Here we go — a brand-new year, maybe the year we’ll break down one or more of the “brick walls,” as we call those seemingly impenetrable mysteries that pop up here and there, and there, in our family tree.
It would be understandable if I were confounded by the ancestry of plain old Henry Hildreth, born 1788 in New Hampshire.
But we know that he was Henry T. Hildreth, in fact Henry True Hildreth, with True a much more unusual middle name than John or Joseph or Michael. His third-born son also was named Henry True Hildreth.
It’s true what they say about genealogy — start with what you know. And keep in mind that in this sense, what we “know” is what we can prove and document.
The best proofs are primary records such as birth, marriage and death records — “contemporary” records made at the time of the event rather than grouped together or recopied at a later date. We like to see birth records spread out in town records by year rather than listed together as family records.
Bible records often have several events recorded at the same time, a fact which may be evident because the penmanship is so similar, and the ink even looks the same.
I have a Cummings-Bennett Bible Record which includes death records in chronological order, indicating that they may have been contemporary.
Henry T. Hildreth is listed as having died on Dec. 20, 1863, in Greenville at 75 years old, giving him a likely birth year of 1788. Wife Eleanor C. Hildreth died on Sept. 29, 1869, at age 82, putting her birth year at 1787 or so. Henry and Eleanor are buried together in the Greenville Cemetery, and I have seen their gravestones.
Family tradition holds that the Hildreths moved to Greenville from New Hampshire. The 1850 Census record for Greenville lists Henry and Eleanor and some of their children, with the notation that all were born in New Hampshire.
Vital records for Hopkinton, New Hampshire, document that Henry’s wife, Eleanor Currier, was born June 12, 1787. Henry and Eleanor’s marriage also was recorded in Hopkinton on Jan. 21, 1812. Alas, I find no birth for Henry himself.
The five Hildreth children born in Hopkinton were: Benjamin Currier, Dec. 15, 1813; James Monroe, March 25, 1817; Henry True, May 19, 1820; William Colby, June 21, 1822; and Sarah Abigail, March 11, 1826. All of these are listed in the Bible record.
Hopkinton vital records also list them.
Children’s names often contain clues to ancestry, but nothing has clicked in my search for Henry True Hildreth yet.
I did make a two-day trip to Concord, N.H., some years ago to use resources at New Hampshire State Library, which has copies of vital records, and New Hampshire Historical Society, the two facilities located next door to each other in the delightful community of Concord. No luck with Henry.
I have perused Hildreth family genealogies without luck. Googling Henry True Hildreth brings up articles on my Henry, mostly my own stories in the Bangor Daily News over the years.
I should mention that the Cummings-Bennett Bible Record with my Hildreth information is online through the BDN at http://bangordailynews.com/2011/09/18/living/cummings-bennett-family-record/?ref=inline
Perhaps Henry’s ancestry is referenced in his children’s names.
His first child was Benjamin Currier Hildreth, no doubt named for Eleanor’s younger brother, Benjamin Currier, born in 1793. She and Benjamin were the children of Revolutionary War soldier Henry Currier and wife Abigail Burbank Currier. Their other Currier children were Caleb, Polly, and Sarah.
The next child was James Monroe, born in 1817 and died young in 1842. His younger sister and my ancestor, Sarah Abigail Hildreth Cummings, named her son Frank Monroe Cummings, which makes me wonder if Monroe was not just a presidential name to the family.
William Colby was born in 1822, but I’ve found no Colby connections to cement my Hildreth line.
Daughter Sarah Abigail seems to have been named for Eleanor’s sister Sarah and mother Abigail.
The name Henry True still hasn’t yielded a link to the Hildreths, but next week I’ll relate where that name popped up and why it seems such a small world.
And it goes without saying, but I’ll say it, suggestions for researching Henry True Hildreth, 1788-1863, are welcome. I did find interesting material in his enlistment in the War of 1812.
For i nformation on researching family history in Maine, see Genealogy Resources under Family Ties at bangordailynews.com/browse/family-ties. Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402, or email familyti@bangordailynews.com.