"logic and sermons never convince"

Although this post, like each of mine, is headed by a snippet from Walt Whitman, when I began to write this entry I was immediately reminded of another American poet: Robert Frost, and his famous "two roads diverged in a wood" bit. (Frost, coincidentally, lived for many years in Derry, New Hampshire, a town founded by--among others--my Steele ancestors, about whom I have written before).

The two roads of which I was reminded were not Frost's well-worn paths, however, but the often divergent ways of Science and Faith, a duo that seems in many ways particularly American and just as relevant today as they were one hundred years ago, the era concerning this post's subject: the contrasting lives of two cousins of mine, one on each side of my family.

On my father's side is Ada May Burnett, a second cousin, thrice removed; on my mother's side, Minnetta Amelia Ketchum, a first cousin, also thrice removed. The two share many superficial similarities: both the younger of two children; Ada May attended school through eighth grade, while Minnetta had one year of high school. Outliving their husbands by many years, both lived with lodgers after being widowed. Even their given names' initials are mirrored. But it is their differences that are the real story.

Minnetta Amelia Ketchum was born in 1865 in Ohio, but grew up on Mackinac Island in Michigan. After finishing the aforementioned year of high school, there is no record of what she did for almost twenty years, but on 24 April 1899, she married Frank Bursley Taylor.  


Frank Bursley Taylor

Taylor (23 Nov 1860 - 12 Jun 1938) was the only child of a prominent Indiana lawyer and politician, Robert Stewart Taylor, and his wife, Fanny Wright. Always in poor health, he attended Harvard University, focusing his studies on the sciences, in particular geology and astronomy, until illness forced him to leave the school. In his own words:

After leaving college in '86, spent about six years traveling and at health resorts in search of health. About '90 began to spend part of each summer studying glacial and post-glacial geology in the Great Lakes region.

His friend and school contemporary, R. C. Archibald, in an obituary of Taylor that appeared in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Volume 75, Number 6 (1944), wrote:

It is not surprising that his attention was early called to Physiographic problems, so that when his health made indoor work harmful to him he took up... the study of the old shore lines, that surround the Great Lakes and are well marked on Mackinac Island, where he had a summer home, and from which he obtained his wife.

Archibald seems clearly more a scholar than romantic. Said wife was Minnetta Amelia Ketchum, about whom another source writes: "She became his lifelong companion at home and on field trips, taking care of transportation, driving a team of horses or a car." Clearly, this former middle-class "spinster" committed herself to Taylor and a life of Science; no stay-at-home housewife she, which I find remarkable--and laudable--for its time.

Taylor himself continues:

I have been spending most of my time in summer seasons doing geological fieldwork. This has ranged from Minnesota to central New England, but has been chiefly in the southern peninsula of Michigan, in Ohio, New York, and western New England, with a considerable amount also in Ontario. The winters have been spent mainly in the preparation of reports, and in doing some other writing.

That "other writing" culminated in a paper he presented to the Geographical Society of America in 1908 (and later published in revised form in 1910), in which he first presented his ideas about what we now know as the theory of continental drift. His ideas met with continued skepticism and even mockery, even though just a few years later a German scientist, Alfred Wegener, was independently coming up with similar theories of his own. From being a prolific researcher and writer (among other things, he prepared what is still considered the authoritative study of Niagara Falls for the U S Geological Survey), Taylor published nothing from 1917 to 1920, trying instead to clarify and defend his radical idea.

It was not until almost fifty years later that Frank Bursley Taylor's (and Wegener's) theories became accepted. Ironically, despite Taylor's many other published works on everything from glaciers to the solar system, it is his--at the time--controversial scientific theory for which he is remembered, and grants his place--albeit a minor one--among other scientific pioneers. And as a footnote to his footnote, there is Minnetta Amelia Ketchum, whom even the unsentimental Archibald later conceded "helped him in many ways." They had no children, but left a rich scientific legacy.

Meanwhile.

Across the country in Maine, Ada May Burnett was born in 1865. She was no spinster, marrying her first husband, Reuel Sylvanus F Clement, a farmer, in 1894, when she was just seventeen. They had three children before his death of typhoid fever in 1901. In 1905 the family, including Ada May's mother-in-law, joined a religious cult, and in 1908....

What's that--you want to hear more about the religious cult? Well, then....

Frank Weston Sandford (October 2, 1862 – March 4, 1948) was the founder of what was first called the Holy Ghosts and Us Society, then the World’s Evangelization Crusade (among other names), eventually becoming known as The Kingdom, or Shiloh; but by any name, an early American religious cult. Sandford was a dynamic--even frenetic--and charismatic man from his earliest days, when he was both school president and captain of the baseball team. After attending college, he dropped out of seminary school upon hearing the word of God, to become an evangelical pastor. Although initially part of the Free Baptist and other evangelical movements, including those believing in the premillenial return of Christ, he left the church after what some consider a nervous breakdown. He travelled to Asia and the Middle East, then returned to America. As Shirley Nelson tells it:

With an imagination like a magnet for the powerful stream of passions in the 19th century church—perfectionism, world evangelism, end-time prophecy, and the messianic ideals of America itself—Sandford’s ministry took a turn in the late 19th century, when God, he claimed, began to speak to him in whispers. The first word was “Armageddon,” which he heard as a directive to establish a band of purified Christians, absolutely obedient to the Bible (as no other group or denomination yet was, he was convinced) to fulfill God’s plan for the ages with “signs, wonders and mighty deeds.”  He began this new work in southern Maine, with a tiny Bible school in a borrowed house. His first students, carefully selected men and women barely out of their teens, were to become the hard core of the special “band.” With funds “prayed in,” the school expanded quickly. A complex of buildings soon arose on a sand hill in the farming town of Durham, with the first structure, a chapel, called “Shiloh.”  Sandford’s messianic vision also continued to grow, and he announced that he heard a series of God-whispered revelations naming him the present day embodiment of the Old Testament David and the prophet Elijah returned.

Within a few years of its establishment in 1896, there were hundreds living at or near the Shiloh compound, generally whole families (including Ada May Burnett's), with more at a property Sandford acquired in Boston he named Elim, all living communally under God's--and Sandford's--watchful eyes.



The Shiloh grounds, c. 1901. The main chapel at left has been vastly expanded from the previous image above; the center building is "Olivet," the children's home; "Bethesda," the hospital is on the right. There were several other buildings on the property as well, which eventually comprised almost two square miles, including farmland.

Among other tenets of Sandford's movement: that he was not responsible for his actions, and demanded complete obedience from his followers, as he was acting on God's direction--after all, he was Elijah. More than once, there were "purges" at Shiloh, banishing disbelievers; followers encouraged to report on their neighbors, children regularly whipped if disobedient. There were hours of mandatory prayer and "meetings with God" daily. The whole of Thursday was spent fasting and in prayer, as Sandford believed this was the day of the week on which Christ was Crucified.

The group believed in faith-healing and the laying on of hands, rejecting all medical treatment. Sandford once claimed to have resurrected a young girl who had died from meningitis. Oddly, a hospital ("Bethesda") was built on the premises. Nelson again:

Doctors would be permitted at Bethesda for diagnoses and consultation, but no medication would be provided, not so much as a headache powder or a laxative. Care would be free. Bethesda would not be ' a resort for cranks,' Sandford warned. Cranks would find it 'the hottest place' they had ever been. Nor was it a house where cripples could come and 'camp' They must 'either get healed or go home.'
(Fair Clear and Terrible by Shirley Nelson, 1989, p. 122)

Sandford's followers were expected to reject money (after giving all of theirs, including whatever could be raised from the sale of their homes and belongings to The Kingdom), and not work for wages or to produce items for sale; they were to depend on God to provide for all their needs. Of course, they did work--at Shiloh: building, farming, cleaning.... The complex had its own cobblers and weavers, and even their own printing presses for preparing the numerous tracts and other publications they distributed.

