Mystery Monday - The Arrival of David and Mary Fuller to Portland, Maine

When we think about immigration to the east coast of the United States, our first thought is Ellis Island.  This was the first stop for many of my relatives on their American journey.  If you are from Irish descent, then perhaps your ancestors first arrived in Boston.  Many would be surprised to know that immigrants arrived to many of the other ports on the Atlantic coast, just not in the numbers that we associate with Ellis Island and Boston.

My 3rd great grandparents, David and Mary Fuller immigrated to Portland, Maine from Nova Scotia.  I have been looking for any record of David and Mary Fuller arriving in Portland, Maine for a long time.  Those of you who have been following my blog, will know that David and Mary Fuller lived in Horton, Nova Scotia.  They were married Sept 10, 1812.  Together they had at least 11 children:  Lavinia, Rebecca, Sephrona, Matilda, Martha, David Bishop, Benjamin, James, Theodore, Andrew and Collingwood.

The oldest children (the daughters) are all recorded as their children in the Horton Township Book.  However, the book is incomplete and doesn't include any of their younger children (the sons).

The sons all moved to Portland, Maine and the daughters stayed in Canada (at least for a while).  This created a challenge of proving that the David and Mary Fuller who are the parents of the sons were the same David and Mary Fuller who was the parents of the daughters.  In my previous post, Can a Published Genealogy be Wrong?, I outline my proof for David and Mary (Cary) Fuller being the parents of all eleven children.  

There are a few records which I would like to have found which had escaped me and now I have found one of them.

David and Mary Fuller show up in the Canadian census records of 1838 as living in Horton, Nova Scotia.  They do not appear in the US Census records from 1840.  They do appear in the US Census records as living in Portland, Maine with their sons:  James, Theodore, Andrew and Collingwood.   This had lead me to believe that David and Mary had arrived in Portland sometime between 1840-1849.

But how to prove it.  I had assumed that their were no immigration records of ships arriving with forein passengers to the port of Portland at that time.  I was wrong.  I found that the LDS Church (Mormons) had microfilmed records of arrivals at Atlantic ports including Portland during this time period.  If you are interested in this information check out the following records for FamilySearch.org :  

Copies of lists of passengers arriving at miscellaneous ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at ports on the Great Lakes, 1820-1873 : NARA RG36 M575.

There is no index to these immigration records, so you do have to look through each passenger list to find your relatives. 

It was here that I found David Fuller and Mary Fuller arriving on the British Schooner Harmony on August 1, 1849.   It showed that they were citizens of Nova Scotia and had left from Windsor, Nova Scotia (about 15 miles from Horton, NS).  Interestingly, I have various records which indicate that several of their sons may have arrived prior to David and Mary.  So instead of the parents paving the way for their sons, they may have followed their sons.  

I have read in other publications that in the early to mid 1800's that the Nova Scotian economy had hit on hard times and there was an exodus of people to the US at that time.  So it isn't surprising that young men moved to the US to seek their fortunes.

While I was very pleased to find the record of David and Mary's arrival in Portland, Maine it isn't surprising that there is something in the record which doesn't match what I expected.  In this case, the record lists David's age as 50 and Mary's age as 45.  Where David's age should have been 68 and Mary's 58.  I don't think it is that unusual for the harbormaster to be inaccurate in the ages they recorded or the immigrants to misinform the person recording information.  I have seen this a lot in my genealogy research.

Surprisingly, David and Mary arrived without any of their children, so I will keep looking through these records to see if I can find arrivals of the sons separately.

The only records I have yet to uncover are birth records for any of the sons in Nova Scotia and a death record for David Fuller.  Mary Fuller died in Portland in Sept 16, 1873.  She died as a widow.  There is no records of David Fuller after 1858 in Portland.  I have speculated that he returned to Nova Scotia at some point and died while there, but have been unable to find any death records in Maine or Canada.

One more mystery solved.  So many more to go.

Will Wednesday - Andrew Simonton's Will (Died 1744)

Andrew Simonton was my 6th great grandfather.  He was believed to have been born in
Argyleshire, Scotland about 1663.

