Linwood Dyer Collection Family Bible Sunday By Don Taylor
Introduction
Family Bibles are great for genealogical research. They are historical records that typically are primary sources. Also, The information is usually provided by someone with firsthand knowledge of the event.[i] Sometimes, Bibles record information not documented elsewhere.
This Bible is from the Linwood Dyer Collection[ii].
Births
Edith E. Stanford September 29, 1871.
Walter S. Stanford January 29, 1874.
Mary L. Stanford November 23, 1876.
George W. Stanford June 26, 1881.
Marriages
David F Stanford & Mary E Fenley – May 1, 1870.
Deaths
Mary E Stanford Died March 16th, 1892.
Mary L Stanford Died April 6th, 1897.
Comments & Conclusions
The Bible appears to be that of the family of David & Mary (Fenley) Stanford. The two death entries seem to be of a different hand than the birth entries, which makes sense as Mary (Fenley) Stanford’s death and that of their daughter, Mary, are recorded in the deaths.
Endnotes:
[i] Be careful about the source author. Occasionally, Bible record recorders do not have first-hand knowledge and fill in the information years after the event.
Family Search indicates that Busby is a habitational name from Busby in North Yorkshire or possibly a habitational name in Leicestershire. According to Ancestry, it could also be a Scottish habitational name from the lands of Busby in Carmunnock (Renfrewshire).
Busbee is a variant of Busby. Other variants include Busbey, Bushby, Buzbee, & Buzby.
Geographical
According to ForeBears, there are about 31,000 people with the Busby surname. Approximately 21,000 of them live in the United States. The greatest incidents of the Busby surname occur in Texas, California, and Alabama, which account for nearly a third of the Busbys in the US. Mississippi has the greatest frequency of the Busby surname (1 in 2,272). My Busby line came from Virginia and North Carolina.
3rd Great-grandfather: [Tentative] William Busby (c. 1800-____)[ii]
My Busbys in History
1880 – ForeBears indicates there were no Busby’s in North Carolina and only about 50 in Virginia, where Elnora was born.
1860s – Civil War – I have not found evidence that either Elnora or her husband, John Vincent, served during the Civil War. Likewise, it appears that none of her children served either, although I do need to do more research on her children.
1840 – Genealogy Bank suggests there were only 14 families in Virginia and one in North Carolina with the Busby surname.
Locations of my Busby Ancestors
Virginia – Born c. 1824, went to North Carolina before 1849.
Famous Busbys
The most famous people with the Busby surname include:
Matt Busby (1909-1994) – Football (Soccer) Player & Manager.
James Busby (1802-1871) – Governor General of New Zealand.
A search for Busby on genealogy.com resulted in over 6,000 posts and over 8,000 messages on Ancestry Message Boards (formerly Rootsweb).[iii]
My Direct Busby Descendants
Some researchers suggest that Elnora’s father is William Busbee (1800-___). I am yet to confirm that. I’m reasonably confident that Elnora had a sister, Eliza, but I know of no people with the Busby surname/
Assuming Elnora’s father is William Busby, I have 147 known descendants of William in my tree: 45 Howell, 16 Boseman, and 13 Vinson/Vincents. I have previously written about three of them in nine postings.
For Photo Friday, I identified two people in five photos from the Linwood Dyer Collection this week. This collection includes hundreds of photos, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I desire to analyze the images and reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the picture. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in this collection.
Henry Staples Potter (1870-1920), 1873.
The photo identifying information includes: H S Potter, Jr., April 10th, 1873, 2 years.
I am confident this is a photo of Henry, taken on 10 April 1873, when He was two years five months old.
I added this photo of Henry to my Ancestry Tree.
Arthur E Strout of Individual
Arthur E Strout
The photo identifying information includes: Yours Truly | Arthur [? – “A,” “C,” “E,” or “P”] Strout
What I learned while researching this photo:
First, I researched the monument. I found that it is the World War I Monument at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.[i]
Next, I learned that Arthur E Strout attended Bowdoin College from 1953 to 1957. My review of the 1954 Bowdoin College yearbook[ii] suggested this is the same person as in the photograph.
