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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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)
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| 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.
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