WASHBURN-L Archives

Archiver > WASHBURN > 1998-10 > 0907813060


From: John Maltby <>
Subject: Re: Mary Ann Washburn d NY 28 Jan1856
Date: Wed, 07 Oct 1998 19:17:40 -0700


Bill,
At 12:22 PM 10/6/98 EDT, you wrote:
Regarding Mary Ann Washburn who died on 28 Jan 1856 in New York,
>According to an obituary in Muscatine Iowa Newspaper from early Feb 1856 she
>was the mother of Arthur Washburn b. 1810 also in NY. Would like any
>information on where in NY she died, her date of birth, any thing about her
>husband, date of birth of Arthur and/or place of birth and any info on any
>other children.
>Bill Washburn
>
You have given us an excellent clue in that the name of the mother of
Arthur Washburn has been uncovered. I looked through my Washburn files, and
found very few Mary Anns who married Washburns early enough to have been
the mother of children born in the early 1800s, none being readily apparent
to have been the mother of Arthur Washburn.

Arthur was presumably the brother of Zephaniah Washburn, who was born ca.
1801 in New York, married Phebe H. Parsons in ca. 1822, and moved to
Franklin Co., Ohio, in 1834, then to Muscatine, Iowa, in 1840. According to
the census, it appears there was another brother, E. Washburn, who was born
ca. 1805 in New York, married a Paulina (___), and also moved to Muscatine,
Iowa. Do you know who "E." was? There were probably other children also.

Brenton Washburne, in his first Washburn book placed Zephaniah and Arthur
tentatively as sons of Hugh and Katherine Washburn, of Easton, MA, but
admitted that they really didn't fit well there. The fact that Arthur's
mother's name was Mary Ann, not Katherine, disproves that placement.

Does the newspaper obituary say where in New York the information was
forwarded from? Does it say who else she was survived by? Does the obituary
for Arthur Washburn say where in New York he was born? He was a prominent
man in Muscatine, Iowa, so he may have had a biographical sketch in a 19th
Century "mug" book from there. I don't have the dates when any of the three
Washburn brothers died, but I'd check each death certificate to see if any
additional information is contained on them. It appears that death
certificates are available in Muscatine County beginning in 1880, so at
least one of them should have survived until them.

Good luck with your research, and be sure to let us know if you find any
more great clues!

John A. Maltby
Redwood City, CA

This thread: