Stephen Ashby U.S.N.A. ~ 52 Ancestors #46

There are a few Stephen Ashbys in my ancestry. 5th great-grandfather, Stephen Ashby, was a Captain in the Revolutionary War. My 3rd great-grandfather of the same name died in 1829, leaving a widow and four young children. I wrote a Surname Saturday: Ashby post several years ago.

My ancestral line is as follows:

Stephen Ashby (1710-1797)
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Daniel Ashby (1759-1834)
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Stephen Ashby (1800[?]-1829)
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Daniel Morgan Ashby (1828-1907) = Mary Elizabeth Gorin
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Mary Bowman Ashby
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Elizabeth Adsit
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Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr.
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Me

Daniel Morgan Ashby continued the tradition of naming a son for his father. Stephen Ashby was born October 15, 1861, in Barren County, Kentucky, the third child and second son of his parents. (And my second great-uncle.)

Stephen Ashby attended the U.S. Naval Academy, as indicated in the 1880 Federal Census.

1880 US Census, Barren County, Kentucky, population schedule, Town of Glasgow, ED 7, page 4 (penned), dwelling 21, family 32, household of Daniel Morgan Ashby.

I also happen to have one letter that he wrote to his mother in January 1881 when he was attending the U.S. Naval Academy.

Thomas Jefferson Copeland (1801-1877) ~ 52 Ancestors #45

Thomas Jefferson Copeland was born in Boston to Nathaniel Copeland (who died in 1803) and Mary Page (1771-1847). 

He was living in Norridgewock, Maine, by 1840 and Calais, Maine, by 1843. He died March 2, 1877, in Calais and is buried in the local cemetery. His FindAGrave memorial includes a transcript of a local obituary with additional information than what I found in The Kennebec Journal.

The Kennebec Journal, 28 March 1877, p. 3, col. 3 (Newspapers.com).

Lost at Sea: Lyman Morey ~ 52 Ancestors #44

I have been building out the family tree of my paternal line to help to determine the biological father of James Pyle, my second great-grandfather. (See Narrowing Down the Non Paternal Event.)

James Pyle's sister Elizabeth married William Scott in the 1840s, probably in Guysborough, Nova Scotia. (Maybe James's son, William Scott Pyle was named after this uncle?) 

William and Elizabeth had several daughters, one of whom, Annetta (Netty), married a Maine-born fisherman, Lyman Morey, in 1873 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. This was not uncommon; many fishermen sailed between Massachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia, and likely found their love interests in a community away from home.

In 1880, widow Annetta Morey was living in Gloucester with two young sons. by 1881, she had returned with her two young sons to her parents' home in Guysborough. How was it that a 29-year-old mother of two was already a widow? 

Her husband died in February 1879, which has been referred to as the deadliest month for the Gloucester fishing fleet. He was a fisherman on the Schooner Gwendolen.

The Boston Globe Evening Edition, 12 March 1879 (Newspapers.com), p. 4, col. 4.

Lost Contact: George Whitman of Ontario ~ 52 Ancestors #43

My second great-grandmother, Esther Abigail Whitman, arrived in Boston from Guysborough, Nova Scotia, in 1849. She was in New York City by 1853 when she married James Pyle (also of Guysborough). Her parents and almost all of her siblings followed in 1857.

One Whitman brother remained in Canada.

George William Whitman (more often referred to as William or William George Whitman) was born in Manchester, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, on November 22, 1833, to Thomas Cutler Whitman and Diana Morgan, as their third child and oldest son.

At age 26, he married Esther French of Kent County, Ontario, Canada, on March 6, 1860. 

By 1857, it would have taken about a day and a half to travel by train from Kent, Ontario (not too far from Detroit, Michigan) to New York City. The red circle in the map below indicates approximately where Kent County (now Chatham-Kent), Ontario, is located. 

It appears that the newly-married couple traveled to his father's household in Jamaica, Queens, New York, by July 1860 which is when the Thomas C. Whitman family was enumerated in the 1860 federal census. Perhaps he wanted to introduce his new wife to his family.

How long it took to travel from New York City to various locations in the United States;
from the Atlas of Historical Geography of the United States

Full House: James Hunter's Family ~ 52 Ancestors #42

My second great grandfather, James Hunter, was in construction. He fathered ten children with his wife Mary Freeland.

Because of his construction business, he was very involved in building his home on Perrysville Avenue in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, where the Hunter family moved by 1890-1891 (based on city directories).

Undated photo

Fall 1905

Fall 1905

Fall 1905

The 1900 U.S. Census shows that it was a full house:

1900 U.S. census, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Allegheny Ward 10,
ED 82, p. 15A, dwelling 270, family 306, record for James Hunter.

James Hunter, Head, age 55
Mary S. F. Hunter, Wife, age 50
James F. Hunter, Son, age 24
Samuel K. Hunter, Son, age 21
John R. Hunter, Son, age 18
Chester A. Hunter, Son, age 16
Helen R. Hunter, Daughter, age 13
Mary Lois Hunter, Daughter, age 11
Curtis C. Hunter, Son, age 8

The household included three servants: Mary Coyne, age 21, Katie Malley, age 20, and John Jones, age 17. Mary and Katie were born in Ireland and John Jones was born in Virginia.

Sadly, Mary died in March 1902, at age 52. Her husband, James died about seven months later at age 58. I believe that his second son (and my great-grandfather) Percy Hunter, became guardian for his underage siblings and moved back into the family home with his growing family.