George Dana “Dana” HINKLEY (3 Jul 1847-16 Mar 1916) +
Luella M. ABBOTT (8 Jun 1857-28 Sep 1908)

Ernest Carroll (1 Sep 1882-2 Feb 1946) — m. Inza Belle Toothaker on 17 Dec 1904

Guy Manley (14 May 1886-23 Dec 1963) — m. Minerva C. Bray on 23 Dec 1908

Dana, son of Joseph D. Hinkley and Polly A. Lake, was born and raised in Madrid, Maine.

Elverna “Verna” Abbott (29 Jan 1853-19 Jun 1877) and Luella Abbott were the two youngest daughters of Civil War soldier John Gardner Abbott and Huldah Matilda Peary. They were probably born in Sandy River Plantation, between Rangeley and Madrid.

On 20 Sep 1864, just turned 17, Dana enlisted in Company G, 9th Maine Infantry, which was at the time serving near Petersburg, Virginia. He was discharged on 11 Jun 1865. In 1870, he was living in Madrid with his parents and listed as a wagon driver. The same census also showed a George D. Hinkley (23) staying with Samuel F. Hinkley and Eleanor Morrison Hinkley in Phillips — probably Dana again, being counted twice. (Samuel F. was his father’s first cousin.)

On 18 Sep 1871, Dana married Verna Abbott. They had two children:

Gardiner Harriman “Gard” (5 Sep 1872-1953) — m. Ethel B. Voter on 4 Nov 1893; divorced; m. Mary Ann McCarthy on 15 Mar 1910

Clara May (1876-31 May 1958) — m. Edward Rector on 19 Jan 1897; m. Samuel Clark on 29 Oct 1917

Verna died on 19 Jun 1877, aged just 24. Dana married her younger sister Luella later that year, on 6 Nov 1877 in Phillips.

In 1880, Dana and Luella and the kids were living with Dana’s parents in Madrid. Poor Luella, listed in the census of her mother-in-law’s house as “house servant”. They subsequently had two children, Ernest (1882) and Guy (1886), as noted above.

By 1890, the family had moved to Rangeley, where they remained.

Luella died in 1908. By 1910, Dana was living with his son Ernest and family in Rangeley.

Dana died in 1916. He’s buried with both of his wives in the Madrid Village Cemetery, off to the left and back a few rows. Verna’s stone ends with the words,

Sister, thou art gone to rest,

Thine is an early tomb.

Why should we mourn thee here below,

Thy Savior called thee home.

The motto on Luella’s grave is, “Asleep in Jesus.” Dana’s stone lists his Civil War unit, and says simply, “At Rest.”

Children

Gardiner Harriman “Gard” Hinkley (1872-1953)

Gard was born on 5 Sep 1872. On 4 Nov 1893 in Farmington, he married Ethel Blanche Voter (Apr 1877-1946), daughter of Isaiah Voter of New Vineyard, Franklin County. The couple claimed to be 21 and 18 respectively on the marriage certificate, which in Ethel’s case was untrue. They had three sons, the first born in Farmington and the other two in Rangeley:

Dana Isaiah (22 Mar 1895-23 Apr 1970) — m. Edna Henderson on 24 Dec 1917; m. Anna Petersen on 6 Oct 1921; m. Bessie Blakesley on 14 Apr 1934; m. Beatrice Lowd on 12 Sep 1942

Merwyn Arthur (13 Apr 1898-6 Mar 1971) — m. Lillian S. Mitchell in 1923; m. Geneva A. Lancaster on 21 Oct 1942

Harold Nile (11 Mar 1900-May 1980) — m. Josephine Johnson Ferman on 12 Jun 1926

Gard’s occupation was listed as laborer, and later as guide. The 1900 census showed the family living in Rangeley.

