1825 Shipbuilding Document, Steuben, Maine; Names of brothers Philo Lewis & Thompson Lewis; and Tunk Mill owners Mark Wilson & Moses Colson

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog

January 3, 1825, Steuben, Maine; handwritten document where Philo Lewis and his brother Thompson Lewis are purchasing planks from Mark Wilson and Moses Colson, owners of the Tunk Mill.

A previous contemporary owner of this document wrote "Shipbuilding" in pencil; presumably the Lewis brothers were shipbuilders.

From brief online research: If you have corrections and/or additional information, please leave a comment for the benefit of other family researchers

• Philo Lewis - presumably Philo Lewis (abt 1785-1838); Postmaster of Steuben from 1823-1827; Connecticut native

• Thompson Lewis - presumably Thompson Lewis (abt 1788-1827) - his FindaGrave notes his military rank as Colonel; Connecticut native

• Mark Wilson - presumably Mark Wilson (1782-1866); Maine native, possibly Cherryfield, Maine

• Moses Colson - presumably Moses Colson (1782-1860); Maine native, possibly Cherryfield, Maine

Father John B. McMahon, Assigned to the Mission at Eastport, Maine, shortly after his arrival from Ireland in 1840

Father John B. McMahon (abt 1805-), ordained in Ireland, arrived in Boston in 1840 and was assigned to the mission at Eastport, Maine, from about 1841-1843, where he also provided medical services, at no cost, to his parishioners.

Because Father McMahon spoke Gaelic, he was much in demand to hear confession from the newly arrived immigrants from  Ireland and was recalled to Boston by Bishop John Fitzpatrick.

http://www.thebostonpilot.com/opinion/article.asp?ID=193962

Another source mentions that Father McMahon, or another Father McMahon was in Eastport in 1838 [the article says 1828 but 1838 seems more fitting] when Brevet-Brigadier General Brady, colonel of the 2 regiment of Infantry of the U.S. requested the presence of Father McMahon of Eastport to administer the Sacred Sacraments to the soldiers at Hancock barracks in Houlton.

Father John B. McMahon is mentioned several times in The Catholic Church in Maine, written by William Leo Lucey and published in 1957 - particularly on pages 78 and 79

If you have information on Father John B. McMahon, please leave a comment for the benefit of others.

Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland

Many folks downeast have ancestors who came to Maine and the Maritimes from Rathlin Island, off the coast of Northern Island. If you have more information, please leave a comment. 

 Rathlin Island was featured on CNN on January 13, 2023 as one of "the best islands in Europe for getting away from almost everyone" - has about 150 year round residents now. 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/underrated-european-islands/index.html?gallery=8

November 1845 Document from Bion Bradbury, Customs Collector at Passamaquoddy, Eastport, Maine, to Customs in Alexandria, Virginia

 

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog.

November 22, 1845 document from Bion Bradbury (1811-1887), Customs Collector at the District of Passamaquoddy, in Eastport, Maine, to the Customs Collector in the District of Alexandria, then, apparently, considered part of Washington, D.C.

The document concerns the Schooner Lucinda Snow of Boston, whose master was then William Hall.

The schooner Lucinda Snow came to grief after a voyage to the Gulf of Mexico, where her cargo was unloaded in Galveston, and she was then chartered by the U.S. Government for use during the Mexican-American War.  During the "great norther" of May 2, 1846, the schooner was cast upon the island of Sacrificios near Vera Cruz, Mexico, and later became the subject of a lawsuit.

Bradury, a native of Biddeford, Maine and graduate of Bowdoin College, was an attorney, before, in 1844, being appointed Customs Collector for the Passamaquoddy District. He served in the Maine State Legislature and ran several times for governor, but was not successful, although, according to a contemporary note in pencil on the document, he did serve as Lieutenant Governor at one time.

See a photograph of him circa 1880, on the Maine Memory Network.  From the July 2, 1887 issue of the Portland Daily Press:

If you have information on Bion Bradbury, William Hall or the Schooner Lucinda Snow, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.  

And if you know of a way for Google Maps to show sea routes, please let me know.

CDV of a Man IDed as Eugene C. Drisko; by the Vose studio of Machias, Maine

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog

Carte de Visite of a man identified on the reverse as Eugene C. Drisko; by the Vose studio of Machias, Maine.

His given name starts with "Eug" and then fades but is presumably Eugene.  

If so, he was likely Eugene Cyrus Drisko (1853-1943) of Jonesboro, Maine, son of Joseph Whitney Drisko and Isabel Frances (Farnsworth) Drisko.

Eugene married:

1. Asenath Ingersoll Barton (1852-1876), with whom he had a daughter Mabel Drisko,
2. Arathusa B. Smith (abt 1861-1933), with whom he had two children, a daughter Mina Eva Drisko and a son Joseph Whitney Drisko, with the latter dying in infancy.

If you have information to share on the Drisko, Farnsworth, Barton and Smith families of Washington County, Maine, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

Photograph of a Young Man IDed as Colin MacNichol, No Studio Imprint, but possibly Eastport, Maine, area

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog

Photograph of a young man identified on the reverse as Colin MacNichol. 

The reverse mentions: "Gave to me in 1920".

No studio imprint to give an idea of locale, but it's possible he was from the MacNichol family in Washington County, Maine and Charlotte County, New Brunswick.

Possibly James Colin MacNichol (1886-1960), if he went by "Colin", at least when he was younger.  This man was born in Eastport, Maine, the son of Avery Alexander MacNichol and Margaret (O'Brien) MacNichol. This Colin would move to New York and would marry Nancy Nicholls.

Although the photograph seems to have come from a later era, another possibility for Colin might have been Colin MacNichol (abt 1848-1913), a Customs officer in Eastport, Maine.  This Colin was born in Mascarene, New Brunswick, the son of John MacNichol and Jane (McDiarmid) MacNichol.  Colin married Abby Davis about 1894.

If you have a theory as to the identity of the Colin MacNichol pictured, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

Photograph of Ellen Bloodgood Hunt (1857-1939), "Nellie", of Robbinston, Maine; by a Norfolk, Virginia, Studio

Photograph of a young woman identified on the reverse as Nellie Hunt of Robbinston, Maine; taken by the studio of Morgan & Myers of Norfolk, Virginia.

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog.

From brief online research,. hopefully correct - corrections and additions requested:

Ellen Bloodgood Hunt (1857-1939), "Nellie", was born in Virginia to merchant and ship builder  Hiram Hunt (1809-1891) and Sarah (Bonsal) Hunt (1826-1900), who were natives of Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively.

A collection of Hiram Hunt papers is held at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine.

On July 23, 1887 Nellie and Samuel Hinkley Nickerson (1857-1895) of Calais, Maine, indicated their Intention to Marry and married on July 27, 1887. They lived in Calais, Maine, and had at least two children, before Samuel's untimely death. Nellie continued to live in Calais.

If you have information to share on the Hunt and Nickerson families, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

Photograph of an Older Woman, possibly Mary Jane (Leighton) Wilbur (abt 1821-1899) of Pembroke, Maine

Photograph of an older woman identified on the reverse as Mary Wilbur; no studio imprint.

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog

I was told she is Mary Jane (Leighton) Wilbur (abt 1821-1899) of Pembroke, Maine,  wife of Josiah Wilbur (1821-1902), but hope that a reader will provide confirmation. 

Mary Jane (Leighton) Wilbur was born in Pembroke, Maine, about 1821, the daughter of John Leighton and Sarah (Maker) Leighton, as shown on her death record - although in some places her birth year is given as 1826.

Mary Jane and Josiah Wilbur, who declared their intention to marry on 18 April 1844, had at least 8 children, as shown in a town record, which also shows that two sons died in 1861 and another son in 1885.

If you have family photographs of Mary Jane (Leighton) Wilbur or have come across a likeness of her in your research, please leave a comment below.  

