As I posted earlier, I recently found the missing 1880 Nonpopulation
Federal Census Agricultural Schedule for my 2x great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West farm. This helped me get a fuller picture of
JP’s life as a farmer and the dynamics between three of the four
West
brothers. It also made me curious about a few things. I’ll talk
about those latter items first.
On the 1870 Census Jonathan and
Louisa West’s children are given as
John C.(Cuvier) West and…
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Added by Bill West on May 29, 2010 at 1:00am —
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With his
Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, editor Stephen Marion Watson aimed to "put into print, and thus preserve to future generations all matters of history and genealogy pertaining to Maine, and any families who are or ever have been associated with the Pine Tree State, of whom we can learn anything worth while to publish." Nevertheless, most of the genealogies and transcribed records published in the…
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Added by Chris Dunham on May 28, 2010 at 3:30am —
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It's Thursday and after a short visit to the doctor for some tests the
rest of my day is free.I prefer to schedule the appointments as early
as possible in the day for just that reason.
I thought I'd
revisit Footnote.com to see what databases were new or updated
and
found one that was unfamiliar to me, the Final Payment Vouchers Index
for Military Pensions, 1818-1864. These records show the date of the
final payment to a Revolutionary War veteran or his widow…
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Added by Bill West on May 27, 2010 at 2:30pm —
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I
had intended to summarize what I'd learned about my great great
grandfather Jonathan Phelps West and his brothers from the 1850-1880
Nonpopulation Census Schedules. But I hadn't found the1880
Agricultural Schedule for JP yet and I wanted to take a last shot at
it over at Ancestry.com. Searching by name hadn't turned up anything
so I…
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Added by Bill West on May 25, 2010 at 9:30pm —
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These are all Surnames going back to my 3rd great grandparents on my fathers side. I joined this site hoping to find relations who might help me learn more about my fathers family. I don't know any of his living relations personally and the few I have spoken to by phone or internet don't seem to want to tell me much. I have researched and found many names going back to the beginning of European Colonization. I have not tried to go back farther than that. Most of what I have found Is Celtic…
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Added by Golanv Igvyi on May 25, 2010 at 2:18pm —
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While Hiram West had abandoned farming by 1880 in favor of the lumber
and mill business, brother Asa West was still at it, albeit at a smaller
scale than in 1870. Sometime over that decade, Asa's farm shrank by
35 acres, 20 of it farmland and the other 15 woodland. Consequently
the total value of the farm was down over a thousand dollars to 2600
dollars. The flock of ten sheep was gone. Asa still grew corn and
oats
but no longer buckwheat and he had made more use of…
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Added by Bill West on May 23, 2010 at 11:30pm —
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The Berlin & Coos County Historical Society in New Hampshire
is looking for Maine descendants of Berlin's first permanent residents. Descendants of William and Susanna (Blodgett) Sessions will be invited to the dedication of an historical marker at their home site in Berlin May 29.
William and Susanna married in Newry, Oxford County, Maine, 31 Aug. 1817, lived in…
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Added by Chris Dunham on May 20, 2010 at 9:00pm —
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Many Mainers, myself included, live part or all of the year in Florida. Some of you might be interested in visitng the following website:

Added by Timothy Lunney on May 20, 2010 at 2:42pm —
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Having already added the
1920 census and
1930 census, Internet Archive has now added images of the 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Maine.
Reel 536. Androscoggin County
Reel… Continue
Added by Chris Dunham on May 20, 2010 at 3:00am —
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As we saw in the last post, my great great granduncle Hiram F. West had
abandoned farming in favor of operating a grist mill and a saw mill. The
images of the 1880 Federal Census Non-Population Schedules for Maine at
Ancestry.com have provided me with a snapshot of Hiram's two businesses
that show him to be successful. Both mills were located on the
Cambridge River in Upton, Oxford, Maine, probably close-by each other.
The
saw-mill was the more profitable…
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Added by Bill West on May 19, 2010 at 12:00am —
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By 1880 Hiram F. West was 41 and had given up farming. On the 1880
Federal Census his occupation is given as "Owner Saw and Grist-Mill". Of
the two mills, the saw-mill must have been the busier because there are
three men boarding with Hiram and his family who are
listed as
"works in saw-mill":
William
Mitchell, age 60Albert F.
