Eleven Generations of Women in

North America

 

 

1692-2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Susan Hollick Key

 

August 2000

 

Revised Second Edition

 

2

 

 

 

Introduction

 

When someone asks me what nationality I am, I inevitably reply that I am an American.  After all, at which point does one draw the limit on how far back one goes to derive that answer?  Are we what are parents are? Or great-grandparents?  Or futher then that?  As I have researched these families back through time, it is evident that that question has changed over time and it is not clear to me how to best answer the question now.  As an oversimplication, our paternal ancestry is Slavic and based in Central Europe and our maternal ancestry is Anglo-Celtic and based on the British Isles.

 

There are representatives in our ancestry of most of the major immigrant patterns to North America including the Great Migration of 1620-1650, the Scottish Covenanters of 1712-1718, the Scots-Irish immigration of the 1720s, the planter movement to Nova Scotia from Ireland and the North American British Colonies, pre-famine Ulster Irish immigration of the 1820s and 1830s, Irish Famine Immigration of the 1840s and 1850s, late Victorian Scottish and British working class migration from 1870-1890, and the Ellis Island immigrations from central and southern Europe from 1880-1920.

 

Although that may be the case, presented here is but a slice of that ancestry--a very special slice.  In the 1970s it became vogue to write up oneÕs ÒumbilicalÓ line, that is, oneÕs motherÕs motherÕs mother, etc.  In each generation, the surname changes and only the daughters are brought forward.  This is practically the opposite of standard written genealogies, which concentrate on a single surname and the men who bear that surname.  One would think that genealogy would be non-sexist since everyone has a father and a mother, however, women have often been overlooked by previous generations of genealogists and historians.  TodayÕs genealogists do not let this happen.

 

By a scientific miracle that previous generations would not have understood, we know that a baby girl is due.  She will be the eleventh woman I can trace, mother to daughter from 1692 to the present.  This journey starts in Connecticut, goes to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, and Massachusetts, back to Maine, then on to New York, New Jersey and Delaware.  We also now know that all maternal relatives share the same mitochondrial DNA, so the same genetic material in Elizabeth will be present in this little girl.  It is also present in any person alive today who is female-descended from her, for example Aunt Ada Currier and her children.
It is not the only world of which she is a part, but certainly one of which she can be proud.

 

It is difficult to maintain the fine line between presenting material that is scholarly, but is also entertaining to read for the family member not so smitten with genealogy.  I hope I have provided both aspects.

 

Martin E. Hollick

Somerville, Massachusetts

March, 1997

 

Revised Edition Comments

 

It is hard to believe three years have passed since Charlotte came into our lives.  Since that time, much has happened.  I have added a generation to this study, expanded our known Slovak ancestry, Daddy has been mayor, Michael and I have moved to California, and Christine met Rob and got married.  I thought it only fair to do a second version of this study for the newest kid.  It is a chance to correct some typos and add some additional information.  This is the version one should always refer to when discussing our family.  However, this version will not include the pictures in the first version.  Textual changes are made in generations 1, 2, 9, 10, and 11.  The first edition was condensed and reprinted as ÒMy Umbilical LineÓ in the NEHGS NEXUS XV (1998): 154-5.

 

MEH

Belmont, California

August 2000

Generation 1

 

Elizabeth (---) born say 1692/3, died before 1773 in Colchester, Connecticut.  She married on 10 February 1710/11 in Lyme, CT[1], Arthur3 SCOVILLE, who was born there on 3 January 1690/1, the son of Arthur2 (Arthur1) and Rachel (---) Scoville.[2]  Arthur died at Colchester, CT on 25 June 1774.  Sadly the town clerk of Lyme recorded the marriage as Arthur and Elizabeth Scoville, not giving ElizabethÕs maiden name.  Further research may eventually discover her origins.  Although the 1941 Arthur Scovell genealogy[3] outlines this family and gives them seven children, there is compelling evidence that they were also the parents of Rhoda Scofield, wife of Peter Wickwire.

