Four sisters, Four different Women: Bertha

I have always been interested in my grandmother and her sister's lives as each of them led very different lives. As each of them appears to have had some sadness to their life's story.   I will explore each of the sisters and will start with the oldest sister, Bertha (Skinner) Rideout.


Bertha May Skinner was born on October 12, 1891 in Exeter, Maine, daughter of Myron Skinner and Edna Southard.  [see my earlier blog on Myron Skinner]   Bertha was born within seven months of her parent's marriage at the home of her grandparents, Andrew and Mary (Brown) Skinner where her parents resided after their marriage.  When she was 3 years old, her parents moved to Portland, Maine, where he father found work as a traveling salesman.

Bertha Skinner, age 3yrs old

While living in Portland, the family moved several times to bigger apartment buildings as the family grew.   Bertha was joined by sisters, Alice, Ethelyn and Velma.  She attended Oakdale school in Portland which was literally a few buildings from her where she lived on Pitt Street in Portland.  Bertha was said to have been smart and did well in school.

At the age of eleven, her mother died after giving birth to her youngest sister. She attended schools in Portland until April 1904 when her father moved the family back to Exeter, Maine where her grandparents could help with raising herself and her sisters.  The 1940 census reveals she attended school only until the 6th grade, the last grade she attended before the family returned to Exeter.

Photos of Bertha taken July 4th 1905 at Stetson Pond at age 13

Bertha in the back

Front: Grace Morse, Inez skinner

Bertha and her father fishing

on Stetson Pond

Bertha's grandparents also died within several years of the family moving back.  Her grandmother dying in 1907 and her grandfather in 1910.   It then fell to Bertha take on the role caretaker of the family.  She raised her younger sisters, maintained the home by doing the cooking, cleaning and sewing while her father whom she called "Papa" worked the family farm.  A surviving diary that Bertha kept for the year of 1911 when she was nineteen, detailed the life herself and her sisters and father.  It was mostly filled with their daily chores, and few personal mentions of her life, and several mentions of her father and his lack of keeping help on the farm and doing most of the work himself alone.

Bertha, age 24 in 1915

Exeter, Maine

By 1919, Bertha's sisters, Alice and Ethelyn had moved away from home, leaving herself and her youngest sister, Velma at home. On the 1920 census she was listed as working as a weaver in a woolen mill in Corinna, Maine where she was residing with her sister, Velma who was attending Corinna Union Academy.  It seems Bertha went to Corinna to care for Velma while she was at school. Bertha and her sister also appear on the same census living at home with their father which implies that they were living in Exeter for part of the time between 1919 and 1920.

However 1920, was important year for Bertha also married on November 26, 1920 in Corinth, Maine to Donald Edmond Rideout when she was 29 years old.   A family story was that Bertha met her husband when he stopped by the house to buy apples from her father and as he was not home, Bertha sold him and the apples and he was so taken with her, he returned more than once to buy apples just to talk to her.   

Wedding Portrait of Bertha and

Donald Rideout, 1920

After her marriage she lived with her husband's family in Garland, Maine.  They had no children together, although it was said she was pregnant a few times, but miscarried each time.  According to her niece Hilma (Smith) Knowles, her aunt's biggest disappointment was sadly to never to have been able to be a mother to her own child, after raising her sisters who considered her to be a good mother figure to them all.  Instead, Bertha became caretaker to her husband's parents, his aunt, and his unmarried brother until their deaths.  She never had time when wasn't taking care of her husband's family.

Bertha in 1922, Garland

Bertha and Donald

1920s

Bertha, 1930, Garland

Bertha also was known to enjoy drawing and sketching, but the family story told that as much as almost all her nieces and nephews liked their "uncle Don" Rideout, he was known to be cautious with money and would not allow her to spend money on paper, drawing pencils and ink which he felt was wasteful.  So often she drew on backs of used paper or magazines.  She was never allowed to enjoy the one hobby she liked the most.  Bertha did enjoy collecting antiques and had a great many them on the family farm from furniture to farm equipment. 

Bertha and Donald Rideout in 1964

Bertha's husband, Donald Rideout died April 12, 1969 in Garland.  Towards the end of her life, Bertha was cared for by a Smith family, who her relatives were distrustful as they felt the Smiths sold most of the Rideout furniture before buying the property at a small price from Bertha.  She was then taken to a boarding home in Dexter.   

Bertha died May 11, 1980 in Dexter, Maine.

