Sophronia Stickney (Peabody) Bailey (1818 - 1893)

Born 25 Aug 1818 in Potton, Bedford, Lower Canada

Ancestors

Wife of Jesse Bailey — married 28 Mar 1853 in Potton, Stanstead, Canada East

Descendants

Died 15 Nov 1893 at age 75 in Potton, Brome, Quebec, Canada

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Biography

Sophronia Stickney Peabody was born in Potton, Lower Canada (Quebec) in 1818, the ninth of thirteen children. ^[1]

Sophronia's parents migrated from Orford, New Hampshire to Potton, Lower Canada in 1810 according to pg. 481 of the following reference,^[2]

The Peabody homestead was on Peabody Road which meets Route 243 just 1 mile north of Mansonville.

Sophronia married Jesse Bailey on Mar. 29, 1853.^[3] After marriage, Sophronia just had to move a couple of miles further north to the Bailey farm on the main road Rt. 243 from Mansonville to South Bolton. Jesse and Sophronia had two children, first Levi (1854) then Jane (1856). The 1861 census lists Jesse, Sophronia, Levi and Jane at ages 27, 41, 7 and 5 as expected.^[4] The 1871 census lists the same four individuals.^[5]

The 1881 Canadian census shows Sophronia (60), Jesse (60), daughter Jane (25, unmarried), son Levi (26) with his wife Mary (24) and their young son Jesse (2 months). All were shown born in Quebec except Jesse in USA.^[6]

Sophronia and Jesse had one son (Levi) and one daughter (Jane). Sophronia's last years appear to be turbulent, with firstly her husband (Nov 1889) then her daughter-in-law (Feb 1890) then her son (July 1893) all pre-deceasing her within a short period. The census of 1891 lists Sophronia (age 72), her son Levi (age 36), her daughter Jane (age 35) and her grandchildren Jesse (10), Edgar (8), Frank (6), Charles (4) and Harry (1).^[7]

After her daughter-in-law died, Sophronia at age 71 had to step in as acting mother of Levi's young children. Then when Levi also died (July 1893), she quickly (on Aug. 4, 1893) arranged for her nephew James A. Peabody to be appointed Tutor for all the children of Levi and Mary (they were all still of minor ages, between 4 and 12 years of age).

Sophronia passed away soon after her son and at 75 years of age on 15 Nov 1893. Her will was dated 14 Nov 1893 and probated in 1894.^{[8] [9]} Sophronia's brother (and James A. Peabody's father) Albert Peabody was Subrogate Tutor for her grandchildren and on Mar. 13, 1894, James and Albert had to sign over the property rights of the children on the home farm to Levi's sister Jane, since Levi and Mary died without a will, leaving Jane as sole heir.^[10] Jane only married later (but divorced after a short time) and had no children of her own. In 1926, the family farm passed from Jane back to Levi's second son Edgar, where it remained under the Bailey name until the 1960s.

Sources

1. ↑ Peabody (Paybody, Pabody, Pabodie) Genealogy (Compiled by Selim Hobart Peabody, Charles H. Pope Publishing., Boston, Mass., 1909)| Page 59 identifies her date and place of birth, her parents, her husband and siblings.
2. ↑ The Stickney Family, A Genealogical Memoir of the Descendants of William and Elizabeth Stickney (Stickney, Salem, MA, 1869)| Page 481
3. ↑ Potton Methodist Church Records, F.4, 1853.
4. ↑ 1861 Canada East Census, County: Brome; Township: Potton; Enumeration District: 2; Pg. 168, Line 36| 1861 Canada East Census, "Sophona Bailey, Age 41"
5. ↑ 1871 Canada Census, Province of Quebec, District 126 (Brome), Sub-District d (Potton), Page 55, Line 6| 1871 Canada Census, "Sophrona Bailey, Age 52"
6. ↑ 1881 Census, Library and Archives Canada, Province: Quebec; District 60 (Brome); Sub-District: C (West Potton); Page 34, Rows 19| 1881 Canada Census, "Sophronia Bailey, Age 60"
7. ↑ Canada Census 1891, Province of Quebec, District 143 (Brome), Sub-District E Division 1 (Potton), Family Nbr. 47, Page 9, Line 23| 1891 Canada Census, "Sophia Bailey, Age 72"
8. ↑ FindAGrave, Mansonville Protestant Cemetery, Row 3| "Sophronia Stickney Peabody Bailey"
9. ↑ Mansonville Methodist Church Records, Book 1, F.150.
10. ↑ Tutorship Agreement on file with the Family

See Also:

• Family Search | Sophronia Stickney Peabody
• Descendants of John Spofford and Elizabeth Scott 1888 (Published by Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston, Massachusetts, 1888, 502 pages.)| Page 82