Thursday, March 1, 2012

Those Places Thursday - Aunt Beck and Van on Deer Island, New Brunswick


On July 25th, 1932, Flora Vesta Bustin, always known as Beck, the oldest child and only daughter of Fred and Melvina Bustin, married Vanstone Tewksbury in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  A reception was held a week later at her parents' home, in what was then known as the Woodfords District of Portland:




They soon made plans to start their married life down east on Deer Island (Van's birthplace), at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay, between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.  It is a ferry boat ride from Eastport, Maine out to the Islands.



Mr. and Mrs. Vanstone R. Tewksbury

 " Mr. and Mrs. Tewksbury (Miss Vesta Bustin) whose marriage took place July 25th, at Portsmouth, N.H., left this morning for their new home at Deer Island, New Brunswick.  They have been the guests for the past week of Mrs. Tewksbury's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Bustin, 815 Stevens Avenue, and have been pleasantly entertained at several attractive affairs."



Deer Island, just north of the "bump" in the yellow border line



A couple of picture postcards that Beck sent to her mother 
on the way back to Deer Island,
 after trips to Portland (1951 and 1952)




Later in their marriage, the couple moved to Portland, where, over the years, their marriage slowly deteriorated.  My grandfather, Beck's brother Ross, frequently had to retrieve Van from The Brass Rail Tavern in Morrills Corner. They divorced, leaving no children, after nearly 30 years.  Shortly thereafter, Beck succumbed to cancer in 1964, at the age of 56.


Beck and Van early in their marriage






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