After 2 years of COVID keeping me in the United States, and another letter from the Mayflower Society historian saying she quit her job, I finally got back to Canada to do some hands-on sleuthing!
You will remember that although our ancestor Richard Warren was a passenger on the Mayflower, we cannot prove that his 6xgreat-grandson, Levi West, is really the offspring of his 5xgreat-grandson, Samuel West. Further, we cannot prove that Levi's daughter, Susan West Rushton, is really his daughter. All 3 of them have gone to great lengths to hide from me. The end of the rainbow is more easily found! (see Presbury-Mayflower Pedigree Chart, West Pedigree Chart, Spence Pedigree Chart)
Horton Landing, one spot where the Planters came ashore in 1760. It is also one spot where the Acadians last set foot on their land before being cruelly deported by the English in 1755Samuel was the first child in his family born in Nova Scotia, after his parents and grandparents re-located there from Massachusetts in the Planter Migration. The New Englanders brought with them their method of government, townships, with detailed records kept in township books. The township books are a prime source accepted by the Mayflower Society for Nova Scotian families.
The Cornwallis Township Book shows that Samuel's parents, Seth West and Polly Crossman, were married on 13 December 1781. It follows logically that Samuel, born on 25 August 1782, was their first child, named for his grandfather Samuel Crossman. Then his sister Jane, named for their grandmother Jane/Jean West, was born on 21 June 1784. Then the records stop for 20 years. Does that mean that Polly and Seth stopped having children, very unusual? Did they move out of Cornwallis? Did one of them die or become too unhealthy to have more children? Or did they deliberately decide to hide from me?
Samuel re-appears in November 1804, when he married Charlotte Schofield in Horton Township, even tho it was recorded in the Cornwallis book. That makes sense because the very large Schofield family lived in Horton.
The township book stops mentioning Samuel's family, just to hide from me. On the other hand, a West Lines book by Margaret Adelia Ells indicates that Charlotte and Samuel had 3 children: Abner and George born in Cornwallis in 1809 and 1811, and Levi. Note the lack of information for Levi!
Where did Margaret Adelia get her info from? I think from later records where Abner and George gave their birth info because they wanted their descendants to find them. Abner and George probably said they had a brother named Levi. The West Lines book has been accepted as proof by the Mayflower Society, since one of George's descendants has been accepted.
In 1791, brothers Thomas, Seth, Francis, and Paul paid 1 shilling poll taxMaybe Seth was always unable to earn a living or sick. In the poll tax records of 1791-1795, Seth and his brothers Paul, Francis, and Thomas are 5th class citizens - they own no taxable property, so they only paid 1 shilling poll tax in order to vote. After this, Seth stopped paying taxes, but they continued. 16 years later, Seth had no money at all. He was destitute and the townspeople had to decide who was going to provide for his care. Different townspeople bid money on who was going to support whom for the coming year or until the person died, whichever came first.
"At a meeting 1st Monday Novr (2nd day) 1807 held at the Meeting House to Raise Money for Support Poor, Proceeded as follow" ...Seth West [bid] by James Lyon ... for the same term ... [one year if he lives so long] at 4 [shillings] per week" - Cornwallis Town Book
Similar bids took place in 1808 and 1809. The Mayflower Society accepts this as proof that Samuel's father Seth was living in Cornwallis in 1807, 1808, and 1809, and died in 1810 when he is no longer mentioned. They accept this as proof that Polly died before 1807 because there is no mention of her at all.
But it does not explain why Seth was destitute or why he couldn't live with his son Samuel. Is it because Samuel had left Cornwallis by 1807 for parts unknown? Then how were Abner and George born there? There is something wrong with this picture.
In this original plan for Cornwallis Town, William West, Seth's father, has a house and common lot right at the parade ground. Stephen and Jabez West also have lots nearby. Altho this was the way New England towns were laid out, this plan was never used because the Planters realized it was best to follow the Acadian way: houses in the uplands, timber in the woodlots, and fields in the dykeland.When children are listed, they are almost always listed in birth order, which would make Levi his parents' 3rd child. But that might not be so. In two later censuses, Levi said he was either born in 1806 or 1810. I mean, who can remember how old you are when somebody asks? I can't. Everything over 40 is a blur. But those responses put Levi as his parents' oldest child, and if the 1806 date is true, that would fit nicely with Charlotte and Samuel's marriage in 1804.
It also fits nicely with Levi's wife, Pheby, being born in 1807. Pheby was part of a big Schofield family that was perfectly happy to be represented in records. If you remember that Levi's mother Charlotte was also a Schofield, then you will not be surprised to learn that Levi and Pheby were first cousins. Marrying your cousin was pretty common, though, so that is not the reason that Pheby went off grid and her marriage to Levi is not recorded anywhere. The Mayflower Society is not happy about that.
The next time anyone in the family appears in a record is when Levi's brother Abner married Lidia Crossman, no relation, on Christmas Day 1830 in Prince Edward Island. Does that indicate that Abner had been living there for a while? Or that the whole family had moved there? Or that Abner just happened to meet Lidia somewhere and returned to her hometown to get married? Any of that is likely.
It seems a trip to PEI is in order. Stay tuned!
- Detail
- West Family p. 684
Source information
- Title
- History of Kings County, Nova Scotia, The, Heart of the Acadian Land, Giving...
- Author
- Arthur Wellington Hamilton Eaton
- Note
- info possibly taken from Horton Town Book
- Publisher
- Salem Press Co.
- Publisher date
- 1910
Repository information
- Name
- https://archive.org/stream/historykingscou00eatogoog#page/n836/mode/2up
| Residence Place | Pugwash, Cumberland, Nova Scotia |
|---|---|
| District Number | 198 |
| Subdistrict | c |
| Division | 02 |
| District Number | 17 |
|---|---|
| District | Kings |
| Sub-District Number | C |
| Subdistrict | Centreville |
| Division | 2 |
Comments
Post a Comment