My Old Ohio Home - Paige

Oscar Cowan of Rockland, Maine-Solved

2018-10-08T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

This article was on the old site for a few years–the 2018 date came when I reformatted the site. For the October 2018 update solving the problem, see the end of the article.

Question

I am looking for information about an "Oscar Cowan" of Rockland, Knox County, Maine. I have some reason to believe that this was an alias for William Jerome Page, husband of Margaret Jenkins. I would like help either confirming or disproving that suspicion.

Oscar Cowan, age 58, is living at 7 Pink Street, Rockland, Knox County, Maine, in 1940. He was divorced, with six years of schooling, and had lived in Rockland in 1935. He had been unemployed for five years and was working on a government brook project for about $10/week.

With Oscar in the household was a man called Oscar's son: Oliver Abbott, age 31, born in Maine, and also with six years of school. He had worked all of 1939 as a seaman on a barge, but his dwelling place in 1935 was unknown. He was married but living apart from his wife. The column for his marital information said "M7" but the "M" was crossed out. The marital information for the housekeeper, Leola Howard, matched Oliver's.

The only other trace of Oscar that I have found so far is in the Rockland City Directories for 1936 and 1937, at 43 Lime Street, and for 1942 at 7 Pink Street.

Why does Oscar's "son" have a different surname? Why isn't Oscar on any census in Maine from 1900 to 1930? Why isn't he in the online index to Maine Marriages from 1892 to 2009? Why doesn't he show up anywhere else at ancestry.com, rootsweb, or familysearch.org?

Could he be William Jerome Paige, born in 1882, son of Oscar Page and Martha Cowan? By 1940 William had been "on the run" from his wife and family for almost 14 years. Had he chosen an alias of his father's first name and his mother's last name? Was Oliver a son from an earlier extra-marital relationship?

For the first part of William Paige's life see Missing Grandfather, Boston or Bangor.

Updated

On October 13, 2018, I started a thread on rootschat.com looking for help identifying Oscar Cowan. You can see that thread here: Oscar Cowan, Rockland, Maine, 1934 to 1941. The information in the replies led me to the conclusion that Oscar Cowan in Rockland, Maine, is most likely George Oscar Abbott.

George was born May 4, 1881, in Thomaston, Knox County, Maine, and married Lizzie Tilden on September 29, 1905. Their son Charles O was born in 1908. Charles was the master of a barge, the Rockport, as of 1943, and had been at sea for 20 years by that time. All of this matches the information on "Oscar Cowan" and Oliver Abbott's 1940 census in Rockland.

In addition, both said they were married but living apart from their spouse. George's wife, Lizzie, had remarried in 1925. Charles O Abbott was married in 1939 to Ruth Clark, but she is in her home town of Vinalhaven in 1940 'married, but living apart from her spouse.'

The only question that remains is why George O Abbott was using the name Oscar Cowan from 1934 to 1941 in Rockland. That I do not know, but at this point it is a question for the Abbott family to answer, not me. I don't think that "Oscar Cowan" was William Paige.

I've included some basic information about George Oscar and Charles O Abbott in the New England Families tree on this site.

Ann (McAlister) Paige, Bucksport, Maine

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Helen, Ann, and Jimmy Paige, 1947

Ann McAlister was born in Bucksport, Maine, Dec 16, 1905, the daughter of Frank and Josephine (Delano) McAlister. In 1910 and 1920 she was living in Bucksport with her parents and her brother, Royce.

Sometime in April of 1930, Ann was married to Augustus "Zeke" Paige, also of Bucksport. They were living with her widowed father and aunt on April 22, 1930, when the census was enumerated. They had one child, a daughter Barbara Ann.

Ann was a painter who began her painting with Frank Hamabe of Blue Hill and later attended Haystack Art School, and the University of Maine. She had showings in Bucksport, Bangor, and elsewhere in Maine.

Ann (McAlister) Paige died January 11, 1984, in Orland, Maine, and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Orland, with her husband.

For more about her husband Zeke and his family see: Augustus "Zeke" Paige, Bucksport, Maine.

For her daughter see: Barbara (Paige) Deegan, Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Sources for Augustus Paige's information can be found in his individual record in the New England Families tree.

Augustus "Zeke" Paige, Bucksport, Maine

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Jimmy, Helen and Zeke Paige, 1947

Augustus Ezra Paige, or "Zeke" as he was known, was born Apr 13, 1905, most likely in Bangor, Maine, the first son of William Paige and Margaret Jenkins. His daughter Barbara's birth record is the only document I have found so far that says he was born in (East) Boston, Massachusetts, and it's possible that Zeke's wife filled that out. A picture of him and his mother shortly after his birth was taken in Maine, according to the inscription.

