52Ancestors52Weeks Week 22 In the Military: Decoration Day Musings and Josiah S. Boothby's Request for a Civil War Pension in 1882

   This faded photo is of my Great Great Grandfather on my paternal side, Josiah Stewart Boothby. It was probably taken around 1894 when he served in the Oregon State Legislature in Salem, Oregon.  I have written several stories of his life in Heppner and Lexington Oregon around the turn of the century, but the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing prompt for this week brought me back to his story, and specifically to his Civil War military experience.  And since it is Memorial Day today as I write this, I also wondered about the origins of our current Memorial Day.  I learned some things I never knew! 

  Memorial Day was originally known as "Decoration Day" and originated in the years following the Civil War.  It officially became a federal holiday in 1971.  The Civil War ended in the spring of 1865 and had claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history.  The result was the creation of the country's first national cemeteries, where, by the late 1860's, various towns and cities began holding springtime tributes to fallen soldiers.  Flowers were laid on graves and prayers were recited. 

A woman visits the grave of William LeQuek in Woodlawn National Cemetery on Decoration Day in the 19th century. Photo courtesy of the LOC/cecildaily.com

  Some records show that one of the earliest commemorations was organized by a group of formally enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865.  They memorialized Union soldiers who perished at a makeshift prison at the Washington Racehorse and Jockey Club in Charleston by giving the soldiers a proper burial (they exhumed their bodies from the mass grave behind the grandstands and reburied them in a new cemetery).  On May 1, 1865, they then organized a parade around the racetrack, as black children carried bouquets. This  was organized a year before other U.S. cities began their observances, and three years before the first national observance.  This is a fascinating story and the author David W. Blight published a book in 2001 called Race and Reunion The Civil War in American Memory detailing his findings.  Even then, the memories of the war began to become segregated and this poignant story was eventually lost to the majority of the country.  

https://www.history.com/news/memorial-day-civil-war-slavery-charleston

  

   This is the pension record of Josiah Boothby (US Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1943 Ancestry.com). At the time he was married to his second wife, Susan Jane Yates Boothby, who received a pension as a widow after Josiah's death in 1905.  Josiah's experience in the war left him with failing health that would effect him for the rest of his life.  I found his affidavit on a webpage put together by a Boothby cousin (sersale.org).   She transcribed the letter as it was written, poor spelling and all. The transcribed letter now can be found on Josiah's Find A Grave memorial. 

   Josiah had served in the 7th Regiment, Missouri Infantry with Company F under Captain William B. Collins.  His obituary  states that he also served under Colonel Stevens, General Logan and General Grant, and that he participated in 22 regular battles.  The obituary states that 1,200 men started out in his regiment and about 134 officers and men were left when the was ended.  Part of his service was at the battle, capture and siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi in the spring of 1863.  

  His petition describes his illnesses as pleurisy, scurvy, diarrhea and then kidney and bladder infections.  It is hard to imagine the hardships these soldiers had to endure on and off  the many battlefields during the war.  Was serving in this war worth it to him? I often wonder what Josiah's motivation was for joining the Union army.  Was he politically motivated with an interest in preserving the Union? Did he even have antislavery views?  He was living in Willow Springs, Kansas in July of 1860 (Year: 1860; Census Place: Willow Springs, Douglas, Kansas Territory; Page: 137) and was 37 years old.  He was working as a farmer.  There was a severe drought in 1860, and the drought led him to Alexandria, Missouri where he and his family lived until the outbreak of the war in 1861.  I did some quick research on Willow Springs during the 1860's and learned that it was also the home of Methodists, Quakers and the German Brethren who took an early stand against slavery. Perhaps he carried his community's beliefs with him to Missouri.  So, whatever his motivation, he was mustered in on June 1, 1861 (U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 Ancestry.com) and fought for the Union.  

