Summary of Discoveries

This post is intended for my immediate family, who might wish to get a general idea of "where they come from", and learn of some of the discoveries we've made to date about our shared ancestral history.  Below is one summary for each of the four main family names ("surnames") in our family, which will contain references to other families of interest.

There are many hyperlinks to other pages on this blog if the reader wishes to explore further.  Any text that is colored in orange can be clicked on, and a new research page is displayed covering that topic in more detail. These links contain particular stories we've uncovered (or heard told) of our ancestors, along with hundreds of old photographs of people, places (then and now), houses, and historical artifacts, as well as visual diagrams of family trees.  

At any time, the reader can always use the search box to the right of the screen to see what has been written about a particular ancestor.  Also, each page has been tagged with family names, so the reader can easily scroll down on the right side of any page, and click on a surname in order to retrieve all the pages associated with that family name.

This blog has been a continued source of enjoyment for me since 2009.  It is a great way for me to practice my biography writing; and, using a narrative style helps me make sense of some of the context of the vast amount of information at my fingertips.  I'm constantly editing and updating these pages as I uncover more information.

Yet none of this would be possible without the help of many dozens of other cousins and other researchers who have shared their research with me, or who have given their time to looking for materials for me in their hometowns - such materials which cannot be found online or through mail order.  This blog is just as much an interactive project as it is a tribute to our shared ancestors, and I hope it shall continue to develop over the years as more researchers stumble upon these pages...

LEONARD

Our surname Leonard used to be the Irish "Lennan" in Dublin during the late 1600s, before the Brits changed it. (this I confirmed with Y-DNA testing, and as of November 2014 this line is associated with Haplogroup R-P312, but the group keeps changing as the research gets more specific)  Many centuries before that, it was the Gaelic "O'Leannain".  Many Leonards appear to have an artistic temperament, and are keenly interested in painting, music, and flowers (also drinking).  The Leonards in our family are very few and far between in America, and are dying out.  I'm one of the last five male Leonards descending from our immigrant ancestor, Mathew John Leonard of Portraine, Ireland, hard working railroadman and beer maker.  Five male heirs remain, and none are likely to have any male heirs themselves. The surname will probably die with me.  Our immigrant, however, had many siblings in Portraine, one of which has dozens of living heirs still at the old Leonard Homestead, and in the surrounding area.  We believe that this Leonard line is influenced by the "Black Irish", being potentially linked to Spanish blood many centuries back; but, the only confirmation we have of that was that our ancestors from there were dark haired, and not red haired.  The theory of the Spanish Armada and its influence on Ireland is often overstated, so it will have to be a tall tale for now.  The Leonards and their associated Irish Catholic families (Smart, Devine, Wade, and Graney) were very well represented in the West End of Portland Maine from 1870-1940, and some of the remaining descendants removed to South Portland.  My grandfather, the Pearl Harbor veteran Thomas Edward Leonard, was a 'half breed', since his father was from the Irish Leonard family, and his mother was a Danish girl whose parents were from Aalborg in northwestern Denmark, and Skroebelev, in southern Denmark.  I've been fascinated with the Danish link for years now, and have met many of our distant and very friendly Mortensen cousins in New Hampshire who descend from the same Danish immigrants, who were largely all sawmill workers residing in Berlin NH.  In 2012, my travels brought me to Aalborg and Skroebelev - and I have visited the churches and villages where they came from, and the graveyard where some of them are laid to rest.  Many in my immediate family refer to the "Leonard Look", given the very striking shared physical traits among us, and many of our cousins (chubby cheeks, long face, deep circles under the eyes).  I've come to believe that this look is actually coming from our Danish heritage, after having met many of these distant cousins in NH in person and receiving many dozens of old photos.  So it's really the "Mortensen Look", if you ask me. If you click around the hyperlinks in here, you will find old photographs which illustrate my point.

FULLER

The English Fuller name is overwhelmingly well represented in New England and elsewhere, and is one of the most common colonial names in the region, so many genealogists have published volumes for us, leaving a lesser burden of research than the Irish and Danish connections above.  Our Fuller immigrant was Edward Fuller of the Mayflower, who traveled from the small town of Redenhall, England with his brother, Dr. Samuel Fuller.  While Edward died the first winter in the New World (like many from that ship), his son Matthew (who came over a bit later) had many thousands of descendants, all of whom are our distant cousins.  The six children of Harold Fuller (Nana's brother) each have had some interest in ancestry passed down from their father, and they've been very kind and interactive with me in the research.  There are many interesting connections.  The Fullers intermarried with the farming Osborn family of Fairfield and Winslow Maine (distant cousins still remain there today) who were Revolutionary War patriots from East Hampton, Long Island, New York (and whose ancestors before them were originally from Ashford, Kent, England).  Our Fuller line is also connected to Lady Godiva, famous exhibitionist and activist.  Also, our particular Fuller line is additionally descended from John Alden of the Mayflower (along with his wife and her parents).  This Alden line later connected down to the Burrill line of central Maine.  The Burrills intermarried with the Osborns, who intermarried with the Fullers, and all three families contain many direct ancestors.  There are many instances of cousins marrying here (which is not as genetically problematic as people think).  Also connected to the Fuller line is the Murch line, which is a colonial Maine family from Gorham and Rockland, who are also connected to the famous Jameson line, Revolutionary War patriots of Scotch-Irish descent, and who were founding members of many towns in Maine (Rockland, Friendship, and Cape Elizabeth to name a few), along with the McLellans (also Scotch-Irish) who were wealthy landowners in historic Portland.  Our Murch line is directly descended from Susannah Martin, the oldest person be executed during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and also the Welsh born Leonards (no relation to our irish Leonards above) but who were founders of the towns of Taunton and Raynham Massachusetts, and creators of the Leonard Forge - the first iron forge in America, and a premier iron supplier during the Revolution.  This Leonard line directly descends from John of Gaunt, son to Edward III of the Plantagenet line.  This Murch line is also of multiple Mayflower descent.  They are linked to the Stephen Hopkins family (the same Hopkins who discovered Bermuda) and also the Francis Cooke line.  Therefore, Nana (Lorena Bell Fuller-Leonard) was of pure colonial stock (with some Scottish and German blood, from the Holland family), and had ten Mayflower passengers in her direct ancestry.  Our Fuller/Murch line is probably filled with the most historical wealth of anywhere else in our tree.  They were early Christian Scientists, dry goods merchants, property owners, and railroad engineers.  Other related surnames of interest would be the Bell family of Scotland by way of Nova Scotia, Canada and Dover, Maine, and the Beans of New Hampshire, our ancestor of whom was a Scottish prisoner of war and sold as a slave upon arrival in the New World.  This ancestor has links to Scottish and English royalty, Robert the Bruce and the MacBeans of Scotland, the Plantagenets, the Normans and the Anglo Saxon Kings of England, ancient France, ancient Ukraine and Sweden, and ancient Germany.

