Peter Louis Rabideau: 52 Ancestors #69

Peter Louis Rabideau, ca. 1925

Having tried the 52 Ancestors "weekly prompt" approach, I've decided it just doesn't work for me. Casting about for a different inspiration, I noted that Randy Seaver (Genea-Musings) based his 52 Ancestors series on his Ahnentafel. I've compared my blog post list with my Ahnentafel, and found that I've blogged about everyone through my great-grandparents (with one exception), and about most of my male immigrant ancestors (some of whom are 10th and 11th great-grandfathers), but in between... well, there are a lot of gaps. So I'm going to try working through my Ahnentafel and filling in the generations, starting with that overlooked great-grandfather with Ahnentafel #14.

Peter Louis Rabideau, the first child of Louis Robida and Celina Cloutier, was born 15 April 1870, probably at his parents' home in Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire. He was baptised "Louis" on 11 July that year at Saint-Michel-de-Sherbrooke Parish, Sherbrooke, Quebec, with his paternal grandparents Louis Robida and Marie St. Cyr as godparents.¹

Baptismal record for Louis Robida

He grew up in Milan and Berlin, N.H., and attended school through the eighth grade.² He was not quite 11, and had three younger sisters, when his mother Celina died in January 1881. His father quickly remarried, to Marie Beatrice Croteau, and over the next seven years young Louis acquired three half-brothers.

"Loi" Rabida household, 1880 U.S. Census, Berlin, Coos, New Hampshire

Judging by the censuses, he seems to have been called just Louis (or Lewis) during his childhood.³ Perhaps that name caused confusion as he got older, with both his father and grandfather also being named Louis; when he married Eva (Woodward) Taylor in Berlin on 3 November 1894, it was as Peter L. Rabideau, the name he used for the rest of his life.⁴

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

Peter and Eva lived in Milan for over 25 years, where they raised Eva's son Ernest Taylor, from her first marriage; their three daughters, Ermine, Glenna, and Thelma; and finally, their grandson Wilfred Thibeault, Glenna's son by her first marriage. Peter was enumerated as a day laborer in 1900 and a farmer in 1910-1930, though his obituary called him "a carpenter by trade."⁵

Children of Peter Louis Rabideau and Eva Woodward:

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

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

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

Eva (Woodward) and Peter L. Rabideau, July 1940, probably Norway, Maine

In 1930, Peter and Eva were living in nearby Dummer, N.H., with their grandson,⁶ and around 1934, they relocated to Norway, Maine,⁷ where their married daughter Ermine lived. By the time of his death on 16 December 1946, Peter had been ill for eight years and bedridden for three.⁸ He was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Milan,⁹ to be joined by Eva in 1953.

My descent from Peter Louis Rabideau:

• Peter Louis Rabideau + Eva May Woodward
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy
• Kathleen Marie Murphy + Roger Kirk (my parents)

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

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SOURCES

1. Saint-Michel-de-Sherbrooke Parish (Sherbrooke, Quebec), Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1869-1874, pp. 140-141, baptism 146, Louis Robida, 1870; digital images, “Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1900,” FamilySearch, (https://familysearch.org : accessed 18 May 2012).
2. 1870 U.S. census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Milan, p. 17 (penned) 135 (stamped), dwelling 137, family 130, Lewis Rabideau household; 1880 U.S. census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Berlin, ED 29, p. 2-B, dwelling 11, family 16, Loi Rabida household; both as digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2014).
3. Ibid.
4. “New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947,” database and digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Mar 2014), Peter L. Rabideau-Evie M. Taylor marriage, 1894.
5. 1900 U.S. census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Milan, ED 268, aheet 4B, dwelling 85, family 86, Peter L. Rabideau household; 1910 U.S. census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Milan, ED 67, aheet 3A, dwelling 33, family 34, Peter L. Rabideau household; both as digital images, ProQuest, HeritageQuest Online (access through participating libraries : accessed 9 Dec 2010). Also, 1920 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Milan, ED 53, aheet 3B, dwelling 58, family 60, Peter L. "Rabadeau" household; 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; both as digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Mar 2014).
6. 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.
7. "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). Also, 1940 U.S. Census, Oxford County, Maine, Norway, ED 9-38, sheet 9B, household 205, Peter L. Rabideau household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Apr 2012).
8. "Peter L. Rabideau" obituary.
9. Hillcrest Cemetery (Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire), Peter L. and Eva M. Rabideau marker, read and photographed by the author, 11 Oct 2013.
10. Photos of Peter Louis Rabideau (ca 1925) and of Eva (Woodward and Peter L. Rabideau (July 1940); Kirk-Murphy Family Collection, privately held by the author, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

52 Ancestors: #41, Nathaniel Woodward Sr. and Jr., Father and Son Carpenters

In my Woodward line, I can't really say I have an immigrant ancestor; I actually have two immigrant ancestors: my eleventh and tenth great grandfathers, Nathaniel Woodward and his namesake son.¹

Nathaniel Woodward Sr. was born in England, say 1587. Judging from the ages of his sons, he must have married in England around 1610. No details are known about his first wife, who died by 1635, and probably before he came to Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, about 1633. Around 1638, he married Margaret Jackson.

