Blanchard Line
By Don Taylor

Albion Blanchard’s short life was clearly difficult. His mother died when he was young and he, and his only daughter, died when he was only 34 years old.

Blanchard Project – Ancestor #16

List of Grandparents

• Grandfather: Edward Everett Blanchard
• 1^st Great-grandfather:Frederick W. Blanchard (1865-1917)
• 2^nd Great-grandfather: Albion Blanchard
• 3^rd Great-grandfather: Cyrus Blanchard (1791-1865)

Albion Blanchard (1834-1868)

Birth

Albion Blanchard was born on 3 July 1834 in Cumberland, Cumberland County, Maine, the ninth child of Cyrus and Apphia (Young) Blanchard).

Albion’s mother, Apphia, died in 1841 and his father remarried quickly.

In 1842, Albion’s half-sister Sarah was born.

In 1847, his older brother Cyrus died at the age of 22.

In 1848, his oldest brother Ebenezer died at the age of 30.

So, the 1850 Census found 15-year-old Albion living in Cumberland with his father, step-mother, a brother, a sister, and a half-sister. His sister Lydia and his brothers Daniel and Charles were elsewhere. (Further research regarding Albion’s siblings should be done.) Cyrus was a farmer, his brother Charles was a Mason, and Albion was attending school. The family unit, according to the 1850 Census consisted of:

• Cyrus Blanchard           M    58    Maine     Farmer – Real Estate value: $1500
• Elizabeth Blanchard    F     50    Maine
• Charles Blanchard        M    26    Maine     Mason
• Nancy Blanchard           F     18    Maine     Attending School
• Albion Blanchard          M    15    Maine     Attending School
• Sarah A Blanchard        F       7    Maine

Marriage

Albion married Mary S. Washburn on 2 February 1857 in Windham, Cumberland County, Maine. The marriage ceremony was performed by Edias Baker. The couple received their marriage license and had their ceremony on the same day.

The couple quickly began a family, with their first child, Charles A. F. Blanchard being born 11 months later, on 1 January 1858.

1860 Census

The 1860 Census found Albion and his wife living in Cumberland with his child Charles. Albion was a day laborer who owned real estate valued at $100.

• Household                         Sex  Age  Birthplace
• Albion Blanchard                M      25     Maine        Day Laborer – Property $100
• Mary S Blanchard               F       25     Maine
• Charles A F Blanchard      M      2       Maine

The birth of his second child, Sarah occurred on 4 November 1861.

Albion clearly struggled. The town began to help support Albion paying him $6.75 out of the monies supporting the poor in the town’s fiscal year of 1862-1863. It seems odd that the town would be supporting a young man, age 29, when bounties were being paid to Civil War Volunteers. That suggests some form of disability. However, in 1863, Albion was identified in a list of “Persons of Class I, subject to military duty,” which belies a disability.

In 1865, his father, Cyrus, died at age 74. And in 1866, his son Frederick W. Blanchard was born.

Again, Albion struggled and the town paid him $7.18 in support of the poor during the fiscal year 1867-1868.

Death

It appears that Albion, and his family, were really sick during 1868. The records of the poor for Cumberland Town indicate Albion and his family were paid $217.35 “in support to the time of his death.” Albion’s six-year-old daughter, Sarah, died two days before Albion, who died at the age of 34 on 9 September 1868.

Events by Location

Albion was born, lived, and died in Cumberland, Cumberland County, Maine.

Note:

There was an Albion Blanchard from Calais, Washington County, Maine who served in the Civil War in the 1st District of Columbia Cavalry and transferred to the Maine 1st Calvary in 1865. That Albion Blanchard was 19 years old in 1864 while 2nd great-grandfather Albion Blanchard was 30 years old in 1864.

Further Actions / Follow-up

• Research Cumberland town records to determine the cause of the town payments to Albion and his family and the cause of his death.

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