At Left: My great-grandfather, Oliver Cornelius Haddleton
The Ancestry of Jessie Leighton Webster
The ancestry of my great-grandmother, Jessie Leighton Webster, was a complete mystery to me until very recently. Finding the answers was a thoroughly enjoyable genealogical endeavor. The first and second articles, below, provide my findings. The third article, from 2021, presents the mystery more fully.
Current (2022) Map of Boston from Mapquest
A home in East Boston
In the map shown above:
1) 144 Saratoga Street, East Boston. According to her death record, this was the residence of Elizabeth (Barnes) Webster when she died on January 1, 1866.
2) The Charlestown Navy Yard.
3) 53 Eutaw Street, East Boston. According to the death record of Cushing Barnes, Elizabeth's father, this was Cushing's residence when he died on January 24, 1879, at the age of 70. Cushing was a ship carpenter. It seems quite possible, if not likely, that Cushing worked across the river at the Charlestown Navy Yard alongside Richard. Was Cushing the one who introduced Richard to his daughter, Elizabeth, in the 1860s?
4) 123 Trenton Street, East Boston. According to the 1878 Boston City Directory, Richard E. Webster, then a "machinist" lived at this address in 1878. A machinist is simply someone operating a machine of some kind. Either Richard was still working on ships at the Charlestown Navy Yard or he was working in some other marine-related business in the local area.