Today, I also remember my 6th great-grandfather, Stephen Taft. He was the second ancestor born on 16 April. Stephen was born in 1710 in Uxbridge[1], Province of Massachusetts Bay (Now Worcester County, Massachusetts). Stephen married Mary Lewis on 27 March 1733 in Uxbridge. I believe they had 10 children including my 5th great-grandfather Silas Taft. Stephen died on 3 February 1803 in Uxbridge. (His burial details are unknown.)
For more information on Stephen Taft see:
I have not researched Stephen’s life, however, I did write about the Taft surname.]
My Ancestry Family Tree: Stephen Taft LINK-TO[-INDIVIDUAL-IN-MY-ANCESTRY-TREE]
There are so many conflicting trees on Ancestry, I can’t point to any specific set of trees.
There are no known photos, paintings, or drawings of Stephen Taft . If you have an image of Stephen or know more about his life, I would love to hear from you. If he is your ancestor, I would love to share information with you. Please let me know how we are related. Also, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or comment at the bottom of this post.
Footnotes
[1] Some researchers suggest he was born in Mendon, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Again, I have not independently researched Stephen and cannot confirm which birth location is more likely.
Today, I remember my 9th great-grandfather, Samuel Wolcott. No mistake, he is the third Samual Wolcott whose birthday is this week. His son, Samuel Wolcott, celebrated his birthday last Monday and his grandson’s birthday was last Wednesday. This Samuel Wolcott was born on 16 April 1656 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America. He was the first ancestor in my Wolcott line born in America. Samuel married Judith Appleton on 6 March 1678; they had nine children.
He died on 14 June 1695 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, and was buried at the Village Cemetery in Wethersfield.
For more information on Samuel Wolcott (Senior) see:
My Blog: I have not researched Samuel’s life, however, I did write about the Wolcott surname.
There are over 5000 Ancestry Trees that refer to Samuel Wolcott, born in Connecticut in 1656.
If you have an image of Samuel Wolcott (Senior), I would love to hear from you.
If Samuel Wolcott (Senior), is your ancestor, and would like to learn what I find out about him. Please let me know how we are related. Subscribe to this blog, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or comment at the bottom of this post.
Gladu (née), Larrabee, Lassey, Lavigne, & Lawrence
Photo Friday
Ethel Wight Collection
By Don Taylor
This week, for Photo Friday, I identify the people in five more envelopes from the Ethel Wight Studio Collection[i]. The envelopes contain the names who paid for the photos, not necessarily of the individual portrayed in the image. As such, it is vital to analyze the pictures and information to identify the individual therein.[ii] My goal is to reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the image.
Mildred Laskey, Nurse, circa 1935
The envelope this negative was in says, “Miss Mildred Laskey, ME Eye & Ear #534.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
Mildred Laskey, Nurse, circa 1935
The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Mildred Laskey, a student nurse at 79 Bramhall (Maine Eye & Ear), living at 804 Congress. She does not appear in the 1936 Directory.
The 1930 US Census lists three Mildred Laskey’s.
13-year old daughter of Lafourt [sic] and Grace Laskey, living in Waterboro, York County, Maine.
29-year-old woman, born in New Hampshire and rooming in Los Angeles.
43-year-old Mildred F Laskey, the wife of Leroy Laskey.
Maine Marriage index indicates that Mildred Laskey, of Shapleigh, married Lloyd E Hooper, of Shapleigh, on 7 November 1936. (Note Waterboro and Shapleigh adjoin each other.)
I’m confident this is Mildred Laskey, daughter of LaForrest and Grace Laskey, born 11 April 1916 and married Lloyd Elroy Hooper in 1936.
Alternative individuals?
A Mildred B Laskey was born in 1909, married George Hall in 1927, and had several children by 1935. This photo cannot be of her.
This negative envelope says, “Mr. J. F. Lawrence, 94 Vesper St. #1102.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
Joseph Timothy Lawrence, circa 1935
The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Joseph T and Beatrice Lawrence living at 94 Vesper. The 1936 Directory lists Joseph and Beatrice living at his grocery at 203 Congress.
The 1940 US Census shows Joseph T Lawrence, age 38, divorced, living at 67 Parris St.
Maine Birth Records identify Joseph Timothy Lawrence bor 4 Dec 1901 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine on 4 Dec 1901.
This photo is of Joseph Timothy “Joe” Lawrence about 1935.
Ancestry has six public trees that refer to Joseph. Family Search has a profile LZ5C-BWV for Joseph Timothy Lawrence. I have uploaded two photos of him to his Family Search Memories.