Nana's ten Mayflower ancestors:

1. John Alden
2. Priscilla Mullins (his wife)
3. William Mullins (her father)
4. Alice Mullins (his wife)
5. Edward Fuller
6. Mrs. Edward Fuller (his wife)
7. Francis Cooke
8. Stephen Hopkins
9. Elizabeth Fisher (his wife)
10. Constance Hopkins (Stephen's daughter)

Blood Connections to Notable People (via Nana's ten Mayflower connections):

• 2nd President John Adams is my 3rd Cousin, 8 times removed.  Our shared ancestor was John Alden of the Mayflower.
• 6th President John Quincy Adams is my 4th Cousin, 7 times removed.  Our shared ancestor was John Alden of the Mayflower.32nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was my 9th cousin once removed.  Our shared ancestors was Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• 21st President Chester A. Arthur was my 6th cousin five times removed, and a descendant of Susannah Martin, just like Nana.  Susannah Martin was hanged for being a witch in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
• 32nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is my 9th Cousin, once removed.  Our shared ancestor was Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• 41st President George Herbert Walker Bush is my 18th cousin.  Our shared ancestors were Edward the 1st, King of England and Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• 43rd President George Walker Bush is my 18th cousin, once removed. Our shared ancestor was Edward the 1st, King of England and Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was my 5th cousin 6 times removed.  Our shared ancestor was John Alden of the Mayflower.
• Author Henry David Thoreau was my 6th cousin 4 times removed.  Our shared ancestor was Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• Filmmaker Orson Welles was my 8th cousin, 3 times removed.  Our shared ancestor was John Alden of the Mayflower.
• Actor Dick Van Dyke was my 10th cousin, once removed.  Our shared ancestors were John Alden and Francis Cooke of the Mayflower. 
• Actor Richard Gere is my 10th cousin.  Our shared ancestor was Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• Artist Norman Rockwell was my 10th cousin.  Our shared ancestor was Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower.
• Playwright Tennessee Williams is my 10th cousin once removed.  Our shared ancestor was Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower.
• Artist Georgia O'Keeffe is my 9th cousin twice removed.  Our shared ancestor was Edward Fuller of the Mayflower. 
• Mormon Church Founder Joseph Smith, Jr. was my 6th cousin 5 times removed.  Our shared ancestor was Edward Fuller of the Mayflower.
• Former Vice President Dan Quayle is my 10th cousin, once removed.  Our shared ancestor was John Alden of the Mayflower.
• Politician Sarah Palin is my 10th cousin twice removed. Our shared ancestor was Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower.
• Painter "Grandma Moses" was my 8th cousin, twice removed.  Our shared ancestors was Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• Actress Marilyn Monroe was my 9th cousin, twice removed.  Our shared ancestors were John Alden and Francis Cooke of the Mayflower. 
• Radio personality Wolfman Jack was my 9th cousin, twice removed.  Our shared ancestor was John Alden of the Mayflower.
• Celebrity Chef Julia Child was my 9th cousin, twice removed.  Our shared ancestors were John Alden and Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• Musician Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is my 10th cousin, once removed.  Our shared ancestors was Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.
• Mayor of Portland during the Civil War, Captain Jacob McLellan, was my 2nd cousin six times removed.  He served from 1863-1865 and in 1868.
• Actor Mickey Rourke is my 7th cousin once removed, via our shared connection to Susannah Martin, who was hanged during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Blood Connections to Notable People (via Nana's Royal line):

• Queen Elizabeth II is my 20th cousin. Our shared ancestor is Edward III of the Plantagenet Line.
• King Robert the Bruce of Scotland was my 20th great grandfather.

