Friday, March 21, 2014

52 Ancestors, Week 12: #19 Sophia (Newton) Hildreth (1834-1923) of Leominster, Mass.

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  Here is my ancestor biography for week #10:

EDITED 7 October 2021:

Sophia (Newton) Hildreth (1834-1923) is #19 on my Ahnentafel List, and is my 2nd great-grandmother. She married #18 Edwatd Hildreth (1831-1899) in 1852.

 I am descended through:

*  their daughter, #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920), who married 1874 #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)

*  their son, #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), who married 1900 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)
* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married 1942 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) 
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

To create this post, I made an Individual Summary report in RootsMagic 6, then saved it into an RTF file.  I then copied and pasted the Person, the Individual Fact List, the Marriages/Children, the General Notes, and the Source Citations into this blog post.  Unfortunately, the source citations superscripts did not survive this process as superscripts, so I put them in brackets in the Individual Facts list below, and without brackets in the Source Citation list.  I have images of many of these records, but have not included them in this blog post due to the length of the post.  Many of them have been transcribed or shown in Amanuensis Monday and Treasure Chest Thursday posts.

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):


*  Name:                 Sophia Newton [1–3]   
*  Sex:                    Female   
*  Father:               probably Lambert Brigham (1794-1834)   
*  Mother:              Sophia Buck (1797-1882)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL FACTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Birth:                 14 September 1834, Springfield, Windsor, Vermont, United States [4]    

*  Census:              1 June 1850 (age 15), Northborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [3]   
*  Census:              27 September 1855 (age 21), Northborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [5]   
*  Census:              1 June 1860 (age 25), Northborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [6]
*  Census:              29 August 1865 (age 30), Northborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [7] 
*  Census:              1 June 1870 (age 35), Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [8]
*  Census:              1 June 1880 (age 45), Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [9]
*  Census:              1 June 1900 (age 65), 149 Lancaster Street (ED 1645), Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [10]    
*  Census:              1 April 1910 (age 75), 149 Lancaster Street (ED 1772), Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [11]
*  Census:              1 January 1920 (age 85), 149 Lancaster Street (ED 102), Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [12]    
*  Death:               29 August 1923 (age 88) of old age, Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [13]
*  Burial:               after 29 August 1923 (after age 88), Evergreen Cemetery, Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [14]
*  Probate:            6 September 1923 (age 88), administration filed; Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [15]    
*  Alternate Name:  Sophia Hildreth [5–14]   
  
3)  MARRIAGE/CHILDREN (with source citations as indicated in brackets):      
*  Spouse 1:         Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)   
*  Marriage 1:      25 December 1852 (age 18), Northborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States [1–2]
*  Child 1:            Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920)   
*  Child 2:            Clarence Edward Hildreth (1874-1878)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):    

There are no available birth records in Massachusetts or Vermont for Sophia Newton.  The evidence available includes:

*  She is listed as age 15 in the 1850 U.S. Census, born in Vermont [3] 
*  She is listed as age 18, born in Vermont, the daughter of Thomas J. Newton, in the 25 December 1852 marriage record in Northborough, Massachusetts to Edward Hildreth [4].  
*  In the 1855 Massachusetts census, she is age 20. [5]
*   In the 1860 U.S. census, she is age 24, born in Vermont. [6]
*  In the 1865 Massachusetts census, she is age 30. [7]
*  In the 1870 U.S. Census she is age 34, born in Vermont. [8]
*  In her son's (Clarence Hildreth) death notice in 1878, she is listed as born in Cambridge, Vermont.
*  In the 1880 U.S. Census, she is age 46, born in Vermont. [9]
*  In the 1900 U.S. Census, she is age 64, born in September 1835 in Vermont. [10]
*  In the 1910 U.S. Census, she is age 73, born in Vermont. [11]
*  In the 1920 U.S. Census, she is age 82, born in Vermont. [12]
*  In the 1920 death record of her daughter (Hattie Seaver), she is listed as born in Cambridge, Vermont.
*  Sophia (Newton) Hildreth died 29 August 1923 in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. [13]  She is listed as age 86 years, 11 months, 15 days, which calculates to 14 September 1836.  Her birthplace is listed as Springfield, Vermont, her father's name is not listed, but her mother's name is listed as (Buck) Newton, born in Massachusetts.

My conclusion is that she was born on 14 September in 1834.  The 1850, 1855, 1860, 1865, 1870, 1880 and 1900 census records, her marriage record and her death record,  all reflect 1833 to 1835.  
In the 1850 US census, Sophia Newton (age 53, born MA) resided with her daughter Sophia Newton (age 15, born VT) in Northborough, Worcester County, MA [3].

-----------------------------  7 October 2021 Update  ---------------------------------------
If Sophia was born on 14 September 1834, then she was conceived in the period of December 1833 to February 1834.  Her mother's first husband, Lambert Brigham, died on 5 May 1834 in Westborough, Mass.  Apparently, Sophia's mother married a Thomas J. Newton shortly after Lambert Brigham's death, moved to Cambridge, Vermont, and Sophia was born there.  Thomas J. and Sophia (Buck) (Brigham) Newton had another child, Thomas Brigham (1835-1915) in Cambridge, Vermont.  There are no records found to date of the birth or death of Thomas J. Newton, or of the marriage of Thomas and Sophia (Buck) (Brigham) Newton.  