Bertha's niece, Hilma remembers they were told only a day before the Smiths held an auction to sell off farm's belongings and no one in the family had time to go.  Another niece, Marion remembers hearing about the auction and wanted to buy a porcelain doll and carriage she remembered playing with as a child, but the Smiths wouldn't sell it at a lower price she could afford because they knew they could get more money at the auction.  

Bertha was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Garland, Maine with her husband.

Prince Hatch, carpenter, sailor, prisoner, husband, father and Shaker

Prince Hatch, my 5^th great grandfather was born November 16, 1754 in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the son of Jonathan and Agatha (Phillips) Hatch.  Prince spent his childhood in Marshfield, Massachusetts and early on took the trade of a carpenter.  When the American Revolution began, Prince became a carpenter on a Navy ship and continued throughout the War.

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, vol 7, p. 501

The Frigate “Protector” which Prince served onboard had 28 guns and captured the British Ship, the “Admiral Duff” in 1780, but she herself was captured in May 1781 by the British.  Prince was then taken captive by the British for 15 month and 6 days before his release on August 11, 1782.   His name appears on most lists of American Prisoners of the Revolutionary War. Prisoners were treated poorly by the British and many did not survive.  In the pension application by his children in 1847, Elisha Sherman testified to hearing stories of Prince Hatch's suffering while a prisoner by the British during the war.  

His last date of service was when he was discharged April 9, 1783.   That November of the same year, he married his wife, Hannah Phillips.  They became parents to seven children all born in Marshfield, Massachusetts between 1784-1799. 

He was the first Hatch to come to Waldo County, Maine.  He came to Knox, Maine in 1803, where he took up land and built a log cabin and a hovel for his cattle.  He returned to Marshfield for his family in 1804, bringing them to Maine by schooner, together with their cattle & all his belongings.  The ship reached Belfast, where it lay in the harbor sometime after arrival and his daughter Lucy who was married to Elisha Sherman had her first child aboard ship during that period.  Later, Prince rigged up a frame of poles with one extending to the Ox yoke, and the family dragged their belongings, and drove their cattle, walking to Knox, a distance of 15 miles.  There seems to be some uncertainty in regard to the record concerning Prince Hatch.  A genealogical record in Damariscotta states that Elisha Hatch immigrated to the Damariscotta area from Marshfield in 1790, together with several of his brothers, one of whom was Prince.  Other impressions are that his first trip to Maine was the one made to Knox in 1803, but not verified, and may be that he went to Damariscotta & then to Knox.  However it is known that he spent most of his life thereafter in Knox.  (Jeffrey A. Linscott, Ancestors and Descendants of William Hatch, of Scituate, Massachusetts, [2001] p. 56).

In 1810, Prince Hatch was living in Knox, Maine with his wife and children, but within a few years, he would leav his wife and chidlkren to join the Shaker community in new Gloucester, Maine.  
Originally, I assumed he probably joined the community after the death of his wife in 1825 as his children appear to have settled elsewhere in the State of Maine.  However, records from the Shaker Library provided by archivist Chuck Rand revealed that Prince Hatch was appointed 1st elder of the Square House Family (part of the Sabbathday Lake community) on February 1, 1820.  The square house being the place where the all the shakers lived and slept.  This explains why Prince was not located on the 1820 census as head of household.  All the Shakers were counted in one group in one household of an elder of the community. 

The orginal Shaker meeting house

Shaker house

The Shakers were not like the Amish of America.  The Shakers of New Gloucester were founded in 1794, coming from Gorham, Maine.  The shakers believed that anyone could find God within him or herself without the rituals and clergy of a church.  They believed in a life of purity and pursuing a life of perfection by confessing sins and trying case sinning.   Men and Women were equal but separate.  Members were celibate and had to come from outside the church as no new members could be born.

The pension application by Prince's surviving children include testimony as to when exactly Prince left his family.  Elisha Sherman of Knox stated on 17 April 1847  "In the year 1813, said Prince Hatch embraced the faith of a certain religious sect called the Shakers and in the Fall of the same year removed from his residence in Knox to New Gloucester."

It would be interesting to know what would make Prince leave his wife of 30 years and children for this life and what he hoped to find from this lifestyle.  Prince being a carpenter would have been a prized skill for the Shakers and he would have been welcomed into the community.  The Shakers were progressive with modern things and were constantly looking for things of value to make and sell to support the community.  Did Prince have any contact with his wife and children after he left?  As Prince’s wife, Hannah at this time period would been reliant on her husband to support her.  It seems that by 1820, Hannah Hatch was now living and being supported by one of her children.