TEMM

Grammy Clarke's maiden name was Temm.  Her grandfather, Wilhelm Marcus Timm, was a sea captain from Hamburg, Germany with a mysterious past.  In 1852, upon marrying his wife, Sarah Jane Brownrigg of Pictou, Nova Scotia (who was descended from English, Scottish and French sea captain immigrants), in Portland, Maine.  Sarah Jane's brother was a successful businessman, running a number of boarding houses on Fore Street which housed merchant seamen (and where other activities likely happened).  After their wedding, Sarah Jane and Marcus changed their names to Brown (not exactly sure why).  All five children were born with the name Brown, including our ancestor, John Henry Temm (who was born in a boat in Portland harbor). The Brown name stayed until 1864 (just a few years before Marcus' death in 1868), when the whole clan moved from Portland Maine to a large tract of farmland in Scarborough and reverted back to the Temm name (with John Henry's two daughters marrying a Clarke and an Ahlquist).  We are related to all Temms and Ahlquist families in Scarborough (and many of the Clarkes), through Marcus, and there are quite a few still there on old Beech Ridge Road in the vicinity of where our ancestors were early landowners, the land being in the Temm family since 1864.  My interest in the German root of the Temm/Timm surname brought me to Hamburg Germany back in 2012, and I truly felt a connection to the City, and didn't spend all of my time looking through all available church records, trying to find Timms.  Grammy Clarke's mother Hattie was a Morgan, descended from the New Hampshire Elliot and Morrill families (wherein may lie some Native American blood and further research is imminent as of November 2014, but for now this Clarke-Temm-Morgan-Morrill line is classified as DNA Haplogroup X, which has some chance of being divided into a Native American/Central Asian subgroup) and from the brother of "Captain Morgan" the famous Welsh pirate who has a brand of rum named after him, through  Hattie's father William Morgan, a Civil War patriot from Winterport, Maine. The wealthy Holmes family of Plymouth, Massachusetts figures prominently in our Morgan line, and was also directly descended from Thomas Rogers.of the Mayflower and his son Joseph.

CLARKE

Our Clarke line is entirely colonial English, via Central Connecticut.  Our immigrant ancestors, John and his son Thomas, were a settler of Jamestown Colony and steward of the Mayflower, respectively.  This is a common surname to be found in New England, with many thousands of descendants still there today (particularly in central Connecticut, several towns of which were founded by our ancestors linked to the Clarks).  They were humble farmers, carpenters, and blacksmiths.  Many of the colonial era houses they built in CT still stand today.  Many veterans in this family group, including James Clark, who fought in the War of 1812, his son Leonard Sherman Clark, who fought in the Civil War with his sons, and several Revolutionary War veteran ancestors, like John Coult and the Pecks.  The 19th century Clarks of Connecticut frequently intermarried with the colonial English Tooker and Hall families, who also have descendants living there today.  I've been very fortunate to meet distant cousins descending from the Clark, Tooker, and Hall families of Lyme and East Haddam Connecticut, many of whom share a significant passion for their ancestry, which is surprisingly well documented, considering these historical families' impoverished working class background.

To summarize my (and my siblings') specific heritage:

1/8 Danish (Mortensen/Petersen)
1/8 Irish (Leonard/Howlett) (with potentially very small percentages of Spanish)
1/8 Scottish (Bell/Bean/Lissen/Jameson/McLellan/Blair)
1/8 German (Holland/Temm)
4/8 English colonial (with very small percentages of French, Irish, and Welsh)

Tom & Agnes Leonard

My paternal great grandparents were Thomas Mathew Leonard (1891-1943) of Portland, Maine, son to Mathew John Leonard and Lizzie Howlett, immigrants from Portraine, Dublin, Ireland and Agnes Thalia Peterson (1898-1934) of Westbrook, Maine, daughter to Christian Petersen, immigrant from Ålborg, Denmark and Lena Mortensen, immigrant from Skrøbelev, Denmark.

Tom was named after his uncle Tom, the first Leonard immigrant from their famine-starved family to arrive in Portland.  Young Tom was a bit of a wayward soul. He worked as a theater janitor, cook, a fireman, a novelty supply shipper, and later as a porter at an advertising company, also having served for about a week in the Army at the very end of WWI, in the 8th Company, 2nd Battalion, 151th Depot Brigade out of Fort Devens in Worcester.  It's unclear not sure why he was discharged, but it's likely that the Brigade had disbanded in the final days of the War.  He purchased 8 Briggs Street from his father, and two months later married Agnes T. Peterson, born in Westbrook, Maine to Danish immigrants, in 1916. They had one child, Thomas Edward Leonard (who was actually born Thomas Mathew Leonard Jr., but for whatever reason his middle name changed). Thomas' father Mathew, as well as his brother Mathew, lived at 8 Briggs Street with the family.  His wife Agnes died there in 1934, and his father died there in 1939.  At that point Thomas was stuck paying rent to his aunt Annie (who had managed to get herself named executrix of his father's estate, and had left nothing to either of his sons).  He was unemployed for a few years at that point, but managed to get a part time job as a caretaker at a girls private school (probably the school affiliated with St. Dominic's).  He remained at 8 Briggs Street until his death from emphysema on October 15, 1943, at age 52 (the anniversary of his mother's death).  He was described to me as a tall, lanky man, with dark blue eyes who always carried a pipe to smoke with, and was a heavy drinker.

Agnes met Thomas around 1914, while Agnes was working as a laundress out at Levinsky's Plaza in Portland. They married in 1916, two months AFTER giving birth to Thomas Edward Leonard (my grandfather).  I imagine that there must have been some scandal there.  Not only was the child conceived AND born out of wedlock into an Irish Catholic family, but Agnes was Danish, not Irish like the rest of the family's in-laws. I wonder how Agnes was treated by Mathew Sr. Well, the whole family ended up living together on 8 Briggs Street in Portland, so it must have worked out ok.  From what I understand, everyone loved Agnes, especially Old Matt.  In the winter of 1933-1934, Agnes caught a terrible cold, which led to an ear infection.  Very shortly thereafter she developed purulent meningitis, and died five days later, at the very young age of 38 just a few months before her sister Julia died.