Gard and Ethel split up sometime after 1900. Ethel married Clarence Ray Plummer (Oct 1888-1946) on 26 Feb 1910 in Waterville, while Gard married Mary Ann McCarthy (26 Jul 1879-1934) from Newfoundland in Boston, Massachusetts on 15 Mar 1910. The 1910 census showed Gard’s son Dana living with the Withe family in New Vineyard, son Merwyn as a pupil at a school in Fairfield, Somerset County, and son Harold living with Herbert and Ester Ross in Rangeley. Gard and Mary went on to have four children:

Robert Gardner (18 Jul 1912-16 Nov 1987) — m. Elsie Redlevske in 1934; m. Lillian Pressey in 1955

Loretta Manette (17 Jun 1914-20 Mar 2005) — m. Kenneth Leroy French on 4 Nov 1934; m. Merle M. Hall in 1946

George Joseph (30 Apr 1916-16 Mar 1993) — m. Dorothy E. Smith or Bruce about 1941

Frederick Healey (19 Jan 1922-16 Aug 1922)

In 1920, Gard and Mary Ann were living in Farmington, Franklin County with their first three children. In 1930, they were still there. Mary Ann died in 1934. The 1940 census showed widower G. H. Hinkley, 69, living in Farmington with a 15-year-old grandson. Gard died in 1953, and is buried with Mary Ann and their infant son Frederick in Riverside Cemetery, Farmington, Franklin County, Maine.

Gard’s first wife Ethel and her second husband Clarence died in 1946, and are buried together in Lisbon Falls, Androscoggin County.

Clara May Hinkley (1876-1958)

Clara May married Canada-born Edward J. Rector (1877-1913/16 Feb 1914) on 19 Jan 1897. They lived in Rangeley and had a daughter:

Pauline Venetta (6 Apr 1903-6 Nov 1971) — m. Harry Wendell Carlin on 21 Apr 1924

On 29 Oct 1917 in Rangeley, Clara M. Hinkley Rector married Samuel E. Clark (8 Jul 1863-11 Aug 1937). They remained in Rangeley, appearing in the 1920 and 1930 censuses. The 1920 census listed Pauline Clark, age 16, as Samuel’s stepdaughter. Samuel died in 1937, and Clara in 1958. Clara is buried with Edward in the Evergreen Cemetery, Rangeley, as Clara Rector.

[Caution: There was a Clara Elizabeth Hinkley born around the same time in Phillips, but she was definitely a different person. Her parents were Nathan Hinkley and Julia Toothaker, and she married Daniel Field. There was a Clara May Clark who died in Wilton on 29 Mar 1966, but that’s also someone else.]

Ernest Carroll Hinkley (1882-1946)

Ernest has his own entry in the family tree.

Guy Manley Hinkley (1886-1963)

Guy married Minerva C. Bray (Nov 1887-????) of Hebron, Oxford County, Maine on 23 Dec 1908. They had one child:

Lois Evelyn (25 Apr 1911-11 May 1965) — m. Donald Wescott Linscott on 31 Aug 1931

Guy registered for the draft in 1917, listing residence in Portland and occupation as steamfitter. In 1920, he and Minerva were living in Portland with daughter Lois E. (8), and aunt Minnie Badger (60) -- presumably Minerva’s aunt. In 1930 they were still there, minus Minnie, and Lois was 19. In 1940, Guy and Minerva were living with Minerva’s aunt Alida George back in Hebron. In 1950, they were back in Portland, and had a boarder named Perley Berry.

Guy died in Portland in 1963. Burial location is unknown.

[Caution: There was a Guy Morton Hinkley (1885-1951) from Wales, Maine who married a Mabel R. Greenwood. Different person.]

Grandchildren

Dana Isaiah Hinkley (1895-1970)

Gard’s son Dana married Edna Henderson (1896-5 Feb 1918) on 24 Dec 1917. She lived less than 2 months after the wedding, and died up in Caribou, Aroostook County. Don’t know why.

Dana married Anna C. Petersen (Jun 1899-????) on 6 Oct 1921. I don’t know what happened to her, and I don’t know of any children from either marriage.

In 1940, Dana and brother Merwyn (and Merwyn’s daughter Evelyn) were living with their mother and her second husband, Clarence Plummer, but were incorrectly listed as Clarence’s brothers-in-law rather than as stepsons. Dana died on 23 Apr 1970 in Waterville, but I don’t know where he’s buried.

