Hello, I joined this List a few years ago, and seem to have unsubscribed a year later. I would like to repost my interest in learning about my ancestors* who might have married in Stonington. Several years ago I was told that in 1856 in Stonington a John DEXTER and Mary CLARK got married. I thought this was curious as Mary Anna CLARK had been born and raised in Westport, MA, and John DEXTER had been born and raised in Killingly, CT. I have just now e-mailed the Stonington Clerk's office to ask for a look-up. I would like to find out if the 1856 marriage was of "my" ancestors. Something else curious is that I was told that Mary "Molly" CLARK's older half-sister, Lavinia LAVARE, also from Westport, MA, had also married in Stonington ! She reportedly married William VINAL around 1847 ! A little background is that James CLARK had married in 1829 to the widow, Mrs. Rhoda (MANCHESTER) LAVARE in Westport, MA. She had 3 children from her first marriage, and then she and James had a daughter, Mary Anna "Molly" CLARK, in 1836. For whatever reason, James CLARK was found to be not living with his extended family in Westport, MA, in the 1850 census. It is not known that he passed away during the 1840's. But, there are other choices. There was a James CLARK who left New Bedford on a ship in ~1845. He was a greenhand and "deserted" in Australia ! But, as I just found out last night, there were CLARK's living in Stonington ! So, I'm wondering if Rhoda and James "separated" during the 1840's. A genealogy e-pal of mine wrote last night that she had come across a book about Stonington cemeteries ! And, having a good memory, she remembered my interest in finding the "missing" James CLARK, and in finding anyone with the name, Daisy WATROUS ! She found both names in this book ! My strong interest in the name, Daisy WATROUS, is that that was my grandmother's birth-name, when she was reportedly "a foundling" on the streets of Boston, MA, in Feb. 1889. The "family story" (many of which were found out not to be true) was that she was named by the Nurses at the hospital and that she was named after a famous actress or singer of the time. The Boston Public Library says they have no record of a Daisy WATROUS being an entertainer in New England. My e-pal mentioned 2 families in regards to Stonington: Daisy (DEWEY) WATROUS, and Robert and Sarah (WOODMANS) WATROUS. She also found CLARK's mentioned in the book -- along with a few MANCHESTER names ! My "suspicion" all along is that both Mary CLARK and her half-sister, Lavinia LAVARE, had "relatives" in Stonington, and that is why they both chose to get married there ! (1847 and 1856 - with James CLARK leaving Westport, MA, during 1840's) I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the CLARK, WATROUS, and MANCHESTER families in Stonington and whether they might have been related to families in Westport, MA. Thank you for your time. Betty (near Lowell, MA) * I call John and Mary DEXTER my ancestors -- because of my "hypothesis" that they were the maternal grandparents of the baby they adopted near Boston, MA, in Mar. 1892. They had lived in Killingly, CT, during their entire marriage, but strangely in 1886 they left and headed for Boston. They settled nearby in Melrose, MA. They "might" have brought a school-age girl from Killingly with them. And, in 1892 they adopted a girl who had just turned 3. The little girl's birth-name was Daisy WATROUS, and they changed her name to Mary Anna Clark DEXTER. John and Mary DEXTER had had daughters while living in Killingly, but one died as a 3-year-old, and one died at Age 14 in 1867. Clara DEXTER, b1857, was the surviving daughter, and she grew up to marry Abner YOUNG of Killingly. They also lost a very young daughter, and then had a son, Earle YOUNG, in 1882 in Killingly. For "many" reasons, I have reason to believe that Mrs. Clara YOUNG had an "unwanted pregnancy" in the summer of 1888 - which resulted in her coming up to Boston to deliver her and "stage the baby to be a foundling." For whatever reason, her parents had a change of heart and decided to take in the baby ! They were Ages 59 and ~55 at the time. FYI: Abner and Clara YOUNG's grandson, Winthrop YOUNG, was a long-time genealogist in CT, and he created a very detailed "YOUNG family document." There is only a paragraph on his grandparents, and only one brief mention of his great-grandparents, John and Mary DEXTER. And, there is "no" mention of his grandmother's much younger adoptive-sister ! (Clara was about 30 older than young "May" DEXTER.) My grandmother would have only lived with the DEXTER's from about 1890-91 until Mrs. DEXTER's death in 1899. Either in 1898 or 1899, my grandmother was sent to live in an orphanage in Boston. And, she remained in "homes" in Boston until she was 19 or 20 years old ! But, she remembered a couple of incidents. One is that she remembered a teen-age boy and girl spending a lot of time in the house ! The teen-age boy would have been her nephew, Earle YOUNG. The teen-age girl might have been a relative of Mrs. Mary DEXTER's ! She also remembered a man visiting the house one day, and overhearing a comment, "Some day that young girl 'must' learn who her real father was !!" She never did ! And, she was hidden away in a back room of the house when important company came to call ! And, I found a descendant of one of the LAVARE brothers on-line. When we compared family photos, there was a strong family resemblance between her grandmother and my grandmother ! Mrs. Clara YOUNG and William LAVARE - would have both been descended from Mrs. Rhoda (MANCHESTER) (LAVARE) CLARK.