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.

Abigail (Faulkner) Kirkpatrick: 52 Ancestors #70

Abigail Faulkner, my 2nd great-grandmother on my direct paternal line and #17 on my Ahnentafel chart, was born 14 October 1808 in Maitland (part of what was then Douglas Township), Hants County, Nova Scotia.¹

Map of Hants County, N.S., 1878.² Maitland (in blue, NE corner) was split off from Douglas Twp. ~1835.

Abigail married Jabez Bradbury Kirkpatrick (later Kirk) on 13 Nov 1825,³ probably in Warren, Maine.

Although I have, elsewhere on this blog, named Edward and Margaret (Morrison) Faulkner as Abigail's parents, recent closer examination of my late brother's research files indicates that this was an early tentative hypothesis he had made, and that there is conflicting evidence he had not resolved. However, it seems certain that her father must have been one of the sons of Robert and Hannah (Faulkner) Faulkner, who were found in Douglas Township in an 1817 census of Hants County.⁴

Two other Faulkners near in age to Abigail are found in Warren in the mid-1880s, and are very likely her siblings. Olive Faulkner, born ca 1804 in Nova Scotia, married Philip Montgomery of Warren about 1824. The Montgomerys were closely linked with the Kirkpatricks: Philip and Olive named two of their sons Jabez K. and Silas K. (almost certainly for Jabez himself and his deceased brother), another son William married Jabez's daughter Eliza Jane, and both men were shipwrights who were almost certainly associated in the ship-building business. Also, a William Faulkner, born between 1800 and 1810, appeared briefly in Warren, in the 1840 census and in 1839-40 as a co-owner (with G. Boggs) of the brig Maumee, built by Philip Montgomery. None of these three Faulkners have been "placed" in a known Hants County Faulkner family, but the names given to several of Abigail's and Olive's children do suggest a close association to the Edward and Margaret (Morrison) Faulkner noted above. It's possible that Edward's brother William, who is supposed to have died unmarried, actually had a family after all.⁵

Abigail and Jabez had five children:

1. Silas (1827-1909), m. Sarah C. Sukeforth (my great-grandparents)
2. Jane Elisa (1829-1909), m. William H. Montgomery
3. Samuel L. (1831-1873), no known marriage
4. Martha A. (1834-1834)
5. Harriet F. (1835-?), m. (1) John Anderson, (2) Thomas P. King

After raising their own children, Abigail and Jabez adopted the newborn daughter of her (presumed) sister Olive's sister-in-law, who died five days after the baby's birth. (Baby Georgianna Oliver was also the first cousin of Abigail's son-in-law William Montgomery, husband of Eliza Jane.)⁶

Abigail died on 4 October 1891, and was buried beside her husband Jabez, who had died seven years before, in Newcomb Cemetery in Warren.⁷

Gravestones of Jabez and Abigail (Faulkner) Kirk, Newcomb Cemetery, Warrent, Knox County, Maine

     

Gravestone of Abigail Kirk

Rest of inscription uncovered

My descent from Abigail (Faulkner) Kirkpatrick:

• Jabez Bradbury Kirk(patrick) and Abigail Faulkner
• Silas Kirk and Sarah Sukeforth
• Chester F. Kirk and Mary Milliken Hodsdon
• Roger Kirk + Kathleen Marie Murphy (my parents)

 

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SOURCES

1. Cyrus Eaton, Annals of the Town of Warren, in Knox County, Maine, Second Edition (Hallowell, Maine: Masters & Livermore, 1877), p. 567. Eaton's source for her date of birth is not given, but was most likely calculated from the age at death on her gravestone.
2. A.D. & W.B. Roe, "County of Hants, Nova Scotia," map from Atlas of the Maritime Provinces of the Dominion of Canada (Philadelphia: Roe Brothers, 1878), p. 55; digital image, David Rumsey Historical Map Collection (http://www.davidrumsey.com : downloaded 28 Jan 2019).
3. Eaton, p. 567.
4. Marshall K. Kirk, "Early Faulkners of Colchester and Hants Counties, Nova Scotia: Three Families" (typescript with handwritten notes, ca 2001); Marshall K. Kirk Research Files, privately held by Kathy Kirk McCracken, Virginia Beach, Virginia. 
5. Ibid.
6. Kathy Kirk McCracken, "52 Ancestors: #21, 'Great Grand Aunt' Georgianna: Real or 'Honorary' Aunt?," blog post, Pine Trees and Pedigrees (http://pinetreesandpedigrees.blogspot.com/2014/05/52-ancestors-21-great-grand-aunt.html : 27 May 2014).
7. Newcomb Cemetery (Warren, Knox County, Maine), Jabez B. Kirk and Abigail Kirk gravestones, read and photographed by the author, 14 Aug 2012. 