He came to the Portland, Maine area (at the time known as Falmouth) as part of the migration that took place in the 1820's.  I am not sure exactly when he arrived.  He died April 1744.

I am descended from his daughter, Christian Simonton, who married William White.  This Will is a great proof point that the Christian Simonton who married William White was Andrew's daughter.  Never hurts to have proof of family relationships.

Here are the details of Andrew Simonton's Will:

In the name of God, amen, I, Andrew Simonton, of Falmouth in the County of York New England - Yeoman, being weak of body, but of sound judgement blessed by God, considering the frailty of my nature, do make this my last Will & testament renouncing and making void heretofore made. 

Imprimis, I commit my soul to God which gave it hope at the Resurrection to receive immortal glory and my body to be buried in a descent manner at the discretion of my executrix hereafter named. 

Second, I give my dear and loving wife, Ann Simonton, my executrix & during her natural life, she shall have the improvement of all & singular of my estate.
Item, I give unto my well beloved son, William Simonton, my part or portion of all ye farm I now dwell on to him and his heirs forever.
Item, I give to my loving son, Walter Simonton, ten pounds old tenor.
Item, I give to my loving son, Andrew Simonton, ten pounds old tenor.
Item, I give to my loving daughter, Christian White, ten pounds old tenor.  I order my loving wife at her death to order & dispose of the rest of all my estate real & personal among my children to all above written.  I have hereunto signed, sealed published & declared this to be my last Will & testament witness this 25th day of April in the year of our sovereign King George annoq Domini 1744.   

Witnessed 

Archebal Dowglass
William Simonton
James Noble 

Probated 9 August 1744

Source:  Maine Wills: 1640-1760, Maine Historical Society, p. 490

Workday Wednesday - Maritime Careers of the Fullers of Portland, Maine

David and Mary Cary Fuller removed from Nova Scotia and arrived in Portland, Maine between 1840-1849 (they first appear in Portland in the 1850 US Census). It is unclear that they followed their sons to Portland or the sons followed them, but their six sons made Portland their home.  I have several other posts regarding David and Mary Fuller in "Can a Published Genealogy be Wrong?".

David and Mary's six sons were: David Bishop, James Henry, Theodore, Andrew Hanley, Benjamin W, and Collingwood E.

Their move to Maine was probably part of a migration which was taking place in Maritime Canada. In the period that followed the American Revolution, Nova Scotia's economy collapsed and a large number of Nova Scotian's migrated to the US pursuing a better economic future.

Portland, Maine was a bustling city which was a very active seaport and it was a very short sail from Nova Scotia. It must have afforded the Fuller's a chance to seek better work options and be close to relatives who remained in Canada.

David Fuller Sr. is identified in the Portland City Directory(1851) as a "Laborer". This was a common occupation designation. I believe it usually referred to unskilled labor who moved from job to job without a permanent employer. The 1850 US Census have David and Mary living with James, Theodore, Andrew and Collingwood. Interestingly, the 1851 City Directory states David Sr. living with Benjamin W Fullerr at 4 Ingraham Court.

Reviewing the city directories and US Census records seem to indicate that none of the Fuller boys lived at any one location in Portland very long and it seems likely their were renters and never owned real estate in Portland.

The Fuller boys occupations were tied to the sea.

David Bishop Fuller's occupation as a "Rigger". In mid-to-late 1800's most ships were still powered by the wind. Which meant sails and rigging to operate them. A Rigger was responsible for the "rigging" meaning the systems which involved in moving the ship which includes the masts, ropes, sails and pulley system which was critical for the ship to be under sail. While this is not an occupation we can fully appreciate today, this must have been an important occupation in a seaside city. Interestingly, David Bishop Fuller is referred to as "Bishop Fuller" in the 1856-1857 Portland City Directory and his father as David Fuller. In all later editions of the City Directory he is listed as "David Fuller". Presumably, this is because his father has died, but I have never found any death records for David Fuller Sr.  I do know that David Bishop Fuller died on June 11, 1901 in Portland, Maine.