By 1830, Prince would have been 76 years old, only 3 men aged 70-79 appear on the census of that year of the New Gloucester Shaker community, one of which would have been Prince.  In 1840, Prince would have been 86 years old and only 2 males between ages 80-89 were living with the Shakers.  From the Shaker records of Prince Hatch, it appears some information was provided by himself at the time he joined, although no record of the date he joined was found.  The Shaker Library contained the record of his bith date, nmaes of his wife and children as well any children that had died.  

Only handful of the buildings from the time Prince lived there survive. 

Prince died January 11, 1846 in New Gloucester, Maine.  He was buried in Grave 76 in the Shaker cemetery.  There are no grave markers in the cemetery.  His name appears on the gravestone of his wife stating he died in New Gloucester.

On February 2, 1847, the five surviving children of Prince Hatch, namely, Hannah Cross, Alvan Hatch, Lucy Sherman, Harry Hatch and Hiram Hatch applied for their father's pension for his service in the Revolutionary War.  They stated his had never appled for a pension while alive and that he left no widow and they were his heirs.   In the pension application, there was a deposoition from Briggs Hatch of Nobleboro, Maine, brother of Prince Hatch which stated the following "More than 30 years ago, Prince Hatch united himself with a religious society called the Shakers at new Gloucester and lived with them from that time until he died.  And that it was on account of his connection with the said religious society that he did no apply for a pension himself." dated April 14, 1847.

The Mysterious Gravestone of Rufus Carter

While working on my Mom’s new ancestors and where they were buried I came across a story about the gravestone of my ancestor Rufus Carter.  It is through Rufus’ wife Eunice Ball that I found my Mom was a cousin to Lucille Ball [see my blog post October 2018 “Mom’s famous cousin.”]

Gravestone in Linville, Maine

What was interesting about Rufus was that despite living his life in Montville, Maine, his gravestone for no apparent reason is on the side of the road in Lincolnville, Maine.    The following is from an article by Corelyn Senn, published in the Village Soup on November 19, 2015.

It is not known when this monument arrived at this spot but it was there after Myrtle and Guy Ripley purchased the land in 1938. It has been assumed that the monument belonged on this spot but a closer look leads one to believe that it was made for another place. The lettering is right down to the ground and the base, which is only 5-inches high and has a decorative curved lip, is underground. The assumption then is that the monument and its current base were once on one, and probably two, larger granite blocks as is typical.

Who are the people memorialized on it? As it turns out they are not Lincolnville people but are connected to Montville. Rufus Carter was born in Leominster, Mass. in 1761, and married Eunice Ball in Westborough, Mass. in 1797. They had moved to Montville by 1800 where their daughter Eunice was born that same year. In 1805, their son Phineas was born and by 1810 they had another son, Rufus.

Rufus Sr. bought land along the Stage Road, currently Route 3, on the Searsmont-Montville line (some of the land being in Searsmont) in 1811. In 1821, he sold 21 acres of the land in Montville but reserved for himself and his heirs the use of the house (and the right to move it) and the land it was on for as long as they wished to use it. In 1825, Rufus sold more of his land in Montville and, in 1826, he sold 15 acres to Phineas on the Searsmont side of the line.

Rufus Carter on the gravestone

On Nov. 26, 1829, Phineas Carter of Searsmont married Jane S. Fogerty of Searsmont. Jane was the daughter of Moses and Margaret Watts Fogerty of Cushing, both members of prominent shipbuilding and ship captain families from St. George. In 1842, Phineas bought 30 acres of land in Montville from George Everette that included Kingdom Yard, now known as Mt. Repose Cemetery. Phineas sold it in 1852 and moved to Poors Mill Road in Belfast.

Phineas and Jane had one son, Alonzo, born in 1830, who died in 1839, and a daughter, Mary R. W., born about 1839, who married Horace Banks. Mary died of apoplexy in 1892 and Horace hanged himself a month later. All these family members have a large monument in Mt. Repose Cemetery where they are buried.

Neither Rufus Sr. nor his wife Eunice is buried in Mt. Repose. After he sold his land, the only information we could find on Rufus was through Phineas who, in the 1830 census, is listed as living in Searsmont with a male over 60 in his household and in 1840 with a male over 80. Carter family history states that Rufus died in New York State when he would have been 80. Did he leave for New York just before he died?

Phineas amassed some 250 acres of land and on May 10, 1841, he sold a 120-acre parcel of land, reserving for his mother, Eunice Carter, the small dwelling house “with the right to her to occupy it where it now stands as long as she may be disposed to.” In the 1840 Montville census, there is a Rufus Carter (age 20-30) with two females, one age 20-30 and the other 60-70. Could this be Eunice living with her son Rufus and his wife? They do not show up again. I have been unable to find a grave for Eunice. Did Rufus Jr., his wife and Rufus Sr. leave for New York together?