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.

Col. Thomas Starrett: 52 Ancestors #67

Thomas Starrett was born in 1738 in St. Georges Plantation (now Warren), Lincoln, Maine, the fourth of five children of William Starrett and Mary Gamble. He was about 7 years old when his father, one of the first settlers of the plantation, removed the family to Dedham, Massachusetts, for safety from Indian attacks on the plantation during the French and Indian wars.¹

Marriage of Thomas "Sterret" and Rebekah Lewis, 1762, Dedham, Mass.

Thomas grew up in Dedham, and on 3 June 1762, married Rebecca Lewis,² daughter of Isaac and Mary (Whiting) Lewis of Dedham.³ In 1763, with the wars finally over, he returned to Maine and settled on his father's farm on the western side of the river⁴ – lot 40 from the first assignment to the Georges River settlers.⁵ His father never returned from Dedham, and after his death in 1769, Thomas brought his mother to St. Georges, where he built her a house and provided for her care until she died in 1786.⁶ About 1772, Thomas sold lot 40 and purchased another farm on the eastern side of the river, where he lived out the rest of his life.⁷

Thomas was a deeply respected member of his community, involved throughout his life in business, government, military, and church affairs. He was a partner in the building of a sawmill in 1774;⁸ was granted a license as a retailer (of what is unstated) in 1789-90;⁹ and owned two ships – the sloop Union, launched in 1786,¹⁰ and (with Capt. John Spear) the first brig owned in Warren, the Speedwell, built 1791 and lost to a French privateer in 1799.¹¹

In 1775, with war looming, a committee of correspondence was formed in the town, with Thomas one of the members. As supplies were gathered, "Mr. Tho. Starrett [was ordered] to receive the drum and colors" and, along with others, received 14 lbs. of powder "for the defence of the inhabitants."¹² A captain in the militia, he was one of the "first company officers in the Upper town ... spontaneously elected by the people in 1775.... Under the auspices of Capt. Starrett... the military affairs of the place, were... conducted to the general satisfaction."¹³ He served under Col. Mason Wheaton and, upon Wheaton's retirement in 1785, was appointed Colonel in his place and was thereafter known generally as "Col. Starrett."¹⁴

The "upper town" of St. George's Plantation was incorporated as the Town of Warren in 1776. When the first town meeting was called in March 1777, Col. Starrett was elected as one of the first selectmen and assessors.¹⁵ For the next two decades he almost continually held office, variously as selectman, assessor, or town treasurer, and was the town's representative to the state legislature in 1781, 84, 85, and 92.¹⁶ When the town petitioned the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1793 to pass an act to regulate the fishery of the St. George's River falls, Thomas and Thomas Jr. were among the more than fifty signatories on the petition.¹⁷ (Eaton, alas, makes no mention of this in his Annals, so I have no idea whether their petition was successful or not.)

In 1795 a Congregational Church was established in Warren. Thomas Starrett was chosen as the first deacon of this church in 1796 and "for more than a quarter of a century exercised the office, and, by his piety and meekness, contributed much to its prosperity."¹⁸

Thomas and Rebecca had 12 children:¹⁹

1. Mary (1764-1848), m. John O'Brien
2. Thomas Jr. (1765-1844), m. Ann Kirkpatrick (daughter of John Kirkpatrick and Ann Bradbury)
3. Capt. William 3rd (1767-1834), m. (1) Jane Spear (daughter of Capt. John Spear and Agnes Lamb), (2) Martha McCarter
4. Isaac (1769-1830), m. Mary Spear (daughter of Capt. John Spear and Agnes Lamb)
5. Rebecca (1771-1852), m. Capt. John Spear 2d (son of Capt. John Spear and Agnes Lamb)
6. John (1773-1856), m. Margaret Fitzgerald
7. Margaret (1775-1855), m. Thomas Kirkpatrick (son of John Kirkpatrick and Ann Bradbury)
8. Nancy (1777-1834), m. John Kirkpatrick 2d (son of John Kirkpatrick and Ann Bradbury)
9. Sarah (1780-1854), m. Capt. Lemuel Andrews
10. Lewis (1783-1863), m. Mary Cole
11. Lucy (1786-1866), m. John McDowell
12. Elizabeth (1788-1875), m. Capt. Stephen Crowell Burgess

This illustrates how closely families could be intertwined at the time: three of the Starrett children married three Kirkpatrick siblings, while another three Starretts married three Spear siblings. (In later generations there were more Starrett-Kirkpatrick and Starrett-Spear intermarriages, and at least one Kirkpatrick-Spear marriage that I am aware of. I would imagine the DNA trail would be complicated.)

