Week 11 (10 Mar 2025 – 16 Mar 2025):
The theme for Week 11 is "Brick
Wall." What ancestor is giving you fits in your research? What
ancestor had been a brick wall, but you’ve broken through? Or, how about an
ancestor who built brick walls for a living?
The Life of Sarah Roberta Stilltson McCurdy
1816-1898
Early
Life in Maine
Sarah Roberts Stilltson was born on
June 28, 1816, in Maine, shortly after it had separated from Massachusetts but
before it achieved statehood. Little is known about her early life or her
parents, who remain unidentified in historical records. She grew up during a time
when Maine was developing rapidly, with its economy centered around
shipbuilding, lumber, and fishing industries.
Marriage
and Family
At age 20, Sarah married James
McCurdy on November 10, 1836. James, born in 1808, was eight years her senior.
Their union would prove fruitful and enduring, lasting over five decades until
James's death in 1889.
Together, Sarah and James raised a
large family of eight children:
- Elizabeth (born 1837, died 1930)
- Olivia Upham (born 1839, died 1933)
- Eunice (born 1841)
- Janet G. (born 1844)
- Lucinda (born 1846)
- Ebenezer (born 1848, died 1927)
- Mary (born 1849, died 1938)
- Joanna (born 1851)
Life
in Nova Scotia
At some point after their marriage,
Sarah and James relocated from Maine to Nova Scotia, Canada. The exact date of
their migration is not recorded, but by 1871, census records confirm their
residence in Nova Scotia when Sarah was 55 years old.
The McCurdy family was part of a
significant migration pattern during this period, when many Americans moved to
the Maritime Provinces of Canada. This migration was often motivated by
economic opportunities, family connections, or the promise of available land.
Later
Years
Sarah continued to live in Nova
Scotia throughout her later years. Census records document her presence there
in 1881 (approximate age 65) and again in 1891 (age 75), specifically in
Colchester County.
Throughout these years, Sarah was
recorded as married, living alongside her husband James until his death in
1889. She likely witnessed her children grow to adulthood, marry, and have
families of their own. Her two eldest daughters, Elizabeth and Olivia, would go
on to live remarkably long lives, passing away in 1930 and 1933 respectively,
well into their 90s.
Legacy
Sarah Roberts Stilltson McCurdy
passed away on June 11, 1898, at the age of 81, just seventeen days shy of her
82nd birthday. She died in Nova Scotia, having lived there for at least the
final three decades of her life.
As a mother of eight children, Sarah
left behind a significant legacy. She lived through a period of substantial
historical change, including the American Civil War and Canadian Confederation
in 1867. Though the specific details of her daily life remain largely unknown,
census records and family histories preserve the outline of a life characterized
by family, migration, and perseverance.
Sarah's story represents that of
many women of her era whose individual experiences, though not prominently
recorded in historical documents, formed the backbone of family and community
life in nineteenth-century North America.
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