Adventurous Relatives in Our Past: Learning about Charlotte Saunders Cushman

Charlotte Cushman by William Page, 1853. National Portrait Gallery.

Waterford's calm serenity of this Memorial Day weekend could fool a new resident into thinking things are always this way! But regional historians know there's always another controversy or change brewing, because that's what "family" and "community" engage with.

A few months ago, I (Beth Kanell) was working on an assignment unrelated to Waterford history when I spotted the name Charlotte Saunders Cushman. Cushman is a Waterford name, so I stopped to look her up. It was a delight to discover she is a "relative" of Allen Hill, who gave the Waterford Historical Society a baking peel from the Streeter Tavern of long-vanished Upper Waterford; Charlotte was the 3-greats granddaughter of Thomas Cushman 1608-1691, who in turn was the great-great-grandfather of Soule Cushman (I) (1748-1795).

[For genealogy buffs: Charlotte Saunders Cushman 1816-1876, dau. of Elkanah Cushman 1769-1841 and Mary Saunders Cushman 1793-1865;  then Elkanah Cushman 1741-1776 and Mary Lathrop 1739-1792; then Elkanah Cushman 1706-1742 and Lydia Bradford 1719-1756; then Elkanah Cushman 1678-1715 and Hester Barnes 1682-1770; then Elkanah Cushman 1651-1727 and Elizabeth Cole 1657-1682; then Thomas Cushman 1608-1691 and Mary Allerton 1616-1699; and at last "Pilgrim" Robert Cushman 1577-1625 and Sarah Reder.]

In her time, Charlotte Cushman, a highly esteemed actress, often made the news and gossip publications. Not only was she extraordinary on stage, but she was an ardent feminist who chose her own lifestyle. When the New England Historical Society posted an article on her, they called her a "Cross-Dressing Tragedienne of the 19th Century." 

Cross-dressing wasn't new -- every Shakespearean play required it -- but Charlotte Cushman took her adventurous role into her own life. For the surprising story of the woman pictured so demurely in her portrait above, click here! As the saying goes, "There's nothing new under the sun." But don't we ever have time rediscovering that!

If you are a Waterford Cushman descendant, I hope you'll leave a message here to let us know whether Charlotte's story surprised you. 

For more Cushman material on this blog, click here. And to browse the blog (there's a white search box at the top left, click this: https://waterford-vt-history.blogspot.com.

NOTE: Here is a basic "backbone" tree of the Cushman family of Waterford, including Mr. Hill:

Cushman (first portion)

 

Thomas Cushman (1608-1691, b. Canterbury, England; d Plymouth MA) mar. Mary Allerton (1616-1699)

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Thomas Cushman (b Plymouth MA) 1637-1726 mar. Ruth Howland 1637-1726 (or 1646-79)

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Robert Cushman (1664-1757) mar. Persis Lewis (1671-1744)

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Joshua Cushman (1707-1764) mar. Mary Soule (1711-1750)

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Soule Cushman (I) (1748-1795) mar. Thankful Delano (1757-1814)

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Soule Cushman (II) (b. Littleton NH 1792) mar. Esther Hendrick (1799-1879) (Soule may have died “after 1850” in “Canada East”)

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Ezra Hendrick Cushman (1825-1888; his 1863 Civil War draft registration credits him to Concord VT) mar. Katherine Penelope Poppy Leavitt (her 2nd marriage; 1830-1904); they lived on the farm at the mouth of Chandler Brook

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Kate (Katherine Ellen) Cushman (1861-1964) (great-grandmother of Allen Hill, donor of Streeter Tavern baking peel) mar. George Morse (1853-1928), eldest child of John Morse (1805-1877) and Harriett Temple (1832-1876), who lived just over the line in Concord, VT

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Katherine Lyle Morse (1889-1981) mar. Allen Frank Hill (1882-1955); they lived in Littleton NH (Allen Hill’s grandmother)

Cushman–Russell–Bugbee–McGregor Cemetery, East Village Road, Waterford, Vermont: Small with a Wide Vista

Visiting the Cushman Cemetery is much easier, now that it's been trimmed and mowed -- a late-autumn caretaking gift (it would be nice to know who did this, to thank you!). It's a peaceful little family cemetery at the edge of a cornfield near the end of East Village Road.

This material describing the stones is per UPPERCONNRIVER and given at the website http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~upperconnriver/Waterford/Cushman/Cushman.htm and I am grateful for permission to share it from the site (but please do check in now and then at the original website to see any changes added).

[I am aware that the town selectboard hopes to replace the earlier fence in order to rehang this nice old gate. -- BK]

Cushman Family Cemetery, East Village Rd,
Waterford, Caledonia County, Vermont, USA

earliest birth recorded in this cemetery: Olive Bugbee b. 1794 - d. 1866 earliest inscription in this cemetery: Almyra, wife of John McGregor b. 1802a - d. Oct 03 1843 most recent burial in this cemetery: Russell Cushman b. 1907 - d. 1980 total inscriptions in this cemetery: 11; total graves: unknown Transcribed 1980 by Eugenia Powers (1913-1985)
databased 2008 by Robert Goss
verified & corrected 2008
by me [Robert Goss].