When the 1910 census was taken, Zeke, his parents, and his siblings, were living with Zeke's grandparents Oscar and Martha (Cowan) Page, at 60 Brimmer Street, Brewer. Both Zeke's father and grandfather were firemen for a steam railroad.

By 1919 Zeke's parents had returned to East Boston and in 1920 they were at 89 Putnam Street. Zeke's sister Cecelia and brother Charles were with them, but the other children remained in Maine with their grandmother Martha who had been remarried to William M Gray.

I don't know when Zeke himself returned to Maine, but on the 1930 Census he is enumerated twice. On April 7, he was single and living with his grandmother and Mr. Gray on Main Street, Bucksport. On April 22, he was married and living with his wife, the former Ann McAlister, her father Frank McAlister, and Frank's sister Augusta Williams. They were also on Main Street, Bucksport. Zeke was working as a truck driver for a construction company.

Between 1935 and 1940 Zeke, Ann, and their only daughter Barbara moved from Bucksport to Orland, Maine, where they remained for the rest of their lives. In 1940 Zeke was an electric truck operator for a paper mill.

Zeke's death on June 29, 1964, is recorded as occurring in Bucksport, but Ann was living in Orland at the time of her death in 1984. Both Zeke and Ann are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Orland, Maine.

For a little information about Zeke's wife Ann see: Anne (McAlister) Paige, Bucksport, Maine.

For his daughter see: Barbara (Paige) Deegan, Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Sources for Augustus Paige's information can be found in his individual record in the New England Families tree.

Barbara (Paige) Deegan, Ritchfield, Connecticut

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Barbara Ann Paige was born August 27, 1931 in Old Town, Maine, the daughter of Augustus and Ann (McAlister) Paige, of Bucksport, Maine. Between 1935 and 1940 Barbara's family moved to Orland, Maine.

On December 1, 1951, in Bangor, Barbara was married to Max Ernest Knowlton, of Bangor, the son of Everett and Marguerite Knowlton. They were living with his parents at 806 1/2 State Street, Bangor, in 1951, but soon moved to Connecticut where Max received his Social Security number in either 1951 or 1952.

Max served in the US Army from Mar 13, 1953 to Feb 28, 1956. By June 4, 1956, the couple was divorced. Max was married in Bangor on that date to Jacqueline Stevens.

Barbara was also remarried soon, to Robert W Deegan. They are listed as husband and wife at 48 Stillwater Avenue, Stamford, Connecticut, in the 1958 Stamford Directory. They remained in Stamford until about 1963 when the moved to Sugar Loaf Mountain Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut. There they remained until at least Barbara's death.

Barbara attended nursing school in Maine and worked at the former Stamford Hall Psychiatric and Rehabilitation Hospital. Later she was involved with the Red Cross in Ridgefield. In 1974 she established the Meals on Wheels program in that town, which she supervised until the late 1980′s.

Barbara and Robert Deegan had no children. Barbara died March 10, 2001, at Danbury Hospital and Robert died on August 19, 2003.

There was a lengthy obituary for Barbara published in the News-Times of Danbury, Connecticut, on March 12, 2001. For the complete text see her page in the New England Families tree on this site.

For Barbara's father see: Augustus "Zeke" Paige, Bucksport, Maine.

For her mother see: Anne (McAlister) Paige, Bucksport, Maine.

Joseph Page of Orono, a Timeline

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Taken from a longer article. The footnotes begin with #24. For a summary of Joseph Page's life see Joseph Page of Orono, Maine.

Before 1775: Lived for sometime in Rhode Island. In 1800 the census taker asked the residents along the Penobscot River where they lived before moving to Maine. Joseph and his son Issac said Rhode Island.²⁴

1775: Living in the area of present day Bangor, then called Kenduskeag Plantation. At the Centennial Celebration of Orono a descendant of Joseph, probably his son Stephen's son Samuel, said that Stephen had been born in Bangor in 1775 and came to Orono as a small boy.²⁵

The Pages probably arrived in the Bangor area between 1771 and Stephen's birth. The first child born in Bangor was said to be born in 1771 or 1772, and it wasn't a Page.²⁶ Capt. Joseph Mansell mentions some families he found when arriving in Bangor in 1771 and did not include the Pages, although he was aware that Joseph Page was living there later.²⁷