Things continued apace until 1903, when Sandford had his first brush with the law. He was accused of manslaughter for the death of a young man from diphtheria who had not received any medical care. Although acquitted, the press vilified Sandford and attacked Shiloh, demanding more thorough investigations. Sandford's next message from God? He bought a yacht, and set sail for Jerusalem.

The Coronet, with Sandford joined by his inner circle, was going to "circle the world for Christ." Their intention was an ambitious one: not to actually land at any of the ports of call to establish missions or spread the word of God (or even Elijah), but anchor offshore and pray. This world cruise lasted nearly four years; on board, along with the crew and Kingdom members, was a taxidermist, and harpist--with harp.

Upon deciding to head home, Sandford was made aware that he was awaiting further legal trouble, so the "Coronet Company" stayed clear of ports, even through a gale. Not even landing for provisions (since God would provide...), it was not until six people on board died of scurvy and malnutrition that the remainder of the company forced Sandford ashore. This time, Sandford was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to ten years in prison. He accepted no legal counsel, saying only that the deaths were punishment from God for those who disobeyed his--Sandford's--wishes. The jury was out less than an hour.

It was during the Coronet period that Ada May Burnett and her family moved to Shiloh. Her son Lincoln was a popular boy, and when not praying or cutting wood or ice, was part of the Shiloh band.

Lincoln Clement and other students, c. 1914

The children, when not receiving religious instruction, praying (a minimum of three hours daily), scrubbing the steps of the seven story prayer turret or doing other chores, would often walk the grounds, or play croquet, despite a small pox outbreak, and near constant starvation. Nelson continues:

With the crusade on hold while their shepherd lived out his sentence, the Shiloh “flock” patiently endured hardship (and a World War) on their property in Durham, Maine. When he returned [after having been released for good behavior in 1918], haunted by death threats, Sandford moved with his family and most trusted workers to another property in Boston. It was during that time, while the Boston contingency fared well, that starvation took over in Durham, where “the Holy Ghost had been dethroned by a failure of faith and obedience,” as Sandford claimed.

What follows are excerpts from a remarkable document: the diary of Doris Hastings, a young woman of Shiloh. While only tangentially related to my family (although Lincoln Clement and his sister are mentioned), I think it is too compelling not to include, but feel free to skip ahead as you like. (My annotations are in bold; there are also occasional asterisked footnotes from her grandson, who preserved the diary.)

May 12 [1919] We went to the Bowie house at 9 and worshiped God and dedicated the house. I waited on the Lord. My head so bad I laid down and slept some. [Doris needed glasses, but was denied them.] Found Jesus very real at 3.

Friday, July 25 We received a long letter from Mr. Sandford about the 70 day battle.* The Bible School went to the turret and signed our names to paper up there and wrote a letter to Mr. S---a letter of response to the battle and loyalty and signed---"Yours forever".
* 70 days of prayer from 9 a.m. until midnight, with no break. Dinner was served after midnight. This 70 day prayer "battle" was to pay off the mortgage on the other house in Boston, 547 Mass. Ave.

Saturday, Aug. 2    A pint of milk for breakfast. A gem [little bits of bread with jam inside] brought to me which I give to Avis [her sister].... Nothing for supper. We get together after sunset and pray late into the evening. $2.oo comes from we know not where--wonderful--also some vegetables arrive, near midnight, from Mr. Marstaller's. David (Marstaller) hands them over by hand. I made some cornstarch pudding for John and Theodora. I had such a fight to get them to accept it. Theodora brought in her milk for me to drink after midnight.

Tuesday, Aug 12    My head is very, very bad. Suffering all forenoon, in 9 0'clock meeting and in Bible lesson---seemed unendurable. Bible School was together at 6. John brought in a bushel of peas and said that Mr. S had sent us $4.98. The 4 dollars got the peas and the 98 cents, a big bag of soy beans. Mr. Fenderson sent us some macaroni. We had a praise service. It seemed so wonderful. The God of Elijah.

Thursday, Aug. 21   Dear Mama comes over and she feels so bad because she forgot to bring some blueberries. Avis eats no breakfast. I eat a little--carrots and beet greens, but wish I hadn't because they make me so sick I have to ring turret bell to be relieved. Grace is suffering very much. I pray for her. Later in the day she seems better. Elsie is also suffering much. I go from one to the other in response to their calls but I am a poor comforter. We feel the need of John [Sandford, Frank's teenage son, who is running Shiloh at this time] so much. Grace gives me a sugar cookie. I fight with her because I can't bear to take it but she is so strong that I have to give in. I eat it after 3 and it helps me a lot. Mama gave Avis the biscuit that she brought over for her lunch. I feel relieved to see her get something into her. Mr. Hoad excuses her from meeting. She gets a birthday letter from Herbert which does her much good. Papa comes over in the evening [the Shiloh children live apart from their parents] and brings us string beans and blueberries. Dear papa and mama.

Sunday, Aug. 24    I took my piece of birthday cake and a biscuit Avis gave me and a hard boiled egg mama gave me and did them up and wrote a little note on the egg and took it to Fern (Brown). She is awfully thin and feeling poorly. I took a white gem left from Sabbath breakfast and my other egg and gave them to Etta.

Tuesday, Nov. 4    Bible lesson at 9 in rooms #1 & 2. Miss Dart [the children's matron] talked to us about believing in Jesus. We met again at 3. My work this week is the milk and lamps. And I fix many carrots. Sent Mama a big red apple by Avis today, my birthday present to her and an expression of love.

Wednesday, Nov. 19    I write a letter to Mr. S. There is no breakfast and no dinner. They send me a biscuit and a piece of cookie and some apple sauce in a.m. At noon a cup of cocoa and some squash and potato at night with a slice of white bread which I give to Etta. We have apples. I go to storehouse and get extra food. I have 2 cents and I get 2 cents worth of meal and make gems and give them to different ones.
Tuesday, Dec. 9    Avis feeling very bad. Goes home with Papa. Etta feeling very poorly. I go in and take her some blueberries that Benjamin had given me sabbath morning. Also half of my piece of meat we had sabbath. I go to turret from 6 to 8 and have quite a good time. I go into the chapel afterwards and come out suffering. Mr. McKennzie called me into the gallery today and spoke to me about the condition that people are in spiritually---hypnotized and dead, can't get through to God in meetings. He seems rather in need of courage. I Was suffering much and his words were depressing.

Thursday, Dec. 11    A very cold day. Heat is on during the 6 hours. I suffer very much in the Bible lesson (Mr. Hoad has it) and suffer afterwards. I am not able to wait on the Lord at all, just suffer through the hours until midnight. John sits up all the rest of the night preparing the Bible lesson. He sleeps a little. I go in and give him 2 cookies and an apple from Avis and me but he will not take it though I try very hard to make him do so.

Thursday, Jan 22 [1920]  No breakfast. I stayed in bed in the a.m. Bible lesson at 12. All the evening to ourselves. I went to Peniel and found God. We had some supper about 9. I lay down after that feeling unable to wait on the Lord any longer. Avis camed to bed after 10 and asked me to go to bed too and it seemed as though I might as well.

Friday, Jan. 23   Went home in the afternoon. I ate a lot of apples that evening. [There were apple orchards on the grounds, although followers were not allowed to pick fruit, but eat only the windfall.] I walked with Mr. Hoad most of the way to the Hastings. He told me that Sandford and Solomon were there so I did not stop.

Thursday, Jan. 29 The Bible School met at 9. We have quite a charge [a fervent, beseeching prayer meeting] for coal. Miss Dart comes in at 12. A matter of John's concordance being misused is a subject of a good deal of time and we write him a note of apology. Ora's birthday. We pray for her and talk about her. I suffer much through the day. Avis and I go home at night and papa and mama read to us until about midnight. I suffer fearfully with my head, etc. It seems more than I can endure to go on but thinking of what Mr. S has said about our lives being laid down and being martyrs and thinking of the man whom they stretched and when asked if he would give up he only said, "Father, I embrace all Thy holy will" enables me to endure what seems unendurable. It really is martyrdom and I feel as though I hadn't the strength to endure. My head too bad to pray and wait on the Lord at all. On our way over home John calls to us from his veranda and we go up and talk with him a few minutes.