Sophia Newton used the surname Newton in all future records.
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The marriage record in the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1915 provides this information [4]:

Marriage date:  25 December 1852 in Northborough
*  Groom Information:  Edward Hildreth, resident of Southborough, age 21, a Combmaker, born in Townsend, parents Zachariah Hildreth, first marriage
*  Bride information:  Sophia Newton, resident of Southborough, age 18, born in Vermont, parents Thomas J. Newton, first marriage..
*  By: S.L. Ashley, Minister, Northborough.

In the 1855 Massachusetts State Census, the Edward Hildreth family resided in Northborough, Worcester County, and included [5]:

*  Edward Hildreth - age 24, male, white, a comb manft, born Mass.
*  Sophiah Hildreth - age 20, female, white, born Vt.

In the 1860 US census, the Edward Hildreth family resided in Northborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts with the Theodore McNeil family. The household included [6]:

*   Edward Hildreth -- age 28, male, born MA, a combmaker, with $500 personal property
*  Sophia Hildreth -- age 24, female, born MA
*  Hattie L. Hildreth -- age 2, female, born MA.

The 1865 Massachusetts State Census entry for the Edward Hildreth household residing in Northborough, Worcester County included [7]:

*  Edward Hildreth - age 34, male, born Mass., married, a combmaker, rateable poll checked, legal voter checked
*  Sophia Hildreth - age 28, female, born Mass., married, a housekeeper
*  Hattie Hildreth - age 7, female, born Mass., single

In the 1870 US census, the Edward Hildreth family resided in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. The household included [8]:

*  Edward Hildreth -- age 39, male, works in machine shop, $2,000 in real property, $500 in personal property, born MA
*  Sophia Hildreth -- age 34, female, keeping house, born VT
*  Hattie L. Hildreth --age 12, female, attends school, born MA.

In her son's (Clarence Hildreth) death notice in 1878, she is listed as born in Cambridge VT.

In the 1880 US census, the Edward Hildreth family lived in Leominster in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The family included [9]:

*  Edward Hildreth -- white, male, age 49, married, machinist, born MA, father and mother born MA
*  Sophia Hildreth -- white, female, age 46, wife, married, keeping house, born VT, father born ME, mother born MA
*  Sophia Stone -- white, female, age 84, mother-in-law, widowed, born MA, father and mother born MA.

In the 1900 U.S. Census, the Frank Seaver family resided at 149 Lancaster Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  The Seaver family was renting the house.  The family included [10]:

*   Frank W. Seaver -- head of household, white, male, born June 1852, age 47, married 26 years, born MA, parents born MA, a teamster, rents home
*   Hattie L. Seaver -- wife, white, female, born Nov 1856, age 43, married 26 years, mother of 3 children, 2 living, born MA, father born MA, mother born VT
*  Fred W. Seaver -- son, white, male, born February 1876, age 24, single, born MA, parents born PA a painter of combs
*  Harry C. Seaver -- son, white, male, born March 1885, age 15, single, born MA, parents born MA, a painter of combs
*  Sophia Hildreth -- mother-in-law, white, female, born September 1835, age 64, widow, mother of 1 child, 1 living,  born MA, father born ME, mother born MA

In the 1910 U.S. census, the Frank W. Seaver family resided at 146 Lancaster Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  The family included [11]:

*  Sophia Hildreth -- head of household, female, white, age 73, widow, mother of 2 children, 1 living, born VT, father and mother born MA, speaks English, no occupation, can read and write, owns the home, free of mortgage
*  Frank W. Seaver -- son-in-law, male, white, age 57, married once, 35 years, born MA, father and mother born MA, speaks English, foreman, works in horn supply, a worker, reads and writes
*  Hattie L. Seaver -- daughter, female, white, age 52, married once, 35 years, mother of 3 children, 2 living, born MA, father born MA, mother born VT, speaks English, can read and write
*  Harry C. Seaver -- son, male, white, age 25, single, born MA, father and mother born MA, speaks English, laborer, works in comb shop, a worker, can read and write

In the 1920 U.S. census, the Frank Seaver family resided at 149 Lancaster Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  The family included [12]:

*  Frank W. Seaver -- head of household, male, white, age 66, married, born MA, father born MA, mother born MA, an assistant superintendent at a horn shop, a salaried worker, owns home free of mortgage, able to read, write, and speak English
*  Hattie L. Seaver -- wife, female, white, age 62, married, born MA, father born MA, mother born VT, no occupation, able to read, write and speak English
*  Harry C. Seaver -- son, male, white, age 34, single, born MA, father born MA, mother born MA, a button turner in a button shop, a wage worker, able to read, write and speak English
*  Sophia Hildreth -- mother-in-law, female, white, age 82, widow, born VT, father born MA, mother born MA, retired, able to read, write and speak English

Sophia (Newton) Hildreth died 29 August 1923 in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  She is listed as age 86 years, 11 months, 15 days, which calculates to 14 September 1836.  Her birthplace is listed as Springfield, Vermont, her father's name is not listed, but her mother's name is listed as (Buck) Newton, born in Massachusetts [13].

