Person talk:Caleb Gilbert (3)

Which Caleb Gilbert is which? [15 April 2012]

Note that there are several generations of Caleb Gilberts in this part of Maine at this time. From Family Search:

Births

1. Caleb S Gilbert, born 26 May 1814 in Leeds, Maine to Hersey Gilbert Jr & Mehitable Morse.

2. Caleb Gilbert, born 9 May 1790 in Turner, Maine to Elijah and Hannah Gilbert.

3. Caleb Gilbert, christened 23 May 1803 in Turner, Maine to Caleb Gilbert and Diana Curtis.

Marriages

1. Caleb S Gilbert married Miss Louisa Torsey in 1837 in Leeds, Maine (see Birth #1) or possibly 29 Oct 1837 in Winthrop, Maine. He was 23. He later married Mrs. Rosetta Starbird (29 May 1879 in Lewiston, Androscoggin, Maine). He was 64; his bride was 49.

2. Caleb Gilbert married Diana Curtis 18 Nov 1800 in Turner, Maine. As noted above, they had a son Caleb Gilbert in 1803. Other children include:

• Lewis, christened 15 Apr 1801 in Turner.
• Diana, christened 27 Jan 1805 in Turner.
• Franklin, christened 8 Feb 1807 in Turner.
• Melzar, christened 24 Nov 1808 in Turner.
• Hiram, christened 24 Jun 1811 in Turner.
• Daughter (no name), born and died 10 May 1813 in Turner.

3. Caleb Gilbert married Bathsheba Leavitt 23 Aug 1827 in Turner, Maine. Children include:

• Nancy, christened 10 Jan 1828 in Turner.
• Diana, christened 17 Jul 1830 in Turner. Her father is noted as Caleb Jr.
• Alden, christened 4 Dec 1831 in Turner.
• Orren, christened 2 May 1841 in Turner. His father is noted as Caleb Jr.
• Lewis, born about 1842 in Turner and died 16 Jul 1906 in Fall River, Mass.

4. Caleb Gilbert married Achsah Burgess 24 Sep 1815 in Turner, Maine. They have several children in the Maine vital records.

• John, christened 15 Aug 1816 in Turner. He appears to have died 9 Nov 1877 in Boston.
• Achsah, christened 4 Jul 1818 in Turner.
• Eliza, christened 5 Sep 1820 in Turner. Died 4 Nov 1833 in Turner.
• Frances, christened 22 Dec 1822 in Turner.
• Waitstill, christened 10 Apr 1825 in Turner.
• Mary was christened 7 Jul 1827 in Turner and died in Newton, MA in 1904 (married name is Harrington).
• Lovey was christened 24 Dec 1829 and died in Waltham, MA in 1890 (married name is Haven).

5. Caleb Gilbert married Eliza Blaisdell 5 Nov 1836 in Phippsburg (but see the probable publishing of intentions on 15 Oct 1836 in Turner, Maine). Children include:

• Eliza, born about 1836 in Turner, and died 1 May 1909, age 63, in Boston, Mass from "poisoning by illuminating gas" (suicide). She was the wife of Joseph E Sawyer.
• Fairfield, christened 16 Mar 1840 in Turner.
• Clinton, christened 21 Jun 1843 in Turner. Clinton dies in 7 Oct 1871 in Watertown, Mass. of consumption (age 28y 4m). His mother's birthplace is noted at Fitchburg, Me., which I believe is a corruption/mishearing of Phippsburg (there is no Fitchburg in Maine).

Deaths

1. Caleb Gilbert died 31 Aug 1849 in Turner, Maine. The Mortality Schedule for the 1850 census indicates Caleb is 63 years old (or born about 1787). Cause of death is consumption.

2. Caleb Gilbert died Jul 1849 in Gray, Maine, according to the mortality schedule for the 1850 census. This Caleb is 46 (born about 1804). .

Other

A Caleb S Gilbert is a Civil War soldier, serving in the 23rd and 29th Maine Volunteer Infantry.

Initial Conclusions

Clearly Caleb S Gilbert (born Leeds) is separate from our target Caleb Gilbert. This eliminates birth #1 and marriage(s) #1. However, it is fairly likely that Eliza/Elizabeth Blaisdell was married to a Caleb Gilbert who died before 1850/51, as she marries Martin Leonard Turner in 1851.

It is likely that Caleb Gilbert of birth #3 is the same Caleb Gilbert who dies in Gray (death #2) in 1849. He is the child of marriage #2 (Caleb and Diana Curtis).

It is unclear which other Caleb Gilbert also died in 1849 in Turner. At age 63, his est. birth year is close to Caleb Gilbert of birth #2. But he's a bit too young to be the Caleb Gilbert who married Diana Curtis (in 1800).

I note that there is a Bathsheba Gilbert as a head of household in the 1850 census in Gray, Maine. This seems to make it likely that the Caleb Gilbert who died in Gray in 1849 (born about 1803/4) is the Caleb Gilbert who married Bathsheba Leavitt in 1827 (i.e. the Caleb Gilbert of birth #3 and death #2).

So did Eliza Blaisdell, born in 1816, marry someone older than her father (who was born in 1793) - marrying the Caleb Gilbert recorded as dying in 1849 in Turner? Or is there another Caleb Gilbert among this family of related Gilberts in Turner, Maine?

History of Turner Maine [15 April 2012]

The History of Turner, Maine from its settlement to 1886 indicates that indeed Eliza Blaisdell married a much older man. It reports that Caleb, son of Elijah Gilbert (who owned land in what is known as the Gilbert Hills portion of Turner) married Diana Curtis, then Achsah Burgess, and third "a Miss Blaisdell", by whom "his children were Fairfield, Clinton and one whose name is not remembered." (page 62-63).

However, I am dubious. The death record from 1849 states the age of the deceased Caleb Gilbert as 63; he would have been 13 when he married Dianna Curtis if this is the same Caleb Gilbert. I suspect there is an additional generation in here somewhere.

[--Brenda (kennebec1) 20:38, 15 April 2012 (EDT)