Friday, Feb. 6   My head is so bad that I cannot hold it up. I rest it on a pillow during the lesson. Rich lesson--Moses 40 days on Mountain. we meet at 3 and pray for dear Anna--her birthday. We meet at sunset and after taking in the Sabbath we pray some more for her and talk about her. Her character seems wonderful to me as we talked and I covet what she has--that I seem to be so lacking in. Supper after that. I eat 4 small pieces of corn bread, 2 helpings of gravy, 2 small cookies and I suffer much distress from it into the night. I feel it must have been more than my stomach could handle and I must not eat so much again. When we go up from our supper I find john there. I go to bed, my head so bad I cannot longer succeed in holding it up....

Thursday, Feb. 12     Older members meet in the turret until 12. God meets us. My head paining so bad I come down about 11. My head pains very badly all day. In the evening Avis tells Miss Dart and she sends word for me to eat. Mary calls on me a few minutes. She is considering coming to the Bible School. She said her father thought it would be a help to her. She said I was next to her mother to her. Dear Papa comes in and finds me in bed. He puts his hand on my head and tells me he thinks I should eat something. My head pains fearfully all night. I hardly sleep at all. It seemed as though morning would never come.

Wednesday, Feb. 25    Turret from 6 to 8. Another suffering time. Lesson at 9 on Nazariteship and earnest prayers until we knew we were Nazarites, "as He is so are we---" and the Holy Spirit to work it out and lead us into the fullness of it. Mary Robinson's funeral at 1:30. A very stormy, drifty day. I feel so lonesome today, almost as if there was nothing to live for. Had a little breakfast after the Bible lesson.... My head very bad and do not feel able to pray but everything is all right.


Sandford and his family and intimates, upon his first visit to ShiIoh after his imprisonment, were fed a veritable feast, by followers who had not eaten in days. It was all very simple: God would provide. If God didn't provide, you must not deserve it, didn't believe enough, doubted Elijah's way. Things continued to get worse. Before his move to Boston, two of Sandford's own children escaped from Shiloh, casting more doubt.

The end of Shiloh came abruptly in 1920, following just days after another death. The family brought a suit against Shiloh, and the state sent in investigators, who demanded that all minors be removed from the premises immediately. Sandford received another message from God: the single word "work." Men left for local mills and farms. Within two months, the entire complex was deserted. Expected, it was--and still is--referred to as "The Scattering."

So now that you know about that, let me continue my family history: ...in 1908 Ada May Burnett remarried, this time to another cult member, Burnham Wheeler Hardy (31 July 1857 - 25 Dec 1925). After the death of his first wife, Gertrude E Emerson (16 Mar 1868 - 28 Oct 1906), herself a longtime Kingdom member (but who apparently did not live on the grounds), Hardy sold his successful hardware business in Hampden Maine and joined Shiloh in late 1907.


Hardy's hardware store is on the extreme left, c 1905.

Although it is unclear why Ada May Burnett first became attracted to The Kingdom and what prompted her to move to Shiloh, the family had involvement with The Kingdom as early as 1899, when

Mr George Higgins, the minister in charge of Shiloh when Mr Sandford was away in Jerusalem.... had been tarred and feathered in Arrostock County a few years back for preaching Shiloh Principles, so the story went.
(Fair Clear and Terrible by Shirley Nelson, 1989, p. 187)

Shiloh records confirm this in a 1917 member roster discovered in a vault. After Ada May's name is the note: "First husband Ruell [sic] S. F. Clement from whose house G. W. Higgins taken by mob in 1899."

It is also unclear exactly what Ada May Burnett Clement Hardy did after The Scattering; she lived another twenty-eight years, yet never moved from Durham. It would be fascinating to know how she and the others adjusted and what they felt about their time with The Kingdom.

We do know a few facts about the rest of the family. Mother-in-law Anna T Fogg Clement died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than six months after The Scattering. Daughter Dorothy Anna Clement died just three years later at age twenty-six, followed soon after by Burnham Wheeler Hardy, who is buried with his first wife. Son Phillip John Clement did not marry until 1938; he and his wife Clara had no children of their own (although she had two from a previous marriage). The most recent record I could find for him was a Sanford Maine City Directory from 1963, the same year his older brother, Lincoln Edmond Clement died. Lincoln seems to have lived the most "normal" post-Shiloh life, marrying Florence Ina Smith (22 Apr 1898 - 17 May 1973)--who seems to have no connection with Shiloh--in 1921, just a year after The Scattering; they had four children. They continued to live in Durham, in the almost literal--if not metaphoric--shadow of Shiloh for many years.



All that remains of Shiloh's grounds today. It is still used as a church.

And what of Frank Sanford? He retired--per the word of God, of course--and disappeared into virtual seclusion in the Catskill Mountains of New York. He farmed, prayed and taught, read astronomy (perhaps something by Frank Bursley Taylor?), lost all of his books and papers--twice!--to fire, and continued to have a small, loyal following until his death in 1948. He is not known ever to have denied he was Elijah, or repent for the many deaths he had--directly or otherwise--caused.

The Kingdom continued, on an even smaller scale, under the leadership of Sandford's secretary, Victor Abram, until it was revealed that he had had many extra-marital affairs; in 1977 Abrams' son-in-law took over. There are estimated to be about one hundred active members of The Kingdom to this day, scattered throughout the United States.

Science or Faith? Although a hundred years after the choices of Minnetta Amelia Ketchum and Ada May Burnett, we find many still traversing one--or the other--of those same two roads.

For more information on Frank Bursley Taylor, especially his scientific research:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Frank_Bursley_Taylor.aspx
And an invaluable and exhaustingly comprehensive website about Shiloh and its history:
http://www.fwselijah.com/


[Our Minnetta--whose name is just as frequently spelled Minetta--is not to be mistaken with Miss Minetta Taylor, her contemporary, who also lived in Indiana. Miss Taylor was the daughter of Drs George and Mary Taylor; while not a doctor, she was quite accomplished nonetheless. The souvenir pamphlet Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Convention (Western Writers' Association, 1890) tells us that after  Annie J. Fellows Johnson "charmed her hearers with her rhythmic rendering of a tender retrospective poem of rural life," Miss Taylor, "prevailed upon at the last moment..., won the laurels of the convention by an elegant impromptu address on 'The Natural Stimuli of the Imagination,'" which synopsis, "prepared... by memory by Miss Taylor," runs seven dense pages. Not to be outdone, Weik's History of Putnam County, Indiana (1910) reminds us that Miss Taylor "is the joint author of six Spanish-English textbooks..., a regular contributor to the McClure syndicate..., spent seven years on the lecture circuit on literary and sociological subjects..., [and] speaks forty-five languages."

There is, alas, no record of a second Ada May Burnett.]

Minnetta Amelia Ketchum was born 2 Jul 1865, in Huron, Erie, Ohio, to George Cherry Ketchum (3 Dec 1835 - 3 Sep 1899) and Amelia Lloyd McLaurin (Nov 1842 - 3 Apr 1914). She grew up on Mackinac Island, her father being a sailor (and later a post-master); an uncle ran a resort hotel on the island as well. She attended school through her first year of high school, although what occupied her for the next eighteen years, until her marriage at age thirty-three to Frank Bursley Taylor (23 Nov 1860 - 12 Jun 1938), son of Robert Stewart Taylor (22 May 1838 - 28 Jan 1918) and Fannie W Wright (30 Aug 1938 - 10 Mar 1913) on 24 Apr 1899, is unknown. The following year, the newlyweds moved to his home town of Fort Wayne, Indiana, living first with his parents, and then, by 1910, in a house of their own at 548 Home Ave. By 1916 they are at 2905 Fairfield Ave; in 1930, 420 Downing Street; all of these houses are within a few blocks of each other. Minnetta lived fifteen years beyond Frank's death; she died on 25 Aug 1953.