  (https://www.kshs.org/preserve/pdfs/douglascounty_willowsprings.pdf)

Josiah's petition for Civil War benefits in his own handwriting.  Shared by Mimi Boothby (sersale.org)

   Here is the transcription of Josiah's petition for a pension, written after the letter from his commanding officer (below) (transcription done by sersale.org)......

Independence Polk County Oregon

December 17th, 1882

Hon Comitioner of Pentions.

The first Sickness I had while in the Service. was, westren Mo. it was plurice in left side. was teated by the rigtmantle surgon.  That was December 61.  May 1862 while Camped neared Corinth Miss. was taken down with Chills and fever and Camp Direah. was treated in Camp Hospitle by the regt Surgon in about too weekes got well enouhf to go to my Company. in 1863 while on the march around Vixburge and near rayon Miss. about the first of May of that yeare. was taken with Dierah and Scurvey kept on duty until I gave out completely breaking down in my back.  Was taken to field Hospitle Stade thare for Several dayes don't remmeber but think Som ten dayes.  The surgon Said my kidneys and Blader was badly afected. and wanted to Send me to a Hospitle Boat.  I told him I thought that I wold com around all rite in a few days.  So he let me go to my companey.  I did not think at the time that I had Contracted a lifetime disease.  I lost all my teath in cocequence of the Scurvey.  Tho I hav not Said aney thing about the Scurvy in making out my Claim for a Pention.  Soon after the capture of Vixburg I had a nother atact of the Same Complaint of kidneys as before. was treated in my one tent. by the regtmat Surgon.  From that on untill I was Discharged from the Survis.  was treated a number of times in my one regtmental Quarters. as time wore on from the time I was Discharged until the presant time has bin groing worse. as I grow older I Cant remember the names of aney of my regtmatal surgons.  Tho the last one. was a hired Sitasan Surgon. I hav tride to giv the Departmant as Presisie acount of the times and pases of MY Direant Sickness as my Best recolection would Serve me. 

Very Truly youre obediant Survant

 Josiah S. Boothby

"This is a letter from his commanding officer.  The spelling was better, but his handwriting is awful"  (sersale.org).....

State of Iowa; Lee County

I WBCollins having been duly sworn on my oath say I am the same WBCollins who was Captain Company "F" 7th Mo fifth fols(?) and am personally and ultimately acquainted with Josiah S Boothby late of said Company "F" 7th Regt Mo fols(?) and now I understand the said Boothby resides in Independence Oregon that on or about the 5th day of May A.D. 1863 the said Boothby while in the field was taken down with affection of disease of the kidneys and bladder and as I now remember was prior to that time a few days complaining and left the Company and regiment then in the field near Raymond Mississippi. that said disease as I believe was brought about the the exposure incident to the Campaign.  that I was in command of said Company at that time and remember of this severe sickness but do not remember the details and particulars thereof or of the length of time he was absent from the company-that when he enlisted he was apparently stout and healthy.  That I have no interest in his application for pension and reside at Keokuk Lee County, Iowa

  WB Collins

Subsented and sworn to before me WB Collins this 1st day of July AD 1880 whom I certify to be the identical person he represents himself to be as I believe from his appearance and statements and have no interest in the above application for pension witness my hand and seal of official

SS James

Clerk of District Court

in and for Lee County Iowa

Josiah Stewart Boothby's Death Certificate (Ancestry.com).  He died from uremia caused by degenerated kidneys (chronic kidney disease) in 1905. 

    I will write more on Josiah's life in another blog post. But for today, it is enough to reflect on his military service and sacrifice as I also think about the many nuanced origins of  Decoration Day.  He did not lose his life during this conflict (we honor those who have lost their life in service on Memorial Day) but  he certainly paid with his health.  He died in 1905 after end stage kidney disease which also caused him to lose his eyesight.  He lived to be 81 years old.  

  Decoration Day was begun to help our nation heal its wounds from the War.  People told and retold their own stories, honored fallen heroes and reconciled with former enemies.  On this day, May 31, 2021, at this moment in history, let's remember to listen to everyone's stories. 

