By Elizabeth Raycroft Blooom (Betsey) and given to us with permission to publish by the McReavy House Foundation
The following is a US history of the McReavy family focusing on the genealogy of Elizabth Raycroft Bloom (Betsey). It is based on family records, letters, remembrances and family lore and augmented by information gleaned from the Washington (ME) County Courthouse, the library and the internet. Understandably, there are some (fairly minor) inconsistences in this information, some of which are pointed out in the following narrative and others are reflected as "most likely" educated guess. Samuel T. McReavy, 11th of 12 children of Robert Sr & Elizabeth, born in 1846, was a major source of information including a letter written to a family member researching family history in 1927 when he was 81 yrs old. Another major source was Paul McReavy, a great grandson of Robert McReavy Jr. and Betsey's 3rd cousin.
The family patriarch, Robert McReavy Sr. was born Robert McAreavey in Glenavoy or Glenway or Glenavy, County Atrim about 10 miles from Belfast Ireland on Feb. 1 or 2, 18800 or 1801. Her wife, Elizabeth Thompson was most likley born in Belfast on Jan. 16, 1807 or 1808. They were reportedly Catholic in Ireland, but Protestant in the US.
In 1822, Robert (age 22) and Elizabeth (age 14) immigrated to St. Andrews, New Brunswich, Canada, a popular emigration point for Irish in this timeframe. They came with Elizabeth's father and stepmother Thompson. Elizabeth's mother had died and her father remarried. St. Andrews is at the oulet of the St. Crois River which divides the US from Canada and was home of many British loyalists who fled the US after the American Revolution. St. Andrews was a common entry point for the Irish since it was the closest (hence cheapest fare) English speaking port in North America. Shipbuilidng, lumbering and fishing were the main industries. Timber supplies played out and ship demand dropped, causing a weak economy starting in the early 1830's. We do not know what type of work Robert did in St. Andrews, but he was possibily involved w/ lumbering.
Robert and Elizabeth were married Dec. 25, 1827 in St. Andrews. James, their first child, was born Oct. 1828. They left St. Andrews and went to Machias, ME in July 1829. Machias was also a seaport (at the mouth of the Machias River), no more then 50miles from St Andrews by water. There were no substantial roads in that part of the country then, so they must have gone by boat. Robert Jr, their second child, was born in Machias May 31, 1830.
Sometime between 1830 and September 1834 (conflict among "reliable" family sources). Robert and Elizabeth established a farm in what is now Northfield, ME, about 10miles inland from Machias and approximately 10miles northwest from Whitneyville, which was not settled at that time. Northfield was then called Plantation #24 and had been initially settled about 1825. They lived in a small house, like the others in Northfield. Moving to a farm was consistent with Robert's background, given that the vast majority of Irishmen outside the cities were farmers at that time.
Emma, their 3rd child and fist daughter, was born april 24, 1832. Thomas, Betsey's great grandfather, was born on April 4, 1834. Samuel T. McReavy said that all children after Robert Jr were born in Northfield. Genealogy (1880 census) information from the internet says Thomas was born in Northfield with no specific location given for Emma. Another family source gives the date of the move to Northfield as Sept. 14, 1834. Thomas' obituary said he was a native of Machias.
The standardization fo the McReavy spelling dropping the initial 'A' and having no vowel between the ending 'v' and 'y' was proposed by Emma, who was a teacher, and adopted by all. The original spelling is reflected in the 1860 census and on the 1861 map/atlas of Washington County, ME. The "McReavy" stadardized version consistently appears in the 1881 atlas. Also, phonetic "McRavey" appears on some census records and deeds starting in the 1860's.
The following reflects family history from Paul McReavy, Betsey's 3rd cousin, descending from Robert Jr. The McReavy's were initially farmers in Northfield, raising pigs and chickens, and having a steer for beef. They raised crops in a number of small fields. In that timeframe, life was difficult and everyone had to be self-sufficient. It is highly likely that Robert McReavy Sr became involved in cutting timber for the Whitneyville sawmills which got started in the late 1830's/early 1840's.
