Lott Edmands

Lott (variant spelling = Lot) Edmands, his wife, and his older siblings were part of the adaptive Compromise Generation. His parents were part of the heroic, civic-minded Republican Generation. His younger siblings and all of his children except the youngest were part of the idealistic Transcendental Generation. His youngest child was part of the nomadic, reactive Gilded Generation.

Lott was born and grew up with his parents and his six siblings (four older, two younger) in a farm homestead with 20 acres in Malden, Massachusetts, on the old Saugus and Lynn Road, bounded on the east by Long Pond in the part of Malden that in 1849 became Melrose. The homestead had originally been the Elnathan Breeden property. It included a sawmill on Long Pond that Lott's father operated. In the winter, everyone pitched in to cut the pond's ice, which was then hauled to Charlestown to be loaded on ships and shipped to the West Indies, where it was sold for 25 cents a pound [more than $4 a pound in 2002 dollars].

When Lott was 19, in 1810, he married Esther Burrill, 20, and they settled a few miles away from Malden, in Saugus (which was then part of Lynn), where she was from. Presumably this was her family homestead, about a quarter mile to the south, by inheritance or purchase we don't know which. (1)

The words "by inheritance or purchase we don't know which or when" are from Nancy B. Edmands Allen, b. 1925. According to Lott received land from John Burrill upon his marriage to Esther. I do not know whether this was the Burrill estate or the saltbox west of Newburyport Turnpike. Subsequent research by cousin indicates that Lott and Esther did not move into the Newbury Turnpike house until 1839, after they had been married for nearly three decades.
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So it was at the Burrill homestead where Lott and Esther began their family. Their first child, John, was born three months after the wedding, and the second, our ancestor Artemas Edmands, was born a couple of years later, in 1813. Between June 16 and July 2 of the following year, 23-year-old Lott served at least one day in Captain David Capron's company (Colonel Samuel Brimblecom's Fourth Massachusetts Regiment) during the War of 1812. New England was generally against the war, and serious politicians there openly discussed seceding from the United States. Massachusetts Governor Caleb Strong had refused President Madison's request for troops, saying that he would not send the militia out of state, and in response Madison sent no ground troops to protect New England. Governor Strong's battle preparations were farcical: He positioned cannons on Boston Common, which offered no direct line of fire to the harbor. Strong even made overtures to the British, offering to negotiate a separate peace, and several New England Federalist politicians met in Hartford to discuss secession. Meanwhile, there was an alarming rumor that British troops had landed in Salem harbor, which initiated the order for a regiment to be formed on Boston Common to march to Salem, presumably with our young Lott among them (although it is possible that he was not there, since Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Cox of Lynnfield had not heard the alarm and did not join the march). The regiment marched through Franklin Street and met Col. Brimblecom on the Turnpike and proceeded onward. Women (Esther among them?) followed their husbands and boys their fathers (John and Artemas were too young for that) in great fear and excitement. When they reached the top of Farrington's hill, sentries arrived with the news that the rumor was false. The regiment returned to the Common, the followers full of rampant joy for enduring no combat, and disbanded.(2)

The story of Colonel Brimblecom's march against the British "invasion" comes from Centennial Memorial of Lynn Thanks to the research of cousin , we have records of our ancestor Lott's military service during the War of 1812, we see the old man's very signature, and the fact that he had blue eyes and brown hair and was 5 feet 11 inches tall. In those records we learn that the Department of the Interior in January 1881 dropped Esther, Lott's widow, from that military pension of $8 per month "on account of insufficiency of soldier's service." (Close)

The Burrill homestead was listed as part of Lott's estate when he died. The homestead, the old "Burrill place," probably about a century old at that time, was also on the west side of the artificial Lily Pond (later called Prankers Pond), east of the Newburyport Turnpike.

[ The old Burrill place ]
The old Burrill place
[Click the picture to enlarge it.]