Nathaniel had at least three sons, possibly four, all born in England, by his first wife:

1. Nathaniel Jr., b. ca 1613
2. John, b. ca 1615
3. Robert, b. ca 1618
4. Ezekiel, b. ca 1622 (parentage not certain)

Nathaniel had one daughter with his second wife Margaret Jackson:

5. Prudence, b. ca 1638, probably Boston, married Christopher Mosse

He was a carpenter by trade, but also worked as a surveyor running boundary lines, including those between Massachusetts Bay Colony and its neighbors, Plymouth Colony and Connecticut, and was sometimes called a "mathematician." By 1661 he and his wife Margaret had sold all of his property in Boston. It isn't known whether they went to live with one of the sons, or perhaps returned to England, and they don't appear in any records after a deed executed in 18 July 1661.

Nathaniel Woodward Jr. was born in England about 1613 and emigrated to Boston with his father around 1633. His first wife was Mary Jackson of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. It's uncertain whether he married her in Old England or New England, but likely the latter, around 1640, when she was admitted to the Boston church as "Mary Woodward the wife of our Brother Nathaniell [sic] Woodward."

About 1648, they removed to Taunton, Massachusetts. By 1655, Mary had died, and Nathaniel Jr. returned to Boston for a time. By 1664 he had married Katherine ______ and moved back to Taunton.

Nathaniel Jr. had five children with Mary Jackson:

1. [unknown child], b. before Aug 1642, Boston
2. Elisha, b. 1644, Boston,
3. Nathaniel, b. 1646, Boston
4. Israel, b. ca 1648, Boston
5. John, b. ca 1650, Taunton

Nathaniel Jr. had one child with Katherine ______:

6. James, b. say 1665, Taunton

Like his father, Nathaniel Jr. was a carpenter. (It's also possible that he was the surveyor, and not his father, but it's difficult to sort out the records for the two Nathaniels.) Both Nathaniel Jr. and his wife Katherine died sometime after 14 September 1686, when they deeded property to their son James. The deed was acknowledged by the witnesses on 1 February 1694/5, which probably means that Nathaniel and Katherine had both died by that date.

My descent from Nathaniel Woodward, Sr.:

• Nathaniel Woodward Sr. + ______ ______
• Nathaniel Woodward Jr. + Mary Jackson
• John Woodward + Sarah Crossman
• John Woodward + Deborah [Thayer?]
• Thomas Woodward + Anne Young
• Nathaniel Woodward + Mary Brittain
• Jeptha Woodward + ______ ______ [some uncertainty here – see footnote²]
• Apollos Woodward + Rachel Runnels/Reynolds
• Royal W. Woodward + Mary Hawley Sawyer
• Uriah Sawyer Woodward + Mary Washburn
• 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. Most of the details here are from Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols. (Boston: NEHGS, 1995), pp. 2061-4, Nathaniel Woodward [Jr.]; database and digital images, NEHGS, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 8 Oct 2014). Some of the details concerning Nathaniel Sr. are from a photocopy of several pages of a typescript publication, unidentified but quite likely Harold Edward Woodward, Some Descendants of Nathaniel Woodward Who Came from England to Boston About 1630 (Boston: 1984).
2. The linkage Nathaniel > Jeptha > Apollos is still somewhat uncertain. It is possible, though not as likely, that Apollos was the son of Nathaniel's son Benjamin rather than Jeptha; it is also just barely possible that Apollos was actually the youngest son of Nathaniel himself. But the line through Jeptha and an unknown first wife (according to family lore, possibly an Indian woman, but I take all such claims with a large fistful of salt) seemed the most likely possibility to my late brother, Marshall Kirk (unpublished research, ca 1998-9).

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.

When was Uriah S. Woodward born?

In my most recent "52 Ancestors" post, I gave Uriah Sawyer Woodward's date of birth as "circa 1846-47", with this explanatory footnote:

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.

Now, anyone researching this Woodward line is almost certain to have noticed numerous online family trees giving an exact birth date for Uriah of 10 Mar 1844 (or, in some cases, 1843).¹ So why didn't I take this into account in my estimate? Well, in fact, I did take it into account – but I don't believe either date is correct, and I didn't want to add a lengthy explanation to an already lengthy post. So here is the full explanation.

To begin with, these ubiquitous dates are universally presented without any source or documentation. Almost certainly, the vast majority were simply copied from another (unsourced) online tree. Oddly enough, I found that a pedigree chart prepared by my late brother, Marshall K. Kirk (who had done extensive research into our Woodward line), had the same 10 Mar 1844 birth date, without explanation.² A painstaking and meticulous researcher, my brother could not have pulled this date out of thin air, yet none of the extant public records appear to have a birth date for Uriah. Where did he get it? After digging through my brother's voluminous research papers, I believe I have discovered the ultimate source of this information.