James Henry Fuller's occupation as a "Mariner". James was my 2nd great grandfather and have written about him in other posts including: "The Loves of a Sailor","Tales of Sea Serpents", and "The Death of a Sailor".  James worked on ships as a seaman, mate, first mate and may have even been captain on some excursions.  His mariner career began in 1843 in a sail from Eastport, Maine to Kingston, Jamaica.  His last sail was in 1905 on a commercial vessel sailing from Portland to Boston.  62 years at sea.  Impressive for such an unforgiving and challenging occupation.  At the age of 78 he was accepted to a old sailor's home known as Sailor's Snug Harbor in Staten Island, NY where he lived out the remainder of his life.  He died December 21, 1917.

Andrew Hanley Fuller's occupation as a "Stevedore".  A stevedore is another name for a dockworker or longshoreman.  Their primary job was to load and unload ships.  Since Portland was a bustling port, there must have been a lot of work for a stevedore who had a strong back.  Andrew did spend some time as a seaman, too, but most records indicate him as a stevedore.  Andrew and Collingwood served during the Civil War on the Revenue Cutter, Caleb Cushing.  They were involved in the Civil War naval engagement where a confederate ship snuck into Portland harbor and commandeered the Caleb Cushing.  I have written about the naval engagement in my post name the "Civil War Battle of Porland, Maine?". Andrew Hanley Fuller died in Nahant, Massachusetts on September 15, 1914.

Collingwood Fuller's occupation as a "Stevedore".  Andrew's brother Collingwood, was also a stevedore.   Collingwood Fuller died in Portland on April  16, 1897.

Benjamin W. Fuller's occupation as a "Blacksmith". In the mid-to-late 1800s a blacksmith was the person that people went to for fabrication of nails, screws, metal tools, etc.  He probably did a substantial amount of work building iron parts for the local ships.  The 1860 census indicates that Benjamin's mother, Mary and his brother, James, lived with him and his wife and kids.  Based on the city director and census records it seems likely that he had the most stable occupation of all the Fuller sons.  He outlived his wife and kids and died in the Portland Almshouse on December 11, 1911.

Theodore Fuller died young.  He died at the age of 24 on December 25, 1853.  


I am always looking for more information about the Fuller's of Portland.  If you have any information or if you may be related, please contact me by email.

Wisdom Wednesday - Can a Published Genealogy Be Wrong?

The short answer is "of course".


Genealogies are written by people and people make mistakes. I have made more than a few, myself. But, I will say that once information is published in a book or genealogical research paper, they become part of the "conventional wisdom" and are treated as established fact in the genealogy of those individuals.  


My personal experience is that the quantity and quality of evidence needed to alter what is accepted fact after a genealogy is published becomes quite a challenge. In some cases, the amount of evidence needed to overcome the current accepted belief greatly exceeds the original evidence used to create the initial assumptions.  

The case that impacts me is about my ancestors David Fuller (Born:  1781, Horton, Nova Scotia) and his wife Mary. David Fuller was the son of Noah Fuller Jr (Born: 1750, Salem, MA). and grandson of Noah Fuller (Born: 1712, Salem, MA).  Noah Fuller Sr. was one of the original settlers to Horton, Nova Scotia. These settlers are known as New England Planters. More about them in future posts.


David Fuller, wife and sons removed from Horton, Nova Scotia and moved to Portland, Maine between 1840-1850.


There is not a lot of expert genealogical interest in David Fuller. He was not a famous figure nor was he a person of historical significance....at least not that I have uncovered. But according to my research he is my 3rd great grandfather, which makes him important to me.  However, if I believed what has been written in public genealogy records, then it is unlikely that he could be my ancestor.

The Conventional Wisdom


It has been asserted that David Fuller  married a woman named Mary Curry (Born:  July 11, 1795) daughter of Richard Curry and Rachel Bacon. Both David Fuller and Mary Curry were born in Horton, Nova Scotia. They were married in Grand Pre, NS on Sept 10, 1812. They had 5 daughters all born in Horton:  Lavinia, Rebecca, Sephrona, Matilda and Martha.  No sons.


It has been published that Mary Curry died in 1822, but there is no record of when or where David Fuller died or if he had any further children.


My Disagreement


My fundamental disagreement with this information is that I don't believe that David Fuller married Mary Curry. I believe he married a different woman all together. A woman named Mary Cary.  There is a good reason for this. When I review the original Horton Township Record book for Horton, Nova Scotia (which contains the birth, marriage and death information recorded for the town), it records that David Fuller married Mary Cary.  


