Annie Vessie McNeil

 Annie Vessie McNeil (1836-1913)

My relationship: Me > Norma Haynes(mother) > Thomas Haynes(grandfather) > Annie McNeil (my great grandmother)

Annie was the youngest child of Matthew McNeil and Hannah Lutches Blois. She was born in Nine Mile River, Hants County, Nova Scotia on 26 June 1836. When she was almost 2, her mother died. She married Robert Hanes on 4 December 1860 at the age of 24 in Kennetcook in Hants County. Together they had 9 children, all born in Hants County. 

About 4 years after the last child was born, the whole family (except for their first child Ida Hanes who had married Fred Scott and stayed in Hants County) moved to Boston / Roxbury Massachusetts. The family in Boston all changed the spelling of their last name to Haynes from Hanes. They lived at 53 1/2 Kendall Street where Robert was listed as a laborer in the 1881 Boston directory. Robert died in 1883 of dysentery, preceded 2 weeks earlier by the death of their 11 year old daughter, Lucy Alice Haynes, also of dysentery. 

Annie was left with a large family to take care of, with little means of support. She is subsequently listed in several locations in Roxbury and Boston: In 1890 (22 Auburn Street), 1900 (17 Oakland Street), and 1910 (2800 1/2 Washington Street). It appears she rented places and subletted rooms to boarders to earn income. All of her children that left Canada settled in Boston for the remainder of their lives, except for my grandfather, Thomas. He settled and raised his family in Arlington, Virgnia, after marrying Lillian Laffin from Northfield in Hants County.
 

35 Elmore Street

Annie McNeil Haynes died on 13 April 1913 at 35 Elmore Street, Boston, a multifamily residence. Here she lived with her daughter, Lydia and her husband, John Tubman; their daughter Robina Tubman; and Annie's daughter Sarah (Sadie). The cause of death on her death certificate was "acute bronchitis" at the age of 76. She was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain (a Boston suburb), where her husband, Robert was also buried.  I have visited the cemetery and checked their records. There is no headstone at their burial location.

[The story is that at some point the family changed the spelling of their last name to Haynes from Hanes, because they did not like the pronunciation of the name in Nova Scotia as Hines. However, all Boston records of Robert 1880 - 1883 have his name spelled as Hanes. The death record of their daughter Lucy in 1883 is also spelled Hanes. Therefore, it is likely that the name spelling was changed after Robert's death by Annie, as all records of Annie and their children from 1900 on are spelled Haynes].

Phineas Brigham (1815 - 1889)

My relationship: Me > William R. Compton II > William R. Compton I > Mary Brigham > Phineas Brigham (2nd great-grandfather)

Phineas Brigham, son of Timothy and Patty (Damon) Brigham was born in Smithfield, Bradford, PA on 22 Jan 1815. His parents dying early when a mere child, he was placed in the family of William Baldwin, proprietor of the "Old Fountain Inn " near Wellsburg, NY (Chemung Co.), where he lived for several years. He ran away after a severe flogging, returned, and at last set out for the home of his uncle Salmon Brigham in Madison County, NY, working for his food and lodging on the way. Later he moved to Cazenovia, NY where he attended school in 1834 at the Cazenovia Seminary. He intended to prepare for the Methodist ministry, but after a brief experience as an exhorter, he abandoned the idea. 

He met Eliza Johnson, daughter of Ezekiel Johnson and Hannah Sloan of Cherry Valley, and married her there on October 10, 1838 where they lived at least until the early 1850's, with Eliza's mother.  They had five children, but three died young. One is unknown. Two sons, each named William, died young and are buried in the Cherry Valley Cemetery (William Brigham, born 1 June 1841, died 3 June 1842, and William Loomis Brigham, born 14 Feb 1851, died Jan 1853). The other 2 children were Mary Louise Brigham, born 11 Nov 1839 who became Mrs. Norris M. Compton,  and (Dewitt Clinton) Johnson Brigham born 11 Mar 1846, who went on to become the State Librarian of Iowa (1898-1936). In 1857, Phineas is listed as a clerk (insurance) in Elmira, NY, and again in 1860 in Elmira, house on Gray Street. By June, 1860, they had moved to Dix (Watkins), NY where Phineas is listed as a retail shoe merchant and Eliza as a milliner.

Eliza Johnson

On September 6, 1862 Phineas (age 47) enlisted at Palatine, NY as a Private in the Union Army. His son, Johnson Brigham also enlisted, but he was too young (age 16) for combat, and he was transferred to Washington, D.C. where he worked for the Sanitation Dept. during the war. Phineas was mustered into service on October 17, 1862 in the 153rd Infantry Regiment, Company B at Fonda, NY. The next day, the troops left by railroad traveling to New York City, then Philadelphia, then Baltimore, and then Washington, D.C.  A short steamer trip took them to Alexandria where they arrived at their camp on October 24. They encamped there for the next nine months. Alexandria Virginia was a vast depot of military stores. The Brigade was in charge of guard and police duty over these arms. They were often aroused from sleep forming in a line of battle across the different roads into the city remaining under arms until dawn to repel any attack from the Confederate forces, although none ever came. However, many of the men succumbed to disease, including typhoid, pneumonia, measles, and small pox. Phineas succumbed to malarial fever in October-November, 1862. He was treated for five weeks at a private home in Alexandria, and on December 10, 1862 was admitted to the Regimental Hospital in Alexandria. In July, 1863, he transferred to Washington, D.C. and was assigned as an assistant hospital steward at the Soldier's Retreat. In February, 1864, his regiment was ordered to New Orleans, but he was rendered unfit for active duty in the field and he remained in Washington. Due to his illness, Phineas was transferred to Company C of the U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps, 19th Infantry Regiment. On October 1, 1864 he was transferred to the Confederate Prison Camp at Elmira, NY for the remainder of the war, having charge of a hundred confederates there. This camp, in use from June 6, 1864 until autumn 1865, was dubbed "Hellmira" by its inmates. In the months the site was used as a camp, 12,123 Confederate soldiers were incarcerated; of these, 2,963 died during their stay from a combination of malnutrition, prolonged exposure to brutal winter weather and disease directly attributable to the dismal sanitary conditions on Foster's Pond and lack of medical care. The camp's dead were prepared for burial and laid to rest by the sexton at Woodlawn National Cemetery.  At the end of the war, each prisoner was given a loyalty oath and given a train ticket back home; the last prisoner left the camp on September 27, 1865. Phineas was honorably mustered out on July 13, 1865. [For details, see his Civil War pension file #286100]

After the war, he spent two years in Portage County, Ohio and then moved to Watkins, Schuyler, New York in April, 1868. In 1870 he is listed as Assistant Marshall for the town of Watkins, NY and signed all of the census pages for that year. Eliza is not listed there at that time. Financial and health stresses and struggles weighed on the marriage after the war and a formal divorce decree was issued to Eliza in Macon County, Missouri on 7 Nov 1870.

Myra Andrews

On January 6, 1871 he married Myra Andrews and removed to Canton, Pennsylvania living at 46 Center Street. There they had 2 children, Sarah Elizabeth Brigham, born 28 May, 1873, and Anna Brigham, born 10 April, 1875. Phineas died on 20 May, 1889 in Canton and was buried in the Main Street Cemetery there.

Interesting side note: Brigham Young was a 1st cousin once removed of Phineas Brigham (Brigham Young's mother and Phineas's paternal grandmother were sisters.)

Sources:

 "History of the Brigham Family", W.I. Tyler Brigham, Grafton Press, New York, 1907, pp. 450-451

Wilson's Elmira Directory, 1857, 1860 Boyd's Elmira Directory.

US Census records

!53rd New York Regiment Company B Muster Roll Records

Report of the Adjutant General, 153rd Regiment New York, p. 954.

US Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, online data base, Ancestry.com

"History of the 153rd New York Volunteers", The History of Montgomery and Fulton Counties, NY, 1878, pp. 178-180.

80th Birthday newspaper article of Eliza Johnson Stone, Des Moines, Iowa, 1902.

Obituary of Phineas Brigham, The Canton Independent-Sentinel, May 23, 1889.

Asa Laffin (1862 - 1947)

 Pedigree: Me > Norma Haynes > Lillian Laffin > Asa Laffin (my great grandfather)  

Asa Laffin was born 5 October 1862 in Northfield, Hants County, Nova Scotia, the last child of (William) Thomas Laffin and Rachel Miller.  He was christened on 1 November 1863.  

   He inherited the family farm when his father passed away in 1880.  The farm consisted of 400-500 acres.  There was originally a log cabin on the property.  Then a large wooden frame house was built with a living room, dining room, parlor, kitchen, pantry, and one bedroom on the main floor and three bedrooms upstairs.  Asa grew oats, wheat, barley, and vegetables on the farm and had a small orchard.  He also had a dairy herd as well as pigs, sheep, chickens, and horses.  He used some hired help to assist him on the farm. A brook separated his farm from the farm of Chester Laffin to the east, and there was a pond on the farm that had lots of snapping turtles. The kids loved to catch frogs in the pond. Asa loved to trout fish and was quite competitive about it. There were some gypsum holes on his property, but the gypsum was never mined, as it was at other sites in Hants County. Ropes were placed around these holes so no one would fall into them. 