 

Arthur lost his father and only sibling when only 3 years old.  His mother Rachel remarried two more times and Arthur was brought up in the households of his stepfathers, Nathaniel Hudson and James Smith.[4]  Consequently Arthur at an early age had inherited all his fatherÕs land, enough that he could sell it in 1717 and move to the newly created community of Colchester.[5] There he lived for the rest of his life as a farmer.    He was elected way warden there in 1721 and 1728.  He left no will, and deeded his homestead in 1773 to his son Elisha, since two sons had predeceased him and the other had moved to New Hampshire.[6]  Elizabeth, his wife, had likely died before that since she does not relinquish her dower rights on the deed, which was customary.  A colonial woman, by marriage, owned 1/3 of her husbandÕs property.  In records in Colchester ArthurÕs surname was variously spelled Scovell, Scovill, Scofeld, and Scofield.

 

      
CHILDREN surnamed SCOVILLE:

 

i.  James, born 18 January 1711/12 at Lyme, married there on 10 October 1734, Elizabeth Wade.  This couple had six children: Elizabeth, Sybil, Rhoda, Sybil, Irene and Arthur.

 

ii. Elizabeth, born 28 July 1715 at Lyme, married Elnathan Palmiter on 16 April 1734 at Colchester.[7]

 

iii. John, born say 1717 at either Lyme or Colchester.  He died at Canaan, New Hampshire on 5 July 1784.  He married twice, first to Sarah Alger on 3 November 1742, and before 1748, to Sarah Crocker, who died at Canaan on 4 September 1796.  John had five children: Esther, Miriam, Delight, Eleazer, and John.

 

+    iv. Rhoda, born say 1724 at Colchester.

 

iv. Irene, born say 1726 at Colchester.  She married twice, first to Jonathan Rathbun, Jr. on 18 February 1750 at Colchester, then to Daniel Morgan.

 

v. Elisha, born say 1728 at Colchester, died in October, 1797 at Exeter, Pennsylvania.  He married 12 July 1754 at Colchester, Eliphael Bliss, daughter of Pelatiah and Anne (Elderkin) Bliss.[8]  She was born at Montville about 1738 and died 17 April 1822 at Exeter.  They had five children. 

 

vi. Rachel, born say 1732 at Colchester, married at New London on 14 March 1754, John Baker.[9]  John was the son of Joshua Baker, Jr. and Marion Hurlburt and the second cousin (through his paternal grandmother Hannah (Tongue) Baker) of Peter Wickwire, the husband of his wifeÕs sister.

 

vii. David, born say 1734 at Colchester, died at a military hospital on 1 September 1760 while serving during the French and Indian War.  He had enlisted in Captain MeadÕs Company, Third Regiment of Connecticut Troops.

 

 

Generation 2

 

Rhoda SCOVILLE (sometimes spelled SCHOFIELD or SCOFIELD) was born about the year 1724, at Colchester, Connecticut.  Her tombstone in the Jawbone Corner Cemetery in Wolfville, Nova Scotia reads, ÒTo The Memory of Rhoda, Wife of Capt. Peter Wickwire, a native of Colchester, State of Connecticut, who died Sept. 24, 1802 in the 78th Year of her Age.  Gentle Reader drop a mournful tear, the best of Mothers, Wives and Friends lies here.Ó  The only other factual evidence for her appears in the Congregational Church records for Montville, CT.  In the family record for Peter Wickwire and Patience Chapell is the baptism of their son Peter Wickwire (Jr.) by which entry are the words, ÒMarrd. Rhoda Scofield.Ó[10]  Certainly the list was compiled some time after the last entry for this family was made, which was the death of Sarah Wickwire on 23 March 1756.  No other formal marriage record survives.   However, Rachel Scoville married John Baker of Montville on 14 March 1754, where the record notes her as the daughter of Arthur of Colchester.[11]  Rhoda and Peter named their first daughter Rachel.  John Baker was also Peter WickwireÕs second cousin through the Tonge family of New London, CT.  This familial connection, the tombstone, the marriage record, and the fact that Arthur ScovilleÕs family is the only one of that name in Colchester at the time, leave little doubt that Rhoda is also their child.