Sophia Hildreth is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster, Massachusetts with her husband and son.  The Hildreth gravestone is inscribed [14]:

Edward Hildreth
1830-1899
Sophia Hildreth His wife
1836-1923
Clarence E. Hildreth
1874-1878

Sophia (Newton) Hildreth died, on 29 August 1923, after her daughter, Hattie L. (Hildreth) Seaver (died in 1920) and her son-in-law, Frank W. Seaver (died in 1922), in Leominster, Masssachusetts.  Since Hattie was the only heir of Sophia, the estate of Sophia Hildreth was probated simultaneously with that of her daughter and her son-in-law, and the estate was divided between the two sons of Hattie and Frank W. Seaver in October 1923 [15].

 J. Ward Healey petitioned the court to be named administrator of the estate of Hattie L. Seaver estate on 6 September 1923.  The heirs included husband Frank W. Seaver (who has since died), son Frederick W. Seaver and son Harry C. Seaver, both of Leominster.

An inventory was taken by J. Ward Healey on 10 September 1923 and found $33.10 in personal estate and $2,825 in real estate.  The latter was the two family dwelling house at 149 Lancaster Street in Leominster, including a barn and 10,890 square feet of land.  Bond of $4,000 was posted on 7 September 1923 by J. Ward Healey, Frederick W. Seaver and Frank C. Seaver.

The real estate was sold on 31 October 1923 for $6,000.  The land is described as "land owned by the heirs of Edward Hildreth, Leominster, Mass." by Wm. P. Ray, C.E.  It was on the southwesterly side of Lancaster Street, containing 19,317 square feet of land.

The final account of the estate of Hattie L. Seaver was submitted by J. Ward Healey on 10 December 1923, and approved by the court on 8 September 1924.  The estate of $6,546.99 was distributed:

*  To Harry C. Seaver, $2,700 in cash as his partial distributive share, including a $1,600 payment to Merchants National Bank which was borrowed by him.
*  To Frederick W. Seaver, $2,700 in cash as his partial distributive share.
*  The furniture was divided by Harry C. and Frederick W. Seaver.
*  $150 To the City of Leominster for perpetual care of the cemetery lots of Edward Hildreth and Frank W. Seaver.
*  $55 to Leominster Granite and Marble Works for gravestones, and $294 to Chas. H. Richardson, undertakers.

The balance went to the administrator for taxes, repairs on the house, insurance, and probate costs.

5)  SOURCES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

1. Northborough, Massachusetts, Copy of Record of Marriage, Edward Hildreth and Sophia Newton; citing Volume 3, Page 1, Record 10 (1853), Town Clerk's Office, Northborough, Mass. (document dated 13 September 1994).

2. "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1915," indexed database and digital images,  New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org), Marriages: Volume 62, Page 212, Northborough, 1852: Edward Hildreth and Sophia Newton entry.

3. 1850 United States Federal Census, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Northborough: Page 38, Dwelling #165, Family #196, sophia Nowton household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 341.

4. Leominster, Massachusetts, Death Certificate, Certificate of Death, Sophia Hildreth, 29 August 1923; City Clerk's Office, Leominster, Mass. (certificate dated 17 September 1990).

5. "Massachusetts, State Census, 1855", Worcester County, Massachusetts, Northborough: Image 18 of 20, Dwelling #45, Family #57, Edward Hildreth household; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 February 2013).

6. 1860 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Northborough town; Page 955, Dwelling #794, Family 984, Edward Hildreth household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 528.

7. "Massachusetts, State Census, 1865", Worcester County, Massachusetts, Northborough; Image 7 of 31, Dwelling #30, family #40, Edward Hildreth household; digital image,  FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 February 2013).

8. 1870 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Leominster town: Page 261, house #67, family #86, Edward Hildreth household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 654.

9. 1880 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Leominster: Page 532A, dwelling #480, family #605, Edward Hildreth household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T9, Roll 565.

10. 1900 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Leominster: Enumeration District 1645, sheet 16, line 44, Frank W. Seaver household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T623, Roll 692.

11. 1910 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Leominster: Enumeration District 1772, Sheet 13B, dwelling #149, family #257, line 96-98, Sophia Hildreth household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T624,  Roll 629.

12. 1920 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Leominster; Supervisor District 3, Enumeration District 102, Sheet 5B, dwelling #68, family #132, lines 7-10, Frank W. Seaver household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T625, Roll 747.

13. Leominster, Massachusetts, Death Certificate,  Sophia Hildreth, 29 August 1923; City Clerk's Office, Leominster, Mass. (certificate dated 17 September 1990).

14. Evergreen Cemetery (Leominster, Mass., on Main Street).

15. "Worcester County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records" (Worcester County Probate Courthouse, Worcester, Mass.), Hattie L. Seaver, Probate Packet B-81,101.


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Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

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