‘Where’ matters in search of pasts

To find out who someone was, it’s helpful to know where they were – and when.

Beverly Nickerson believes that Job Billington, who served in the War of 1812 from Wiscasset, and later moved to Wayne and then Dedham, was the son of Ichabod and Betty (Peck) Billington.

Ichabod’s line goes back to John Billington, who came over on the Mayflower in 1620 with wife Elinor or Ellen and sons John and Francis. The younger John died young, but Francis was father to nine children.

In one of the “silver books” published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, “Mayflower Families Volume 5” written by Harriet W. Hodge and revised by Robert Wakefield, it is written of Job and his siblings, “The Billington adults can be accounted for in no other way than as children of Ichabod.”

Job was born September 1770 in “Massachusetts,” which of course could be Massachusetts or the present-day Maine – which didn’t become a state until 1820.

I looked up Job on the Mormon Web site at www.familysearch.org.

The important thing about using this site is to note where the record came from. Those that are “extracted” from town records are generally considered to be more reliable than those which have been submitted by members. You can’t tell whether the submitter is a top-notch genealogist who checks primary sources, or someone who takes everything he sees in print as reliable.

Fortunately, these records usually note some reference to where they came from.

The record which was extracted lists Job as born in 1770 in Albion in Maine.

However, by the time of the 1790 census of Maine, the only Billington listed was John, who resided in Frankfort (now Frankfort and Winterport).

Stanley Bearce Attwood’s “Length and Breadth of Maine” doesn’t list a settlement date for Albion, but the “Maine Register” for 2005 states that it was organized as a plantation, Freetown, in 1802. There is neither a Freetown nor an Albion listed in the 1790 census for Maine.

So how did Job’s birth get recorded in Albion?

Frequently we find that town records include family listings because the children were born there. Mom and Dad’s birth dates may be included, as well. Some records indicate if they were born elsewhere, some don’t.

Of course, a “family” grouping is not contemporary, because it wasn’t put together as it happened – rather it was compiled later. The contemporary vital records are the listing you find spread out by year – this child born in 1804, another mentioned in the records for 1806, etc.

Back to the Web for a minute.

The Pedigree Resource File on the Mormon site lists Job as being born in Albion or in Middleborough, Mass. The information was submitted, with a question mark as to birthplace, and a name and address is given for the submitter. If that information is up to date, a researcher might try contacting her directly.

The file also lists a couple of resources she used, the “Mayflower Families” book and the second volume of “Maine Families in 1790,” a publication of the Maine Genealogical Society and Picton Press in Rockport. I checked “Maine Families,” and there’s nothing new there on Job, but these tidbits can give researchers ideas of other places to look.

If you have information that might help Beverly Nickerson, send it to her at 4173 Rhodes Way, Oceanside, CA 92056-7413; or e-mail mayflowerbobbev@cox.net.

She also is looking for information, documents and pictures pertaining to Job’s son, Asa Billington.

From the day I started seventh grade at Guilford Elementary School, I remember the ready smile of Mrs. Bray. She taught sixth grade, so I wasn’t in her class, but I will never forget her encouraging presence. I was so pleased to hear that Tisbury Manor Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, visited her in Guilford recently to mark her 94th birthday.

A DAR member for 53 years, and member of the Eastern Star for 75 years, Beatrix Jackson Bray joined the DAR on the Revolutionary War service of Joshua Draper and of Barnabas Jackson Sr. Happy birthday, Mrs. Bray.

3337. REYNOLDS-HUTCHINS-DAVIS. Seeking information on Charles Levert Reynolds, born Feb. 21, 1863, son of Benjamin and Melissa Reynolds of Whitneyville and Jonesboro. Charles married Lillian Chester Hutchins, born Sept. 16, 1870, died Aug. 25, 1943. Need info on the Reynolds side, plus Melissa’s maiden name and parents, and info on Lillian’s parents. They were Horace and Naomi (Davis) Hutchins of Orland, who moved to Whitneyville-Jonesboro area. Other children of Horace and Naomi Hutchins: Albion, married Evelyn Cousins of East Blue Hill and had Dora Hutchings, who married Frank H. Jewett Sr. and had three chidren; William Hutchins; Vesta Hutchins, married a Schoppee in Machias-Jonesboro area; Frazer Hutchins. Also seeking info on spouses of these people. Ronie L. Strout, 267 Ridge Road, Addison, ME 04606; e-mail Ronie L@yahoo.com.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail, familyti@bangordailynews.net.