1846 Sampler Wrought by Sarah Ann Cheeney (1835-1895), then of Eastport, Maine

 Tilly Laskey, curator at Maine Historical Society, has sent along a link to the sales offering of a wonderful family record sampler wrought in 1846 by Sarah Ann Cheeney (1835-1895), then in Eastport, Maine.

https://www.antiquesamplers.com/samplers/cheeney,-sarah-a.htm

Sarah was born in Pembroke, Maine, on April 27, 1835 to George Cheeney and his wife Mary A., natives of Derry, New Hampshire, and Salem, Massachusetts, respectively.  George and Mary had married in Dennysville, Maine, on July 28, 1834.

Children listed on the sampler:

• Sarah Ann Cheeney, born in Pembroke, Maine, on April 27, 1835 [Sarah's gravestone gives her year of birth as 1836 but that does not reconcile with the birth of her next younger sibling]
• Emma Sophia Cheeney, born in Pembroke, Maine, on November 14, 1836
• George Alvin Cheeney, born in Robbinston, Maine, on January 12, 1839
• James William Cheeney, born in Eastport, Maine, on April 12, 1843
• Lemuel G. Cheeney, born in Eastport, Maine, on May 12, 1849

Sarah Ann Cheeney married George Kilborn, Jr., in 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts. She and George are buried in the Forest Dale Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts.

If you have information on the Cheeney family, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

Collection of Early 1900s Invoices/Letters to S. B. Cummings & Son of West Jonesport, Maine

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog

Collection of early 1900s invoices and correspondence from Maine and other New England companies to S. B. Cummings & Son of West Jonesport, Maine.

Two of the invoices were from the McLean Jones Oil & Supply Company who used a swastika in their logo, in an era before this wouldn't have been seen as a poor business practice.

Images of all of the papers appear at the end of this post.

S. B. Cummings was Samuel Bowden Cummings (1844-1916), a merchant as well as mariner, lighthouse keeper and postmaster.

Papers:

• Williams Stove Lining Company, stove linings and bricks; Taunton, Massachusetts
• July 3, 1902
• September 30, 1902
• Portland Stove Foundry, stoves; Portland, Maine
• January 18, 1910
• May 11, 1910
• July 6, 1910
• August 8, 1910
• September 22, 1910
• November 11, 1910
• November 17, 1910
• November 25, 1910
• July 27, 1916
• Brien Heater Company, stoves; Westfield, Massachusetts
• October 22, 1912
• November 7, 1912
• November 23, 1912
• May 23, 1917 - T. R. Brien
• Frye Phipps & Co., hardware and cutlery; Boston, Massachusetts
• April 24, 1908
• May 17, 1907 - two invoices
• October 9, 1907
• McLean Jones Oil & Supply Co., steamship, mill and railway supplies; Boston, Massachusetts
• dated September 16, 1912
• dated September 27, 1912
• L. N. Littlehale, dealer in flour, corn, oats, cotton seed meal and mill feeds, of Rockland, Maine; December 21, 1906
• Winslow & Co., Inc., Portland Stoneware Co., Portland, Maine; May 26, 1914
• James Bailey Company of Portland, Maine, saddlery and horse furnishings; July 1, 1913 - stamp of W. F. Boyce - presumably William Francis Boyce, born 8 December 1877 in Quebec, according to his naturalization papers; possibly this William F. Boyce with a birth date of 8 December 1876
• Boston, Massachusetts, Office of Quaker City Varnish Company; September 8, 1910 - John Weingartner - presumably John S. Weingartner, Jr. (1865 or 1866-1944) [MA Mason card gives birth year as 1865; grave marker as 1866]
• W. L. Blake & Co., Portland, Maine, steam fitting and plumbing supplies; November 21, 1913 - signed with the stamp of A. W. Blake, Sales Manager - presumably Arthur W. Blake 
• Northfield Knife Company of Northfield, Connecticut; April 1, 1903 - J. K. ?, possibly Oatley - but also possibly Cutlery, not a person.

If you have information to share on Samuel Bowden Cummings or any of the other names that appear, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

Click on any image to enlarge it.