Fittingly, Frank and Minetta's memorial is a natural rock, unlike the conventional headstones
 found elsewhere in Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Photo: Jim Cox

Ada May Burnett was born in May 1877, in Hermon, Penobscot, Maine, to Daniel G Burnett (abt 1847 - ?) and Lucinda C Walker (Dec 1852 - 10 Jun 1920). On 8 Jun 1894, she married Reuel (or Ruel) Sylvanus Clement (28 Apr 1873 - 7 Mar 1901), son of Edmond Clement (13 Dec 1838 - 5 Jun 1889) and Anna T Fogg (25 Apr 1847 - 18 Nov 1920); they had three children in the next six years, the last just seven months before Reuel's death from typhoid fever. In June 1905, Ada joined Shiloh, and on 3 Feb 1908 she married another member, Burnham Wheeler Hardy (31 Jul 1857 - 25 Dec 1925), son of Abel Hardy (30 Nov 1803 - 22 Sep 1871) and Rebecca P Edgerly (9 Mar 1816 - 15 Aug 1898). Burnham had joined Shiloh in 1907, although his first wife, Gertrude E Emerson (16 Mar 1868 - 28 Oct 1906), had formerly been a member of The Kingdom. After Shiloh was disbanded in 1920, Ada May continued to live in Durham, Maine until her death in 1948. She shares a headstone with her mother-in-law, daughter, and a grandson, all of whom she outlived.




Although Shiloh had its own cemetery, this is the last resting place
 for some of The Kingdom's followers.
Lunt Memorial Cemetery, Brunswick, Maine.  Photo: IHRP & Family

"through me many long dumb voices..."

Stephen and I have many things in common, but genealogy is not one of them. As I have become more and more immersed in my family history, he has developed a variety of tactics to appear interested, to varying degrees of success.... Trying to engage him, I have tried to link what I've learned to history, movies, and other general topics. To varying degrees of success, as he would no doubt tell you.

One thing we do have in common is music, and in particular, musical theater. One relevant passage recently crossed my mind from Dear World, score by Jerry Herman, book by Lawrence & Lee, based on Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot.

     Constance: Suppose I were to say your pearls were false...
     Countess: They were, they were.
     Constance: I'm not asking what they were. I'm asking what they are.
     Countess: Surely you must know, when you wear pearls, that little by little the pearls become real.    

La Lansbury, avec les perles.

    
In genealogy, too often one finds people "researching" with their hearts and not their minds,  perhaps hoping--contrary to evidence--that little by little the ancestors will become real. I recently discovered this anew....

I have some Mayflower progenitors (about whom I have posted previously) and have been planning a road trip that would visit the New England haunts of some of my Yankee ancestors, including those Plymouth folks. Stephen has made noncommittal noises at appropriate intervals whenever I've talked about it. I thought that digging a little deeper into his family's past might yield some New Englanders as well (and buy-in for the trip), so I began.

I followed his mother's paternal line, as that seemed most likely, and it quickly became promising. Then I came to his fifth great grandparents: Levi West (27 Apr 1760 - 23 Dec 1808) and Bathsheba Rider (1760- 20 Apr 1805) --I wish I could say I was making up these names--and there it was: Levi was the son of Amasa West (27 Mar 1704 - 17 Jul 1776) and Amy Hatch (10 Oct 1713 - 9 Aug 1756). Amy Hatch! The daughter of a Delano, the great-great granddaughter of Richard Warren, of the Mayflower! And what's more, Richard Warren (1580 - 20 Oct 1673) is one of my Mayflower ancestors too!

Except.

As Cole Porter put it in another musical, "'Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock would land on them...."



Not the Mayflower.
Sutton Foster and pals selling "Anything Goes,"  from the show of the same name.
 Photo by Joan Marcus

A cursory glance at dates reveals that the former Miss Hatch died four years before Grandpa Levi was born. So why do so many people (on Ancestry.com and elsewhere) believe it? Because they get to be Mayflower descendants if it is true. (Although I am beginning to think that even that is no big deal; there are estimated to be over four million legitimate--by which I mean genuine--living descendants of Mayflower passengers.) But how did Miss Hatch get connected to Amasa West, who is, in fact, Stephen's forbear? Well, she was his first wife. But a year after her death he married again (documented), this time to Bathshua Gibbs (2 Dec 1713 - ?), making her the mother of Levi West (also documented).

And a little more digging showed that my Richard Warren connection was even more dubious.

So that was a bust. But it turns out that Stephen and I are related, albeit distantly; apparently the term is "affinal" versus "consanguineal," meaning by marriage rather than blood. Anyway....

John James Rutledge (Sep 1739 - 2 Aug 1823) is a second great grandfather of the husband of one of my paternal second great grand aunts. Huh? Let me try again. One of John's great-great grandkids, Robert Rutledge (1870 - aft 1940) married my great-great grandfather's sister, Clara M Eaton (23 May 1874 - 2 Feb 1961). So now that that's clear, how does this relate to Stephen? John James Rutledge was the brother of George Rutledge (1723? - 18 Dec 1801), who is one of Stephen's maternal sixth great grandfathers.

Like the song says: "Small world, isn't it?"



Wondering about family relationships?
Ethel Merman in Gypsy.

"She hides handsome and richly dressed aft the blinds of the window..."

Today being Hallowe'en, I wanted to post something mysterious, murderous, or macabre about my family history. Alas, we seem always to have been a pretty clean-cut, upstanding group. Where are my highwaymen, defrocked clergy, or sheep-stealers hung by the neck until dead? But I was able to find two apposite legends; so legendary, in fact, that they only concern possible family members.

The first story concerns at least one of the legitimate (by which I mean factual, not bastardy) children of Ira Baker Brown (28 Jun 1829 - 15 May 1899), a maternal second great-grand-uncle, oldest brother to Silas W Brown, about whom I have written before. Among many other occupations, including cooper, painter, soda maker (?), and photographer (he owned a panorama camera), Ira Baker Brown was also a sextant at the Edgewood Cemetery in Chillicothe, Missouri. Oooooohhhh! Not terribly spooky in itself, I know, although I did try to add a little atmosphere to the photo below.



Edgewood Cemetery, original photo by "mordecarr" at findagrave.com.

No, the grim component to this story is that his children, twins (a classic horror trope!) Orlando and Malvina (5 Oct 1859 - 15 Jul 1863) were apparently both struck by lightning while at school, and killed instantly. Let us pause to shudder while considering that idea.



Not our twins, but a suitably macabre illustration,
 from Edward Gorey's The Epiplectic Bicycle.

It is an awfully good story, and comes to us from no less an authority than Timothy Hopkins' John Hopkins of Cambridge, 1634, and Some of His Descendants (1932, Stanford University Press), the former Martha Abigail Hopkins (27 Jul 1834 - 1 Apr 1924) being Mrs Brown, and consequently the children's mother. The only problem is that the story is merely that. There are no records of daughter Malvina Brown, despite her "twin" Orlando appearing on the 1860 U S Federal Census. And it is doubtful Orlando, even allowing for the lightning strike, would have been in school, as he was just three years old at the time of his death. Like many family stories (and I am sure you can think of examples in your own lineage), there may be some truth in this tale, but not as it has come down to us.

The second legend involves an actual person, unlike the mythic Malvina Brown, and it involves everything from piracy to a haunted house. The stretch here is that I have not been able to prove our heroine is related to me (although it is likely); she certainly would have been known by some of my ancestors. I am referring to Mary Wilson (Jul 1720 - 13 [alas, not a Friday] Feb 1814). Who? She is better known to New Englanders and beloved by ghost-story fans as Ocean Born Mary.

The legend has inspired everything from a children's book to an indie album to a puppet show.

The story, aptly enough, does begin with her birth at sea, on board the sinisterly-named Wolf, coming from Ireland to the New World. The ship was overtaken by pirates, whose captain was named Don Pedro. Upon seeing the newborn girl in her mother's arms, the oddly sentimental Captain, struck by the beauty of the red-haired child, said he would spare the lives of all aboard, and return the plunder his men had taken--if the child would be named "Maria," after his own mother. Needless to say, Mother Wilson agreed, so the pirates departed, but not before Don Pedro returned to the cabin to present her with a length of sumptuous green brocade, for baby Mary to wear on her wedding day.

Upon reaching land, the Wilson family settled in Nutfield, New Hampshire (present-day Londonderry), where Ocean Born Mary grew up. Her father James Wilson, died soon after their arrival, and her mother, Elizabeth (nee Fulton), married James Clarke, also of Nutfield. Mary Wilson was known to be tall, with fiery red hair and aquamarine eyes. On 18 December 1742, she married James Wallace (1712 - 30 Oct 1781), wearing, as promised, a dress made of the ill-gotten seafoam brocade. The Wallaces stayed in Londonderry, and had five children, living a normal life until James died. Then Mary's tale takes another bizarre turn...

And it is here that I must interrupt (this is called building suspense) to explain how Ocean Born Mary Wilson Wallace may be related to me. As I have written before, my seventh great-grandparents, Thomas Steele (1683- 22 Feb 1748) and Martha Morrison (1686 - 22 Oct 1759) were among the founding families of Nutfield/Londonderry and were well-acquainted with the Clarkes and Pattersons (into which family Mary's only daughter married), so certainly would have known Ocean Born Mary. And the Steele's daughter, Janet (1703 - aft 1754), married John Wallace (abt 1700 - 1785) in 1720; they are my sixth great-grandparents. John Wallace is very likely  related to Ocean Born Mary's husband James Wallace, although it has not been proven. But today's theme is meant to be more chilling than genealogical, so to continue....

After her husband's death, Mary moved away from Nutfield to nearby Henniker, New Hampshire, perhaps to be near her now-grown sons. Don Pedro--remember him?--had since retired from piracy, but never forgot Ocean Born Mary. He sought her out using his stolen fortune, and upon discovering she lived in New Hampshire, bought land there and built a magnificent mansion on a hill, in which he intended to install Mary as, if not a bride, at least a companion. She accepted, and they lived a life of leisure and luxury, including a black carriage drawn by four white horses. They were a striking couple: the elegant Irish widow and the fine "Spanish" gentleman.

The only thing that marred their gentility was the occasional reappearance of someone from Don Pedro's piratical past. Mary once thought she saw figures, including her husband, digging a hole behind their home, in which to place an enormous trunk. When she asked Don Pedro about it, he denied everything, but less than a year later, she discovered him in that same spot, dead, with a cutlass stuck through his back! Rather than risk digging on their land, Mary instructed the servants to bury Don Pedro under the hearth. Although occasionally rumors surfaced about Don Pedro's background, and wild stories abounded about treasure buried there, Mary continued to live in the house until her death.

The home stayed in the family for nearly a hundred years, often occupied by tenants, who never seemed to stay long. The house fell into disrepair. Soon, ghost stories began to spread, tales of ectoplasmic buccaneers, or a tall ethereal woman descending the stairs; sometimes they told of phantom carriages driven by a flame-haired woman.

About 1918, a new family, the Roys, bought the home, and began to notice many peculiar things, from objects behaving oddly to apparitional appearances. Learning of the folklore surrounding their home, they decided to share the "haunted house" with neighbors, then tourists. Word got out to reporters and psychic investigators, and soon Ocean Born Mary's story was out. Her fame went as far as National Geographic magazine, which featured her in an article from 1939 about prominent American ghosts. Through the 1960s, members of the Roy family continue to charge for tours, and even rented shovels to those brave--or greedy--enough to want to dig for treasure.

Times change, and we learn more. Whether that is good or bad is hard to say. The family that bought the house next said the Roys admitted the entire ghost story was fabricated, as a way to make money. Historians have provided documents proving that Mary would have been over sixty (and Don Pedro older still) when they moved into the house. Researchers dug deeper and learned that the supposedly haunted house was not even Mary's, but her son Robert's. Although she did live nearby, she so disliked him it is doubtful she ever visited the house.



Ghost-y, and less-so. Left, the infamous "Ocean Born Mary House" touted by the Roys;
 Right, Mary's actual home.

Yet to this day, there are many that go to Ocean Born Mary's House--particularly on Hallowe'en--to try to catch a glimpse of the black carriage coming up the hill, or the fiery-haired woman of New England folklore. Will she be seen tonight? How much is true? Is she related to me? I suppose it depends on what you want to believe....

An evocative recent image by Victor Ambrus.



"I wish I could translate the hints about the dead..."

In a previous post, I talked about one of my brick walls: Isaac Burnett; in another, I discussed the unreliability of documents (Silas W Brown's obituary) and the consequent disappointment one feels when such a document does not reveal any additional information.

The crossing of these threads is today's topic, as several new bits of information--all exciting, some perplexing--have recently come across my desk (or, more precisely: into my laptop).

Isaac Burnett (1780 -May 1860), a paternal fourth great-grandfather, has no identifiable parents, and until recently, five children (of ten) whose names are lost: one boy, and four girls. Beginning with the discoveries of two distant cousins, we now know the name of one of those daughters, and are--perhaps--a bit closer to the identity of Isaac's parents.

Over a year ago, I received a reply to an online post inquiring about Isaac Burnett and his family. The respondent was from another Burnett family (that of Daniel Burnett and Mariah Burnham, the purported but impossible parents of Isaac), who, in her research on her Burnetts, had a stray bit of information from a copy of an only partially reliable typescript from the 'fifties she had located: an Abigail Burnett born in Newport, Maine in 1820 to an Isaac Burnett and Deborah (LKU); Abigail married a Rufus Carter in 1840.


A vintage postcard of Newport, Maine. If nothing else, it breaks up my text.

Fascinating! This fit perfectly with one of Isaac's mysterious unnamed daughters. Isaac Burnett was in Newport in 1820, his wife's name was Deborah (Grindle). The birth year was plausible. Case closed. Except I could find no other documentation that there was ever an Abigail Burnett; and while there were numerous Rufus Carters, none that I could locate married an Abigail that made sense. So that got put aside (and, admittedly, forgotten).

Just a few weeks ago, another Burnett descendant with whom I have been corresponding found a daughter as well: Mary Burnett. The document extract below shows her as the daughter of Isaac and Deborah Burnett, born in 1820 in Newport, Maine. Two daughters! Abigail and Mary, both born in 1820...? Possibly they were twins.

 

For those of you who did not trouble to enlarge the above, I would like to point out that it is a Death Registry, and the deceased in question is named Mary A Carter. A is in Abigail? The Abigail who married Rufus Carter? Connecting the dots, and researching further, it all worked out.

Mary Abigail Burnett was born in 1820 in Newport, Maine. She married Rufus Burnham Carter (12 Sep 1818 - 22 Mar 1884) in 1840. She died in Athol, Massachusetts on 2 Apr 1877.

 

Apart from the coincidence of Rufus and I sharing a birthday (theme of another recent post here), there were some odd things about him.

 

First, he was simply difficult to single out; there are two other contemporary Rufus B Carters who seemed to circle him. One lived for many years in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the same time as did our Rufus, although the impostor's wife was Lorena or Lozena, and he was a prison warden, not a furniture painter. The other was born in Maine (check!) and married a woman named Abigail in 1840 (check!), but there similarities ended. Helpful as Ancestry.com can be, family trees there must be triple-checked; there are several entries for the numerous Rufuses (Rufii?) with conflated census data, birth and death dates, and so on, picked out by their descendants like so many columns on a Chinese menu.