My other challenge is that I believe I am descended from David and Mary's son, James Henry Fuller. But there is no record of him in the Horton Township Record book.


How the Conventional Wisdom became the Conventional Wisdom


Horton, Nova Scotia was a very small settlement. Only 100 or so families settled there in the early 1760s. It was typical that the families intermarried. So it is reasonable to believe that David's wife would be to one of the families already living in Horton at the time.


The Horton Township Book record indicates he married Mary Cary, but there wasn't a "Cary" family recorded as living in Horton, Nova Scotia at the time. The only name that was close was Mary Curry. She would have been about the right age. While it clearly does not say "Curry" in the Horton Township Book, this is explained by the general poor spelling and variations of how names were spelled at that time.  


In addition, Mary Curry was said to have died in 1822. All of the children recorded in the Horton Township Book are all born prior to 1822.


Anyone who has spent anytime working on family research knows that sometimes you have to make some assumptions to connect the dots between certain ancestors. In the absence of specific proof you have to make assumptions and make a leap of faith that they are correct.  


So as assumptions go, I can see why these were made and they do make an awful lot of sense.


However, the preponderance of the evidence I have uncovered indicate that David Fuller never married Mary Curry and that he did, in fact, marry Mary Cary.


The Supporting Evidence


The biggest leap of faith I had to take was that the David and Mary Fuller of Portland, Maine where the same David and Mary Fuller of Horton, Nova Scotia. There is no border crossing records that I have uncovered which show the immigration of the David and Mary Fuller or any of their sons.  


The second leap of faith I had to make was that even with no record of any sons in the Horton Township Book, that they did in fact have 6 sons named, David B., Benjamin W., James H., Theodore, Andrew H., and Colllingwood.


These do sound like pretty major assumptions, but don't judge too quickly. I do have overwhelming evidence to support them.


David. Mary and Sons of Portland Maine were from Horton, Nova Scotia


The US Census from 1850 shows that David, Mary, James, Theodore, Andrew and Collingwood all living together in Portland, Maine. In addition, it indicates that David and his sons were all born in Nova Scotia. It states that Mary was born in Massachusetts....which works, because this might help explain why her family wasn't included in the Horton Township Book.


The US Census from 1860 for Portland, Maine shows Mary Fuller living with Benjamin W Fuller and his family including Benjamin's brother James H.  Fuller.  David Fuller died somewhere between 1857-1860. I have not found his death record.


Mary Fuller died in Portland, Maine on Sept 16, 1873. I found both her death record and death notice in the paper which indicates that she was the Mary Fuller married to David Fuller.


Ok, So David and Mary and these sons were from Nova Scotia, but how do I prove that they are from Horton, NS?

My records show that 4 of the 6 sons became naturalized citizens. Two of the son's records show that they were born in "Norton, NS" and two show "Windsor, NS". Since there wasn't a "Norton, NS", we can discount this as an error. I am confident about this as Andrew H Fuller's naturalization says he is from "Norton, NS", but his obituary states he was born in "Horton, NS". In addition, David B. Fuller's death record states he was from Horton, Kings Co, NS


This is particularly important as Horton, NS was a small settlement. There were several Fuller families, but only one David Fuller who was the son of Noah Fuller Jr. and Elizabeth Bishop.  


David and Mary had Additional Children In Addition to Those Captured in the Township Book


Proving that David B. Fuller and the other men were born in Horton and Windsor, Nova Scotia doesn't prove that their parents, David and Mary Fuller are THE David and Mary Fuller from Horton, NS which are descended from Noah Fuller the original New England Planter.  


Which is why I needed to find some records which showed their mother's maiden name. I think you will agree that there COULDN'T have been two separate Fuller families living in Horton, NS which included a David Fuller and a Mary Cary, right?


I found death records for each of the Fuller sons (which was quite a feat in and of itself). Only 3 of the records included the names of each man's parents. ALL of those records listed the father as David Fuller and the mother as Mary Cary!