A 2009 “Interview with Arthur Strout by Mike Hastings” at Bowdoin Digital Commons revealed that Arthur was born on 6 September 1935 to Alfred Meserve and Olive Mabel (Edwards) Strout. He grew up in Thomaston, Maine.
I feel confident this photo is of Arthur E Strout, circa 1955.
I added Arthur E Strout to my Ancestry tree and included this photo with that tree.
John Gray (unidentified)
The photo identifying information includes: John [?] Gray | Grays Farm | Antigua | B W I
What I learned while researching this photo:
A review of Ancestry public trees for “John Gray” in Antigua failed to yield useful results. There is a John Gray b. 1825 in a private tree. But this cannot be that person, as the photo is too new.
A review of Family Search yielded five John Grays:
John Gray (1783-1863),
John Gray (1785-1870),
John Gray (1816-1880),
John Gray (1843-1900),
John Gray (1846-1900)
Because the photo style and format appear to be from the mid-20th century, this photo cannot be of any of these John Grays. This photo may be of some other John Gray visiting Grays Farm, Antigua, British West Indies.
Photo Not Identified.
Mr. Sawyer[?], c. 1890s.
The photo is a small (2.5” x 4”) cabinet card. The photo identifying information includes: Mr [“S” or “D”] wyer.
What I learned while researching this photo:
Reading the name written on the back is very difficult. I believe the writing says, “Mr Sawyer,” which was overwritten at some time.
My Google search for the image resulted in no viable copies of the same photo.
There is insufficient information to identify the individual. Sawyer is a common name in the Dyer genealogy material, so it is possible I may find another image of this person in the remaining material.
“Victoria”
The photo identifying information includes writing on the back that says, “Victoria with tray of wonderful strawberries at the door leading into the patio.” Below that is a stamp saying “MINICAN | Av. Juarez Num. 71 | Mexico D. F.”
There isn’t enough information to identify the woman in this photo. Possibly, I’ll find another picture of Victoria with more details as I review the Linwood Dyer Photo collection.
Conclusion
I identified two individuals and included their photos in my Ancestry Tree.
I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.
Endnotes
[i] Wyvern Almon Coo…’s name on the monument gave me the clue to determine the monument’s location. See the University of Southern Maine Digital Commons, Maine WWI Memorial Inventory. https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/cumberland/13/
[ii] Ancestry.Com – U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 – Maine – Brunswick – Bowdoin College – 1954 – “Beta Theta Pi – Freshmen (Image 74 of 168).
Family Search indicates that Busby is a habitational name from Busby in North Yorkshire or possibly a habitational name in Leicestershire. According to Ancestry, it could also be a Scottish habitational name from the lands of Busby in Carmunnock (Renfrewshire).
Busbee is a variant of Busby. Other variants include Busbey, Bushby, Buzbee, & Buzby.
Geographical
According to ForeBears, there are about 31,000 people with the Busby surname. About 21,000 of them live in the United States. The greatest incidents of the Busby surname occur in Texas, California, and Alabama, which account for nearly a third of the Busbys in the US. Mississippi has the greatest frequency of the Busby surname (1 in 2,272). My Busby line came from Virginia and North Carolina.
3rd Great-grandfather: [Tentative] William Busby (c. 1800-____)[ii]
My Busbys in History
1880 – ForeBears indicates there were no Busby’s in North Carolina and only about 50 in Virginia, where Elnora was born.
Civil War – I have not found evidence that either Elnora or her husband, John Vincent, served during the Civil War. Likewise, it appears that none of her children served either, although I do need to do more research on her children.
1840 – Genealogy Bank suggests there were only 14 families in Virginia and one in North Carolina with the Busby surname.
Locations of my Busby Ancestors
Virginia – Born c. 1824, went to North Carolina before 1849.
Famous Busbys
The most famous people with the Busby surname include:
Matt Busby (1909-1994) – Football (Soccer) Player & Manager.