 

Second, the potentially significant oddity about Rufus Burnham Carter is his middle name. Many sources give his father-in-law Isaac Burnett's parents as Daniel Burnett and Mariah Burnham. Although this is not possible, Daniel Burnett just four years old at the time of Isaac's birth, the coincidence is striking, and threatens meaning--but what?

 

The Death Registry did yield one other factoid of interest: it states that Mary Burnett's parents were both born in Machias, Maine. Who provided this information, and how accurate it is bears looking into. Most other records show Isaac being born in Massachusetts in 1780, although Maine did not achieve statehood from Massachusetts until 1820, so arguably, Isaac might have been born in what was later called Maine. Deborah Grindle was born in what is now Maine, but the Grindle family was more often found in nearby Hancock and Penobscot counties, rather than Machias' Washington County. Anyway....

 

The really promising information--one hopes!--in regard to the mystery of Isaac Burnett's parents does not come directly from Mary Burnett at all, who is just a paternal third great aunt of mine, but rather her even more distant (first cousin, four times removed) daughter, Almira Ellen Carter (16 Sep 1845 - 6 Apr 1915). Which is why it is useful to follow collateral lines. While adding Rufus and their children to Mary Burnett, I did my usual cross-referencing and found this thrilling lead:



[Pardon the highlighting; it came from Google Books that way.]


Here was a mother lode (cousin lode?) of new and potentially wall-breaking information. Good old snobbish Mrs. Walter Simmons of Quincy, Mass! "...descended from Robert Burnett [!], a member of the Boston Tea Party...!" My recollection of American history needing the occasional assist, I had to use Google to find when the Boston Tea Party occurred. After scrolling through pages of recent right-wing frippery, I found the date: 1773. This being just seven years before Isaac was born (and perhaps confirming Massachusetts rather than Maine), this new (first) Robert should either be his father or grandfather, if Almira was a descendant. Huzzah--a breakthrough!

Except. In the last few weeks I have yet to find any record of a Robert Burnett participating in the Tea Party (and curse those upstarts who clutter the "Search" pages), and no Robert Burnetts who seem plausible for the time and place. It seems likely it should be true (and of course, I would love it to be); after all, in those pre-Internet days, when news sources and reference works were scarce, if someone was said to have had a noted ancestor it must have been passed down through the family, and this "Robert" would have been her mother's grandfather, so it wasn't coming from distant reaches of time. But if true, why can't I find him? If not, where did the story come from? Even if Tea Partier is an embellishment, surely "Robert" must be correct.



That third redskin from the right does kind of have my nose, don't you think?

While Silas W Brown's obituary merely contained errors, looking further into Almira's obituary, I find puzzles.
It states that her father was from Unity, Maine, but that was actually the birthplace of one of those other Rufii, who is well-documented to have continued to live there his entire life. It's possible that both R B Carter's were born there, but....

Continuing: "[a]mong her ancestors were the Rev. Thomas Dalton, one of the founders of Woburn, Mass...." My cursory research into the founding of Woburn revealed no one by that name, although there was a Rev Thomas Carter, which--again, coincidentally? Yes? No?--is her father's surname. More misinformation? Certainly more to research.

Am I closer to discovering Isaac Burnett's parents? Who knows. If nothing else, it's gladdening to see that one of my ancestors was well known for patriotic and charitable work. Rest in Peace, Myra.

Almira Ellen "Myra" Carter was born on 16 September 1845 in Stetson, Penobscot, Maine to Rufus Burnham Carter (12 Sep 1818 - 22 Mar 1884) and Mary Abigail Burnett (1820 - 2 Apr 1877). She would be the oldest of their four children. After living briefly in Wisconsin, the family moved to Massachusetts, where on 22 February 1869, Almira married Walter Everett Simmons (30 Mar 1846 - aft 1820), son of Ichabod Simmons (17 Feb 1801 - 12 Sep [again!] 1869) and Marcia Bates (29 Dec 1806 - 14 Sep 1877). The Simmons had five children, and lived in Quincy Massachusetts for the remainder of their lives, being especially active in civic and charitable works. Almira died on 6 April 1915 while visiting her daughter, Mary Florence (Simmons) Holmes (12 Sep [again!] 1869 - aft 1930), in Detroit  Michigan.

"...one supposed it lucky to be born"

So the other day was my birthday, and at my age you don't make too much of it--although I did get a smashing donut "cake." As I was reading the morning paper (before it became too covered in chocolate and sprinkles to make out), my eye fell on the "Today in History" column, and later on the list of the day's celebrity birthdays. It was reasonably interesting to discover that in 1609 Henry Hudson began exploring the river that was later to bear his name, and that Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning chose to elope on "my day" in 1846. I have no idea who Yuto Nagatomo is, but it was nice to see that H. L. Mencken, Maurice Chevalier, Alfred A. Knopf, and Jesse Owens are all among my Virgo buddies. Apparently 12 September is also the feast days for several saints, including Ailbe of Emly (patron saint of wolves) AKA Saint Elvis (!), and Guy of Anderlecht (who protects against rabies). Fascinating.

Putting aside these strangers, I wondered who in my family tree shared my birthday; out of over four thousand people (albeit many of whose birth dates are unknown), I figured there had to be a few.

Reviewing the report I generated, I noticed that there were other events tied to 12 September as well: two deaths, Lillian Amelia Johnson, mother-in-law of a maternal first cousin, twice removed (26 Oct 1886 - 12 Sep 1977); and Robert Elmer Velin, father-in-law of a maternal first cousin, once removed (3 May 1916 - 12 Sep 1979). My birthday is also the death date of John Alden (15 Sep 1598 - 12 Sep 1687) of history and legend, who may be a paternal eleventh great-grandfather, although I am still verifying this.



A fictional representation of a feasible ancestor.

There has also been one marriage, that of Moses Steele (10 Sep 1745 - 9 Feb 1814), a maternal first cousin seven times removed, to a Lydia Campbell--or Gibson, records vary--(19 Sep 1776 - 7 May 1836), on 12 September 1805, in New Hampshire, just months after the death of his first wife, Abigail Codd (15 Dec 1751 - 24 Jan 1805). Miss Campbell being Mr Steele's second wife may explain the nearly twenty year age difference....

But back to the birthdays. More distant relations include Elizabeth Mott (12 Sep 1672 - 22 Mar 1749), a paternal ninth great grand-aunt (and one of five women by that name in the family), and Claire Elaine Runser (12 Sep 1929 - 4 Oct 1946), a maternal second cousin, once removed.

My only direct ancestors who share my birthday are actually father and son: Benjamin Lowell (12 Sep 1642 - 22 Oct 1714) and Joseph Lowell (12 Sep 1680 - 8 Apr 1753), paternal eighth and seventh great grandfather, respectively. In an odd coincidence, Benjamin died on the same date as my sister's birthday.

Benjamin Lowell was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son and grandson of two of the town founders: Percival Lowell (1571- 8 Jan 1664), who emigrated from England with his family, including son John Lowell (1595 - 10 Jul 1647), Benjamin's father. The family connections with Newbury run deep. Benjamin Lowell married Ruth Woodman (28 Mar 1646 - 22 Oct 1714), daughter of another town founder, Edward Woodman (27 Dec 1606 - 11 May 1670). There are excellent articles about John Lowell and Edward Woodman at the Newbury, Essex County, MA GenWeb site.

http://newbury.essexcountyma.net/lowell.htm
http://newbury.essexcountyma.net/woodman.htm

A vintage postcard of the Founder's Memorial, and a detail of one of the sides.

Somehow this post seems to have taken us quite a ways from my birthday, which when you get to be my age, might be just as well. Time for another donut.

1. Benjamin Lowell (12 Sep 1642 - 22 Oct 1714) was born in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, where he married Ruth Woodman (28 Mar 1646 - 22 Oct 1714) on 17 Oct 1666.

