This death record showing that Caroline Cushing, daughter of Wm Shakford, mason of Boston, widow of Peter Cushing who died on March 14, 1910 in Litchfield, Massachusetts of a fractured femur had us puzzled for a long time as we did not know which Shackford this record belonged to.
RECORD OF A DEATH
No. of Record, 1
Name, Caroline Cushing
Place of Death, Litchfield
Date of Death Year 1910 Month Mar Day 14
Age Years 80 Months 1 Days 7
Place of Birth, Boston, Mass
Sex F Color W Married, Single, Widowed, or Divorced W
Occupation Housewife
Name of Father Wm Shakford
Maiden Name of Mother don’t know
Birthplace of Father Boston
Birthplace of Mother Don’t Know
Occupation of Father Mason
Widow of Wm Shackford crossed off Peter Cushing in different writing
Cause of Death Result of Fracture of Femur
Name of Physician reporting said death
C M Randlett
P.O. Address Monmouth Me
Undertaker Ankling & Wakefield
PO Address Gardiner
Certified by W F Adams
Clerk of Litchfield
We did find a Caroline who was the daughter of a William Shackford, mason (my third great grandfather) but knew she’d died in November 1877. Caroline did have two sisters, Louisa and Emeline who married Cushings. Louisa who had married Edward Cushing died on March 9, 1882 but we did not have a death date for Emeline who had married a Peter Cushing. This left us wondering if someone had mistakenly written Caroline on the death record instead of Emeline.
Further research showed that Emeline’s daughter Mary Emma Cushing who had married Wallace Herbert Allen was living in Litchfield, Maine in June 1900 and in April 1910 leaving us wondering if perhaps this record referred to her.
Our mystery was solved when we discovered that the death of Emeline Cushing, was reported on March 18, 1810 in her daughter’s local newspaper, The Reporter Journal.
The remains of Mrs. Emeline Cush-
ing, who died at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. Allen, at Litchfield,
Monday, aged 80 years, were taken to
Weymouth, Mass., Wednesday
We find it interesting that the newspaper correctly reported Emeline’s name and will probably never know why the death record incorrectly listed Emeline Shackford’s name as Caroline. However we now feel comfortable that we’ve solved the mystery of Emeline’s death date and location and have successfully explained why we’ve connected this death record to Emeline (Shackford) Cushing.
Note: I have a DNA match to one of Emeline’s descendants — my first DNA match with the shared ancestor WILLIAM SHACKFORD and MERCY ROSE, my third great grandparents!
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SOURCES:
1900 United States Federal Census, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Weymouth, enumeration district (ED) 1083, Sheet No 16A, dwelling 355, family 371, Frederick Cushing; digital images, Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 July 2017).
1910 United States Federal Census, Kennebec County, Maine, population schedule, Litchfield, enumeration district (ED) 110, Sheet No 8A, dwelling 144, family 146, Wallace H Allen; digital images, Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 August 2018).
Maine, Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921, , Caroline Cushing (believe this is actually Emeline (Shackford) Cushing, jsp), 14 March 1910; digital images, FamilySearch(http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 December 2017
Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, p. 98, Louisa Cushing, 9 March 1882; digital images, Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 May 2013); Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records.
“Remains of Mrs Emeline Cushing,” The Reporter Journal (Gardiner, Maine), 18 March 1910; digital images, Digital Archives of the Gardiner Public Library(http://gardiner.advantage-preservation.com : accessed 31 July 2018).
Copyright 2018 Joanne Shackford Parkes (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not copy this material and paste it elsewhere).
SHACKFORD Family History 