Genealogy made the front page on May 11 in Judy Harrison’s Bangor Daily News article on Johanna Haskell, who is the fifth generation in her family to graduate from the University of Maine. Edwin James Haskell, her great-great-grandfather, was one of six men in the first graduating class of what was then the Maine State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts.
Johannah’s line comes down through Edwin’s son, Benjamin Edwin Haskell; grandson, the Rev. Stanley Haskell; and great-grandson, John Haskell.
According to Ancestry.com, a database that is available to use for free at Maine libraries that have computers, Edwin James was born May 28, 1850, in Rockport, Essex County, Massachusetts.
In the 1870 Census, taken on June 21 that year by John Gilman in Orono, we find Edwin James Haskell listed in a group of students attending the Maine College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
The 1900 Census shows Edwin James and Cora I. Haskell living in Westbrook, where he said he was a “superintendent silks mill.” The census taker listed Cora as having had six children, all of whom were living: Fannie E., 18; Ralph W., 16; Mabel B., 14; William O., 12; Benjamin, 9; and Theodore W., 8. The Haskells had been married 20 years.
What the census doesn’t tell us is that Edwin James Haskell had quite an interest in history. One of the records to be found on Ancestry is his 1893 application to the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution.
Edwin’s parents were James Haskell, 1808-1890, and Mary (Poole) Haskell, 1812-1885. His paternal grandparents were Josiah Haskell Jr., 1766-1828, in a line that no doubt descends from the Haskell brothers, who came to Massachusetts in 1636, and Josiah’s wife, Rachel Barber Tarr, 1777-1829.
Edwin’s Revolutionary War Patriot was his great-grandfather, Daniel Barber Tarr, who was a sergeant in Captain Rowe’s Co., and a member of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Daniel’s wife was Rachel Davis.
Edwin noted on his SAR application that another great-grandfather’s brother, Francis Poole, was killed at Bunker Hill, though that information would not have been considered in his application to join the SAR. Members of the SAR and the Daughters of the American Revolution, which was founded because the SAR wouldn’t admit women, must apply for membership based on descent from a direct ancestor.
The SAR does have a state organization in Maine, for which Johanna’s dad would be eligible. Johanna appears to be eligible to become a member of the DAR, which has several chapters in Maine, including my Frances Dighton Williams Chapter in Bangor.
Also of interest to me on Ancestry was Benjamin Edwin Haskell’s World War I draft registration card filled out on June 5, 1917. Then a resident of Westbrook with a wife and child, Benjamin said he was an electrical engineer employed by Cumberland County Power and Light. He was listed as having blue eyes, light hair and at 27 was “slightly bald.”
Of particular interest on an item such as a draft registration card is the applicant’s signature.
Meetings
The Penobscot County Genealogical Society will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, in the Relief Society Room at the Family History Center of the LDS Church at 639 Grandview Ave., on the corner of Grandview and Essex Street in Bangor.
Gail Kill will speak on “Online Trees with Family Research.” All are welcome to attend.
Adam Fisher of the Maine State Museum will be the speaker during a meeting of the Washington County Historical and Genealogical Society at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 30, in the Emergency Management Room, 28 Center St., Machias.
Fisher is working on a project that puts public records on a state-operated and free-to-user website. The project is a part of the Digital Public Library of America with a link to our files through the Maine State Library, the service hub for Maine.
For information 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.