Preparation Work for Event
Lots of effort has been expended over recent months to prepare for a rewarding experience in Fort Fairfield on July 27 at The Gathering. A local program committee has been meeting to plan activities at the VFW Hall. Shortly, you will hear more details about the evening dinner, the menu and the cost per person. Since the caterer expects to be paid in advance and have a solid headcount several days before the dinner, those who wish to take advantage of the evening experience will be given instructions on how and when to register for the dinner and prepay for it. Stay tuned.
Frontier Heritage will open Friends Church for visitation during the day. President Jim Everett has volunteered his time to serve as chief docent at the church. Jim has played a major role for decades in collecting the history of the church and learning about the many artifacts displayed in it. He also has played a major role in preserving the building so he can show visitors every nook and cranny of the historic structure. Frontier Heritage will also open its museum in the Blockhouse on Main Street for visitation. Haines Maple Grove Cemetery can be visited at any time and background information about its history will be available on this website. Suggestions for self-guided tours in the town will also be produced over the next few months and posted on this website for your planning purposes.
In addition to planning activities, cousins have been researching the ancestors of Joseph Wingate Haines and Mary Briggs as well as their descendants. Ann Cushman of Presque Isle, Rommy Haines, JR, of Fort Fairfield, and Peter McKenney of Venice, FL, are spending many hours updating their files and discovering new descendants to populate their databases. At the VFW, you will be able to see what they have found that may be of interest to you. Upon your request a family tree chart of your immediate family can be provided to you.
A major goal of these researchers is to identify living relatives who may not be aware of The Gathering and, upon learning their contact information, extend them invitations. Anything you can do to assist with this effort will be greatly appreciated.
Ann Cushman has been researching family history for about 55 years. She will have displays at the VFW that showcase her many findings. One of her early findings was that Joseph Wingate Haines was a descendant of Governor Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) of Massachusetts. So why is that noteworthy? Governor Dudley himself was a descendant of some famous people, and therefore so are we, for example: King John I of England (Magna Carta fame); William I, the Conqueror; and Charlemagne, King of the Franks (748-814). Ann has also identified American Revolutionary War soldiers/supporters in our ancestry so that all descendants of Joseph Wingate Haines are eligible to be admitted to either the Daughters of the American Revolution or the Sons of the American Revolution. Ann is a member of both the DAR and the Mayflower Society. The latter membership in her case, though, is through an ancestor who was not a descendant of JW Haines. Most of us Haines family cousins are not necessarily Mayflower Society eligible. Ann will provide guidance to anyone who wishes to make application to these societies.
Another story about our ancestors reveals how critical events in the past might have doomed our existence. Samuel Haines (1603-1686), fourth great grandfather to Joseph Wingate Haines, sailed on the armed merchant ship Angel Gabriel from England destined for Massachusetts in 1635. The ship pulled into Pemaquid Harbor (near Boothbay, Maine) on August 15 and Samuel went ashore. During the night, the Great Colonial Hurricane struck the area. The ship was destroyed and the crew and passengers remaining onboard were lost. Samuel survived and continued his journey and eventually raised a family, our ancestors, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Had Samuel remained on the Angel Gabriel, none of us would be here today.
While the study of JW Haines and Mary Brigg’s pedigrees has been rewarding, research of their descendants is even more interesting. This Quaker couple had 17 children between 1829 and 1848. To see a table of basic information of these children, open the following link: JW and Mary Haines Children . Only ten of their children, however, had children of their own as five died by age eleven and two adult children died without having children of their own. Sadly, their adult daughter Mary had three children but she and these young children all died within a couple of months of each other in 1863. Only nine children of Wingate and Mary started family lines of their own that continue today and they are the main focus of current genealogical research: 1) Lydia Haines Ellis, 2) Abigail Haines Stover, 3) Henry A. Haines, 4) George Haines, 5) John Wingate Haines, 6) Albert Haines, 7) Nancy Haines Plummer, 8) Francis “Frank” Haines, and 9) Fred Haines. Seven generations may exist in these family lines to identify. Do you know which family line you are in?
Each of these family lines will be addressed in more detail in a series of future updates on this website, starting with Lydia’s family line. For now, though, several observations can be made.
Farming was the overwhelmingly common occupation in the first few generations. Land was often subdivided among the family’s surviving older adult sons, but younger sons may have had to find other endeavors to pursue as there was not enough land left for them to share. These sons sometimes became farm laborers for their family members or other landowners.
Those in the first generation who were inclined to leave Fort Fairfield and its farms behind included:
George Haines and family ended up in Arizona.
Abigail Haines Stover raised her family in Massachusetts.
Lydia Haines Ellis moved around Maine and ended up in South Dakota and other Midwest states.
Nancy Haines and Theodore Haines moved to the Bradford, Pennsylvania area and engaged in the new petroleum business at the time of John D. Rockefeller. Siblings Henry A. and Isadore also spent time in this region.
Isadore Haines became an ordained Baptist minister and prominent in foreign and home missions.
Daughters often married farmers. Daughters who did not marry often became domestic servants.
Farm laborers often boarded in the homes of the landowners. Wives of farmers were busy preparing meals and caring for their large households.
Larger family size was common in part due to high child mortality rates.
Please do your part in making The Gathering a memorable event. Post any questions, stories, or corrections in the Discussion Board of the website. Bring family photos and memorabilia to Fort in July to exhibit. Prepare a display board, too, if you care to. If you send digital images, they can be posted in the Photo Album on the website so that others can see them and send comments. If you have thoughts on how the planners can make the event better, please share them. By all means, invite your children and relatives you know to join you at The Gathering.
Next update, read about Lydia Haines Ellis and her branch of the family.