 

Rhoda married before 26 April 1748, Peter3 Wickwire, son of Peter2 (John1) and Patience (Chapell) Wickwire of New London, CT.  Peter was baptised on 11 March 1724.[12]  John1 Wickwire was born in Wotton-under-Edge, England in 1656 to a family of land-owners that had been there for several generations.  He was in New London as early as 1676 when he appeared on a list of inhabitants there.  He must have been of a substantial social standing because he married Mary Tonge, whose sister Elizabeth was the wife of Fitz John Winthrop, the governor of Connecticut and son of the founder and governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop.   PeterÕs father, also Peter, was a farmer who died in 1744.[13]  He left eleven children, the youngest of which was three.  It therefore must have fallen to Peter, as the eldest, to care for his younger siblings.

 

Peter engaged in few land transactions in Connecticut, selling land in 1745, 1750, 1751 and lastly in 1760.[14]  He volunteered in the army during the French and Indian War and rose to the rank of captain, a title by which he was known for the rest of his life.  On 19 October 1758, he commanded Captain John DurkeeÕs company at Fort Edward.[15]  We know that by early 1760 he sold land in New London and moved with his family to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.  The entry in the Cornwallis Town Book for the birth of his daughter Betsey reads Òborn Sunday, 7 June 1760, in the harbor of Horton before landing.Ó[16]  Peter was a grantee of Cornwallis, receiving land in payment of his army service.[17]  Additionally he was the moderator of the town meeting in 1771 and seems to have been active in civic affairs.[18]  Not much is known about his life in his later years and more research in Nova Scotia is needed.  Peter died on 2 February 1803.  His gravestone is next to RhodaÕs and reads ÒCapt. Peter Wickwire, a native of New London, State of Connecticut who died Feb 2nd 1803 in the 79th year of his age.  A husband kind, a Parent dear, A Worthy Friend lies buried here.Ó

 

And therein lies the problem with historical research.  All the surviving records concern Peter more than his wife.  A woman was her fatherÕs responsibility before marriage and afterwards, she became her husbandÕs property with few rights of her own.   Deeds and vital records of this time period often refer to widows as the relict of her former husband.  We can truthfully say that Rhoda was PeterÕs only wife and was the mother of his eight children.  She must have worked on the farm during his wartime absence and then left her home for a new life in Nova Scotia.  Rhoda probably could not read or write, based on the fact there is no surviving record of her doing so and her daughter Prudence could not write.  Other than the original records given here, accounts of this family can be read in the following sources: History of Montville, Connecticut from 1640-1896 by H.A. Baker (1896), pp. 360-4, History of Kings County, Nova Scotia by Arthur W.H. Eaton (Salem, MA, 1910), pp. 867-70 and Genealogy of the Wickwire Family by A.M. Wickwire (1909), pp. 88-9.

 

              CHILDREN surnamed WICKWIRE:

 

i.      Rachel, born 26 Apr 1748, Montville, married first to a Mr. Markorey, then secondly on 29 May 1780 to William Carlisle.  She had five children by both husbands.

 

       ii.     Peter, born 1 Sept 1751, Montville, died Nov 1821 in Hopewell, New Brunswick.  He was a schoolmaster and never married.  His will was dated 18 Apr 1808 and proved 29 November 1821 and mentions his sisters Ònow livingÓ Elizabeth Huntly, Amy Fox and Prudence Martin, niece Elizabeth Layton, daughter of Oliver Fox and James and Joseph Carlisle.  A codicil to the will of 1813 mentions William Carlisle as the new executor.  He also left 200 pounds to Hopewell for the assisting of a minister of the Gospel.[19]

 

       iii.     Asa, born 15 August 1753, Montville, died January 1796, Hopewell.  Asa also died unmarried and called a yeoman in his intestate probate papers.  His brother Peter was administrator of the estate which was valued at 353 pounds to be divided in seven equal shares.  That would seem to indicate that all his siblings were alive in 1796.[20]

 

       iv.    Amy, born 5 September 1756, Montville, married 9 May 1776 Oliver Fox, by whom she had six children.