James Busby (1802-1871) – Governor General of New Zealand.
A search for Busby on genealogy.com resulted in over 6,000 posts and over 8,000 messages on Ancestry Message Boards (formerly Rootsweb).[iii]
My Direct Busby Descendants
Some researchers suggest that Elnora’s father is William Busbee (1800-___). I am yet to confirm that. I’m reasonably confident that Elnora had a sister, Eliza, but I know of no people with the Busby surname/
Assuming Elnora’s father is William Busby, I have 147 known descendants of William in my tree: 45 Howell, 16 Boseman, and 13 Vinson/Vincents. I have previously written about three of them.
For Photo Friday, I tried to identify the people in four photos from the Linwood Dyer Collection. This collection includes hundreds of photos, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I desire to analyze the images and reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the picture. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in this collection
Daniel Frederick Bakeman (1759-1869)
The information on the photo says:
DANIEL FREDERICK BAKEMAN, The Last Revolutionary Soldier, One Hundred and Nine old Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1868 by A. D. Cross in The Clerks Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
Wikipedia has an article about Daniel F. Bakeman (1759-1869) and his being the last survivor receiving a veteran’s pension for service in the Revolutionary War. The article includes this same Wikimedia photo.
Calista (Milliken) Morse with her children, Dorothy & Donald – 1897.
Calista (Milliken) Morse with her children Dorothy & Donald, – 1897.
The photo identifying information indicates the studio was Philbrick, Biddeford, ME. The back indicates:
Taken April 6, 1897 Aunt Kitty Morse Dorothy Morse Donald Morse
Why I believe this to be the individual.
A search of Ancestry Dorothy Morse (age ≈ 5), with a brother of Donald Morse (age ≈ 2) living in Maine, found Dorothy Martha Morse (1893-1974), who was born in Saco, Maine. Her brother, Donald Curtis Morse, was born on April 6, 1896. So, this photo was taken on Donald’s 1st birthday. Dorothy, born 16 Nov 1893, would be about 3½. The children’s mother, Calista Eunice (Milliken), was the wife of Frank Edward Morse. Calista was born in Scarborough, Maine, on 3 January 1873, so she would be 24 years old in this photo.
Henry Potter (1799-1876).
Sometimes, the back of a photo gives you everything you might hope to find. Such is this photo of Henry Potter. The back of this photo says:
Back of the Henry Potter (1799-1876) photo.
Henry Potter May 12, 1799 Concord, Mass. March 30, 1876 Cambridge, Mass. Aug 15, 1843 Abigail Livermore Giles Feb 10, 1810, Beverly, Mass Jan 25, 1896 Cambridge Mass ——— . ———- Pres. Cambridge R.R. Co. “ “ Gas Light Co. “ “ Water Works “ “ Mayket[???] Bank “ Harvard Mfg. Co. “ Potter & Dennuar Co., Boston ——— . ———- Son of Caff Jacob & Lucy (Brooks) Potter of Concord & Cambridge, Mass. Father of H Staples Potter who m[arried] Grace Robbins …..
Henry Potter (1799-1876)
What a treasure trove of information. I don’t know who wrote the information on the back, but it is a tremendous help. I reviewed a photo of Henry Staples Potter previously. This photo is of his grandfather.
The information on the back of this photo coincides with Ancestry Trees showing Henry Potter (1797-1896).
[FNU] Bertha [Will/Webb/?]
The photo identifying information includes the photographer on the front, M.F. King, and a name on the back: Palop Berta Will (?)
I learned that M.F. King was a photographer in Portland, Maine. That suggests that the woman in the photo might be from Portland.
The name on the back is tough to read. I have not been successful in determining this young person’s name. I can’t tell what the surname is, “Will,” “Webb,” or something else altogether. Likewise, I really can’t determine her first name. I’d love to hear from you if you can read this handwriting. If I hold it with the light just right, this is the best I can see:
Conclusion
I identified five of the six individuals in these photos. I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.
