Elias Taft Aldrich (1807 - 1849)

Born 30 Nov 1807 in Livermore, Oxford, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Julia (Munroe) Aldrich — married before 31 May 1829 in Maine, United States

Husband of Sarah Abba (Bailey) Aldrich — married 18 Feb 1833 in Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire, USA

Died 6 Oct 1849 at age 41 in Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Elias Taft Aldrich was born on 30 Nov 1807 in Livermore, Oxford, Massachusetts (now Maine). He was the son of Henry Aldrich and Nancy (Stanley) Aldrich.^[1][2]

Elias' first wife was Julia Munroe.^[3] No record of the marriage has been found. Elias and Julia had a daughter, Julia Albina Aldrich, who was born at Guilford, Maine, on 31 May 1829.^[4] His wife, Julia passed away on 23 Jun 1831.

About this time, Elias was working as a freelance merchant in the lumber business and coastwide trade out of Bangor, Maine. His travels eventually took him to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he met Thomas Darling Bailey, father of his second wife.^[2]

A romance was struck between Elias and Sarah Abba Bailey during his visits with her father, and they eventually wed on 18 Feb 1833 in Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire.^[5] Their marriage intentions were published in Bangor on 20 Jan 1833.^[6]

Following their marriage, Sarah moved to Bangor, Maine with Elias, where they lived for over 3 years. When his business venture began to falter, Elias and Sarah left Bangor to move in with her father in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Their only child, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, was born a few weeks later, on 11 Nov 1836. Thomas would grow up to become a noteworthy author, poet and editor.^[2]

Elias and Sarah spent nearly two years in her father's home, before setting out to pursue business ventures. The couple moved numerous times to various states, over a three-year period, with their son, Thomas, before settling in New York City. They lived in New York City for approximately four years, spending summers in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.^[2]

In 1844, Elias and Sarah set out for New Orleans, Louisiana with Sarah's sister and brother-in-law, Caroline and Charles Frost. Their son, Thomas, would also accompany them on this trip and live with them in New Orleans for 3 years, before being brought back to New Hampshire to prepare for college at Harvard in the spring of 1849.^[2]

In the fall of 1849, Elias began his journey home to New Orleans without Sarah and Thomas. Elias would not make it home to New Orleans and he would never return to live in New England.

Elias passed away from cholera on a Mississippi River Steamer on 6 Oct 1849 in Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee.^[7][8][2][9] His widow, returned to New Orleans to retrieve his body for burial at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings, New York.^[10]

Research Notes

A FamilySearch transcription says that Elias T. Aldrich was born on 30 Nov 1807 at Guilford, Maine (which was then in Massachusetts).^[11] This is an error in the transcription. The actual record can be found on Page 80 (Image 50 of 297 on FamilySearch) and it indicates that Elias and Julia were born in Livermore, while their daughter, Julia, was born in Guilford.

Elias' father was called a resident of Livermore, Maine (then in Massachusetts), when he published his marriage intention to Nancy Stanley of Swanzey, New Hampshire, on 10 Oct 1806, 13 months before Elias' birth,^[12] and Elias was the first of six children that Henry and Nancy recorded at Livermore.^[1] It is possible that they settled temporarily at Guilford and later moved to Livermore, but unless and until the original Guilford records (linked on the FamilySearch transcription page) show otherwise, Elias' birth should be placed in Livermore. (Research Note by WikiTree contributor Stu Bloom, 1 Apr 2021)

According to the 1874 history of Livermore, Maine, Elias Aldrich was a merchant in Bangor, Maine, who later moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he died in October 1850. His middle initial does not appear in his birth record, but is from the 1874 history of Livermore, which has his birth date as 1809.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Vital Records of Livermore, Maine; Vital and town records, 1797-1910; "Livermore Vital Records, 1786-1840," page 138; FHL Microfilm 11332, Image 100 of 718
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Greenslet, Ferris. The Life of Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1908. Digital Images: Google Books. Accessed 3 Nov 2023.
3. ↑ Richard S. Organ Munroe and Ann Monroe, History and genealogy of the Lexington, Massachusetts Munroes, 1966-1986 (Florence, Mass., 1987), page 95.
4. ↑ FamilySearch transcription of the birth record of Julia Albina Aldrich, in Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900, database, FamilySearch > Elias T. Aldrich in entry for Julia Albina Aldrich, 1829. Julia Albina Aldrich Birth Record
5. ↑ New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637-1947. Elias T. Aldrich & Sarah A. Bailey, 3 Feb 1833. Citing New Hampshire Burea of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord. Digital Images: Family Search. Image 4166 of 4898. Accessed 3 Nov 2023. Aldrich/Bailey Marriage Record.
6. ↑ "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q283-RGZG : Tue Oct 31 20:55:52 UTC 2023), Entry for Elias T Aldrich and Sarah Abba Bayley, 03 Feb 1833.
7. ↑ Louisiana, Orleans Parish Death Records, 1835-1954. E.T. Aldrich, died 6 Oct 1849 in Memphis, Tennessee. Citing Louisiana, Department of Health. Bureau of Vital Records, New Orleans. Digital Images: Family Search. Image 28 of 495. Accessed 3 Nov 2023. E. T. Aldrich Death Record
8. ↑ United States Census (Mortality Schedule), 1850-1880. E. T. Aldrich, died Oct 1849. Citing Nation Archives and Records Administration, microfilm publication T655. Digital Images: Family Search. Image 286 of 454. Accessed 3 Nov 2023. 1850 US Mortality Schedule
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Israel Washburn, Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore, in Androscoggin (Formerly in Oxford) County, Maine (Portland, Me., 1874), page 50
10. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #49719199
11. ↑ FamilySearch transcription of the birth record of Elias T. Aldrich, in Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900, database, FamilySearch > Elias T. Aldrich, 1807.
12. ↑ Vital Records of Livermore, Maine; "Livermore Vital Records, 1762-1810," unpaginated; FHL Microfilm 11332, image 295 of 718