euphemia anna fish macconney (part 5 of 5)

death

Euphema Anna (Fish) MacConney dies on May 5, 1904 in Rockland, MA. Her death record shows she died from paresis, which is a slight paralysis. I have also seen it defined as a paralytic dementia. She was 64 years old when she died, her husband James was still living at the time. They are both buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Rockland, MA.

death record for Euphemia Anna Fish MacConney 1904

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

gravestone for James Frank MacConney and Euphemia Anna (Fish) MacConney

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Rockland, MA

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

The day I visited the cemetery, the sun was shining in a difficult direction to get a good picture of their stone.   There was also some moss growing on the stone, which made for a picture that is difficult to read.   The inscription is as follows:

James F MacConney
Hartsuff post g.a.r. no 74
20th unattached m.v.m.
his wife
Anna Euphemia
1840 - 1905
Hartstuff w.r.c. no 137
children
Frank 1871 - 1896
Archer 1880 - 1886

Both James and Anna's names have notations of GAR membership. This must have been important to them to engrave it on the stone. I did not know what GAR or Hartstuff stood for, so I googled a little bit and found that GAR is the Grand Army of the Republic (wikipedia article).  The GAR was made up of veterens of the civil war who advocated for "voting rights for black veterans, lobbying the US Congress to establish veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates." 

The wikipedia article also references..."Rockland, Massachusetts: Hartstuff Post 74 was dedicated January 30, 1900. Portions of the wooden structure was restored between 1990 and 1999. The structure is currently home of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Camp 50.^[37]"  There is also a page on the history of the hartstuff hall in Rockland here.

I still was not sure what the notation of wrc after Anna's inscription meant, until I came across this website on GAR civil war portraits that mentioned the women's relief corp, which must be the wrc. This article also credits the GAR with the establishment of Memorial Day.

websites:
1. The Library of Congress has a bibliography for the Massachusetts Women's Relief Corps.

to do:
1. find pictures of gar post 74 in massachussetts - any group photos or individual soldier photos.
2. find pictures and information on the wrc no 137 - group photos.

euphemia anna fish macconney (part 4 of 5)

family life

Anna and James MacConney had a total of six children by 1880.  They also moved from Abington, MA to Hanover, MA between the years of 1870 (when they are found in the 1870 census in Abington, MA) and 1872 (when their son George is born in Hanover, MA). 

There is a map of Hanover from 1879 on ancestry.com's database, Count Land Ownership Maps.  I searched for a J Macconney, but was not able to find him on the map, even though they were living in Hanover on the 1880 census.  I decided to search for the families surrounding him on the census, and found some of these families on Center Street.  Around these families, the name of Frank Fish stood out.  This must be James Frank MacConney; but for some reason he is listed with Anna's last name of Fish.  There is not another Fish or Frank in the 1880 census on this street in Hanover, MA.

1880 US Federal Census : Hanover, MA James F. MacConney and Anna

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

1879 Hanover map with Frank Fish (probably James Frank MacConney) residence

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

It must have been difficult for Anna to have left most of her family in Maine when she moved to Massachusetts.  Her father, John Calvin Fish, dies before 1880; as he is not listed in this census. Her mother, Cynthia Fish, is no longer living by the time of the 1900 census. Since her parents died in Maine, I wonder if Anna knew. Her sister, Nancy, most likely would have written her with the news if they were still close. It is probably likely that Anna did not see them again since she left Maine around 1860.

Since her family was in Maine, I hope that Anna had some support in Massachusetts when she had to endure the loss of two of their boys in the same week of May in 1886 to diptheria. Their sons, Frank and J. Archer, were 15 and 5 years old when they died.  This must have been devastating to their family. Their deaths are recorded in Rockland, MA, which means they had moved from Hanover by 1886.