George Fogerty, who perished at sea, was the brother of Jane Fogerty Carter, the youngest of Moses and Margaret Fogerty’s 10 children. Despite extensive searching, we have been unable to find from which ship he was lost. What we do know is that in the 1850 Cushing census he was 29 years old, living with Isaac and Catherine Seavey and listed as a sailor. In 1851, he was the commander and partial owner of the Brig Loretta out of Thomaston. He may also have been Master of the American Eagle in 1860 when she sailed from Belize with logwood and fustic, and Master of the Bark Czarina which sailed out of Marseilles on April 18, 1861, with wine and brandy.

Capt. Fogerty was born May 19, 1820, but two dates are given for his death, the one on the monument (Feb. 22, 1865) and another recorded by some family members, May 25, 1866. If this later date is accurate, he may also have piloted the Brig Machias from Machias to the Port of New York.

The Terrible Mower Mowing Accident

One of the stories I was told when working on my Dad’s Mower family ancestry was that of his great-aunt Sarah Francis Mower or "aunt Sadie as my family called her.  Sadie was the youngest sister to my Dad's grandmother.  [see my posts "Treasures in the Wall" and " A relative tale of 3 governors" for more on Sadie's mother Sue (Spaulding) Mower]  Aunt Sadie had been crippled as a child a mower accident.  It seems her father had been mowing a field and had not seen her playing in the tall grass and ran over his daughter’s leg. 

The doctor was not able to save Sadie's lower leg and it was amputated.  She was fitted with a wooden leg to walk with and it was continually adjusted throughout her life.  Sadie’s daughter, Margaret had said that later in her mother’s life, she had gone to a doctor in Waterville to see if they could find a better prosthesis to help with the pain she had when walking.  Sadly the doctor told her that the original amputation had not been performed properly and there was little they could do to help at that point in time.  Both of Sadie’s daughters said that their mother never talked much about the accident and they knew little of the details or even how old she was when the accident ocurred.  The family never blamed Sadie's father, William P. Mower for accident.

William Penn Mower
My Great-grandfather
Father of Sarah "Sadie" Mower

My cousin has accused me of having the lucky genealogy gene as I did uncover more about the mowing accident while trying to research another side of the family to find a death notice in the Bangor Daily Whig & Courier in 1879.  There was an article from the town of Dexter on a “Terrible Mowing Machine Accident- A little Girl has One Foot Cut Completely off, and the Other Badly Mangled- Her Father is in a Critical Condition as a Result of the Shock.”  I knew instantly I had found that the paper had picked up the story and now the details of the accident could be revealed.

Bangor Whig & Courier
July 10, 1879

Although the article clearly puts a spin of the dangers of mowing machines, it also provided more to the story that was never known to the descendants of how much her father suffered from the accident as well.  Although the article focuses on Sadie's suffering from the loss of her foot as well as William Mower's possible heart attack, it does not mention what Sadie's poor mother must have suffered through with her daughter in one room, losing her foot and that trauma, but her husband on the verge of dying in another room.  One can only imagine the chaos of the day in the home.  

Despite the horror of the events of 1879, William Mower survived and lived until 1910.  Sadie also went on to live a almost normal life as well.

Sadie Mower as a child after the accident
She could only bend her right leg

Sarah "Sadie" Mower went to finish school and graduated from Dexter High School in 1892.

Sarah Francis Mower graduation 1892

She eventually took a job in Oakland, Maine as a housegirl for the Mosher family.  She assisted Mrs. Mosher (Clara Wheeler Mosher) with household chores, cleaning and cooking in return for her rent.  The Mosher's had a son, Guy Lincoln Mosher who took an interest in Sadie and they eventually married and Sadie became mother of two daughters, Margaret and Rosalie.

Sadie and her daughters, Margaret and Rosalie in 1908

Sarah Francis "Sadie" Mower died on June 23, 1953 in Oakland, Maine.  I was not able to share the newspaper story with Sadie's oldest daughter, Margaret before her death in 2001, who was the family genealogist.  However I was able to share the story with Margaret's daughters and Margaret's sister, Rosalie before her death.  Rosalie told her own daughter, she never knew what really had happened to her mother.  Most all who read the story were surprised to learn of William's health that day as as the fact that Sadie never mentioned anything wrong with her toes on her other foot that were injured.