Relationship Reference: Me->Dale Boothby->Sterl Boothby->Josiah T. Boothby->Josiah Stewart Boothby

Friday's Featured Photo

 

    Today's picture is from the Levers/King file and is of an unknown wedding party.  This was probably taken in Cornwall, circa 1920's.  I would love to know who the lovely bride was! 

An enlarged version.  

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 21 Theme At the Cemetery: Meeting Josiah S. Boothby and Other Boothby Relatives at the Penland Cemetery

Headstone of Josiah Stewart Boothby Penland Cemetery Lexington, Oregon.  Photo by Patti Alden

                                    

   Have you ever planned a trip with your husband, with the express purpose of secretly squeezing in a visit to a cemetery?  We had been camping and exploring the Painted Hills and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument area of eastern Oregon for a week or so in October of 2017.  We were 550 miles from our home in northern Nevada.  In the middle of our trip I opened Google Maps on my Ipad and began talking out loud.  "But, Sweetie, Heppner and Lexington are only 2 1/2 hours away! And who knows when we will ever get back up here again?" That was my sneaky plan all along, and luckily my husband thought it would be a great adventure to drive north from our RV home base in Dayville, Oregon to find the Penland Cemetery.  "My Great Great Grandfather is up there.  I know exactly where he's buried according to Find A Grave.  I'll never get a chance to see him again.  I have to go there!" And off we went. 

  

    There is just something about visiting a place where a distant relative lived, and was eventually buried. There is an unexplainable pull or draw.  Do you think you might meet them walking down the street?  Perhaps you might feel their presence somewhere.  For me,  I just enjoy looking at scenes or places that my ancestors might have also looked at during their lifetime.  I imagine myself looking through their eyes.  It was their own unique place in the world and I want to feel like I am making a connection there. 

  That is exactly what I felt as we found ourselves south of the little town of Heppner, Oregon.  We drove north through the Umatilla National Forest on State Highway Route 207 for quite awhile until the trees abruptly thinned out and we were suddenly on top of prehistoric basalt lava flows as far as the eye could see.  Not a tree in sight. Just golden fallow wheat fields and green fall alfalfa fields growing in patches on the thin top layer of soil.  In between the flows were small valleys where the water found its way over thousands of years.  The road would follow the hills and valleys and when we got back up the hills out of the valleys it literally felt like we were on top of the world.  This was the landscape that my Great Great Grandfather saw.  

  

  We made it to the town of Heppner and took pictures of the Morrow County Courthouse (built with dark blue basalt)  and then found a pizza place for lunch (it was called "Two Old Hags Pizza" but served a great Hawaiian).  We drove around and found the local historical society which was closed for the season.  At least I know where that is now.  Then, we were off to the cemetery in nearby Lexington where Josiah S. Boothby was buried.  I couldn't wait to meet him!  I had emailed the nice man in the county office several days before we visited, and he said the gate was always open.  Google Maps took us right through sleepy little Lexington and out Cemetery Hill Road to the cemetery.  

The Penland Cemetery with Lexington in the background.  Photo taken October 2017 by Patti Alden

Yes, the gate was unlocked.  Penland Cemetery Gate Lexington, Oregon.  Picture taken October 2017 by Patti Alden

  It took a few minutes of searching and matching landmarks to find the headstone I was looking for.  I remember that the cemetery was so quiet.  All you could hear was the occasional breeze blowing by.  We did not see a  living soul anywhere.  We didn't hear a car drive by or  working farm equipment, or even a plane overhead.  I took a picture of the area directly across the street from the cemetery.  The October sun was still warm, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.  It was a very moving experience.  

    I spent some time taking pictures, experiencing the calm and pondering the life of my Great Great Grandfather.   He was a Civil War Veteran, having served 3 years in the Union army, before coming to Lexington.  He was elected as a representative in the state legislature for Morrow County after moving to Oregon.  He worked as a farmer in the area, and survived the Heppner flood of 1903. I have previously written about the Heppner Flood in a February 23, 2021 post.   Josiah was a respected member of his church and community.  He had a total of seven children.  

  I did find one of his daughters in the Penland Cemetery, in the adjoining plot.   She was his last child, born in 1874 in Kansas to his second wife Susan Yates.  His daughter had come to Oregon with the Boothbys and married Charles Beymer who was a farmer originally  from Ohio.   Her name was Lulu E. (possibly Ella) Boothby Beymer, and she died shortly after giving birth to her second daughter in 1900.  She was 27 years old.  Both of her living daughters were raised separately by different family members.   

Lulu E. Boothby Beymer's headstone Penland Cemetery Lexington, Oregon.  Photo taken by Patti Alden

  It was a quiet trip back to our campsite, but punctuated by absolutely beautiful scenery of the Blue Mountains in the distance and the Umatilla Forest once again while the sun slowly set.  I felt like I was just a little bit closer to knowing my Boothby relatives.  In the last several years since that visit, I have found more information on my Oregon relatives.  My Great Great Grandmother Affa Woodcock Hayman was buried in an unmarked grave in the Heppner Cemetery (see my March 26, 2021 post).  I am planning another trip to the area to do more research, and of course, visit a cemetery or two.  But this time it won't be such a secret! 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Dale Boothby->Sterl Boothby->Josiah Thomas Boothby->Josiah Stewart Boothby

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 19 Theme Mother's Day: Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby

 

Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby b. about 1870 Maine d. 6 May 1930 San Francisco, California

   The theme for this week is Mother's Day.  I haven't written much about Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby.  She was my paternal Great Grandmother, the mother of my Grandfather Sterl Boothby.  I have previously written about Lillie Mae's mother Affa Hayman (March 26, 2021) and her untimely death.  As I researched Affa's children,  including Lillie Mae, I was impressed by their resiliency and the families they raised.  Lillie Mae raised a total of seven children.   Here is her story. 

    Lillie Mae was born around 1870 in Calais, Washington County,  Maine to her parents Martin Dinsmore Hayman and Hannah "Affa" Woodcock.  When she was just 6 months old, the family moved to Portland, Oregon where her father worked as a teamster driving horse drawn street cars.   

  I looked at the 1880 US Census for Umatilla County, Midway Precinct more closely for this post.  It appeared that Martin had moved the family to Umatilla County to try his hand at farming.  They lived near the little town of Hermiston.  Dry land wheat farming was just beginning in eastern Oregon at this time.    Most occupations of male heads of family in the Midway precinct were listed as farmer, stock raiser or herder.  Martin's occupation was listed as farmer.  Martin was 40 and Affa was 37 years old.  Interestingly, both Martin and Affa listed themselves as disabled (the definition being either maimed, crippled or bedridden).  I have not been able to find any other mention of disabilities for both of them, although Affa died young and under questionable circumstances.  Perhaps this played a part in her death.  

  By 1880 Lillie Mae's older sister Lizzie was working as a domestic servant in Heppner.  Lizzie was enumerated on both the 1880 Census for Midway and Heppner, on two separate dates.  Lillie Mae was 10 years old, her older brother Holmes was 16 and her younger brother was 8 years old.  They were all attending school.  This must have been a financially rough time for the family because shortly after this census was taken the family moved to Heppner Oregon where Martin first tried farming and then worked at a lodging house.  He and Affa were eventually divorced.  The boys went with Martin to Dayton, Washington where Martin worked as a hotel clerk.  Perhaps his disability prevented him from performing hard laborious farm work at this point. 

    Lizzie was married to F. Dee Cox at the age of 16 and in 1884 Affa gave consent for 15 year old Lillie Mae to marry Silas Horner, as she testified that she was no longer able to provide for her girls.  Affa married William Kirk in 1885.   She sadly  passed away in August of 1886 in Heppner, Oregon.  