The Burrill place was on rather low land. When the mill owners dammed the Saugus River to run the mills, thus enlarging Lily Pond, water tended to overflow onto part of the properties of the Edmandses and their neighbors. For example, when Lott and Esther were first married, Benjamin Sweetser was operating a very successful chocolate mill at the dam. From 1815 to 1822, Robert Ames operated the Duck Cloth Mill. In 1826, True and Bradhead took over the mill site, repaired and raised the dam, subleased a portion of the mill to Briefly and Whitehead for the manufacture of flannel. In 1838, an Englishman named Edward Pranker purchased the water privileges and complex, built another two-story building on the east side of the pond, and operated a successful business manufacturing flannel, wool pulling, and sheepskin tanning; his woolen fabrics became world acclaimed. Pranker increased his water power by raising the dam another 2 feet. The enlarged body of water was thereafter called Prankers Pond.

Lott often sued the various mill owners for flooding his property, and he usually won. Lott "was one of the characters of Saugus of the past," according to historian Hawkes,

and it was the ambition of the late celebrated Joseph Ames, the artist, to paint his typical Yankee head. The old man, however, was fonder of relating his prowess in litigation than in posing for posterity, and so the picture was lost. Something stranger than accident must have drawn Mr. Edmands to this locality. The very air hereabout is redolent of disputations. This apparently calm and innocent pond has been the promoter of lawsuits innumerable from the earliest days. . . . [I]n the fulness of time Lott Edmands came upon the scene to revel through life with the mill owners in a series of forensic sparring matches. Here to a green old age he lived, and his greatest pleasure was to fight his battles over again as he looked out upon his land which he had contested with the water from below.

In 1839, Lott and Esther (and presumably their still-minor children) moved to a secluded farm homestead about a quarter mile to the north, north of what is now the Lynn Fells Parkway, west of the Newburyport Turnpike, and east of Forest Street. This was a saltbox-style house that was already well over a century old (the house's original owner had been our ancestor Daniel Hitchings). The elongated slanting rear roof offered some protection against the north wind.

[ The house where Lott and Esther resided ]
The house where Lott and Esther resided from 1839
[Click the picture to enlarge it.]

According to local historian Nathan Mortimer Hawkes, writing a century ago,
The old house . . . is an oddity in the country. In the seaport towns it was common to build houses three stories in height, or rather two stories with a demi-story above. Salem, Newburyport and Portsmouth are full of such. This one is sui generis. There is nothing like it in prosaic life. In romance it may remind the admirers of Miss Woolson's "Anne" of Jeanne Armande's half-house.

The house had a narrow front hall; leading off to the right was the "keeping room," where all the daily cooking, eating, and general living took place. On the left side of the front hall was the parlor, which was usually kept closed; it was used only for weddings, funerals, visits from the pastor, and other very special occasions. There was a well out back, not too far from the house, and a covered passageway was built between them. You could fetch water from the well without having to go out into bad weather. You also never had to shovel a path to the well after a heavy snowstorm.

There were livestock on the homestead--several cattle and at least one horse. The Edmandses grew potatoes and made cider. They also did some logging.

Lott did not buy this farm, however, until 1866. The owner up until then was Joseph Cheever, who had purchased it from Caroline Plummer in 1839, the year Lott and Esther and family moved into it.(3)

According to another descendant of Lott, who did this research, shows us a 2-page deed to tell the story. Start at the bottom of this link, he instructs, and then go to the next page for the surprising news.
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So, from 1839, the home of Lott and Esther Edmands was the Hitchings house (called in their later years the "Lott Edmands place"). When they were in their sixties, Esther's brother Joseph was living with them.

According to the 1860 census (when Lott was 69), he owned real estate worth $2,000 [$39,100 in 2003 dollars].(4)

Cousin cites the 1860 census for this figure (Essex County, Massachusetts, roll 494 book 1 page 501 Saugus Page 51).
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At that time, his next-door neighbor was Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield, 35 years old, by then already father six children, the eldest of whom was Ella Josephine Mansfield, age 11; it would be only 13 years later that this Ella would marry Lott and Esther's grandson Artemas Seymour Edmands (23 in 1860) after he had lost his first wife.(5)

The fact that Ephraim was neighbor comes from
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Lott died of dropsy of the heart at the age of 85 without leaving a will, owing $4,324.87 [$76,500 in 2003 dollars], of which $3,300 [$53,600 in 2002 dollars] was tied up in mortgages on real estate. All of his property, including both homesteads, was sold at auction in 1879 to settle the estate. Their residence eventually became a veterinary farm.