Upton, age 41Leonard… Continue
Added by Bill West on May 18, 2010 at 9:00am —
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I am looking for information on my grandfathers first marriage. He is John Clarence Gallant DOB 10/1/1916,enlisted in 1942. Unknown marriage 1943-47?, child of first marriage is Linda Sue Gallant. 2nd marriage to Margorie Doughty of Maine in 1948. Not sure if he was married in Maine or maybe Louisianna. Thanks for any help,
Added by Rebecca Tibbetts on May 16, 2010 at 7:09pm —
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Before I move onto the 1880 Schedules for Hiram West, I'd like to complete my look at the state of three of the West brothers' farms by discussing that of the oldest, Asa Atwood West.
Asa was born in 1830 and married Matilda Barker Marston in 1854. Instead of waiting to inherit a share of his father John Cutter West's farm, Asa started his own in nearby Andover, Oxford, Maine. As we'll see from the 1870 Agricultural Schedule, he was quite succesful, but life was not without sorrow…
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Added by Bill West on May 14, 2010 at 12:58am —
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As I mentioned at the conclusion of my post about Hiram West's farm on the 1870 Census Agricultural Schedule, even though Hiram had a smaller farm than his brother Jonathan Phelps West, his farm's value was only $50 less and he could afford to have a hired hand. The reason he could was that he had another source of income, two mills.
I found an entry for a "Haraig Y. West" on the 1870 Federal Census Products of Industry Schedule at Ancestry.com. That should give you an idea of how hard to…
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Added by Bill West on May 14, 2010 at 12:56am —
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Listed on the same page of the 1870 Federal Census Agricultural Schedule as Jonathan Phelps West is his younger brother Hiram Ferdinand West. Born six years after John in 1838, Hiram's household included his wife "Villa M" (Arvilla Mary Ballard), their daughter Clara M. (2 years old), their son "Winnie H." (Hiram Winfield, 9 months old) and a farm worker, Charles Richards. Hiram's occupation as listed as "farmer/blacksmith". Looking at the Farm Schedule it doesn't seem that Hiram was having as…
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Added by Bill West on May 14, 2010 at 12:55am —
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By 1870 there had been drastic changes on John Cutter West's farm. In 1860 there had been ten people living on the farm, nine of whom were old enough to help out around the farm with the chores. Then came the Civil War and sons Hiram and Leonidas joined the Union Army. More devastating was the epidemic of 1862 in which three of the younger children had died, follwed by the death of John Cutter West himself later that Spring. Asa Atwood West, the oldest son, was already married with a farm of…
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Added by Bill West on May 14, 2010 at 12:53am —
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I mentioned in the last post possible connections between Leonidas
West's wife Valora Abbott and other lines in my family tree. Whenever
I run across anyone with the name Abbott in my research I check
to see if they share my descent from George Abbott (1615-1681)and
Hannah Chandler (1630-1711) of Andover, Ma. Valora's father Otis
Howe Abbott was born in Andover but from everything I've found so
far he was not decended from George but from Thomas Abbott from
a…
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Added by Bill West on May 14, 2010 at 12:46am —
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This is the latest in a series of posts about the descendants of the
children of John Cutter West and Arvilla (Ames) West in the hopes
it will put me in contact with some of my unknown distant cousins.
John and Arvilla's eighth child was their fourth daughter Arvilla
Electa West who died unmarried at the age of seventeen during the
diptheria epidemic of 1862. (you can read about it…
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Added by Bill West on May 14, 2010 at 12:43am —
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When I finally got back online after a week-long absence I made it a point to check
out what my favorite geneabloggers had been up to while I was gone. One of the blogs
I visited was Randy Seaver's always informative
Genea-Musings and one post caught
my attention,
Devier J. Smith… Continue
Added by Bill West on May 14, 2010 at 12:30am —
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So many of our Maine ancestors came from across the border, and many appear in one or more of the censuses taken in Canada from 1831 to 1911. Ancestry.com has indexed images from all of these censuses, but there are also some free alternatives online.
1825
Library and Archives Canada - Images searchable by name or geographical location (Lower…
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Added by Chris Dunham on May 7, 2010 at 3:30pm —
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