Thursday, August 5, 2010

Cabinet Photograph of Franklin W. Wells & wife, North Anson, Maine




Cabinet photograph of Franklin W. Wells and wife, North Anson, Maine; photograph taken by Barton of North Anson.  I'm not sure of the date but the information on back refers to Mrs. Ledger, who would have been Franklin W. Wells' daughter Sarah "Sadie", who married Arthur Legere.   The photograph of Franklin and his wife appears to predate the marriage of their daughter, which occurred in 1906.    Perhaps the handwriting on back is much newer than the original photograph.






Franklin W. Wells was born in Maine on 19 August 1859, the son of Robert Grant Wells and his wife Josephine (Durrell) Wells.   His grandparents were Ralph and Mercy (Clark) Wells and Joseph and Olive (Thompson) Durrell.


I haven't been able to find out the maiden name or parents of Franklin's wife Addie, who indicated to the 1900 Census enumerator that she was born in Maine in February 1872.


I found a daughter, Sarah or Sadie, who may have been their only child; I wasn't able to find a reference to more.  Sadie, born in July of 1887, married Arthur Legere in 1906, according to the Maine Marriages online database.  Arthur was born in Canada about 1885.  By 1910, according to the Census, Sadie and Arthur were  living in Boston with their son Howard.  By the 1920 Census, she and son Howard were living back with her parents in Embden, without Arthur; I don't know what happened to him. 


The 1930 Census shows Sadie still living with her parents in Embden; Howard is no longer a member of the household.   I haven't yet found him in the 1930 Census elsewhere; part of the confusion may be that either the enumerators of two different Censuses misspelled the name Legere or Sadie and Howard had transformed their last name into Ledger.  


Many French Canadian surnames were Anglicized, sometimes by the family and sometimes by town clerks.  Sadly, French Canadians suffered prejudice in Maine, especially during the early 1900s. 


Please contact me with any corrections or additions you may have on the Wells, Durrell or Legere families or if you have information on Franklin's wife Addie.


Hopefully this heirloom will have be meaningful for you.


Thanks for stopping by!




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