 

       v.     Elizabeth (Betty/Betsey), born on the Horton Harbour on 7 June 1760, married on 8 August 1780 Daniel Huntley by whom she had two sons.

 

       vi.    Rhoda, born 18 June 1762, Cornwallis, married 2 May 1781 to Henry Mellon by whom she had two children.

 

       vii.    Silas, born 18 July 1766, Cornwallis, married 9 January 1800, Prudence Canady.  They had six children.

 

+     viii.   Prudence, born 16 November 1769, Cornwallis.

 

 

Generation 3

 

Prudence WICKWIRE was born 16 November 1769 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.  She married on 15 April 1787 in Shepody, New Brunswick, James Martin.  We can infer that they met in Cornwallis since the town book there reads, ÒOctober, 1779, then surveyed and laid out unto Standley Chipman, Esq. on the right of Peter Wickwire, Jr., 150 acres of upland being the said WickwireÕs half-share in the 300 acre division in said township.  James Martin, Surveyor.Ó[21] 

 

James Martin was born on 18 July 1759 in County Down, Ireland.  He enlisted in the 70th Regiment (or Surrey Regiment) of His MajestyÕs Army during the American Revolution.  He rose to the rank of sergeant.  A regimental history shows that this company was stationed in Scotland, then deployed to America in late 1778.  By 1781, the regiment was stationed in Nova Scotia.  On the 24th October 1783, 24 men were discharged including James and William Martin.[22]  Each man recieved 50 acres of land, rations for one year and retained his musket.  Perhaps James learned survey work in the army.  He appears as a surveyor for many land transactions in the Cornwallis Town Book.

 

JamesÕs parents have not yet been discovered.  Although his and PrudenceÕs Bible survives[23], whence comes most of these exact dates, no record survives that states his home parish or parentsÕ names.  His name is quite common and it will be difficult to place him in the correct family in 18th century Ireland.  We can infer that he was Protestant, being from northern Ireland and marrying into known Protestant family.  The William in the same army regiment was likely a relationship, perhaps even a brother.  However, William does not appear in further records in New Brunswick.

 

Land grants of Albert County, NB has a grant from 14 September 1809 made by James, his sons, James Martin, Jr. and Asa Martin, and John Hayward which reads ÒThe lands applied for are vacant--the applicant James Martin served in the 70th regiment and obtained his discharge as a Sgt. in 1783.  He now resides on a lot he purchased in Hopewell in front of the lands he now applies for on which he had made large improvements.  James Martin, Jr. has a family and Asa is 20 years of age--John Hayward has a family--resides in Hopewell.Ó  He also recieved a land grant on 30 October 1813 as James Martin Sr. for 300 acres in Hopewell.  James later received a pension of 10 pounds per year for his military service beginning in 1839.

 

James died on 11 February 1842 in Hopewell where his grave still stands.[24]  Prudence outlived her husband and died on 9 August 1851 and is buried beside him.[25] In her last years she lived with her son Andrew, where she is listed in the 1851 provincial census as Prudence Martin, age 81, widow, born N.S., entered N.B. 1787.[26]  Prudence and James must have done well during their lifetime because she leaves a will.[27]  This shows that she owned some possessions outright and that she could not read or write since the will is signed by her mark.  She made the following bequests, Òto my daughter Sybbyl (sic) Nikleson one bed, also I give to my daughter Amy Cleveland one bed and side saddle, also my grandson James William Martin one red cow and calf, one sheep, one large Bible; also I give one red and white cow, one heffer two years old, one clock to my daughter in law Louisa Martin, the clock at her demise to be given to her son James William Martin. Also all my household furniture I give and bequeath to my aforesaid daughter in law Louisa Martin.  Also all stock not mentioned to my son Andrew Martin.Ó  For whatever reason she only mentions three of her children, although eight were living at the time.  You will notice that an epidemic of some sort swept through Hopewell in April and May, 1856 since five of the Martin children die during that time.