Anna loses another child, her daughter Eva, in 1894, from Pthisis; which seems to be a term used for consumption. Eva was a widow, her husband died in 1891 from consumption also.  They had a child, Norma, and the family was living in the same town as Anna and James in Rockland, MA.  Since her parents both died, Norma is found in the 1900 census living with her grandparents, Anna and and James.  (Norma's fate was not a good one. She is found in the later censuses in the Hospital Cottages for Children in Templeton, MA and later in a state hospital as an adult.)  Norma was probably one of the only grandchildren that Anna would spend much time with, as the other 9 living grandchildren at this time were living in other towns.  Anna and James's daughter Amy and family are living in Hanover, MA.  Their son Walter and family are living Hingham, MA.  Their son George does live with Anna and James in Rockland in 1900, but does not have any children.  George does not even marry until 4 years after his mother dies.  

1900 US Federal Census : Rockland, MA James F MacConney and Anna

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

Anna's brother, Lee Fish, dies in 1896.  According to his death record, Lee was living in Whitman, MA, but died in Chelsea, MA.  He had cancer of the stomach, maybe he died in a hospital.  He is buried in Stoughton, MA.  Since Anna came to Massachusetts around the same time he did, I assume Anna and Lee were close.  They were living in different towns; however, and probably would not have been able to see much of each other. 

James MacConney (and therefore Anna) is listed in three Rockland, MA directories after 1900, found on ancestry.com.  For each listing, they are living at a different address in Rockland, all on the same street.  In 1900 James and Anna are at 18 Grove Street, with their son George and granddaughter Norma.  In 1902 they are now living at 11 Grove Street; and by 1904, they are at 43 Grove Street in Rockland, MA.  Maybe they were renting houses and had to move when their term was up.  According to zillow.com, the house at 43 Grove Street was built in 1900.  This means that when James and Anna were living there, it was a new house. The other two addresses are not listed, so I am not sure if the houses are still standing.

Anna and James MacConney residence in Rockland (yellow 1900s) and Hanover (blue 1879)

View Euphemia Anna Fish and James Frank MacConney in a larger map

Residence of Anna and James

• 1860 Abington, MA
• 1870 Abington, MA
• 1872 Hanover, MA (birth of son George)
• 1879 Hanover, MA (land ownership map)
• 1880 Hanover, MA
• 1886 Rockland (death of two sons)
• 1890 Rockland (VA 1890 schedule)
• 1900 Rockland
• 1904 Rockland (death)

to do:
1. Dyer Memorial Library in Abington has some newspapers from this time period for Rockland, MA

euphemia anna fish macconney (part 3 of 5)

civil war

Anna was about 22 years old when the civil war started.  She had some relatives from both Massachusetts and Maine enlist as soldiers, including her husband and her brother.  Her husband James enlisted in August of 1864.  Anna would have been home with my great great grandmother, Amy, who was almost three years old and another child, Walter, who was only 4 months old.  At this time, Anna's parents are in Maine, but her parents-in-law (James and Sylvia MacConney), brother (Lee), and a sister-in-law (Lavina MacConney Raymond) all live in the same town as Anna, Abington, MA.  They do not seem to be on the same street as Anna beacuse she is enumerated more than 10 pages after all of them; but they may have been close enough to have visits with each other if they found the time. 

 

Information from the following database on ancestry.com

U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865

James F Macconney - Anna's husband

• Regiment Name: Unattached Co., 20 Massachusetts Mil. Inf. 100 Days, 1864 (Militia)
• Enlisted in Company 20th, Massachusetts 20th Infantry Company on 11 Aug 1864.
• Mustered out on 18 Nov 1864.

Lee Britton Fish - Anna's brother

• Enlisted in Company G, Massachusetts 12th Infantry Regiment on 26 Jun 1861.
• Mustered out on 26 May 1862 at Washington, DC.

Uzza Thomas - Anna's brother-in-law (sister Nancy's husband)

• Regiment Name: 8 Maine Infantry Regiment
• Rank In: Private

Willard Jones Fish - Anna's Half-Uncle (father John Fish's half-brother)

• 30th Regiment, Maine Infantry

euphemia anna fish macconney (part 2 of 5)

marriage

Euphemia did not stay in Maine for long. By 1860, Euphemia moves to Massachusetts and meets her future husband, James MacConney.