Around 1989-90, Gertrude F. Woodward (Uriah's granddaughter) provided my brother with a typed "family record" (with some handwritten additions) of the Woodward and Washburn families, which included exact dates of birth for most of the named individuals.³ It was evidently prepared by Gertrude's older brother, Bernard C. Woodward, sometime before 7 Mar 1960, when he mailed it to their mother, Mrs. Althea L. (Hawkins) Woodward, wife of Uriah's son Fred. My brother photocopied the document before returning it to Gertrude, and then transcribed and annotated it. While she was unable to tell him anything further about its origins, he believed it may have been derived from a family Bible record, and his analysis states:

That it is an authentic family record, and not the product of ex post facto research, is made likely by the very wide territory covered by the Samuel Washburn family, and the impossibility – as I can attest – of gleaning all the above data from public records. A year's work, however... has shown that all statements in the record that could be checked against public records were, in the main, correct. (Where discrepancies occur, they are minor – as, for example, in exact dates...).⁴

This family record gives the birth date of Uriah S. Woodward as "Mar. 10, 1844." Given its pre-1960 provenance, this document is almost certainly the ultimate origin, then, of the unsourced birth date found in so many online family trees. To my knowledge, my brother never published an online tree, but he undoubtedly had shared this information with other active researchers and relatives of the Woodward line, one or more of whom may well have published the information sans source. (The 10 Mar 1843 date is most likely a simple adjustment based on Uriah's gravestone.)

Which still begs the question, why don't I believe either of these dates? The answer lies in the apparent accuracy of the birth dates of Uriah's siblings compared to the census records. The table below lists the birth dates of Royal and Mary Woodward's children given in the family record sheet, along with the ages and calculated birth years where I was able to locate census records.^5-11 (I calculated the birth year from each census based on the assumption that the birth month in the family record was correct, i.e., an age of 7 in the 1860 census implies a birth year of 1853 if the birth month is before the census month, but 1852 if the birth month is after the census month.)

Birth dates of children of Royal and Mary (Sawyer) Woodward from family record
vs. ages and calculated years of birth from census records.

The ages given in the earlier censuses for each child are likely to be the most accurate. Looking at the ages from the first two censuses found for each child, we find that – with the notable exception of Uriah – in every case the calculated birth year is the same as, or at most one year off from, the birth date in the family record. What are the chances that the informant would be able to report the ages of the other children so accurately, but then report a 6-year-old as 4, or a 16-year-old as 13 (with the same child being the sole discrepancy each time)? I have to conclude that Uriah's given ages of 4 and 13 (and calculated birth years of 1846 or 1847) were equally as accurate as those of his siblings, and that the 1844 birth date in the family record is incorrect.

The simplest explanation for this one glaring discrepancy may be a simple typographical error; or, assuming that the typed family record was a transcription of a handwritten record such as a Bible record, the transcriber may simply have misread a handwritten 7 as a 4, not a far-fetched possibility when you look at some typical examples of the number "7" as written in contemporary census records:

Some "7" characters from mid-19th century census records

If either of these explanations is correct, then Uriah's actual birth date is probably 10 Mar 1847 – exactly what we could expect from those early census ages.

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SOURCES

1. See, for example, “Public Member Trees,” database, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1030), results of search for Uriah Woodward, born 1843.
2. Marshall K. Kirk, comp., Ancestry of Kathleen Murphy Kirk, ca 1990; Kirk-Murphy Family Charts, privately held by Kathy Kirk McCracken, Virginia Beach, Virginia. 
3. Bernard C. Woodward, comp., Washburn-Yates-Woodward family record (typescript with handwritten additions, ca 1960); photocopies privately held by Kathy Kirk McCracken, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Originally mailed to Mrs. Althea L. Woodward (Mr. Woodward's mother) in 1960, the document was privately held by Gertrude F. Woodward (Mr. Woodward's sister) in 1989, when she supplied it, and the original postmarked mailing envelope, to Marshall K. Kirk for photocopying; the current owner of the photocopies inherited them in 2005 from Mr. Kirk. The current owner and location of the original document are unknown.
4. Marshall K. Kirk, NEHGS Enquiries Service, "Woodward-Washburn Family Record" (typescript with handwritten notes, ca 1990); Marshall K. Kirk Research Files, privately held by Kathy Kirk McCracken, Virginia Beach, Virginia. This draft of an unfinished transcription/annotation of the Bernard C. Woodward family record (see note 3) includes Kirk's evaluation of the document as "an authentic family record".
5. 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).
6. 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).
7. 1870 U.S. Census, Caledonia County, Vermont, Walden, p. 4, dwelling 32, family 27, Royal Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
8. 1870 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Holland, p. 8, dwellings 56-57, families 61-62, John S. Woodward and Uriah "Woodard" households; 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. 1860 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Barton, pp. 187-8, dwellings 1482-83, families 1479-80, Wm. S. Allard and "Ellen" S. Woodward households; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Mar 2014). Nancy J. Allard is is Nancy Woodward.
11. 1870 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Barton, p. 36, dwelling 285, family 323, Eben S. "Wooward" household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Mar 2014). 
12. 1880 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Barton, ED 150, p. 25 (penned), dwelling 201, family 214, Eben S. Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Mar 2014). 

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.