   Asa was a hard worker, didn’t drink, and was well liked by all.  His friends called him “Uncle Asey.” When he drove his first car and he had to stop, he pulled back on the steering wheel and said “Whoa”, forgetting that he was not on a horse! When Asa was introduced to someone new, he always had to know their parents (almost everyone in the area was related by family back then). He would say “Who ARE you?" In his later life, he broke his hip and convalesced for a while at his daughter Ruby Densmore’s house with her son, Lyman Densmore.

   Asa married Rose Ellen (Rosella) Hennigar (born 24 September 1859 in Upper Kennetcook) on 10 July 1890 in Upper Kennetcook at the St. Peter’s Anglican Church.  Rosella’s parents were John A. Hennigar and Letitia Densmore.   Asa and Rosella had seven children—six girls and the last child was a son, Addison. Lillian Laffin was the fourth child and daughter born in Northfield on 16 November 1895. 

                                        Asa and Rosella with their children (L to R): Ruby, Nada, Lillian, Amy, Minnie and Addison

     
His granddaughter, June Haynes, saw Asa for the first and only time in 1946 when she was almost 16 years old. She and her parents, Lillian Laffin and Tom Haynes, were brought from the train station to the house by Uncle Addison Laffin and his wife, Evelyn. When they arrived, she remembers him sitting in a rocking chair by a kerosene lamp. He was still living at his home.  Addison, being the only son, moved in and began to live with Asa after Rosella died in 1930. He and Evelyn raised their five sons there. Lillian had not seen her father, Asa, since before June was born. Her last visit had been in 1929 when Norma Haynes was only 4 years old. It was a very teary situation. June describes her grandfather, Asa, as a typical grandfather, sort of wiry, and just a wonderful disposition, a real gentleman.






















Summer 1929 at Laffin home: Lillian Laffin Haynes, Rosella Hennigar Laffin, Asa Laffin, and Ruby Laffin.
Grandchildren include: Norman Anthony age 13 (son of Minnie Laffin and Alfred Anthony), Norma Haynes age 4 in straw hat, and Wilfred age 4 and Cham age 2 (sons of Ruby Laffin and George Densmore). Baby not identified.






Asa’s mother, Rachel Miller Laffin, lived with the family until she died in 1909.  They also cared for Rosella’s father for several years after his wife died in 1907.  Asa’s sister, Elmira, married Rupert Miller. After Elmira died in 1888, her son Wilfred Miller was cared for at Asa’s home and grew up there.





Asa and Rosella are both buried in the Northfield cemetery at the Anglican Church.  She died 27 September 1930 in her sleep of a heart condition.  Asa died 24 September 1947 of pneumonia. His request for his final meal was maple syrup and Evelyn mixed up some brown sugar and water for him.

References:
1. Lillian Laffin (Haynes), daughter
2. Douglas Township Records
3. Northfield Cemetery
4. June Haynes (Spencer), granddaughter
5. Lyman Densmore, grandson (mother, Ruby Laffin Densmore)

Peter Compton (1813-1886)

Relationship: Me > William R. Compton II > William R. Compton I > Norris Compton > Peter Compton (my 2nd great-grandfather)

Peter Compton was born in Tompkins County, New York (17 June 1813), son of Stephen and Anna (Van Sickle) Compton. He married Amy Norris on 30 April 1835. She had been born in Sullivan County, New York in 1819, daughter of Matthew and Julia (Van Duzer) Norris. They had only one child, Norris Matthew Compton, born 26 April 1836 in Sullivanville, NY, a small hamlet in the "town" of Veteran, which is situated on the road northeast of Elmira on the way to Ithaca.