 At 21 years old, in June of 1860, Euphemia marries James in Abington, MA. Euphemia, who seems to sometimes go by her middle name of Anna now, may have come to Abington with her brother Lee Fish, who marries in that town in 1858. (I will refer to Euphemia as Anna from now on)

I have not been able to find Anna in the 1860 census; maybe she was in between moves since she marries the same year as the census. She is not living with her parents, or her future husband James, or her brother Lee. Her sister Nancy and parents John and Cynthia Fish all stay in Maine throughout their lives.

The marriage record of Anna and James states they were married by H D Walker, congregational minister. The book, History of Abington (note 1), states H D Walker was a minister of the Third Church in East Abington, a congregational church. I assume Anna and James were living in the eastern part of Abington if they attended this church. The only historical map of Abington I have found on ancestry.com was from 1879. There is a J McCorney listed on this map, but matching the names around this residences found in the 1880 census; this J McCornney is actualy James' father James McConihe.

Third Congregational Church from the History of Abington, MA

notes:
1. Hobart, B. (1866). History of the town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement. Boston: T.H. Carter and Son. (p 164) (Google eBook)

euphemia anna fish mcconihe (part 1 of 5)

childhood

Euphemia Anna Fish (3rd great grandmother) was born in Leeds, Maine around May 17, 1839; calculated from her death record online at familysearch.org. (note 1)  She was born to John Calvin Fish and Cynthia Fish according to this death record.  I do believe that her mother's maiden name was also Fish as stated, as I found a marriage record on ancestry.com of a John Fish and a Cynthia Fish marrying in Leeds, Maine. 

The 1840 Census shows John C. Fish's household; which consists of Euphemia at age 1, living in Leeds, ME with her parents and her brother Lee.  A sister, Philene, and brother, Almond, died as babies before Euphemia was born. 

1840 Census John C Fish household Leeds, ME

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

By 1850, Euphemia's family had moved to the neighboring town of Turner, Maine. The household consists of Euphemia, her sister Nancy, and their parents.  Her brother Lee looks to have moved into a household of a carriage maker, probably learning this trade; although the 1860 census has his occupation as cordwainer and by 1870, Lee is a shoe maker.  Euphemia's maternal grandfather, Benjamin Fish, is also living in Turner, ME in 1850 until his death in 1864.  I am not sure if his wife, Euphemia's grandmother, Fear Bump Fish, is still living at this time. (note 2)  Euphemia's paternal grandfather, Seth Fish is still living in Leeds, ME in 1850 until his death in 1859.  Seth's first wife, Euphemia's grandmother, Lillis House Fish, died before 1824; which means Euphemia never knew her.  She did have a step-grandmother, Seth's second wife, Abigail Carver Fish, who died in Leeds in 1860.  Euphemia may have lived close enough to her living grandparents in both Leeds and Turner, ME to be able to visit, either by carriage or walking. 

  1850 Census John C Fish household Turner, ME

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

During my last blog post, I had experimented a bit with overlaying an historic map onto a current Google map, locating the land that my ancestors may have lived on.  I did this again with a map of Turner, ME, locating Euphemia's parents on the 1873 map (see kmz file with overlay here).  Euphemia's father is listed as CJ Fish (on some records he went by Calvin J) on the map, near a road the goes over a bridge over the Twenty Mile River, now called Nezinscot River.  This part of the road and the bridge no longer exist.  Even though Euphemia is not living with her parents in 1870, this could be the location of the house she grew up in.  I also looked at the1873 Leeds, ME map and found some of her Aunts and Uncles (some changed name to Morris, see note 3) who were living there in 1873. This may have been the area Euphemia was living in before her family moved to Turner, ME. (kmz file for google earth of Leeds and Turner, ME overlays)

google map of Turner and Leeds, ME with possible locations of JC Fish and siblings 1873

View John Calvin Fish Turner Maine in a larger map

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

I would love to explore the part of Turner where Euphemia may have lived, near the Nezinscot River; but it does not look too accessible by foot.  I am not sure whose land this is now.  I did a bit of googling, and there is a lot of information about fly fishing in this area, probably accessed by canoe or kayak.  There is a state park, The Androscoggin Riverlands State Park, a little south of this area along the western side of the Androscoggin River which would be fun to go to someday; but I would love to access the land that John Calvin Fish and family resided on.  The house is no longer there on the above google map, maybe it is used for farming or perhaps it just gets flooded and is not useable land.  I will have to look at some deeds to see who owned the land after John died. (note 4)  The 1880 Census has Euphemia's mother Cynthia living with her daughter Nancy, Euphemia's sister, and husband Uzza Thomas, maybe at this location.