Year by year in the life of Lott Edmands

The childhood of Lott Edmands in its historical context
The adolescence and prime adulthood of Lott Edmands in their historical context
The midlife and early elderhood years of Lott Edmands in their historical context
The last years of Lott Edmands in their historical context

Descent chart

Birth of Lott Edmands
Born: 2 May 1791
Birthplace: Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Parents
Father: John Edmands, 1757-1846 (our ancestor), from Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts and Melrose, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Mother: Sarah Williams, 1762-1848 (our ancestor), from Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts and Melrose, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Siblings
Brother: John Edmands
Born 6 April 1782
Married (first) 1807?
---- to Mary (Marcy?) White
---- of Dresden, Lincoln Co., Maine District
    Daughter:
    Sarah Edmands, b. <1810
    --- schoolteacher in Saugus in 1827
Married (second)?
---- to Eliza UNKNOWN (Coffin)
---- (widow of UNKNOWN Coffin)
Sister: Sarah "Sally" Edmands
Born 15 September 1784
--- Malden, Middlesex Co., MA
Never married
Resided with Artemas and Margaret Edmands in old age
Died 28 October 1865
--- (palsy)
Buried Main Cmtry (Edmands monument), Saugus, MA
Sister: Nancy "Anna" Edmands(6) According to Theodore Wesley "Ted" Edmands, 1928-1999, citing the Malden vital records, the name of John and Sarah Edmands's third child was Ann (or Anna) Edmands, b. 1786, not Nancy Edmands.
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Born 10 September 1786
Posted marriage intentions 24 July 1819
Married 25 August 1819 in Malden, MA
to Stephen Coats
---- of Malden, MA
---- (son of Stephen and Mary Coats)
Brother: William Edmands
Born 8 August 1789
Married 30 January 1814(7) Cousin has the marriage date as 2 March 1814/5 (probably 1815), not 30 January 1814 (as our other sources have). She also has the marriage place as Lexington, not South Reading (Wakefield), Massachusetts. She also has Ruth's birthyear as 1792, rather than February 1796.
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------ in South Reading (Wakefield), MA
------ to Ruth Wiley
------ of South Reading (Wakefield), MA
------ (b. February 1796
------ d. >1870)
    Children:
    Clara Edmands
    Rodney Edmands, 1817-1909
    Mary Edmands
    Willard Edmands, b. 1823
    Lucellia Edmands, b. 1828
    Theodora "Fedora" Edmands, b. 1830
    Lydia Edmands, b. 1835
    Luella Edmands
    Harriet L. Edmands

    For more information on his descendants,
    including the surnames Barnes, Bishop, Bragg, Brown, Bryant, Cameron, Cummings, Davis, Dick, Dobbyn, Doe, Donnally, Dougherty, Edwards, Ferris, Ficarra, Flood, Foote, Foster, Fowler, Freeley, Geissler, Gibbons, Goodnow, Gorman, Hansen, Hemingway, Hill, Hubbard, Jones, Kaye, La Spina (di Savuto), Ledoux, Lovett, Marlow, Mason, McGettigan, McKenna, Meyer, Miller, Newman, Nichols, Pallace, Pano, Parsons, Paton, Perkins, Perrillo, Reel, Rice, Russell, Ryan, Seaverus, Slocumb, Smith, Stoddard, Sykes, Wade, and Wilson,
    see Descendants of William Edmands (password-protected)

Resided (in 1866) upper end of Forest Street
------ in Saugus, Essex Co., MA
Died >1870
Sister: Mary "Polly" Edmands
Born 16 February 1796(8) Cousin has 1792 or 1796 as the birthyear for Polly.
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Married 20 August 1812
------ to George Suester (Sweetser?)
Resided South Reading (Wakefield), MA
Sister: Elizabeth "Eliza" Edmands
Born 5 September 1799
Posted marriage intentions 4 September 1819
Married 15 December 1819(9) Cousin has Eliza's marriage date as 4 September (rather than 15 December, as stated by our other sources) in 1819.
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------ in Malden, Middlesex Co., MA,
------ to Ephraim Avery I
------ (d. 1832)
    Children:
    Ephraim Avery II, b. 1820
    Kittridge Avery, b. ca. 1822
    Melzar Avery ?, b. 1824
    John Quincy Adams Avery, b. 1827?

