So You Want to be a Mayflower Descendant - Susan's Siblings - part 6

 Desperate times call for desperate measures......

We don't have any proof that Levi West is the father of Hannah Susan West Rushton, so we have to get creative.  But will all that creativity pass the proof test? (see West Pedigree chart)

Levi and the woman who I creatively believe is his wife, Pheby Scholfield West, do have a lot of kids, and all those kids have better records than Susan does.  (except Aaron, his are worse).

I started off thinking that Susan only has 2 siblings, Aaron and Harding, who are 6 and 23 years younger than she is.  Very odd.  Odd for a family to only have 3 kids.  A 23-year spread between oldest and youngest is pretty wide, but not that unusual for the time.  What is strange is if Harding is 17 years younger than the second-youngest child.  

Harding West, born in Pugwash, father Levi West born in Pugwash, mother unknown

I feel better when I find Levi West living with Nathan West, who is most likely -No Proof!- his son, and their daughter Mary Jane West, who died young.  Nathan and Mary Jane fill in some gaps between Susan and Aaron.  

Mary Jane West, born in Pugwash, parents Levi and Phoebe

On the last day of 1866, Nathaniel G. West, 30, widower, farmer, married Eliza Fielden, 29, spinster.  Both resided in Gaspereau.  Nathaniel was born in Amherst and his father was Levi West, a farmer.

From our cousin Garnet Misner, I find 2 more sisters, Rebecca Elizabeth and Rachel J., who ended up in the States.  (More on Garnet later)

The great thing about Boston is the great records they keep there by the clerk with the beautiful handwriting.  So I find these documents.  Do you think they count as proof?

Rebecca Elizabeth West McLellan, born in NS, parents Levi West born in Mass and Phebe Schofield born in NS.

Rachel J Fay, nee' West, born N. Scotia, parents Levi and Phebe born N. Scotia

I have an obituary given to me eons ago, before there was an Internet, by Scott Miller, who is somehow related.  The Oxford Journal tells us that Mrs. Hannah Susan Rushton is survived by her sister, a Mrs. Brown living near Boston, and her brother Harding, as well as 2 sons and 5 daughters.  Really??? That's it?  No parents, birthplace, other siblings....

In desperation, remember desperate times are calling, I search every marriage and death certificate in New England for a woman named West.

Amazingly, when Sarah L. West, born in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, married Mr. Charles H. Brown near Boston, her parents were Levi and Phebe West.  

Since when did Susan have a sister named Sarah?  Wait!  Could she be the mysterious Serafina of the 1871 census?  Do the ages fit?  Yes they do!

So, in a roundabout way, I can prove that Susan's siblings Rebecca, Mary Jane, Nathaniel, Rachel, Sarah, and Harding have parents named Levi and Phebe West.  But how can I prove that Susan is their sibling?  Only 1 thin obituary ties Susan to Harding and a "Mrs. Brown near Boston."

The historian calls all this evidence "weak."  She told me to send in Generation 8 and see if some strong proof there will help bolster Generation 9.  She doesn't know that Generation 8 is even weaker.....