In addition, the 1838 Kings County Census records for Horton Township shows that David Fuller had a household of 13 people . The breakdown of ages of males and females lines up well to the fact that David and Mary had a total of 11 children that I have uncovered.  


At the time of the census, David and Mary's children would have been the following ages:

Lavinia - 25
Rebecca - 23
Sephrona - 21
Matilda - 19
Martha - 17
David B - 15
Benjamin W -13
James H - 11
Theodore - 9
Andrew H - 7
Collingwood - 2


This doesn't translates perfectly to the census, but very closely and would depend on when in the year the census was conducted. Also, I can't confirm, but it seems likely that either Lavinia or Rebecca would have been married by 1838 and judging from the time that lapsed between Andrew H and Collingwood's birth it is likely that there may have been another son who was born, but died young.


Connecting David and Mary's Daughters from Horton, NS to David and Mary Cary of Portland, Maine


By now, I hope that you can see that I have made a strong case that David and Mary Fuller moved to Portland, Maine and they did have 6 sons which were not recorded in the Horton Township Books.  

The last missing piece is trying to connect any of David and Mary's known daughters to my David and Mary Fuller or any of their brothers. This has proved to be very challenging!!  Matilda Fuller married Thomas Marine/Morine.  They lived in Kings County, NS, until they moved to Standish, Maine somewhere between 1880-1900. I have found a death record for Matilda Marine which records her father and mother as David Fuller and Mary Cary!!  


One more fact: I recently found out that David B. Fuller's middle name was "Bishop". This is significant because David Fuller Sr's father Noah Fuller was married to Elizabeth Bishop. The fact that David was given the middle name of the family name "Bishop" would be another compelling fact.


For me that was the final piece.  


Through a preponderance of the evidence, I think I have very convincingly proven that David and Mary Fuller of Portland, ME and David and Mary Fuller of Horton, Nova Scotia are one and the same, and they had a total of at least 11 children, 5 daughters recorded in the Horton Township book and had 6 sons who were not recorded.


But....


When presenting this overwhelmingly strong argument, I am ALWAYS told, "but David Fuller married Mary Curry...I read it in the History of Kings, Co or other published genealogy.  Maybe David Fuller remarried after Mary Curry died....these could be the children of his second wife"!!


Ughh!!


It has been very difficult to get anyone to take my evidence seriously,  because they feel like that the fact that Mary Curry married David Fuller is an established fact.   


Which leads to my next post:  Mary Curry's TRUE husband!

Sentimental Sunday - The Untimely Death of Clarence W. Armstrong

One of the reasons I have really dived into my genealogy research is a idea of remembering those that came before me.  Because, really, we owe each of our ancestors a debt to remember them and make their memories live on.


But what about those relatives who never married or never had kids.  In many ways, their memories die with them as there is no direct descendants to keep their memories alive.  


Those of you, who like me, do a lot of your genealogy research on Ancestry.com have probably noticed that relatives who die young or childless are often omitted from family research like they never existed.


This seems to me like a special kind of tragedy.


I will be devoting many future blog posts to those relatives who have few to remember them.  I have already posted about my great uncle, James Kurtz, who died during WWII.  My grandfather named his son, James in memory of his brother.


Clarence W Armstrong was my great grand uncle.  He was son to my paternal great great grandfather, John B. Armstrong.    I don't know very much about Clarence Armstrong except the circumstances of his untimely death.  He was born March 5, 1870 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine and died at the age of 39, September 8, 1909.   He was unmarried.


On the day he died, he had been doing some work at Fort Williams, he was driving a team of horses or mules with supplies for the fort.  He was driving along Commercial street when his horses became frightened by at Grand Truck engine (Grand Trunk was a commercial railroad company) that was passing nearby and started to run.  Clarence leapt from the carriage, probably to escape the runaway horses, but as he leapt his feet became entangled in the reins and he struck the side of the wheel which probably knocked him unconscious.  He was dragged quite a distance and when help reached him he was already dead from a broken neck.

Source: Public Documents of the State of Maine Being the Annual Reports of the Various Departments and Institutions
for the year 1909, Vol III, pg. 248

Clarence W. Armstrong, gone but not forgotten.

