Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Photograph of Charles and Lydia (Diffin) Eastwood of Maine and Massachusetts


Photograph of two handsome older people identified on reverse as Charles and Lydia (Diffin) Eastwood.  Lydia was further identified as the sister of Emily Cleland.


Lydia M. Diffin was born about 1854, possibly at Robbinston, Maine, daughter of James and Mary Elizabeth (Lane) Diffin, born at St. David Parish, New Brunswick, and Calais, Maine, respectively.

Lydia's paternal grandparents were John and Mary (Alexander) Diffin.  Her maternal grandparents were Clement and Nancy Almira (Stewart) Lane.

About 1890 Lydia married Charles Eastwood, son of Henry and Rachel (Heffler [Hafler, Haffer and other variants]) Eastwood, born in England and Nova Scotia respectively.  Charles was born 6 July 1850 in Nova Scotia and came to the United States about 1871.

Charles had been married before, to Mary J. Trupie, and had a daughter Alice Josephine Eastwood, born at Melrose, Massachusetts, on 20 November 1883.   I'm not positive of Mary's maiden name, but the name appears in very nice handwriting on Alice's marriage record to Sidney L. Shoules on 2 March 1907 at Malden, Massachusetts.

Charles and Lydia lived at Malden, Massachusetts, at least through the 1940 Census.  Charles worked in the footwear industry, eventually having his own shop where he specialized in repairing rubber boots.

It appears they brought up Lydia's niece, Myrtle Diffin, born in Maine about 1899.

The sister referenced on the reverse of the photograph, Emily C. Diffin,  married Horace Cleland and raised a large family at Robbinston, Maine.

If you have any corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  Thanks!

Robbinston, Maine


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Malden, Massachusetts


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