The above grave was ordered by my grandfather, Thomas Edward Leonard ("Tommy"), in 1968...25 years after his father passed.  He did it at the demand of his cousin, Matthew John Leonard, Jr., who was aware that Tommy had received the bulk his own father's estate, yet had done nothing about a grave to date. 

What's had seemed like a great shame to me is that for the other five people buried here (Matthew John Leonard, Sr., his wife Elizabeth, their daughter Sallie, her son Leonard Petroski, and Annie Batchelder), nobody bothered to pay for an engraving of their names too.  I did so myself in 2015, and I'm hoping that the contrast will even out.

Below are Tom & Agnes' pedigree charts.  Tom was 100% Irish, and Agnes was 100% Danish.

The Beans of Rockingham County NH

GRAVE OF JOHN BEAN AND BOTH WIVES
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BURIAL GROUND
EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

My 9th great grandfather was John MacBean (1634-1718) of the Scottish Highlands, who was a prisoner of war during the Battle of Worcester of the English Civil War.  He and more than 200 other prisoners in 1651 were put on the ship "The Sarah and John", which docked in Boston 24 Feb. 1652 - (other sources report it was the "Mary and John").  John's last name was changed on the ship from "MacBean" to "Bean", and he was sold as an indentured servant in Boston to a Nicholas Lissen of Exeter, New Hampshire, who may have also been of Scottish descent.

When John married his master's daughter, Hannah Lissen (1635-1659), he gained freedom from servitude.  They had one child, Mary Bean (1655-1743), who married Joel Judkins. They were my 8th great grandparents.  Their granddaughter Mary married her second cousin, David Bean (mentioned below).

Hannah died young, and John then married another of Nicolas's indentured servants, Margaret (an orphan of unknown Scottish or Irish origin).  Below is a brief history of Margaret:

Margaret was an orphan when, at age 12, she was sent to America as an indentured servant, last name is uncertain. Apparently, she became indentured to Nicholas Lissen (as did John Bean, her husband), and after the death of his first wife, the daughter of Nicholas Lissen, she married him [thus her last name is often reported as Lissen.] >Enfield-Bryant Genealogy, Internet.

Margaret Bean joined the Hampton church in 1671. Among those dismissed September 11, 1698" in order to be incorporated into a church state in Exeter," was "Goodwife Bean" and Margaret Bean was one of those who organized the church of Exeter, September 21, 1698. The wife of John Bean could have been the only Margaret Bean in 1671, who was Margaret Bean and "Goodwife Bean" in 1698. She was living and a member of the church in 1705. The date of her death has yet to be found but it preceded her husband's. It was probably 1714, for John then began to make disposition of his property among his heirs. >New England Family History, v3, p486.

In 1661, the Town of Exeter granted him land.  Additional grants occurred in 1664, 1671, and 1698.  On November 30, 1677 he took the oath of allegiance to become a freeman; he was assessed in the "Province Rate" for Exeter made April 20, 1680, eight shillings and a penny; and was pound keeper the same year. John signed the New Hampshire Petition of 1689/90.

John & Margaret had eight children:

1.  John Bean (1661-1666) died at age 4.

2.  Daniel Bean (1663-1718), my eighth great grandfather.  He married Mary Fifield of Exeter, and had one son, John Bean (1688-1746), my seventh great grandfather.  John was one of 5 men who were on a scouting trip during the Indian war and were ambushed and massacred near the Turkey River garrison (currently St. Paul's School) at Rumford, N.H (now Concord) on 11 Aug 1746.  In 1837, a monument was erected in their honor at the site of the ambush (later moved a mile east of the site to in front of the Concord Hospital parking facility on Route 9).  It is called the "Bradley Monument".  More information about that year in Rumford and the Massacre (along with many other battle stories) can be found here.

"THIS MONUMENT IS IN MEMORY OF SAMUEL BRADLEY, JONATHAN BRADLEY, OBADIAH PETERS, JOHN BEAN & JOHN LUFKIN, WHO WERE MASSACRED AUGUST 11, 1746 BY THE INDIANS NEAR THIS SPOT.  ERECTED 1837, BY RICHARD BRADLEY, SON OF THE HON. JOHN BRADLEY & GRANDSON OF SAMUEL BRADLEY."

The actual massacre site was somewhere on the north side of Hopkinton Road, about a mile west of the above photo, and just north of Turkey River.  Google Earth shows a grassy mound in the right location, so this may be the site...

John's son David (1717-1770) migrated 75 miles north to Sandwich, NH, with his second cousin Mary Judkins (both David and Mary were my 6th great grandparents), and their twelve children.  David was known as the father of the Beans of all Carroll County.  All seven of David's sons of this family served in the Revolutionary War, including my 5th great grandfather David Bean of Sandwich (whose daughter was Sally Bean-Fuller, mother to my 3rd great grandfather Samuel Bean Fuller). Their home was built of logs cut while clearing the land.

3. Samuel Bean (1666-??)  No further information.

4. John Bean, Jr. (1668-1719)  No further information.

5.  Margaret Bean (1670-1766) married William Taylor and moved to Kingston, New Hampshire and had seven chidren.

6.  James Bean (1672-1753) married three times (Sarah Coleman, Sarah Bradley, and Mary Crosby), and had a total of seven children in Exeter.

