Bennett - Boyce - Comstock - Craig - Hume - MacDougall - Sanders
Past Featured Ancestors
Isabella (Comstock) Bennett
Isabella was born July 1, 1831 in Putnam, Washington County, New York. She married Craig Bennett on November 10, 1854 in Dubuque County Iowa.
In July of 1889 while living in Kent, Oregon, she sat down and wrote out some "sketches at the urgent request of Margrett Jane Woods." Those sketches led to this home page.
Copies of her family history were passed around, eventually typed up and passed around some more. They inspired my aunt, my sister, countless cousins and me to research the family. They also inspired my mom to gather family photos and records, to make copies of them and to share them.
All these things happened because Isabella sat down to write out what she knew. "It is all taken from leaves of memory's book," she wrote at the bottom, "I have had no records to consult, but am willing to have it compared to records."
Well in our searches it did get compared to records. All we did was add to her original information, no changes needed to be made. Her memory stood her well.
Thank you, Isabella for sharing your memories, and thank you, Margrett Jane Woods for urging her to do it.
Source: The writings of Isabella Comstock.
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Fade and Elizabeth Boyce
When Elizabeth was a girl she had long blonde hair the color of cornsilk. She went to college (a private kind of high school) at a place called Dunstafenage on Prince Edward Island, Canada. She had many suitors but chose Fade Boyce, much to her family's chagrin as the Sanders were more upper crust than the Boyces, but as Elizabeth said, "it turned out all right."
Fred and Libby (as they were called), started their married life in Pownal, P.E.I. Fred had a tailor shop next to the house. His mother and sister were seamstresses and one of his younger brothers, George, was also a tailor.
Libby went home to her mother in Belle River for the birth of their first child, James Victor in 1896. Three more children were born on Prince Edward Island -- Earl Winfred, Daniel Gordon and Genevieve Agnes.
In 1905, the family moved to Attleboro, Massachusetts and later to Cambridge, Massachusetts. They had three more children, Sybil Isabelle, Emma Louise and Joseph Sanders.
Fred was an elder in the Church of Scotland in Cambridge. He worked as a tailor in the Harvard Coop in Harvard Square until he became ill and died in 1942. He never missed a day's work the whole time he worked for the Coop.
Libby would often create poems. Her favorite subject was her children. Unfortunately, if the poems were ever written down, they were lost. However, her love for her family can never be forgotten.
In 1931, she saved the life of her two year old granddaughter who was stricken with pneumonia. Even the doctor gave up, but Libby did not. Her granddaughter lived to be a great grandmother.
Called 'Ma' and 'Pa' by their grandchildren, they are remembered as very kind, gentle people. Their grandchildren would often stay with them for several months or years at a time. Ma and Pa were always there when their grandchildren needed them.
Pa wore a derby and walked with a cane. Ma was always very stylish. Whenever she went out, she always wore a hat. Her favorite style was a squashed bowler with a feather that curved from front to back.
Sources: Beverly Ketchum and Pearl Bennett
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Walter Harvey Bennett
The seventh of ten children, Walter Harvey was born April 25, 1868 in Jones County, Iowa. When he was six, his parents moved the family to Kansas. Then in 1883, they moved to Goldendale, Klickitat County in Washington Territory. Two years later, the Bennett Family again moved to Kent in Sherman County, Oregon. Walter followed shortly after, making the journey on horseback to the town where he would spend a great part of his adult life.
Walter attended school and acquired a good business education. He worked on his parents' wheat farm until he came of age and secured a fine tract of land adjoining that of his brother's and parents'. Throughout much of his life he farmed and worked in the freighting business.
On November 28, 1900, Walter married Ella Agnes Craig, whose family he had known since he was a child. In 1903, he became a member of the Eastern Oregon Trading Company where his brother Milton was a manager. For a time, Ella was the Kent telephone operator and worked out of their store.
While they lived in Kent, Walter and Ella had eight children, including two girls who died at birth. Shortly after 1918, the family moved to Hermiston, Oregon, where their youngest child was born. Walter farmed there until about 1930 and then moved to Fern Hill where they had a farm until 1936. Walter and Ella retired to live in Portland. He died June 8, 1943.
While in Kent, Walter served as a special deputy sheriff and constable for several years. He was popular and highly esteemed by his neighbors. Walter was interested in photography and took many pictures of Sherman County including shots of Kent, Oregon. We were pleased and surprised one day to spot some of his photographs in a book on the history of Sherman County. Unfortunately his photography equipment and originals have all been lost over the years.
Although Walter Harvey is my grandfather, I never met him as I was born 23 years after his death. In his photos he looks like a kind man (and a little bit like Teddy Roosevelt). Looking back on the history during his lifetime, I suspect he may have had a hard life. He worked until his late 60's and when he was ready to retire, the country was in the middle of the Great Depression.
Sources: Ted and Pearl Bennett. History of Central Oregon.
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Joseph Sanders
Joseph Sanders was born at Murray River, Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1838. He was the oldest of Phillip and Sarah Agnes Sanders' nine children.
Joseph was a man of great influence in the communities in which he lived. He held the office of ruling elder in the Church of Scotland for over half a century. He was held in high esteem and often people would ask him for advice. Even during his last illness, he was sought out for his wise counsel.
His daughter Libby felt he could do anything and was very proud of him. She recalled that he was very good to people and often gave them money and food.
Joseph and his wife Elizabeth raised their family in Belle River on P.E.I. He owned a schooner for transporting cargo and for many years he was the Justice of the Peace for Queen's County.