(continues...)

links:
1. Sun Journal article on things to do in Turner, ME
2. Androscoggin Land Trust

notes:
1. Since I have not been able to locate a birth certificate for Euphemia, I calculated her birth from her death certificate.  However, the 1900 census states Euphemia's birth as May 1840.  The place of birth stated on her death certificate is Leeds, ME, but her marriage record states Turner, ME as her birth town. Four of her children's birth records state Euphemia was born in Leeds, ME though, just like her death record.  Since her family is living in Leeds when she was 1, I would guess Leeds would be more likely as a birth location than Turner, ME. 

2. Benjamin Fish is lised in the 1850 census with a wife Elithea.  I am not sure if this is suppose to be Fear, or if Benjamin remarried.  I could not find a death record for Fear.  The gravestone for them on findagrave.com has Benjamin and Elithea carved on stone, not Fear.  So either she is buried somewhere else or Elithea is Fear.  All of the children's birth records state mother as Fear, not Elithea.

3. Some of Euphemia's paternal Uncles changed their names from Fish to Morris. By 1860 her Uncle Samuel Lane changed his name to Samuel Lane Morris. Also, Euphemia's half uncle - Silas Fish changed his name to Silas Morris.
I have the following from a note on someone's tree from ancestry.com:
"State Law enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, Chapter 627, page 683:
22 Mar 1856 Samuel Laine Fish, of Veazie, shall be allowed to take the name of Samuel Morris;
and Adelaide C., wife of said Samuel Laine Fish, shall be allowed to take the same
name of Adelaide Morris; John Fairfield Fish, Francis N. Fish, George W. Fish and
Edward M. Fish, minor children of Samuel L. and Adelaide C. Fish, shall be allowed
to take the names of John Morris, Francis Morris, Edward Morris and George W.Morris."
Most of Euphemia's maternal Aunts and Uncles moved to other towns in Maine, away from Turner and Leeds. Some I could not track past their birth dates. I am not sure where they went and why they are difficult to locate.

4.  Leeds and Turner Maine are both in the county of Androscoggin (formed in 1854), so I looked to see where I could access these deeds.  The Androscoggin County Registry of Deeds has many indexes and images of deeds online!!!  I love when that happens.  I was able to locate some deeds for John C. Fish and Cynthia Fish.  Both deeds talk about land in North Turner, near Mill Pond.  I have not been able to find Mill Pond on the 1873 map of Turner or on the current google map.  The deeds state this land is on the south side of a country road that leads from Turner Center.  One deed mentions a John C Young's land which borders to the North.  I believe I found Young's property, on the 1873 map, north of the current Howe's Corner Road (rt 219) close to North Turner Center.  This property is not near the property of John C Fish where I thought Euphemia grew up.  Perhaps I have the location of the land near the river incorrect, or maybe John Fish owned property in more than one area of Turner.  There are earlier deed records that are referenced in the index that do not have images online - maybe they talk about the land near the river. (see to do list)   Deeds are from the Index 1877-1889: Cynthia L Fish (97, 435) (109, 458) (both deed images online); John C Fish (97, 435) (deed image online)


Turner, ME 1873 - possible area from deed near Young property and location of CJ Fish (lower right)

From euphemia ann fish macconney blog post

to do:

1. search deeds for Euphemia's grandparents to see if they were living near her family in Turner, ME
2. obtain the following deed records from Androscoggin Registry of Deeds
Index 1854-1877 (book, page number)
Cynthia L Fish (57, 240) (59, 442) (55,119)
John C Fish (3, 70) (9, 12) (13, 157) (15, 285) (22, 107) (29, 219) (55, 119)
3. locate will of John Calvin Fish and Cynthia Fish
4. look into why some of Euphemia's uncles changed name from Fish to Morris.
5. locate more of Euphemia's maternal Aunts and Uncles.