7. Jeremiah Bean (1675-1727) was nicknamed "Jeremy".  He married Ruth Johnson, and had one daughter, Tabitha Bean-Elkins.

8.  Elizabeth Bean (1678-1730)  No further information.

I'm not certain, but I think that the many dozens of Bean families of Rockingham, Brentwood, Exeter, and Sandwich New Hampshire all descend from John MacBean, the prisoner of war.

Letters from Olivia Noyes Osborne

While Olivia Noyes-Haskell-Osborn was not a direct ancestor of mine, the fact that she wrote so many informative letters back in the late 19th Century, which have been well preserved and passed down through the family, makes her most definitely worthy of a page of her own here.  Likewise is true concerning Olivia's son William as well as his daughter Ruth.

Olivia Noyes was born in the summer of 1819 in Deer Isle, Maine, in Hancock County, to Joseph Noyes & Olive Morey.  Pretty much every one of the few hundred people living in this small town were involved in the granite industry, and it's likely that Olivia's family was no different.  The granite boom in Deer Isle is credited for helping to build the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the US Naval Academy, the Manhattan Bridge, and the tomb of JFK at Arlington.  The town was split at the end of the 19th Century into four smaller towns:  Stonington, Deer Isle, Little Deer Isle, and Isle au Haut.

Also, Deer Isle was home to a band of Indians during the time of the Noyes, and family legend states that one or both of Olivia's parents were part of the tribe.  Of course, this is always a popular legend in white American families, and is almost always impossible to prove.  I have done some research here and it appears that Olivia's father, Joseph, originally from NH, was a son of the Revolution, and is listed as a Free White person in all census records (but none of that really disproves the Indian claim).  

The following is some detail about Ezekiel Morey, Olivia's maternal grandfather (no mention of Indians here):

Town of Deer Isle, Maine page 89
Ezekiel Morey Sr was one of the very early settlers. He came here about 1767, from New Meadows River, in the vicinity of Brunswick, Maine. From what information I have been able to gain, he built the first framed house in the town. Mr. Morey was twice married, and had a large family, 13 children surviving him. The time of his death I have not learned. (He passed in 1815). After his death, the principal part of his farm, a large and valuable one, passed into the hands of the late Hezekiah Rowell, Esquire, who built a house upon it, which was afterwards purchased by the late Joseph Sellers, 3rd, and is now the estate of his two deceased sons, George W and Mark H Sellers. The lot they own contains some 6 acres. The residue Mr. Rowell sold to various persons, who have built upon their respective lots. His sons who survived him were Elias, Ezekiel, Isaac, Joseph, and James. The daughters were the wives of Mr. Charles Sellers, of this town; a Mr. Calderwood, of Vinalhaven; two were the wives of a Mr. Wooster, of the same place; one of a Mr. Edson; one of a Mr. Sweet; one of a Mr. Day, who resided on the island of Mt. Desert; and the youngest of the late Mr. Joseph Noyes, of this town, a native of Atkinson, New Hampshire. who came in 1804 and died not far from 1850. Mrs. Noyes survived her husband a few years. She was a lady held in much respect, a sincere Christian, and beloved by all who knew her. The children of Mr. Noyes, with one exception, have removed from this town, and the land an buildings he occupied are now owned by Mr. William C. Gray. All the above sons and daughters, except Mr. Elias Morey, Mrs. Sellers, and Mrs. Noyes, removed from this place. Ezekiel and Isaac to the town of Hope, Maine, and afterward to the state of Ohio; Joseph lived and died in Castine; and James lived in the town of Levant, not far from Bangor. Mr. Elias Morey died not far from the year 1844; Mrs. Sellers in 1832, aged 83; Mr. Morey, the father, was very tall in stature, being nearly 7 feet in height, and a very worthy man.

Source: An Historical Sketch of the Town of Deer Isle, Maine

Olivia married Joshua Haskell of Deer Isle in 1840, and they had five boys (one died at 3), eventually moving to Fairfield, Maine, to start a farm.  In 1850, both of Olivia's parents died two months apart (he of cancer, she of phthisis, or TB).  In 1852, Joshua was crushed on his farm in Fairfield by a boulder he was trying to wrangle in order to clear his land (his death had been witnessed by poor Olivia). 

Poor traumatized Olivia married Timothy Osborn in 1854, less than two years after Joshua's death and she and the four boys (Herbie, Joseph, Alvin and Charlie) moved in with him at the Osborn Homestead, and they had four children together (Eva, Mabel, William, and Clara - none of the girls ever married), in addition to Timothy's surviving two children (Mary and Lydia-my 2nd great grandmother).  Olivia lost her oldest son Herbie in 1870 at age 22.  She lost her daughter Mabel in 1882 at age 25, when she walked through her bedroom doorway and was struck by lightning during a late summer storm.

Later in life, Olivia got lonely and enjoyed writing from the Homestead to her daughter Clara (nicknamed "Caddie") who lived with her, and worked as a schoolteacher (like her sister Eva) and  was often visiting family elsewhere, and at one point was in "Andover", according to one of the letters (possibly a teaching job in Oxford County?).  Below are transcripts of these letters, with clarification notes written in brackets:

November 22, 1883, Thursday,  Signed “With love Mother”

Dear Clara:

Will write a few lines before I commence tea.

