Our Grandfather's Grandfather

James Ambrose Waning

James A. Waning "hung out" in the Waning guest bedroom - at least his portrait did!  I don't know if you ever noticed it there on the wall as the room was quite dim and the portrait dark.   

James was born in Maine in April of 1836, the third of nine children of Jacob Waning and Lucinda Tozier.  Sometime before 1866 he married Margaret McManus, and together they had four children: Hattie, Joseph, Nellie, and Willard (Billie).

Margaret died of consumption in February of 1881 - she was only 36 years old.  Our great-grandfather Willard (Billie as he was known) was just six when he lost his mother.

Sadly Hattie and Nellie also died young, Hattie in 1892 at the age of 26, and Nellie sometime before 1903 when she was 31 or younger. 

Joseph Waning left Maine as a young man and moved to Massachusetts where he lived the rest of his life.  Billie too left Maine; first to Massachusetts, then Montana, and finally Oregon. 

James Ambrose ended up a widower with no children close by to care for him.  He spent the last years of his life living with distant relatives who cared for him - I need to look at letters I have from genealogical research I did in the early 1980's and I can provide the name of the folks who care for him.  James died the 9th of November 1915 at the age of 79.