Tombstone Tuesday - The Armstrongs and Woodburys of Cape Elizabeth, Maine

I live in Florida, but was recently visiting New England to visit family.  I was lucky enough to spend a few hours in Portland and Cape Elizabeth, Maine (the long-time home of many of my Armstrong and Woodbury ancestors).

I had contacted Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in S. Portland, before my visit.  The caretaker was able to direct me to many of the graves of my ancestors.  Here are the ones I was able to capture.

John Armstrong (24 Feb 1787 - 27 May 1838) - Revolutionary War Veteran (my 3rd great-grandfather)

Betsey Woodbury Armstrong (16 Nov 1787 - 21 Apr 1876) - John's wife

John B. Armstrong (My 2nd great-grandfather), Jennie Campbell Armstrong and Clarence W. Armstrong

Robert E. Armstrong (My great-grandfather), Elizabeth M. Fuller Armstrong

Hugh Woodbury (My 5th great-grandfather) and his wife Jane Green Woodbury

I recently joined BillionGraves.  They have a goal of capturing gravestones for over a Billion graves all over the world.  This month they have a contest for those people who capture 1,000 or more gravestones using their iPhone app by August 31st get a BillionGraves T-shirt.  I am up for the challenge and think I can do it.

Check out their website for more details.  I am a big believer in having all tombstones available online.

Fanning the Flames of The American Revolution - The Burning of Falmouth in 1775

We are all familiar with the Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, and Battle of Bunker Hill, but a lesser known event probably had an important role in fanning the flames of patriotic feeling that galvanized the colonials to fight for freedom from England.

The event was the Burning of Falmouth (now Portland) Maine on October 18, 1775.

Maine, then a part of Massachusetts, was not the hotbed of revolution that Boston was, but did have some limited mob actions and riots in reaction to taxation and Tory activity. In many ways Falmouth was seen as a stronghold of loyalists, who continued to profit and trade with England.

Under orders of British Admiral, Samuel Graves, to burn sea ports from Boston to Halifax, Captain Henry Mowatt, sailed to Falmouth with the specific purpose of burning the town.

Here is the recounting of the event by an eye witness, Pearson Jones, which appeared in many colonial papers as a dispatch from General George Washington.

The fire destroyed more than three quarters of the city, turning to ashes more than 400 buildings and houses, leaving over 1,000 people without homes with winter coming soon.

Here is George Washington's reaction to the burning of Falmouth in an excerpted letter to  the Committee of Falmouth: 

"The desolation and misery which ministerial vengeance which has so lately been brought on the town of Falmouth, I know not how sufficiently to detest. Nor can my compassion for general suffering be conceived beyond the true measure of my feeling...add my wishes and exhortations that you repel every future attempt to perpetuate like savage cruelties...  

I am, gentlemen, your obedient and humble servant."  

George Washington

While history books have widely ignored the events of the impact of the Burning of Falmouth, it can not be underestimated that the accounts of the unprovoked attack and burning of Falmouth appeared in all the major colonial newspapers and  would have raised anger and fear of the despotism of England.

According to the book, "The Story-Life of Washington" by Wayne Whipple, it noted that "..the burning of Falmouth enabled every patriot to hate England with out feeling guilty about it, and it even cured Washington of whatever love he may have had for royal rule..."

In many ways, the burning of Falmouth was a pivotal atrocity and indicated that England was capable of similar act of barbarism in any other seaport towns.

What is my historical connection to the event of the Burning of Falmouth?

My 4th Great-grandfather, John Armstrong, witnessed the event and it had a dramatic impact upon him. It provoked him to volunteer for military service.

John Armstrong of Cape Elizabeth, Maine enlisted November 1775 and served until February 26, 1779. He retired as a lieutenant from the Continental Army (I am trying to dig up exploits of the regiments in which her served for future posts).

This is the perfect time of the year to remember those patriots who fought and sacrificed to secure the birth of the United States.

Sources:

"Falmouth Neck in the Revolution",Nathan Goold,1897,P.34

"Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War,Vol.1",1896, Pg.294

Tales of Sea Serpents

We all know that Sea Serpents don't really exist. Just like we know there are no dragons, no mermaids, and no monsters.  But 120 years ago, things may have been a lot less certain.