1776: Paid 1 pound, 1 shilling, 7 pence, as his assessment for the Province Tax on June 1, 1776, while living on the Penobscot River, most likely near Bangor.²⁸

1777: Signed a petition dated March 13, 1777 to incorporate the area "from the uppermost line of Frankfort Township to the Indian Line" as Wheelersborough. The "Indian Line" was pretty far south at this time, so Joseph was still in the Bangor area.²⁹

1780: Burned out of his home at Penjejawock for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the British Crown, in the spring of 1780. Joseph Mansell says:

The Penobscot River from the
Penobscot Narrows Bridge

"I was on the river during the revolutionary war. After the American fleet was destroyed, and the British took possession of the peninsula of Biguyduce [Bagaduce, now known as Castine], in the spring of 1780, the men on the river generally took the oath of allegiance, in this way. A British officer came to anchor below Orphan island, and sent down to the men to come and take the oath. Most of them went, but such as refused had their houses burnt, and all were threatened. Old Joseph Page's house at Penjajewock, and James Nichols's house at the Bend in Orrington were burned."³⁰

(The Penjejawock stream flows into the Penobscot River in Bangor, a bit south of where Mt. Hope Cemetery is today.)

The Orono Centennial account says this about Joseph:

"During the Revolution he lived near Mt. Hope, in Bangor, whence he was driven by the British for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the crown. His house was burnt and his stock stolen and carried away. His youngest son, Stephen, was born there in 1775, and when a small boy, was brought to this town ..."³¹

It sounds from this that Joseph moved to Orono sometime after being burned out.

1780 to 1783: Maybe in Rhode Island. Did he move back to Rhode Island temporarily after being burned out? Joseph Inman, first of RI then of Orono, is said to have married a daughter of Joseph Page named either Annabel or Betsey (or both?). This was about 1780 or shortly after, and they most likely met in RI. On the other hand, the Orono Centennial information about Joseph Page only mentions the daughters listed above. Was Annabel another name for Polly?

None of Joseph's sons were found in the Revolutionary War Pension files at ancestry.com in either Maine (Massachusetts) or Rhode Island.

1783: On land in area of modern day Orono. The Park Holland survey of the squatters' lands on the Penobscot, taken in 1797, included comments on the settlers and the condition of the land. Mr. Holland's assistant, Capt. John Chamberlain, had this to say about Joseph Page:

"Thense down to Joseph Page's lot, 40 rods on river, been improved fourteen years; eighteen acres cleared. He appeared to be a good husbandman; house and barn, and is all the land he has ever taken up and improved. He fled from Bagaduce at the seige, to this land."³²

1786-1790: Recorded as doing business with Major Robert Treat, whose business (saw mill, grist mill, trading post?) was near the Penjejawock. The list included Joseph's sons Joseph, Isaac, and James as well, and the comments said that some of the men had dealings back as far as 1774.³³

1790: Recorded on the census of Kenduskeag Plantation, which took in everything on the river from south of Bangor up to and including Orono.³⁴ Joseph's household included himself, his son Stephen, and five females, probably including his wife, whose name is not known.

1797: Surveyed by Park Holland, as mentioned above.

1800: Recorded on the census of Coburn (or Coburnton). Joseph's household included himself, his wife, and one female ten to sixteen years old.³⁵

1803: On August 1, received a certificate and deed to his land, which he assigned to Robert Treat.³⁶ Many men followed this same procedure. I don't know if they mortgaged the land or authorized Major Treat to handle the proceedings or what. I do know that Joseph's son Stephen took over the farm from Joseph later on.³⁷ Each settler, including Joseph, who had been on the land before January 1, 1784, received 100 acres for $8.75, as a compromise brokered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts between the settlers and the Waldo proprietors, who claimed rights to the land.

1804: Signed petition dated June 12, 1804, to incorporate Stillwater Plantation as Orono.³⁹

1810: On census of "Bangor" which included many areas not actually in Bangor then or now.⁴⁰ Joseph's household included only himself and his wife.

