Ellen Sawyer

My mother was Mary Ellen Martha Sawyer who was born on November 11, 1927, in Arlington, Massachusetts, her father, Fred Emerson Sawyer, was 36, and her mother, Georgiena Elizabeth Waitt, was 33. Ellen died on May 10, 2017, in Portland, Maine, at the age of 89.

1930 at age 2 5/12 Ellen is listed on the census in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, with her family including: F E Sawyer age 39, Georgien Sawyer age 36, Howard H Sawyer age 16, Georgien F Sawyer age 8, Mary E Sawyer age 2. This is also the year that Ellens younger sister, Frances, was born after the census was taken.

1935 Ellens family is still living in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, per the 1940 census.
Photo of Ellen and Frances in Plum Island approximate date around 1935

1936 at age 9 Ellens mother,Georgiena Elizabeth passed away on November 13, 1936, in Norfolk, Massachusetts, at the age of 42. The photo below is not known when it was taken but was probably around 1936-1938, it is all 3 of the girls, Freda, Ellen and Frances camping.

1940 at the age of 12 Ellen and her sister Frances were listed on the census as a lodger with the Hargess family. Her older sister Freda was listed as a maid.  After their mother died Mary & Frances were boarded out & Freda worked as a maid while Fred worked long hours at the Lexington Fire Dept and spent every weekend or days off with the girls.

1942, approximate date, Ellen on a pony in Heniker, NH. Some time between Jun 1941 & Apr 1942 Fred moved to Derry, NH (that was a short stay) and then he moved to Henniker NH with his daughters. This pic is of Ellen in Henniker on a pony.

1945, actual date unknown, but Ellen was a teenager in this photo

1947 at age 20 Ellen gave birth to her 1st child a daughter.

1949 at age 22 Ellen married Eugene Curtis Johnson in Limerick, Maine, in November 1949.

1950 at age 22 Ellen gave birth to her 2nd child a daughter.

1951 at age 23 Ellen gave birth to her 3rd child a son.

1953 (approximate date) Ellen and her first 3 children at York Beach

1953 at age 26 Ellen gave birth to her 4th child a daughter.

1960 Ellen gave birth to her 5th child a son.

1973 at age 45, Ellens sister Frances Eleanor died on March 31, 1973, in Portland, Maine.

1978 at age 50 Ellens father Fred Emerson Sawyer passed away on April 3, 1978, in York, Maine, at the age of 86.

1986 at age 58 Ellens brother Howard Henry died on September 6, 1986, in Westborough, Massachusetts.

1987 at age 59 Ellens ex-husband Eugene Curtis Johnson passed away on August 5, 1987, in Meredith, New Hampshire, at the age of 60.

2006 at age 78 Ellens sister Georgiena Freda died on September 14, 2006, in Conway, New Hampshire.

2017 at age 89 on 10 May 2017 Mary Ellen Martha Sawyer died in Portland, Maine