In 1790, 10 of the 12 children were still unmarried and presumably still in Thomas's household. The next two households in the census enumeration are married son Thomas Jr. and John "O'Bryan," husband of daughter Mary Starrett.²⁰

1790 U.S. census, Warren, Lincoln County, Maine, Thomas "Starret" household

Thomas Starrett died 31 January 1822 in Warren at age 83, and was buried in the Town Cemetery beside his wife.²¹ (Click on the photo to enlarge – the stone is very worn and difficult to read.)

Col. Thomas Starrett gravestone, Town Cemetery, Warren, Maine

My descent from Thomas Starrett (my 4x great-grandfather):

• Col. Thomas Starrett and Rebecca Lewis
• Nancy Starrett and John Kirkpatrick 2d
• Jabez Bradbury Kirk(patrick) and Abigail Faulkner
• Silas Kirk and Sarah Sukeforth
• Chester F. Kirk and Mary Milliken Hodsdon (my paternal grandparents)

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SOURCES

1. Greenleaf Cilley and Jonathan P. Cilley, The Mount Desert Widow: Genealogy of the Maine Gamble Family (Rockland, Maine: Knox County Historical and Genealogical Magazine, 1895), p. 131.
2. "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 10 Nov 2018) > Norfolk > Dedham > Births, marriages, deaths 1635-1853 > image 722 of 763; "Births, Deaths & Marriages 1635-1777," p. 223, marriage of Thomas "Sterret" and Rebekah Lewis, 3 Jun 1762.
3. Cilley and Cilley, p. 131.
4. Cyrus Eaton, Annals of the Town of Warren, in Knox County, Maine, Second Edition (Hallowell, Maine: Masters & Livermore, 1877), p. 135.
5. Cilley and Cilley, p. 131.
6. Ibid.
7. Eaton, p. 135.
8. Ibid., p. 178.
9. Ibid., p. 664.
10. Ibid., p. 673.
11. Ibid., p. 246.
12. Ibid., p. 169.
13. Ibid., p. 172.
14. Ibid., p. 231.
15. Ibid., p. 177.
16. Ibid., pp. 657-60.
17. "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 22, 1793," petition from inhabitants of Warren, Lincoln County, Eastern Herald (Portland, Maine), 17 Mar 1794, p. 3, cols. 3-4; database and images, GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 14 Feb 2016).
18. Eaton, pp. 261-2.
19. Ibid. pp. 624-5.
20. 1790 U.S. census, population schedule, Maine, Lincoln County, Warren, p. 324, lines 17-19, Thomas Starret, Thomas Starret Junr, and John O'Bryan households; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Aug 2015).
21. Town Cemetery (Warren, Knox County, Maine), Col. Thomas Starrett gravestone, read and photographed by the author, 6 Oct 2013.

Jabez Bradbury Kirkpatrick, Shipwright: 52 Ancestors #66

Jabez Bradbury Kirkpatrick was born 10 May 1800¹ in Warren, Lincoln County (now Knox County), Maine, the eldest of nine children of John Kirkpatrick 2nd and Nancy Starrett. Jabez was named after his great-great-uncle, Col. Jabez Bradbury, once commander of the garrison at the fort that had protected the settlement on the St. George River during the French and Indian Wars.²

On 13 November 1825, he married Abigail Faulkner, daughter of Edward and Margaret (Morrison) Faulkner of Nova Scotia.³ Their 59-year marriage must have been an unusually long one for that era to prompt Cyrus Eaton to note in his Annals of Warren that in 1875,

The fiftieth anniversary or golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Jabez Kirkpatrick was celebrated on the evening of Nov. 13th, by a gathering at their house and presentation of gifts.⁴

Jabez and Abigail had five children:

1. Silas (1827-1909), m. Sarah C. Sukeforth (my great-grandparents)
2. Jane Elisa (1829-1909), m. William H. Montgomery
3. Samuel L. (1831-1873), no known marriage
4. Martha A. (1834-1834)
5. Harriet F. (1835-?), m. (1) John Anderson, (2) Thomas P. King

1850 U.S. census, Warren, Lincoln Co., Maine, Jabez Kirk household

When their youngest was 14, a new baby joined the family. Elizabeth (Montgomery) Oliver, the sister-in-law of Abigail's sister Olive – and a close neighbor on the road to Andrews Point – died when her daughter Georgianna was only 5 days old, and the Kirkpatricks adopted the newborn.

By 1850 Jabez, like some of relatives, had dropped the "-patrick" from his surname and was henceforth known as Jabez B. Kirk.⁵ Unlike the others, who had petitioned the legislature for a legal name change, his family's change was informal.

Jabez was a shipwright⁶ and carpenter.⁷ Among the ships he built was the brig E. W. Denton, in 1851.⁸ (There were certainly many more, but in most cases the builders are identified only by surnames, e.g., Burgess & Kirk, Creighton & Kirk, so I'm not sure if this was Jabez or another member of the family.)

At various times Jabez served as a town selectman (1834-41) and assessor (1832-34, 1837-38),⁹ and in July 1838, he was charged by the town of Warren with taking a census for the purpose of distributing Federal funds refunded to the states. The population was 2,143.¹⁰

Jabez died at the age of 83 on 26 February 1884 in Warren, and was buried in Newcomb Cemetery.¹¹

Jabez B. Kirk gravestone, Newcomb Cemetery, Warren, Maine

My descent from Jabez Bradbury Kirkpatrick (my great-great-grandfather):

• Jabez Bradbury Kirk(patrick) and Abigail Faulkner
• Silas Kirk and Sarah Sukeforth
• Chester F. Kirk and Mary Milliken Hodsdon (my paternal grandparents)

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SOURCES

1. Cyrus Eaton, Annals of the Town of Warren, in Knox County, Maine, Second Edition (Hallowell, Maine: Masters & Livermore, 1877), p. 567.
2. Ibid., pp. 58, 115. 
3. Ibid., p. 567.
4. Ibid., p. 480.
5. 1850 U.S. census, Lincoln County, Maine, Warren, p. 3 (penned upper left), p. 167 (stamped), dwelling 17, family 18, Jabez Kirk household; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 10 Dec 2010).
6. Ibid.
7. 1860 U.S. census, Knox County, Maine, Warren, p. 317 (penned), dwelling 304, family 319, Jabez Kirk household; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 6 Mar 2012).
8. Eaton, p. 677.
9. Ibid., pp. 659, 661.
10. Ibid., p. 341.
11. Newcomb Cemetery (Warren, Knox County, Maine), Jabez B. Kirk gravestone, read and photographed by the author, 14 Aug 2012. 

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.

Who Was the Father of David Sukeforth's Wife Abigail? Part 2

Continued from Who Was the Father of David Sukeforth's Wife Abigail? Part 1

After discovering the Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection record (below) claiming that David Sukeforth's wife Abby J. was the daughter of Daniel B. Grinnell,¹ the first thing I did was check the Hale Collection cards for David and Daniel to see if they were likewise cross-referenced. Well, David's card listed "Abby J. wife" as expected, but Daniel B. Grinnell's card lists only "Sarah, wife" and "Elijah, son" – no mention of a daughter Abby buried nearby.²

Abby J. Sukeforth card, Miller Cemetery, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection

Going back to Abby's card, I noted that above the table of names are the headings "The following names also appear on stone, monument or in cemetery" and "These names are the following relationship to the above". Also, the instructions at the top of the card are to "note relationship only when on the stones" (emphasis added). (Oddly, neither of the boxes are checked to indicate that the listed names – David G Sukeforth and Daniel B Grinnell – have their own card.) Were the stated relationships actually on the stones? I went looking for the memorials on Find A Grave. (I already had my own photos of the Sukeforth gravestones, taken on a 2013 trip to Maine.)

Abby J. Suckforth gravestone

In short, Abby's gravestone reads "wife of David G. Suckforth", with no mention of any relationship to Daniel B. Grinnell.³ None of the three Find A Grave memorials^{4, 5} gives any indication that Abby might be a Grinnell. Furthermore, according to Miller's Appleton Register of Deaths, Daniel Briggs Grinnell, besides the son noted on the Hale Collection card and his Find A Grave memorial, had four daughters, none named Abigail and none married to a Sukeforth or a Fossett.⁶ Nor could I find any other record of an Abigail Grinnell. This seemed to be a dead end.