 

       CHILDREN surnamed MARTIN, all born Hopewell, NB:[28]

 

       i.      James (Jr.) born 16 December 1788, died Hopewell in April 1856.  He married first Margaret Hamilton by whom he had five children.  She died on 5 April 1826 and James re-married on 31 Jul 1853 Elizabeth McKinzie.

 

       ii.     Elizabeth born 5 June 1791, died the same day.

 

       iii.     Asa born 20 July 1792, died May 1847 in Alma, NB.  He married on 21 October 1813 in Hopewell[29], Olive Anderson, born circa 1792 and died in Alma in June 1871.  They had seven children.

 

       iv.    Sibyl born 20 September 1794, married on 10 Apr 1823 in Hopewell, Henry Nicholson.[30]  They removed to Maine and had at least two children.

 

       v.     Andrew born 30 October 1796, died at Hopewell on 14 May 1856.[31] He married sometime before 1846 Louisa Cleveland, born 15 November 1818 in Gaspereaux, Nova Scotia, died 20 April 1897 in Hopewell, the daughter of William6 (Martin Luther5, Benjamin4-3, Aaron2, Moses1) and Prudence (Miner) Cleveland.  Louisa was a first cousin, once removed of John Cleveland, husband of Amy Martin, below.  Their son, Luther Cleveland Martin was the great-grandfather of James Everett Martin, Jr., the present owner of James and PrudenceÕs family Bible and David Christopher, the compiler of the Martin family genealogy.

 

+     vi.    Amy born 24 December 1798.

 

            vii.    Thomas born 15 June 1801, died 24 April 1856 in Hopewell.  He married on 7 October 1824  in Hopewell, Mary Robinson, daughter of Paul Clark and Elizabeth (Martin) Robinson.[32]  They had three children.  Mary died circa 1830 and Thomas remarried Molvina Chapman by whom he had five more children.

 

       viii.   William G. born 25 August 1803, died at Hopewell in April 1856.  He married on 28 April 1825 in Hopewell[33], Jane Milton by whom he had eleven children.

 

       ix.    Maria born 20 November 1806, died 30 November 1806.

 

       x.     John born 28 April 1808, died at Hopewell on 20 February 1880. [34] He married at Hopewell on 15 September 1828, Jane B. Woodworth.[35]  Jane was born about 1809 and died on 27 November 1879.  Together they had five children.

 

       xi.    Peter Wickwire born 19 December 1812, died at Hopewell in May 1856.  He married at Hopewell on 10 April 1836, Eunice Daniels.[36]  They had six children.

 

 

Generation 4

 

Amy MARTIN was born 24 December 1798 in Hopewell, NB.  She was likely named after her aunt, Amy (Wickwire) Fox.  She married on 12 June 1823 in Hopewell, John Cleveland, son of the Rev. Nathan5 (Benjamin4-3, Aaron2, Moses1) and Diademia (Dexter) Cleveland.  John was born in Alma, NB on 13 April 1803.   John must have been steeped in the Baptist religion and way of life.  His father, the Rev. Nathan Cleveland, was a Baptist minister who was held in high esteem in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  His grandfather, Benjamin4 Cleveland was a noted hymn writer and Baptist deacon.[37]  In fact all the way back to Aaron2 Cleveland in the 1680s, the Clevelands had been Baptists (called Anabaptists then) and were driven out of Massachusetts to Connecticut for their beliefs.  The Rev. Nathan was ordained at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 1809 and then preached at Onslow for ten years.  He moved to Hopewell, NB in 1819 and preached for another ten years or so before becoming incapacitated.  John obviously grew up a preacherÕs son and according to his daughter, Susannah, was an itinerant minister as well.[38]  JohnÕs main livelihood, however was carpentry, a trade that would be passed down through at least the next three generations.

