GraveObsessions
Digging up my roots!
Category: My Family Lines
-
Harriet Luzetta Day
Harriet Luzetta (Day) Freeman (1812-1887/8) was the second daughter born to Aaron and Martha (Tibbetts) Day. The sister of my 2nd great grandmother, Cynthia (Day) Bursley, Harriet had a unique perspective of the family; she was raised by her paternal uncle and aunt, Nathaniel and Sarah Day. Harriet clearly loved her aunts and uncles, and
-
Mrs. means married…..or does it?
There are challenges when we view history through the lens of modern times. Take the marriage record shown below, for example, in which “Mrs.” Sarah Greenleaf weds Benjamin Bradstreet. For years I wrongly concluded that Sarah Greenleaf was someone’s widow, having been married before. A closer look, however, reveals something different. “Mrs.,” an abbreviated form
-
Seeing double: two lines to my Mayflower ancestors!
My grandmother was proud of her New England heritage. While she didn’t know much beyond the names of her maternal grandparents, Albert Stanwood and Lavina Bursley, she had been told growing up that our ancestors came on the Mayflower. Many years later, after connecting with a Bursley cousin and documenting my descent from John Howland
-
Stanwood Homestead
In 1844, Benjamin Stanwood purchased Lot 25 and the eastern half of Lot 24 in Township No. 2 Indian Purchase, now known as Woodville, Penobscot County, Maine. It is here he was enumerated on the 1850 census with his family. Where was his homestead? The 1859 map of Penobscot County, Maine below shows B. Stanwood
-
The Stanwood Coat of Arms
The coat of arms is an oft sought-after element of family historians. Symbolizing the right to bear arms, the coat of arms indicated status and privilege. Rarely are those seen in the United States deemed authentic. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 50:542 tells us of the Stanwood Coat of Arms. The article’s author, Mrs.
-
Making the case for the parentage of Lavina (Spencer) Bursley
Autosomal DNA, town records of Provicetown, Massachusetts, chain migration shed light on Lavina (Spencer) Bursley’s family. Lavina (Spencer) Bursley[1] was born about 1780 in Provincetown, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.[2] The town was so small that at the time of 1790 census only one page was used to enumerate the town’s 454 inhabitants. Included on the census was
-
Seek and ye shall find….the missing children of Benjamin and Cynthia (Day) Bursley
My great, great grandmother, Lavina (Bursley) Stanwood, was the sixth child born to Benajamin and Cynthia (Day) Bursley. Pictured with her above are her living siblings, beginning with John Morris Bursley (left), Susan (Bursley) Schelefoo Smallen, Lavina (Bursley) Stanwood, and Martha (Bursley) Orrock. Another brother, Aaron Day Bursley, lived to adulthood, but photos of him
-
Nathaniel Lord, 3rd Great Grandson of Robert Day
On 27 November 1742, twenty-eight year old Elizabeth Day (daughter of Thomas Day and the great grand daughter of Robert Day of Ipswich) published intentions of marriage to Nathaniel Lord. The two continued to reside in Ipswich, where they died and were laid to eternal rest in the Old Burying Ground. Nathaniel died 16 January
-
eBay treasure: Harriet Luzetta Day’s Arithmetic Book
Harriet Luzetta Day was the sister of my third great grandmother, Cynthia Sears Day. She was born about 1812 in Industry, Somerset County, Maine, and became a teacher, probably giving up her occupation when she married Rowland Freeman in 1834. Shown below is an arithmetic book owned by Harriet L. Day which I recently purchased
-
Persistence pays off with original records!
Death certificates are great sources of info – but the one above was frustrating to me. I wanted to see the original death register from which the data had been taken. However, I was told that privacy laws prohibited me from viewing the nearly 150-year-old book containing the death of Cynthia (Day) Bursley, my 3rd
Jennifer Fox
Blogger
Categories