The primary mode of transportation of goods to and from Machias was on the Machias River, because the roads were not good. It is not clear how the 2 major sets of rapids were traversed - portage or rope pulled in lower water. Paul remembers the old road which went from Northfield to the river. There is such a road on the 1881 Atlas from the James McReavy (oldest son) house to the river. (A picture of this house, most likely taken in the later 1880's and since burned, exists w/ Jame's wife, Anna and Getchell grandchildren among others.) Robert Sr.'s Northfield house, long since gone, was on a ridge east of town overlooking Bog Lake - see later description. Robert Sr became a naturalized citizen in 1838, which meant that his wife Elizabeth and all his children also became citizens of the US.
In Oct 1854, after all the children were born, Robert Sr and Elizabeth and family moved to Whitneyville. Robert Sr bought a home on a half acre lot on the southwest corner of Pine and Main St. James, who got married in 1851, stayed in Northfield. He continued to farm and also became involved with the logging (felling and trimming trees, cutting into logs and getting logs into position for the spring drive to float logs down stream into the Machias River to the mills at Whitneyville). The 1860 census reflected Robert and Elizabeth living in Whitneyville with all their children except James. Robert Sr (age 60) was listed as a lumberman, while Robert Jr (age 30) and Thomas (age 26) were listed in the lumbering business and Emma (age 28) was shown as a teacher.
A long time resident of Whitneyville, Dorothy Bridges Bodger said that she had always understood that the McReavy's were on of the more prosperous families (or at the very least, "comfortable") in Whitneyville at a time when many were leading a hardscrabble existence (many were poor) even when lumbering was booming. The 1860 censusindicated that Robert Sr was the third or fourth most affluent resident in Whitneyville. This suggests that he was successfully engaged in lumbering while still living in Northfield.
Elizabeth died in Whitneyville on July 27, 1865 at age 57. Robert Sr sold his Whitneyville property in 1868 and eventually returned to Northfield to live with James, his first child. He sold his Whitneyville home and outbuildings (at Pine and Main Streets) to his son Thomas, Betsey's great grandfather. Robert Sr died in Northfield on June 27, 1886 at age 86. Both Elizabeth and Robert Sr are buried in the Whineyville Cemetery. (the name "McAreavery" is on the tombstone, which has Robert's information on one side and Elizabeth's on the other). It should be noted that James' wife, Anna, was purported to have been the primary source for the McReavy Family History prepared by James and Anna's granddaughter, Julia Gretchell (have not found a copy yet). The math works since Julia was born about 1880 and Anna died in 1911. Anna would have had the benefit of Robert Sr.'s recollections as he neared the end of his life.
The 1861 map of Washington County,ME showed Robert Sr in the house on the southwest corner of Pine and Main Streets (Jonesboor Road) in Whitneyville and James in Northfield. No other McReavy's (as it was still spelled then) were shown on the map which presumably reflected the property owners. [The Whitneyville Robert Jr. house on Cross Street near the church was recently (by 2007) demolished to make way for a playground. The house reflected on the current TopoZone map copyrighted in 199-2003.]
On the 1881 Atlas, James was still in Northfield and Robert Jr was in the house on Cross Street around the corner from the church in Whitneyville. William, son of Robert Sr. then owned a large house, barn and outbuildings along the main road on the south end of town (north of what would become the Wahsington County Railraod in the 1890's). These buildings were no longer standing in 2006/7 but are also shown on the Topozone map copyrighted 199-2003. No other McReavy's (not new spelling) were listed in the atlas. However, the 1880 census listed Thomas (Betsey's great grandfather) and family as Whitneyville residents and Thomas as a "lumberman". The lot fronting on Pine Street running 100feet deep to the south from Main to Middle Street which Robert Sr sold to Thomas in 1868 is empty of any buildings on the 1881 Atlas. Was this a mistake or were they destroyed by fire?
It is not known precisely what rold any of the McReavy's played in the Whitneyville lumbering dsays, but all newspaper references found to the second generation McReavy's (Robert Sr. sons) indicated that they were successful, influential loggers/lumbermen whether in Maine, Michigan or Washington State. Robert Sr must have played a prominent role given his accumulated wealth. An 1892 newspaper article obtained from Paul McReavy identified Thomas, Robert Jr and James McReavy as each being logging camp foremen in preparation for the 1892 long log drive.
