Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield

Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield, his brother, and his wife were part of the nomadic, reactive Gilded Generation. His father was part of the adaptive Compromise Generation, and his mother was part of the idealistic Transcendental Generation. His seven eldest children were part of the adaptive Progressive Generation. His two youngest children were part of the idealistic Missionary Generation.

Some sources give Ephraim's middle name as "Sylvesta," rather than "Sylvester."

[ Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield as a young man, ca. 1850 ]

Here is a picture identified at the bottom as "E. S. M__" We are left to conclude that it depicts Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield as a young man, probably in his twenties.

(Picture courtesy of Patricia Brown Mathews)

Ephraim married Hannah Elizabeth Hinchcliff, and they raised a family of nine children, three of whom died before reaching adulthood. Hannah's parents were living with them when the 1870 census was taken and most of the children were still youngsters.

Now, this picture of a man in his midlife years has no identification. But the man it depicts somewhat resembles the man in the third picture on this page, and that man is identified as our Ephraim, though considerably older. We are left to conclude that this man here might be our Ephraim in his midlife years.(1)

The picture might be of someone else, too. We need to conclude that the picture of the young man depicts Ephraim because of the initials at the bottom: ESM. That said, we cannot disregard that there are features in the midlife man--the brow, perhaps the ears--that indicate that he cannot be an older version of the younger man.
To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) You can click this picture to enlarge it.

(Picture courtesy of Patricia Brown Mathews)

The following picture depicts Ephraim quite a bit older, with his wife, Hannah, and his dog, Don. At the time they were living in their homestead on Appleton Street in Saugus.

Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield with wife and dog (ca. 1900)
(Picture courtesy of Patricia Brown Mathews)
[Click the picture to enlarge it.]

In 1870, when Ephraim (his nickname then was "ES") and Hannah were each 45, her parents and seven children were living with them. Hannah died sometime between 1900 and 1910, and widower Ephraim moved in with his daughter Ella and son-in-law Ephraim.

Year by year in the life of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield

The childhood and early adulthood of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield in their historical context
The prime adult years and midlife of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield in their historical context
The early elderhood years of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield in their historical context
The last years of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield in their historical context

Descent chart

*Birth of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield*
Born:	13 February 1825
Birthplace:	Probably Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
*Parents*
Father:	Ephraim Mansfield, 1790-1841 (our ancestor), from Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
Mother:	Vesta V. W. Francis, 1799-1878 (our ancestor), from Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
*Siblings*
Brother:	Lorenzo Mansfield(2) a great-great-granddaughter of Ephraim, supplied most of the information we have on Lorenzo Mansfield, including his birth and death dates. For his first marriage, she cites the Saugus Town Hall records (p. 11); for his second marriage, she cites the census for 1870 and for 1880; for his son William, she cites the census for 1860 and for 1870. She notes that in the 1880 census there were no children in Lorenzo's household. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Born 18 June 1828 Stonecutter (stonemason) Married (first) 26 November 1855 ---- to Ellen Armor ---- b. 1839 ---- Windham, NH Children: William Mansfield, b. 1858 (No information on possible other children) Served in Civil War ---- Private, 40th Reg. Mass. Volunteers ---- 1862-1865 Married (second) <1870 ---- to Abby (Abba) UNKNOWN ---- b. 1840 or 1841 Died 2 April 1915 ---- in Saugus, Essex Co., MA
No information on any other siblings
*Spouse and children*
Wife:	Hannah Elizabeth Hinchcliff, 1826->1900(3) According to Geneva A. Daland and James S. Mansfield, Mansfield Genealogy: Descendants of Robert and Elizabeth Mansfield and Sons Andrew and Joseph who came to Lynn, 1639-1640 (1980), "Hannah E." UNKNOWN Mansfield was Ephraim's second wife, the stepmother of all (or at least some) of the children; the children's mother was "Elizabeth" UNKNOWN Mansfield, who died, leaving Ephraim a widower, who then married again to Hannah. Yet, Ephraim's great-granddaughter Ethel Jean Edmands Weeks, b. 1909, regarded Hannah as her great-grandmother (not step-great-grandmother). According to Patricia Brown Mathews, Hannah had always been understood in her branch of the family to be the sole wife of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield--that is, the same person as "Elizabeth UNKNOWN," and therefore the mother of all the children of Ephraim, and therfore our ancestor. Whether these descendants or Daland and Mansfield are correct must still be determined conclusively by researching census and other vital records, but--for now--I am favoring the idea that "Hannah E." (Hannah Elizabeth Hinchcliff) and "Elizabeth" are the same person, the sole wife of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield. I base my conclusion on the juxtaposition of the following two statements of research done by others: Nancy B. Edmands Allen (granddaughter of Edward Wesley Edmands, who was the second son of our common ancestor Artemas Seymour Edmands) did a lot of family history of us back in the 1980s and reported her findings from the 1860 census and the 1870 census, listing the various children as "members of the family of Ephraim Sylvester and Elizabeth Mansfield" and then she lists the several children that I have put on this page, from Ella as the eldest to Edith as the youngest; that is, in 1870 the following six surviving children were living with Ephraim and Elizabeth: Ella Josephine Mansfield, 21; Lorenzo H. Mansfield, 19; Florence E. Mansfield, 17; Edgar R. Mansfield, 15; Laura G. Mansfield, 13; Edith G. Mansfield, 5. Patricia Brown Mathews has reported from the 1870 census that Hannah's parents were living with Ephraim and Hannah. Seems to me that Ephraim's wife Elizabeth would not have tolerated letting Ephraim's girlfriend Hannah and her parents live in the same house--unless Elizabeth and Hannah Elizabeth were the same person. Sometimes she is known as Hannah and sometimes as Elizabeth. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) (our ancestor), (daughter of John Hinchcliff and Susan Fry Hinchcliff [our ancestors] probably from Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts.) Married before 1849 [No information on the marriage place]
Daughter:	Ella Josephine Mansfield, 1849-1923 (our ancestor)
Daughter:	Lucy Mansfield Born 1849 Died 26 March 1861
Son:	Lorenzo H. Mansfield Born 1851(4) This date is from Patricia Brown Mathews, who researched the Saugus Town Hall records. Our other sources had the date as 1850 (no day or month). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) ---- in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts Worked as a grocer Married 19 November 1871 ---- in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts ---- to Isabella Dearborn ---- b. 1853 ---- daughter of James and Clara Dearborn
Daughter:	Florence E. Mansfield Born 1853(5) This date is from Patricia Brown Mathews, who researched the Saugus Town Hall records. Our other sources had the date as 1852 (no day or month). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Worked in a shoe factory Married 27 October 1882 ---- to George F. Kennard ---- b. 1851 ---- in Maine
Son:	Edgar L. Mansfield Born 15 November 1855(6) This date is from Patricia Brown Mathews, who researched the Saugus Town Hall records. Our other sources had the date as 1854 (no day or month). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Married (?) Theresa UNKOWN(7) According to the 1880 census of the Mansfield household in Saugus, more than 6 years after Edgar's death, a "daughter" Theresa is listed as living with Ephraim and Hannah Mansfield. Theresa was probably a widowed daughter-in-law. Patricia Brown Mathews has commented: "I've never seen her before [in any of the records], possibly the wife of one of the sons, maybe Edgar, who was drowned in 1873." Seems like a good guess to me. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Died 5 December 1873 ---- by drowning
Daughter:	Laura G. Mansfield Born 2 August 1856 Married 27 November 1878 ---- to James R. Hughes ---- b. 1850
Son:	Horace K. Mansfield Born 8 February 1858 Died 3 May 1869 ---- of scarlet fever
Son:	BOY Mansfield Born 1859 Died 1860 ---- of a lung complaint
Daughter:	Susy Vesta Mansfield Born 30 December 1860 Died 1861 ---- of inflammation
Son:	Charles A. Mansfield Born 18 March 1862(8) This date is from Patricia Brown Mathews, who researched the Saugus Town Hall records. Our other sources had the date as 1861 (no day or month). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close)
Daughter:	Edith G. Mansfield Born 14 May 1865 ---- in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts Married 27 July 1891 ---- in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts ---- to Arthur Seymour Edmands, 1862-1951 ---- stepson of Ella ---- (so, in a way, Arthur was Edith's nephew; ---- he was also her third cousin, twice removed) Music teacher and organist Died 6 June 1926 ---- in Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts Buried Riverside Cmtry (lot 49)(9), Patricia Brown Mathews has Edith's burial lot (49) from the Riverside cemetery records. Our other sources had lot 45N.5. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Saugus, MA Daughters: Elizabeth "Bess" Caroline Edmands, 1892-1937 Frances Josephine Edmands, 1893-1941 For more information on her descendants, including the surnames Brown, Hatch, and Mathews, see Descendants of Arthur Edmands (password-protected)
*Other information*
Occupation:	Shoemaker (in a factory)
Religion:	No information available
*Death of Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield*
Died:	23 October 1910 (age 85 years 8 months 10 days)(10) Patricia Brown Mathews has provided the information on Ephraim's death from the cemetery records. To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close)
Deathplace:	Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
Burial place:	Riverside Cmtry (lot 55)(11), Patricia Brown Mathews has provided the lot number: "After taking my best guess as to lot 55, I found only a base for a stone" (quoted from e-mail of 8 September 2004). To close this footnote, click the number again or click (Close) Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
*Back to the top*

Sources on Ephraim Sylvester Mansfield:

("Pat"), b. 1951, great-granddaughter of Arthur Seymour Edmands, 1862-1951, for considerable information and pictures, as well as data on the children of Ephraim and Hannah from the Saugus Town Hall records. Pat also provided much information on Arthur Seymour Edmands and Edith G. Mansfield Edmands; she cited the 1910 census records [Essex, Mass., roll 588, book 2, p. 416 [sheet 246]). (The other sources had, no doubt incorrectly, Arthur and Edith married in 1890, and their daughter Frances born in 1894.)

Here are excerpts from some of Pat's notes: "Hannah's parents, John and Susan Hinchcliff, lived with them during the 1870 census. John was listed as born England with his wife born Mass. John died before 1880. The census says Leicester [birthplace?] withoug saying which country--there is a Leicester, Mass. Ephraim lived on the homestead on Appleton St. in Saugus (whether it belonged to the family before is unknown; it might be interesting to check land records). See the picture of him and Hannah Elizabeth sitting on a rock. On the back it says, 'taken near Appleton Pulpit, next to old Mansfield homestead, Appleton St. Saugus.' It may still be possible to find the location from that description. Ephraim worked at a shoe factory making shoes. [According to the] 1860c. Mass. Essex Co., Saugus (roll 494, book 1, p500 [a.k.a. p51 Saugus]). He lived next to Lott Edmands--I wonder if Lott lived near Appleton's Pulpit. [According to the] 1870c. he is called ES and worked in a shoe factory. [According to the] 1880c lived Saugus--probably at Appleton's Pulpit location--he was about the age he looked in the picture. . . . In 1910, Ephraim was living with Artemas Edmands at 165 Main St. Saugus (then his son-in-law)."

Nancy B. Edmands Allen, b. 1925, granddaughter of Ella's second stepson, Edward Wesley Edmands, 1864-1956. Nancy cites he census records for 1860 and 1870, as well as Geneva A. Daland and James S. Mansfield, Mansfield Genealogy: Descendants of Robert and Elizabeth Mansfield and Sons Andrew and Joseph who came to Lynn, 1639-1640 (1980).

Theodore Wesley "Ted" Edmands, 1928-1999, who cited federal census data for 1865.

Mary Caroline Findley Edmands, 1887-1970

Ethel Jean Edmands Weeks, b. 1909

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