le roy, minnesota

Winslow Raymond and Lavina (McConihe) McConney were married 156 years ago today, February 11, 1854 in Weymouth, MA. The McConihe family has given me the most difficulty in locating their ancestors. I know that the were a Scotch-Irish (Ulster-Scots) family from the Bedford, New Hampshire area. The family most likely came with the other Scotch-Irish families from Ulster, Ireland around the early 1700s. It also looks like my direct line changed their name (officially or unofficially) at some point from McConihe to McConney, as their name in Massachusetts records gradually became the latter.

Lavina McConihe and Winslow Raymond married and lived in Middleboro, MA until about 1860, when they are found in the town of Le Roy, Minnesota for the 1860 census. Most of my ancestors stayed put in Massachusetts, so I always find it interesting when one of them ventures off to another area of the country. There is also evidence that Lavina and Winslow may have spent some time in Mississippi before they went to Minnesota, as the 1860 census states that one of their children, Maria, was born about 1859 in Mississippi. Her older siblings are listed as born in Massachusetts. According to the various censuses, they have the following children: Elva, Ellis, Maria, Susan and Rufus.

They did not stay long in Minnesota as they were back in Massachusetts as early as 1861, the year their daughter, Susan, was born. The 1865 Massachusetts census states that she was born in that state. This would imply they were only in Minnesota for a year or two. The 1865 Massachusetts census also shows us that their daughter, Maria, must have died young, as she is not listed in this state census with her family. This census, along with Winslow's civil War enlistment in 1864, also adds to the evidence that the family moved back to Massachusetts shortly after venturing to Minnesota.

I do not know what brought them to Minnesota, or what brought them back to Massachusetts, but I would like to know a little about Le Roy, the town in Minnesota they lived in according to the 1860 census. I did find some books I plan to order from the library on Mower County, Minnesota. I also found this small excerpt on google books from Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume 17, p.360 :

"Le Roy township was organized May 11 1858. Its railway village bearing the same name was platted in 1867 when this Iowa and Minnesota division of the Chicago Milwaukee and St Paul railway was built."

It would also be interesting to see the common route travelled from Massachusetts to Minnesota at this time. There are some good websites and books on frequent trails, but I had no luck finding a specific path as of yet. I will also have to get some more information on this topic.

Lavina married a second time, after her husband Winslow died. According to Genealogies of the Raymond Families of New England . . , page 155, he died in 1876 in Kansas. I have not been able to find a document to support this, but Lavina was in Massachusetts by the 1880 census and married Winslow's first cousin, Samuel D. Raymond, in 1882 in Plympton, MA. It would be interesting to see the 1875 State Census for Kansas to see if Lavina and Winslow Raymond are living in Kansas at this time.

So with all the census data, the timeline for the Raymond family would be as follows: Lavina and Winslow marry in Weymouth or Middleboro, MA in 1854; they have two children in Massachusetts in 1855 and 1857; they have one child in Mississippi in 1859; they live in Le Roy, Minnesota in 1860; they have another daughter in Massachusetts in 1861; they have another son in Massachusetts in 1864; Winslow enlists in the Civil War in Abington in 1864; they live in Abington, MA in 1865; they live in Abington, MA in 1870; Winslow dies in Kansas in 1876 (according to the Raymond Genealogy book); Lavina marris Samuel D. Raymond in Plympton, MA in 1882.

Links on Topic:
1. Scotch-Irish article in American Heritage Magazine.
2. Scotch-Irish in New England taken from The Scotch-Irish in America: Proceedings and Addresses of the Second Congress at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 29 to June 1, 1890

To Do List:
1. obtain books from library on Mower County.
2. obtain books on migration routes.
3. look up Lavina and Winslow Raymond in the 1875 Kansas state census.