I decided to further investigate the two Thomas/Abigail Fossett couples in the 1850 census. I was still bothered by the fact that there was no sign of either couple in subsequent censuses; I couldn't even find Ellen Fossett from the Union census record. (By the way, I have yet to find any record of Thomas Fossett's death.) Then I was struck by Lydia E. Fossett's middle initial – could Lydia E. be Lydia Ellen?

Lydia was no longer with her mother and stepfather in 1870, so I assumed she probably had married. Yes – on 11 Mar 1868, Lydia E. Fossett married George L. Robbins, both of Appleton.⁷ Unfortunately, recording of parents' names had not yet begun (would have been nice to find Abigail's maiden name!), and her middle name is not given, but maybe if I followed Lydia and George I'd find some clue.

George L. Robbins-Lydia E. Fossett marriage, 11 Mar 1868, Appleton, Maine

Sure enough, in the 1870 census, right next door to David and Abigail, there was George R. [sic] Robbins and Ellen, 22, with a 5-month-old son Alton!⁸ Just to make sure I had the right George Robbins (his middle initial is wrong), I then checked 1880: eight households away from the now-widowed David (but still on the same page) is George L. Robbins, with wife Lydia, 32, son Alton C, 10, and daughter Allice, 6.⁹ Clearly, Lydia and Ellen are one and the same. From 1900 on, she is Lydia E.; after George's death in 1905,¹⁰ she is living wih her married daughter Alice in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Not until her death in 1933 do we find her name completely spelled out, as Lydia Ellen (Faucett [sic]) Robbins.¹¹

1870 U.S. census, Appleton, Knox County, Maine, David Suckforth and George R Robbins households

Having established that Lydia sometimes went by her middle name, Ellen, even as an adult, I finally concluded that the two Thomas Fossett households in 1850 were very likely a double-enumeration of the same family, nearly two months apart: Henry Fossett's household in Union was enumerated on 29 July,¹² while the Thomas Fossett household in Liberty wasn't counted until 17 September.¹³ Henry's wife had died the previous December, so it's plausible that his son and family were staying with him for a time before returning to their own home in Liberty. The discrepancies in Abigail's and Lydia/Ellen's ages can probably be explained by Henry being the informant for his own household. Most likely Abby was calling her daughter Ellen at the time (and Henry reported her as such), but gave the girl's formal name as Lydia E. when they were later enumerated in Liberty.

Thus it appears that David Sukeforth's wife really was the former Abigail Jane Sukeforth who married Thomas C. Fossett. A closer look at the 1850 Liberty census reveals that Michael and Sophronia (Bagley) Overlock were enumerated only three households before Thomas Fossett (I missed this initially because the Overlocks were on the previous page).¹⁴ So Abigail remained close to home after marrying Thomas.

The only remaining question is how on Earth the MOCA compilations got Abigail Overlock confused with the Grinnells. Only when I reviewed all the photos I took in Miller Cemetery did I come up with a possible explanation. In addition to individual closeups of David and Abby Sukeforth's and Michael and Sophronia Overlock's markers, I also took this wide shot of the Overlock markers with the Sukeforth markers visible behind them.¹⁵ Their proximity, and the identical style of the markers, further links the two families. It's also worth noting that Michael Overlock lived his whole life in Liberty, and there are no other Overlocks in Miller Cemetery except for two of Michael's sons, so their only apparent connection is through their daughter's marriage to David.

Michael and Sophronia Overlock gravestones with David and Abby Sukeforth stones behind,
Miller Cemetery, Appleton, Maine

What does all this have to do with the Grinnells? Well, take a closer look at the row of stones that includes the Sukeforths. At full enlargement, Abby's marker is clearly recognizable, with David's to the left, partially obscured by Michael Overlock's. And just to the left of that, the next stone reads "ELIJAH/SON OF/Daniel B. & Sarah Grinnell." Apparently, the Grinnell lot is directly adjacent to the Overlock/Sukeforth lot.

