Wordless Wednesday - Portraits of Dr. Timothy & Lydia (Russell) Carter

Dr. Timothy Carter

Lydia (Russell) Carter

Dr. Timothy Carter is my 4th great-grandfather. Lydia Russell was his second wife and not in my direct line. These portraits hang in the Brick End House in Bethel, Maine. This house was built by Dr. Timothy and is occupied by my cousin, John Carter, the 7th generation to live there. 

Dr. Timothy Carter

Elias Mellen Carter

Augustus Mellen Carter

Edward Mellen Carter

T. Richard Carter - my grandfather

The Great Debater

Rebecca Williamson "Becky" Carter was the daughter of Edward M. and Fannie May (Capen) Carter. She was my great-aunt. She was fiercely independent and self-reliant. Her father died when she was only ten and she helped her mother raise her four brothers. She not only graduated from high school; she graduated from Bates College in 1933. She would later earn a Master's degree from the University of Wyoming. She married Bruce B. Bailey on October 10, 1942 in a bright red wedding dress. They settled on a relatively isolated farm and happily lived without running water, electricity, or a telephone, cooking and heating with wood stoves for their adult lives. I remember that they even rolled their own cigarettes. Finally, after Uncle Bruce died, the family convinced Aunt Becky that she had to get a telephone in case of emergency. Although they chose to live frugally, they did indulge in the things they really enjoyed. Aunt Becky practiced her French to stay fluent and took a few trips to France. She continued to engage in educational pursuits whether it was a national institute or an adult education class. She & Uncle Bruce were avid readers and subscribed to national newspapers and owned many books. Uncle Bruce and Aunt Becky never had children, but upon her death, she set up a scholarship fund to help her great-nieces and great-nephews and their children pay for higher education. To say that she was unconventional, would be an understatement. 

Rebecca Williamson Carter - graduation photo from The Mirror, 1933

Anyone who encountered Becky or one of her brothers will attest to their ability to debate issues. Therefore, I was not surprised to find the following in the Bates yearbook, The Mirror, for 1933. Becky won awards for debating and was inducted into the forensic honor society, Delta Sigma Rho. 

Freshmen Winning Team and Best Individual Speaker Awards

Women Debaters - Becky is second from the left in the front row

National Honorary Forensic Society

 Source Information: Ancestry.com.U.S.,School Yearbooks, 1880­-2012 [database on­line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data:Various school yearbooks from across the United States. 

Request For Assistance!

Sometimes you just never know who is reading your blog! As I was prepping for my son's wedding, a researcher, Christie Jackson, contacted me because of my posts about the Freeland family of Sutton, Massachusetts. She is preparing a book about cabinetmaker, Nathan Lombard. The book will include relevant information about the community in which he lived and worked. Nathan worked for James Freeland on the Freeland homestead and pictures were included in Roy F. Stone's book, The Sutton Freelands: Legends and Letters. 

Christie is looking for someone with access to these photos and/or any other primary source documents relating to the Freeland family and Nathan Lombard. She has been unable to locate similar photographs in the archives she has visited so far. I found the book at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. I suggested that Christie get in touch with them to see if they have any other sources related to the Freeland family or the Sutton community. Time is of the essence because the manuscript is due at the publisher by the end of July!

Is there anyone out there who knows a relative of Roy Freeland Stone, son of Clifton & Mary (Freeland) Stone? Roy lives or lived in Wilton, New Hampshire. I believe he was born about 1934. I will be doing some sleuthing over the next few days, but I wanted to get this published in case someone has direct access. If anyone has any leads on pictures of the Freeland homestead in Sutton or any documents relating to the Freeland family, please post a comment so I can follow up.

I will post an update - hopefully, telling you that a connection was made! Thank you in advance for helping.

John & Zerviah (Abbott) Ellingwood - Tombstone Tuesday

John Ellingwood, son of Joseph & Sarah (Herrick) Ellingwood, was born on September 19, 1765, and died on June 19, 1847. On December 29, 1798, he married Zerviah Abbott in Andover, Massachusetts. Zerviah was the daughter of Jonathan & Mehitable (Abbott) Abbott. She was born on March 19, 1768, and died on October 18, 1847. They are buried in Riverside Cemetery, in Bethel, Maine. They are my 5X great-grandparents. 