2. Joseph Lowell (12 Sep 1680 - 8 Apr 1753) was also born, and died, in Newbury. It was also there that he married Mary Hardy (2 Feb 1693 - 4 Nov 1747), daughter of George Hardy (1660 - 6 Nov 1694) and Mary Fogg (1 May 1662 - 6 Nov 1694), on 6 Dec 1707.

3. Joseph Lowell (20 Feb 1720 - aft 1769) married Mary Jones (5 Feb 1726 - ?), daughter of Joseph Jones (1 Oct 1702 - ?) and Mary Prowse (26 Nov 1703 - 1783), on 11 Jan 1745, in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts.

4. Hannah Lowell (23 Jan 1759 - Sep 1802) married Reuben Grindle (20 Mar 1757 - 15 Jul 1835), son of John Grindle (1 Aug 1714 - 1794) and Elizabeth Dorr (1727 - 12 Apr 1761), on 6 Oct 1777, in Penobscot, Hancock, Maine.

5. Deborah Grindle (25 Feb 1784 - aft 1860), married Isaac Burnett (1780 - May 1860), parents unknown, on 23 Dec 1802, in Hancock County, Maine.

6. Nathaniel S Burnett (12 Mar 1826 - 10 Oct 1885) married Rachel Elizabeth Squire (28 Jan 1829 - 21 Apr 1902), daughter of Samuel Squire (13 Apr 1797 - 26 Jul 1871) and Lovina Coleman (27 Oct 1806 - 2 Jul 1901), on 26 Dec 1850, in Hancock County, Maine.

7. Charles A Burnett (Feb 1856 - 17 Jan 1930) married Ella Swarts (1 Sep 1861 - Apr 1899), daughter of Charles Swarts (12 Feb 1835 - 8 Jan 1909) and Henrietta Davenport (Jan 1836 - May 1904), on 1 Sep 1879 (her eighteenth birthday), at Spring Lake, Minnesota.

8. Alfred Nathaniel Burnett (19 Aug 1883 - 31 Jul 1959) married Jennie Arleta Eaton (14 Mar 1891 - 15 Apr 1979), daughter of Dor Henry Eaton (May 1869 - 31 Dec 1945) and Anna B Miller (Jan 1867 - aft 1920), in 1909 in Minnesota.

9. Leroy Stanley Burnett (31 Aug 1910 - 11 May 1980) married Hazel Lucille Erickson (6 Sep 1910 - 6 May 2002), daughter of Erick Albert Erickson (28 Aug 1864 - 27 Nov 1948) and Johanna Maria "Marie" Svard (5 Feb 1875 - 28 Apr 1914),on 21 Jun 1933 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

10. [Living] Burnett married Beverly Alane Brown (8 Aug 1934 - 7 Mar 2010), daughter of Dana Earl Brown (26 Jan 1910 - 10 Sep 1984) and Myrna Margaret Severin (6 Nov 1907 - 12 Jun 1997), on 4 Mar 1961 in Long Beach, California.

11. Your humble blogger.

"...shuffle and break-down."

In my last post, I wrote about the unavoidable nuisance of brick walls in genealogy, and how two of my highest walls block my two closest surnames: Brown and Burnett. Previously, I focused on the former; this time, I will tackle the latter. Part of my enjoyment of family research (and this blog) has come from meeting others, collaborating and sharing information or theories. One of my third-great grandfathers, Nathaniel S Burnett (12 Mar 1826 - 10 Oct 1885), son of today's subject, had at least eight children of his own, and at least thirty-six grandchildren; he was one of ten himself. With those odds, perhaps someone will discover this virtual message in a bottle and come to my aid!

Isaac Burnett (1780 - May 1860), one of my paternal fourth great-grandfathers, is my oldest verifiable Burnett ancestor. Beyond that, things get confused. Many researchers show him as the son of Daniel Burnett and a woman named Mariah, or Maria, with her last name often given as Burnham. This may be traced to two perhaps unrelated (no pun intended) facts.

First, in the venerable New England Historic Genealogical Society's publication, Massachusetts Town Birth Records 1620 -1850, there is a record from the town of Ashfield of an Isaac born to Daniel Burnett and Mariah.

Second, the 1850 U S Federal Census gives Massachusetts as Isaac Burnett's birthplace.

Voila! Isaac's parents are Daniel and Maria(h) Burnett. But as a wise National Park Ranger told me on a genealogically-inspired trip a few years back: it takes three legs to make a stool. One bit of information is interesting, two makes it more likely, but three confirms it as a fact.

And in this case, not only are we missing that crucial third leg, but there is this damning piece of evidence, which others seem to excuse or ignore:  Daniel Burnett's birth is well-documented as being in 1776, just four years before his supposed son's in 1780. Anyway....

We do know that Isaac was born in Massachusetts in 1780, and moved to Maine by at least 23 December 1802, when he married Deborah Grindle (25 Feb 1784 - aft 1860), daughter of a long-established and prolific New England family, whose name is also found as Grindal, Grindall, and Grindell.

The Burnetts are next found in the 1810 U S Federal Census living in Sedgwick, Hancock County, Maine, with their first four children, all girls: Peggy (17 May 1804 - ?), Lydia (8 Nov 1806 - ?), Sarah (20 Oct 1808 - ?), and another, possibly named Abigail.

In 1814, the family moved about fifty miles to the northwest, to the just-incorporated town of Newport, Maine; they are considered among the town founders. At one of the earliest town meetings, on 3 April 1815, Isaac Burnett is named as an agent of the newly-formed school district.





Newport, Hancock, Maine about 1875.

By 1820, there are two more daughters and--at last--a son (as of now all nameless, alas), then another: Reuben Burnett (abt 1818 - aft 1880), named after Deborah's father. On 12 March 1826, the last child--and at last my direct ancestor--Nathaniel S Burnett was born.

Isaac Burnett was primarily a farmer; an 1850 census reports he had seventy improved acres and thirty unimproved acres. He possessed one horse, two milk cows, two oxen, four other cattle, eleven sheep, and one swine, and was producing wheat, oats, rye, wool, butter, and cheese. 



Isaac Burnett is found on Line 10, after three lines of those prolific Grindalls.
 On Line 12 can be found Samuel Squire, whose daughter Rachel will marry Isaac's son Nathaniel four months after this Census was taken. [Detail]

By the time of Isaac's sudden death (of "old age", which is nice to read after a page otherwise full of dropsy, consumption, and typhoid fever) at age eighty in May 1860, he had also been working for some time as a blacksmith, perhaps a reflection of Newport's growing prominence as a carriage-making town.

It is remarkable how much we can learn about this ordinary man who died over one hundred and fifty years ago.

But who are Isaac Burnett's parents?

 

1. Isaac Burnett (1780 - May 1860) was born in Massachusetts, and married Deborah Grindle (25 Feb 1784 - aft 1860), daughter of Reuben Grindle (20 Mar 1757 - 15 Jul 1835) and Hannah Lowell (23 Jan 1759 - Sep 1802), on 23 Dec 1802 in Hancock County, Maine.

2. Nathaniel S Burnett (12 Mar 1826 - 10 Oct 1885) married Rachel Elizabeth Squire (28 Jan 1829 - 21 Apr 1902), daughter of Samuel Squire (13 Apr 1797 - 26 Jul 1871) and Lovina Coleman (27 Oct 1806 - 2 Jul 1901), on 26 Dec 1850, in Hancock County, Maine.

3. Charles A Burnett (Feb 1856 - 17 Jan 1930) married Ella Swarts (1 Sep 1861 - Apr 1899), daughter of Charles Swarts (12 Feb 1835 - 8 Jan 1909) and Henrietta Davenport (Jan 1836 - May 1904), on 1 Sep 1879 (her eighteenth birthday!), at Spring Lake, Minnesota.

4. Alfred Nathaniel Burnett (19 Aug 1883 - 31 Jul 1959) married Jennie Arleta Eaton (14 Mar 1891- 15 Apr 1979), daughter of Dor Henry Eaton (May 1869 - 31 Dec 1945) and Anna B A Miller (Jan 1867 - aft 1920), in 1909 in Minnesota.

