2: Ann M. Shamp

Ann M. Shamp, wife of James C., died on March 4, 1863, at the age of 26. My first task was to connect her, the only person with the surname Shamp in the cemetery, to the other graves. The answer was clear as soon as I found her death record in the collection of Massachusetts Town and Vital Records (she died in Springfield, MA). Of course she would be a Searles, the most common name in the cemetery.

Springfield, MA death record of Ann Shamp

Ann's brother Theodore, who had died two years earlier at age 21, is also buried in the cemetery, but their parents, Hiram and Ellen, are not.

Three years prior to her death from consumption, Ann was living in Westchester, New York, with her husband James, who was born in Wooster, Ohio, their baby daughter Mary, and Ann's sister Henrietta.

1860 US Federal Census

What had brought Ann to Massachusetts? It seems that she and James had moved there. In 1870, he was still living in Springfield, with his second wife Elmira, his and Ann's daughter Mary, and two sons. He worked as a superintendant at a cemetery. James's son Joseph, who was born around 1862, is plausibly Ann's son. There is a large gap in age between him and his (presumed) half-brother, Walter.

The one question is, whose daughter is Lillian? If she is Ann's, why wasn't she listed in the 1860 census?

1870 US Federal Census

The answer is provided by James and Elmira's marriage record. The couple was married on June 30, 1864, in Chicopee, MA. It was the second marriage for both of them. Although I've been unable to identify Elmira's first husband, presumably Lillian was hers from a former marriage.

James and Elmira's marriage record, Chicopee, MA

Springfield, MA in 1879

 Ten years later, in the 1880 census, James is still in Springfield, still working at the cemetery, but is living with a third wife, Nancy, along with Mary, Joseph, and Walter.

1880 US Federal Census

Thanks to Massachusetts's impeccable records, I was able to find that James and Nancy M. Knight were married on April 3, 1878, in Springfield, when he was 42 and she was 34. The record also lists James's parents, Andrew and Eliza Shamp, and Nancy's father, Asa M. Knight.

James and Nancy's marriage record, Springfield, MA

James died in Springfield on February 9, 1887, at the age of 50, of rheumatism (rheumatic fever?).

James Shamp's death record, Springfield, MA

James and Nancy didn't have children together. In 1900, she was living in Springfield with her sister, Rebecca Knight.

1900 US Federal Census

Meanwhile, Ann and James's daughter Mary married Robert M. West, a carpenter who was born in Nova Scotia, on March 15, 1882, in Boston.

Robert and Mary's marriage record, Boston, MA

Robert and Mary had one daughter, Anna, who was born in July 1881, or possibly 1882 or 1883, depending on which census you believe.

1900 US Federal Census

In 1910, Anna was married to Charlie H. Sibley, a railway machinist, and the couple were living with Robert and Mary at 50 Clifton Avenue in Springfield.

1910 US Federal Census

Ten years later Anna, age 37, was a widow and the owner of a house with three boarders at 60 Clifton Avenue. Her parents were still at 50 Clifton Avenue, and were still there in 1930, while Anna had moved to 267 Dwight Street Extension. After that, I lose track of them.

1920 US Federal Census

So there you have it. Three generations, beginning with the tragic death of Ann Shamp when she was 26, and ending with her granddaughter Anna being widowed in her thirties. James Shamp lost two wives, only to leave his third wife a young widow. It seems that only Ann's daughter Mary was the only person who was able to experience a long married life.