    For more information on her descendants,
    including the surnames Avery and Upham,
    see Descendants of Eliza Edmands

Died 1879
Spouse and children
Wife: Esther Burrill, 1790-1883(10) Cousin has 1791, not 1790, as Esther's birthyear.
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(our ancestor)
(daughter of
John Burrill and Margaret Brown Burrill [our ancestors]),
from Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
.
Married 18 October 1810
in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
Son: John Edmands
Born 17 January 1811
in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Married (first) 3 February 1835
------ in Dedham, Norfolk Co., MA
------ to Lydia Draper
------ (b. 31 March 1815, d. 4 April 1847)
------ (daughter of Ira Draper
------- and Abigail Richards Draper)
    Children:
    George Draper Edmands, b. 1836
    Artemas Bradford Edmands(11) Cousin has supplied a great deal of information about Artemas Bradford Edmands (born the same year, 1837, as his first cousin, our ancestor, Artemas Seymour Edmands), including his birthplace of Lexington (in contrast with Saugus, as our other sources, including Ted Edmands and Nancy B. Edmands Allen, had stated). Ted and Nancy provided the information about the first wife of Artemas Bradford Edmands--Margaret Matilda Grover, and their wedding date in 1855. Pat cites the 1880 census records to find Artemas B. Edmands living with his family in Milford, Worcester County, MA (see Descendants of John Edmands [password-protected]): Artemas was 43 then (confirming the 1837 birthyear), his wife was "Lucinda E." and she was only 23 years old--that is, she was born in 1857 and was therefore much too young to be the mother of the two eldest children listed in the census: daughter Kate, age 20 (born 1860) and daughter Ida, age 16 (born 1864). Lucinda was obviously Artemas's second wife, so we must presume that the first wife, Margaret, died before their marriage. Considering the large gap in years between Ida and the third child listed in the census, I am assuming that Lucinda was the mother of the three children after Ida: son Frank, age 6 (born 1874); son George, age 4 (born 1876); and son Arthur B., age 2 (born 1878).
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    --- b. 1837
    --- m. (1st) 1855 to Margaret Matilda Grover
    --- m. (2nd) ca. 1870 to Lucinda UNKNOWN
    --- d. 1917
    Esther Minerva Edmands, b. 1839
    Sarah Melissa Edmands, b. 1842
    Lydia Hilda Edmands, b. 1844
    Margaret Ellen Edmands, 1847-1913
    --- (raised from infancy
    --- by John's brother Artemas and sister-in-law Margaret)
    --- see among their children

    For more information on his descendants,
    including the surnames Draper, Grover, and Thomas,
    see Descendants of John Edmands (password-protected)

Married (second) 1848
------ to Phebe Parry(12) According to Ted Edmands, citing the census data (compiled by Ann S. Larnhart, PO Box 1487, Boston, MA 02117) for 1855 and 1865, the age of John Edmands's second wife, Phebe S. Edmands, was 31, making her birthyear circa 1824. (On another place Ted cites her maiden name as Terry, not Parry.)

Cousin citing the 1860 census, lists the following offspring living with John Edmands, then married to Phebe: George (b. 1836), Sarah (b. 1842), Lydia (b. 1845--1844 in our other sources), John A. (b. 1849), and Cora (b. 1857 or 1858). By then John's 23-year-old son Artemas Bradford Edmands was married and living separately. Perhaps John's 21-year-old daughter Esther was also living separately by then. His 13-year-old daughter Margaret Ellen (born 2 months before her mother, John's first wife, Lydia Draper Edmands, had died) had been raised separately, in the home of our ancestors, John's brother Artemas and sister-in-law Margaret.
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------ (b. 1824, d. 8 February 1917)
    Children:
    John Alvah Edmands, 1849-1917
    Cora Edmands(13), b. 1858 Cousin cited the 1870 census, which lists Cora as a 12-year-old, indicating an 1858 birthdate. Our other sources did not list Cora at all. Might this Cora be the same as the Cora who later married Solon V. Edmands (1854-1909), son of Lott Edmands, Jr., and Sarah A. Paine Edmands--which would make theirs a marriage of first cousins?
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    Joseph Edmands(14), b. 1863 Cousin cited the 1870 census, which lists Joseph as a 7-year-old, indicating an 1863 birthdate. Our other sources did not list Joseph at all.
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    Ella May Edmands(15), 1866-1920 Cousin cited the 1870 census, which lists Ella as a 4-year-old, indicating that Ella was born in 1866. Nancy deVaughan, a descendant of Ella, had supplied 27 June 1860 as the birthdate of Ella May Edmands.
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    For more information on his descendants,
    including the surname Blaney,
    see Descendants of John Edmands (password-protected)

