Saturday, June 19, 2010

Elinor (Eleanor) Viles Daughter of Joseph Viles and Elinor Heald

The family group of Joseph Viles born 05 Sept 1792 in Orland, Hancock, Maine and Elinor (Eleanor) Heald had gaps in it. Joseph Viles b. 1792 was the uncle of Jotham Viles and brother of Alfred Viles. Either there were missing children or several children died. Well, I just found a child to fill one gap thanks to Pilot Family Search. I used the advance search and put in "Joseph" for First and Middle Names, "Viles" for Last Name and "Eleanor" for Spouse. There were 20 exact and close matches. The top three were my couple: marriage record in Maine, death record in Wisconsin, and the third was the surprise. A Massachusetts death of Elinor C. Leach. Hmmmm .......


JACKPOT! There is no doubt that Elinor C. Leach is the daughter of Joseph and Elinor (Eleanor) Viles. She was born in Anson, Maine. Anson was where Joseph and Elinor Viles lived before moving to Geneva, Walworth, Wisconsin circa 1845.

Return of A Death    City or Town: Raynham
Full Name: Elinor C. Leach   Register No. 26
Place of Death: Raynham Centre St.    Date of Death: Sept 2 1908
Residence: Raynham      Age: 86 years - months 25 days
Sex F Color W     Single, Married, Widowed, or Divorced   M
Maiden Name: Elinor C. Viles
Husband's Name: Zelotes Leach
Birthplace: Anson, Me
Name of Father: Joseph Viles
Birthplace of Father: unknown
Maiden Name of Mother: Elinor Heald
Birthplace of Mother: unknown
Occupation: none
Informant: Willard G Leach, Raynham
Place of Burial or Removal: Raynham Pleasant St. Cem
Undertaker: E Milbank

What I learned from this document was that Joseph and Eleanor (Heald) Viles had at least one child who did not make the trip to Wisconsin. Elinor Viles was born (calculated from death date) on 8 August 1822 in Anson, Somerset, Maine. She married Zelotes Leach and died on 2 September 1908 in Raynham, Bristol, Massachusetts at the age of 86 years 25 days. Her father and mother were Joseph Viles and Elinor Heald.

Additional research indicates that Elinor Viles was previous married to Mr. Green. That marriage has not been located. Elinor Green and Zelotes Leach were married on 12 December, 1847 in Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts. It is also not clear whether Elinor and Zelotes Leach had any children. Zelotes Leach apparently was also previous married married to Martha C. Gary. The informant on Elinor Leach's Return of Death was Willard G. Leach, son of Zelotes and Martha.