 

Whatever protestant denomination that Amy Martin had grown up in, she became a Baptist on her marriage to John and is so enumerated in the two provincial censuses in which she appears (1851 and 1861).[39]  The area where this family lived was known as ClevelandÕs Mills.  After having thirteen children over a twenty year period, Amy died much younger than her mother or grandmother on 19 July 1863.  She is buried in Alma with her husband and parents-in-law.  Her husband John never remarried and lived on for almost thirty years, dying on 1 April 1892.[40]  This family is outlined in the 3-volume Cleveland Genealogy, albeit with some mistakes and inconsistencies, which I straightened out in an article for the NEHGS NEXUS (see appendix).[41]

 

       CHILDREN surnamed CLEVELAND:

 

       i.      Thomas born 30 November 1823, Harvey, NB, died 21 August 1847.  He married on 10 October 1844, Sarah Pulsifer, daughter of the Rev. William Pulsifer.  They had two sons.

 

       ii.     Diademia born 7 December 1824, Harvey, married on 11 August 1842 in Alma, her second cousin, William Armstead Cleveland, son of William6 (Martin Luther5 Benjamin4-3 Aaron2 Moses1) and Prudence (Miner) Cleveland.  

 

       iii.     Rebecca born 24 November 1825, Harvey, married on 4 February 1846, her first cousin, Hamilton Martin, son of James2 (James1) and Margaret (Hamilton) Martin, above.   They had twelve children.

 

       iv.    Prudence born 9 June 1827, Harvey, married in Alma about 1846, John Thomas Connors, a native of Sligo, Ireland.  They had eleven children.

 

       v.     John (Jr.) born 8 October 1828, Harvey, married Sarah Ann Ackerly, daughter of David Ackerly.  They had nine children.

 

       vi.    Alexander born 15 July 1830, Harvey, married on 29 June 1853 in Lubec, Maine, his first cousin, Martha Nicholson, daughter of Henry and Sybil (Martin) Nicholson, above.  They had five children, two which, Ruth (Cleveland) Williams and Amy (Cleveland) Jones resettled to Westbrook, Maine in the 1880s.

 

       vii.    Nathan born 6 May 1832, Harvey, married on 27 December 1855, Mary Ackerly, daughter of David Ackerly.  They had seven children.

 

       viii.   Harriet born 5 December 1833, Alma, married Winthrop Ackerly of Harvey, NB.  They had five children.

 

       ix.    James born 8 August 1835, Alma, died there on 20 April 1842.

 

       x.     David Cuttin born 14 September 1837, Alma, married there on 30 September 1866, his first cousin, once removed, Maria Martin, daughter of Andrew3 (James2-1) and Nancy (Anderson) Martin.  They had eight children.

 

+     xi.    Ama Ann born 26 June 1840 in Alma.

 

       xii.    William Sears born 25 November 1841, Alma, married there on 22 October 1872, Hannah Maria Foster, daughter of James and Hannah (Horscome) Foster.  William moved around 1888 to Salem, Massachusetts where he was a builder.  It is likely that his move prompted his sister Amy and husband James Smith to move to next-door Beverly, Massachusetts in the 1890s.  William had at least three children.

 

       xiii.   Susannah Pulsifer, born 25 November 1843 in Alma, married there on 4 March 1864, her first cousin, Henry R. Nicholson, son of Henry and Sybil (Martin) Nicholson, above.  She eventually moved to Scarborough where she was living in 1944/5 at age 101.  All six of her children were also living at that time in Maine or New Hampshire.  The newspaper article reports that since her last birthday she had made two patchwork quilts for gifts.

