Week 6, Maps: A Tale of Two Railroad Ancestors

I don’t know how the rest of you approach the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, but I wrote the list of weekly themes in the back of my planner and I jot notes next to them when inspiration strikes. For some themes, I have as many as four or five ideas noted, for others I have one, and unfortunately, I have a fair few that are currently blank. We’re now on Week 6 – Maps -- and I have a confession to make…

I don’t like maps.

This theme was so tough for me. I know, I know… it’s ungenealogical of me to hate maps, but I do. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and one of my greatest weaknesses is that I lack any sense of direction. I still get lost in my hometown. I can go somewhere daily for a year, stop going for three months, and I won’t remember how to get there. To and from, left and right, east and west, I’ve never been good with directions or reading and understanding maps. Despite the many articles I’ve read on using them in genealogical research, I’ve yet to find anything on a map I couldn’t find in another document or in a book. The only useful thing I’ve gotten from a map was a good laugh when I looked at a property map of Mount Vernon, Maine and realized my great-great-great grandfather’s neighbor was named P. Stain. Yes, I have the sense of humor of a 10-year-old, and I’m not ashamed.

Coming up with a topic this week was a struggle, but I finally decided to write about two railroading ancestors – one from each side of my family – and slap a couple of railroad maps up for those of you without my directional challenges who might find them interesting. I don’t, but if you do, hey – have at ‘em. I’m here to tell stories and share pictures.

Here's a very blurry Grand Trunk Railway Map for your viewing pleasure.

Grampy Phil wrote down the story of his grandfather, Adam Laviolette, and Adam's many brothers. Adam was born in 1858 in Carleton, Quebec, and he and his brothers worked for the railroads being built across the USA and Canada. If they stopped somewhere while working along the route that was beautiful and had decent job prospects, they would settle there. Even one of their sisters supposedly travelled across the country and back on the railroad “entertaining” the workers, and eventually became a can-can dancer at the Saccarappa Inn in what is now Westbrook, Maine. Adam and his brothers worked for the Grand Trunk Railway, which was in operation from 1858-1923, and stretched across Canada and into the US. None of the brothers could read or write, and as that prevented them from corresponding, most lost touch over time. Adam followed the railroad to Portland, Maine where he settled in 1882. A few years later, he moved to Westbrook, Maine and began working for the Boston & Maine Railroad as a leadman. He also kept the stoves going in winter at the Westbrook station on Fitch Street. He worked there until his death in 1901.

Adam Laviolette, 1895, while working for the Boston & Maine RR, colorized Adam is seated on the left. This contraption is a steam shovel and was used for excavating.

The station at Fitch St. in Westbrook where Adam Laviolette worked. The original picture is from the Walker Memorial Library collection. I've cropped and colorized it.

I’m unable to verify most of this through documents. Census records show none of the brothers, with the exception of Adam, working for the railroad, but that doesn’t mean much. If most of them worked for the railroad only long enough to settle somewhere else, and that work fell between census years, the census obviously wouldn’t reflect that. Of the siblings I’ve been able to trace, all remained in Canada with the exception of Lazare Jr. who lived in Westbrook, Maine for several years before returning to Canada, and their sister, Marie Anne “Annabelle” Laviolette, the supposed can-can dancer, who lived both in Gorham and Portland Maine. I’m inclined to believe it’s true, considering my grandfather heard these stories directly from his own grandmother, Georgianne, Adam’s wife. Below is Adam's life insurance policy from the Boston & Maine Railroad. He didn't die at work, but his death is one of the saddest stories I've ever heard, and it will be the subject of a future post.

Dana Ladd (left) in 1913 or 1914, conductor for the Boston & Maine RR out of Haverhill, MA

Now we’ll chug on over to my dad’s side of the family (see what I did there?) to learn about my other railroading ancestor. My great-grandfather, Dana Lewis Ladd, was born in Westbrook, Maine in 1890. I was curious how Dana met my great-grandmother, Blanche Laberge, as she lived in Central Falls, Rhode Island and was eight years his junior. They wed in Maine when she was just 17, though she lied on her marriage license, claiming she was 18. I had a theory that she went up to Maine to live with her older sister and brother-in-law because the 1920 census shows her brother-in-law working in a billiard ball factory in Portland, and on their 1915 marriage return Dana’s occupation is “pool ball maker.” I thought maybe Blanche worked there too and that’s how she met him. It made sense, but when I asked my uncle if he knew how they met, he told me Dana met Blanche while working on a train.

This was the first I heard of him working for the railroad, and no records seemed to confirm it. He’s recorded in Westbrook, Maine in every census, and all census records have him down as a mill worker. Then my cousin, who graciously took on the massive project of scanning all the Turner/Ladd family pictures, uploaded the last batch. There was one picture of Dana in a conductor’s uniform. On the back it said “Dana - conductor, Haverhill, MA.” A bit of digging into historical directories, and I discovered that he lived in Lynn, MA in 1912 and in Haverhill, MA in 1913 & 1914. He was listed as a “box maker” in 1912, a “conductor” in 1913, and the 1914 directory notes “removed to Westbrook,” which means he moved back to Westbrook sometime that year. He married Blanche in Westbrook on February 27, 1915, so he likely met her sometime in 1914, prior to leaving Haverhill.

Here's another map.

I wish I knew the details of their story, like where she was travelling to, and how they started talking – especially given the age-gap. Although eight years doesn’t seem that significant, she was only 16 in 1914, one of the babies of her large family. Dana was 24, divorced, and the eldest of three living children. It feels a bit skeevy to me, but maybe it wasn’t as big of a deal back then. Blanche’s homelife was fairly troubled, and included poverty, alcoholism, and abandonment by her father (which will be the subject of a future post) so it’s likely she had some daddy-issues. Perhaps she consciously or unconsciously sought out the security of an older man with a stable job. And let’s face it – I’m sure the uniform didn’t hurt. Who doesn’t love a man in a uniform?

The Haverhill, MA station, circa 1918.

Dana & Blanche were married for almost 40 years, and I haven't heard any negative stories about their relationship, so I’m going to assume it was mostly happy. Like Adam Laviolette, Dana Ladd likely worked for the Boston & Maine Railroad, as they had a station in Haverhill, and his uniform is consistent with historical pictures of other Boston & Maine conductors at that time. Unlike Adam, Dana’s career with Boston & Maine was short-lived. Upon his return to Maine, he went back to factory work.

That's it for maps. Next week’s blog should be better, though I might not have any/many pictures. I’m planning to cover Humphrey Turner, my first Turner ancestor to arrive in North America.