Have some of the mystery. It says below that Asa spent most of his life in Westminster, not Winchendon. What's more, in the 1860 census, he lived in Westminster, not Winchendon. I'm a bit dyslexic. I've never been able to keep those two places straight. Now, in 1850, the family was all over Fitchburg. For instance, Asa's son Charles H lived nearby, in Fitchburg. His son Asa W did live ni Gardner, and henceforth lived in Gardner. However, I found at Ancestry.com a book of records of Fitchburg. There are extensive mentions of land owned by Asa, though it doesn't describe it in any detail, and three of his sons, Asa W, Charles H, and Eli W, appear in the militia roll in 1844 and 1846. I think maybe the historian below simply got it wrong; the family lived in Fitchburg and he didn't know it. If Asa was buying and selling land all over the place, maybe it was easy to miss. Asa's wife was a daughter of Hezekiah Walker, and his father was a land speculator. This family group were bipolar; they could look rather like a bipolar former landlord of mine, who made more than $20,000 one year buying and selling url's on the Internet. Not I"m kidding. But I do have to wonder if part of the confusion was that the land was actually on the border between Westminster and Fitchburg. If so, then does anyone know where it is likely to have been? Yours, Dora Smith Austin, TX tiggernut24@yahoo.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Dora Smith To: mamiddle@rootsweb.com ; maworces@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 10:43 AM Subject: Now I'm really wondering where Asa lived David Hoyt, on the Middlesex Co list, who thinks like alot of people that I've not been pounded into submission yet, sent me a town and county map of Massachusetts, which was actually a very great favor. Map raises more questions than it answers (LOL) Family genealogy says that Winchendon and Ashby are adjacent. From my notes: --------------------------- Some years after his marriage he moved to Westminster and spent much of his life there. Owned successivley Jonathan Sawyer and Smyrna Whitney farms in north part of town and afterward the Abraham Wood house and lot on the common. After his first wife died, he m 2 Widow Hannah A (How) Peabody and resided in te former Dr. White House (History of Westminster, MA, 840-2.) NEHGS Massachusetts bmd database to 1910 shows the record of the marriage. Asa Raymond, age 72, farmer, of Westminster, b Ashby, son of Daniel and Polly (Kinsly). Married Hannah A (Howe) Peabody, age 49, born Westminster, to Reuben K and Hannah (Minot). It says it was his second marriage. They were married in Westminster by Mo A Stevens, clergyman, of Ashburnham. Death record says he died in Westminster at age 92 of old age, having been born in Ashby. Place of birth, which is also said to be Westminster, is confirmed from Ashby Town Records to 1850. Westminster is right next to Ashby. ------------------------ Map show Ashburnham squat between them. Was Ashburnham a recent development or something? Next question; the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census show Asa's and his son Eli W's farms growing even longer legs than they already appear to have had. This farm had such long legs, it jumped clear over adjacent towns in the process of moving back and forth between Winchendon and Shutesbury. Are Gardner adn Westminster recent developments, or is it that Ashburnham is a recent development and it was part of Winchendon? And if Asa lived most of his life in Westminster, why does the census show his humungous farm variously in Fitchburg and Winchendon? No, it wasn't so big it spanned several towns. I was hoping that someone here would just know how the descriptions of where Asa's farm was and the census make sense. Of course I know tehre is such a thing as a historical society. If I need to call one, which one would be most likely to have the answer? There are probably 50 of them, especially since the towns in question span two counties. Thanks! Yours, Dora Smith Austin, TX tiggernut24@yahoo.com