Bernadette Lavigne (Née Gladu) with child, circa 1935
This negative envelope says, “Mrs. B Lavigne, 90 Brackett St #727 – DSCN3918P.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
Bernadette Lavigne (Née Gladu) with child, circa 1935
The 1936 Portland City Directory lists Wilfred A and Bernadette Y Lavigne living at 90 Brackett.
The 1934 and 1935 City Directories indicate Wilfred’s wife is Bernice,
The 1940 City Directory lists Wilfred and Bernadette living a the rear at 244 Brackett.
Maine Marriage index records indicate that Wilfred and Bernadette Gladu married on 18 March 1926. Both lived in Westbrook at the time.
A review of Ancestry family trees found Bernadette Yvonne Gladu, born 16 April 1905 in Westbrook. Several trees include a photo of Bernadette taken during the same photo session. The public trees also suggest Bernadette had two daughters.
This photo is of Bernadette Lavigne (née Gladu) and one of her daughters about 1935.
Photo confirmed to be of Bernadette Lavigne and her daughter (probably Beverly), based upon another photo from the sane photo session.
Unknown Larrabee, child of Mrs. E. Larrabee, circa 1935
This negative envelope says, “Mrs. E Larrabee, 9 Cedar St #720 – DSCN3913LP.”
Why I couldn’t identify this individual.
Unknown Larrabee, child of Mrs. E. Larrabee, circa 1935
1934, 1935, and 1936 Portland City Directories do not have a Larrabee living at 9 Cedar, the Sunny Apartments.
The 1935 Portland City Directory lists the following E Larrabee’s.
Edith, a widow of Frank P
Edward F & Catherine M.
Emily D.
Eula is a nurse.
Ester B, wife of John K.
The 1940 Census indicates that
Ester and John’s household includes no children.
Edward and Catherine have one child, 1-year-old Edward, Jr.
Evidently, Mrs. E Larabee, and her 1 to 2 years old child, were only at 9 Cedar for a short time and weren’t identified in the Portland City Directories or the 1940 Census for the Portland area.
I have been unsuccessful in finding this child’s name or other than the child is likely the child of Mrs. E. Larrabee. Consequently, I have only uploaded this photo here.
Donald and Henry Larrabee, circa 1935
This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Henry C Larrabee, 123 Leland St #753.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
Donald and Henry Larrabee, circa 1935
The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Harry C and Marion C Larrabee living at 123 Leland.
The 1940 US Census lists Harry and Marion living at 123 Leland with their two sons, 16-year-old Donald R and 15-year-old Henry C. Larrabee, Jr.
Ancestry Trees indicate that Donald Richard Larrabee was born on 8 August 1923; Henry Carpenter Larrabee, Jr., was born on 18 September 1924.
This photo was taken about 1935 when Donald was 12 and Henry was 11.
Ancestry has three public trees that refer to Donald Richard Larrabee and Henry Carpenter Larrabee. Family Search has profile L51L-VDR for Donald and profile G4PV-B6H for Henry. I uploaded two photos of the boys to their Family Search Memories.
Conclusion
I fully identified five of the six individuals in these photos. Those five all have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories
There was one individual that I did not identify. I uploaded his photo here only.
If any of these photos are of your family member, I would love to hear your reaction. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.
Due to software limitations, the images uploaded to Family Search have higher image quality than the images hosted here (except for the one unidentified image).
For all postings of the Ethel Wight Collection, please see here.
Endnotes
[i] The Wight Studio was in Portland, Maine. Many thanks to Ethel Wight’s family for access to and permission to use the collection of their great aunt.
[ii] These images were converted to positives using a lightbox, a Nikon camera and computer software.
During my recent research into William Francis Halcro, I needed Canada Census Records. Certainly, Ancestry.Com has the records, but it requires a World Explorer membership. I don’t do enough research outside of the United States to justify my having a World Explorer membership[i].
The Library and Archives of Canada have many Censuses along with images. As I searched for William Halcro in Quebec, I only found him in a couple of censuses. Frustrated, I moved on to searching at Family Search.
Using Family Search, I learned that in many Canadian Censuses, William Halcro was indexed with the surname “Halero” and “Halers” in some censuses. Then I found that I needed to be at a family history center or an affiliate library to see the images. So, I added the item to my Source Box in a Halcro Project folder. That way, I could go to my local affiliate library, find the item quickly, and download the original document image for my records.
