Finding William Small Howe (part 2)

I'm still trying to figure out if the William S. Howe found in Maine, USA, husband of Grace E, is the same as the William Small Howe, my 3rd Great-Granduncle, husband of Grace E. The last we left the family I had found William S. Howe in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses of the United States of America in Maine.

Maybe any records left by William S. Howe's children will help so I turn to the various census enumerations for help. In 1860 a son, Charles E., is found. But no such luck finding any additional records online such as a birth registration. In 1870 a daughter, Annie P.,is now in the family. Yet no birth registration is found online...sigh. Unfortunately a trip to Maine is out of the question at this time to check with the town clerk in Ashland for any records or with the State Archives in Maine.


In the 1880 census a third child, Josie E. is found. We get lucky with her when an Ancestry leaf appears beside her name. She marries Walter Woodruff Parmalee on September 16, 1902.

Ancestry.com, "Maine Marriages, 1892-1996," database index, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 12 Feb 2012), entry for Walter W Parmalee and Josephine E Howe, married 16 Sep 1902; citing Maine State Archives. Maine Marriages 1892-1996 (except 1967 to 1976).

Yet the image presented by Ancestry only has the marriage details.

One tip when looking at Ancestry images is you need to look at the image before and after also. In this case the next image is the back of the record of marriage and it has the important clue!

Ancestry.com, "Maine Marriages, 1892-1996," database index, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 12 Feb 2012), entry for Walter W Parmalee and Josephine E Howe, married 16 Sep 1902 (back of page); citing Maine State Archives. Maine Marriages 1892-1996 (except 1967 to 1976).

Here her father is recorded as William Small Howe, dead. His occupation was physician and he was born in St. John, New Brunswick. This is a great find.

Possibly a Google Search will provide us some clues. Here we find William Small Howe, a physician in Lewiston, Maine, USA.

General Catalogue of Bowdoin College 1794-1889; PDF Download, Google Books (https://books.google.ca/ : downloaded 2 Jan 2017), 116.

Looks to be the same person.

One thing to note, Saint John, New Brunswick is the closest major city to the area of Kings County where the Howe family lived. It wouldn't be unusual for his birth place to be listed as St. John. It seems like the William Small Howe in the record of marriage as the father for Josephine E Howe and the entry in the Bowdoin College is the same person.

A very recent find (literally as I wrote this blog) in the Daniel F Johnston's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics has this from the Saint John New Brunswick Courier:

m. Woodstock (Carleton Co.) Thursday 10th inst, at residence of bride's father, by Rev. Thos. Todd, Rev. William S. HOWE, Pastor of Baptist Church, Chipman (Queens Co.) / Miss Grace E. EMERY, Woodstock.

This seems to be an announcement of marriage for the the same William S. Howe we have been tracking. One thing I have found when researching a number of my Howe ancestors is that they have often taken up the calling of Baptist Minister. But still no document that clearly establishes that William Small Howe here is my 3rd Great-Granduncle. But is certainly seems like it is the right person.

Remember the "C.B." as the occupation for William S. Howe in the 1860 Federal Census of Maine? Could it stand for "Cleryman Baptist" or something like that?

To be continued...