          Stones are oriented so as to be readable when facing the surounding stone walls.
          To reach this cemetery, turn off US Rte 2 in East St Johnsbury, cross the river onto East Village Rd (TR#4), bear right at the fork, follow this road about 1.1 mi to the "end". There appears to be a left-curve here, but it is actually TR#5, (TR#4 once continued straight thru Blodgett's mailbox into the trees and down the backside of Moose River into Concord, joining Cross Rd near the old fairground - it is now discontinued). You can see the cemetery to your left across the field; please walk next to the stone wall when the hay [corn] is growing.
          This is a family cemetery that is no longer maintained. It was turned over to the town for maintenance in 1980 as it was no longer convient for the family to care for it.
          Stone #8 appears out-of-place because the burial took place after Eugenia completed her transcript and map.

NOTE:  a slash "/" indicates the end of a line of engraving on the gravestone.
       DOBs followed by an "a" are calculated from the DOD on the stone minus the AGE on the stone.
       italics indicate the info is from other vital or town records; but, not actually on the stone.
      

Cem+ StoneNum	LastName	FirstName	Maiden	DOB	DOD	Spouse/Parents	Add'l Info
CU+0.1							A white marble stone, 2" above ground, 6" wide, 2" thick, split into two 1" thick pieces - no lettering seen.
CU+0.2	P	B					A white marble stone, 6" high, 6" wide, 2" thick - like a footstone, initials "B. P.".
CU+1.1	Reed	Nichols S.		01/__/1830a	7/15/1855		Aged 25 y'rs 6 mos. White marble with low angle top, square name band, plain, lettering is on the west side facing the back wall, grave is to the east of the stone. Stone is about 5' tall and has been down for years, it was found buried (in 2008) under 3" of thick hay thatch and has weathered so badly that it is barely readable.
CU+1.2	Reed	Mariah L.		1/01/1826	10/01/1899		Aged 73 yrs 9 mos. Same as above except square name band has tracery, marble has darkened more, & veins are more pronounced.
CU+1.3a	Reed	Milo		03/__/1851a	10/15/1851	children of N. S. and M. L. Reed	AE 7 mos. 18" high, grayed white marble, square name band, plain.
CU+1.3b	Reed	Azelia		1/27/1854a	2/16/1854	children of N. S. and M. L. Reed	AE 3 weeks. 18" high, grayed white marble, square name band, plain.
CU+2.1	Russell	George S.		10/__/1823a	6/08/1910		AE 86 yrs 8 mos. Matches #2.2; six inches thick with wide bevel at top and taper down side. Leaf design on top bevel with an X in the middle (crossed stems??), line tracery on side bevel, curved name band with line tracery background and fancy inside edge, then there is a double size double marble base for both stones. Parents of Mrs. Emma Cushman ?? Alpheus Bugbee settled in this part of town in 1800. Russell and Reeds are Concord and Kirby names.
CU+2.2	Russell	Emma L.	Bugbee	12/__/1822a	7/04/1908	wife of George S. Russell	AE 85 yrs 8 mos. Stone matches #2.1
CU+2.3a	Cushman	Edgar O.		1854	1925		Gray granite monument with name on the face. Corner rose design, 12" thick, smooth but not polished.
CU+2.3b	Cushman	Edna L.	Russell	1852	1946	his wife {of Edgar O. Cushman]
CU+2.4	McGregor	Almyra		10/__/1802a	10/03/1843	wife of John McGregor	AE 41 yrs. Two and one half feet high, perfectly plain with square top. All the lettering slants forward, whether cursive or another style, except for her name.
CU+2.5	McGregor	John		1800a	08/__/1848		AE 48. Same style except thicker. Straight lettering except verse which is a small script, "How brief is life--how long eternity".
CU+2.6	Bugbee	Hannah		1798	8/26/1876		Aged 78 yrs. Heavy very much darkened gray granite markers which may replace original stones, about 15" tall and 20" wide. Pillow shaped with lettering on a somewhat convex face.
CU+2.7	Bugbee	Olive		1794	1866		Aged 72 yrs. Stone matches #2.6.
CU+2.8	Cushman	Russell B		1907	1980		Modern grass-high, gray granite marker.

Orson Cushman, Waterford, Vermont: Sugarhouse, Family, More

The 1875 Beers map of Waterford (from the County Atlas of Caledonia County 1875) shows O. Cushman as the leading landowner in District 14 -- that is, West Waterford -- at the time. Orson Cushman also owned a sugarhouse which may then have been the oldest in town. Working with the map at the last meeting of the Waterford History Group, we decided the sugarhouse must have been roughly at the land currently owned by Pike Industries and the town of Waterford (transfer station, town garage). And it's gone.

Orson Cushman (April 2, 1820-June 13, 1904) was the son of Soule Cushman (1792-) and Esther Hendrick (1799-1879), and grandson of Waterford settlers Soule Cushman (1748-1795) and Thankful Delano (1757-1814). Orson married Julia Ann Morse (1825-1901; daughter of Oliver Morse, 1762-1841, and Betsey Morrill, 1788-1872, of the Danville Morrill and Varnum lines).

According to Child's Gazetteer of Caledonia and Orleans Counties 1764-1887 (published May 1887), Orson owned 800 sugar trees, as well as 14 cows. His brother Ezra Hendrick Cushman, who lived in Lower Waterford, owned 1000 sugar trees and 10 cows at that time, a good comparison. As another comparison, the Lower Waterford postmaster at that date, Claudius Davison, had 600 sugar trees and 40 head of cattle; Lorenzo Green, for whose family the Green School was named, showed 800 sugar tree, 12 cows, and 19 "head of other stock."

The photo here is of one of Orson and Julia's daughters: Nellie/Ella May Cushman (born Nov. 5, 1859).

More later on the links to the Cushman family cemetery on Walsh Road.