Died 7 January 1886
(heart disease)
in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
Son: Artemas Edmands, 1813-1896 (our ancestor)
Son: Andrew Edmands
Born 1818
Married 9 December 1835
------ to Sarah A. Paine
------ b. 1817(16) According to cousin Sarah was born in 1816 (not 1817).
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------ (daughter of Ebenezer Paine
------- and Sally Kirby Paine)
    Children:
    Charles H. Edmands(17) Ted Edmands, citing the same census data, has contradicted some other information we had, information that had Charles H. Edmands being the eldest child of Lott Edmands, Jr., and Sarah Paine Edmands. He apparently was the eldest child of Sarah, from her earlier marriage to Andrew Edmands, Lott's late brother. At the time of the 1855 census, Charles, age 19, was living as a "laborer" with his grandparents, Lott and Esther Edmands (both stated as age 64). Cousin supplied the information from the 1880 census that Charles (b. 1836) was married to Luella UNKNOWN (b. 1849) and that they had no children. There had been some speculation that Everett Edmands ("b. 1862/3") was the son rather than the youngest half-brother of Charles H. Edmands, but that seems unlikely given the age that Luella would have had to have been at Everett's birth (13 or 14). As Patricia Mathews has pointed out, if Everett had been the son of Charles, he wouldn't have been mentioned in the probate records; children of heirs were mentioned only if their parent himself or herself were already dead. This means that Everett's mother, Sarah Paine Edmands, would have to be 46 or 47 when Everett was born. (Another possibility, Pat Mathews has pointed out, is that Sarah Payne Edmands might have already died and her widower, Lott Jr., had married a second time, thus making Everett a step-brother to Ebenezer, as stated in the 1870 census.) Citing the 1850 census, Pat notes that Charles H. Edmands, age 15, was living in the same house as Lott Sr. and Esther (we presume they were his grandparents, his father having died and his mother, age 33, remarried to Lott Jr., Charles's uncle). The same census has Lott Edmands, Jr., age 28, and his wife, this same Sarah, their 3 children--Sarah A., age 11, Ebenezer, age 5, and James W., age 3--an Ebenezer Payne, age 59 (presumably Sarah's father), who was listed as a trader, and George W. Payne, age 16 (perhaps a cousin?), listed as an accountant, and finally--added on the end, as Pat says, "just like they forgot her"--Mary F. Edmands, age 6/12 (that is 6 months), the baby of Lott Jr.'s family. (See a couple of footnotes down about baby Mary F. Edmands.) The fact that 11-year-old Sarah A. Edmands is considered part of Lott Jr.'s household does not mean that Lott Jr. was her father; I contend that she was Charles's younger sister and was considered part of Lott Jr.'s household, because she was a minor (whereas 15-year-old Charles was no longer considered a minor) and was thus part of her mother's household.
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    --- b. 1836
    --- m. Luella UNKNOWN (b. 1849)
    Sarah A. Edmands
    --- b. 1840
    --- m. Alfred B. Roots, (b. 1837)
    --- child: George W. Roots, b. 1863
Died 1843
Son: Lott Edmands
Born 1822
Married 13 July 1844(18) According to cousin Lott and Sarah were married 7 August (not 13 July) 1844.
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------ in Saugus, Essex Co., MA,
------ to his widowed sister-in-law,
------ Sarah A. Paine Edmands
------ b. 1817(19) According to cousin Sarah was born in 1816 (not 1817).
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------ (daughter of Ebenezer Paine
------- and Sally Kirby Paine)
    Children:
    Ebenezer Paine Edmands
    --- b. 3 July 1844(20) Ebenezer's birthdate is from cousin (our other sources had "1845"); apparently Ebenezer was born 10 days before his parents were married. Pat has brought up a couple of other possibilities: Either the date 1845 is the correct one, or Ebenezer was actually the son of Sarah Paine Edmands's first husband, Andrew Edmands, who might have died in 1844 rather than 1843, as our other sources had indicated. The other facts about Ebenezer are from Pat as well, much of it taken from the 1880 census. That census listed a "niece" living with Ebenezer and his family; her name was Kate, and she was 20 at the time and a dressmaker. Could this be the same Kate who was listed another time in the 1880 census, as the 20-year-old daughter of Artemas Bradford Edmands? (See note 11 on this, and for more detail, see Descendants of John Edmands [password-protected].)
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    --- m, Lydia UNKNOWN (b. 1845)
    --- child: Sulie E. Edmands, b. 1871
    --- in 1880 resided ward 24 Boston, MA (widowed mother Sarah there too)
    --- Profession: ice business
    James Walter Edmands
    --- b. 14 July 1847
    --- m. <1880 Hattie UNKNOWN (b. 1856)
    --- in 1880 resided ward 24 Boston, MA
    --- Profession: ice business
    Mary Frances Edmands
