Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My Most Interesting Ancestor (Today)

On any given day, I would choose a different answer to the question, “Who is your most interesting ancestor?” Today, the most interesting ancestor I have is George Abbot (1615-1681) because I can trace my ancestry back to four of his thirteen children, John, Sarah, Benjamin, and Thomas. Part of what makes George Abbot interesting is the challenge of untangling the identical names of the successive generations. This is particularly difficult when they married cousins or descendants of another nearby Abbott family. These lines trace to my grandparents, Thomas Richard & Fern Lyndell (Cotton) Carter, making my grandparents distant cousins.

Surname Saturday - Ellingwood

What's in a name? Well, my Ellingwood immigrant ancestor is variously recorded as Ralph Elwood, Ellwood, Ellenwood and then his descendants have continued the variations with Ellinwoods and Ellingwoods. To continue the confusion his second wife is recorded as Ellen or Eleanor or even Helen...surname Lyn or Lynn. Ralph came to America in 1635 on the Truelove. His occupation is listed as planter. He was married twice - first to Elizabeth (last name unknown) - by whom he had at least one child, Josiah, who was baptized in Salem on May 26, 1644. No one has found a record of the death of his first wife or any further records for Josiah. The first child of Ralph and Eleanor (Lynn) was baptized on March 16, 1655/56 in Salem. Eleanor was almost thirty years younger than her husband. As you will see below, I have a double line of descent from this immigrant.

Line 1:

Ralph Ellingwood II was born on March 18, 1656/57 and married Martha Rowlandson. His first wife, Katherine, had their marriage annulled for "insufficiency." How embarrassing! Bill West wrote about Ralph's troubles - pointing out that Ralph and Martha had seven children so his problem was limited to his marriage with Katherine. 

Ebenezer Ellingwood married Sarah Tuck. He received an allotment of land because of his father's service in King Philip's War and the moved to Souhegan West, later called Amherst, New Hampshire. Three of his sons, James, Jedidiah, and Joseph, served in the Revolutionary War. 

Joseph Ellingwood married Sarah Herrick (Bill West has been documenting the estate settlement of Joseph in a series of blog posts that started here.)

John Ellingwood married Zerviah Abbott. They lived in Bethel, Maine, my hometown. (Bill West has been transcribing his estate in a series of posts that started here.) His occupation is listed as shoemaker. He is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Bethel, Maine - Findagrave memorial.

John Ellingwood, Jr. married Rachel Barrows. (Rachel's ancestors also came on the Truelove) He is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Bethel, Maine - Findagrave memorial.

Asa's Signature from Pension File

Florilla's Signature from Pension File

Asa Freeman Ellingwood married Florilla Dunham. Asa served in the Civil War and was injured in the First Battle of Bull Run. His pension file makes very interesting reading! After he was injured he enlisted in the Veterans Reserve Corp and served as a cook. Bill West did a great job transcribing the long pension file. They are buried in the Wayside Cemetery in West Paris, Maine - Findagrave memorial.

Signature from Asa's Pension File

Nina King Ellingwood - my 2nd Great-grandmother married George Albert Gibbs.

Grave of George & Nina (Ellingwood) Gibbs - photo used by permission of DJ Larson

Annie Florilla Gibbs married Ray Everett Cotton

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother 

Line 2

Mary Ellingwood was born on April 3, 1664 and married John Smith. 

Abigail Smith married Ebenezer Dunham

John Dunham married Mary Thomas

James Dunham married Cynthia Packard

James Dunham married Mary "Sally"Houghton

Florilla Dunham - see above

The descendants of Asa Freeman & Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood have been holding family reunions since the early 1900s. I remember attending some of these as a child. Recently, I reconnected with the reunion organizers and hosts through a Facebook page. Although it is primarily focused on the descendants of Asa Freeman Ellingwood, anyone who is related to the Ellingwoods (and its various spellings) is welcome to join and participate in the discussions. The reunion is still held every year on the second Saturday in August - rain or shine. If you have Ellingwood connections, we hope you join the page and try to attend the reunion. 

Tombstone Tuesday - Estes & Eva (Hayes) Yates & son, Russell

Estes Gilbert Yates, son of Gilbert William & Laura (Emmons) Yates, was born on March 11, 1884 and died April 27, 1977. 

