Mary Cushing hailed from a prominent New England family and married into two other notable families. She was born in 1774 in Pownalboro, Lincoln County, Maine, to Brigadier General Charles Cushing and Elizabeth Sumner. On December 16, 1815, she married Eli Porter Ashmun of Northampton, Massachusetts. She was about 41. It was her first marriage and his second. He had been a Massachusetts state senator and then served in the US Senate from 1816 to 1818. During his time in congress, she traveled to Washington to attend the reopening reception at the White House in 1818. The White House was reconstructed after it was burned by the British. In a personal letter dated January 8, 1818, Mary gave a detailed description of the White House décor, First Lady Elizabeth Monroe's attire, and the grandeur of Washington [letter was listed for sale online by James E. Arsenault & Company]. John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, mentioned in his diary that he paid a visit to Mr. and Mrs. [Eli and Mary] Ashmun and Miss Cushing on Feb. 15, 1818, [John Quincy Adams diary 30, 1 June 1816 - 31 December 1818, page 310 (electronic edition) Massachusetts Historical Society, 2004. http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries].
Eli Ashmun passed away in 1819 leaving his five children, approx. ages 10-19, in the care of Mary, their step-mother. She continued to live and entertain in the Ashmun home at 111 Pleasant Street in Northampton. [The next owner of that home was Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker]. Mary is mentioned in the memoirs of noted portrait painter Chester Harding who spent the summer of 1822 in Northampton. He stated that he was invited by Mrs. Ashmun to large party, and he was nervous about attending it. He wrote that he had never been to a fashionable lady's party [My Egotistigraphy by Chester Harding, 1866; published as A Sketch of Chester Harding, Margaret E. White, 1890, 56]. Shortly after that, he painted a portrait of Mary's youngest step-son Lewis Ashmun which is currently owned by Harvard University. Harding may have painted it as a thank you gift. Later, Harding painted a portrait of Mary's stepson George Ashmun who was a US congressman from Springfield, MA, and a close friend of Abraham Lincoln.
On September 5, 1822, in Boston, Mary wed Stephen Codman, a Boston merchant. It was his second marriage as well. He had several grown children at that time. It is not clear whether Mary and Stephen stayed in Northampton when they first married. They did eventually settle in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, and were active in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Tremont Street. Stephen, Mary and Stephen's son Henry were all buried in the crypt at St. Paul's. However, when the crypt was closed, families were invited to relocate their loved ones. Stephen's great granddaughter Martha Catherine Codman (Later Karolik), relocated their bodies to Forest Hills Cemetery in 1914.
Stephen Codman died in 1844 and Mary in 1846. She was living in the coastal town of Nahant, MA. In Mary's will, she left money to members of the Cushing, Ashmun, Codman families and to her friend Lewis Strong of Northampton.
Bio was researched and written by FaG member 49523294, who is the GGG granddaughter of Phineas Ashmun, brother of Eli Ashmun. I truly enjoyed writing Mary's bio.
Eli Ashmun passed away in 1819 leaving his five children, approx. ages 10-19, in the care of Mary, their step-mother. She continued to live and entertain in the Ashmun home at 111 Pleasant Street in Northampton. [The next owner of that home was Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker]. Mary is mentioned in the memoirs of noted portrait painter Chester Harding who spent the summer of 1822 in Northampton. He stated that he was invited by Mrs. Ashmun to large party, and he was nervous about attending it. He wrote that he had never been to a fashionable lady's party [My Egotistigraphy by Chester Harding, 1866; published as A Sketch of Chester Harding, Margaret E. White, 1890, 56]. Shortly after that, he painted a portrait of Mary's youngest step-son Lewis Ashmun which is currently owned by Harvard University. Harding may have painted it as a thank you gift. Later, Harding painted a portrait of Mary's stepson George Ashmun who was a US congressman from Springfield, MA, and a close friend of Abraham Lincoln.
On September 5, 1822, in Boston, Mary wed Stephen Codman, a Boston merchant. It was his second marriage as well. He had several grown children at that time. It is not clear whether Mary and Stephen stayed in Northampton when they first married. They did eventually settle in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, and were active in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Tremont Street. Stephen, Mary and Stephen's son Henry were all buried in the crypt at St. Paul's. However, when the crypt was closed, families were invited to relocate their loved ones. Stephen's great granddaughter Martha Catherine Codman (Later Karolik), relocated their bodies to Forest Hills Cemetery in 1914.
Stephen Codman died in 1844 and Mary in 1846. She was living in the coastal town of Nahant, MA. In Mary's will, she left money to members of the Cushing, Ashmun, Codman families and to her friend Lewis Strong of Northampton.
Bio was researched and written by FaG member 49523294, who is the GGG granddaughter of Phineas Ashmun, brother of Eli Ashmun. I truly enjoyed writing Mary's bio.
