Vesta Ellen Carson was born on 19 November 1879 in Mapleton, Maine to George and Selena Carson. She was their third-born child, joining brothers Frank and Charles. I have not found a birth record for her—the earliest record I can find mentioning her is the 1880 US census. The image below shows George and Selena at the bottom of one page:
The three Carson children, George's mother, Eliza, and George's brother, Willis, are at the top of the following page:
Over the next 11 years, Vesta would see five more siblings born, three of who would survive to adulthood. In 1894, her mother Selena was granted a divorce from their father.
I'm not sure when Vesta posed for this photograph, but I would guess it was the mid-to-late 1890s based on the fact that it was taken in a Presque Isle, Maine studio and that's when the family was still living in neighboring Mapleton. This version has been enhanced and colorized via the tools at myheritage.com:
The 1900 census shows Vesta living in Brookline, Massachusetts. She was a live-in servant for the Marvin family and appears on line 95 in the image below:
Vesta didn't stay in Massachusetts for very long. By 1905, she was back in Maine and living in Oxbow. On 13 December 1905, she married Oxbow-native Fred J. Fleming in Ashland, Maine. The front and back of their marriage record is below:
On 24 September 1906, Vesta gave birth to Helen F. Fleming in Oxbow. Helen would be an only child.
The 1910 census shows Vesta, Fred, and Helen living on the Main Road in Oxbow with Fred's mother, brother and nephews on lines 28–34 in the image below. Vesta's younger brother Harry was living next door and working for Fred's older brother.
Here's a mention of Vesta joining the church in Oxbow in 1912:
Another local news item reporting that Vesta underwent some sort of medical procedure at age 33:
By 1920, Fred, Vesta, and Helen were living on their own farm on the Main Road in Oxbow. Vesta's brother, Harry Carson, was now living with them and working as a farmhand. Fred's older brother George was also living with Vesta's family. See lines 82–86 in the image below:
The Fleming family was very active in Umcolcus Grange No. 501, which had been formed in 1910 in nearby Masardis, Maine but often met in Oxbow. This local news note from the newspaper shows all three of them (as well as several other Raven descendants) holding leadership positions.
Helen had serious health issues and she died in 1926 soon after her 20th birthday. The Bangor Daily News reported that she had been ill for four years and had had her foot amputated. The same article also states that Vesta and Fred were employed by Gilman Brewer, a farmer in Ashland, Maine, which is about 30 minutes away from Oxbow with modern roads and vehicles. I would have guessed that the Fleming family had moved closer to Gilman farm by the time Helen had died in 1926, but the report of Helen's death does state that she still lived in Oxbow and that she actually died on the Brewer farm in Ashland.
The 1930 census shows that Vesta and Fred did indeed move to Ashland eventually, and were renting an apartment in a duplex on Main Street at the time of the census. They are listed on lines 56–57 in the image below:
By 1940, Fred and Vesta had moved back to Oxbow. The 1940 census also reports where residents had lived in 1935, and they'd been in their current house since at least that point. See lines 38–39 in the image below:
Vesta also participated in the Oxbow Club:
If you've ever been to Oxbow, you know it's essentially a one-road town. The 1950 census taker noted her plan: "beginning at Oxbow and T9-R5 town line just across Trout Brook and proceed West." So we can tell roughly where Fred and Vesta were living: three and three-quarter miles west on the Oxbow Road from the town line and on the left-side of the road. Fred and Vesta are on lines 16–17 in the image below:
Fred passed away on 26 March 1958 at the hospital in Presque Isle. Vesta would live another five years before dying in the same hospital on 12 August 1963. Her obituary follows:
Vesta and Fred were both buried in the Swett Cemetery in Oxbow.
If you see any mistakes or know of information that isn't included here, please