Merwyn Arthur Hinkley (1898-1971)

Gard’s son Merwyn married Lillian S. Mitchell (1904-4 Feb 1995) in 1923. They had one child I know of:

Evelyn L. (26 Aug 1927-23 Sep 2003) — m. Jud Colby on 14 Oct 1946

They divorced, and Lillian remarried in 1931. In the 1940 census, Merwyn and daughter Evelyn were living with Merwyn’s mother Ethel and her second husband, and also Merwyn’s brother Dana.

Merwyn married Geneva A. Lancaster (6 Jul 1904-13 Feb 1995) on 21 Oct 1942. Merwyn died in 1971 and is buried with Geneva in Southside Cemetery, Skowhegan, Somerset County, Maine.

Harold Nile Hinkley (1900-1980)

Gard’s son Harold was living with Herbert and Ester Ross in Rangeley in the 1910 census. He registered for the WWI draft from Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine, where he was living with his mother at 10 Ash Street and driving a milk wagon. In 1926 in Boston, Massachusetts, he married Josephine Johnson Ferman (1891-????) from Sweden, widow of German immigrant Fred Ferman. At the time, he was living at 4 Humboldt Avenue in Boston and working as a car cleaner for Boston & Maine Railroad (B&MRR). The 1930 census showed Harold and Josephine still in Boston, no children.

Can’t find them in the 1940 census, but it appears they never did have children. The 1950 census showed them living in Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Harold was working as a yard man for a lumber company, and Josephine was listed as unable to work.

Harold died in Norfolk County in May 1980. No record of burial. I don’t know when Josephine died.

There’s some source that claimed Harold married a Mary Schatzel, but I can’t find it now, and am skeptical.

Pauline Venetta Rector (1903-1971)

Clara May’s daughter Pauline married Harry Wendell Carlin (1901-1963) on 21 Apr 1924. They lived in Auburn, where the 1930 census showed them with three daughters. They had seven children I know of:

Mary Jean “Jean” (29 Sep 1924-12 Jan 1954) — m. Theodore Nason on 28 Sep 1946

Frances Anne (11 Jul 1926-5 Jun 2015) — m. Milton Egby; m. Joseph Georges Edward Couturier; d. in California

Clara Louise (4 Jul 1928-28 Nov 2011) — m. Thomas Chaffin Mennealy on 2 Sep 1948

James E. (15 Apr 1931-6 Nov 1984)

Harry Wendell, Jr. (3 Oct 1933-25 Nov 2020) — m. Lois Elaine Wagg on 28 Dec 1956

Patricia (7 Mar 1943-25 Jun 2019) — m. Robert Gordon Bruce

Michael A. (7 Jul 1944-31 Jul 1976)

Pauline died in 1971, and is buried with her husband and their sons in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Auburn, Maine.

Lois Evelyn Hinkley (1911-1965)

On 31 Aug 1931, Guy’s daughter Lois married Donald Wescott Linscott (10 Apr 1909-4 Oct 1983) in Portland. Their children:

Donald Wescott Linscott, Jr. (1932-2020) — m. Beulah Beatrice “Billie” Cochran on 22 Dec 1951

Flora C. (1934)

Guy G. (1938)

Mary L. (1939)

John I. Linscott (18 Mar 1945-22 May 1976)

Wanda M. (1947)

Elizabeth A. (1949)

Barbara R. (1950)

Donald served in the US Army just after and possibly during WWII. In the 1950 census for Cumberland County, Maine, Lois (38) was head of house; with the Korean War on, Donald was probably deployed.

Lois died in 1965 and is buried in Highland Memorial Gardens, South Portland, Maine. Donald died in Auburn in 1983 and is buried with Lois.

Their son John died rescuing a man from an armed assailant in Fort Worth, Texas, for which he was honored with the Carnegie Hero’s Medal. Son Donald Jr. served with the US Marine Corps during the Korean War.

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