1817: Joseph's death at age 90, recorded as Feb 17, 1817. in the Town Records of Orono.⁴¹

Footnotes

24. 1800, Census, Maine, Hancock Co., Coburn
Series M32, Roll 7, Page 81.
25. Centennial Celebration and Dedication of the Town Hall, Orono,
Maine, March 3, 1874, (Portland, Maine: Bailey and Noyes, 1874), pp
58, 59. (HeritageQuestOnline or Google books.)
26. Edward Mitchell Blanding, The City of Bangor, (Bangor: E.M.
Blanding, 1899), page 32. from images at HeritageQuestOnline.com; and
Bangor Public Library website, bpl.lib.me.us.
27. A statement of Capt. Joseph Mansell, 5 March, 1838, in "Annals of
the City of Bangor, Maine," in Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol IX,
Nos. 1-3, Jan to Mar 1894, page 9 (Reprinted by Picton Press in
1993, page 2039).
28. Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 6, p. 126, 7 (Reprint
page 850 and 851.
29. Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol. II, July 1886 to June 1887, p.
26 (Reprint page 256.)
30. Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol. IV, Nos. 1 and 2, July-August,
1888, pp. 10, 11 (Reprint pages 734, 5.)
31. Pages 58, 59.
32. Capt. John Chamberlain's field notes, October, 1797, as found in
Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol. I, No. 12, pp. 208-210 (Reprint
pages 214-216.)
33. Names from Major Robert Treat's Day Book, Bangor, 1786-90, in
Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol. V, No. 1 and 2, July and Aug 1889,
p. 93ff (Reprint page 1065ff.)
34. 1790 Census, Maine, Hancock Co., Conduskeeg Planta
Series M637, Roll 2, Page 73.
35. 1800, Census, Maine, Hancock Co., Coburn
Series M32, Roll 7, Page 81.
36. "The First Settlers in Bangor, and their Lots," in Bangor
Historical Magazine, Vol. I, No. 8, pp. 119ff (Reprint pages
125ff.)
37. Orono Centennial, pp. 58, 59.
38. "The First Settlers in Bangor, and their Lots," in Bangor
Historical Magazine, Vol. I, No. 8, pp. 119ff (Reprint pages
125ff.)
39. "Petition to General Court from Stillwater, now Orono, 1804" in
Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 6, p. 157 (Reprint page
881.)
40. 1810 Census, Maine, Hancock Co., Bangor
Series M252, Roll 11, page 555.
41. Town Records of Orono, Section 1, 1806-1838, p.234, microfilm
copy at New England Historic and Genealogical Society.

Credits

The photograph of the Penobscot River, taken from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory came from The Penobscot River viewed from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory at Wikipedia, and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. The uploader was Centpacrr.

Joseph Page of Orono, Maine

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Joseph Page was among the first non-Native American settlers in the area of Orono, Maine, arriving there no later than 1783. Joseph was born about 1727, possibly in Rhode Island, and was married between 1755 and 1765, likely in Rhode Island. The name of his wife is unknown. He died 17 Feb 1817 in Orono.

Penobscot River from the
Penobscot Narrows Bridge

According to the transcript of the Centennial Celebration and Dedication of Town Hall, Orono, Maine, Joseph and his wife had eight children: Roger, Joseph, Isaac, James, Stephen, Huldah, Phoebe, and Polly. I have not found Roger or Polly on any records; some records say Joseph had a daughter named Annabel or Betsy, so perhaps Polly was a nickname for her or one of the other daughters.

Joseph may have moved to Maine from the area of Gloucester, Rhode Island. There were Pages in that area when he was born, along with Inman families, and the Tourtelottes. Men by the name of Inman and Tourtellotte also settled in Orono, and they have been traced back to Gloucester. Joseph Inman of Orono is said to have married a daughter of Joseph Page.

Four sons of Joseph, namely Joseph, Isaac, James, and Stephen, appear on the early censuses and other records of the Orono area. Apart from Stephen, the names of their children are not known. It is very likely though that all the Pages who are in Orono in the 1830's and 1840's are descendants of the original Joseph Page.

For Joseph's activities up and down the Penobscot, see Joseph Page, of Orono, Maine, a Timeline. For more information about his family, and sources, see the New England Families section of this website.

Credits

The photograph of the Penobscot River, taken from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory.jpg came from The Penobscot River viewed from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory at Wikipedia, and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. The uploader was Centpacrr.

Missing Grandfather, Boston or Bangor

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Margaret Jenkins, William Paige

Do you recognize the man in this picture? He may have come into your family's history about 1925, probably in the East Boston or Roxbury, Massachusetts area but possibly in Maine or New York City. If so, it is likely that you haven't been able to find any record of him before that date. He may have been working as an elevator operator, or for the Boston and Maine Railroad. You may have a family story about a previous marriage, two daughters, a father in Melrose, or a mother in Jamaica Plain.

