the date on the card appears to be 1869, the bride index card clearly says 1867 – and given the birth dates of the two oldest children, below, we will hope that 1867 is correct.)

Groom index card for marriage of Uriah S. Woodward and Mary Yates, 1867

They had six children:

1. Edward S. Woodward, b. ca 1868
2. Flora A. Woodward, b. 13 Apr 1869
3. Eva May "Evie" Woodward, b. 27 Jan 1871
4. George W. Woodward, b. 21 Apr 1873
5. Charles W. Woodward, b. 2 Nov 1874
6. Fred Uriah Woodward, b. 9 Oct 1876

1870 U.S. Census, Holland, Orleans, Vermont, Uriah Woodard household

1880 U.S. Census, Dummer, Coös, New Hampshire, Uriah Woodward household

Application for disinterment
of Uriah S. Woodward, 1908

Although still residing in Dummer in 1880, Uriah died in Holland, Vermont, on 7 Mar 1881. Nevertheless, he was buried in New Hampshire – twice. He was originally interred in the Willis Cemetery in Dummer, but in 1908, his youngest son, Fred, had his father exhumed¹¹ and reburied in a Woodward-Yates family plot in Hillcrest Cemetery in Milan.¹²

The cause of death on the disinterment record is hard to make out (due to both poor handwriting and, apparently, worse spelling), but appears to be "Earsiplas on the [Bone? Face?]" – at a guess, this might be erysipelas.

My descent from Uriah S. Woodward:

• Uriah Sawyer Woodward + Mary Washburn
• Eva May Woodward + Peter Louis Rabideau
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy (my maternal grandparents)

  

Uriah S. Woodward grave marker

  

Woodward side of Woodward-Yates monument,
Hillside Cemetery, Milan, New Hampshire

(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. This is based on his given age in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses, and on his marriage record; the 1859 census places his birth year at 1846, and the other three sources at 1847. I find it hard to credit the implied birth in 1842 (from 1880 census) or 1843 (from his disinterment record and grave marker), when his age was given so consistently in the early censuses. See footnotes below for details of these sources.  
2. “Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954,” index and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 1 Apr 2012), groom index card for Uriah S Woodward-Mary Yates marriage, 1867; citing Secretary of State, Vermont vital records, State Capitol Building, Montpelier, Vermont.
3. Ibid.
4. 1850 U.S. Census, Caledonia County, Vermont, Walden, p. 579 (penned), p. 289 (stamped), dwelling 457, family 453, Royal Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
5. 1860 U.S. Census, Caledonia County, Vermont, Walden, p. 65, dwelling 1, family 1, Royal Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
6. Report of the Adjutant & Inspector General of the State of Vermont, From Oct. 1, 1864, to Oct. 1, 1865 (Montpelier, Vt.: Walton's Steam Printing Establishment, 1865), Appendix D, Roster of Vermont Volunteers, p. 393; "Report of the Adjutant & Inspector General of the State of Vermont, 1863-1866," database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Mar 2014), image 841.
7. “Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934,” database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Feb 2014), Uriah S. Woodward, filed 1 May 1886; citing NARA publication T288.
8. 1870 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Holland, p. 8, dwelling 57, family 62, Uriah "Woodard" household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
9. 1880 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Dummer, ED 38, p. 4 (penned) D (printed), dwelling 32, family 33, Uriah Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
10. “Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954”, groom index card for Uriah S Woodward-Mary Yates marriage, 1867.
11. “New Hampshire, Death and Disinterment Records, 1754-1947,” database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Feb 2014), application for disinterment of Uriah S. Woodward, 1908 (death 1881).
12. Hillcrest Cemetery, Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire, Uriah S. Woodward marker and Woodward-Yates monument, read and photographed by the author, 11 Oct 2013.