Then I had an inspiration, what if I used the name in the Family Search record with the same spelling in a search on the Library and Archives of Canada. Sure enough, it worked perfectly. Searching the 1901 Canada Census for William Halers in Quebec returned the desired image. Simple – Easy Peasy.
Conclusion
I will use that for my Canadian Census searches when I have an active Ancestry World Explorer membership.
However, when I don’t have an activeWorld Explorer membership, I’ll do my Canadian Census searches using Family Search if Family Search has the image, great. But if they don’t, I’ll search for the same record using the spelling found in the Family Search at the Library and Archives Canada.
Endnotes
[i] I have had World Explorer membership occasionally in the past. Typically a six-month membership when I know I’ll be researching international locations for a while. I don’t do that too often, so typically I purchase 6 months every couple years, or so.
I’ve been unsuccessful in finding any information regarding my great-grandmother’s mother, Eliza Jane Fannin(g). I’m not 100% convinced that is her name. But, continuing my investigation, my next step is to look and see if DNA testing will help. In the past, I’ve found DNA test results opened up discovering my biological father and my sister’s biological father. Two DNA tests can be helpful—Autosomal and Mitochondrial.
Autosomal
I tested with Ancestry and 23 & Me during my efforts to determine my biological father. I also uploaded my results to FamilyTreeDNA and GEDMatch.
Ancestry provides a tool that allows you to group individuals that you share the same ancestor with. In my case, it is easy to divide the matches I have into four groups based on my grandparents. The problem with Ancestry DNA is that the relationships rely upon a person’s tree. So, if they have Eliza Fannin, she will show up as a common ancestor. If they have Sarah Garvin as the mother of Mary Brown, she’ll show up as the common ancestor. So basically, I can determine if Mary (Manning) Brown is a common ancestor but can’t discriminate between her mother being Eliza or anyone else.
In looking at my DNA Matches, I found one match, N231, with a tree that indicated Phoebe’s mother was Eliza Fannin, and her parents were James Garvin and Sophia Thompson.
Name
Via
Common Ancestors
Comments
N231
Phoebe
John & Eliza (Fannin) Manning
James Garvin &
Sophia Thompson
The match doesn’t help, but it is interesting to note (See Part 1 in this series – “Could it be Sarah Jane Garvin?”)
The bottom line is using Autosomal DNA test results won’t help in identifying the name of Mary (Manning) Brown’s mother because doing so relays upon other people’s trees which may be incorrect.
Mitochondrial DNA
A mother passes on mitochondrial DNA to her children. So boys have their mother’s mtDNA, but only girls can pass the mtDNA on to their children. So, Mary and Phoebe Manning received their mtDNA from their mother, who received it from her mother, and so forth. That means that any direct female descendants and their children would carry the mtDNA.
Mary (Manning) Brown had 12 children, 5 were girls.[i]
Phoebe (Manning) Richmond had eight children; 2 were girls.
Estella – had five daughters.
Marjorie
Mildred
Meretta
Hazel
Phoebe
Mahala – had four girls
A___
M___
I___
G___
It is possible that mtDNA test results could provide new insight into that line of ancestors. If you are the child of any of these people (or that person), you carry the mtDNA of Mary & Phoebe’s mother. I would love to hear if you have done an mtDNA test and what your test results and matches show. Genealogical mtDNA tests are only available from FamilyTreeDNA.[iv]
Conclusion
I don’t believe autosomal DNA testing can provide any clarity in determining the mother of Mary (Manning) Brown. It is unlikely that mtDNA tests will provide clarity in this identification, but I believe it is possible.
My next step in determining Mary (Manning) Brown’s mother is to do a “deep dive” into her life. Many new sources are available since I looked at her eight years ago that I should explore. So, I’ll begin further research by putting together a research plan using dates and locations.
Endnotes
[i] These names, numbers, and relationships are tentative. I have encountered the information as collateral information and have not researched these family lines personally.
[ii] Names with an initial and a underline are individuals who may be living (I have no death information for them). Note endnote i above.
[iii] FNU is an abbreviation for “First Name Unknown.” I have evidence that the individual exists but I do not have the persons first name.
[iv] I anticipate FamilyTreeDNA will have a sale on their mtDNA a little before Mother’s Day. Watch for it. DISCLAIMER: Several years ago, I was an affiliate in the Family Tree DNA advertising program. I am no longer an affiliate and will receive no reward for if you purchase any tests or services from FamilyTreeDNA.
I tested with Ancestry and 23 & Me during my efforts to determine my biological father. I also uploaded my results to FamilyTreeDNA and GEDMatch.