Detail of Michael Overlock gravestone showing markers for Elijah Grinnell, David Sukeforth, and Abby Sukeforth behind
(click on the image to enlarge)

While there is no overall shot of the Grinnell lot on Find A Grave, comparison of the backgrounds of individual photos of Daniel's, his wife's, and Elijah's markers¹⁶ with the overall shot of the Overlock lot indicates that the row of markers from left to right is probably Daniel Grinnell, Sarah Grinnell, Elijah Grinnell, David Sukeforth, and Abby Sukeforth. The MOCA volunteer reading the gravestones, not realizing that the Sukeforths actually belonged with the Overlocks in front of them (and apparently missing the clues in the gravestone styles – the Grinnell markers look nothing like the Overlock/Sukeforth markers), must have made an unwarranted assumption about Abby's parentage based on this sequence, and ignored the instructions to record only what was on the stones.

Lesson learned: you can't trust that people filling out forms and creating transcriptions always followed the instructions. It's so tempting to add something that you just "know" must be true ... except it isn't.

David G. Sukeforth is my first cousin four times removed, with Andreas Suchfort (aka Andrew Suckforth) as our common ancestor:

Relationship chart for David Grafton Sukeforth and The Down East Genealogist

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SOURCES

1. "Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980," database and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 24 January 2016), card for Abby J Grinnell Sukeforth, 1877; citing Miller Cemetery, Appleton, Knox, Maine.
2. "Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980," cards for David G. Sukeforth and Daniel B. Grinnell; citing Miller Cemetery, Appleton, Knox, Maine.
3. Miller Cemetery, Appleton, Knox County, Maine, Abby J. Suckforth gravestone, read and photographed by the author, 8 Oct 2013. 
4. Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 Jan 2016), database and digital images, memorials # 86049433 and # 86049470 for David G Sukeforth and Abby J Suckforth, created by "Stone Finders" (1 Mar 2012), photos by "Dale & Patti" and "MJD"; citing Miller Cemetery (Burkettville, Knox County, Maine). Note that Burkettville is actually a part of the town of Appleton.
5. Find A Grave, memorial # 86016001 for Daniel Briggs Grinnell, created by "Stone Finders" (29 Feb 2012), photos by "Dale & Patti" and "MJD"; citing Miller Cemetery (Burkettville, Knox County, Maine). 
6. Royce Miller, ed., Register of Deaths From the Beginning Until 1950, Appleton, Maine, updated 6th ed. (Gloucester, Mass.: Appleton Historical Society, 1999-2001), p. 55, entry for Daniel Briggs Grinnell; daughters Nancy (m. Bailey Grinnell), Eunice (m. William Leighr), Sarah (m. Joseph Light), Levina (m. Charles House). 
7. Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: Town of Appleton, 1729-1892, digital images (PDF), CD-ROM (Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 2005), pdf p. 312, George L. Robbins-Lydia E. Fossett marriage, 11 Mar 1868. 
8. 1870 U.S. Census, Knox County, Maine, Appleton, p. 29 (penned), p. 15 (stamped), dwellings 234-235, families 245-246, David Suckforth and George R Robbins households; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jan 2016).
9. 1880 U.S. Census, Knox County, Maine, Appleton, E.D. 100, p. 127-C, dwelling 67, family 71, George L Robbins households; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun 2012).
10. "Maine, Death Records, 1705-1922,” database and digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jan 2016), George L. Robbins (mis-indexed as George B.), 1905.
11. "Massachusetts, Death Index, 1901-1980," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jan 2016), Lydia Ellen (Faucett) Robbins, 1933, Quincy.
12. 1850 U.S. Census, Lincoln County, Maine, Union, p. 40/528, dwelling 286, family 296, Henry Fossett household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 Jan 2016); enumerated 29 Jul 1850.
13. 1850 U.S. Census, Waldo County, Maine, Liberty, p. 48 (stamped), dwelling 635, family 682, Thomas Fossett household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Jun 2012); enumerated 17 Sep 1850.
14. 1850 U.S. Census, Waldo County, Maine, Liberty, p. 94(?) (penned), dwelling 632, family 680, Michael Overlock household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jan 2016).
15. Miller Cemetery, Appleton, Knox County, Maine, overview of Michael Overlock cemetery plot, photographed by the author, 8 Oct 2013. 
16. Find A Grave, memorials # 86016036 and # 86016077 for Sarah "Sally" Esancy Grinnell and Elijah Grinnell, created by "Stone Finders" (29 Feb 2012), photos by "Dale & Patti" and "MJD"; citing Miller Cemetery (Burkettville, Knox County, Maine).