Searching for Mary Washburn’s Parents

Blanchard Project
Blanchard-Washburn

As I embark on learning more about the life of Mary (Washburn) Blanchard, I start with what I know.  Mary married Albion Blanchard on 2 February 1857 in Windham, Cumberland County, Maine. The 1860 Census reported her as 25 years old, suggesting a birth year of 1834 or 1835. The Blanchard’s were living in Cumberland, Cumberland County, Maine, then. I have been unable to determine her parents.

Based upon the 1850 Census, some researchers have suggested her parents were James and Martha (Briggs) Washburn and lived in Minot, Cumberland County, Maine. It seems possible except for two items. First, the age is a bit off. That girl is only 11, instead of 15. Second, she appears in the same family during the 1860 Census when my Mary Washburn was married and enumerated with her husband, Albion, in Cumberland.

So, my question is, what other Washburns were in Cumberland County during the 1850s and could my Mary be one of them.

1850 Census

A review of the 1850 Census found 30 Results in 7 groups.

1. Cyrus Washburn household with an apparent wife and five children.[i]            Nancy (wife), Cyrus (18), Elizabeth (24), Maria (16), Samuel (12), and Abba (age 9).
2. James E. Washburn household with wife, four apparent children, and apparently his parents. The children were Mary (11), Martha (9), Nancy (7), and Elisabeth (age 1).
3. Otis Washburn household with apparent wife Rachel and six children – Lorenzo (21), Emily (19), Ebenezer (16), Caroline (14), Sidney (12), and Matilda (age 7).
4. Charles Washburn with apparent wife Elizabeth and two children. The children were Maria (1) and Charles (2).
5. Sylvia Washburn, apparent mother-in-law living with George Warren.
6. Elizabeth Washburn, an apparent lodger in Dorothy Clark’s home in Portland.
7. George Washburn, an apparent lodger in Francis Blake’s home in Harrison.

Mary, age 11, in James Washburn’s household and Maria, age 16, in Cyrus Washburn’s home are the only candidates I see in the 1850 Census that could be Mary Washburn, the wife of Albion Blanchard living in Cumberland County in 1850.

Note: Androscoggin County was created in 1854 from towns originally in Cumberland County, Lincoln County, Kennebec County, and Oxford County. So, although they were in Cumberland County in 1850, they were in Androscoggin County after 1854 without moving. [ii]

In the 1860 Census, Cyrus is still with Nancy, Samuel, and Abby. Maria is not in the household.

Again, in the 1860 Census, James’s household includes his apparent wife, Martha, and children, including 21-year-old Mary.

It appears that Otis may have passed because Lorenzo is living in Falmouth with his apparent sisters Caroline and Matilda.

From this, I’m reasonably sure that Mary S. (Washburn) Blanchard is not James and Martha (Briggs) Washburn. Instead, I suspect Mary S. (Washburn) Blanchard is the daughter of Cyrus and Nancy Washburn. With that theory in hand, I need to find evidence supporting the theory and determine Mary’s parents.

Next, I’ll look at Cyrus Washburn and his apparent family of 1850 and follow Cyrus and his children in hopes of finding his daughter, Maria, is my Mary, the wife of Albion Blanchard.

UPDATE

I took a closer look at Cyrus Washburn and his daughter, Maria.  Marie Married Noble Munroe in 1856 and was in Auburn during the 1860 Census, so this Maria cannot be my Mary Washburn, married to Albion Blanchard in 1860.

Endnotes

[i] The 1850 Census did not provide relationships between people in a household, so any relationships cited are apparent and speculative if based upon the 1850 Census only.

[ii] Wikipedia: “Androscoggin County, Maine” accessed 23 January 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androscoggin_County,_Maine