  Silas Horner was born in Indiana in 1852 and trained as a harness maker.  Both he and a German immigrant named George Nobel were listed on the 1880 Census for Umatilla County, Midway precinct, so most likely they knew the Hayman family.  George was a harness maker as was Silas.  He and George came to Heppner sometime before 1884 and went into business with each other by 1886.  The Heppner Herald of July 23,  1914 described the current business of E. G. Noble's Harness and Saddlery as having started in 1886 with  his father George.  The name of the business at that time was the Noble, Horner and Harrington Harness Company.  The business "never sacrificed quality for the sake of profits and men came 150 miles from the interior to buy their harness from them.  Heppner Harness was a byword for long service and honest goods".  The article went on to say that in a few years the firm changed to Kirk and Hayes.  I am not sure if this is the same Kirk that was Affa's second husband (William Kirk), or one of his three sons who were living in Heppner in the 1880's.  In 1894 George Noble's son purchased the business back.  There was certainly a relationship between the Haymans, the Horners, the Nobles and the Kirks.  Affa Hayman was buried in an unmarked grave in the Nobel plot in the Heppner Cemetery in 1886.

  There was an almost 18 year difference in age between Silas and Lilllie Mae when they married in 1884.  After the harness firm changed hands, Silas and Lillie Mae were living  north of Portland in Clackamas (Clark County, Washington) where their first son, Marion M. Horner was born 29 April,  1886.  Silas' new occupation on Marion's birth record was "tinsmith".  Perhaps he was trying to branch out from harness making.  Lillie Mae was back in Heppner by August of 1886, as her presence was written about in the sworn statement regarding her mother  Affa's death.  Their daughter Ceola was born 13 March, 1889 in Astoria, Clatsop County, Oregon.  There is no 1890 Census,  and I cannot find any information on Silas' occupation during that time.  But, Silas and Lillie Mae remained in Astoria, because  Harry Richard Horner was born there on 29 March, 1893.  By 1895 the family was in Camas, Washington (just north of Portland) where their last child  Clyde Dale Horner was born 30 May, 1895.  Silas purchased 160 acres of land in Clatsop County that same year.  The land was near what is now the  Saddle Mountain State Natural Area, just south east of Astoria.  After he and Lillie Mae divorced, he remarried Louisa Hagan who had a son "near Snohomish" (Washington) in 1905. Louisa was 34 years old; Silas was 53 years old and working as a farmer.  

    Silas and Lillie Mae divorced sometime after 1895, and Lillie Mae moved back to the Heppner, Lexington Oregon area.  In  1898 she married Josiah Thomas Boothby, a farmer who was living in Lexington, Oregon.  I think the 1900 Census sheds some light on their relationship at the time:  Josiah's occupation was listed as "Farmer", and Lillie Mae's occupation was also listed as "Farmer".  Very unusual for the time!  Lillie Mae and Josiah went on to have three sons together.  

                             

  

Thomas Josiah Boothby b. 5 November 1899 Lexington, Oregon d. 26 April, 1952 Portland, Oregon. Picture taken in Grass Valley, Oregon around 1909. 

Sterl Kenneth Boothby b. 17 January, 1907 Kent, Oregon d. 10 September, 1960 Grass Valley, California.  My Grandfather!  Picture taken in Grass Valley, Oregon around 1909.  Note:  Sterl moved his family from San Francisco to Grass Valley, California in 1947 where he owned and operated Grass Valley Drug.  I have a very unique connection to two Grass Valleys!

 

Harold Glenn Boothby b. 18 September, 1908 Grass Valley, Oregon d. 5 March, 1943 San Francisco, California. Picture taken in Grass Valley, Oregon around 1909. 

  The 1900 US Census also shows us what the Boothby family looked like in Lexington, Oregon...