Eva Delphinia (Hayes) Yates, daughter of George & Anna (Rowe) Hayes, was born on September 27, 1897 and died September 19, 1982. 

Russell Frank Yates, son of Estes & Eva (Hayes) Yates, was born on February 1, 1922 and died July 8, 2007. 

They are all buried in the same plot in the Middle Intervale Cemetery, on Intervale Rd. in Bethel, Maine. This cemetery is located behind a meetinghouse built in 1816. For much of my life, the meetinghouse was in the possession of the Carter family. When the upkeep became too much, the family donated it to the Middle Intervale Meetinghouse Association. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. 

Tuesday's Tip - One Piece of Advice

I was recently contacted by a former student and asked for advice about how to start researching his family history. He had one line that his grandmother had researched back for thirteen generations but many other lines with brick walls. He is using Ancestry.com. I gave him my abbreviated version to get him started and I know there are many, many resources out there that describe the process but I was wondering this...

1. What was the biggest mistake you made when you started? 
2. What is one thing you wish someone told you when you were starting out? 
3. What is your most helpful resource today? 
4. What is one piece of advice that helps you keep your enthusiasm going when you feel lost and frustrated? 

My answers - if you are willing to contribute to a follow-up post, please leave your answers in the comments and if you blog about your genealogy, leave me a link so I can include it in the future post. 

1. Biggest mistake - not keeping track of/documenting sources of information
2. I wish I knew - how poorly documented and inaccurate many of the online family trees are
3. Most helpful resource - probably Dropbox - it's where I save images of the documents I find online to source my family tree. It's important to source but it's taken awhile to find a way to keep electronic images so I can easily go back to them. I create a surname folder and then subfolders for each family group and file census records, relevant images from NEHGS etc. in the appropriate folder. A very close second is the online geneabloggers community. I encouraged him to start a blog. 
4. One piece of advice - keep two trees. One that is carefully documented and one that is undocumented or partially documented to be used a clues for future research. When one line gets you down, switch to another so you get some success to keep you motivated. 

I don't believe that genealogy is the realm of the retired. I know plenty of young people like this 21 year old who are very interested and excited by exploring their ancestry. It's a matter of finding the time in their busy schedules and encouragement. Like most of us, they will make rookie mistakes but they will get better with practice. 

Genealogy Fun

The mission, according to Randy Seaver, at Genea-Musings is to find out several things about the date one's father was born and share online. Now, he titled his post Saturday Night Genealogy Fun but I'm a little behind due to limited internet access at the camp so mine will be Sunday Afternoon Genealogy Fun.

1)  What day of the week was your Father born? Tell us how you found out.

April 27, 1939 was a Thursday. My father was born in Berlin, N.H. but lived in Bethel, Maine.

Where I found the day of the week

2) What has happened in recorded history on your Father's birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.
1805 - U.S. Marines attack the shores of Tripoli   

1865 - The steamboat, "Sultana", explodes on the Mississippi River, killing up to 1, 547. Many of those onboard were Union POWs on their way home

1937 - The U.S. Social Security system makes its first benefit payment

1967 - Boxer Rocky Marciano retires as undefeated champion

1994 - Richard Nixon is buried

Where I found what happened on this day

3)  What famous people have been born on your Father's birth date?  Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

1791 - Samuel Morse - Inventor of the telegraph

1822 - Ulysses S. Grant - Civil War general and U.S. President

1922 - Jack Klugman - actor

1948 - Frank William Abignale, Jr. - con artist turned security consultant, played by Matt Damon in the film, Catch Me If You Can

1951 - Ace Frehley - of the rock band, KISS

Where I found famous birthdays

4)  Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

Russell E. Yates - Remembering my Uncle "Joe"

Sun Journal - Jul 10, 2007
Russell F. Yates - pictured with my grandmother, his sister, Linona "Peggy" Yates Blake

1922-2007
Norway - Russell F. "Joe" Yates, 85, of South Paris, died July 8, at Stephens Memorial Hospital, where he had been a patient for two days. 

