Alton Hinckley (1876 - 1921)

Born 4 Apr 1876 in Harrington, Washington, Maine, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Bessie May (Frye) Knight — married 4 Aug 1906 (to 1919) in Harrington, Washington, Maine, United States

Died 11 Mar 1921 at age 44 in Harrington, Washington, Maine, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Fred Nash [send private message]

Biography

Even though Alton Hinckley is no blood kin of mine, I'm going to tell his story. He was abusive to my grandmother, but she knew it was a brain condition he couldn't control. She still left him, for her children's and her own safety, so I hope she doesn't mind me telling his tale.

Alton Hinckley was born on April 4, 1876*, oldest child of Eliza Nash and Charles R. Hinckley, sailor, of Harrington, Maine. (Charles was b. April 1846; d. 7 Jul 1903, the son of Herbert Hinckley and Abigail Strout of Milbridge. Eliza Nash b. abt 1854; d. I Jun 1894, possibly the daughter of Levi and Betsey Nash of Harrington).

When Alton was 18, he lost his mother and 2 year old brother within a day of each other. Epidemic, maybe? By 1900, the family were living separately: his father Charles was living with his brother Enos and wife in Harrington; he was no longer working and died a couple of years later of "disease of spine and brain" which may have already made it impossible to follow his trade as a ship's cook.

Alton, brothers Herbert and Albert, were boarding with a White family and Alton and Herbert were both following their father's footsteps as ship's cooks. Alton at least sometimes worked on local schooners traveling the coast from Boston to Nova Scotia, so they were not terribly long trips, but who kept an eye on Albert while they were away? Albert was only 11, and still in school. Perhaps Warren and Frances White were relatives?

Another brother, Norman (b. 1890)** was a student at the Goodwill Hinckley Home. Why Norman was sent there I can only guess. Possibly, he had gotten into some trouble; the school was a training school, strong on moral development, for homeless and wayward boys age 10-20 who needed some "direction." With his mother dead and his father possibly incompetent due to his illness, perhaps Norman seemed a good candidate for some reason. The other boys didn't go there, though.

In the depths of winter 1906, Alton's young brother Albert, who had also become a sailor, died of melancholia at age 18. Was it suicide or some undiagnosed condition that caused lethargy and despondency?

Alton married 16 year old Bessie Frye (she reported 17, but she wasn't quite) in August of that year when he was 29, and he alternated between sailing and lumbering to provide for his young wife and children Maurice (1909) and Hilda (1917). He was of medium build and height, with black hair and blue eyes. When he was lumbering deep in the woods, the men would sometimes be gone for months at a time. Bessie went with him as cook for the camp, at least some of the time.

On one of those lumbering expeditions, Alton was hit in the head with a "widow maker," a falling tree limb. The doctor said it was a miracle he survived, but he may not have walked away unscathed. His puzzled wife told that after that, Alton began having "spells" when one minute he would be "right as rain," and the next he would be out of his head violent. The doctor attributed it to his head injury. There was nothing that could be done. With two young children to protect, Bessie divorced him. Alton seems not to have been able to work by 1920--he was unemployed, boarding with a Kilton family. A year after that, in 1921, Alton died of an epileptic seizure. He was 43.

His son Maurice died at 18 of polio and his daughter Hilda led a long if stormy life.

I sometimes wonder if Alton had the same brain disease as his father--and possibly younger brother? Perhaps it wasn't the accident that caused Alton's problems, but genetics. * * * * * * * * * * *

• Draft Registration 1918 says he was born Apr 4, 1876. 1900 US Census says Apr 1875, but if his age (24) is correct, he was born in 1876, as he reported on his Draft Registration.

• • Norman did fine. After "graduating," he got a job at the Goodwill Farm as a storekeeper. He married an Irish nurse, Rosalie, in 1914 and they had three children. They lived on the huge Goodwill campus for a time, and by 1940, they had their own place off school grounds and Norman had been promoted to Asst. Superintendent.

CAUTIONARY TALE: Norman was missed when I pieced together this family because he was born in the "lost years" of 1880- 1900, when we don't have a 1890 census. A whole lot can happen in 20 years!

I knew Alton's son Maurice went to Goodwill School after the divorce because an old timer told me very definitely that she remembered Will Knight Sr. taking the train to bring Maurice home when he married Bessie. She said Maurice had relatives there. But the Rev. George Hinckley who founded the Goodwill School was no relation to Alton's line, at least that I could find. So it was a puzzle until I stumbled on the obituary of Alton's brother Herbert, where Norman was mentioned.

There may be other children missing, too, say a daughter who was married and gone before 1900. But that's all I've got.

Bio and sources added by Sue Knight (Knight-16625)

^[1]

Sources

1880 US Census, Harrington, Washington Co. [1] "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFQ4-HH4 : 15 August 2017), Alton Hinckley in household of Charles Hinckley, Harrington, Washington, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district ED 192, sheet 422C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,490.

DOB AND ETC. 1918 DRAFT REGISTRATION [2] "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 28 September 2020. Citing NARA microfilm publication M1509. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

1900 US CENSUS HARRINGTON, MAINE [3] Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data:United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

MARRIAGE [4] Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921 Description Name index and images of birth, marriage, and death returns acquired from the State Board of Health, Division of Vital Statistics and the state archives. Records are organized by surname and date. The collection is divided into three parts: Vital Records Prior to 1892, 80 towns; Vital Records, 1892-1921; and Delayed returns for births, deaths, and marriages, 1670-1891.

SON MAURICE [5] "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24N-3GT8 : 13 March 2018), Alton P Hinkley in entry for Maurice W Hinkley, Birth 06 Aug 1908; multiple sources, Maine; FHL microfilm 10,132.

DAUGHTER HILDA [6] Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; 1908-1922 Vital Records; Roll Number: 26 Note: Her birth record is also in familysearch, but with the name left blank. Same birthdate, 2nd child, so it is definitely Hilda; I supplied the one including her name.

1910 US CENSUS, HARRINGTON, MAINE [7] United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRKS-5SQ?cc=1727033&wc=QZZ4-2NY%3A133637501%2C133636902%2C133696101%2C1589092556 : 24 June 2017), Maine > Washington > Harrington > ED 289 > image 11 of 23; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

1920 US CENSUS, HARRINGTON, MAINE [8] "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF87-8YR : accessed 28 September 2020), Alton Hinckley in household of Ivory N Hillon, Harrington, Washington, Maine, United States; citing ED 173, sheet 6B, line 70, family 135, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 650; FHL microfilm 1,820,650.

DEATH RECORD [9] Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; 1908-1922 Vital Records; Roll Number: 26

Footnotes

1. ↑ Entered by Fred Nash.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Fred Nash for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Fred and others.