Artemas Edmands
Artemas Edmands, his wife, and all his siblings except the youngest were part of the idealistic Transcendental Generation. His parents were part of the adaptive Compromise Generation. His youngest sibling and his eldest two children were part of the nomadic, reactive Gilded Generation. His two younger children were part of the adaptive Progressive Generation.
Artemas was born and grew up with his parents and his four siblings in a farm homestead in Saugus, Massachusetts, west of the Newburyport Turnpike, east of Forest Street and north of what is now the Lynn Fells Parkway. They lived in 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 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. Young Artemas was able to fetch water from the well without having to go out into bad weather. He 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.
When he was 21 years old, Artemas married Margaret Wilson, a year and a half older than him, also from Saugus. They were actually distant relatives, seventh cousins, although they probably were not aware of that fact.
At some point Artemas and Margaret acquired the farmstead at Breakheart Hill (on Forest Street in Saugus), which had been owned by Margaret's distant cousin Nathan Hitchings several decades earlier. (In the 1850 census, Artemas and Margaret are recorded as living between Nathan Hawks and William Edmands [Artemas's uncle].)
On September 28, 1841, Frederick Douglass, a black abolitionist resident of nearby Lynn, was forcibly ejected from an Eastern Railroad train (which ran from Boston to Portland, Maine) for refusal to ride in a "Jim Crow" car. This was the second time that month that he had peacefully insisted on the right to remain in his seat with his traveling companions. (He frequently traveled to speak at abolitionist events.) Artemas and Margaret raised their four children at the Breakheart Hill farmstead. Considering the name they chose for their third child, we can assume that Artemas--at least in his thirties--was a Democrat in the Whig-dominated Massachusetts of Senator Daniel Webster and Congressman John Quincy Adams. Little Andrew Jackson Edmands was born in the wake of the Presidential Election of 1844, when all of the state's 12 electoral votes (51.2 percent of the state's popular vote) went to Jackson's long-time enemy, Whig Henry Clay, the loser nationwide, against Jackson protegé "54-40-or-fight" Manifest Destiny Democrat James K. Polk (who received 40.4 percent of the state's popular vote). (James G. Birney of the abolitionist Liberty Party received 8.2 percent.)
According to census data for 1850, 1855, and 1865, Artemas's unmarried Aunt Sally (18 years his senior) lived with them as a "nurse." In the 1860 census, we learn that Margaret's father, aged 73, and mother, aged 75, were living with them. In 1865, Margaret's widowered father, now aged 78, was living with them, recorded as a "shoemaker."
The youngest of their children, (Margaret) Ellen Edmands, was really their niece (who had lost her mother when she was an infant), but they raised her as their own daughter. Artemas and Margaret did this again, too: When they were getting on in years (late fifties and sixties), they raised their grandchild Ellis, whose mother, their daughter-in-law, had died when he was an infant. Another grandson, Edward, lived with his wife, (Emma) Flora, at the farmhouse with Artemas after Margaret had died. A great-granddaughter, (Margaret) Lillian Edmands, was born there when Artemas was 79 years old.
![[ The house where Artemas spent his boyhood ]](images/hitchingshousex.jpg)
The house where Artemas spent his boyhood
[Click the picture to enlarge it.]![[ The house on Breakheart Hill ]](images/breakhearthousex.jpg)
The house on Breakheart Hill
[Click the picture to enlarge it.]
Year by year in the life of Artemas Edmands
The childhood of Artemas Edmands in its historical context
The adolescence and prime adulthood of Artemas Edmands in their historical context
The midlife and early elderhood years of Artemas Edmands in their historical context
The last years of Artemas Edmands in their historical context
| Birth of Artemas Edmands | |
| Born: | 8 February
1813(1)
Cousin who has done much checking of vital records, supplied the date of 8 February. According to our other sources, Artemas was born on 12 February, which was probably the date of his christening. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) |
| Birthplace: | Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts |
| Parents | |
| Father: | Lott Edmands, 1791-1877 (our ancestor), from Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts and Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts |
| Mother: | Esther Burrill, 1790-1883 (our ancestor), from Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts |
| Siblings | |
| Brother: | 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)
George Draper Edmands, b. 1836 Artemas Bradford Edmands(2) 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). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) --- 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 Artemas and Margaret) --- see among their children For more information on his descendants,
------ to Phebe Parry(3) According to Theodore Wesley "Ted" Edmands, 1928-1999, 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. ------ (b. 1824, d. 8 February 1917)
John Alvah Edmands, 1849-1917 Cora Edmands, b. 1858(4) 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? To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Joseph Edmands, b. 1863(5) 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. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Ella May Edmands, 1866-1920(6) 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. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) For more information on his descendants,
(heart disease) in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts |
| Brother: | Andrew Edmands
Born 1818 Married 9 December 1835 ------ to Sarah A. Paine ------ b. 1817(7) According to cousin Sarah was born in 1816 (not 1817). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) ------ (daughter of Ebenezer Paine ------- and Sally Kirby Paine)
Charles H. Edmands(8) 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 (for more on this baby, see a couple of footnotes down). 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. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) --- b. 1836 --- m. Luella UNKNOWN (b. 1849) Sarah A. Edmands --- b. 1840 --- m. Alfred B. Roots, (b. 1837) --- child: George W. Roots, b. 1863 |
| Brother: | Lott Edmands
Born 1822 Married 13 July 1844(9) According to cousin Lott and Sarah were married 7 August (not 13 July) 1844. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) ------ in Saugus, Essex Co., MA, ------ to his widowed sister-in-law, ------ Sarah A. Paine Edmands ------ b. 1817(7) According to cousin Sarah was born in 1816 (not 1817). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) ------ (daughter of Ebenezer Paine ------- and Sally Kirby Paine)
Ebenezer Paine Edmands --- b. 3 July 1844(10) 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 2 on this, and for more detail, see Descendants of John Edmands [password-protected].) To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) --- 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(11) 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 5 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 deathdate 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. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) --- 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 Resided ward 2 in Lynn, MA (1870 cens.(12)) Cousin reports that in the 1870 census, Lott was living with children Ebenezer, James, Mary, Solon, half-brother Charles, and Everett. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Died 1877 (or before) |
| Sister: | Esther Edmands
Born 1825(13) 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). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) 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)
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(14) This birthdate for Margaret came from cousin following (a descendant of Harrison Gray Wilson, through Nellie Wilson and William H. Fairchild). Our other sources had 1857 as her birthyear. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Nellie M. Wilson, 1859-1933 ---- m. 13 November 1885 ---- to William H. Fairchild ------ (b. 4 November 1860 [California] ------ d. 1931) ---- Saugus, Essex Co., MA |
| Spouse and children | |
| Wife: | Margaret M. Wilson, 1811-1879(15)
An alternate spelling that cousin found is "Margarate." To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) (our ancestor) (daughter of Daniel M. Wilson and Nancy Fisk Wilson [our ancestors], from Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts. Married 30 March 1834 in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts(16) According to cousin Artemas and Margaret were married 28 September (not 30 March) 1834 in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts (not Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) |
| Son: | John Lott Edmands
Born 1835 Superintendent of streets, Saugus, MA(17) According to cousin John Lott Edmands worked as highway supervisor in Lynn, rather than Saugus. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Married Mary M. Hall (1842-1928)(18) According to Nancy B. Edmands Allen, b. 1925, the death date for Mary Hall is 1908, but the tombstone at lot 85 in Riverside Cemtry., Saugus, MA, has Mary's dates as 1842-1928 (verified in 1990 by Allan Christie Edmands II, b. 1942). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) --- from Vermont
Ruth Edmands --- m. Eric Wilson Died 23 October 1900 --- from typhoid fever Buried in Riverside Cmtry (with wife), lot 85, Saugus, MA |
| Son: | Artemas Seymour Edmands, 1837-1920 (our ancestor) |
| Son: | Andrew Jackson Edmands
Born 24 February 1845(19) According to Andrew Jackson Edmands was born on 25 February (not 24 February) 1845. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Married Maria UNKNOWN Profession: Butcher
Clara L. Edmands, b. 1867(20) The "Family Search" (of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints), gives 1862, not 1867, as the birthyear for Clara L. Edmands. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Addie P. Edmands, b. 1871 Florence M. Edmands, b. 1878 Grace Edmands (?) --- (married Cooke (?)(21) According to the 19 March 1965 entry in the diary of Mary Caroline Findley Edmands, "Note from Miss Mason--she's found another Edmands relative, a Grace Cooke--Uncle Andrew's daughter, I believe." Erma F. Mason was the source in the 1960s for numerous descendants of Artemas's grandfather John Edmands, 1757-1846, but a "Grace Cooke" is not listed among the records I possess. Other records list only three children for Andrew and Maria. Is it possible that Grace might be their granddaughter--that is, the daughter of Clara, Addie, or Florence (who presumably married a Cooke)? To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) |
|
Niece
(Raised as daughter): |
Margaret Ellen Edmands(22)
The Mormon Family Search lists Margaret Ellen Edmands as "Ellen M. Edmands." has "Margaret E." (born 1847) and "Ellen M." (born 1848) as two different people. Apparently Margaret Ellen used one name (Margaret E.) sometimes and the other name (Ellen M.) other times when talking to census takers. Pat has "Ellen" living with freshly widowed Artemas in the 1880 census; she would have been 32 or 33 at the time. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Born 30 January 1847
and sister-in-law Lydia Draper Edmands, who died soon after Margaret's birth; Margaret taken in by Artemas and Margaret and raised as their own daughter) Both of them died 18 December 1913 --- Did they die in an accident? Both buried in Riverside Cmtry, lot 85, Saugus, MA |
| Other information | |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Religion: | No information available |
| Death of Artemas Edmands | |
| Died: | 24 September
1896 (age 83 years 7 months 16 days(23)) Artemas's lifespan, according to was 83 years 7 months 16 days. We had formerly cheated his span of 4 days because of the discrepancy in the date of his birth. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) |
| Deathplace: | Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts |
| Burial place: | Riverside Cmtry (lot 85), Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts |
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