Boothby, Thomas J. (Josiah) Head   aged 44  ...........Farmer

Lillie M. Wife  aged 39  ..............................................Farmer

Thomas J. (age 7 1/2 months)

Horner, Marion, Stepson aged 14................................Farmer

Horner, Ceola, Stepdaughter  aged 11

Horner, Harry, Stepson aged 7

Horner, Clyde Stepson aged 5

  Lillie Mae and Josiah also lived in the small central Oregon towns of Kent and Grass Valley, where Josiah engaged in farming. They were enumerated in Grass Valley, Oregon in the 1910 US Census.  Both towns are located in the rolling grain fields of southern Sherman County.   Kent is considered a ghost town. 

 Methodist Church Grass Valley, Oregon.  According to Dan Earl of Grass Valley, it is the most photographed church in Sherman County.  oldmethodistchurch.com


  

Lillie Mae and Josiah Thomas Boothby before 1915.

  Lillie Mae and Josiah were married until Josiah's death in 1915.  He went to Portland to have an operation for cancer, and did not survive.   He was remembered as being a loving father who "made no distinction between his own children and his stepchildren", and was a "good husband" (Heppner Gazette Times 28 October, 1915). 

 

  Lillie Mae continued to provide for her youngest boys as she moved to Newberg, Oregon after Josiah's death and worked as a dress maker.  The 1920 Census listed her as head of her family, and living with her sons Thomas J., Sterl and Harold.  Thomas was 20 at the time, and working as a laborer in a juice plant.  They lived at 203 Sheridan Ave. in Newberg.  

  This was on the back of  Thomas Josiah's baby picture.  I'm not sure whose writing this was, possibly Lillie Mae's.  It says "This coat was worn by Tommy, Sterl, Harold, Elmadean, Tressa and Esta."  Elmadean was the daughter of Ceola, and both Tressa and Esta were the daughters of Harry and Mable Horner.  Lillie Mae most likely made the coat for her children and it was handed down and worn by her grandchildren.  

Marion Horner worked as a shingler as an adult, and lived in Sebastopol, California.  Ceola married Willard Heyler in Grass Valley, Oregon and lived in Oakland, California after they divorced.   Harry lived in North Bend and Coquille, Oregon and worked for Raleigh Products as a salesman.   Clyde Dale attended the University of Oregon and became a physician/surgeon in San Francisco, California.  He was known as "Uncle Doc" by the family.   My father was named after him.  

  Thomas went on to serve in WWI, and did not attend college. Both Sterl and Harold attended Oregon State University and both became pharmacists.  Both of Sterl's sons also became pharmacists in California. 

  Lillie Mae was the Great Grandmother I wish I had known.  She certainly was  a survivor with a resilient spirit;  she overcame a stressful childhood, a very early marriage, the loss of her mother, rearing  a total of seven children in isolated Oregon farm country and then experiencing the death of her second husband.  She continued to make sure her children were taken care of and had good educations.  She was living in San Francisco in 1930 with her two youngest sons Sterl and Harold  when she died on the 6th of May.  The cause of death was "streptococeus cellulitus of neck and face"; a bacterial skin infection caused by strep and that is now treated with antibiotics.  She was 60 years old.  

I have posted this picture before.  It was shared on Ancestry.com by RobertPotter62 and shows Lillie Mae (second from right, sitting in the tree) with her siblings Holmes, Lizzie and Harry.  This was taken sometime between 1920 and 1930.  I think I can see some of her personality in this picture!