As Dorothy Bodger noted, the McReavy's were remembered as "comfortable" if not prosperous during a difficult time. The McReavy's always appeared to be well dressed in pictures, the earliest seeming to date from the 1850-1860 timeframe. The Thomas' family obelisk tomb stone in the Whitneyville Cemetery (in the first section on the left along the road) suggests some level of affluence.
Thomas, born April 4, 1834 and Mary Jane Pennell (from Whitneyville) were married August 24, 1861. On their son, Herbert's birth certificate, as well as on the 1870 and 1880 census, Thomas's occupation is listed a Lumberman. They lived and died in Whitneyville and had 9 children. Mary Jane's parent, Stephen Pennell and Mary Disnmore are also buried in the Whitneyvill Cemetery just to the right of the second loop in the cemetery road. Thomas died Dec. 29, 1898 at age 64. Thomas's obituary cited him as being a worthy citizen noted for his hospitality. He died after an illness of several months.
Mary Jane died on June 3, 1919 at age 75. She died in Wellesly, MA, probably at the home of her daughter Stella Monaghan. Of their nine children, three moved to the Boston area, three to the Minneapolis area and three stayed in Maine, with only Lil staying in Whitneyville. Thomas' and Mary Jane's granddaughter, Marian McReavy (daugher of Ira Pennell McReavy), who lived in Minneapolis, remembered her grandmother as follows on a visit to Minneapolis not too long befor her death:
"I, too, remember my grandmother. She was what all grandmothers should be. She was everything a little girl needs - someone who always had a pair of loving arms to hold one and time to do it! I also remember going to the railroad depot to see Grandma off when she returned to Maine where she died.* I even remember having a box of peanut brittle for her as a going away present!"
*she acutally died in Wellesly, Massachusettes at the home of her daughter, Stella McReavy Monaghan.
Herbert Lee McReavy, son of Thomas and Mary Jane was born April 7, 1877. Because of the waning lumbering business in Whitneyville, he went to Boston and eventually became the senior partner/owner of H.L. McReavy and Co., a wholesale produce business supplying produce to Boston markets. On Sept. 25, 1906, he married Margaret Mary Hillman in Bay View, PEI. The wedding took place in the Hillman living room and attended 60 guests. The future husband of Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables, assisted in the wedding, so possibly Lucy Maud was in attendance. in 2006/7, the house was part of the Cavendish Lodge and Cottages and was visited by Betsey and Lee in 2006. (See Hillman History)
Margaret, born March 31, 1877, was trained as a dressmaker in PEI. She came to the "Boston States" after 1900 as part of a significatn exodus of young people from PEI from the 1870's into the early 1900's reflecting a weak PEI economy. Margaret probably lived initially with a bachelor uncle, Daniel Gobb, near Boston, as did other family members.
After they were married, Herbert Lee and Margaret lived in Watertown, MA and then moved to Arlington,MA where they lived for the rest of their lives. Their only child, Stella May (Betsey's mother) was born on March 13, 1910 in Watertown, but was brought up in Arlington. Margaret and Herbert died exactly 3 weeks apart in 1944.
According to Samuel T. McReavy, his mother's (Elizabeth's) half-brother, Samuel Thompson for whom he was named, came to visit in Whitneyville about 1856. Robert Jr and Samuel Thompson decided to go to California to look for gold. They ended up at a mining camp called Rattlesnake Bar on the American River near Sacramento. Samuel Thompson was bitten by a rattlesnake when in bed one night and died before he could get meaningful help. He was buried there.
Robert Jr then returned to Whitneyville where he lived for the rest of his life involved in lumbering. Robert Jr was also mentioned in the Dec 1881 Machais Union Newspaper as being the employer of a William Smith from Machias who was seriously injured felling a tree near Fourth Machias Lake in preparation for the annual long log drive to the Whitneyville mills. Robert Jr died in 1908 of cancer which started as a growth on the back of his hand. His obituary called hime a "highly respected and influential citizen of Whitneyville". He was actively involved in church and community affairs and "contributed largely to the support of a pastor".
