Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sunday's Obituary - Frank Owen Haskell

For this week, I am posting the transcription of the obituary for my great grandfather, Frank Owen Haskell. I located this record on microfilm at the Portland [Maine] Public Library in the 30 May 1931 Portland Press Herald on page 2.

Haskell Funeral Sunday
     Funeral services for Frank O. Haskell, 68, assistant treasurer of the Maine Savings Bank, who died Friday morning, will be held at 2.30 o'clock Sunday afternoon at his home, 92 Winter Street.
     Mr. Haskell was a life resident of this City and after his graduation from Portland High School went into the banking business as a clerk. Since 1913 he had been assistant treasurer of the Maine Savings Bank. He was a member of the Portland Club.
     Mr. Haskell is survived by a son, Merrill of Yarmouth, and a brother, Charles of Portland.

© 2011, copyright William C. Haskell

Saturday, January 29, 2011

SNGF - The Date You Were Born

It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun! courtesy of Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) What day of the week were you born? Tell us how you found out.
2) What has happened in recorded history on your birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.

3)  What famous people have been born on your birth date?  Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.
4)  Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

 Here is mine - 

1. My birthday is April Fool's Day, 1 April 1966 and this was a Friday. I found the day by using a perpetual calendar in the back of my journal which is published by Lee Valley Tools.

2. Historic events that occurred on April 1 - I used Randy's link for historic events

705  Greek pope John VII chosen as successor to John VI
1793 Volcano Unsen on Japan erupts killing about 53,000
1865 Battle of 5 Forks Virginia, signaling end of Lee's army 
1928 Chiang Kai-shek's army crosses Yang-tse 
1970 John and Yoko release hoax they are having dual sex change operations

3. Famous birthdays that occurred on April 1 - I used Randy's link for birthday events

1809 Nikolai Gogol, writer
1852 Edward Austin Abbey, U.S., painter, Quest of the Holy Grail
1883 Lon Chaney, CO, man of 1000 faces, actor, High Noon, Phantom of Opera
1939 Phil Niekro, knuckleball pitcher, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves
1966 Odie Harris, NFL safety and defensive back for the Houston Oilers 


© 2011, copyright William C. Haskell

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Marriage Record - Eliphalet Haskell & Mary Woodman

Yes! I finally found a marriage record for my 4th great grandparents, Eliphalet and Mary (Woodman) Haskell! I've been searching for this record for a long time. My grandmother's notes indicated they were married about 1776 in Kingston, New Hampshire. Kingston is where Mary Woodman was born, so the location was logical. I am in the process of transcribing the town of New Gloucester, Maine vital records and I found the marriage intention for Eliphalet and Mary that states:

The intention of marriage between Eliphalet Haskell of this town and Miss Mary Woodman of Kingstown was entered and published in this town July 1st, 1775
Now, thanks to FamilySearch.org, I have found their marriage date and location - 12 Dec 1775, South Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. There was no image of the original record in the database, but now that I have a location, I can try and track down the original record. I check and recheck the FamilySearch site regularly and have not found this record before. This time I specifically went to the New Hampshire Marriages database and searched for "Eliphalet Haskell", date 1775. The record popped up even though the record lists his first name as Eliphelet.

South Hampton is adjacent to the southeast corner of Kingston. Wikipedia indicates that Kingston was originally part of Hampton, New Hampshire and its royal charter was granted in 1694. South Hampton was chartered in 1742.

I'm pretty excited about finding this. It has been on my to do list for quite awhile.

Marriage Record Source: FamilySearch, "New Hampshire Marriages 1720-1920," database, Familysearch.org (www.familysearch.org: accessed 22 January 2011), Eliphalet Haskell & Mary Woodman marriage record; citing "New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/). Index entries derived from digital copies of originals housed in various repositories throughout New Hampshire..

© 2011, copyright William C. Haskell

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Rebecca Johnson

Cemetery: Bowie Cemetery, North Yarmouth, Cumberland County, Maine
Photo Date: 30 August 2009

Subject Name: Rebecca (Ross) Johnson

Transcription: REBECCA/wife of/Jasper & David/Johnson,/died Oct. 12, 1844/AEt 88
Comments: Rebecca Ross married first, Jasper Johnson, 23 Dec 1784. Jasper was the older brother of David Johnson. Jasper drowned in the Royal River about April 1795. Rebecca then married Jasper's brother David Johnson after David's first wife, Jenny (Whitney) died about 1797.


© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - David Johnson

Cemetery: Bowie Cemetery, North Yarmouth, Cumberland County, Maine
Photo Date: 30 August 2009
Subject Name: David Johnson
Transcription: DAVID JOHNSON/died/Oct. 29, 1849,/AE. 87 yrs. 6 ms.
Comments: David Johnson was the son of James and Hannah (Blake) Johnson. He is my fourth great-grandfather and the father of Sarah "Sally" (Johnson) Haskell.



© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Governor Frederick Holbrook from Vermont

I love old newspapers! There is so much information hidden away inside their pages.

Governor Frederick Holbrook was my third great-grandfather. He was the Governor of the State of Vermont during the Civil War. Here is an article I found on the Google News site about Governor Holbrook. The article was originally published in the Mansfield Daily Sheild on March 23, 1901 when he was 88 years old. The Nashua Telegraph published a short article on 15 Feb 1909 indicating that Frederick Holbrook reached his 96th birthday and was the oldest living former governor in the United States. Frederick passed away a couple months after this on 28 Apr 1909 at the age of 96. He is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery, Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Saturday, January 15, 2011

New Gloucester History - 150th Anniversary in 1924

The Town of New Gloucester, Maine was quite prominent in its early days. This town celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1924 and this interesting article in the Lewiston Journal Illustrated Magazine, August 30, 1924 edition describes the celebration activities. There is also a book titled The New Gloucester Centennial, September 7, 1874 by T. H. Haskell, originally published by Hoyt, Fogg & Dunham of Portland, Maine in 1875. This book documents the centennial celebration in 1874. A copy of this book can be found at Google Books. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase a copy of this book at an eBay auction several years ago. My copy is signed by the author -  it says "Hon Edwin Fox with regard of T.H. Haskell mch. 26, 1875".


 I grew up in New Gloucester and attended the 200th anniversary celebration in 1974. I was about 8 years old and I remember my Dad growing a beard for the "Brothers of the Brush" competition to see who could grow the best beard (he didn't win); and my Mom dressed up in a handmade colonial outfit and gave spinning and weaving demonstrations.Somewhere there are some pictures at my Dad's house - I need to try and find those and make sure they are labeled


© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Old Traveling Salesman

This newspaper article was transcribed from an old newspaper clipping in Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell's scrapbook. The newspaper title unknown, but based on the death date of Charles A. Haskell, the date of hte article was about June 1931. Charles A. Haskell was the brother of my great-grandfather, Frank Owen Haskell.


OLD TRAVELING SALESMAN
     Charles A. Haskell, who died at his home in this city on Wednesday at the advanced age of 83 years, was a traveling salesman in the days when traveling connoted greater physical difficulties than it does at the present time. The drummer had to sell goods in the old days just as he does now but persuading people to buy was a secondary consideration at the time that Mr. Haskell as a young man, took his sample case in hand and started out to cover Northern New England.
     How swiftly has come the improvement in transportation methods in this and other states is strikingly brought out by the fact that this veteran, whose days on the road covered a period of but little over half a century, was equally familiar with the stage coach and livery rig and with pullman cars and the automobile.
     Mr. Haskell was 17 years old when in 1865 he first went on the road. The railroad had come to Maine before that, but the accommodations it could offer to the traveler were extremely limited. One could then get down to Old Town by train, there was a road to Bath and the Grand Trunk was running up to Island Pond. But beyond that the horse had to be depended on and this form of locomotion while dependable was slow.
     Mr. Haskell had to go down the coast as far as Calais, up into Aroostook county, across Piscataquis and Somerset. He visited as many places as he did later when he could buy a chair in a parlor car or be swept from town to town in an auto, but he had to take much more time for it -- in the Winter frequently much more. As locomotion was slow so were the mails and frequently weeks elapsed when the salesman's house in Portland did not hear from him. But unless storms intervened he, with others like him, made his dates and the counting room here in the city knew that he was pretty certain to be back on time.
     It was the business of old time drummers to sell goods, but for many years those who followed this business formed the connecting link between urban and rural Maine and save for the weekly newspaper like the old Portland Transcript, were about the only connection there was. He brought the news of the business world, generally knew about politics and echoed the gossip of state and nation wide interest that had not reached the town corners.
     The traveling salesman of the old fashioned kind was also an advisor and instructor in business methods and many a country merchant owed his prosperity to the fact that he had these men to consult. Not all these travelers were like Mr. Haskell, who was sound and solid as a rock, but as a whole they exerted a profound influence upon the State and were a powerful factor in moulding the society of the commonwealth in the days when communication was vastly more of a proposition than it is now.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Sunday's Obituary - Miss Mary Cabot