It is said that when you are at sea that your mind can play tricks on you…how else can you explain sailors thinking that manatees, so homely they border on being cute, being confused for mermaids.

However, when the men of the schooner Edward Waite of Portland, Maine sailing back from Cardenas, Cuba with a cargo of sugar, spotted something strange in the water...something none of them had ever seen before....it was something they couldn't keep to themselves.

Upon coming into port on February 17, 1884 this is the tale told by the sailor, William Page, which was reported in the New York Times...

"Our voyage from Cardenas to Cape Hatteras was uneventful.  We passed that point on the morning of the 14th, and we were more than half the way to Cape Henry when we sighted a strange disturbance in the ocean.  It was my watch, and there were several men on deck at the time.  We thought at first that it was a whale, but as it did not 'blow' we concluded that it was a large shark, although some of the men who were watching it said that it was too large for a shark.  The thing, whatever it was, came nearer and nearer, as if charging for the vessel, and we began to get a little excited.  We noticed also, as it came within a reasonable distance, that the things head was raised out of the water.  It came nearer and nearer, leaving a long, wide wake behind it, and stirring up the water into foam like the paddles of a river steamer.  It passed the schooner within less than 250 yards, and we had a full view.  We were so much interested that I forgot to call the Captain, who was below asleep, but all of the watch saw the thing as plainly as I can see the schooner in the next dock.  It was a sea serpent and no mistake.  We could only measure its size by the line made in the water, but I should say that it was fully 90 feet long, with a head as large and something like the shape of a horse’s head.  The most remarkable thing about it was the color and size of its eyes.  They were of a bright saffron hue, and half as big as a man's hand.  It held its head above the water all the time we saw it, which was about half an hour, when it passed out of sight in a southerly direction.  We were at the time in latitude 35 degrees 40", and it was a clear day.  We could have not been mistaken."

Here is a link to the full article.

What did they see?  I can't think of anything we know of today which could fit that description.  Is it possible they saw something that has been yet to be rediscovered by marine biologists?  There is still so much we don't know about our oceans.  Or was it the result of too much sun and too much rum which caused some sort of mass delusion?

I can't be sure that my 2nd Great-grandfather, James Henry Fuller, was aboard at the time of the sighting of the Sea Serpent, but when doing my family research I wanted to look into which ships he had served upon.  I am thankful to the help of David Dearborn from the Maine Maritime Museum, who was able to find out for me that James Fuller served as a mate on the Edward Waite during his sailing career.  

I will probably never know for sure, but I can imagine that he was one of the men to see and tell tales of Sea Serpents.

Thomas Woodbury Last Will and Testament (1700-1757)

Thomas Woodbury is my 5th Great-grand uncle.  He was born 9/5/1700 in Beverly, Massachusetts and died 10/3/1757 in Falmouth (now Portland), Maine.  I believe this will was written shortly before his death in 1757.


You start to get an idea of just how far I am digging into my family ancestry :-)


His last will and testament was the first family will document I was able to uncover.  As I have said, Maine is a genealogists dream come true (I wish all my family had lived there).  They have done such a thorough job of cataloging historical documents and making them available to the public.  I have included a full copy of Thomas Woodbury's will.  I was able to find this from searching an online Google e-book titled "Maine wills: 1640-1760 By Maine Historical Society".  


If you have relatives that died in Maine in that time period, check this out.  


I do recommend searching Google e-books, they can be an effective source of historical information.  


In addition, Thomas Woodbury's will is witnessed by my 5th Great-grandfather, John Armstrong.


From the will you can see that Thomas Woodbury was pretty well off by the standards of the time.  

I especially like that he bequest each of his daughters, Priscilla and Joanna Woodbury, their  own heifer.


Nothing like a cow to remember daddy and show your love.

The Civil War Battle of Portland, Maine??

Yes, that isn't a typo.  The confederates actually made it to Maine, which caused quite a stir for those New Englanders who thought they were safely away from the civil war fighting.

In June 1863, Lieutenant C.W. Read commanded a confederate ship named the Archer (a ship he had captured), which marauded off the east coast.  He and his men intercepted American trading vessels and set about burning and scuttling them.  Union forces were put on alert and at one point 40 ships were searching for them.