I have just returned from dear little Walter Burrill’s funeral. Only think how hard for May to have her baby drowned. Last Tuesday Albert Low’s wife wanted to go over the river to carry her father home and wanted Mrs. Low to take care of her baby, as she calls him. But she wanted to go out to John’s so May Burrill told her to leave him there. When Albert’s wife got to Clum’s [nickname for Columbus Burrill, cousin to Olivia's husband Timothy Osborne - Clum and his father Benjamin Burrill were also neighboring farmers on Skowhegan Road in Fairfield] she went right by with her boy, but they call to her and went out and took Wilson out. He and Walter played all the forenoon around the house and had a grand time as two little three-year-old boys could have. After dinner she took them down from the table and let them go out again, never dreaming that they would go to the river. (Wallace was 3 last September. Wilson 3 next week).


Clum was in the barn doing his chores. Before she got her dishes washed she went out to look for them, and the Low boy came to her and said. Walter is on his face in the water. She thought it was in the half a hogshead where they watered the sheep as they had been sailing ships in it.  She called Clum and he tracked them to the river where he saw him floating on top of the water. The ice was frozen on the shore out some ways hard enough to hold Clum. He ran right in as far as he arm pits and caught his scarf as he was drifting into the river a dripping lifeless form.


Little Wilson says they went onto the glass and he slipped down and Walter slipped and hollered papa papa papa and his face got wet and he didn’t say anything after that. So he ran up to tell them. Wilson is no larger than Courtney. Mr. Burrill and his wife and Rebecca had gone to Wat [probably Waterville].  If she had been down at home she might have seen them when they wandered off. It is a sad house. It was a large funeral for a child. Mr. Emery officiated. Mr. and Mrs. Plummer, Mr. Rowell, Nell Burgess and Hattie G. sang and Edith played. The last piece they sang was “Go Bury Thy Sorrow.”  I hope it may be the means of uniting the neighbors. They need it. Ann Coleard went right up though she hadn’t been in the house for more than five years.


Mattie ran all the way down here to get me to go up bare headed though she was in there the night before and May scarcely spoke to her. Mrs. Low has set every one against Mattie telling every thing she ever said and more I think. And May had said that it was a disgrace for any one to go in there and no one in the neighborhood did but Mrs. Osborne and Mrs. Burrill. Mattie was saying the other day, she would give any thing to know what made May B. treat her so coolly. I knew but didn’t say so. I think as Christ told the people when the woman was accused to him that he that is without Sin among us better cast the first stone at her. Last week I was real miserable so got Cora to help me this week. But she had to go home to help Ann part of the time, so she will help me some next week. I like her first rate for she works all day and knits in the evening when she isn’t gone somewhere. You know that’s my kind of girl Diligent in business. Cora says you promised to write to her but haven’t.


We have had Mr. Gifford all last week [this would be Charlie Gifford, wife to Timothy's eldest daughter, Mary Ann Osborn] and this making shovel handles and this week Horace Cain is here. We were laughing at Will at the tea table tonight about getting so many letters. When Horace said he wished some one would write to him. Said if he lived till Sunday he was going to write to you and see if you would answer it. There is a time at town tonight. Will and Horace have gone.


I cured my rheumatism or dropped stitch in my shoulder by pulling so hard on the cloths line as to make it slip off the stake and I went backward my whole chest into the entry. It really cured me and I am as well as ever this week. Get your visit done and come home. What is the use of staying so long doing nothing?

********

 

October 29, 1885, Thursday, Signed “With love Mother”


Dear Clara:


Tried to get Eva or Will to write to you tonight but Eva was tired and she and father went to bed about seven and Will soon after.  So here I am the lonsomest of the lonely, keeping fire to boil cider and writing letters to keep awake. Have written to Enos O. [this would be Timothy's nephew Enos, living in Platte, Michigan].  Clara you can’t imagine how lonesome it is evenings here. My eyesight so poor I can’t read but a little and no one to speak to.


Why Sylvia will die of lonesomeness when she gets here [Sylvia might refer to Sylvia Burrill-Bell, from Dover, who would've been cousin to Timothy's first wife].  And then she don’t read much so I shant be much better off.  Lesley is gone to Dr. Twitchells to work but I shant miss him only meal times, he is so still. But he has seemed more like a live fellow for a few weeks and Eva sometimes says things before him awful.


She is getting along a little better this week. You can imagine how she has felt for a few weeks with Mrs. Getchell and Elba Hobbs down on her enough, to call the committee to visit the school it was so noisy and Ev G the worst one to keep still.


And when he came in Eva just as sick (as folks will be sometimes) and had just been punishing a boy and Ev G had slipped up into the back seat without liaf so that the committee thought the same as Mrs. G. it was a noisy school. Do you wonder that she let the children frase the sentence


Patriots love their country


Parrots love their country


Now if you tell E. I was to this I won’t tell you anything else. To save writing will put Joe’s letter in so you can read it and then send it back.


Sylvia was over here all the week last. She is at Ed Piper’s now. Report says Cora is going to be married this fall her Chase has gone West with his son.


Ann hasn’t been in since you went away or any of the other neighbors much.


Oh, yes her and her Buck were in Sunday evening.


Georgia Tate is in Rockland. She may be here now as they expect her. Will has got toe top of both chimneys off expecting a man today to fix them but he didn’t come and now it rains so hard he has had to get up and go on the house with the lantern and cover them up.


The select men are in a stew to know what to do with Aunt Louisa [this could be Louisa Osborn, who was actually Timothy's cousin, and probably 'like an aunt' to this family, and was getting on in years]. They say Mr. Eaton paid four dollars a week for her board. Isn’t it strange they keep calling on Will [her son] to see about her only a second cousin? William Osborne [probably Ephraim's son, not her own] says he will give 90 cts. a week. If all of her nephews and nieces would give half as much there would be enough. The town would pay half of her board and not let her know it.


It’s ten o’clock can’t stop to correct this so good night with love to all of my folks from Mother

********

 

February 7th, 1886, Sunday Signed “With love Mother”

Dear Clara:

Will try and write a few lines to you and Eva, today with one of the coarsest pens out.

Have been to church this forenoon. Called in to see Aunt Louise.  She is a little better but does not sit up more than ½ hour a day. Every one at church you are acquainted with inquired for you, and they all have such a time because Will and wife don’t go to church. Silvia says she would like to go if Will would. They have gone to ride this afternoon I guess on the river. It is pleasant today but two days last week the thermometer was from 19 to twenty below zero and though I had a fire all night and double windows and curtain down and a thick brown paper box over the Begonia it froze stiff. I let Ann C take half last fall. She also has the scented geranium and May B the fucia. The most of the geraniums I set on a bench in the boiler way and they have not frozen yet. I was sick week before last with toothache and ague. My face was quite puffy for a week. Haven’t been out of doors until today since a week ago Tuesday. Last Monday we was had two weeks wash. In the afternoon May P came in to say we were to have company in the evening. There was A Low and wife J Fuller and wife Clum and May, Ada Dyer and husband, Willie and Flory his friend and George Weeks, Horace and Mattie and Hattie and the Dr. I tell you Silvia had to work to put things to rights and warm the house. It being a very warm evening every room was warm enough to sit in, even the parlor bedroom.

Last Wednesday eve the same company at A Lows. And last eve at Clum’s, with the exception of H Low and J Fuller and the Dr and their wives. Silvia folks have not been here to stop. Sam hauled her chamber-set and other things over, and the three girls just rode over for an hour last Sunday. But this week there will be a moon, and she expects some of her cousins some evening.

Effie has shown herself out this winter. She would not show Arthur one thing and tried to get the scholarlies not to speak to him. The Getchell children have carried it out all winter. She thought he had no rights to go here. Arthur went to the committee three times before he could get a class made. All this winter infractions, review and review over and over again. There isn’t a family in the neighborhood but is congratulating Arthur to think he beat even if the school is most done. I hope you are not acting out the hermit, if you don’t know anyone in Andover [Apparently she was living in Oxford County for a time, not sure with whom, or why].

You say you hope will can fix up the sitting room. Don’t be so proud. The room is good enough if the plastering don’t fall down on our heads. But I hope we may have a new well house before that falls on our head.  Had a letter from Albert last week.

He says Alvan is in Prescott. Ann C was in about ten minutes this week the second time since you went away.   Annie Fuller is at home sick.  Edith took ether and had that bunch cut off of her toe. [Annie & Edith were teenage daughters of Lydia Osborn-Fuller in Fairfield - Lydia had just come back to Fairfield after burying her husband Charles Fuller in Iowa, 1878] Will got Harvey Wings wedding card this week who married in December.

Must get tea and write to E. With love Mother

********

Fairfield, November 20th, 1889 Wednesday Signed “With love to all from Mother”

Dear C:

If I don’t write fear you will not get a letter this week. It is just splendid weather and nice wheeling while there is snow enough at Portland for sleighing, also at the forks the other way. Have been to church all day. Ida and Annie were up to spend Thanksgiving. Annie didn’t go back until today she was so sick.   She is in a weakly way as she was when she boarded with her mother. She almost talked me to death about her dear friends too many to mention.

I have written one sheet over tonight to Eva Fuller in answer to one from her about Aunt Louisa. Have written twice to Mrs. Sheffers. Don’t hear one word from Alvan. Edna & Bess wrote to Eva last week. When do you think they will be answered?

It’s ten so I must leave this until another time.

Monday 8 o’clock

Aren’t going to wash. We are so neat don’t have to wash only once in two weeks. Eva and me are going to the Mills.   She to get herself some under vests and meself to get Will some cloth for winter shirts, and a table cloth so we won’t have to use a dirty one. It is lovely weather. Will is fixing double windows on the kitchen and sitting room windows in front. He is going to make a double door for the front.

Eva has not yet decided what to do. E. will take a long time to make up her mind as long as she can paint.  School at the two villages commence today. Effie Hobbs takes Eva’s, and a Goodwin girl Edith Hodgkin’s and a change all around at the Mills. Eva hasn’t touched her dress yet. Will has bought him a four year old colt the color of Lady. It never was harnessed but once and then by a girl. But W. has put it in the wagon and rode part of the way to town.

Report says Cora is to be married at Christmas.

Mr. Curtis called on us the day we cleaned the sitting room and found us so so.

Neighbors all well but provoked to think Eva didn’t teach this winter. She is better and ready to teach the first school offered though she never was going to teach again. Wish she could go among all strangers. They always do better.

Don’t be so extravagant about dress, but think more of the heart than body adorning. Do  you go to Sunday School or is your mind all taken up with rides and novels?

Eva is all ready [Eva was Olivia's other surviving daughter]

With love to all from Mother

********

The following letter of condolence was written by some cousin in Detroit, upon Olivia's death.

Detroit, December 10th 1891

Dear Uncle & Cousins:

We received the paper informing us of the death of Aunt Olivia. We little thought when we was there that we should never see her again. We thought that you Uncle [Timothy Osborn] would go first. She seemed so well at that time and such a worker, ready for every good work, helpful to those around her making all happy around her. Oh I think she will be mist so much in your home, and you Uncle how lonely you will be. I think of my Father when Mother died, he seemed so lonely. No one could fill her place. He only lived about one year and a half after her death. I am so glad that I had the opportunity of making dear aunts acquaintance. It seems to appreciate her is to know her and coming there as we did, how home like and comfortable everything was. Mr. Keeler often speaks of our visit and of Uncle and Aunt.  from your niece, Mrs. P. A. Keeler

Acknowledgments

No family researcher works alone.  It may seem that way sometimes, with the countless hours spent glued to the computer, and reading through never ending volumes of other people's family trees, microfilms, census records, family bibles, ship manifests, old books, town archives, GEDCOM files, cemetery records, military archives, and much more. 

But the work I've completed to date wouldn't be nearly as thorough without a great deal of help from dozens of researchers, amateur and professional, with whom I've enjoyed hundreds of emails, many shared amateur publications, old photos, and lots of debates over what may seem like ridiculously miniscule details to some, but to a passionate genealogist, they are not.

This post will hopefully serve as a formal thank you to all my "long lost cousins" and many non-related historians for their generosity, humor, and most importantly, their interest. 

‘LONG LOST COUSINS’ RESEARCHING/SHARING:

Jerry Clark, Deep River, CT

Bill Leonard Clark, Massachusetts

Tammy Ramsey, Portland, ME

Louise Hurley, Southington, CT

Barbara Arnold, Dale Pfeffer, Central Florida?

Fred & Jeremy Stuart, South Portland, ME

“Linda”, Vermont

Kim Green, Scarborough, ME

Carol Webb, Peru, ME

Melissa Kieslich, CT

Tamera Ahlquist, Colorado

Megan Temm-Norton, South Portland, ME

Mary Lou Mull, Hercules, CA

P-Nut Clarke, Westbrook, ME

David Murch, Bangor, ME

Janice Keough, Cumberland, RI

Melissa Welch, Staunton, VA

Sheron Brewer, New Brunswick, Canada

Patti Hayes, Bartow, FL

Joyce Fuller Norton, Granite Bay, CA

Julia Ellsworth, Rocklin, CA

“Kaj”, Denmark

Karsten Madsen, Ribe, Denmark

Abe Sibley, C.I. Whitfield-Weatherman, Durham, NC

Becky Maxwell, Loganville, GA

Meghan Conroy, Dallas, TX

Kat Thayer, Tennessee

Mike Mortensen, Gilford, NH

Tom Nadeau, Portland, ME

Richard Leonard, Westbrook, ME

Donna Revello, Wendy Castagna, Methuen, MA

Lee Shonyo, Fairfax, VA

Chuck Temm, Alabama

Danny Guy, Las Cruces, NM

Kristy Esposito, Falmouth, ME

Joan Duignan, Donabate, Ireland

Kate Fulham-Kelley, Cape Cod, MA

Terry Fulham, England

Craig Smith, California

Gail, Prince Edward Island

George Seeton, Derry, NH

Robert, San Diego, CA

Ruth Devine-Wright, Cumberland, ME

Melissa Malin, Chicago, IL

Lorie Weinberger-Snow, Georgia

Denise Winslow-Theriault, Southern Maine

Suzan Roberts Norton, Maine

Lee Jergensen, Amherst, MA

Judy & John Moore, Ellsworth, ME

Merle Bragg, Maryland

Sue Morse, Standish, ME

Leah Temm, Victoria Clark-Regens, AZ

Abigail Helen Clark, Rohnert Park, CA

David Blair, Edgewater, FL

Dianne Tabor, Charlotte Sadler, St. George, UT

Eric Mortensen (Jr. and Sr.), Berlin, NH

Al McLain, Berlin, NH

Carolyn Burke, Jesse Howard, Georgia

Barbara Urbanek, Mass

Tara Palmer, Linda Winzer, Town Clerk, Lyme, CT

Alice Hanson, ME

Suzie Norton, Westbrook, ME

Charlene Hios, Tiburon, CA

Bill Petersen, Princeton, ME

Ken Lennan, Belgium

Nicole Jensen, Germany

Cindy Clark-Schneider, CT

Willis Clark, Cemetery Sexton, Montville, CT

Linda Winzer, Town Clerk, Lyme, CT

HELPFUL NON-RELATIVES

Catherine Baier, Town Clerk, Portland, ME

Darlene Wise, Wapello County, Iowa

Sheila Parkhurst, New Hampshire

Cary Clements, Portland, ME

Anne-Marie Healy, Cork, Ireland

Barbara Gunvaldsen, Winslow, Maine

Odette LeClerc, Berlin, NH

James Blanche, Westbrook, ME

Mike Sanphy & Donna Conley, Westbrook, ME

Susan White, Portland, ME

Susan Weeks, Tuftonboro, NH

Denise Hodsdon, Town Clerk, Hampden, ME

Julie Peterson, Westbrook, ME

Rev. Linda Gard, New Gloucester, ME

Anthony Douin, Augusta, ME

Matt Barker, Portland, ME

Paul Landry, Peaks Island, ME

Liz Besseling, Swords, Ireland

Karen Stover, New Gloucester, ME

Paul Emery, Fairfield, ME

Abbie Stover, Winterport, ME

Tony, Strathaven Inn, Sandwich, NH

Mike Melen, Vancouver, BC

Tiger Nicholaas de Young, Bavaria, Germany

Bridie Greaney, Kilgill, Galway, Ireland

Paul Greaney, Kilgill, Galway, Ireland