Peter became a circuit preacher for the Methodist-Episcopal Church. He and Amy were early members of the church at Sullivanville, NY. There are a number of references to his ministry:

History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins, and Schuyler Counties, New York, 1879: The Methodist Episcopal Church of Tyrone Village - The society or class was formed at the schoolhouse in Tyrone Village, Oct 11, 1828, by Elder Nathan B. Dodson, a presiding elder of the Jersey circuit. Among the original members were…..Peter Compton.
History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins, and Schuyler Counties New York, 1879 - The Methodist Church - Veteran, New York: In 1832 a class and church was organized at Sullivanville, and were composed of Dietrich Shaffer, leader, Sarah Shaffer, as are Mallory and wife, and soon after Peter and Amy Compton. A meeting house was erected in 1855, thoroughly repaired in 1877, and on June 27, 1878, was rededicated. There are about 25 members.
Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York by John H. Selkreg, 1894; D. Mason & Co., Publisher, Chapter XVI - Town of Danby:  The South Danby Methodist Church was organized as early as 1830, and was formerly a part of the North Danby charge. The church was built in 1836. The charge was separated from the parent church in 1843. In 1871 the church was extensively repaired. The first pastor was Rev. Peter COMPTON.
A History of South Danby and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1873:   1839 - Peter Compton preached one year.
Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church - Oneida, NY Conference, August 21, 1844 - Peter Compton listed in the Owego District preaching at Flemingville, NY.
Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church - Oneida, NY Conference - July 22, 1846 - Peter Compton is listed as Deacon. Also listed as preacher in the Susquehanna District in Pike, NY
Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church - Oneida, NY Conference July 21, 1847 - Peter Compton listed as Deacon.  Also listed as preacher in the Susquehanna District in Pike, NY.
Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church - Oneida, NY Conference - July 26, 1848 - Peter Compton listed as Deacon.  Also listed as preacher in the Susquehanna District in Greene, NY.
Minutes and Official Journal of the Thirteenth Session of the Central New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held at Syracuse, New York October 6 - 13, 1880: Local Preacher's Directory - Sullivanville: Peter Compton.

In 1850, the family is listed in the US Census of Barton, Tioga, NY, consisting of Peter ("Methodist preacher"), Amy, son Norris Compton, and Peter's father, Stephen Compton. Peter is also listed in the 1860 (homeopathy physician), 1870 (minister) and 1880 (farmer) censuses for Veteran, NY, living in Sullivanville,

Events:
On May 5, 1834 he purchased property from Langstaff and Sarah Compton in Veteran, NY. It is suspected that Langstaff was his uncle, being a brother of his father, Stephen.

On March 18, 1855 Peter had a dry goods store in Waverly, NY that went up in flames:
From the Owego Gazette: Great Fire in Waverly: A fire broke out in Waverly, on Sunday morning, March 18th, about half past two o'clock, in the rear of P. Compton's dry goods store, destroying 14 buildings. Loss and insurance reported as follows: ....One block of six stores owned by Mr. Spaulding, loss $5000, insured $3000 in Farmers Union Co. and Livingston Co. [Thomas J. Brooks store occupied this block], ...building owned and occupied by P. Compton as a dry good store, loss $5000, building insured in Dividend Company, Glenn Falls, NY for $1000, contents insured in Phoenix Company $3000....

From "The History of Waverly, New York and Vicinity (1943): On the 18th of March, 1855 the necessity for an organized body of firefighters was made painfully manifest by Waverly's first great fire. It began in Peter Compton's store on the south side of Broad Street and burned eastward to and including Mrs. Gibbon's store and westward almost to the Davis Block destroying in all seventeen stores and dealing a severe blow to the business interests of the village. There was no longer any doubt that a fire company was needed...On May 4 the taxable inhabitants voted to allocate $900 to procure a fire engine, hose, etc., which was subsequently purchased in New York City.


On May 18, 1868, Peter was awarded a U.S. patent for a new beehive design:

In 1869 his home is shown on a map of Sullivanville, NY from Atlas of Chemung Co., New York : from actual surveys / by and under the direction of F. W. Beers ; assisted by Geo. P. Sanford & others, 1869. (Notice a neighbor farmer named W. Randall [William], who may have been close friends with father Peter's son, Norris who took over running Peter's farm in Sullivanville, and may have been the reason Norris named his son William Randall Compton.)

Peter is listed in the 1868-69 Gazetteer and Business Directory for Chemung and Schuyler Counties as a patentee and manufacturer of bee hives, and farmer of 7 acres.

Death 17 November 1886.

Death Certificate:

Headstone in the Van Duzer Cemetery in the Compton plot in Veteran, NY

From the "Northern Christian Advocate" on December 9, 1886: Minutes of the Ithaca district conference convened for its seventh annual session in the Aurora Street Church Ithaca New York Monday evening November 29.  M. Shaw reported the death of Peter Compton, a local preacher at Horseheads. An appropriate memoir was prepared and ordered spread on the conference minutes.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate this memoir, any obituary in the local newspapers or any photograph of Peter Compton.