 For this Sunday's obituary, I am posting that of Miss Mary Rogers Cabot, who was the aunt of my grandmother, Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell.

MISS MARY CABOT DIES IN HER HOME
Member of Family Long Prominent in Town
Compiled Annals of Brattleboro-- Although in Ill Health, Prepared Additional Material.
     Miss Mary R. Cabot, 75, member of one of Brattleboro's most prominent families, and who perhaps will be best remembered as the author of Annals of Brattleboro, in two volumes, which she compiled and edited in 1921, died at 7.30 o'clock Saturday morning in her Terrace street home after a lingering illness. For the past month, she had been confined to her bed, and previous to that time she had sat up most of each day and had done a good amount of writing. She possessed a keen intellect and retained her faculties almost to the end.
     Mary Rogers Cabot, the oldest of the four children of the late Norman Franklin Cabot and Lucy T. (Brooks) Cabot, was born in Brattleboro Aug. 20, 1856, in the so-called Felton house, which formerly stood near the corner of Main street and Harris place. Her father was treasurer over 29 years, or until his 82d birthday, of the Vermont Savings bank. He build the present home on Terrace street in October, 1878, and this had since been Miss Cabot's home. It had been her custom until recently, to close the house during the winter months, and during that time she traveled extensively.
     The four children born to her parents were: Mary R.; Horace E., who died at the age of three years; William Brooks Cabot of Boston, who has been for some months with his sister in Brattleboro; and Grace (Cabot) Holbrook, who died Feb. 9, 1929, and who was widow of Frederick Holbrook. Mr. Holbrook bought Naulahka, the home of Rudyard Kipling, which is now the property of his son, F. Cabot Holbrook, and Miss Cabot spent some time there. Norman F. Cabot died in Brattleboro May 6, 1913, in the 93d year of his age and his wife who was a daughter of Capt. William Brooks, died April 5, 1912.
     Miss Cabot leaves her brother, William Brooks Cabot, and several nieces and nephews, among them being F. Cabot Holbrook of Brattleboro and Mrs. Grace (Holbrook) Haskell, wife of Merrill Haskell of Portland, Me. She also leaves several cousins.
     Miss Cabot has been president of the Brattleboro Mutual Aid association since July 8, 1907, the year it was organized, and was deeply interested in its welfare. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of the Colonial Dames of Vermont. She joined the Centre Congregational church in 1877 and later united with the Episcopal church, but never lost her affection for the Centre church.
     For some time Miss Cabot had been gathering material, as yet unpublished, as an additional contribution to Annals of Brattleboro.
     A set of the Annals is in the Brattleboro Free library. A set in the offices of The Phoenix is considered very valuable for reference purposes. The Annals are by far the most important history of Brattleboro ever published.
© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Minimalist Blogging

I have been practicing minimalist blogging lately, due to a number of factors. I hope to get back to regular posting soon. Take care.
© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Sunday's Obituary - Mrs. Grace Holbrook

 The following obituary for my great-grandmother was in my grandmother's, Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell, scrapbook. The date 2/9/29 is written in pen at the top of the clipping. Name of the paper is unknown. Grace Cabot Holbrook's gravestone in Prospect Hill Cemetery can be seen here on the Find A Grave website.