AS of 1927, Robert Jr had a window, Mary, his second wife, 3 sons and 2 daughters all living in Whitneyville. Robert Jr and Mary had a daughter, Mary, whom they called May, who never married and lived inthe Robert McReavy house in Whitneyville until she died in 1952. [Pictures obtained from Paul McReavy show Robert Jr, his wife Mary and adult daughter May (taken about 199 or late 1890's) as well as the Robert McReavy home in Whitneyville.] Robert Jr was the father of Harry who appeared in the 1930 video 'From Stump to Ship'. He was also the father of Charles born Dec. 25, 1859 who was mentioned in John Bodger's History of Whitneyville as one of the loggers who brok a big log jam at the Whitneyville Bridge in May 1900. Charles was the father of Wilfred who father Paul McReavy, Betsey's 3rd cousin.
John McReavy, another son of Robert Sr. gained significane notoriety in the lumbering business in Washintong State, then a territory. John was born in 1840, joined the local Congregational Church in 1858 and attended Washington Academy (Maine) 1860 - all well documented. He also attended Bucksport (ME) Seminary. He lfet home in (most likely) 1860 to head for Washington Territory via ship to Central America, across the Isthmus of Panama or at Tehuantepec, Mexico, and ultimately to Washington via another ship.
There is much lore (some of it conflicting) surrounding John beyond his well-documented significant accomplishments. One says that he disembarked in San Francsico on his way to Washington to look for his brother, Robert Jr, who was erroneoulsy reported to have died. He supposedly walked to the Gold Fields, found the camp at Rattlesnake Bar, but not Robert Jr, then walked back to San Francsico and sailed to Washington. The dates do not seem to work for this one since Robert Jr fathered Charles, born Dec 1859 and John would not have left Whitneyville until after leaving Washington Academy in 1860. One 1918 obituary had him taking two years to cross the continent, arriving in 1862. Another had him arriving in 1863 with no mention of his route.
John McReavy, identified as a pioneer and a prominent Democrat, prospered as a major logger/lumberman on the Hood Canal (River) from the mid 1860's to 1893. He floated logs down the Hood Canal (really a river) to a Pope and Talbot mill at the mouth of the canal (Port Gamble). In the mid 1870's, he had his brother, Ed come to Washington from Michigan to run one of his logging camps. He also built a smaller version of a wooden railed railroad (ala Whitneyville-Machiasport Railroad) to haul logs to the Canal. In his spare time, he was purported to have cleared and farmed two farms in Clifton in the midst of his logging operation.
He played a key role in the Territorial and State Legislatures and signed the document declaring Washington's statehood. John McReavy was instrumental in the development of Union City, as it was known in the 1890's (now Union,WA) and was engaged in the construction of the hotel, wharf, sawmill, store, Masonic Lodge and church in Union City. However, John McReavy's financial success ended with the panic of 1893, leaving him only his house constructed prior to 1890. The house was a Victorian manion located on the hill in the center of Union and is believed to be one of the earliest houses on Hood Canal and is now the focus of a major preservation effort.
Two known books have been published about John and his descendants:
How,When and Where on the Hood Canal by Helen McReavy Anderson
pulished 1960 (daugher of John and Frannie Gove McReavy)
Mom Counted Six based on the family by Mary McReavy Gardner
(granddaughter of John and Frannie and daughter of Edwin C. McReavy and Lillian Anderson who had 6 children)
William McReavy, 4th son of Robert Sr after James, Robert Jr and Thomas, had apparently been successful in the lumbering business, owning a sizeable property on the 1881 atlas of Whitneyville. But according to his 1894 obituary, he developed kidney probalem about 1884 which affected him mentally, leading to financial difficulty. About 1887, he left and went to Midland/Saginaw area of Michigan near where his brother Samuel lived. He bought and logged an 80 acre lot in the area, but apparently suffered from melancholy related to a return of the kidney problem, financial pressures and the drowning death of a daughte in Michigan 2yrs earlier. Willima took his own life by hanging in 1894.