5. Leroy Stanley Burnett (31 Aug 1910 - 11 May 1980) married Hazel Lucille Erickson (6 Sep 1910 - 6 May 2002), daughter of Erick Albert Erickson (28 Aug 1864 - 27 Nov 1948) and Johanna Maria "Marie" Svard (5 Feb 1875 - 28 Apr 1914), on 21 Jun 1933 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

6. [Living] Burnett married Beverly Alane Brown (8 Aug 1934 - 7 Mar 2010), daughter of Dana Earl Brown (26 Jan 1910 - 10 Sep 1984) and Myrna Margaret Severin (6 Nov 1907 - 12 Jun 1997), on 4 Mar 1961 in Long Beach, California.

7. Your humble blogger.

"no longer take things at second or third hand..."

I have--as all genealogists must--a few brick walls that I just can't seem to bring down. Annoyingly enough, two of them concern my closest surnames: Burnett and Brown. And both of these walls are rife with confusions. So it was a delight when I recently discovered an obituary for a maternal second great-grandfather, Silas W Brown. Finally, there would be some answers--or at least, clarifications!

It appeared in the Carrollton [Missouri] Daily Democrat, 20 November 1893, under the--what is the opposite of "charming?"--heading "Death's Doings." Let me provide a complete, annotated transcription:

"S. W. Brown, aged 65 years [incorrect], died at his home in Carrollton at 4 a. m. this morning. Deceased has lived in Carrollton for 18 years [incorrect] and his many friends will mourn his loss. He leaves a wife and five children [incorrect]. Three sons, Marion, Lee and Clarence reside in Kansas City, one daughter, married, lives in Marceline, and one in Carrollton, the wife of Jas. Williford [incorrect]. Funeral to-morrow at 2:30 p.m. at residence under the auspices of the Masonic Lodge."

Five sentences, at least four errors (I would like to believe that he did in fact have many friends). Clearly, this was not the treasure trove of information for which I was hoping. Let me explain the errors.

"aged 65 years"   Silas W Brown was born about 1835, based on the information given in the Federal Censuses of 1850, 1870, and 1880, as well as his Civil War records, making him about 58 at the time of his death. He had been suffering from heart disease for a number of years, and had been receiving a Civil War pension as an invalid since 1889.

"lived in Carrollton for 18 years"   That would put Silas and family in Carrollton from about 1875 onward. Perhaps, but not consecutively. The 1870 Census shows the Brown family living in Chillicothe, in neighboring Livingston County, so it is possible that by 1875 they had moved to Carrollton. But by 1880, the family had uprooted and was living in Buena Vista (pronounced "byoona vista" at the insistence of Mrs Alsina Dearheimer, who named the newly-formed town), Colorado. Apparently Silas decided to give up his life as a clerk in a store for the life of a prospector(!), which is listed as his occupation on said Census; this is certainly consistent with the peripatetic approach to careers the Brown men seem to have. The Browns lived in Colorado at least long enough for one of their children to be born there (daughter Lula Ethel Brown, 7 Dec 1880 - 2 May 1944), before returning to (apparently) Carrollton.

"leaves a wife and five children"   Silas did leave his wife, the former Malinda J Carter (30 Jan 1849 - 8 Jan 1924), but in 1893, at least eight of the couple's eleven children were still living. Besides the aforementioned sons Marion, Lee, and Clarence, and the two married daughters (about whom more briefly), there were daughters Lula Ethel, Leona (Apr 1888 - aft 1905), and Nina Fay (Sep 1890 -bef 1940). There is the possibility that the other three children also survive Silas in 1893, but by the 1900 Census, we know that at least three of Malinda's children are dead, with two more following by 1910.

"the wife of Jas. Williford"   Silas' daughter Bertha E Brown (21 May 1870 - 15 Aug 1952) married James Henry Willerford (May 1860 - 1907) on 7 June 1884. And for those of you not paying attention, that would be just two weeks after her fourteenth birthday; but not to worry: on the marriage license, the verbal consent of her father was given.... A few years--and five children--later, Bertha and James moved to Los Angeles, California, then split up. In 1905 she remarried, this time to the remarkably named Cephas Hurburt Miller Shibley (prob 28 Mar 1855 - Dec 1934); she was his second, or possibly third wife. He was quite a character, and deserves a blog entry of his own, but I digress.... In 1915, she next married Henry Bricks (1 May 1878 - 30 May 1952), whom she outlived by just a few months.

The daughter living in Marceline is presumably Alice M Brown (Aug 1867 - aft 1956?), who at the time of her father's death was married to William M Rogers (bef 1863 -abt 1897); on 8 January 1912 she married Albert O Wilson (1867 - 28 May 1956).

Other questions and confusions still remain. Who are the other two unnamed Brown children? Was Nina Fay Brown ever married to a man named Albert Wires (and was his last name Wire, Wires, or Wyres; there are documents with all these spellings)? Many people seem to think so, citing as evidence an application for marriage issued to Nina and Albert (although Nina had not signed it) on 29 Dec 1909. Whether they intended to marry but did not, or even if this is the same Nina Brown (which I doubt--there are other factual discrepancies) remains to be discovered. At any rate, our Nina Fay Brown did get married in 1909, but to Melvin I Martin (17 Jan 1881- 11 Jan 1967); while Albert shows as "Single" on the 1910 Federal Census, but married Edna N Silvers about 1915.



The dubious document.

So that seems settled. But... each answer seems to add another question! Melvin I Martin was born in Oregon and lived in Southern California his entire life. In 1900, he was working as an assistant school janitor, by 1910, he is a stone cutter. How did he cross paths (let alone marry) a farmer's daughter born and raised in Missouri? My guess is that Nina went to Los Angeles to visit her sister Bertha.

Brick walls.

My ongoing thanks to Diana Gale Matthiesen (and her useful website Diana, Goddess of the Hunt — for Ancestors!  at http://dgmweb.net/GenealogyHome.html), my guide to all things Brown. I hope at least some of this information will be new to her!

1. Silas W Brown was born in New York State in about 1835, to Willard Brown (abt 1806 - aft 1860) and Mary "Polly" Rasey (21 Oct 1808 - 12 Dec 1868), sixth of their thirteen children. The family lived briefly in Henrietta Township, Ohio, then moved to Castleton, Michigan by 1850. On 7 Aug 1861, Silas enlisted in the Union Army, serving with Michigan's Company D, 6th Infantry Regiment as a private, beginning 20 August. He was mustered out of the same regiment on 23 Aug 1864. On 22 Oct 1865 he married Malinda J Carter (30 Jan 1849 - 8 Jan 1924), daughter of William Carter (1800 - 1849) and Melinda Johnson (1813 - 1902). The Browns had eleven children, living primarily in central Missouri, with a brief stay in Colorado circa 1880, where Silas attempted prospecting, despite his military records indicating he had incurred "heart damage" during his service. By 1890, he was an invalid, and died  on 20 Nov 1893. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Carrollton, Missouri, and was provided with a Veteran's headstone by the U S Government.

2. Clarence Edgar Brown (1 Dec 1878 - 21 Aug 1937), married Cora Mabel Kinman (4 Sep 1876 - 22 Aug 1958), daughter of William Edwin Kinman and Sarah Jane Conley, on 16 Sep 1903, in Morgan, Minnesota.

3. Dana Earl Brown (26 Jan 1910 - 10 Sep 1984) married Myrna Margaret Severin (6 Nov 1907 - 12 Jun 1997), daughter of John Jacob "Jack" Severin and Isabelle "Belle" Runser, on 21 Oct 1933, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

4.  Beverly Alane Brown (8 Aug 1934 - 7 Mar 2010) married [Living] Burnett, son of Leroy Stanley Burnett and Hazel Lucille Erickson, on 4 Mar 1961, in Long Beach, California.

5. Your humble blogger.