He was born in Millettville on Feb. 1, 1922, the son of Eva (Hayes) and Estes G. Yates. He graduated from Woodstock High School in 1941. During his high school years, he became a part of every prize speaking contest and won a few. He later became known for the varied monologues he would recite, all dressed up for the occasion, be it a farmer or a friendly neighbor lady come to comfort a poor dying soul. These provided much fun and laughter for the audiences, especially on one occasion when the bed broke while he was comforting the poor soul. 

After graduating from high school, he went to work on the farm for Leslie Estes in South Paris. He contracted undulant fever from the cattle (very similar to rheumatic fever) and was very ill for a period of time. This was the beginning of his heart problems that troubled him in varying degrees for the rest of his life. 

He worked at Bryant's IGA in Bethel for several years, Hanover Dowel Co., Cozy Inn Nursing Home cooking. During the late 1940s and 1950s he worked testing milk throughout the state. He worked cooking or baking in Florida, the Balsams, the Waumbec and in a restaurant owned and operated by his sister Linona "Peggy" and her husband Clayton. He went to Ohio and received instruction in meat cutting. 

He joined the Grange when he was 14 years old and was still an active member of Franklin Grange No. 124 in Bryant Pond and Oxford Pomona Grange No. 2. 

He is survived by two sisters Linona "Peggy" Blake and Laura Hutchins of East Andover; as well as many nieces and nephews. 

He was predeceased by three brothers, Lawrence, Carroll "Tom" and Bryce Yates; two sisters, Georgie "Becky" Haines and Viva Whitman; and his parents.

Obituary Sunday - Mrs. Nina Gibbs Cotton

Nina King Ellingwood was my 2nd great-grandmother. Her daughter, my great-grandmother, Annie Florilla Gibbs married Ray Everett Cotton on July 21, 1909. In an interesting twist, Nina then married as her second husband, her son-in-law's father, Francis Llewellyn Cotton on November 25, 1926. She was Francis Llewellyn's third wife - his first two marriages ended in divorce.

Dolls made by Nina - Photo from Debbie (Cummings) Brown

Lewiston Evening Journal - Jun 27, 1936
MRS. FRANCIS L. COTTON OF NORTH PARIS DEAD
North Paris Jun 29 - Following a short illness, Mrs. Nina Gibbs Cotton, wife of Francis L. Cotton, died Sunday at Rumford Community hospital. She was well known as a home manufacturer of stuffed toys, which she had been making about 46 years. They were a special kind of toy made of wood, excelsior, cotton, flannel, and other materials to give them a natural appearance and were carefully finished in every detail. The Red Cross horse was one of her many famous products.

Mrs. Cotton was born at Dummer, N.H., the daughter of Asa F. and Florilla Ellingwood, November 4, 1863. Surviving are her husband, three sons by a previous marriage, James Gibbs of North Paris and Albert and Herbert Gibbs of South Paris; two daughters, Mrs. Ada Balentine of Bethel and Mrs. Annie Cotton, Mechanic Falls, two brothers I. H. Ellingwood and Joseph Ellingwood of North Paris.

Mrs. Cotton was a member of the West Paris grange and the North Paris United Baptist church.

The Lewiston Daily Sun - Jun 29, 1936
MRS. NINA GIBBS COTTON
North Paris, June 28 - Mrs Nina Gibbs Cotton, 72, wife of Francis L. Cotton of this town died Sunday at the Rumford Community hospital after about a week's illness.

Mrs. Cotton was born at Dummer, N.H., the daughter of Asa F. and Florilla Ellingwood, November 4, 1863. Surviving are her husband, three sons by a previous marriage, James Gibbs of North Paris, Albert and Herbert Gibbs of South Paris; two daughters, Mrs. Ada Balentine of Bethel and Mrs. Annie Cotton, Mechanic Falls; two brothers I. H. Ellingwood and Joseph Ellingwood of North Paris.

Mrs. Cotton was a member of the West Paris grange and the North Paris United Baptist church.

DIED
In Rumford, Mrs. Nina Gibbs Cotton, 72. Funeral services will be held from her late home in North Paris at two p.m., June 20, EDT. Interment at West Paris cemetery.

Her memorial on Findagrave includes these pictures of the headstone for Nina & her first husband, George Gibbs.

Used by permission of photographer DJ Larson

Used by permission of photographer DJ Larson