They lived by the sea

"Happy he, who with bright regard looks back upon his father's-father's, who with joy recounts their deeds of grace, and in himself, values the latest link in the fair chain of noble sequence." Goethe

This quote was written at the top of my great grandmother, Mary White Morton's hand written family genealogy.  The last family entry was of my mother, her first husband and children; Elizabeth Ann, James C. III and Janice P.

This blog has been created as a place for my family to discover their New England heritage.  This is the main page, to navigate around the blog click on the tabs under the blog header. These tabs will take you to other pages with Morton family information.  As time permits I will continue to add more information so check back every once in awhile or follow me and you will be alerted when I have posted something new.

HOW I BECAME THE FAMILY GENEALOGIST

It wasn’t until my parents and grandparents had all passed away that I became curious about our Morton family history.  My grandmother, Philena Morton, was very proud of her descent from William Bradford of Mayflower fame. She spoke of it often during my childhood.  The Morton family she rarely spoke of.  I knew that her family was originally from Maine. My mother was born in Biddeford and my grandmother had also resided in Portland and Bridgton.  A eulogy for my great grandfather Rollo Amasa Morton revealed more about her family. It was a wonderful tribute to him by his cousin, Florence Myers.  Florence spoke about Rollo’s love for the sea; how he had been born in Lubec and loved being on the water in any kind of boat. I decided I wanted to learn more about the Morton family and now I had a place to start.  I found a genealogy forum for the town of Lubec and sent a query asking about Rollo Morton.  The person who responded gave me census information for the Morton’s that included Rollo, who was on the 1880 census with his parents, at age four. They were able to provide me with documentation of our Morton family back to back to Zenas and Silva (Bradford) Morton. They moved from Friendship, Maine to Lubec in the early 1800’s.

My great-uncle William Morton gave me the name of a family genealogist Doris Merrick, who he and my grandmother had corresponded with. I wrote to her and she was kind enough to share her Morton family history with me. We share a common ancestor Zenas Morton Jr.  Doris also sent me the letters my grandmother had written her.  These letters were my last link to my grandmother. In the letters she spoke of not knowing much about our family history, about when her mother was alive she didn’t care about it and how she regretted it. I felt the same. I remember when my grandmother would speak about the Bradford connection I never asked any questions because at that time I did not care either and how I had felt the same regret. Doris had been able to connect our Morton line all the way back to our immigrant ancestor, George Morton,  who was the fiscal agent for the English Separatists, better known as Pilgrims and in1623, brought his family to the Plymouth Colony aboard the ship “Anne.”
                                                       LUBEC, MAINE
Lubec is located on the coast of Maine, on a peninsula overlooking an ice-free harbor, the town was first settled about 1775. Originally part of Eastport, it was set off and incorporated on June 21, 1811, and named for Lübeck, Germany.  Geographically, it is the easternmost point of land in the United States and the first place to see the sunrise.  The population on the 2010 census was 1,359. Following the War of 1812, Lubec was the site of considerable smuggling trade in gypsum, although principal industries remained agriculture and fisheries. By 1859, there was a tannery, three gristmills and nine sawmills; by 1886, there were also two shipyards, three boat builders and three sail makers.

                                                     MY VISIT TO LUBEC
 I knew my sisters had always wanted to travel to Maine, I did too. I decided to plan a trip for us, a sort of bucket list sister trip. They were both excited about the idea so I spent some time planning and in September of 2013 we finally arrived. We wanted to stay in the places our mother and grandmother had lived and I wanted to visit Lubec. It seemed so remote on the map. I wanted to see what it was like. One look at this beautiful town and you realize how wonderful it must have been to live here.

In Lubec, we stayed in a seaside cottage called “First Light Loft.” The loft is located on South Lubec road just a short distance from the West Quoddy lighthouse. This lighthouse is the considered to be the easternmost point in the United States and when the sun rises this is the first light.  Joy was up very early the first morning to capture this sunrise.

First Light, September 19, 2013

On our first day we drove to town of Lubec. I am not sure what I expected but I was so charmed by this little town.  It is simply like stepping back in time. It is so picturesque and I  could never do it justice with my description. As soon as we parked our car, a shopkeeper asked us if we would like to see the harbor seals through his telescope.  He was very friendly and helpful, though not a native, he had recently moved from New Hampshire. He told us he lived in Lubec year round.

Harbor seal

 After spending some time enjoying the waterfront we went to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge. This is an international bridge that connects Lubec with Campobello Island, in New Brunswick, Canada. We did not have passports so a trip to Canada was not possible.  My sister, Betsy promised her granddaughter, Erin that she would sneak into Canada so I took pictures of her standing on the bridge.

Betsy-Franklin D. Roosevelt Bridge

We spent some time planning what we wanted to do. A visit to the Lubec Memorial library and the Historical society, neither of which was open on our first day was on my list. I had pictures of the Morton home and cemetery from Doris Merrick, she and her husband had made a trip to Lubec in 1979. The photos had Blanch farm, North Lubec Road written on the back. The ladies at the historical society were extremely helpful. They said the Morton property was owned by Julie Blanch. They even told us where we could find her. She worked at a tavern on the waterfront. It's a really small  town, everybody knows everybody. We paid her a visit to get permission to go on the property and take photos of the cemetery. She was very friendly and gave us permission to go to the property. Betsy and I had driven to that location the day before but I didn't think it was the right place. The wrought iron fence around the cemetery in our picture had been removed and replaced with a chained link fence. The house was also different. Julie told us that the Morton home was torn down in 1992 and a new home built in its location. The cemetery can be seen from the road. Its location is North Lubec road and Blanch Lane. She told us that the property has a pond that is known as “Morton’s Pond” and is used for swimming in the summer and ice skating in the winter by the Lubec townspeople.

 Morton Cemetery and  Monument

Our cottage included a private beach with a path to the seashore and walking sticks to use while hunting for sea glass.  When the tide is out it is possible to walk for a great distance. The first evening Betsy and I set out in search of sea glass. When we got to the beach I walked right up to a small piece of green glass and was immediately hooked. I spent quite a bit of time walking from one end of the beach to the other and as far out as was possible in search of more but was unsuccessful. While I was near a small bit of woods I thought I heard some strange noises but decided that it was nothing to be alarmed about. This may not have been the case because shortly after we returned to the loft a fox came walking across the beach where we had just been.

Red fox

We ate dinner at the Inn on the Wharf once a sardine factory; it closed in 2001, and was purchased a few years later and renovated into an inn and restaurant.

Betsy and Joy enjoying Lobstah

The Inn on the Wharf is a working wharf where fisherman unload their catch and this is where we boarded  the “Tarquin” to enjoy an afternoon of whale watching. The captain took us out to the East Quoddy lighthouse which is located on Campobello Island in Canada.  We observed dolphins, a few harbor seals and several finback whales. The average finback whale can reach the size of 60 feet and weigh up to 50 tons. The whales were not cooperating that day and only came up to the surface to show us their fins and then they would dive back down. The captain told us once the whales went back down it could take up to fifteen minutes before they came back to the surface again. It was an enjoyable afternoon on the water.

Finback Whale - Lubec, Maine