Sarah Francis "Sadie" Mower Mosher

John Woodall/Wattles, Scottish Prisoner of War

While working on my Mom's side of the family, I discovered we descend from John Woodall (or Wattles as the name was spelled in the States) who came to New England as a Scottish prisoner of war.  It came as a surprise as most of my ancestors immigranted on their own to the colonies for a better life or religious freedom. John Woodall was forced from his home of Scotland and brought to New England where he would have a family and yet meet a tragic end.

The years of  1646-1651 saw a series of armed conflicts between the supporters of the monarchy which was lead by King Charles II who had been declared King after his father King Charles I had been beheaded.  King Charles wanted to continue the expansion of power of the Stuart monarchy over Parliament.

King Charles II

Whereas, Parliament wanted a greater role in control of the government.  Until that time, Parliament functioned as an advisory committee to the King and was only called together by the King and could be dissolved at any time.  Parliament was made up of the gentry and represented more the people, but could not legally force its will on the Monarchy.  So after the death of King Charles I, a Commonwealth of England was formed and later a Protectorate under the personal rule Oliver Cromwell who became a virtual dictator.

Oliver Cromwell

So a young John Woodall, born about 1630, supported the Stuart monarchy when King Charles II arrived in Scotland in 1650 as did most of his countrymen.  The Royalists, as the followers of King Charles were called, were overwhelmed and defeated by the Army of the Commonwealth under Cromwell.  The final Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651 resulting in  King Charles II going into hiding and then exile in France.  The Royalist Army suffered a loss of three thousand men and ten thousand men taken prisoner, one of which was our ancestor John Woodall.

Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester

The prisoners were taken to London where it was noted that most of them had no shoes or little clothing.  John could have been executed, but an Act of Parliament in October 1651 instead, had 8000 prisoners sent at their own expense to New England, Virginia or the West Indies.  Two weeks later, 272 men were put onboard the "John and Sara" and sailed to New England.  John Woodall's name appears on this list of prisoners.

Upon his arrival in New England in 1651, John and his fellow prisoners were sold.  John was "bought" by Samuel Richardson, an original proprietor of Woburn, Massachusetts.  Samuel died in 1658 and the inventory of his estate included "for service of servants their time to come... Item, John Wattles, five pounds.'  After Cromwell's death in the same year of 1658, his son Richard Cormwell was declared to be protector, but he was removed by the Army after 7 months.  Eventually monarchy was restored and King Charles II returned to England in 1660.   Despite the return of the monarchy he had fought for in 1651, John did not return to his native homeland of Scotland.

John in December 1666 at about age 36, married Mary Gould and settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.  There they had three known children, a son, William and two daughters, Rose and Mary.  John was a farmer or husbandman as term was then used for his occupation.  Unfornately within ten years, the period of time in the colonies saw the uprising of the natvive people against the growing number of Colonists.  So began King Philip's War which was lead by a Wampanoag leader who took the English title of King Philip.  The town of Chlemsford came under several attacks and John was killed in one of them between February and April 1676.  His wife and children escaped to the safe harbor of Dorchester, Massachusetts.  After the war, his family recieved 16 shilling and eight pence for his death.   I

John's descendants would continue on in the Colonies and play an important role in colonial history.  Abigail Belcher, the wife of his son William Wattles, was the daughter of Samuel Belcher, the original owner of the house in Braintree, Massachusetts, now [2019] owned by the National Park Service, where the future President John Adams and his wife Abigail, lived and where President John Quincy Adams was born.  William Wattles being our direct ancestor.

Adams Homesteads in Massachsuetts

John’s grandson, Captain John Wattles, another ancestor in our line, married Judith Fitch, a descendant of  Rev. James Fitch, the  founder of Lebanon, Connecticut, as well as Major John Mason, Deputy Governor of Connecticut Colony, once renowned and now notorious for conducting the near-extermination of the Pequot Tribe, and also Rev. Robert Peck, a nonconformist during the reigns of James I and Charles I and the leader of the Puritan emigrants who established Hingham, Massachusetts.

From there, our line departs with the marriage of Zerviah Wattles to Israel Damon and the family moving to Wiscassett, Maine and their descendants moving north to Piscataquis County and marrying into our Woodward line of ancestry.

John Wattles, a Scottish Prisoner of War, who came to America, not by choice but by force, would survive a War and battle in his own country which involved thousands, only to be killed in an attack by group in a much smaller numbers and die at only age 46 years.

Any of my cousins on my Mom's maternal side can join the Scottish Prisoner of War Society or join their facebook page as well which has a lot of the information I found on John Wattles.