 

 

Generation 5

 

Ama Ann CLEVELAND was born 26 June 1840 in Alma, NB.  Ama was known as Amy and was named for her mother.  She is the first woman in this history for whom we have a photograph, the first to buy property in her own right, and is likely the first to be able to read and write.  A postcard she wrote her granddaughter Lillian (Smith) Porter is in the possession of the author.  Amy married on 17 November 1859 at Alma, James2 Smith (Jr.), son of James1 and Catherine (Sinclair) Smyth.  James Smyth (who consistently spelled his surnamed that way, an Irish variation of Smith) was born in Ireland and emigrated to New Brunswick about 1833.  James2 was born at Alma on 8 April 1835 out of wedlock.  His mother, Catherine Sinclair was only sixteen at the time, but she eventually married James1 on 3 January 1840 at Harvey, NB.[42]

 

James was a carpenter like his father-in-law, John Cleveland and it perhaps through that connection that he met Amy.  James was a member of the West Methodist church and Amy joined that church after her marriage.  James and Amy appear in the 1861, 1871 and 1881 provincial censuses in New Brunswick with their family.  Around 1884-5, James and Amy left Alma and moved to Sacarappa (later Westbrook), Maine.  They lived there at least for several years and three of their children were married there between 1885 and 1889.  However, by 1895 (if not earlier) they had re-settled to Beverly, Massachusetts where they would remain for the rest of their lives.  Amy A. Smith is noted as buying a lot on Myrtle Street on 24 April 1895 for a sum of fifty dollars.[43]  James would later build a house on that site.  It was around this time that the photograph was taken.  James and Amy are enumerated in the 1900 census in Beverly at 15 Myrtle Street with their sons David and William.[44]  Living next door is their son John Wesley Smith at 13 Myrtle Street.  Both David and William are listed as carpenters, like their father and John Wesley is called a stair-builder.  All members of the household were literate.

 

James died on 17 September 1904 of pneumonia and is buried at the Central Cemetery in Beverly.[45]  His obituary appeared in the Beverly Evening Times and reads:

 

ÒJames Smith: Well Known Carpenter Dead after a Short Illness.  Services for James Smith were held from his late residence, 15 Myrtle Street this afternoon.  The Rev. Charles H. Atkins of the Avenue Methodist Church of which Mr. Smith was a member, officiating.  Mr. Smith was born in Alma, N.B., 68 years ago and had been a resident of Beverly for many years.  He was a carpenter by trade and was well known throughout the city.  Mr. Smith leaves a widow, five sons and two daughters to mourn his loss.  Mispah commandery of the Knights of Malta, of which he was a member, was represented at the service.Ó

 

James left a will which names his wife, Amy and all seven of his surviving children.[46]  Amy died on 10 December 1911 in Beverly[47] of a cerebral hemorrhage and is buried next to her husband and daughter Ann Maria.  AmyÕs obituary also appeared in the Beverly Evening Times:

 

ÒFuneral services for Mrs. Amy A. Smith who died Sunday were held at the Methodist church yesterday afternoon.  The church was filled with relatives and friends of the deceased who was a faithful and consistent member of the Avenue church and did much to promote its interests.  She was born in Alma, New Brunswick, but lived in Beverly for many years and made a host of friends.  Mrs. Smith was a member of the LadiesÕ Aid Society and the LadiesÕ Social Circle of the church and her loss is keenly felt by her late associates.Ó

 

Amy left a will as well, in which she mentions her seven children and grandchildren, Gertrude Lefavour and Truman H.J. Smith.[48]

 

       CHILDREN surnamed SMITH, all born in Alma, NB:

 

i.      John Wesley born 4 September 1860, died 5 October 1940, Beverly.  John married firstly Margaret Ellen Buckard, born 4 July 1858, Albert Co., N.B., died 7 December 1891, in Beverly, daughter of Charles and Margaret (Terr) Buckard.  John remarried on 15 March 1893 in Beverly, Mary Olivia Snyder, born March, 1868, Cumberland Co., Nova Scotia, died 3 November 1958, Peabody, MA, dauther of Naphtali and Sophia (Thompson) Snyder.  By his first marriage John had two children: Getrude Maude (Smith) Lefavour 1885-1967 and Ethel Smith 1888-1890.  By his second marriage John had three children: Ernest Smith 1898-1899, Lillian Victoria (Smith) Porter 1900-1987 and Edith Louise(Smith) Raiche 1910-1993.  Lillian was the mother of Nancy Hathorne (Porter) (Kelley) (Mann) Rothwell, also a genealogist and acquaintence of the author.  The author also met Edith on a trip to her dairy farm in Danby, Vermont in 1990.  John Wesley Smith and his two wives and two infant children are buried at the Beverly Central Cemetery.

