Person Page

     Joseph Henry Bowditch was probably born on 6 December 1817, in Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts.^5,6,7,2,8 He was baptized with his sisters Sarah and Helen on 5 June 1822 in Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts.⁹ He was married by C. T. Thayer, pastor of the First Parish Church, to Elizabeth Blanchard Abbot, daughter of George Abbot and Nancy Stickney, on 2 April 1845 at the bride's parents' home in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.^3,10,11 He died on 12 August 1900 in Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 82.¹² He was buried at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁵

     His father died on 30 August 1824 when he was just six, and on 4 October 1825 Richard Wheatland, a Salem merchant, was appointed guardian of his financial interest in the estate, and of the interests of his siblings Sarah, Helen, and Francis. Their mother Lucinda officially replaced Wheatland as guardian on 4 April 1826. On 4 October 1826 a court-ordered inventory valued each child's share of the estate at $1191.26 ($388.88 for their share of their father's house and land in Salem, and $802.38 from his personal estate).¹³
     According to the genealogy by Frederick Bowditch, Joseph moved from Salem to Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina, about 1835 ("at age 17").² The first record found for him there is a mention in the local paper in 1841 about an Independence Day dinner where he offered a toast.^14,15 He started a wholesale and general trading business there, and in late 1843 entered into a partnership with James D. Howell.^16,17
     Joseph and Elizabeth's wedding, at 7:30 the evening of 2 April 1845 (Elizabeth's parents' 25th anniversary), was apparently quite an event. James W. Boyden, a childhood friend of Elizabeth's who was then at Harvard Law School, attended the wedding and devoted nine pages of his diary to a description of his trip to Beverly, and the wedding itself.
     James traveled from Cambridge to Beverly by train early in the afternoon, along with Gustavus Trask, a friend who was also attending the wedding. While walking up Cabot St. toward Elizabeth's parents' house, where the wedding was to take place later that day, they met and talked with Rev. C. T. Thayer, who was to perform the ceremony. Nearing the house they saw Joseph H. Bowditch, the groom, and learned that he had arrived in Boston on Sunday (30 March), but missed the train, and walked to Beverly.¹⁸ Boyden went with Joseph to Joseph's mother Lucinda's house, where he visited with her and with Joseph's sister Sarah and brother Francis, who had also arrived on Sunday after being away at sea.
     When James went to the Abbot house in the evening for the wedding he noted that the "windows shown brightly beneath the tall waving elms and the starlit heavens. It seemed as if the Creator's kind hand had lighted innumerable lamps to guide his children's feet to the house."¹⁹ He was led by Cora, the Abbot's household servant, to a room where several of Joseph's friends from Salem had gathered, and from there went down to the parlor for the ceremony. The room was decorated with bouquets of flowers on either side of several windows, along with burning candles. Elizabeth wore her hair in curls, "crowned with a sweet chaplet of flowers," and held a pendant bouquet in her left hand. She was dressed in "maiden white," and Joseph wore a plain black coat and pants with a lighter vest and tie. Joseph had two groomsmen (unnamed in the diary), and Elizabeth had as maids her sister Georgiana and her childhood friend Hannah Rantoul. A "cool refreshing rain" fell immediately after the ceremony, but soon "the bright stars shone out again in beauty." Guests were treated with wedding cake "and other sorts" served from trays carried among the crowd by "negro servants," along with wine and lemonade.
     The attendees seemed to include all of Elizabeth's "companions of youth and the associates of the family," and included "smiling clergymen, sagacious physicians, acute lawyers (even the U. S. District Attorney for Massachusetts) and aspiring law students, the Historian of Beverly, gentlemen of leisure and men of business, the gray headed Squire and many black haired Squires besides, teachers and pupils, the college student and the counting room clerk, the ship master, the cashier of the bank, the Representative to General Court ...".¹⁰
     The morning after their marriage, Joseph and Elizabeth left for his home in Tarboro. They took about two weeks, traveling "leisurely" and spending time in New York and Baltimore on the way, and arrived in Tarboro on 16 April 1845.^20,10
     They boarded for a time while waiting for a house to become available, probably with Dr. Josiah Lawrence and his wife Elizabeth.²¹ They moved into their own house, previously occupied by a Mr. Williams, either late in December 1845 or in January 1846.²²
     In mid-September 1845 they (or at least Elizabeth) came back home for a visit, and returned to Tarboro later that month.^23,24
     In 1847 he and Elizabeth brought their one-year-old son Nathaniel to Beverly, where they spent the summer. Exactly when they left Tarboro is unknown, but their plan was to go in March, and return in October. Joseph planned to go with them, return to Tarboro after a few days, then come back to Beverly the first of August and stay until October when all would go back to Tarboro. Besides visiting family and friends, they wanted to be there for Elizabeth's sister Georgiana's marriage to Charles Lamson on 2 September.^25,26,27,28
     At the end of the summer, on 28 September 1847, they left Beverly for home.²⁹ Elizabeth later described their trip in a letter to her parents, and it provides some interesting insight into the difficulty of travel in the mid-1800s.

     In October 1847, immediately after returning from Beverly, they were again boarding with the Lawrences^31,29, while looking for a house to buy. They eventually did buy a house, on St. Andrews St. not far from the courthouse, whose previous occupants included Jos. R. Lloyd, James Weddell, and Henry I. Toole.^32,33,34
     They are listed in Tarboro in the 1850 census, along with Sarah M. Bowditch, most likely Joseph's sister who was either visiting or living with them, and with Robt. B. Harrison, a 17-year-old male who was working as a clerk.³⁵ They are again listed in Tarboro in the 1860 census. In addition to their children, also listed in their household were Annie Rodel (age 18, a domestic born in Germany), and Charles Cevalier (age 22, a merchant born in Canada East).³⁶
     He and James Howell ended their business partnership in 1848, with closeout sales starting in July, and the dissolution became official on 1 January 1849.^37,38 He later ran a book-selling business, from at least late 1851 to 1853, and was apparently affiliated with W. L. Pomeroy, a bookseller in Raleigh, North Carolina.³⁹
     Around this time he began to think seriously about quitting the retail business and going into farming. In late 1852 he sold a 25 by 150 foot lot on Main St. in Tarboro to Colin Macnair for $1000.⁴⁰ On 14 April 1853 he placed an ad in the local newspaper saying that he had "determined to exchange Merchandizing for Agriculture," and offering for sale his store lot "on the Court House Square, well known as THE BRICK STORE," along with warehouses and other structures, his goods, and his house "in one of the best neighborhoods."⁴¹ He also offered for sale a piano, and a horse and rockaway (a four-wheel carriage) "made in Jersey City to order."⁴²
     However, he apparently changed his mind, or perhaps found no buyers for his property, for by 20 May 1854 he was back in business at the brick store, this time by himself, selling "dry goods ... English and French china ware, hardware and carpenter's tools, groceries, &c."⁴³ During this time he employed a man named George to operate a street cart, paying him $1.75 for a twelve-hour workday.⁴⁴ He often traveled north to buy goods, and also went west into the mountains. His diary for 1854 reports a three-week trip by horse into the "up-country," and mentions the magnificent mountains. He continued his travels throughout his life. As late as age 72 his wife wrote in April that he had been gone since December.⁴⁵
     On 1 November 1855 he took in as a partner Richard T. Hoskins. They must have been quite successful. During their time together they expanded and improved the store, until it was characterized as "The Stewart's of Tarboro." Their partnership was officially dissolved on 19 January 1861, when Joseph was preparing to move his family to Yancey Co., but Hoskins continued the business at the same location with George Seay as a partner.^46,47,48
     He was a slave owner, at least during his time in Tarboro. He also "rented" at least one slave, Laura, from her owner in 1845 to help his wife Elizabeth. In 1852 he reported in his diary that they had "quite a family" of Negroes, and in 1854 that he "sold Martha and her two children for $1355 to Bennet T. Pitt."^49,50 The U. S. census slave schedules show that Joseph had three slaves in 1850, females age 37 and 13, and a male age 7. These may have been "Martha and her two children" who were mentioned in his diary. In 1860 two slaves are listed for him, a male age 21 and a female age 14.^51,52
     On 12 December 1859 he purchased two tracts of land totaling perhaps 3300 acres in the mountainous region of western North Carolina, "on the waters of the South Toe River" in Yancey Co., from T. Geo. Walton, D. J. Copaning, J. W. Burton, and W. M. Walton, all of nearby Burke Co., for $6000.^53,54,55 He built a house there, and the family moved in the spring of 1861.^45,56
     The timing of their move seems terrible. Joseph had views on farming he wanted to explore, but no real farming experience⁵⁷, and he had a wife and five children to support, with another child born in 1862. Only one son, Nathaniel, was old enough to help work the farm. And of course the Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter just a month after the move.⁵⁸
     In their new home they were even more isolated from the civilization they had grown up with in the north. In 1860 Yancey Co. residents "lived in a frontier environment largely isolated from the outside world." There were no local newspapers, medical care was substandard, schools were poor (except for the private Burnsville Academy), and roads were inadequate, especially in areas of the county not near Burnsville, the county seat. And things only got worse during and immediately after the Civil War. Years later their son Frederick's wife Helen wrote that Frederick "always felt that his father had done a very unwise thing, when he took his family of five young children into the mountains of North Carolina where there were no schools or advantages."^59,60
     Very little is known about the family during the war. In a claim filed with the Southern Claims Commission in 1870 Joseph stated that he lived in Yancey Co. throughout the war, and we have no evidence to the contrary.⁶¹
     They may have suffered some sort of misfortune and property loss, either during the war or shortly afterward.⁶² In 1860, when they were living in Tarboro, they reported in the census that their real estate was worth $12,500 (presumably including the land purchased in Yancey Co. in 1859), and their personal property was worth $15,500. By 1870, when Joseph was in Tarboro and the rest of the family was in Yancey Co., the total values were down to $9000 and $7500, respectively. At least some of the decrease in the value of their personal property is due to the loss of the two slaves they had in 1860, before the war. It's worth noting, however, that even though the values were lower than ten years earlier, the value of their Yancey Co. real estate ($3000) was the highest in Crabtree Twp. by more than a factor of three.^63,64,65
     They seriously considered moving back to Tarboro after the war. And indeed, although Elizabeth and the children remained on the farm in Yancey Co., Joseph restarted (or perhaps never completely gave up) his business interests in Tarboro, and apparently spent much of his time there.^66,67
     In the early morning hours of 30 September 1865 a fire destroyed several buildings in Tarboro, including "the brick store of Messrs. Hoskins & Bowditch."^68,69 He built two stores in its place, and on 2 May 1867 advertised one for rent.⁷⁰ Within three months the two stores were occupied by the merchants E. Rosenthal and B. J. Keech.⁷¹ In the 1870 census, Joseph is listed in Tarboro as a dry goods merchant, while the rest of the family is listed on the farm in Crabtree Twp.^64,65 He probably left Tarboro for good later that year. On 23 November 1870 he placed an ad in the local paper offering all his merchandise for sale at cost, "wishing to close out his business."⁷²
     During his time in Tarboro he served in at least a couple local offices. He was town clerk in 1849⁷³, and on 1 April 1850 he, James Weddell, and James M. Redmond were elected to one-year terms as town commissioners.⁷⁴
     He again served as commissioner in Tarboro in 1868, along with Henry H. Shaw and Wm. H. Johnston. They were appointed by North Carolina Gov. William Holden, which apparently caused some controversy. Holden was elected in 1868, and attempted to work with the Federal government during the Reconstruction era, supporting civil and voting rights for all citizens, including former slaves. As part of that effort he tried to suppress the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, but with limited success. An article in the Tarboro newspaper, noting that Holden had declared that he would only appoint commissioners in agreement with his policies, asked "are the above named appointees considered in full sympathy with the sentiments and administration of a man, who is seeking by every means in his power, to perpetuate his rule by the oppression of the white people of the State?" Gov. Holden was impeached in December 1870, and removed from office three months later.^75,76
     Joseph also was a lay delegate to the 53rd Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church for the Diocese of North Carolina, held in Raleigh 19-22 May 1869⁷⁷, and served as a trustee of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Orange Co., from 1869 to 1872.⁷⁸
     On 13 February 1870 he filed a claim with the Southern Claims Commission for $350, as compensation for the loss of two 6-8 year old mules during the Civil War. They were taken about 1 April 1865 by Capt. John H. Ray of Company K, Third North Carolina Mounted Infantry, for use by the Union Army. The company was moving from Greenville, Tennessee, toward South Carolina to keep the mountain pass open while the army was in pursuit of ex-Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Despite supporting testimony from two neighbors, and from Capt. Ray himself, his claim was disallowed.
     As part of the claim process, he was required to answer several questions designed to determine his loyalty to the Union during the war. His answers, dated 30 May 1873, as well as the depositions of two neighbors, indicate that his sympathies were with the Union during the war. He never took any oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, or worked for the Confederate government in any military or civilian capacity. He did serve on a "vigilant committee of safety." At one point he was detained at Burnsville for 24 hours by Confederate soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. S. D. Bird, and was later informed that $25.00 had been offered to anyone that would shoot him.⁵⁴
     His wife Elizabeth's brother John Edwin Abbot came to live with them in North Carolina, perhaps as early as 1868 when he traveled there from Milwaukee after his sister Ellen's wedding, and likely by 1875 when he deeded land to Elizabeth.^79,80
     On 14 March 1874 Elizabeth sold 500 acres of their land in Yancey Co. to J. W. Gibbs.⁸¹ About a week later, on 20 March 1874 a deed for the same property that Joseph had purchased in 1859 was made, with Russel Chapman, and Fred Phillips and Martha J. Phillips his wife, all of Edgecombe Co., conveying their "right, title, and interest in the property" to Elisabeth B. Bowditch of Yancey Co. for $4000.^82,83
     On 17 October 1874 Elizabeth exchanged tracts of land in Yancey Co. with Nelson M. Harris and his wife Nelly Martha Ann Harris, with Elizabeth receiving 50 acres adjoining "the Henry Silvers place" in return for a 58-acre tract of land "known as part of the Griffith old orchard."^84,85 On 30 July 1875 Elizabeth's brother John deeded to her for $1.00 a 750-acre parcel of land in Yancey Co. described as "the homestead of Joseph H. Bowditch alloted and layed off by the Sheriff of said county."^86,87 On 16 January 1879 Elizabeth sold 120 acres, part of the land they were then living on in Yancey Co., to Susannah Carraway for $540.⁸⁸
     On 26 January 1880 their house and all of their furniture and clothing were destroyed in a fire.⁸⁹ Relatives and friends in the north sent clothing and money, and they built a new house that in 1964 was still standing near Micaville in Yancey Co.⁹⁰ In June 1880, four months after the fire, they and their children Georgiana, John, Frederick, and Charles were enumerated in the 1880 census living with the family of John and Martha Griffeith in Yancey Co., presumably while their new house was being built. Listed with them, but crossed out, was Elizabeth's brother John Abbot.⁹¹
     About 1884, due to failing health, he and Elizabeth began dividing their property among their children. On 11 July 1885 John and Georgiana together received the home lot, containing 888 acres and the house, plus all their parents' personal belongings. In return they agreed "to maintain J. H. Bowditch and his wife E. B. Bowditch during their natural life, and to provide all things necessary for their comfort and happiness." The rest of the property was divided by appraisers, and lots were drawn for each share. Their son Joseph had received 690 acres in 1884, and was deeded an additional 46 acres in 1885. Charles and Fred were jointly deeded 1130 acres on 4 October 1885.
     Joseph and Elizabeth's son Nathaniel had left his family about 1877, and hadn't been heard from since. On 20 October 1885 Nathaniel's siblings Georgiana, John, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles agreed to pay him $200 each should he return, presumably covering his share of the estate.^92,93
     In 1900 Joseph and Elizabeth were living with their children John and Georgiana in Crabtree Twp., along with Elizabeth's brother John E. Abbot.⁷
     On 11 June 1904, after both Joseph and Elizabeth had died, their grandchildren John H. Bowditch and Mary (Bowditch) Hall, children of their son Nathaniel, filed a complaint with the Superior Court of Yancey Co. asking for their share of the estate.⁹⁴ An amendment to the complaint, filed on 3 August 1905, asked that the earlier deeds dividing the estate among their children be declared invalid on the grounds that (1) Elizabeth had "became so diseased, enfeebled and unsound" that she was sent to the State Hospital at Morganton; (2) after treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana; and (3) Georgiana used her undue power and control to unjustly influence Elizabeth into executing the various deeds of land to her children.^95,96
     The court agreed and declared that the deeds were null and void. Nathaniel's children John and Mary were declared "tenants in common" of the land, along with Georgiana Bowditch, Joseph Bowditch, Frederick Bowditch, Charles Bowditch, and John E. Abbot (Elizabeth's brother, who had earlier purchased John Abbot Bowditch's share). Commissioners were appointed by the court to divide the land, and delivered their final report on 15 March 1907. Various amounts totaling 395 acres were taken from the tracts originally deeded to Georgiana, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles, and awarded to John and Mary. The commissioners report doesn't mention the land then owned by John E. Abbot.^97,98

     Elizabeth Blanchard Abbot was born on 28 February 1821 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.¹ She was married by C. T. Thayer, pastor of the First Parish Church, to Joseph Henry Bowditch, son of Joseph Bowditch and Lucinda Morse, on 2 April 1845 at the bride's parents' home in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.^2,4,5 She died on 26 August 1902 in Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 81.^6,7 She was buried at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁸

     In her late teens Elizabeth spent at least two winters, 1838/39 and 1840/41, living in Baltimore, Maryland, with James and Eliza (Leach) Gould. James's wife Eliza was a cousin of Elizabeth's father George, and they had no children of their own. Elizabeth didn't know them well before this time, but they grew very close, and James and Elizabeth corresponded regularly in later years.⁹
     Elizabeth's father accompanied her to Baltimore on her first trip. They stopped in New York and Philadelphia on the way, arriving in New York on 2 December. They saw the play "Amilie, or the Love Test," and Elizabeth was amazed by the extravagance of women's fashions. But she disliked all the pigs that were "allowed to run about the streets for the purpose of cleaning them." They left New York for Philadelphia on 5 December, and arrived in Baltimore on 7 December.¹⁰
     In Baltimore she spent her time seeing the sights there and in Washington, visiting with friends, reading (including books in French), taking music lessons, and going to museums, lectures, parties, and dances. She also had her portrait painted, sitting for two hours a day for four weeks.¹¹
     She liked the sociability of people there, compared to the "cold and formal reserve which so definitely characterizes a New Englander." She had at least two suiters, William Peabody and Reuben Stump Harland, who "the young persons say" went to Washington on 26 December 1838 to fight a duel over her. (If they did, both survived.) She spent New Year's Eve in 1838 with William Peabody. But she was in no hurry to settle down. She later wrote "my heart is my own yet, and will be this many a day. ... I am but eighteen. What person at that age knows his own mind? I do not."¹²
     She loved to dance, and while in Baltimore went to dancing school every Saturday afternoon, and often to "Practicing Balls" on Tuesdays. James Gould later said she was "the Belle of the evening at the Cadet Ball."^13,14
     At one point she visited a nearby nunnery, which she found sad and melancholy, and thought that the nuns looked miserable. "I think, that the best way of serving God, is by doing good to his creatures. I do not think, that he requires us to seclude ourselves from all his beautiful works, and appear so solemn and retired."¹⁵
     In 1839, probably on 7 February, James Gould took her to Washington where they met with Pres. Martin Van Buren. They were "ushered in by a black servant up a flight of stairs into his receiving room" where several others were also waiting. When the President entered she was impressed by his appearance, with "a face as handsome as I should wish my husband to be possessed with. ... His whole countenance was expressive of innocence and good nature." They tried to get into the Senate chamber where Henry Clay was speaking, but it was too crowded. They then went to the House where she saw John Quincy Adams, among others. Returning to the Senate after Clay's speech, they finally saw Clay, and heard others speak. She was unimpressed with Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson, writing "He has the appearance of a stupid inactive disposition."^16,17
     The Goulds wanted Elizabeth to stay longer, but her father, a sea captain, was away from home on a long voyage, and she wrote that "I think that I must come home and take my father's place." So she returned home to Beverly, leaving on 14 April 1839. James Gould traveled with her as far as New York, where they encountered Levi Brigham, the father of a business associate of Elizabeth's father. Elizabeth traveled from there to Boston with him, and probably arrived home the next day.^18,19,20
     The Goulds had hoped she would return the next winter, but were concerned that her mother "might think us unreasonable, at a time when she might need her services so much" (her father would still be at sea). We have no evidence that Elizabeth was in Baltimore during that next winter, but she did return for the winter of 1840/41. That visit was again filled with a combination of educational and social activities. She was especially interested in a series of lectures by George Washington Burnap, minister of the First Independent Church of Baltimore, who spoke on "The Sphere & Duties of Woman."^20,21
     Joseph and Elizabeth's wedding, at 7:30 the evening of 2 April 1845 (Elizabeth's parents' 25th anniversary), was apparently quite an event. James W. Boyden, a childhood friend of Elizabeth's who was then at Harvard Law School, attended the wedding and devoted nine pages of his diary to a description of his trip to Beverly, and the wedding itself.
     James traveled from Cambridge to Beverly by train early in the afternoon, along with Gustavus Trask, a friend who was also attending the wedding. While walking up Cabot St. toward Elizabeth's parents' house, where the wedding was to take place later that day, they met and talked with Rev. C. T. Thayer, who was to perform the ceremony. Nearing the house they saw Joseph H. Bowditch, the groom, and learned that he had arrived in Boston on Sunday (30 March), but missed the train, and walked to Beverly.²² Boyden went with Joseph to Joseph's mother Lucinda's house, where he visited with her and with Joseph's sister Sarah and brother Francis, who had also arrived on Sunday after being away at sea.
     When James went to the Abbot house in the evening for the wedding he noted that the "windows shown brightly beneath the tall waving elms and the starlit heavens. It seemed as if the Creator's kind hand had lighted innumerable lamps to guide his children's feet to the house."²³ He was led by Cora, the Abbot's household servant, to a room where several of Joseph's friends from Salem had gathered, and from there went down to the parlor for the ceremony. The room was decorated with bouquets of flowers on either side of several windows, along with burning candles. Elizabeth wore her hair in curls, "crowned with a sweet chaplet of flowers," and held a pendant bouquet in her left hand. She was dressed in "maiden white," and Joseph wore a plain black coat and pants with a lighter vest and tie. Joseph had two groomsmen (unnamed in the diary), and Elizabeth had as maids her sister Georgiana and her childhood friend Hannah Rantoul. A "cool refreshing rain" fell immediately after the ceremony, but soon "the bright stars shone out again in beauty." Guests were treated with wedding cake "and other sorts" served from trays carried among the crowd by "negro servants," along with wine and lemonade.
     The attendees seemed to include all of Elizabeth's "companions of youth and the associates of the family," and included "smiling clergymen, sagacious physicians, acute lawyers (even the U. S. District Attorney for Massachusetts) and aspiring law students, the Historian of Beverly, gentlemen of leisure and men of business, the gray headed Squire and many black haired Squires besides, teachers and pupils, the college student and the counting room clerk, the ship master, the cashier of the bank, the Representative to General Court ...".⁴
     The morning after their marriage, Elizabeth and Joseph left for his home in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina. They took about two weeks, traveling "leisurely" and spending time in New York and Baltimore on the way, and arrived in Tarboro on 16 April 1845.^24,4
     They boarded for a time while waiting for a house to become available, probably with Dr. Josiah Lawrence and his wife Elizabeth.²⁵ They moved into their own house, previously occupied by a Mr. Williams, either late in December 1845 or in January 1846.²⁶
     In mid-September 1845 they (or at least Elizabeth) came back home for a visit, and returned to Tarboro later that month.^27,28 She was pregnant at the time with her first child, and a few months later her parents traveled to Tarboro for the birth. They left Beverly on 23 February 1846, and Nathaniel was born on 18 March. How long they stayed in Tarboro isn't known, but it was apparently long enough to get to know people there. In a letter to her parents dated 15 November 1846 Elizabeth wrote "Your friends here often speak of you, and are very much interested to hear of your health."^29,30,31,32
     In 1847 she and Joseph brought their one-year-old son Nathaniel to Beverly, where they spent the summer. Exactly when they left Tarboro is unknown, but their plan was to go in March, and return in October. Joseph planned to go with them, return to Tarboro after a few days, then come back to Beverly the first of August and stay until October when all would go back to Tarboro. Besides visiting family and friends, they wanted to be there for Elizabeth's sister Georgiana's marriage to Charles Lamson on 2 September.^33,31,34,35
     At the end of the summer, on 28 September 1847, they left Beverly for home.³⁶ Elizabeth later described their trip in a letter to her parents, and it provides some interesting insight into the difficulty of travel in the mid-1800s.