A Relative tale of three Governors of Maine

One of the stories I had been told many years ago by my great-aunt, Leona was that her grandmother was a cousin of two Governors of Maine.  If my great-aunt had told me the names, I didn't remember them or knew who they were at the time.  Several years ago I had tried to see if any of my great-great-grandmother, Susan Church (Spaulding) Mower's first cousins had been Governors and I had come up empty in that search. Recently with the addition of "Thru-lines" on Ancestry, I was able to trace down lines of my family related to me by DNA.  My research revealed that the tale of two Governor cousins was partially true and shed light on a third Governor of Maine connection.

My ancestor "Sue" as she was called by the family was actually a second cousin of two Governors of Maine through her grandfather's side and her grandmother's side.   Her grandfather was a great-uncle to one governor and her grandmother a great-aunt to another governor.

Susan C. (Spaulding) Mower
My great-great-grandmother

Governor Abner Colburn was a 2nd cousin to Sue Mower on her maternal grandfather's Benjamin Weston's side. [see my Weston Family Farm post for more on Benjamin Weston] 

Governor Abner Colburn of Maine

Gov. Colburn was born March 22, 1803 in Skowhegan, Maine, son of Eleazer and Mary (Weston) Colburn.  He  served three years in the Maine House of Representatives before being elected the 30th Governor of Maine in 1863. He served only one term during the Civil War years.  He became president of Skowhegan Savings Bank as well as president and director of the Maine Central Railroad. He served as the Chair of the Colby College Board of Trustees from 1874 until his death in 1885.  He was the uncle of the writer Louise Helen Colburn.   Many of his historical items can be seen in a museum that she began, the Skowhegan History House.  Colburn never married and resided in Skowhegan with his brother Philander Colburn who also never married, but also a wealthy business in Skowhegan.  Gov. Colburn died January 4, 1885 in Skowhegan, Maine.  

On Sue Mower's maternal grandmother's Anna (Powers) Weston, she was a 2nd cousin to Governor Llewellyn Powers.

Governor Llewellyn Powers

Gov. Powers was born October 14, 1836 in Pittsfield, Maine, son of Arba and Naomi (Matthews) Powers.  He attended Colby College and law school in New York.  After receiveing his law degree in 1860, he set up practice in Houlton, Maine in 1861.  He served in the Maine House of Representatives for several years and was Speaker of the House in his last term.  It was his bill in 1876 that abolished capital punishment in Maine.  He became Maine's 44th Governor in 1897 and served until 1901.  He married Martha Averill and they were parents to five children.  Llewellyn died July 28, 1908 in Houlton, Maine.  

My ancestor Sue was living during the time when both of her 2nd cousins became Governors of Maine, although she as woman would not have been able to vote for them.  I can only assume that probably the men in the family including Sue's husband, William Mower, would have voted them into office as they were both Republican governors and until my Dad and myself, my family had all been Republicans.  

Recently the addition of Thru-lines on Ancestry revealed another connection to a Govenor of Maine. My DNA connected me to the Reed family of Fort-Fairfield which I had known from tracing the siblings of Sue Mower.  Her older sister Electa (Spaulding) Reed was the grandmother of Govenor of Maine, John Hathaway Reed.  Sue was also the great-aunt of a Governor of Maine. 

Governor John H. Reed

Gov. Reed was born January 5, 1921 in Fort Fairfield, Maine.  He served in the Navy during World War II and came back to Maine serving in the Maine House of Representatives and Maine Senate.  In 1959, Maine had four Governors, one of which was John Reed.  Gov. Edmund Muskie had resigned to take his seat in the U.S. Senate in January 1959.  Robert Haskell then became Governor for 5 days until Governor Clinton Clauson was sworn in as Governor in 1959.  Gov. Clausn died while in office on December 30, 1959.  With John Reed as Senate President, he then became Maine's 67th Governor.  He was elected in 1960 and again in 1962 to become Maine's first 4 year Governor until 1966 when he was defeated by Ken Curtis.  Gov. Reed then took a seat on the National Safety Board and later was Ambassador to Sri Lanka under Presidents Nixon and Reagan.  He died October 31, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

I was a little too young to be aware of Gov. Reed during his term in the 1960s, as I didn't come along until 1963.  No one in my immediate family ever mentioned any connection to him and probably were not even aware as I don't believe my great-aunt meant he was one of the connections to a Maine Governor as she only said her grandmother was a cousin to two Maine Governors.  Whereas she herself was a 2nd cousin to Gov. Reed.  