    --- b. 1850(21) As cousin commented on the listings of the 1850 census, baby Mary F. Edmands was "added on the end, just like they forgot her." Interestingly, there is a Mary Frances Edmands, born 28 September 1849, twin sister of Charles Wade Edmands, born, of course, the same day--new offspring to Rodney Edmands, 34, and his wife, Mary Wade Edmands, 42, also listed in the 1850 census. Rodney was the second child of William Edmands and Ruth Wiley Edmands. William Edmands and Lott Sr. were brothers, so Rodney Edmands and Lott Jr. were first cousins, so Rodney's kids and Lott Jr.'s kids would be second cousins. The families lived close to each other. Is it not possible that this Mary Frances Edmands, twin daughter of Rodney and Mary, was the same person as the Mary F. Edmands "daughter" of Lott Jr. and Sarah?--especially since Mary F. is listed by the census (but almost, it seems, as an afterthought) as part of Lott Jr.'s household, whereas Mary Frances is not listed alongside twin Charles W., who is listed, in the household of Rodney and Mary. Isn't it just possible that Rodney's 42-year-old wife, Mary Wade Edmands, didn't want to deal with twin babies in addition to the five still-living children she still had in the household--and that she gave one of the twins to cousins Lott and Sarah to raise? It could be an anomaly (bad reporting or recording) that Charles W. Edmands is listed as 10 months old and that his twin, Mary F. Edmands, is listed as 6 months old. (For more information on Mary Frances Edmands, daughter of Rodney and Mary, see Descendants of William Edmands [password-protected].) My suspicions were further aroused when I noticed that baby Charles, one of the twins, was to die soon after the census, just before his first birthday; poor mother Mary Wade Edmands had to take care of a sick baby on top of everything else. Of course, I carelessly overlooked the vital statistics of the other twin, the baby in question, Mary Frances Edmands, who had also been sick--in fact, so sick that she had already died before the census taker came--on 28 December 1849, at the age of exactly 3 months. Naturally I felt foolish when I realized that I had carelessly overlooked this death date in my overeager suspicions. But, even now, I haven't entirely given up on these suspicions. That "28 September 1849" (Rodney and Mary's baby Mary Frances's birthdate) and "28 December 1849" (that baby's death date, exactly 3 months later) needs further investigation and verification. It is so easy for family members who later record all this information--I think this information came to us in 1964 from Erma Mason, a descendant of Rodney Edmands, but I haven't confirmed this yet--to mess up and confuse these dates. Perhaps baby Mary did not die then, but she grew up in a cousin's family, got married, and finally died many years later. Of course, it could also just be that Lott and Sarah named their 1850 baby girl after the very recently deceased cousin who lived in the neighborhood--but then why is she recorded in the census as an afterthought? Acch! I've no doubt been overly suspicious and have jumped to too-hasty conclusions. Cousin Pat believes that there were two Mary F. Edmandses, one in Rodney's family and one in Lott Jr.'s. If Lott Jr. had really taken Rodney's Mary in, there would have been a record of an official adoption into Lott Jr.'s family, and there would not have been a false death record of the twin baby Mary in Rodney's family.
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    --- m. Charles M. Gordon
    Solon V. Edmands
    --- b. November 1854
    --- m. Cora F. UNKNOWN (b. 1860, from Nova Scotia)
    --- Profession: ice truck driver
    --- d. 27 January 1909
    Everett L. Edmands
    --- b. 1863
    --- Profession: ice truck driver
Profession: ice business
Resided ward 2 in Lynn, MA (1870 cens.(22)) Cousin reports that in the 1870 census, Lott was living with children Ebenezer, James, Mary, Solon, half-brother Charles, and Everett.
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Died 1877 (or before)
Daughter: Esther Edmands
Born 1825(23) Ted Edmands cited the census data for 1855 and 1865 (compiled by Ann S. Larnhart) to demonstrate that the birthyear for Esther Edmands Wilson was 1825 (not 1820, as other sources had stated).
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Married 28 November 1841
------ to her brother-in-law,
------ Harrison Gray Wilson, 1819-<1910
------ (son of Daniel M. Wilson, 1788-1869
------- and Nancy Fisk Wilson, 1785-1864,
------- our ancestors)
    Children:
    Jerome Wilson, 1844-1884
    ---- m. <1868 Susan UNKNOWN, 1843-1886
    Rosalinda "Rose" Wilson, 1848-<1880
    ---- m. UNKNOWN Moulton
    ---- daughter: Reliefe Moulton, b. 1868
    Margaret L. Wilson, b. 1854(24) This birthdate for Margaret came from following (a descendant of Harrison Gray Wilson, through Nellie Wilson and William H. Fairchild). Our other sources had 1857 as her birthyear.
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    Nellie M. Wilson, 1859-1933
    ---- m. 13 November 1885
    ---- to William H. Fairchild
    ------ (b. 4 November 1860 [California]
    ------ d. 1931)
Died 10 August 1894
---- Saugus, Essex Co., MA
Other information
Occupation: Farmer
Military: War of 1812:
Lott served at least 1 day during the 17-day period between June 16 and July 2 of 1814 in Captain David Capron's company of Colonel Samuel Brimblecom's regiment, formed in Boston to confront a rumored British invasion of Salem. The rumor was false, and the regiment disbanded without seeing any combat. Nearly seven decades later Lott's widow, Esther, would be dropped from Lott's military pension of $8 per month [$152 per month in 2003 dollars]because Lott's service was deemed "insufficient."
Religion: No information available
Death of Lott Edmands
Died: 10 January 1877
(dropsy of the heart)
(age 85 years 8 months 8 days)
Deathplace: Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
Burial place: Riverside Cmtry (right of lot 85, a double white marble headstone for him and his wife), Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
Disposal of the estate of Lott Edmands(25)