Relationship Reference:  Me->Dale Richard Boothby->Sterl Kenneth Boothby->Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby

Friday's Featured Photo

   In honor of Mother's Day this last weekend I am posting this picture from the Hansen files.   It is of an unknown woman holding an unidentified baby, possibly sometime around the late 1930's or early  40's.   I love the embroidered apron with the polka dot day dress and the rolled up sleeves.  This picture captured just a quick little moment in time.  The woman looks like she was in the middle of her daily chores and routines, and took a few moments to have her picture taken with the baby.  Could it be hers? Is she a neighbor? Is she a relative that is visiting?  I would love to know.  This is such a sweet picture.                                                                                                  

Friday's Featured Photo

     This week's picture came out of the Hansen files.  There is nothing written on the back to identify anyone, but when I scanned faces, I thought I could see a very young Uncle Jack sitting above the Pacific Sightseeing sign.  He was born in 1906, and if he was around 14-15-16 this would date the photograph at around the early 1920's.  So, if anyone knows their hat styles from the 1920's, please feel free to help me date this picture!  Even if it is not Uncle Jack it  is just fun to look at all the hats......

Here is a close up.  

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 18 Theme: Crime and Punishment. Phebe Wildes Day -- Guilt by Association and the Salem Witch Trials

 

Witchcraft Victim's Memorial 172 Hobart Street, Danvers, Massachusetts

    Researching my Boothby family has taken me back to the very beginnings of many New England towns.  Many of my ancestors were founding members or early inhabitants of towns in Massachusetts such as Ipswich, Watertown, Beverly, Framingham, Groton, Mendon, Topsfield, Sudbury, Rowley, Newbury and Lynn.  This was on both the Boothby and Hayman branches of my father's family.  So, it was not at all surprising to find that I had accused witches as ancestors!  They were, of course, innocent people unjustly accused during a time of mass fear and hysteria, and then sentenced to imprisonment or death.  Being related to an accused witch was enough to cast doubt.  That is precisely what happened to Phebe Wildes in 1692 during the hysteria that gripped New England.

  Phebe Wildes was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts in 1653 and died 8 April, 1723.  She married Timothy Day on 24 July 1679 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  She is my 8th Great Grandmother.  Her sister was Sarah Wildes Bishop.  Their father was John Wildes who married Priscilla Gould.  After Priscilla died, John married Sarah Averill. It appears that Sarah was not a well-liked woman, by both the town (she had been accused of wearing a colorful silk scarf violating the town laws in 1663) or the family of Priscilla Gould.  This family resentment, ill-will and  hatred  fueled accusations of witchcraft.  The Wildes were also engaged in a land dispute with Topsfield and Salem Village, which made the couple unpopular. 

  On 21 April , 1692 a complaint of witchcraft was made against Sarah Wildes, along with several other neighbors and her step daughter Sarah and her husband Edward Bishop.  She was arrested on 22 April and "examined" in Salem Village the same day.  Both of her step daughters Sarah and Phebe, along with Edward Bishop were also arrested.  During her examination an afflicted girl named Sarah Bibber claimed to see Sarah's spirit sitting on the beam of the meeting house. When judges asked Wildes to respond to the charge, she replied "I am not guilty, Sir."  She was indicted on one charge of witchcraft and taken to the Salem jail.  Her trial began on 29  June, 1692 and most of the evidence against her came from the family and friends of her husbands first wife Priscilla Gould.  She was found guilty, sentenced to death, and was hung on 19 July, 1692 along with Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin and Sara Good.           https://historyofmassachusetts.org/sarah-wildes/

  So, what happened to Phebe?  She was accused of witchcraft when her step mother, sister and brother-in-law were accused (guilt by association) and she was taken to Ipswich Gaol (jail) where she remained until 24 September of the same year until she was released on bonds for her reappearance.  She had been accused with two other women of bewitching the sister of a Lieut. Stevens and causing another women to go into convulsions while crossing the Ipswich Bridge.  Phebe was never tried, and the fact that she was sent to the Ipswich Gaol and not the Salem Jail probably saved her life.  She was about 39 years old when she was imprisoned.  She died on 8 April, 1723 at the age of seventy.  

A request from ten women and three or four men confined in the unheated Ipswich jail, requesting that they be released on bail so that they do not "perish with cold".  The wife of Timothy Day (line 4 from the top) was Phebe Day.  