MRS. GRACE CABOT HOLBROOK DIES.
Daughter of Late Norman F. and Lucy Brooks Cabot Was Widow of Widely Known Civil Engineer.
     Mrs. Grace Cabot Holbrook, daughter of Norman F. and Lucy Brooks Cabot, whose death took place Saturday, Feb. 9, at Naulahka, was born in Brattleboro June 25, 1861. Her education began in the private schools of Brattleboro, followed by three years (1878-1881) at St. Agnes' School. Albany, N.Y., where she made an intensive study of music.
     She married, April 12, 1887, Frederick Holbrook, son of Col. F. F. and Anna Nourse Holbrook of Boston, and grandson of Gov. Frederick Holbrook, in whose family here his boyhood was spent. Mr. Holbrook's civil engineering activities took them  at first to Pocatello, Idaho, at that time an Indian reservation, but they soon returned east and lived iin suburbs of New York and Boston, until they made the city of Boston their residence n 1910.
     After the death of Mr. Holbrook in Paris in 1920, Mrs. Holbrook made her home at Naulahka, which under her influence became a place of generous and gracious hospitality. Her musical afternoons with Perabo and Mahn were notable events of the summer season. Her love of children brought the children of relatives and friends to Naulahka, as to a spacious playground all their own. Students from other countries, to whose education she was contributing, found with her a home, for the dominant characteristic of Mrs. Holbrook was an unselfish interest in the lives of others. It is not too much to say of her that she never failed in personal sympathy and practical help to any one in need, or any cause presented to her as tending to promote human well-being.
     Mrs. Holbrook's oldest daughter, Lucy Brooks, died Jan. 28, 1909, at 21 years of age. Her surviving children are a son, Frederick Cabot Holbrook, who lives here with his wife and two children, and a daughter, Grace Ware, now Mrs. Merrill Haskell of Portland, Me., who has a young son. She also leaves a sister, Miss Mary R. Cabot, of Brattleboro, and a brother, William Brooks Cabot of Boston.
     Largely attended funeral services were held at 3 o'clock on Tuesday, at St. Michael's Episcopal church, Rev. Harry R. Pool, rector, officiating. The choir rendered music, with Lucien Howe of Boston at the organ. The honorary bearers were Charles A. Harris, Harry P. Webster, J. Gray Estey and E. C. Cockayne of Wollaston, Mass. Burial took place in the Cabot family lot in Prospect Hill cemetery.
     Those who attended the funeral from out of town were Mrs. Holbrook's daughter and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Merrill Haskell of Portland, Me.; Percy Holbrook of New York; Mr. and Mrs. William Brooks Cabot, J. Randolph Coolidge, Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Ware, Richards M. Bradley, A. L. Pattie and Mrs. Hugh Hatfield, of Boston; Miss Alice Waite and Miss Louise Waite of Wellesley, Mass.; Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Lane and Mr. and Mrs. John Kirkland Clark of New York; Rev. Chalmers Holbrook of Millbrook, N. Y.; Mrs Francis Goodhue of Germantown, Pa.; Mrs. Richard L. Cary of Baltimore, Md.; Dr. A. M. Hurlbutt of Stamford, Conn.; Mrs. Edward Armstrong of Princeton, N. J.; Mr and Mrs. William R. Moody of Northfield, Mass.
© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Grace Ware Holbrook Ancestral Chart 3

This chart continues from Grace Ware Holbrook Ancestral Chart 1. This chart begins with Sarah Knowlton b. 2 May 1767. Surnames on this chart include: Goodhue, Holland, Howe, Knowlton, Park, Pitts, and Watson. Note at the top of the page indicates she copied this information from E.M.H.A. or Emerline Mason (Holbrook) Armstrong who was Grace Ware's aunt.


© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell