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Samuel Straw
(1787-1857)
Betsey Burbank
(1784-1857)
William Burrill
(Cir 1780-)
Eliza
(-After 1820)
Benjamin F. Straw
(Abt 1812-After 1869)
Sarah C. Burrill
(1814-1869)

William Everett Straw
(1851-1913)

 

Family Links

Spouses/Children:
1. Isabella Whidden

William Everett Straw

  • Born: 7 Aug 1851, Lynn, Essex County, Massachusettes
  • Marriage (1): Isabella Whidden on 9 Sep 1874 in Peabody, Essex County, Massachusetts
  • Died: 4 Aug 1913, Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts at age 61
  • Buried: Saugus, Massachusetts

bullet   Cause of his death was pulmonary enbolism.

picture

bullet  General Notes:

NEHGS Peabody MA marriage records - groom 24 of Salem and born Saugus; bride 22 of Peabody and born Peabody; d/o Henry L. and Mary A.

census 1850 Lynn,Essex County, MA (27 Aug)
Benjamin Straw ae 38, carpenter
Sarah ae 36 (maiden name Burrell/Burrill)
Abby F. ae 7
Benjamin F. ae 4
Wm E. ae 11 mos
Susan Burrill ae 20 (possible sister of Sarah?)

1870 Salem, Essex County, MA
Jacob C. Hiltz age 27 book keeper
Abbie F. age 24
Frederick C. age 5mos
also:
William E. STRAW age 20; works in machine shop (Abbie's brother)

1880 Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts
Living in boarding house
William STRAW Other M Male W 33 MA Confectioner MA MA
Belle STRAW Other M Female W 26 MA House Keeping MA MA
(they are living in a boarding house owned by Mary Bartlett; a widow age 25 with a young son.)

Also living in Worcester in 1880 is Elliot Straw born 1820 NH who had a dau born 1853 in MA.
Also in 1880 in Worcester, Massachusetts is Horace Straw born 1849 NH with both parents born NH. Horace is a s/o Oceanus Straw who married in 1846 (Wm born 1847) [Wm does not appear to be a s/o Oceanus as in 1850 Wm does not appear in the HH and would have been only about 3 yrs old]

1900 Malden, Middlesex county, MA
Abbie F. Hiltz Nov 1845 MA; widow; ch:2/1; father b. NH; mother MA
Frank E. b. Sept 1871 MA MA MA; m 8yrs
Eva M. Apr 1873 KS ME MA ; no ch
Benjamin F. Straw Feb 1849 MA; single(brother)
William E. Straw Sept 1851 MA; divorced

1910 Malden Ward 1, Middlesex County, MA
Frank E. Hiltz age 36 c1874 MA
Eva A. age 56 born c1854 MA ; "mother" one child with one living and widowed [Frank's wife and mother were incorrectly entered by census taker and somehow combined? This indicates Abby is still living -is Eva still in HH?]
Benjamin F. Straw age 54; c1856 MA ; uncle; single
Wm E. Straw age 52; c1858 MA; single; uncle

MA deaths
Name William E Straw Death date 04 Aug 1913 Death place Amesbury,,Massachusetts Gender Male Race or color (expanded) White Age in years 62 Birth date 07 Aug 1851 Birth place Lynn, Massachusetts Marital status Married Father name Barry F Straw Mother name Sarah Burill Film number 2399210 Digital GS number 4284126 Image number 00593 Reference number 42
informant Joseph O. Stearns of Amesbury


Ruthie Stearns <ruthie.stearns@gmail.com>
Mon 2/3/2020 9:05 PM
I just stumbled on your website, and the information presented helped solve a recent mystery. So I just can't help it, I want to thank you for your tree, and tell you the story of the mystery it solved, so indulge me, and file this away for amusement, I guess!
The individuals I was interested in were WIll and Frank Straw, brothers, and sons of Benjamin and Sarah Burrill Straw, who lived in Malden Mass by the early 1900's. Your tree connected me to their Aunt Abigail Straw, who connected to my family history, in a way, due to her marriage to Moody Barnard of Salisbury, Mass (1815-1903)
I've been typing, for the last five years, the over 60 years of diaries of my Great great Grandfather, Joseph Oliver Stearns (1838-1917). Recently I've decided to increase my output, and have done nearly 20 years of diaries in the past two plus months, and hope to complete the diaries before the end of this month.
Beginning in 1903, the year Moody Barnard died, Joseph Stearns began commenting that Will and or Frank Straw would come to stay, at the home of two of his sisters, Hattie and Augusta Stearns. Their cousin Bert Stearns also resided with them. They were living in the old Eastman home belonging to their grandparents, Jonathan and Elizabeth Chase Eastman, taking it over upon the death of the youngest Eastman daughter, Harriet. Next door to the Eastman home was the Stearns home (originally built for Charles Oliver and Adeline Eastman Stearns) By 1903, Joseph (long widowed and getting into his 60's) had returned home, and was living with older sister Susan, and younger sister Ellen, and their father Charles (who died in 1906). These two homes were on Elm Street, just before the Salisbury/Amesbury line, in a part of Amesbury that was part of Salisbury when the Stearns siblings were all born. The land now is the cloverleaf of I-95, just north of the Merrimac river.
So anyway, Will and Frank would visit, and they came from Malden, and I just could not for the life of me figure out WHY? What was the connection. They'd come up and stay a day or two, maybe two or three times a year. And as you must have discovered, Will dies in Amesbury in 1913, August 4th. Joseph O. (correction) Stearns was the informant.
I actually think Will died August 6th, at 12:45am, per the diary entry. Frank came up that day, and brought his body back August 7th. Will had come up on August 4, at noon, from Malden. Now I don't know if Joseph wrote his entries every day, or if wrote them in batches a bit later, so he could have gotten it mixed up, but there are diary entries for every single day for year after year after year.
So I think the mystery must be solved. Here's what I imagine. WIll and Frank must have been visiting Aunt Abigail and her husband Moody Barnard over the years.. Although she died way back in 1889, she still was his wife for about 25 years. You'd figure visiting an uncle by marriage years after the death of their aunt would be unusual, but Moody just wasn't usual. (in my opinion). Moody was a very close friend of Joseph Stearns' father Charles, going back to their younger years. He is mentioned in all of Joseph's diaries, going back to when Joseph was a teenager. If there ever was a 'hangout" for the kids of Rocky Hill in Salisbury in the late 1850's and early 1860's, it was Moody Barnard's place. Joseph and his sister's would go there for Corn Husking parties, or sleeping overnight in Moody's barn, and so on. The connection remained throughout all of Moody's life. In the 1900 census, you see that Moody, in his 80's and widowed ten years, had a housekeeper, Hattie Stearns, Joseph's sister, and that a laborer Bert Stearns, a cousin, lived there too. So I just have to figure the Straw brother's would have met Hattie there. And for whatever reason, after Moody dies in 1903, and the property is sold, and Hattie and Bert have moved back into the old Eastman house, around the corner, those Straw brothers kept up their visits. The Straw brothers were about Bert's age, Hattie being about a decade older. Moody's house was on Merrill Road just around the corner from Elm Street and the Stearns/Eastman houses.
This old Salisbury Map shows the houses...Mrs. E. Eastman, C.O. Stearns, and M Barnard. just south of the Salisbury Brand R.R., north of the Merrimac river, east of Salisbury Point.
Ruthie Stearns
Lincoln, NE


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William married Isabella Whidden, daughter of Michael Leach Whidden and Mary Ann Fellows, on 9 Sep 1874 in Peabody, Essex County, Massachusetts. (Isabella Whidden was born on 15 Jan 1852 in Peabody, Essex County, Massachusetts and died on 8 Feb 1909 in Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts.)




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