Both Nancy B. Edmands Allen and Ted Edmands cited the probate records at Salem, MA, to document how Lott's estate was finally settled.
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Lott Edmands died intestate, owing $4,324.87 [$75,000 in 2002 dollars], of which $3,300 [$53,600 in 2002 dollars] was tied up in mortgages on real estate. All of Lott's property was sold at auction in 1879 to settle his estate. The following documents how his estate was settled in probate court (text in this "typewriter" font was handwritten in the original documents):
[Minors must be designated. If any party is a married woman, her husband's name must be given. Next of kin may be determined by reference to Chapters 91 and 94 of the General Statutes.]

To the Honorable the Judge of the Probate Court in and for the County of Essex
Respectfully represents Nelson Cochran of Melrose in the county of Middlesex that Lott Edmands in the said county of Essex, farmer, died on the tenth day of January in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and seventy seven intestate, possessed of goods and estate remaining to be administered, leaving a widow, whose name is Esther and as his only next of kin, the persons whose names, residence and relationship to the deceased are as follows; viz., ---
John Edmands, Artemas Edmands of Saugus, and Esther E. Wilson, wife of Harrison G. Wilson, of said Saugus--- children
Charles H Edmands, Sarah A. Roots, wife of Alfred B. Roots, Ebenezer P. Edmands, James W. Edmands, Mary F. Gordon, wife of Charles Gordon, Solon V. Edmands, and Everett L. Edmands, minor, all of Lynn-- grandchildren

That your petitioner is requested by the heirs to administer.