DNA and it use by Law Enforcement

Recently in Maine news the headlines read:

"Genealogical Databases" used to match Maine man's DNA to Alaska murder!

DNA from an unsolved murder over 26 years ago was used in Public DNA Genealogical Databases and a Maine man's aunt who had done a DNA test came back as a close match and the police were able to use this evidence to find him.  He had lived in the same dorm as the victim, but had denied knowing the victim at the time in 1993 when DNA evidence was not where it is now.

A reporter from a Portland News Channel contacted myself and a few others in the DNA Interest Groups (or DIG) for comment.  However his take on the case was not that DNA was used to find a murderer, but that maybe people shouldn't do DNA testing as it might lead to the arrest of a loved one and if people were aware of this, they may choose not to do DNA testing?   I didn't feel comfortable doing his interview for that reason.  Luckily another person volunteered to be interviewed and did a great job trying to point out that people doing DNA testing are really more interested in their ancestry and finding family than criminals.

I know that GEDmatch makes it very clear that they are a public website and people who use it voluntarily upload their DNA to the site and Gedmatch can be used by Law Enforcement to upload DNA from cases of rape, murder and sexual assault to find the perpetrator of these crimes.  Recently FamilyTreeDNA has allowed Law Enforcement to also upload DNA from crimes as stated, but they do not get any extra benefits, only the same benefits as anyone else who uses the site has access to.

I also have struggled somewhat with this question when people ask me about DNA and Law Enforcement.  Do I feel comfortable with the police just having free access to all databases to use in any crime?  For example if I had posted signs around the city against a certain politician or someone in a position of power, who I felt was doing something wrong or not being honest about something they were involved in and my DNA was found on the signs.   This person in power could ask law enforcement to use the DNA to find me and stop me from exercizing my free speech rights.  No I do not  feel that Law Enforcement should have have access to anything without probable cause.

However, if one of my immediate family members or relatives were discovered to have committed a heinous crime like murder, rape or sexual assault because of my DNA being posted in various DNA webistes would I feel guilty.  I have to say, I would not.  I would of course feel bad for my family members of the person who would be convicted, but not really for the person who committed the crime who either lied or hid from it.  I have always told my family members I love them no matter what.  But if they committed a terrible crime,  I would still probably love them.   I would not be happy about what they had done or necessarily even forgive them for what they had done to another person.

I also have a strong belief that if one of my immediate family members was a victim of a crime of murder or a sexual assault, it would be my hope that Law Enforcement would use any tool, including DNA databases to catch the person or persons guilty of the crime.  I would hope for some closure and maybe some reason for why this happened. So if DNA was also used to find one of my family members guilty of these heinous crimes, I hope it would give that victim's family some closure as well.

These are the early days still of DNA tests and how DNA can and will be used is still being determined by courts and often laws and regulations are behind in any new technology.  Eventually, some case will arise where someone will overstep the boundaries and laws and rules will begin to instituted.

DNA has been shown to solve crimes, but also to free innocent people wrongly convicted years later.  I think back that not in my lifetime, many school children were fingerprinted and put in a government database to help in child abductions if that terrible event should occur.  Fingerprints like DNA are unique and yet used to solve crimes as well.  For now, I not against or feel uncomfortable with my DNA on some of the above websites being used by Law Enforcement.   Not everyone will agree with my opinion, but it is what I currently believe when it comes to DNA use in solving these cold case crimes.

The Thurston Family Divorces

                In 2008, my cousin Nancy Battick and I published an article in The Maine Genealogist on our ancestor Emily (Woodman) Thurston’s divorce in 1849 from her husband called “Finding Hidden Gold in Divorce Records:  The search for Emily Woodman of Newport, Maine.”  It had been assumed by many since Emily did not appear on the 1850 census in the household of her husband and children and no oral family stories about her had been passed down, that she had died prior to that census.  It was by luck that I came across her divorce and then we discovered she was living in Bangor, Maine under her maiden name in 1850.  The divorce explained why when Emily’s husband, Stephen Thurston died in 1862, only his sons received a guardianship. Emily had received custody of her daughters and he had custody of his sons.  Then we learned that Emily’s oldest daughter and possibly her granddaughter would also divorce their husbands.  It would then make three generations of divorce.

Emily (Woodman) Thurston

                The divorce records shed light on these women’s lives and sometimes the unfortunate circumstances probably many women endured in their married lives.  Especially when a divorce would mean these women would have to support themselves and their children at a time when there were few jobs women held outside of the house.  The roles of men and women were well defined with the husband working to support the family while the wife stayed at home to raise children and do all household chores.  Marriage shifted support for a woman from her father to her husband.