 

ii.     Johnston born 20 July 1862, died 12 December 1954, Danvers, MA.  He married on 1 July 1885, Westbrook, ME[49], Robeana McWhirter, daughter of Robert and Margaret McNair (Fallow) McWhirter.   She was born 17 September 1863 in Richmond, Quebec and died 3 August 1949 in Beverly. They had two children: Lila (Smith) McCormack and Calvin V. Smith.  Johnston and his wife are buried at the Beverly Central Cemetery.

+     iii.     Agnes Jane, born 6 September 1864.

 

       iv.    Annie Maria born12 November 12, 1867, died 22 June 1879, Alma, N.B.  She was re-interred in Beverly with her parents.

 

       v.     Alfred James born 12 March 1870.  He married on 25 September 1889 in Westbrook, ME, Mary A. Stewart.[50]  They later divorced and he left no children.

 

       vi.    William Ackerman born 12 July 1872, died 16 November 1950, Middleton, MA[51].  He married on 26 June 1895 in Beverly, Bessie Masury Preston, born  January, 1873, in Beverly, died there on 16 August 1946.  She was the daughter of John M. and Lydia (Morse) Preston.  They had two children: Doris Elnora (Smith) Burnham and Cassinger Garfield Smith.  Oral history note:  Evidently Alfred and William (known by their relatives as Billy and Al) had a drinking problem.  Nancy (Porter) Rothwell recalls being pulled across the street by her mother when they were sighted since they were invariably drunk.  That may explain why William died in the county asylum.  Al supposedly died by falling off a ladder onto the sidewalk due to his being drunk.  His death record has not been located.  A old tintype of them in an early automobile circa 1910-5 is in the possession of the author.

 

       vii.    Ada S.  born 1 April 1875, died 28 April 1934, Beverly.  She married on 1 March 1892 in Beverly, Charles Arthur Keene, born there on 29 April 1873, died there, 27 October 1935, son of Daniel Child and Mary Bradley (Whelding) Keene.  Both are buried at the Beverly Central Cemetery.  They had two children: Annie Bradley Keene and John Wesley Keene.  Annie Bradley Keene was the mother of ÒAuntÓ Ada Currier.  Oral history note:  Annie Bradley Keene and her husband were divorced in the 1920s, so their daughter Ada (one of six children) went to live with her cousins Archibald and Lila Pratt in Westbrook.  Ada, therefore, grew up with her cousin Agnes and were much more like sisters than cousins, hence the name ÒAunt Ada.Ó  Ada later married and lived in the Westbrook and Portland area.

 

       viii.   David Arthur Daniel Cassinger Gravencroft, born 11 March 1879,  died 28 December 1954, in Long Beach, CA[52].  David by tradition was named all the Òleft-overÓ names his parents never used.  He often signed his name David A.D.C.G. Smith.  He married on 25 June 1902 in Beverly, Eva Lowell Larkin, born 27 July 1879, Pubnico, Nova Scotia, died 12 April 1975, in Long Beach, CA[53], daughter of Freeman John5 (Caleb4 Walter3 Joseph2 Walter1) and Margaret Miriam (Lowell) Larkin.  They had four children:  Truman Herbert Judson, Chester Lowell, Edna Mildred and Mary Anderson Smith.  They owned a nursery business in Long Beach and supplied much of the flowers for the Pasasdena Rose Parade over the years.  The author is acquainted with Edna Mildred Smith who is still alive as of this writing, living in Long Beach.  He researched the ancestry of Eva Lowell Larkin for her.

 

 

Generation 6

 

Agnes Jane SMITH was born in Alma, NB on 6 September 1864.  She moved with her parents to Westbrook, ME around 1885 where she must have met her husband.  She married on 28 August 1887 in Westbrook