Stone Cutting sheds of the Maine & N.H. Granite Corporation
This postcard, mailed from North Jay, Maine, in July 1909, is of interest for two reasons: the subject matter of granite harvesting and cutting in Maine and the message on the reverse from Everett to sister Cynthia S. Lang at Ridlonville, Maine. Ridlonville is a village in the town of Mexico, Maine.
Read more here about granite mining in North Jay, Maine.
Teasing out the identities of brother Everett and sister Cynthia was not as easy as I had first imagined, but that's what makes these journeys of discovery so fascinating.
First, I found a marriage record for a Cynthia S. Moulton to an Andrew J. Lang, on 22 November 1896, giving her parents as Daniel and Dorcas (Phinney) Barrett. But I couldn't find a pair of siblings named Everett and Cynthia Barrett.
Perhaps Everett was married to one of Cynthia's sisters or to one of Andrew J. Lang's sisters... But I came up empty handed. Then I looked for information on the Mr. Moulton who had been Cynthia's first husband. It turns out he was Hartson Moulton; he and Cynthia were married at Carthage, Maine, on 29 March 1887.
And it turns out that Hartson Moulton had a brother Everett Orville Moulton! And since Everett was nice enough to include his birth date and his father's in his message, and those dates lined up perfectly with Everett Orville Moulton and his father Albert Moulton, mystery solved!
It's nice to know that these two in-laws, Everett O. Moulton and Cynthia Stevens (Barrett) Moulton Lang, kept in touch after Hartson's death in 1893. Cynthia is buried with Hartson Moulton at Newman Cemetery in Franklin County, Maine.
See more information on Cynthia Stevens (Barrett) Moulton Lang; Everett O. Moulton; Hartson Moulton; and Andrew J. Lang, below, after the transcription.
Transcription
July 17th 1909, North Jay, Me.
Dear Sister:
Yours gladly received and it is a beautiful card; my birthday is the 19th, Father's is the 12th but that was alright, glad to hear from you. We are well. Fred [Fred Hartshorn Moulton, son of the writer, Everett Orville Moulton, and Winifred J. (Hodgkins) Bridden Moulton] is at home now but will go back to school Sept. 6th one year more. He and I are working for the Granite Corporation. I saw Father and Mother the 5th and Mother had a little cold.
Everett
From online research, hopefully correct: [corrections and additions welcome!]
According to her Vermont death record, Cynthia (Stevens) Moulton Lang was born 23 November 1866 at Weld, Maine, the daughter of Daniel and Dorcas (Phinny or Phinney) Barrett. As noted above, she married Hartson Moulton on 29 March 1887 at Carthage, Maine. Hartson was born about 1855, the son of Albert and Roxanna Louisa (Pearl) Moulton. Everett Orville Moulton was his younger brother, born on July 19, 1859, as the message implies. Their father Albert Moulton was born July 12, 1836, again, as the message implies. Hartson Moulton died 24 April 1893.
On 22 November 1896, Cynthia Stevens (Barrett) Moulton married Andrew J. Lang, son of Andrew Lang, who was born in Scotland. Andrew's mother was born in England, but I can't make out her name on her son's marriage record. Andrew J. Lang's first wife was Helen Newell (Storer) Lang, whom he married 25 December 1881 at Rumford, Maine. Helen died 20 October 1895 at Dixfield, Maine. She and Andrew had at least three children together: George F. Lang; Andrew Lucian Lang; and Ethel C. Lang.
Cynthia Stevens (Barrett) Moulton Lang and Andrew J. Lang had, I believe, one child, daughter Christina Elizabeth Lang, born 18 August 1898 at Dixfield, Maine. Christina married a Mr. Baker from Rutland, Vermont, and moved there. On 11 January 1952 at Rutland, Vermont, Cynthia Stevens (Barrett) Moulton Lang died of a cerebral thrombosis brought on by a fractured hip. She had presumably moved to Rutland to live with Christina and her family.
On 29 March 1887 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, Everett Orville Moulton married Minnie (Hodgkins) Bridden, daughter of Aaron and Lucy Hodgkins of Jefferson, Maine, and widow of Benjamin F. Bridden, with whom she had two daughters, Lucy and Winnie. Everett and Winnie would have two sons, Fred Hartshorn Moulton, who is mentioned in the Everett's message to Cynthia, and Amzi Moulton, who died in childhood before the postcard was written.
Everett Orville Moulton died in 1912, several years after he sent this postcard.
If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.
North Jay, Maine [A] and Ridlonville, at Mexico, Maine [B]
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