2020 - two hundred years of statehood for the State of Maine. On the 15th of March, 1820, the former District became the 23rd state in the Union. In August of that year, the 1820 census was taken. Here are my MAINE ancestors, and where they were at the time of statehood.  
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Jeremiah Brown - 5th Great Grandfather
​Cornville, Somerset, Maine

Jeremiah Brown and Charlotte Lewis were married ca Mar 1820 in Cornville, but it is known that she had two children prior to Oct 1818 (one of them perhaps my 4th GGF Joseph Brown). The household now with 5 children in 1820 census, some may not be their own kin.
More about: The Family of Jeremiah Brown and Charlotte Lewis
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Joseph Gray (abt 1787-aft 1874) - 5th Great Grandfather
​Newfield, York, Maine

Married to Betsey Plaisted in Wolfeboro, NH in 1811, they first removed to Newfield, ME, and then went on to Athens, Maine soon after. My 4th GGM Elmira Gray is one of the females under 10 yrs of age - her sister Sarah is another, while a third, and the one in the 16-26 age range, is not known. 
More about: Joseph Gray of Athens, Solon, and Brighton, Maine

Philip Levitt (Leavitt) Esq. (1774-1861) - 5th Great Grandfather
Athens, Somerset, Maine

With wife Mary (Pike) (1774-1826), they had ten children (according to Leavitt records), the numbers above showing several other persons also living with them. Philip was a cooper, and also ran a store and tavern, so is one of the "2" people engage in commerce (far right number), with five family members farming. My 4th GGF, Joseph Leavitt, was not yet 15 at the time of this census. 
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James Shattuck (1763-1830)
​Solon, Somerset, Maine

Originally from Pepperell, MA, he arrives in Solon, ME between 1810-1820 with his 2nd wife Amy (Tarbell). Son Lovell Shattuck was 13 years old during this census, and is seen in the 10-16 yr column.
More about: James Shattuck of Pepperell MA and Solon Maine
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John Steward (1740-aft 1840)-  5th GGF
Canaan, Somerset, Maine

Born in Lunenburg, MA, he was in Norridgewock, ME by 1787, when he married Abigail Whitcomb. Son Alaxis Steward, my 4th GGF, would have been 7 yrs old at time of this census.
More about: Duncan Stewart of Rowley MA and His Descendants to Maine
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Henry Wyman (1762-1837) - 6th Great-Grandfather
​Madison, Somerset, Maine

Henry and wife Sarah (Tuttle) married in Goffstown, NH in 1793, and soon moved to Madison, ME. He was a Rev. War veteran - a large family, though I haven't compiled a list of children yet. 3 persons in household were engaged in agriculture.
More about: Henry Wyman of Madison, Maine
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Capt. James Brown (1760-1838)
​Kittery, York, Maine

James Brown, with wife Sarah (Fernald), both 45+ years of age in 1820. One son, Elihu Deering Brown, was almost 20 yrs of age at this time, and would be one of the "2" in the 16-26 column.
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Elihu Fernald (1763 - 1851)
​Kittery, York, Maine

Elihu the only male left in the household, with wife Hannah (Chandler) (1765-1836), and three daughters. One those females being my 4th Great-Grandmother Jane C., 16 yrs old in 1820. 
More about: Elihu Fernald of Kittery, Maine
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JOSEPH GRAY is said to be my 5th Great-Grandfather, the father of Elmira (aka Elmyra, Almyra) Gray, who was married to Joseph Leavitt. This information was passed down to me many decades ago, and I am still looking for the original sources of this. That Elmira was a Gray is shown in records of her children, and at least one says that she was born in Athens, Maine (circa 1813-1817, by her age on census records). Joseph does live with her by 1870, so he could very well be her father, but I would like to be certain of this.
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I first find Joseph Gray in the census records of ​1830, living in Athens, Somerset, Maine: "Joseph Gray: 1 male 5-10; 1 M 40-50; 1 female 10-15; 1 F 40-50". Elmira could be the female, born ca 1815-1820. There is also a male, born ca 1820-25, that is in the household, but I know nothing about him.

​In the 1850 census, he was in Brighton, Maine, with Abigail, as well as a pauper child, Granville Grant, living with them.

The 1860 census of Brighton, Maine is very light and hard to read, and not worth posting a clipping here. Joseph (household 65/109) was listed at age 73, a farmer, born NH., while Abigail was age 75, born Maine. Estate value was $350/150. The Agricultural Schedule for 1860 shows Joseph in Brighton, with 40 acres of improved land and 130 acres of unimproved, with a $350. value (as seen on census).

The Somerset County Deeds show that Joseph mortgaged his 20 acre Brighton property in 1862 and again in 1863. In 1864, he sold to William Corson of Brighton this property, as well as another piece of land (the north-west 1/4 of lot 5 in third range) containing 50 acres [Som Deed 105-518]. I did not find the deed where Joseph had previously obtained the latter property. Following this sale, he moved back to Athens, Maine. His wife may have died around this time, as she didn't sign any of these deeds. In 1868, he sold 100 acres of land in Brighton to Elias H Hammond, which was the eastern half of lot in the third range [Som Deed 121-48]. Again, I did not find reference to when Joseph had acquired this land but he had all 170 acres by the time of the 1860 Agriculture Schedule.

​Whether it happened just after his 1864 property sale, or perhaps soon after that, he moved in with (his daughter?) Elmira and her husband Joseph Leavitt. 

As I was finishing up this blog entry, I continued searching for more information on Joseph. I began looking into a Thomas M Gray who had lived in Athens, and died there in 1904. His parents were listed as Joseph of Wakefield, NH and Betsey Plaisted. His death record said he was born in Newfield, ME. Using these parents in a search, I also found a Sarah Tibbetts, who had died in Madison, ME in 1894. Her death record listed her as born in York, Maine, the same for father Joseph, and said Betsey was born in Kittery (nothing matched that of Thomas, except for parents names). 

In the 1820 census for Newfield, Maine, I see a Joseph Gray there, aged 26-44. With him were 3 females under 10, a female aged 16-25, and a female aged 26-44. Thomas M hadn't been born yet, but Elmira and Sarah could be two of the females. Newfield also borders Wakefield, NH, where Joseph was apparently from, according to Thomas' death record.

​Then I found this, a War of 1812 pension index card:

There was Joseph Gray, with his 1871 residence listed as Athens, Maine, and also listed was his 1811 marriage to Betsey Plaisted in Wolfeboro, NH. His pension file [on Fold3.com] only mentions the wife Betsey, with nothing said about a remarriage to an Abagail. Being 84 when he filed this in 1871, it matches a ca 1787 birth year, as the census ages show, not to mention him being the only Joseph Gray in Athens at that time. 

Within the pension file is a paper showing a Joseph Gray receiving a bounty land, but this does NOT belong to my Joseph. There was another person of this name who served in the War of 1812 AND served in the 33rd US Infantry, but he was from Sedgwick, Maine and was about 7 years younger (the ME Archives index also shows they were two different men). The ME Archives does list Joseph's birthplace as Swansey(sic), NH. A search through Swanzey vital records and history book did not find anyone with the Gray name.

The pension file does not list a death date for Joseph, and does not list any family members, other than wife Betsey, and it also doesn't list a death date for her either. So, I still have no source for Joseph being Elmira's father, so I continue my search.