     In October 1847, immediately after returning from Beverly, they were again boarding with the Lawrences^38,36, while looking for a house to buy. They eventually did buy a house, on St. Andrews St. not far from the courthouse, whose previous occupants included Jos. R. Lloyd, James Weddell, and Henry I. Toole.^39,40,41
     She probably returned again to Beverly for a visit in the spring of 1850. In September 1849 her friend Hannah Rantoul wrote "When you come next spring dearest ...". And a January 1850 letter to her mother from James Gould said "We shall be much pleased to see Lizzie. Had a letter from her a short time since in which she spoke of coming on in March." Finally, in a July 1850 letter her mother wrote "Ask Nat if he remem how he used to run round the entry, and Grandma after him, and sis with a grave face say Naat bad boy" and "I feel much better than when you were here ...". Since Elizabeth's daughter Georgiana ("sis") was born 21 May 1848, after Elizabeth's 1847 visit, Elizabeth's mother must have been talking about a subsequent visit home.⁴²
     She and Joseph are listed in Tarboro in the 1850 census, along with Sarah M. Bowditch, most likely Joseph's sister who was either visiting or living with them, and with Robt. B. Harrison, a 17-year-old male who was working as a clerk.⁴³
     During the winters of 1854-55 and 1855-56 Sallie Darlington, a woman from Chester Co., Pennsylvania, lived with them. Sallie had answered an ad that Elizabeth's husband Joseph had placed in the New York Times, looking for an organist for the Episcopal Church "in a pleasant Southern town."^44,45,46,47 There's no evidence that Elizabeth and Sallie ever met again in person, but they must have become close in the time that they were together. Their correspondence lasted many years⁴⁸, and Elizabeth's son Frederick, born in 1859, was given the middle name Darlington.^49,50,51
     The family is again listed in Tarboro in the 1860 census. In addition to their children, also listed in their household were Annie Rodel (age 18, a domestic born in Germany), and Charles Cevalier (age 22, a merchant born in Canada East).⁵²
     On 12 December 1859 Joseph purchased two tracts of land totaling perhaps 3300 acres in the mountainous region of western North Carolina, "on the waters of the South Toe River" in Yancey Co., from T. Geo. Walton, D. J. Copaning, J. W. Burton, and W. M. Walton, all of nearby Burke Co., for $6000.^53,54,55 The family moved there in the spring of 1861.^56,57
     The timing of their move seems terrible. Joseph had views on farming he wanted to explore, but no real farming experience⁵⁸, and he had a wife and five children to support, with another child born in 1862. Only one son, Nathaniel, was old enough to help work the farm. And of course the Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter just a month after the move.⁵⁹
     In their new home they were even more isolated from the civilization they had grown up with in the north. In 1860 Yancey Co. residents "lived in a frontier environment largely isolated from the outside world." There were no local newspapers, medical care was substandard, schools were poor (except for the private Burnsville Academy), and roads were inadequate, especially in areas of the county not near Burnsville, the county seat. And things only got worse during and immediately after the Civil War. Years later their son Frederick's wife Helen wrote that Frederick "always felt that his father had done a very unwise thing, when he took his family of five young children into the mountains of North Carolina where there were no schools or advantages."^60,61
     Very little is known about the family during the war. In a claim filed with the Southern Claims Commission in 1870 Joseph stated that he lived in Yancey Co. throughout the war, and we have no evidence to the contrary.⁶²
     They may have suffered some sort of misfortune and property loss, either during the war or shortly afterward.⁶³ In 1860, when they were living in Tarboro, they reported in the census that their real estate was worth $12,500 (presumably including the land purchased in Yancey Co. in 1859), and their personal property was worth $15,500. By 1870, when Joseph was in Tarboro and the rest of the family was in Yancey Co., the total values were down to $9000 and $7500, respectively. At least some of the decrease in the value of their personal property is due to the loss of the two slaves they had in 1860, before the war. It's worth noting, however, that even though the values were lower than ten years earlier, the value of their Yancey Co. real estate ($3000) was the highest in Crabtree Twp. by more than a factor of three.^64,65,66
     They seriously considered moving back to Tarboro after the war. And indeed, although Elizabeth and the children remained on the farm in Yancey Co., Joseph restarted (or perhaps never completely gave up) his business interests in Tarboro, and apparently spent much of his time there.^67,68 In the 1870 census, Joseph is listed in Tarboro as a dry goods merchant, while the rest of the family is listed on the farm in Crabtree Twp.^65,66
     Elizabeth's brother John Edwin Abbot came to live with her family in North Carolina, perhaps as early as 1868 when he traveled there from Milwaukee after their sister Ellen's wedding, and likely by 1875 when he deeded land to Elizabeth.^69,70
     On 14 March 1874 Elizabeth sold 500 acres of their land in Yancey Co. to J. W. Gibbs.⁷¹ About a week later, on 20 March 1874 a deed for the same property that Joseph had purchased in 1859 was made, with Russel Chapman, and Fred Phillips and Martha J. Phillips his wife, all of Edgecombe Co., conveying their "right, title, and interest in the property" to Elisabeth B. Bowditch of Yancey Co. for $4000.^72,73
     On 17 October 1874 Elizabeth exchanged tracts of land in Yancey Co. with Nelson M. Harris and his wife Nelly Martha Ann Harris, with Elizabeth receiving 50 acres adjoining "the Henry Silvers place" in return for a 58-acre tract of land "known as part of the Griffith old orchard."^74,75 On 30 July 1875 her brother John deeded to her for $1.00 a 750-acre parcel of land in Yancey Co. described as "the homestead of Joseph H. Bowditch alloted and layed off by the Sheriff of said county."^76,77 On 16 January 1879 she sold 120 acres, part of the land they were then living on in Yancey Co., to Susannah Carraway for $540.⁷⁸
     On 26 January 1880 their house and all of their furniture and clothing were destroyed in a fire.⁷⁹ Relatives and friends in the north sent clothing and money, and they built a new house that in 1964 was still standing near Micaville in Yancey Co.⁸⁰ In June 1880, four months after the fire, they and their children Georgiana, John, Frederick, and Charles were enumerated in the 1880 census living with the family of John and Martha Griffeith in Yancey Co., presumably while their new house was being built. Listed with them, but crossed out, was Elizabeth's brother John Abbot.⁸¹
     Not long afterward Elizabeth apparently suffered from some mental problems, and was treated for a time at the Western North Carolina Insane Asylum in Morgonton, Burke Co., North Carolina. Exactly when and how long she was there is uncertain, but it was probably around 1883-1885. The hospital first opened on 29 March 1883. A complaint filed in court after her death by her son Nathaniel's children, asking for their share of her estate, says that after her treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana, who unjustly influenced Elizabeth into executing various deeds of land to her children. These deeds were made in 1884/85, indicating that Elizabeth's confinement occurred before then.^82,83
     She was apparently still being treated for a few years afterwards. A correspondence record kept by her daughter Georgiana covering parts of 1885-1887 shows that Georgiana wrote to "Dr. M" (Dr. Patrick Livingston Murphy, superintendent of the asylum) eight times from March-September 1886, and three times in 1887, and that she received eleven letters from him between April and July 1886. A 22 December 1887 letter to Elizabeth from her friend Elizabeth (Woodberry) Story says "I rejoice over your recovery." On 8 October 1888 Dr. Murphy wrote to Georgiana saying that he thought she was well enough to be discharged, and trusts that "that there will never again be any necessity for asylum treatment in her case." And finally, a letter from Georgiana to Hannah Rantoul dated 29 December 1891 says "Ma is very well now, but at times she becomes very nervous indeed."^84,85,86,87
     About 1884, due to failing health, she and Joseph began dividing their property among their children. On 11 July 1885 John and Georgiana together received the home lot, containing 888 acres and the house, plus all their parents' personal belongings. In return they agreed "to maintain J. H. Bowditch and his wife E. B. Bowditch during their natural life, and to provide all things necessary for their comfort and happiness." The rest of the property was divided by appraisers, and lots were drawn for each share. Their son Joseph had received 690 acres in 1884, and was deeded an additional 46 acres in 1885. Charles and Fred were jointly deeded 1130 acres on 4 October 1885.
     Joseph and Elizabeth's son Nathaniel had left his family about 1877, and hadn't been heard from since. On 20 October 1885 Nathaniel's siblings Georgiana, John, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles agreed to pay him $200 each should he return, presumably covering his share of the estate.^88,89
     In her later years Elizabeth lived at times at a boarding house run by Garrett Dewese Ray in Burnsville, about 10 miles from their farm near Micaville. She was there in at least the summers of 1888 (starting on 10 June), 1889 (by May), and 1893 (starting 17 June).^90,91 In 1900 she was listed in the census with her husband Joseph in Crabtree Twp., along with their children John and Georgiana, and with her brother John Abbot.⁹²
     On 11 June 1904, after both Joseph and Elizabeth had died, their grandchildren John H. Bowditch and Mary (Bowditch) Hall, children of their son Nathaniel, filed a complaint with the Superior Court of Yancey Co. asking for their share of the estate.⁹³ An amendment to the complaint, filed on 3 August 1905, asked that the earlier deeds dividing the estate among their children be declared invalid on the grounds that (1) Elizabeth had "became so diseased, enfeebled and unsound" that she was sent to the State Hospital at Morganton; (2) after treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana; and (3) Georgiana used her undue power and control to unjustly influence Elizabeth into executing the various deeds of land to her children.^82,94
     The court agreed and declared that the deeds were null and void. Nathaniel's children John and Mary were declared "tenants in common" of the land, along with Georgiana Bowditch, Joseph Bowditch, Frederick Bowditch, Charles Bowditch, and John E. Abbot (Elizabeth's brother, who had earlier purchased John Abbot Bowditch's share). Commissioners were appointed by the court to divide the land, and delivered their final report on 15 March 1907. Various amounts totaling 395 acres were taken from the tracts originally deeded to Georgiana, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles, and awarded to John and Mary. The commissioners report doesn't mention the land then owned by John E. Abbot.^95,96

     George Abbot was born on 25 March 1791 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.^1,2 He was married by Rev. A. Abbot to Nancy Stickney, daughter of Samuel Stickney Jr. and Edith Wallis, on 2 April 1820 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.^1,5,6 He died from "inflammation of the bowels" on 18 January 1848 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts, at age 56. (His grave marker erroneously has his death date as 19 January 1848.) He had fallen ill on 6 January while at the Merchants Exchange in Boston, where he was "seized with sudden sickness, Prostrating and rendering him entirely helpless." After being brought home he continually declined, "his disease baffling the continued and constant application of medical science."^7,8,1,9 He was buried at Central Cemetery in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.⁹

     He and his wife Nancy lived at 75 Cabot St. in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts,¹⁰ and their household is listed there in the censuses from 1820 to 1840.^11,12,13
     He was a prominent merchant and ship captain, described in his obituary as being "extensively engaged in commerce, and ... among the most respected and wealthy citizens of Beverly." He is listed in Richest Men of Massachusetts, published in 1852, as a retired shipmaster worth $80,000. No one else in Beverly is listed with a higher net worth.^8,14 His voyages took him to places such as Africa and Cape Verde, Pernambuco (a state in northeast Brazil), New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, Cuba and the Netherlands, Canton, China, and Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia).^15,16,17
     On one trip home from Africa in 1825 his ship, the brig Robert Patten, was boarded about 16 May by about 30 men from a Spanish pirate ship. The incident occurred three days out, at 14° 51' north latitude, 27° west longitude. "After turning all hands below and guarding our hatches, [they] commenced an indiscriminate plunder, taking every article of any value whatever - unbent such of our sails as they wanted, and even unrove the running rigging, barely leaving us a sufficiency of rigging or stores to continue our voyage."¹⁸
     In February 1846 he and Nancy traveled to their daughter Elizabeth's home in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina, for the birth of their first grandchild Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch. They left Beverly on 23 February 1846, and Nathaniel was born on 18 March. How long they stayed in Tarboro isn't known, but it was apparently long enough to get to know people there. In a letter to her parents dated 15 November 1846 Elizabeth wrote "Your friends here often speak of you, and are very much interested to hear of your health."^19,20,21,22
     His will was dated 25 October 1837. He left all of his estate (except for $1 to each of his children) to his wife Nancy for her support for as long as she remained his widow, and for the support of his children until age 21. At the time of her remarriage or death, whatever was left was to go to his remaining heirs. Nancy was also named executrix and guardian of his children, subject to termination at her remarriage, and was authorized to give his children any sum of money she thought proper at age 21 or at their marriage.²³
     The inventory of his estate, done by Robert Rantoul, Seaward Lee, and William Endicott, was presented in court in Salem on 16 May 1848. It listed $6310 in real estate, and $26,382.50 in personal estate. The real estate consisted of his house and land in Beverly, another house and half of a third house in Beverly, four cemetery lots, and pew number 35 in the First Parish Meeting House. In addition to the usual household goods and furniture, his personal property included a piano (valued at $100), maps, a bust and paintings, a gold watch ($50), nine cords of wood, 800 pounds of white lead, stocks and bonds, many in railroad companies ($18,339), and a 1/4 share of the ship Epaminondas ($6000).
     The final account was filed on 8 February 1849 and accepted by the court on 20 February. It listed $5316.76 in receipts, including rent from Nelson Flagg, Charles W. Flanders, and residents of the Leech house, and almost $2000 in earnings from the ship Epaminondas. Debts paid totaled $3624.83, leaving an estate value, not including real estate, of $28,074.43.
     On 30 September 1851, after his wife Nancy's death, their son George was appointed executor to carry out any duties specified in the will but not previously administered.²³

     Nancy Stickney was born on 9 November 1796 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.⁴ She was baptized on 30 August 1801 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.² She was married by Rev. A. Abbot to George Abbot, son of William Abbot and Elizabeth Leach, on 2 April 1820 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.^1,7,8 She drowned, apparently by suicide, on 19 June 1851 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts, at age 54. An article in the (Saturday) 21 June 1851 Beverly Citizen says she had been depressed for some weeks, and left home around midnight Thursday. Her body was found Friday morning "washed ashore near the junction of the Gloucester Branch with the Eastern Rail Road."^9,5 She was buried at Central Cemetery in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts.¹⁰

     She was born as Nancy Stickney, but baptized as Anna.¹¹ She and her husband George lived at 75 Cabot St. in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts,¹² and their household is listed there in the censuses from 1820 to 1840.^13,14,15
     In February 1846 she and George traveled to their daughter Elizabeth's home in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina, for the birth of their first grandchild Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch. They left Beverly on 23 February 1846, and Nathaniel was born on 18 March. How long they stayed in Tarboro isn't known, but it was apparently long enough to get to know people there. In a letter to her parents dated 15 November 1846 Elizabeth wrote "Your friends here often speak of you, and are very much interested to hear of your health."^16,17,18,19
     In the 1850 census, after her husband's death, she is listed in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts, as Anna Abbott, with her children George, John, Martha, Ellen, and Frederic. Also listed in the household is Patrik Linann, age 26, born in Ireland.²⁰
     She died intestate, and her son George was appointed administrator of her estate on 19 August 1851. The inventory, done by Robert Rantoul and William Endicott of Beverly, and Benjamin H. Silsbee of Salem, was presented in court in Salem on 2 September 1851. It listed $790 in real estate, and $31,372 in personal estate. The real estate consisted of her house and land in Beverly, two other houses in Beverly, four cemetery lots, and pew number 35 in the First Parish Meeting House. In addition to the usual household goods and furniture, her personal property included a piano (valued at $100), a bust and paintings, stocks and bonds, many in railroad companies ($20,313.50), a 1/4 share of the ship Epaminondas ($5,000), and notes from Essex Co. ($5,000) and from her son-in-law Joseph H. Bowditch ($1,000).²¹
     On 30 September 1851 at Probate Court in Newburyport, Essex Co., Massachusetts, John I. Baker of Beverly was appointed guardian of her minor children Martha (age 15), Ellen (14), and Frederic (10). The records include an affidavit dated the previous day stating that Martha and Ellen had chosen him as their guardian. He posted a bond of $30,000, with Nancy's son George W. Abbot, shipmaster, and William H. Lovett, merchant, both of Beverly, as sureties. The court document was witnessed and signed by Jos. H. Bowditch, Elisabeth B. Bowditch, John I. Baker, George Wm. Abbot, and Wm. H. Lovett. This guardianship was apparently only for the children's financial interests; there's no evidence that they ever lived with him.^22,23 From comments in letters written by Martha and Ellen to their sister Elizabeth in North Carolina, it appears that the children remained in their family home in Beverly, and that Sarah Bowditch, sister of Elizabeth's husband Joseph Henry Bowditch, moved there to care for them. (The children had two older brothers, George W. Abbot (25, who Sarah would marry in 1855) and John E. Abbot (19), but both were unmarried, and as mariners were often away at sea.)^{24,25,26,27,28,29}

     Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch was born on 18 March 1846 in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina.⁶ He married first Margaret Cordelia Silver, daughter of Henry Gilbert A. Silver and Naomi Martha Edge Reid, on 2 November 1870 in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁷ He married second Mary M. Delematre on 14 September 1875 in Kankakee Co., Illinois.⁸ He married third Mattie V. Hurley, daughter of William H. Hurley and Margaret C. Ryan, on 5 October 1899 in Marion Co., Indiana.⁹ They were divorced on 5 May 1902 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.¹⁰ He married fourth Laura Belle Kindle, daughter of James A. Kindle and Elizabeth Dwiggans, on 6 November 1912 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.^11,12 He died suddenly from a heart lesion on 13 July 1913 at Emerald-Hodgson Hospital in Sewanee, Franklin Co., Tennessee, at age 67.¹³ He was buried at Eastern Star Cemetery in Sewanee, Franklin Co., Tennessee.¹⁴

     Although Nathaniel was born in North Carolina, his parents wanted him to be educated in their native New England. We know that he often visited his parents' families in Massachusetts, and his uncle Luther Upton may have arranged for him to attend school.^{15,16,17,18,19} In 1859 he was one of 27 boys attending the Cream Hill Academic School in West Cornwall, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. The school's mission was to provide "thorough attention to the various elemendary [sic], classical, and scientific branches taught at the best academic institutions," as well as "practical and scientific instructions in Agriculture and Horticulture." There were two 20-week terms costing a total of $250, including "tuition, board, fuel, and washing."²⁰
     On 26 March 1864, at Fort Fisher in New Hanover Co., North Carolina, he enlisted (or was conscripted) as a private for a three-year term in the Confederate Army, in Company C, 2nd Artillery, 36th North Carolina Regiment.^21,22 Before he joined, the companies of the regiment had been serving at various locations in the region of Cape Fear near Wilmington, North Carolina, the Confederacy's last open seaport along the coast, protecting southern ships attempting to run the Union blockade. In 1864 the regiment gathered at Fort Fisher as part of the defense of Wilmington.²³
     On 22 November 1864 his company and four others left for Georgia to help oppose Union Gen. Sherman's march to the sea. They engaged the enemy at Harrison's Old Field, 14 miles from Savannah, where they narrowly escaped being captured.²³
     By 12 January 1865 the companies had returned from Georgia to Fort Fisher. A Union assault against the fort in late December 1864 had failed, and a new Union expedition was sent in January. A fleet of 58 ships began shelling the fort on 13 January. In the late afternoon of 15 January, after a naval landing force had been repelled in a bloody battle, an infantry attack at the rear of the fort breached the walls, and the Confederate forces eventually surrendered around 10:00 that evening.^23,24
     Nathaniel was slightly wounded during the battle and taken prisoner when the fort surrendered. On 17 January he was sent on the steamer Champion to Fortress Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, where he was admitted to the prison hospital with a "G.S.F.W." (gunshot flesh wound) to his left shoulder on 22 January. He was released to the general prison population two days later. On 1 February 1865 he was sent to Point Lookout Prison Camp in St. Mary's Co., Maryland, arriving on 2 February, and was issued a blanket and shoes.^21,25
     One of the Union regiments guarding prisoners at Point Lookout was the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry, commanded by Major Henry Pickering Bowditch of the Union Army, a third cousin from Massachusetts. Major Bowditch, no doubt surprised to find that a probable relative was a Confederate prisoner, talked with him and learned his story. Major Bowditch then wrote to his father Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch, who was a friend of Massachusetts Gov. John Andrew, and Gov. Andrew in turn wrote to President Lincoln asking for Nathaniel's release.²⁶
     At the same time Nathaniel's relatives in the north were also working for his release. In particular James Gould, a close family friend whose wife Eliza was a cousin of Nathaniel's grandfather George Abbot, apparently knew Dorothea Dix, who was then serving as superintendent of Army nurses. He appealed to Ms. Dix for help, and she in turn appealed to President Lincoln. In a letter to Nathaniel's mother Elizabeth, James Gould quotes a letter he received from Ms. Dix.
     President Lincoln did indeed sign an order for Nathaniel's release on 22 March 1865, just three weeks before his assassination at Ford's Theater on 14 April. After taking an oath of allegiance to the Union, Nathaniel was released on 26 April 1865.²¹
     He was sent to his mother's parents' home in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts, where his mother's siblings John, Martha, and Ellen were still living. He was described as "a poor miserable creature" when he arrived. He remained there for a few weeks, then spent about six weeks with his father's sister Helen (Bowditch) Upton and her family in Lynn, Essex Co., Massachusetts, where he had "a very good time."²⁸ In August 1865 he returned home to Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, where he is listed as a farmer with his mother and siblings in the 1870 census, and where he married Cordelia Silver in November 1870.^30,31,32
     But he was apparently restless, and traveled to the west for the first time in early 1871³³, probably to Illinois with his wife Cordelia. An 1875 newspaper article about his second marriage, in Kankakee Co., Illinois, provides evidence supporting this. It reports that "it is said" that he had been married a few years ago to a southern woman, that they lived "in this country" for some time, and that they went back to South Carolina [sic] after a baby was born.³⁴ Further, Nathaniel and Cordelia's son John was born in September 1871. His birth place is listed as North Carolina in the 1920 and 1930 censuses, but as Illinois in the 1940 census and on his death certificate. (He has not been found in the 1880, 1900, or 1910 census.)^35,36,37,38 In an affidavit dated 30 May 1873 filed with the Southern Claims Commission, Nathaniel's father said that Nathaniel was living in Indiana, and Kankakee Co. is on the Illinois/Indiana border.³⁹
     He and Cordelia must have indeed come back to Micaville for a time, since their daughter Mary was born there about 1873 or 1874.⁴⁰ But before long he again went west, this time leaving behind his wife and young children. The same newspaper article mentioned above says that he returned to the area after a year, claiming that his wife had died. He ended up in Kankakee Co. where he married his second wife in 1875.
     This second marriage was very short. He and Mary Delematre were married on 14 September and left the next morning on a wedding trip to Chicago. They left their bags at the train station to be forwarded to the Nevada House where they were staying. After spending the night together Nathaniel went down to check for their bags, but they weren't at the hotel, so they decided to visit Lincoln Park to pass the time until their bags arrived. But while Mary went back to their room to get ready, Nathaniel disappeared. She eventually contacted a friend, who brought money to pay the hotel bill and took Mary home to her mother. When Nathaniel left he had about $600 with him, and she assumed that "something terrible must have befallen him." It was later found that her trunk was still at the Illinois Central station in Chicago, but Nathaniel's was missing.³⁴
     He reappeared in Kankakee about a month later, on 13 October, saying he had been drugged and robbed, and tried to reconcile with his wife. She and her family apparently doubted his story, and he attempted suicide by taking 1 1/2 oz. of laudanum. He also confessed to having a wife and two children in Burnsville, North Carolina. He recovered, and according to the papers said he had disappeared because of remorse for his "unfaithfulness to Mrs. Bowditch No. 1," and that he came back because of his "love for No. 2."^41,42 He was arrested for bigamy, and in December 1875 was sentenced to a year in prison.⁴³
     After being released he may have briefly returned to his family in North Carolina, before disappearing again. His daughter Mary recalled that the last time she saw her father was at age two or three, when he left her in a horse-drawn wagon, went into a store, and never reappeared.⁴⁴ The last he was heard from by his family was in 1877. Nathaniel's sister Georgiana later wrote "He was not as strong-minded as my other brothers; he did not have a happy home and finally left and went West. We haven't heard anything for many years so I suppose he has passed away."⁴⁵
     There's some evidence, though, that his family knew or suspected that he had returned to Illinois or Indiana. In an 1880 letter to Nathaniel's brother Charles in Urbana, Illinois, his mother wrote "I have not heard from Nat yet. Do you hear from him? I shall write him before long. He must not forget us." In another letter, in the fall of 1881 she wrote "Nat has forsaken us. You must come home by him and see him, and bring us some news of him. I cannot give him up!!"^46,47
     We know now that he had indeed returned to Indiana, where he had two more marriages, and eventually changed his name and joined the U. S. Army, serving nearly continuously from 1880 to 1908. Other than his father's claim filed with the Southern Claims Commission in 1873, the first record of him in Indiana is the 1880 census, where he is listed as Nathaniel Bowdy, a laborer living with the family of John H. Hurd in Blue River Twp., Johnson Co., Indiana.⁴⁸ Around this same time he also boarded for a while with the family of Mary Fields in Edinburg, Johnson Co., Indiana, and may have become close enough to her daughter Laura to consider marriage.^49,50 He later referred to Laura as his foster sister, and was friends with her husband Harry D. Williams, who she married in 1884. Laura described Nathaniel as "very reticent ... altho he was a very pleasant man ... not a mixer, but was very quiet and a good man, splendid reputation."⁴⁹
     In June 1900, while serving as a private in Co. F of the 2nd Infantry, he was listed in the census at Fort Thomas, Campbell Co., Kentucky, giving his birth date as March 1850, birth place as Tennessee, and marital status as single.⁵¹ In 1910, after his retirement from the Army, he was listed in Indianapolis as a boarder in the household of Minnie Beasley, giving his age as 58, birth place as Massachusetts, marital status as widower, and occupation as retired soldier.⁵²
     His second military career began on 11 December 1880, when he enlisted in Indianapolis in Co. B of the 14th U. S. Infantry for a period of five years. He continued serving in the Army, re-enlisting within a few months each time he was discharged, until his retirement on 20 August 1908. At each of his eight enlistments he used the name Nathan I. Bowman, gave his birth place as Knoxville, Tennessee, and understated his age by 2-4 years. Each time he enlisted as a private, but was a sergeant at the time of his retirement. His service is summarized in the following table. Each of his enlistments was in Indianapolis, except the second (in Chicago, Illinois) and the last (at Columbus Barracks, Ohio). The records generally describe him as being just under 5' 9" tall, with blue eyes and brown hair, turning gray as he aged. Each time he was discharged, his character was noted as excellent.^{53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60}

Enlisted	Organization	Discharged
11 Dec 1880	Co. B, 14th Inf.	20 Dec 1885, Vancouver, Washington
28 Aug 1886	Co. A, 18th Inf.	27 Aug 1891, Fort Clarke, Texas
15 Sep 1891	Co. A, 5th Art.	14 Dec 1894, San Francisco, California
9 Apr 1895	Co. H, 19th Inf.	8 Apr 1898, Fort Brady, Michigan
16 Jun 1898	Co. L, 3rd Art.	14 Aug 1899, Malalos, Philippines
23 Jan 1900	Co. F, 2nd Inf.	13 Nov 1902, Santa Mesa, Philippines
28 May 1903	Co. D, 7th Inf.	27 May 1906, Fort Assinniboine, Montana
31 Oct 1906	19th Coastal Art.	20 Aug 1908, Fort Morgan, Alabama

During his service he was stationed at a variety of places throughout the country. In addition to the discharge locations shown in the above table, he spent time in Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina.⁶¹
     During his first term of service his regiment participated in the suppression of the anti-Chinese riots in Seattle, King Co., Washington, in November 1885.⁶² During his fifth term, his 3rd Artillery Battalion was sent to the Philippines to serve as infantry, and participated in the capture of Manila and the suppression of the Philippine Insurrection. Captain Bernard Sharp of the 3rd Infantry later described the 3rd Artillery as "the backbone of the Malolos expedition. In one short campaign the batteries lost in action from 15 to 30 per cent but the morale remained intact."⁶³ His regiment was also deployed to deal with the Philippine Insurrection during his sixth term, in August and September 1900, and fought in over 25 engagements on several of the islands.⁶⁴
     As noted earlier, he married twice more while living in Indiana. Both of these marriages were also very short. The first, to Mattie (Hurley) Campbell, was in October 1899, between stints in the Army. He gave his age as 46 (he was actually 53), and birth place as Massachusetts. They had been introduced by Laura (Fields) Williams, who also attended their wedding.^9,65,49 He left Mattie on 23 December 1899, just 2 1/2 months after their marriage, and she filed for divorce on 20 February 1902, saying she had heard nothing from him since he left.⁶⁶ She later stated that "He would get peeved at nothing and pout," and her mother Maggie Hurley said that "He was very reticent and the most peculiar man I ever met and on that account my daughter was unable to live with him."^65,67
     His next marriage was to Laura B. (Kindle) Vice in November 1912, four years after retiring from the Army. He gave his age as 58 (he was actually 66), and birth place as Salem, Massachusetts. They had met a year earlier, in October 1911 when he was living at the Millikan Apts. on East Michigan in Indianapolis. She lived nearby and had boarders, and he asked to take his meals there.^68,50 He left her on 28 February 1913, less than four months after their marriage. He took nothing with him except a basket, saying he was going to market and wouldn't be gone long.⁶⁹
     When later asked the reason for their separation Laura stated "I never knew - he was inclined to roam, and seemed dissatisfied and restless, and went away, and said nothing about leaving, and his life afterwards was a mystery to me." She said that they had been happy together, that "he provided well for me, and remained at home, and was a man of good habits, and had no bad associates, and didn't leave with another woman," but that "he seemed restless and could not be contented - he had been about over the country considerable and I suppose that he could not content himself with a quiet domestic life, and just could not resist the 'wanderlust.' ... he was good to me and the children, and was as nice as any man could possibly be to us." When he left he was in fairly good health, except for some slight stomach trouble. He rarely talked about his past, and she didn't know about his previous marriages. He did tell her that he was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and that he had a brother Abraham and a foster sister married to a man named Williams, none of which was true. She also only knew him as Nathan Bowman, he never used the surname Bowditch.^70,50
     The reason for all the deception can't be known with certainty, of course. His third wife Mattie Hurley knew his real name, but he apparently told her that he served in the Army under the name Bowman because his real name was hard to spell and pronounce. He likely didn't want people to learn about his prison term for bigamy. We can also speculate that he may have been trying to avoid questions about his service during the Civil War, and/or avoid being found by the family he left behind in North Carolina. Understating his age implied that he would have been too young to serve in the war, and using a different name and birth place meant that anyone searching for records on him would find nothing.⁶⁷
     After leaving his fourth wife Laura he traveled to Sewanee, Franklin Co., Tennessee, perhaps via Nashville, arriving about 1 April 1913. He boarded there with the widow Sara Hoge for about three months⁷¹, where he became ill with "bowel trouble." He was treated for a time by Dr. W. C. Looney, his landlady's nephew, before being admitted to the hospital on 3 July suffering from kidney problems and a heart lesion. Hospital records list him as age 67 (which is correct), born in Salem, Massachusetts, and with a brother Abr. Bowman as his nearest relative (both incorrect). He died from the heart lesion ten days later.^71,13 When he was ill the doctors asked Mrs. Hoge to try to get more information from him about his family, but he told her that "he did not have any folks or have any home." The most tragic part about this is that his two children, all of his grandchildren (except one who hadn't yet been born), and all of his siblings (except two who died in childhood) were then still living, but had had no contact with him for 35 years. The only people at his burial were Mrs. Hoge's two daughters, a friend of theirs, the preacher, and the undertaker.^71,72

More Information / Background

• Fort Fisher
• Ft. Fisher Historic Landmark
• Sherman's March to the Sea
• Second Battle of Fort Fisher
• Fort Monroe
• Point Lookout Prison History
• Prison Life at Point Lookout
• Point Lookout State Park
• Dorothea Dix
• Anti-Chinese Riots in Washington State
• Philippine–American War
• Capture of Malolos

     Georgiana Abbot Bowditch was born on 21 May 1848 in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina.^8,3 She died from arterio-sclerotic dementia on 15 April 1927 at Broadoaks Sanitorium in Morganton, Burke Co., North Carolina, at age 78.² She was buried at Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery in Morganton, Burke Co., North Carolina.³

     At about age 13, in the spring of 1861, she moved with her parents to Yancey Co. in the mountainous region of western North Carolina.⁹ While young she was sent on several occasions to Beverly and Salem in Essex Co., Massachusetts, where her parents grew up, and attended school there at times.⁵
     Around 1884 her parents, due to their failing health, began dividing their property in Yancey Co. among their children. On 11 July 1885 she and her brother John jointly received the home lot containing 888 acres and the house, plus all their parents' personal belongings, in return for agreeing to care for their parents the rest of their lives.¹⁰ On 20 October 1885 she and her brothers also entered into an agreement to pay their brother Nathaniel, who hadn't been heard from since 1877, $200 each should he ever return.¹¹
     She and John continued living with their parents on the family farm, under the terms of their agreement, probably until 1902.¹² They are all listed there in Crabtree Twp. in the 1900 census, along with their mother Elizabeth's brother John E. Abbot.¹³ On 5 May 1902 she and her brother John divided their share of the property, with Georgiana receiving the house and 343 acres, and John receiving the remaining, less-improved, 545 acres.¹⁴
     On 11 June 1904, after her mother's death, John H. Bowditch and Mary (Bowditch) Hall, children of her brother Nathaniel, filed a complaint with the Superior Court of Yancey Co. asking for their share of the estate.¹⁵ An amendment to the complaint, filed on 3 August 1905, asked that the earlier deeds dividing the estate among their children be declared invalid, on the grounds that (1) Elizabeth had "became so diseased, enfeebled and unsound" that she was sent to the State Hospital at Morganton; (2) after treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana; and (3) Georgiana used her undue power and control to unjustly influence Elizabeth into executing the various deeds of land to her children.^16,17
     The court agreed, and declared that the deeds were null and void. Commissioners were appointed by the court to repartition the land, and delivered their final report on 15 March 1907. Various amounts were taken from the tracts originally deeded to Georgiana and her brothers, totaling 395 acres, and awarded to John and Mary, with 85 acres coming from Georgiana's original share.^18,19
     Shortly afterward, on 30 April 1907, she and her uncle John Edwin Abbot moved to Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, where they boarded for a few months before moving to Morganton, Burke Co., North Carolina, in September 1907.²⁰ They are listed together in Morganton in the 1910 census.²¹
     On 28 October 1908 she sold her share of the family land in Yancey Co., then totaling 258 acres, to her brothers Charles and Frederick for $5000.²²
     She visited her brother Frederick and his family in Urbana, Champaign Co., Illinois, in the early 1900s. She is remembered by her nephew Frederick Tryon Bowditch as "a tall, angular, thin-faced lady with a tightly-drawn knob-in-the-back hair-do and in elaborate old-fashioned dress." She was apparently quite stern. Much of the material in her nephew Frederick's book on the early years of the Bowditch family in North Carolina came from letters and papers she had compiled.⁵
     She never married, but her niece Blanche remembered her bringing one potential suitor home for her parents' approval. Her parents, however, considered him not good enough for her.⁵
     Her will was dated 8 May 1923 in Burke Co., North Carolina. She left her silverware consisting of spoons and forks marked A&M B and JEA to "Mrs. H. Dupuy McCormick." The remainder was left to her niece Blanche and sister-in-law Mrs. Charles I. Bowditch "who have always been very kind to me." She also noted in her will that "I have in the past given my brothers Nathaniel I. Bowditch, John A. Bowditch, and Joseph Bowditch all that I had to give or can give them." Blanche's husband Sherman J. Hamilton was named executor.²³
     The final account for her estate was filed in Burke Co. on 29 July 1927. After payment of debts the estate consisted of eight trunks and their contents valued at $100, and $31.03 in cash. The trunks and contents were distributed equally between Mrs. S. J. Hamilton (Georgiana's niece Blanche Bowditch) and Mrs. Julia Bowditch Lyon (Blanche's mother). The account also indicates that Georgiana's cousins Paul, Abbot, and William Thorndike, and Edith (Abbot) McCormick, apparently helped pay for her care at Broadoaks Sanitorium.²⁴

     George Abbot Bowditch was born on 6 September 1850 in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina.² He died on 5 June 1855 in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina, at age 4.^1,2 He was buried at Calvary Church Cemetery (Quadrant 4) in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina.³

     John Abbot Bowditch was born on 2 April 1856 in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina.^6,7,3,8 He married first Julia Emma Hilliard, daughter of Ezekial Hilliard and Martha M. Giles, on 3 May 1905 in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴ He married second Mildred Lee Ballew, daughter of Stephen Ballew and Lucinda Shufford, on 21 September 1908 at the bride's parents' house in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁹ He died on 17 May 1933 (cemetery records say 18 May 1933) in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 77.^6,8 He was buried at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁸

     At age 5, in the spring of 1861, he moved with his parents to Yancey Co. in the mountainous region of western North Carolina.¹⁰
     Around 1884 his parents, due to their failing health, began dividing their property in Yancey Co. among their children. On 11 July 1885 he and his sister Georgiana jointly received the home lot containing 888 acres and the house, plus all their personal belongings, in return for agreeing to care for their parents the rest of their lives.¹¹ On 20 October 1885 he and his siblings also entered into an agreement to pay their brother Nathaniel, who hadn't been heard from since 1877, $200 each should he ever return.¹²
     He and Georgiana continued living with their parents on the family farm, under the terms of their agreement, probably until 1902.¹³ They are all listed there in Crabtree Twp. in the 1900 census, along with their mother Elizabeth's brother John E. Abbot.¹⁴ On 5 May 1902 he and Georgiana divided their share of the property, with Georgiana receiving the house and 343 acres, and John receiving the remaining, less-improved, 545 acres.¹⁵ Sometime between then and 11 June 1904 he apparently sold his share of the property to John Abbot.¹⁶
     His first wife Julia was ill with tuberculosis for several years. They, along with their daughter Ruth and Julia's sister Lucy, went to Arizona for a short time, traveling by train from Boonford, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, hoping for a cure. Her condition became worse, however, and they returned home a few weeks before her death.¹⁷
     He and his second wife Mildred lived in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, and are listed there with their children in the 1910-1930 censuses.^18,19,20 His daughter Ruth from his first marriage was listed with them in 1920 and 1930. (In 1910 she was living with her uncle John Hilliard's family in Crabtree Twp.)²¹
     His will was dated 27 April 1929 in Yancey Co., with a codicil dated 20 September 1932, and proved on 4 September 1933. In the original will he left his Three Forks place and his land along Still Fork Creek, and 1/3 of his personal property, to his wife Mildred for her use while living. At her death the land and whatever remained of the personal property was to be divided equally among his four children. The rest of his estate was to be divided equally among his children when his youngest son Robert became 21 years old. His son Frank was named executor. In the codicil he changed the disposition of his land. His wife Mildred was to receive his land in South Toe Twp., and at her death this land was to be divided between his son Frank and daughter Ruth. His sons John and Robert were left his land in Crabtree Twp., known as the Bowditch old homestead.²²

     Joseph Bowditch was born on 10 January 1858 in Tarboro, Edgecombe Co., North Carolina.^5,6,2,7 He married Martha Elizabeth Anderson, daughter of Lorenzo Dow Anderson and Dorothy Bailey, on 23 May 1880 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^8,6 He died on 3 September 1923 (his cemetery marker erroneously says 1 September) at the Charlotte Sanatorium in Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina, at age 65 from kidney disease, two weeks after an operation.^2,9,5 He was buried at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁵

     At age 3, in the spring of 1861, he moved with his parents to Yancey Co., in the mountainous region of western North Carolina.¹⁰ Joseph Bowditch attended the W. C. Bowman Peabody Funded School in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, where he met his future wife Martha Anderson.¹¹
     In June 1880 he and his wife Martha were living in Caney River Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, as boarders in the household of James N. and Julia M. Gibbs.¹² Not long afterward they moved to the area of Mine Creek near Martha's parents in Mitchell Co., North Carolina,¹¹ where they lived the rest of their lives. They are listed there in the censuses from 1900 to 1920.^13,14,15 Martha's widowed mother was living with them in 1900, their daughter Maude and her husband were with them in 1910, and their son Edwin and his wife and daughter were with them in 1920.
     He became a "prominent farmer" in Mitchell Co., and served 6-8 years as a county commissioner.⁹ He was one of the largest landowners in the area, building a five-bedroom English colonial house with a screened-in summer kitchen that included a concrete "spring box" with running water for general use and refrigeration. The house also had a tin-covered clothes dryer adjoining a wood stove, and an indoor water-tank commode. In back were a vegetable garden, flowers, and an orchard with apples, cherries, peaches, grapes, gooseberries, and currants.¹¹
     Around 1884 his parents, due to their failing health, began dividing their property in Yancey Co. among their children. He received 690 acres in 1884, and was deeded an additional 46 acres in 1885.¹⁶ He later bought about 80 acres in Loafers Glory, and 103 acres at Snow Hill and Sink Hole.¹¹ On 20 October 1885 he and his siblings also entered into an agreement to pay their brother Nathaniel, who hadn't been heard from since 1877, $200 each should he ever return.¹⁷
     In 1903 he and his wife Martha donated 2.5 acres in Loafers Glory, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, for the Vians Valley Presbyterian Church, which he helped design and build. He was also one of the first elders of the new church.¹¹
     On 11 June 1904, after his mother Elizabeth's death, John H. Bowditch and Mary (Bowditch) Hall, children of his brother Nathaniel, filed a complaint with the Superior Court of Yancey Co. asking for their share of his parents' estate.¹⁸ An amendment to the complaint, filed on 3 August 1905, asked that the earlier deeds dividing the estate among between him and his siblings be declared invalid, on the grounds that (1) Elizabeth had "became so diseased, enfeebled and unsound" that she was sent to the State Hospital at Morganton; (2) after treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana; and (3) Georgiana used her undue power and control to unjustly influence Elizabeth into executing the various deeds of land to her children.¹⁹
     The court agreed, and declared that the deeds were null and void. Commissioners were appointed by the court to repartition the land, and delivered their final report on 15 March 1907. Various amounts were taken from the tracts originally deeded to Joseph and his siblings, totaling 395 acres, and awarded to John and Mary, with 108 acres coming from Joseph's original share.^20,21 (The genealogy by Frederick Bowditch says that he sold the land deeded to him by his parents in 1884 and 1885 soon after acquiring it, to add to his property at Mine Creek. This is apparently wrong, since he was explicitly named as the owner of the two tracts in the 1907 commissioners report partioning the land.)³
     He had a small goatee, and a black hat, and was "often seen riding his horse to and from farm fields, to mill in Toecane, to his relatives' homes near Micaville, to the McCormick Institute Library in Burnsville."¹¹

     Charles Ingersoll Bowditch was born on 27 September 1862 (his death certificate says 27 September 1861, and the 1900 census says September 1863) in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina.^6,7,2,8 He married Julia A. Gibbs (license dated 12 November 1890), daughter of Charles F. Gibbs and Caroline Ballew, in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁹ He died from diabetes on 3 August 1919 in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, "a prominent and much respected member of his community, and 'a good Christian gentleman.^2,10'" He was buried on 4 August 1919 at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.^7,2

     Charles Ingersoll Bowditch moved to Urbana, Champaign Co., Illinois, "at about age 18, and worked on a farm near there - probably the farm of S. G. Williams since mail was addressed to him in care of this person."³ He was joined there in late 1881 by his brother Fred, who had decided to leave North Carolina and was on his way west. Fred continued west, then returned, and when Charles came down with typhoid fever Fred nursed him back to health. Charles soon returned to North Carolina.¹¹
     Around 1884 his parents, due to their failing health, began dividing their property in Yancey Co. among their children, and on 4 October 1885 he and his brother Fred jointly received 1130 acres. His siblings Georgiana, John, and Joseph also received shares.¹² On 20 October 1885 he and his siblings also entered into an agreement to pay their brother Nathaniel, who hadn't been heard from since 1877, $200 each should he ever return.¹³ On 17 August 1889 he and Fred divided their land, with Fred taking 900 acres of mountain land, and Charles taking 230 acres that included a house and all the cleared land.¹⁴
     Charles eventually returned to Micaville.³ Charles and his new wife Julia settled on his inherited land³, and they are listed in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., in the 1900 and 1910 censuses with their daughter Blanche. Living with them in 1900 were boarders Taylor and Doria Cox.^8,15
     On 11 June 1904, after his mother Elizabeth's death, John H. Bowditch and Mary (Bowditch) Hall, children of his brother Nathaniel, filed a complaint with the Superior Court of Yancey Co. asking for their share of his parents' estate.¹⁶ An amendment to the complaint, filed on 3 August 1905, asked that the earlier deeds dividing the estate among between him and his siblings be declared invalid, on the grounds that (1) Elizabeth had "became so diseased, enfeebled and unsound" that she was sent to the State Hospital at Morganton; (2) after treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana; and (3) Georgiana used her undue power and control to unjustly influence Elizabeth into executing the various deeds of land to her children.¹⁷
     The court agreed, and declared that the deeds were null and void. Commissioners were appointed by the court to repartition the land, and delivered their final report on 15 March 1907. Various amounts were taken from the tracts originally deeded to Charles and his siblings, totaling 395 acres, and awarded to John and Mary, with 30 acres coming from Charles's share.^18,19
     On 28 October 1908 he bought his sister Georgiana's share of the family land in Yancey Co. for $5000. His brother Fred mortgaged his Michigan farm to assist in the purchase, and become joint owner.^20,21 On 30 March 1917 he acquired sole ownership of the land by purchasing Fred's interest for $3500, using proceeds from a timber sale.^22,21

     Mary Ingersoll Bowditch was born on 27 September 1862 in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹ She died on 26 November 1862 in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹

     John Henry Bowditch was probably born on 7 September 1871 in Illinois (see below). He married Belva Ida Silver, daughter of George W. Silver and Louisa Young, on 30 July 1903 at the home of the bride's father in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴ He died on 6 May 1949 at the Veterans Administration Center in Mountain Home, Washington Co., Tennessee, at age 77 from a stroke, a little more than two weeks after surgery for prostate cancer.¹ He was buried at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁶

     His birth date is given as 7 September 1871 on his cemetery marker⁶ and in the Bowditch genealogy by Fred Bowditch.³ This date is also consistent with his age reported on his marriage record,⁴ and in the 1940 census.⁷ However, his death certificate (reporting information from hospital records) says 7 September 1872.² His age reported in the 1920 and 1930 censuses (46 and 56) implies a birth year of 1873, if he was born in September.^8,9 He was also likely born in Illinois. His birth place is listed as North Carolina in the 1920 and 1930 censuses, but as Illinois in the 1940 census and on his death certificate. And an 1875 newspaper article about his father Nathaniel's second marriage, in Kankakee Co., Illinois, reports that "it is said" that Nathaniel had been married a few years ago to a southern woman, that they lived "in this country" for some time, and went back to South Carolina [sic] after a baby was born.¹⁰
     During the Spanish-American War he served as a corporal in Co. L of the First Arkansas Infantry, enlisting at Luna, Arkansas, on 15 May 1898 for a two-year term. His unit was mustered into service at Little Rock, Arkansas, on 20 May, and sent to Camp George H. Thomas at Chickamauga Park, Georgia, for training. While there, however, the war ended in August 1898, and by late September the First Arkansas had been sent home. They were mustered out on 25 October 1898 at Fort Logan H. Roots in Pulaski Co., without being deployed into combat.^11,12
     On 11 June 1904, after the death of their grandmother Elizabeth (Abbot) Bowditch, he and his sister Mary filed a complaint with the Superior Court of Yancey Co. asking for their share of the estate.¹³ An amendment to the complaint, filed on 3 August 1905, asks that the earlier deeds dividing the estate among Elizabeth's children be declared invalid, on the grounds that (1) Elizabeth had "became so diseased, enfeebled and unsound" that she was sent to the State Hospital at Morganton; (2) after treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana; and (3) Georgiana used her undue power and control to unjustly influence Elizabeth into executing the various deeds of land to her children.^14,15
     The court agreed, and declared that the deeds were null and void. They were declared "tenants in common" of the land, along with Elizabeth's children Georgiana, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles, and with John E. Abbot (Elizabeth's brother, who had earlier purchased her son John's share). Commissioners were appointed by the court to divide the land, and delivered their final report on 15 March 1907. Various amounts were taken from the tracts originally deeded to Georgiana, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles, totaling 395 acres, and awarded to John and Mary. The Commissioners report doesn't mention the land then owned by John E. Abbot.^16,17
     He and his wife Belva have not been found in the 1900 or 1910 census, but in 1920 they were living in Erwin, Unicoi Co., Tennessee.⁸ From at least 1926 to 1927 they lived in Sarasota, Sarasota Co., Florida.¹⁸ They are listed in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.^9,7
     He was working as a carpenter in 1920, and later became a building contractor.^8,19,1

More Information / Background

• Spanish–American War

     Belva Ida Silver was born on 22 January 1885 in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁵ She married John Henry Bowditch, son of Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch and Margaret Cordelia Silver, on 30 July 1903 at the home of the bride's father G. W. Silver in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹ She died from a heart attack on 5 March 1951 at age 66 at the Williams Clinic in Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁵ She was buried at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁵

     She and her husband John have not been found in the 1900 or 1910 census, but in 1920 they were living in Erwin, Unicoi Co., Tennessee.⁶
     She was apparently in poor health in late 1924. A newspaper article says she was taken to Rutherfordton, North Carolina, on 24 September, where she was administered 3,000 "milograms" of radium over 28 hours. Her husband returned home to Erwin on 27 September, saying that "her condition is now considered very satisfactory."⁷
     From at least 1926 to 1927 she and John lived in Sarasota, Sarasota Co., Florida.⁸ They are listed in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.^9,10

     Mary Ella Bowditch was born in Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, probably about 1873 or 1874 (see below). She married William Andrew Hall, son of Marcus Hall and Rachel Gouge, on 19 September 1895 at Blue Rock Church in Yancey Co., North Carolina.² She died on 5 February 1963 at Yancey Hospital in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, from kidney failure, after suffering a stroke two weeks earlier.¹ She was buried on 8 February 1963 at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹

     We don't have a birth record for her, and other records are inconsistent on the date. The only records we have with an exact birth date are one of her two sets of Social Security records,^6,7 her death certificate¹, and her cemetery marker,⁸ which say she was born 9 October 1875. However, her death certificate also says she died 5 February 1963 (her cemetery marker says 6 February 1963) at age 88, which gives a birth year of 1874 (assuming "9 October" is correct). A second Social Security record says September 1875,⁴ and the 1900 census says December 1873.⁹ Assuming she was born late in the year, as these three records suggest, the 1880 census implies a birth year of 1872,¹⁰ the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1940 censuses imply 1873,^9,11,12,13 the 1930 census implies 1876,¹⁴ and her age of 19 at marriage implies 1875.²
     She and her husband William lived in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, where he was a farmer, from at least 1900 to 1940. William's younger sister Victoria was living with them in 1900.^{9,11,12,14,13}
     On 11 June 1904, after the death of their grandmother Elizabeth (Abbot) Bowditch, she and her brother John filed a complaint with the Superior Court of Yancey Co. asking for their share of the estate.¹⁵ An amendment to the complaint, filed on 3 August 1905, asks that the earlier deeds dividing the estate among Elizabeth's children be declared invalid, on the grounds that (1) Elizabeth had "became so diseased, enfeebled and unsound" that she was sent to the State Hospital at Morganton; (2) after treatment she was released on probation to her daughter Georgiana; and (3) Georgiana used her undue power and control to unjustly influence Elizabeth into executing the various deeds of land to her children.^16,17
     The court agreed, and declared that the deeds were null and void. They were declared "tenants in common" of the land, along with Elizabeth's children Georgiana, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles, and with John E. Abbot (Elizabeth's brother, who had earlier purchased her son John's share). Commissioners were appointed by the court to divide the land, and delivered their final report on 15 March 1907. Various amounts were taken from the tracts originally deeded to Georgiana, Joseph, Frederick, and Charles, totaling 395 acres, and awarded to John and Mary. The Commissioners report doesn't mention the land then owned by John E. Abbot.^18,19
     She and William apparently took in and cared for their granddaughter Paula Jean Young after their daughter Florence's divorce from Robert Young. Florence and Paula are both listed with them in the 1930 census in Yancey Co., Florence as single with the surname Hall, and Paula as Jean Young, age 2. Paula was still with them in 1940, as Pauline, while Florence was at the State Hospital for the Insane in Morganton.^14,13,20 Also living with them in 1940 was their widowed daughter Winnie and her three children.¹³

     William Andrew Hall was born on 26 November 1873 in Newdale, Yancey Co., North Carolina.^2,1 He married Mary Ella Bowditch, daughter of Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch and Margaret Cordelia Silver, on 19 September 1895 at Blue Rock Church in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴ He died from a stroke on 21 February 1946 in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 72.¹ He was buried on 23 February 1946 at Micaville Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹

     He and his wife Mary lived in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, where he was a farmer, from at least 1900 to 1940. William's younger sister Victoria was living with them in 1900.^5,6,7,8,9 He was active in the affairs of the community, and once served as Yancey Co. sheriff.¹⁰
     He and Mary apparently took in and cared for their granddaughter Paula Jean Young after their daughter Florence's divorce from Robert Young. Florence and Paula are both listed with them in the 1930 census in Yancey Co., Florence as single with the surname Hall, and Paula as Jean Young, age 2. Paula was still with them in 1940, as Pauline, while Florence was at the State Hospital for the Insane in Morganton.^8,9,11 Also living with them in 1940 was their widowed daughter Winnie and her three children.⁹

     Julia Emma Hilliard was born on 30 October 1867 in Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina.^3,2 She married John Abbot Bowditch, son of Joseph Henry Bowditch and Elizabeth Blanchard Abbot, on 3 May 1905 in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹ She died of tuberculosis on 16 May 1908 (the Bowditch genealogy says 25 May 1908) in Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 40.^3,2 She was buried at John Hilliard Cemetery in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴

     She was ill with tuberculosis for several years. She and her husband John, along with their daughter Ruth and Julia's sister Lucy, went to Arizona for a short time, traveling by train from Boonford, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, hoping for a cure. Her condition became worse, however, and they returned home a few weeks before her death.⁵

     Mildred Lee Ballew was born on 29 September 1879 in Busick (the Bowditch genealogy says Celo), Yancey Co., North Carolina.^4,3 She married John Abbot Bowditch, son of Joseph Henry Bowditch and Elizabeth Blanchard Abbot, on 21 September 1908 in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹ She died on 19 January 1937 in Celo, Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 57 from a gall bladder malignancy, "probably cancer."⁴ She was buried at Ballew Cemetery on Hickory Hill Rd. in Yancey Co., North Carolina.²

     She and her husband John lived in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, and are listed there with their children in the 1910-1930 censuses.^5,6,7 John's daughter Ruth from his first marriage was listed with them in 1920 and 1930. (In 1910 she was living with her uncle John Hilliard's family in Crabtree Twp.)⁸

     Ruth Coline Bowditch was born on 10 February 1906 in Busick, Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹ She married John Lawrence Gibbs, son of Charles David Gibbs and Lucy Annie Nichols, on 16 October 1937 in Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina.³ She died on 8 December 2004 at the Yancey Nursing Center in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 98.⁴ She was buried on 11 December 2004 at Carroway Cemetery in Celo, Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴

     After her mother's death in 1908 she lived with her uncle John Hilliard and his family for several years⁵, and is listed with them in Crabtree Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, in the 1910 census.⁶ She and her husband John are listed in the 1940 census living with John's father in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁷

     John Lawrence Gibbs was born on 24 November 1904 in Yancey Co., North Carolina.^1,2 He married Ruth Coline Bowditch, daughter of John Abbot Bowditch and Julia Emma Hilliard, on 16 October 1937 in Micaville, Yancey Co., North Carolina.³ He died on 27 November 1972 at Community Hospital in Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, at age 68 from heart disease.² He was buried at Carroway Cemetery in Celo, Yancey Co., North Carolina.²

     He and his wife Ruth are listed in the 1940 census living with his father in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴

     John Wesley Bowditch was born on 4 July 1909 in Busick, Yancey Co., North Carolina.^1,2 He died on 14 June 1958 at age 48 when his mattress caught fire at his home in Hamrick, Yancey Co., North Carolina. He apparently tried to beat out the fire with his hands, but was overcome by the smoke. His body was found by his brother Frank the morning of the 14th.^2,4 He was buried at Ballew Cemetery on Hickory Hill Rd. in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴

     In 1940 he and his brother Frank were living together in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, with both listing their occupation as farmer in the census.⁵
     He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, enlisting on 29 July 1942, and was discharged on 8 December 1945. He was an electrician's mate first class aboard the USS Atherton, a destroyer escort.⁶ The Atherton was commissioned at the Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia, on 29 August 1943, and underwent shakedown exercises for about two months in the Chesapeake Bay and during two trips to Bermuda. She was assigned to anti-submarine patrol duty in the Caribbean in November, then returned to the Chesapeake to train prospective destroyer escort crews. From January 1944 to May 1945 she escorted trans-Atlantic convoys between the U.S. and various Mediterranean ports. On 5 May 1945, along with the USS Moberly, she sank the German submarine U-583 eight miles off Block Island, Rhode Island, the last German submarine to be sunk in U.S. waters during the war. In early June 1945 she participated in exercises at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, then sailed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, arriving on 29 June. From there she was assigned to anti-submarine patrols, picket duty, convoy escorts, and rescue station duty in the South Pacific until the end of the war. She sailed for home on 1 November 1945, arriving in Jacksonville, Florida, in early December.⁷
     He was never married.²

     Frank Watson Bowditch was born on 3 March 1912 in Busick, Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹ He married Edna Irene Burgin, daughter of Cecil C. Burgin and Ethel C. Putnam, on 6 March 1945 in Marion, McDowell Co., North Carolina.⁵ He died on 29 March 1986 at home in Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 74 from cancer.² He was buried at Ballew Cemetery on South Toe School Rd. in Yancey Co., North Carolina.²

     In 1940 he and his brother John were living together in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, with both listing their occupation as farmer in the census.⁶
     He served as a staff sergeant with the Marines in the Pacific during World War II^7,8, enlisting on 17 October 1942, and being discharged on 5 November 1945.⁹
     In 1963 he was working for the National Park Service at Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina³, and later worked as a carpenter in the building construction business.²

     Robert Stevenson Bowditch was born on 7 November 1914 (his transcribed birth record says 8 November) in Hamrick, Yancey Co., North Carolina.^4,2,1 He married Katherine Ross, daughter of Beverly F. Ross and Dorothy Norwood, on 24 August 1949 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina.⁵ He died on 31 August 1976 at his brother Frank's home in Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 61 from heart disease.^2,6 He was buried at Ballew Cemetery on Hickory Hill Rd. in Yancey Co., North Carolina.²

     Robert Stevenson Bowditch was a grocer, living in Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina.⁶ He had moved there by 1940, when he was listed in the census as a grocery store manager, and living as a lodger in a boarding house run by Clara Dasher.⁷
     He served in Africa as a master sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II^8,9, enlisting on 13 April 1942 and being discharged on 18 November 1945.¹⁰
     He and Katherine had no children.¹¹