Mary Cushing hailed from a prominent New England family and married into two other notable families. She was born in 1774 in Pownalboro, Lincoln County, Maine, to Brigadier General Charles Cushing and Elizabeth Sumner. On December 16, 1815, she married Eli Porter Ashmun of Northampton, Massachusetts. She was about 41. It was her first marriage and his second. He had been a Massachusetts state senator and then served in the US Senate from 1816 to 1818. During his time in congress, she traveled to Washington to attend the reopening reception at the White House in 1818. The White House was reconstructed after it was burned by the British. In a personal letter dated January 8, 1818, Mary gave a detailed description of the White House décor, First Lady Elizabeth Monroe's attire, and the grandeur of Washington [letter was listed for sale online by James E. Arsenault & Company]. John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, mentioned in his diary that he paid a visit to Mr. and Mrs. [Eli and Mary] Ashmun and Miss Cushing on Feb. 15, 1818, [John Quincy Adams diary 30, 1 June 1816 - 31 December 1818, page 310 (electronic edition) Massachusetts Historical Society, 2004. http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries].
Eli Ashmun passed away in 1819 leaving his five children, approx. ages 10-19, in the care of Mary, their step-mother. She continued to live and entertain in the Ashmun home at 111 Pleasant Street in Northampton. [The next owner of that home was Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker]. Mary is mentioned in the memoirs of noted portrait painter Chester Harding who spent the summer of 1822 in Northampton. He stated that he was invited by Mrs. Ashmun to large party, and he was nervous about attending it. He wrote that he had never been to a fashionable lady's party [My Egotistigraphy by Chester Harding, 1866; published as A Sketch of Chester Harding, Margaret E. White, 1890, 56]. Shortly after that, he painted a portrait of Mary's youngest step-son Lewis Ashmun which is currently owned by Harvard University. Harding may have painted it as a thank you gift. Later, Harding painted a portrait of Mary's stepson George Ashmun who was a US congressman from Springfield, MA, and a close friend of Abraham Lincoln.
On September 5, 1822, in Boston, Mary wed Stephen Codman, a Boston merchant. It was his second marriage as well. He had several grown children at that time. It is not clear whether Mary and Stephen stayed in Northampton when they first married. They did eventually settle in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, and were active in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Tremont Street. Stephen, Mary and Stephen's son Henry were all buried in the crypt at St. Paul's. However, when the crypt was closed, families were invited to relocate their loved ones. Stephen's great granddaughter Martha Catherine Codman (Later Karolik), relocated their bodies to Forest Hills Cemetery in 1914.
Stephen Codman died in 1844 and Mary in 1846. She was living in the coastal town of Nahant, MA. In Mary's will, she left money to members of the Cushing, Ashmun, Codman families and to her friend Lewis Strong of Northampton.
Bio was researched and written by FaG member 49523294, who is the GGG granddaughter of Phineas Ashmun, brother of Eli Ashmun. I truly enjoyed writing Mary's bio.
Eli Ashmun passed away in 1819 leaving his five children, approx. ages 10-19, in the care of Mary, their step-mother. She continued to live and entertain in the Ashmun home at 111 Pleasant Street in Northampton. [The next owner of that home was Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker]. Mary is mentioned in the memoirs of noted portrait painter Chester Harding who spent the summer of 1822 in Northampton. He stated that he was invited by Mrs. Ashmun to large party, and he was nervous about attending it. He wrote that he had never been to a fashionable lady's party [My Egotistigraphy by Chester Harding, 1866; published as A Sketch of Chester Harding, Margaret E. White, 1890, 56]. Shortly after that, he painted a portrait of Mary's youngest step-son Lewis Ashmun which is currently owned by Harvard University. Harding may have painted it as a thank you gift. Later, Harding painted a portrait of Mary's stepson George Ashmun who was a US congressman from Springfield, MA, and a close friend of Abraham Lincoln.
On September 5, 1822, in Boston, Mary wed Stephen Codman, a Boston merchant. It was his second marriage as well. He had several grown children at that time. It is not clear whether Mary and Stephen stayed in Northampton when they first married. They did eventually settle in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, and were active in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Tremont Street. Stephen, Mary and Stephen's son Henry were all buried in the crypt at St. Paul's. However, when the crypt was closed, families were invited to relocate their loved ones. Stephen's great granddaughter Martha Catherine Codman (Later Karolik), relocated their bodies to Forest Hills Cemetery in 1914.
Stephen Codman died in 1844 and Mary in 1846. She was living in the coastal town of Nahant, MA. In Mary's will, she left money to members of the Cushing, Ashmun, Codman families and to her friend Lewis Strong of Northampton.
Bio was researched and written by FaG member 49523294, who is the GGG granddaughter of Phineas Ashmun, brother of Eli Ashmun. I truly enjoyed writing Mary's bio.
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- USA Ashmun Codman or Cushing
- Find a Grave Ashmun Codman or Cushing
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