New grandson’s roots in Maine and Minnesota

The Washburns are among the numerous Mainers who emigrated to Minnesota.

My younger son followed suit four years ago, and the morning of May Day 2008, Anthony and Heather (Taylor) Saucier became happy parents to son Aidan Wilcox Saucier.

I’m pretty excited, too, as you can imagine, and through the wonders of e-mail and the talents of Grandpa Mackenzie, I’m looking at a photo of my new grandson as I write this. Eight pounds, 6 ounces, and 21 1/2 inches long!

Aidan is Gaelic for fiery one.

Wilcox is a family name, the maiden name of Aidan’s great-grandmother Lee Barthel, who grew up in Sauk Centre, Minn., the hometown of Sinclair Lewis.

Lee’s parents were Paul S. and Rose T. Wilcox, Paul was the son of Clark D. and Etta Wilcox, and Clark was the son of Probate Judge David Wilcox and Lucy Wilcox. David and Lucy Wilcox were born in New York, according to census records.

The 1880 census of Sauk Centre lists David, 54; wife Lucy, 52; Clara, 22, born in Wisconsin; Ella M., 20, born in Wisconsin; and four more children born in Minnesota: Adell, 19; Clark, 16; Howard, 14; and Lulu B., 12. Clara and Ella were schoolteachers.

Heather’s family actually owns a farm next door to where her grandmother grew up in Sauk Centre. She and Tony were married there in a beautiful grove of trees in 2005.

I don’t have Aidan’s ancestry all sorted out, but it’s certainly Franco-American, English, Scots, Irish, German and eastern European so far. And I’m hoping that in a few short weeks, I can travel to Minnesota and tell him all about it!

It turns out we have a Wilcox connection in Maine, too, but that’s a story for a later column.

So my husband and I are now Memere and Pepere, and my mother, who has been Grammy to my boys, will now be Nana to Aidan.

Here’s some news from the Searsmont Historical Society.

Bert McCorrison’s “Letters from Fraternity,” the matchless narrative of Searsmont life in the 1920s, has been reprinted in a limited edition, with added illustrations.

Sales benefit the Searsmont Historical Society. The book is available for $9.95. For mail orders, call 342-5975 or 342-5570.

“Sprucing Up Grandpa” will be the topic of the May 8 meeting of the Wassebec Genealogy Society to be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the conference room of Mayo Regional Hospital on Route 15 in Dover-Foxcroft.

Come learn from Cheryl Patten the correct way to clean and care for old cemetery tombstones. And just in time for Memorial Day!

For more information, contact the Bennetts at 876-3073 or the Batticks at 564-3576.

3432. HARRIMAN-GRINDLE-FERNALD-LEACH-PIO. Looking for information on Elvira (Grindle) Harriman, born 1869 or 1871 in Orland. Elvira married Sewell W. Harriman on Oct. 13, 1888, in Orland. She had a daughter Esther M. Grindle. Esther’s father was listed as Leverett Fernald of Ellsworth. Esther married Harry L. Pio on Sept. 28, 1906. Esther and Harry had a daughter Helen L. Pio, born Feb. 25, 1907. Per 1920 Blue Hill census, Helen L. Pio was living with Harry S. Leach and Margaret R. Leach and believed to be their niece. Helen attended nursing school in Massachusetts and married a Mr. Terry. Death files report that Helen Terry, born Feb. 24, 1907, died December 1993 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Elvira Grindle was my great-grandmother. Looking for information on Elvira and her daughter, Esther M. Grindle, and Esther’s daughter, Helen L. Pio. Andrea Caldwell, 87 Pinnacle Road, Liberty, ME 04949; jnacaldwell@fairpoint.net

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