                Since that article was published a few more details have been uncovered.  First, we need to understand Maine law at time.   A divorce to the petitioner meant that person was legally divorced from their spouse.  However their spouse was still legally married unless they also petitioned for divorce.  So until the Maine legislature changed the law in 1857, court records often show double divorces.  First a one spouse would file for a divorce and then at a later date, the other spouse would then file for their divorce.  If this was not done, the spouse who did not file a divorce would still be legally married and their estate if they were the husband could still go to his divorced wife who was legally divorced from him.  So often the motivation for the filing for the second divorce was to protect the estate or to remarry.  So it is understandable why Stephen Thurston wanted to file for his own divorce from Emily, if he did not want her to receive whatever his estate or if he wanted to remarry.

Stephen Thurston

                Stephen first petitioned the Judicial Court in Penobscot County in the October term of 1851.  For whatever reason, the Court dismissed his case.  It may have been he did not meet the required proof necessary for a divorce decree.  Just two years earlier his wife had accused him of drunkenness and Stephen may still have struggled with the disease of alcoholism.  In 1852, Stephen still determined to get his divorce chose another option outside of the Courts, he petitioned the State of Maine legislature to be granted a divorce.

                His petition presented his version of the marriage.  Stephen claimed to always have behaved himself as a faithful, chaste and affectionate husband towards his wife. However despite these facts, Emily deserted him August 1848 leaving their four children in his care.  He stated Emily was granted a divorce in 1849 and custody of their two daughters, Adressa and Mary Emily and he was awarded their sons.  Since that time, Stephen had been a good, honest, industrious and peaceable citizen and continues to support his sons.  It was signed by 46 other men in Newport.  At the top of the list was the name of his brother and his lawyer, Granville Flint.  In February 1853, the legislature took no action on his divorce petition.

                So Stephen, not to be deterred in his quest, went back to the Supreme Judicial Court.  However Stephen made no claims of being a role model, but purely stated his wife, had been granted a divorce in 1849 and now wished the same be granted to him.  Stephen did ask for custody of his two daughters in this petition.  The Divorce was granted in October 1853, but no change made in the custody of his daughters.  Sadly, Stephen’s desire for a divorce resulted in him owing a large debt and he was forced to sell his property in April 1854.  And who came to purchase Stephen’s property?  None other than his lawyer, Granville Flint 

                Lastly in 2008, we speculated that Emma Augusta Badger of Etna, Maine was the same Emma A. Badger, daughter of Jonathan Badger and Adressa Thurston.  Adressa being the eldest daughter of Stephen and Emily Thurston.  Emma A. Badger had appeared on the 1870 census of Etna living the household of her great-aunt, Olive (Woodman) Glidden.  Living next door was a Samuel W. Sanborn whom she married January 25, 1874.  Samuel deserted her the very next day for parts unknown.  With advancement in on line records, Samuel left for Minneapolis, Minnesota where he lived the rest of his life as a single man. 

                The death certificate for Emma confirmed her parents as Jonathan and Adressa.  Again since the article’s publishment, more has been discovered about Emma’s life.  Emma (Badger) Sanborn was granted a divorce on October 4, 1876.  On November 15, 1876 in Bangor, Maine, Emma A. Sanborn married William Holmes.  They had 3 children together between 1877 and 1882.  However after 1884, Emma appears in Bangor Directories living alone with her husband, who also appears living alone at a different address.  According to the divorce petition by William Holmes in 1887, he stated that in July 1883, Emma A. Holmes deserted him and utterly refused to live with him.  Of course, we only have William’s side of the story and one can only wonder why Emma would leave with three young children and never return for any reason.  As Emma did not appear in Court to defend herself, William received his divorce.  No mention of custody of the children. 

                Emma was living Bangor as late as 1893.  However on February 5, 1898 in Boston, Massachusetts, Emma “Badger” dressmaker, daughter of John and Adressa (Thurston) Badger married her 3^rd husband, Louis Schwartz, who had immigrated from Russia.  He was a canvasser by trade.  Emma and her husband were living in Boston in 1900, but by 1910, they were living in Salem, Massachusetts with her three children by Holmes as well her son Charles’s wife and son.  The sons also were listed as canvassers.   

Emma (Badger) Schwartz in 1918

By 1920, Emma and Louis and Emma’s eldest son, William were all living in Falmouth, Maine.  Her husband and son were working for the railroad. 

                Emma died on November 7, 1927 in Portland, Maine with her funeral being held at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Stella Wright in South Portland.