     According to Historic Ipswich the accused were kept in the Ipswich jail which was erected in 1652.  The court paid the keeper 5 shillings per prisoner and ordered that each prisoner should additionally pay the keeper before they could be released for their "food and attendance".  Those who were unable to pay for their food were only allowed bread and water.   Her jail experience was probably similar to those in the Salem jail;  dirt floors, lice ridden, dark and smelly.  Shackles were used so that the "specters" of the accused could not fly free and accost the afflicted.   

salemwitchmuseum.com      

https://historicipswich.org/2021/01/25/ipswich-and-the-salem-witchcraft-trials/

   Phebe's sister Sarah and her husband Edward Bishop were imprisoned in the Boston Jail. They were able to escape, and fled to New York.  They returned to Massachusetts after the hysteria subsided.  **On  a fun side note, my husband's relative Captain John Alden was also imprisoned in the Boston jail after being accused of witchcraft.  He escaped with the help of friends and also fled to New York, returning to Massachusetts when it was safe.....

  The Salem Witch Trials were the result of a combination of many things: family feuds, church politics, fear of attack from Native Americans, hysterical behavior that was encouraged and allowed to flourish, and a political authority that was not to be questioned.  19 people and 2 dogs were executed in Salem and one person was pressed to death under a pile of stones for refusing to testify.  The governor of the colony ordered an end to the trials in 1693 after his own wife was accused.  

  Following the trials, no judges involved publicly confessed their egregious error and guilt with the exception of one.  The  only confessor was Judge Samuel Sewell (1652-1730).  He was a member of the court that ultimately sentenced 19 people to be hanged. He called for a public day of fasting, prayer and reparation.  There is a wonderful book about his life and the effect the trials had on his later beliefs of social justice, written by Eve LaPlante called Salem Witch Judge:  The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall  published by Harper One 2008.  I highly recommend it.  

The Public Repentance of Judge Samuel Sewall For His Action In the Witchcraft Trials painted by Albert Herter  in 1942. 

This painting hangs in the Massachusetts State House.

    Samuel Sewall is also an important part of this story, as he sits in my family tree as well.  His sister Hannah married Jacob Toppan in Newbury, Massachusetts in 1670.  From that line, we get to the Angier line, and on down to the Hayman line, which connected to the Boothbys with the marriage of  Lillie Mae Hayman Horner to Josiah Thomas Boothby in 1898 in Lexington, Oregon. 

Relationship Reference:  

Phebe Wildes Day m. Timothy Day

 *Joseph Day m. Patience Hilton

    *Hannah Day m. Nathanial Whitney

       *Moses Whitney m. Mary Page

           *Molly Whitney m. Lemuel Rounds

               *Mary Rounds m. Josiah Boothby 

                    *Josiah Boothby m. Elizabeth Peyton

                          *Josiah Thomas Boothby m. Lillie Mae Hayman

                               *Sterl Kenneth Boothby m. Tersilla Brondolo

                                    *Dale Boothby m. Margaret Hansen

                                           *Me! 

Recommended websites for more information on the Salem Witch Trials:

salemwitchmusuem.com   (their section on Witch Hunts is eye opening and informative, especially in light of current events)

Historic Ipswich on the Massachusetts Northshore Blog (Ipswich and the Salem Witchcraft Trials)

History of Massachusetts Blog (The Witchcraft Trials of Sarah Wildes March 23, 2019).

For those of you who are keeping track, here is my 52Ancestors in 52Weeks Week 17 Theme: My Favorite Place entry.  I literally could not come up with a favorite place to research, or visit, or talk about.  Every place I research is unique and fits into the puzzle that makes up my family history.   So, this is my favorite place to find most of the pieces and hopefully put them together in a cohesive way so that new generations  can gain a sense of  their own unique place in their families and history.  We welcomed  grandchild #2 Elora Lynn to the family just a few weeks ago.  She fits in perfectly!