If this sounds familiar, here is the rest of the story:

William Jerome Page was the third child of Oscar Stover Page and Martha Cowan. He was born May 4, 1883, in Portland, Maine. Oscar was working as a railroad engineer and the family lived there for a brief time. William's two older siblings, Joseph Oscar and Abbie E., were both born in Bangor. About 1885 the family moved to East Boston, and William's two younger brothers Augustus Emery and Frederick (also known as Stover) were both born there.

While in East Boston, William met Margaret Jenkins, born in 1889, the fourth of six children of James Jenkins and Catherine Carrigan. William and Margaret were married in Veazie, Maine, on April 25, 1905. They had returned to Bangor just previously. Their first six children were born in Bangor or Brewer. The family moved back to East Boston by 1919 and then to Roxbury where their last child was born in 1924. At that time William and Margaret were living at 2985 Washington Street, Roxbury.

Shortly before or after the birth of his youngest child, William left his wife and children. Margaret is said to have hired a private investigator to look for him but was not successful. She apparently had him declared legally dead, since in the 1934 Boston City Directory she is listed as a widow. He is said to have kept secretly in touch with his two oldest daughters, but their surviving descendants have no recollection of such correspondence.

William Page has not been found in the 1930 Census nor in the available city directories for Boston, Bangor, Brewer, Melrose, or Malden after 1924. His death is not listed in the records of Maine, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire, online or on microfilm. He is not buried with his wife, parents, siblings or his known children. He is not mentioned in the death notices of his parents or the siblings who died after 1924.

It is likely that William changed his name. Some other surnames in his family are: Cowan, Inman, Carey, and Dudley. Also, the name Stover was used as a given name in the Page family. He may have chosen one of these names to go by.

William Page and Oscar Cowan—Where They Are Not

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William Page/Paige is not buried in Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose, where his father, mother and his brother Augustus are buried. (Source: plot record, from R---- S---- in May 2010.)

Nor with his brother Stover D.F. Page in Glenwood Cemetery, Everett. (Source: R---- S----, May 2010, her correspondence with cemetery.)

Nor in Oak Grove Cemetery, Bucksport ME. (Correspondence from Oak Grove Cemetery Association, April 2010.)

Nor with his wife in St. Joseph's Cemetery, W. Roxbury. Half of the plot was empty wnen I was there before William's daughter Cecelia died. Cecelia was later buried in the other half of this plot.

I did not find a death record for William J. Page/Paige in Maine or Massachusetts for the years 1924 to 1997, nor in Massachusetts for 1998 to 2004. If his death was recorded it may have been under a different name.

He was not found in the death records of Bucksport, ME. (Email to me from town clerk, April or May 2010.)

There is no death record in Rockland, Knox County, Maine, from 1941 to 1960 for either William Page or "Oscar Cowan". (Email from city clerk's office, June 2012).

"Oscar Cowan" is not found in:
Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907, indexes at familysearch.org
Maine, Births and Christenings, 1739-1900, indexes at familysearch.org
Social Security Applications, indexed at ancestry.com
1921, 1931, 1936 Rockland City Directories
1931, 1933, 1947 Melrose or 1932 or 1939 Malden City Directories
Thomaston Village Cemetery index cards, 1700's to 2007, images at familysearch.org
Thomaston Village Cemetery and Elm Grove Cemetery inscriptions, 1700s-2007, images at familysearch.org

Also
SusanC7117, descendant of Benjamin Cowan and Susan Newell, has "never heard of" Oscar Cowan.
Family History Library only has records prior to 1922 in its catalog and available for lending.

I Searched Maine Deaths, 1960-1996 at http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/28641 for:
Oscar Cowan anywhere, Cowan in Rockland
Oliver Abbott anywhere, Abbott in Rockland
Paige anywhere
Page anywhere
Cowan anywhere
nothing found

who's this, from Maine Deaths, 1960-1996: name date of death age where certificate #
PAGE, WILLIAM S 9-19-1967 85 Years LINCOLN 6707915
not him. this is William Sibley Page, son of Thomas and Mary (Sibley) Page, buried in West Broadway Cem, Lincoln, ME

who's this, from Maine Deaths, 1960-1996: name date of death age where certificate #
PAGE, OSCAR 11-7-1995 61 Years DAMARISCOTTA 9509870
no relation. very likely is Oscar Page, age 5, son of Earle and Inez (Partridge?) Page, living with Inez's parents in Wiscasset, Lincoln, Maine, in 1940. Born 27 Apr 1934, died 7 Nov 1995.

who is this: Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (Bangor) | Bangor, ME
Plot Details for PAGE, WILLIAM
Section: III
Lot: SG
Died: #####

I believe this person is accounted for also, and is not the William Page we are looking for.