With Union vessels everywhere scouring the seas for him, Lt. Read decided on the audacious plan of sneaking into Portland harbor to steal a steam powered ship.


In the early morning of June 26, they passed into the port undetected.  They failed in their pursuit of a steam ship, but decided upon the revenue cutter the Caleb Cushing.  The Caleb Cushing was in port due to the recent death of their captain.  As a result, the ship only had a skeleton crew on watch which was easily overcome by the rebel forces.  The Caleb Cushing was a two masted sailing craft.  The rebels were able to exit the harbor without being challenged.

By early morning, the alarm was raised and a group of union forces, including local men, were in hot pursuit.


Two key events worked against Lt. Read and his men being successful in their escape.   First, the fact that shortly after clearing Portland Harbor the wind died down and they were nearly dead in the water.  Second, the fact that in their rush to escape they failed to realize that they had plenty of gunpowder, but almost no ammunition.  Had the wind been with them or they had adequate ammunition they would have almost certainly gotten away.  The Caleb Cushing was armed with a 32lb gun vs. the 2 brass 6 lb guns of the union ships.


It wouldn't have been a fair fight, that is for sure.


Lt. Read and his men abandoned the Caleb Cushing and set it ablaze which culminated in the dramatic explosion of the gun powder stores.  They surrendered and were incarcerated at Fort Preble in Portland.


Two of the union sailors in hot pursuit of the Caleb Cushing were my Great-great-grand uncles, Andrew Hanley Fuller and Collingwood Fuller.  Both sailors served on the Caleb Cushing, but were not aboard at the time it was taken.


Andrew H. Fuller's obituary includes the details of the excitement of this event.  Special thanks to my distant cousin, Marc Brouillette, for providing me a copy of Andrew Fuller's obituary and telling me about the story of Andrew's part in the capture of the confederates that took the Caleb Cushing.


To find more about the historic incident of the taking of the Caleb Cushing, I was able to find a variety of of archived articles from Geneologybank.com and at the Chronicling America Newspaper project from the Library of Congress.


If you find out that your ancestor was involved in a historical event, these resources make a great first stop to find out more first hand knowledge of the event and how it was viewed at that time in history.

The Loves of a Sailor.....James Henry Fuller

It may be true the old saying that a sailor has a girl in every port.

Benjamin C Cromwell Schooner

My Great-Great Grandfather, James Henry Fuller was a sailor living in Portland, Maine.  He was a captain or first mate on commercial ships which sailed from Portland to Boston and New York.  He was born 9/12/1827 in Windsor, Nova Scotia and was a commercial sailor from 1847-1905.  These weren't steam or diesel ships, but the old three masted schooners powered by nothing but sails and wind.


When not at sea, or possibly because of so much time at sea, James Henry Fuller was married 4 or 5 times!!  He married:  Mary Farr, Ellen Downey, Laura Freeman, Margaret Armstrong O'Hagen (she had been married before) and possibly Mary Newcomb.  For Mary Newcomb, the "intention to marry" was filed with the City of Portland, but I can't find an actual marriage record, so they may have called it off before the wedding.


It would appear the James H Fuller liked getting married, but may not have enjoyed being married quite so much.  To be fair to him, diseases that we don't worry much about today like scarlett fever, measles and pneumonia claimed many people at a young age.  It is likely several of his wive's died young and caused him to remarry.


He married his last wife, Margaret Armstrong O'Hagen, when he was 55 years of age (12/31/1882).  It was a good thing he did, because Margaret gave birth to my Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth M Fuller in 1886.  He was 59 and still spent much of his time at sea.  I don't think I would be up to being a father of a newborn at that stage of my life.


Here is a copy of Maine Marriage record of James H Fuller and Margaret Armstrong O'Hagen.


How did I uncover this information about the many marriages of James H Fuller?  The State of Maine has put most of their birth, marriage and death records online.  They are easily accessible on Ancestry.com.  If you aren't a member of Ancestry.com you can also go to Mainegenealogy.net or  Familysearch.org which offers the same state of Maine vital records.


More on the life of James Henry Fuller in future posts.....