Children of John & Zerviah (Abbott) Ellingwood:

1. Sarah - born September 22, 1790
2. Ann - born March 12, 1792
3. Jacob - born February 23, 1794
4. Joseph - born July 3, 1797 (twin)
5. Benjamin - born July 3, 1797 (twin)
6. John Wesley - born June 12, 1798
7. Daniel - born July 23, 1800
8. Ebenezer - born October 20, 1804
9. George V. - born December 10, 1806

John & Zerviah (Abbott) Ellingwood

John Wesley Ellingwood, Jr. 

Asa Freeman Ellingwood

Nina King (Ellingwood) (Gibbs) Cotton

Annie Florilla (Gibbs) Cotton

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Joseph & Miriam (Lyon) Spurr

Joseph & Miriam (Lyon) Spurr are my 5X great-grandparents. They moved to Otisfield, Maine in 1779 after short stints in Westbrook (Saccarappa) and Windham. Joseph was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts on November 19, 1731 and died in Otisfield on June 17, 1805. He was the son of Capt. Robert & Jemima (Foster) Spurr. Miriam was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts on April 4, 1731 and died in Otisfield on November 6, 1811. She was the daughter of Elkanah & Meredith (Wyatt) Lyon. 

Joseph Spurr served in the Revolutionary War as a Captain in Perez Cushing's Co., Col. Crafts Artillery Regt. from November 9, 1776 to May 8, 1777. He was a matross (gunner's assistant). Like many Revolutionary War soldiers he served several enlistments. He was a Corporal in Capt. Israel Trows Co., John Daggets Regt. from January 12, 1778 to March 31, 1778. 

On April 21, 2016, I took these photos from the Cedar Crest Cemetery in Otisfield. The History of Otisfield,  says that Joseph is buried "in the yard south of Spurrs Corner." However, I found this marker in the Cedar Crest Cemetery where there are many other Spurr family members and other interconnected families from early Otisfield. It is quite possible that it is a memorial placed at a later date. 

Joseph & Miriam (Lyon) Spyrr

An overview of the Spurr section where Joseph & Miriam's stone is found

Joseph & Miriam (Lyon) Spurr
Enoch Spurr
Roxanna (Spurr) Stanley
Mary Frances (Stanley) Carter
Edward Mellen Carter
Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather

Moving in an Oxcart
Enoch Spurr - Revolutionary Service


Spurr, William Samuel. A History of Otisfield: Cumberland County, Maine from the Original Grant to the Close of the Year 1944 by William Samuel Spurr. Otisfield, Me.: Published by the Otisfield Historical Society, 1994. PDF.

Tombstone Tuesday - Spurr Siblings

Samuel and Sarah Spurr are the unmarried siblings of my 4X great-grandfather, Enoch Spurr. Their parents were Joseph and Miriam (Lyon) Spurr. According to The History of Otisfield, they lived with their brother, Joseph Spurr, Jr. in Otisfield. They are buried with other members of their family in the Cedar Crest Cemetery in Otisfield, Maine. These pictures were taken on April 21, 2016. 

Mr. Samuel Spurr died Oct. 26, 1845
AE 78 y'rs & 9 mo.

Miss Sarah Spurr died June 16, 1849
AE 86 yrs. 6 ms.

Gone Too Young - Tombstone Tuesday

Riverside Cemetery, Bethel, Maine

Lewiston Evening Journal - Jun 14, 1893
A little son of Edward Capen of Bethel, eight years old, was killed Wednesday afternoon. His father was tethering his horse in the door-yard and left the horse with his little boy who tied the rope which was around the horse's neck around his wrist. The horse became frightened and ran nearly half a mile, when he was stopped by C.C. Bryant, who cut the rope, but the boy was dead.

Robert Woodbury Capen - born 1884 - buried Riverside Cemetery - Bethel

Robert is listed as Robbie W. 

Robert W. Capen was the brother of my great-grandmother, Fannie May (Capen) Carter. Edward Abbott & Mary Jane (Abbott) Capen had seven children. Four of the children are buried in the same plot with the parents. Two sons who died at young ages and two daughter who never married are listed on the same stone as their parents.

Edward Abbott Capen
Fannie May (Capen) Carter
T. Richard Carter - my grandfather