Wherefore your petitioner prays that he may be appointed Administrator of the estate of said deceased.

Dated this fifth day of February A.D. 1877

Nelson Cochran

The undersigned, being all the persons interested in the foregoing Petition, desire that the same may be granted without further notice.

Esther Edmands X her mark
John Edmands
Artemas Edmands
Esther E. Wilson
Harrison G. Wilson
Charles H Edmands
Sarah A. Roots
Alfred B. Roots
Ebenezer P. Edmands
J. Walter Edmands
Mary F. Gordon
Charles M. Gordon
Solon V. Edmands

Item 1877 Dollar Value 2002 Dollar Value(23)

The 2002 real estate prices cited here were calculated from an inflation conversion program ("The Inflation Calculator" who based his calculations on the consumer price index data in the Historical Statistics of the United States, USGPO, 1975). The program provides a fairly accurate picture of what a purchase feels like in a transaction. For example, according to this program, in general, it would take $16,235.45 of 2002 dollars to purchase the amount of goods that $1,000 in 1877 dollars would buy. (I have rounded most of the 2002 calculated amounts, determining that figures of excessive precision lack significance.) This program helps us understand what, say, a purchase of a bushel of apples feels like. Naturally, for the dollar comparison to have any validity, we need to be dealing in purchasable items that are available in both years, as apples are. On the other hand, there were no automobiles in 1877; likewise, a buggy in good condition in 2002 might have an antique or museum value out of proportion with its 1877 price. The items should also be considered to have the same subjective value to the sellers and purchasers in the compared years--a criterion that is particularly problematical with real estate values, which can be influenced by a multitude of factors. has pointed out about the 68 acres of land valued at $2,860 in 1877: "Surely 68 acres of Rt 1 in Saugus in 2002 would be worth more than $46,400. It would be more like $4,640,000." So, with real estate values especially, please treat these 2002 figures with considerable skepticism.
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Schedule of Real Estate in Detail
Homestead: Buildings, House, Barn & Shop 1040.00 16,900
Land: about 68 acres (Saugus) 2860.00 46,400
Burrill Farm. House, Barn & Shop 535.00 8,700
14 acres tillage & Pasture 700.00 11,400
10 acres Woodland on Turnpike 200.00 3,250
21/2 acres Woodland east of pond (Saugus) 119.50 1,940
Woodlot so. of Homestead about 12 acres 300.00 4,875
Woodlot Kidder lot so called about 12 acres 408.00 6,625
Woodlot No. 1 in 600 acres so called about 5 acres 215.00 3,500
Woodlot No. 2 in 600 acres so called 11/4 acres 25.00 406
Woodlot No. 3 Cove Hill Lot so called about 4 acres 56.00 920
Woodlot No. 4 Pratt Lot so called about 5 acres 70.00 1,140
Woodlot No. 5 White Lot so called about 4 acres 212.00 3,500
Woodlot No. 6 Cedar Swamp so called about 11 acres 350.00 5,700
Woodlot No. 7 Shois Lot so called about 31/2 acres 142.00 2,300
Hawkes Lot about 1 acre 26.00 422
Parsonage Lot Saugus center 6 acres 1050.00 17,050
Woodlot Saugus center 32 acres 1312.00 21,300
Marsh about 81/2 acres 340.00 5,500
Land, houselot Summer St. Lynn, about 15,607 ft 800.00 13,000
Land in Melrose about 43 acres-- tillage, pasture, Swamp & woodland 3000.00 48,750
Total $ 13,760.50 $ 223,578
Schedule of Personal Estate
[This Schedule should be divided into at least four classes; 1st, household furniture; 2d, shares in corporations; 3d, promissory notes and other securities; 4th, property employed in business, &c.]
Household Furniture in Homestead 50.00 813
Farm Stock: 6 Cows, 4 Heifers, 1 Bull 200.00 3,250
1 Horse 50.00 813
Farming Utensils 78.90 1,285
Old Iron estimated 200 lbs 1.50 24
Potatoes est. 50 bush. 37.50 609
Lumber: Hard & Pine about 67 m. 1000.00 16,250
13 cords 6 foot of Wood 54.50 885
8 Cedar Posts 2.50 41
Total $ 1479.90 $ 23,970
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