Other 2nd and 3rd generation McReavys transported their lumbering skills to more bountiful opportunites in Michigan and Minnesota. The Washburn-McReavy Funeral Home in Minneapolis traces back to the Whitneyville McReavys, most likely to Thomas' son/Herbert's brother, Ira Pennell McReavy who married in Minnesota. Many of John's descendants are in Washington and California. All of the seven son of Robert Sr, who lived to adulthood, were involved in logging and/or lumbering. James (the oldest) lived and died in Northfield, the next two oldest, Robert Jr and Thomas, lived and died in Whitneyville. Two died in Michigan (Samuel and William) and two died in Washington State (John and Edwin).
By all indications, the original home of Robert Sr and family in Northfield was not at the same location as identified as James' home on the 1861 and 1881 atlas. Considerable family effort has been expended in located the Robert Sr site. The building has long since disappeard.
The house was described as being on the eastern ridge of the well established settlement. It was at the high point overlooking Bog Lake, beyond the spot was a small brook serving as an outlet from Bog Lake into Fulton Lake (Formerly called Little Bog Lake). The low area is like a cranberry bog according to one observer. One this property, Charles E McReavy, son of Robert Jr ran a hunting camp in the early 1900's known as Frenning Camp, for there were many deer at that time. There is/was a sizeable pile of stones from the chmney of the homestead and/or hunting camp on the property. (1968 Alice Gretchell's letter.) More specific directions from the letter: Go down the Eastern Ridge old road past the Joe Chambers cottage on the sand beach of Bog Lake. Then go up a steep hill onto a big field called the Averill place, which is possibly still standing. Turn left toward the lake shore to another high point overlooking Bog Lake with a small field called the "McReavy Place" which then joined the Averill field to the left.
Betsey and Lee got in close proximity to the homestead in June 2008 triangulating these directions with a current Maine Atlas and Gazeteer and the 1861 and 1881 Atlases. It appears that the McReavy homestead was at or near what was referred to as the R. Ruthford property on the 1861 Atlas and the Stpehen Smith property in 1881.
Charles McReavy married Paulina Dunning and rented a house on the corner of Main Street and School Street in Whitneyville from his in-laws next door. Both Wilfred, Charles' son, and his son Paul, (Betsey's 3rd cousin) grew up there. Dorothy Bodger remembers going through this long narrow house to visit on her way to and from school. (Dorothy's mother and Paulina Dunning McReavy were sisters and were married in a double wedding ceremony). Charles was involved with lumbering and then helped build the Washington County Railraod just south of Whitneyville in the 1890's. Wilfred, born in 1899 and married to Ruth Hasting in 1925, worked at the mills for a while and then worked as a Section Man on the railraod for most of his working career. The railroad became a part of the Maine Central system in 1911 but ceased operation in the 1980's. The roadbed and iron bridge across the Machias River still existed in 2007. The rails and ties were being removed in June 2008.
The lumbering operation in Whitneyville would have been hitting full stride when Robert Sr and family moved from Northfield in 1854, undoubtly to take advantage of this economic opportunity. Robert Sr would have been 54 and presumably still robust (he lived to be 86). Robert Jr would have been 24 and Thomas 20. Both sons were actively involved in the lumbering business throughout their life, as everyone in Whitneyville was at that time (directly, as were the McReavys and/or in support roles). It is most likely that in addition to Robert Sr, Robert Jr. and Thomas were involved with the logging/lumbering operation before the move to Whitneyville which was only 10miles from Northfield. And Northfield was closer to the logging operations, especially Old Stream from Chain Lake to the Machias River. Unfortunately, most of the older Whitneyville records were destroyed by fire in 1890.
Whitneyville lumbering hit its peak during the Civil War and started to slow after 1866, but appeared to be significant at least into the early 1880's. A Machias newspaper reported a serious injury to a logger (William Smith) in the employ of Robert Jr in December 1881. The Whitneyvilled and Machiasport railroad and the Whitneyville Agency continued to operate until 1892. Given this slowdown in Whitneyville lumbering, it certainly makes sense that Herbert Lee, born in 1877 and 15 when the Whitneyville Agency closed, would have gone to the Boston area to seek his forutne/livelihood. According to census records, Herbert Lee still lived in Whitneyville in 1900.