After his wife died in 1914, Joseph went to live with his son Phillip in Charlottetown but visited his other children from time to time. He died October 4, 1924. His funeral service was led by Rev. Ewen MacDougall (earlier that year, Rev. MacDougall's second cousin had married Joseph's grandson).
Source: Beverly Ketchum, and Joseph Sanders' obituary.
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James Victor Boyce
James Victor Boyce (Vic) was born in Belle River, Prince Edward Island in 1896. He was the oldest of the seven children born to Fade and Elizabeth Boyce. His father, known as Fred, was a tailor. In 1905, his family moved to Attleboro, Massachusetts. He must have had many happy childhood memories there as he talked lovingly of it for years.
In 1924, he married Eunice MacDougall. They had three children, James Victor Jr., Elizabeth Genevieve and Eva Pearl.
Vic worked as a clerk in Sinclair Hardware Store in Medford, Massachusetts. In 1935, when the owner of the store died, he and another clerk were given the option of buying the business. It was very successful and they soon moved to larger quarters around the corner.
Later after World War II, Vic branched out on his own. He bought a hardware store in South Medford and named it Boyce and Bennett. Vic and his son ran the business and Eunice was clerk and bookkeeper.
Vic was very fond of children and was a good father. He raised his family during the depression years and was always on the lookout for old or broken toys, which he would repair and paint for his children. On his afternoon off, he would take his children on excursions in Boston and for picnics in the woods.
As long as his daughter can remember, he always had a few tomato and string bean plants in the yard. Vic was also very talented musically. He had a good ear for music and played his mandolin almost everyday. He even occasionally tap danced.
Vic and Eunice retired to Falmouth on Cape Cod in 1966. He died June 23, 1973.
Source: Pearl Bennett
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Philetus Comstock
Philetus Comstock was born March 1, 1790 in Granville, New York. His father took ill and died young. Years later, all that Philetus could recollect was getting his father's slippers for him. Sometime after his father died, Philetus changed his name to Abel (his father's name).
Abel was a sawyer and mechanic by trade. He almost always owned mill property. He married Isabella Cummings in 1815 and they settled in Putnam, New York, where their first nine children were born.
Abel had the misfortune to cut his knee in the winter of 1834 and had to go on crutches for nearly two years. His daughter remembered him running races with his children while he was on crutches.
In 1835, Abel and Isabella moved their family to Little Falls, New York. They didn't stay there long, but continued to move, first to Mercer, Pennyslvania and then to Dubuque, Iowa where another son was born in 1836. In 1838, their last child was born in Newton Falls, Ohio. Unfortunately he did not live out the year.
Abel and Isabella were married 44 years. She died October 26, 1859. Abel was lonely after her death and later married a woman named McClintock. He died at his son's house in 1876.
Abel and Isabella's daughter described them as cheerful companions, kind and gentle, but firm parents, and good neighbors, always ready to lend a hand.
Source: The writings of Isabella Comstock Bennett
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Thomas Craig
Thomas Craig was born in 1839 in Ireland. Around about 1858, he married Jane "Jennie" Cresswell. Sometime between 1866 and 1870, Thomas and Jennie made the decision to move their family across the ocean to America.
The 1870 census for Page County, Iowa lists both Thomas and Jennie's ages as 31. It also mentions John age 11, James age 9, Mary A. age 7, Fanny age 6, and Adam age 4 -- all born in Ireland. Listed last is Margaret, who was born March 12th of that year in Iowa.
Thomas and Jennie had five more children. Their youngest Ella Agnes was born in 1881 in Kansas. Jennie died in Kansas and in 1884, Thomas moved his family to Oregon. They traveled with Craig and Isabella Bennett's family. Later Ella Agnes married Craig and Isabella's son Walter Harvey.
To the best of my knowledge, Thomas Craig was a farmer. He farmed in Iowa, Kansas and in Oregon, where he died in 1906.
Sources: Research of R.A. Koch and Leanna Bennett
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Colin MacDougall
Colin married Mary Anne MacDougall of Bangor, Prince Edward Island. They had seven children -- three of whom died very young of black diptheria, the other four lived to be a good age. Mary Anne died when the children were very young.
Colin then married Elizabeth Hume, daughter of Peter and Mary (Compton) Hume of Brooklyn, PEI. Colin was 39 and Elizabeth was 19. The difference in age made no difference to them. They were sweethearts till the day Colin died (very suddenly of a heart attack at age 77).
When they got married, Elizabeth took on the care of the four step-children and gave birth to 15 of her own. George died of a ruptured appendix when he was 14. James died when he was very young and a set of twins died at birth. The other 11 lived into their 80's and 90's.
Colin and Elizabeth didn't see the need of much education and the result was that the family all went to work at an early age. In spite of the lack of education, they all did very well.
Colin with the support of Elizabeth became a very successful farmer at Morell, East PEI. At age 70, he retired from the farm. He was financially able to help his sons Peter, John and Cam (who were veterans of World War I) to get established on farms in Bangor. He then moved to Charlottetown where he started a grocery store on University Avenue. He didn't have the education and he had too big a heart and gave out too much credit, so his store failed.
He then became a janitor at Prince of Wales College. Although he had little education, he was very intelligent and he became friends with the professors, especially Dr. Samuel Robertson who was a fellow elder in the Church of Scotland and visited at their home frequently. When Colin died in 1925, a carload of professors came to his wake in Nine Mile Creek where he and Elizabeth retired.
Colin was a gladly man and had a great sense of humor.
Source: Florence (MacDougall) Smith
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