Surname Saturday: Cruisin' Down the mtDNA Highway: THANKFUL MORTON

Deering Bridge, Westbrook, Cumberland Co ME circa 1840

THANKFUL MORTON was my great great great grandmother. She was born about 1794 in Standish, Cumberland County, Maine, the daughter of EBENEZER MORTON & SUSANNAH IRISH. She was raised in Standish, the youngest of nine siblings.

On  March 6, 1817 she married DANIEL BOLTON in Windham, Cumberland Co Maine.  Census records show that after their marriage DANIEL & THANKFUL and their family lived in Windham, Portland and then,  by 1850, Westbrook, Cumberland Co Maine. DANIEL BOLTON was a joiner or carpenter by trade, according to city directories; by 1851 he ran a business doing ship carpentry in Westbrook, near the Deering Bridge.

DANIEL & THANKFUL (MORTON) BOLTON had five children according to census records. Their eldest daughter ADELINE BOLTON b March 18, 1818 married JEDEDIAH GRAFFAM.  Daughter RACHEL BOLTON was born 1821 (never married?); SARAH JANE BOLTON was born about 1825-1830 and married THOMAS KENNEDY (my gg grandparents); a son HOLLIS R BOLTON was born Feb 15, 1833 and married SARAH LOUISA MILLER of Portland (no children?), and youngest daughter ELLEN J BOLTON was born 1848 (never married?).

DANIEL BOLTON died before 1860, and THANKFUL was left a widow with children to raise.  The 1860 Portland, Cumberland Co Maine census shows her as a widow, with her youngest son and daughters, with boarders living in the household.

By 1870 census, THANKFUL was living with two of her daughters in the household of her son-in-law, JEDEDIAH GRAFFAM in Gorham, Cumberland Co Maine.  His wife, ADELINE (BOLTON) GRAFFAM had died sometime between 1860--1870.  She must have been quite a woman, as several girls were named after her in both the GRAFFAM family and in my branch, the KENNEDY, BOLTON & BROWN families.

 In 1870 JEDEDIAH GRAFFAM was listed in the census as the owner and operator of a hotel, and THANKFUL and two of her daughters RACHEL & ELLEN were  all working at the hotel. Local histories of the area indicate it was called the Clement Hotel.

THANKFUL (MORTON) BOLTON died sometime between 1870 and 1880, probably in Gorham, Cumberland Co Maine.

Here is the ancestry of THANKFUL MORTON, as far back as I've researched it:

Capt. BRIANT/BRYANT MORTON b abt 1704 England? Barnstable Co MA? married THANKFUL PARKER; 2nd) LUCY WHITE
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THOMAS MORTON b abt 1730 Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland Co ME married RACHEL ELWELL
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EBENEZER MORTON b abt 1758 Gorham, Cumberland Co ME married SUSANNAH IRISH
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THANKFUL MORTON b abt 1794 Standish, Cumberland Co ME married DANIEL BOLTON



Have a great day!


Betty

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