Blanchard family papers

Capt. Ruben Blanchard (b. August 24, 1794, d. August 6, 1887) and Christina Loring Blanchard (b. December 21, 1796) married Feb 15, 1821, and settled on a farm in Cumberland in 1830. Ruben served in the House of Representatives in 1853 and as Town Tax Collector in Cumberland in 1850. They had seven children:

• Hannah Elizabeth (b. April 1, 1822, married Reuben Merrill, September 1845)
• Enos Osborn (b. March 15, 1826)
• Infant daughter (b. May 18, 1829)
• Horatio Sprague (b. July 4, 1830, married Ellen Webber June 4, 1863, d. February 23, 1915). Capt. Horatio Sprague Blanchard served in the US Navy during the Civil War.
• Fredrick Porter (b. June 8, 1833, married Susan Sweetser June 2, 1870)
• Persis De Forrest (b. August 15, 1836, d. May 21, 1870). Persis was in ill health all her life and only left home for a short period of time under the care of a physician. The cause of her poor health is unknown, but a close reading of her letters may yield clues to her ailment. She never married though the letters she received often urge her to do so. There are also some especially rich and interesting letters surrounding the Civil War. Letters from her cousin Clinton often mention love and marriage in regards to himself and also to her. "There is a bachelor who lives about ten miles from here and wants a wife," Clint writes, "he has three maiden sisters to do the work, his name is Tom McClure, he has a large farm and plenty of money. If you will come out here I will introduce you to him. I think you would be sure of him." (Box, 5, Folder 7, Clinton, Shugar Creek, June 2, 1858.) Other letters mention current events like the Portland fire of 1866 (Box 5, Folder 8, W. H. Hobbs, Bangor, July 14, 1866) or the pain of losing friends and family due to illness or war. Many of the letters are challenging to read due to the frugal habit of writing both horizontally and vertically on the same page. The letters would be well worth someone taking the time to transcribe them.
• Francis "Frank" Weld (b. January 27, 1838, married Elizabeth H. Sweetser November 19, 1867, d. 1926). Frank also served in the Civil War. He enlisted as a Landsman in the United States Navy at age 26 on September 14, 1864 and was paymaster aboard USS Yankee. According to his navy papers he was 5 feet, eight inches tall at the time of his enlistment, had a light complexion, and light hair (Box 8, folder 10). There are a few bills on confederate currency included in the collection (Box, 8 Folder 9). He returned home to Cumberland to farm on the family property after his time in the service. His journals may prove to be a wealth of information on daily farm life and social goings on in the later half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Maine.

• Harry Norwood (b. November 15, 1870, married Lillian Sanders September 1, 1902). Harry was the family artist and was an electrician for Blanchard Electrical Company. He attended the Greely Institute in 1887. The collection includes his sketchbook and a clipping of a newspaper article with photo about an exhibit of his paintings circa 1900 – 1964 held at his niece's house (Fred’s daughter, Ruth (Eleanor Blanchard) Norton) for his 94th birthday. The collection also includes glass negatives he took between 1890 – 1910.
• Fred Sweetser (b. October 10, 1875, married Eleanor M. Fogg {b. July 11, 1884, d. 1935} November 19, 1907, d. June 3, 1971). Fred was a well-respected dairy farmer in Cumberland. He attended Cumberland Schools and produced the first Grade A milk in the Portland area on the family farm given to him by his older brother Harry. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of the Cumberland Center Congregational Church, likely the same parish that housed the pew his great grandfather, Silvanus Blanchard sold to his grandfather, Ruben Blanchard in 1829 (Bill of Sale located in Box 2, Folder 8) and resold in 1887 to Fred P. Blanchard and Frank W. Blanchard (Fred's father) in 1887. Fred was active in the State Farm Bureau and was a charter member of the New England Milk Producers Association. He was survived by his three children, seven grand kids, and thirteen great-grand children and is buried in Moss Side Cemetery in Cumberland. His wife Eleanor was hospitalized for an extended period at Maine General Hospital in Portland. There are many receipts for her care included in the collection.

• Donald S. (b. January 22, 1907)

• Richard Francis (b. January 13, 1909, married Phyllis M. Brydon {d. May 7, 1987} on June 16, 1934 and married for a second time to Christine Larson Burr on February 20, 1988)
• Stanley Hayes (b. November 27, 1911, married Marguerite Catherine Flint {b. August 18, 1916} on June 10, 1936
• Ruth Eleanor Blanchard (b. March 2, 1920, married Loring Norton {b. October 4, 1918} on June 1, 1939.

• Lois Geneva (b. September 4, 1935)
• Kenneth Fred (b. January 19, 1938)

• Lawrence Stanley (b. June 12, 1938, married Roberta Ann Saunders {b. February 28, 1940} on August 3, 1963)
• Katherine May (b. May 22, 1940, married Gregory W. Fowler {July 5, 1937} on June 22, 1963)
• Elizabeth Ann (b. October 5, 1942, married Peter Lynn Trouant {b. December 18, 1940} on June 12, 1965)

• Joanne Elaine (b. March 6, 1940)
• Judith Ann (b. May 27, 1943)