Page 3 - Raycliff Mary Harris - A Family Enigma

Raycliff was born on October 27, 1870. Her family ancestry traces its roots
back to John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley who were passengers on the May-

flower. It is unclear whether she was born in New Brunswick, Canada or Calais,
Maine. A short distance across the St. Croix River Reservoir separated the two
locations and at the time of her birth,
the two locations had very little separa-
tion both geographically and culturally.

Her mother, Elizabeth Jerusha
(Sherwood) Harris was born in New
Brunswick while her father Aaron J.

Harris was born in Maine. No record
of Raycliff’s birth could be obtained
and her name was not found on Cana-
dian census rolls. This fact presents us
with one of several unsolved mysteries View of New Brunswick, Canada from Calais, ME

that will be discussed later. across the St. Croix River.

We know very little about Raycliff’s early life in Maine and Canada. The first

factual record that surfaced was that she was living in Newton, Massachusetts as
a household domestic just prior to her marriage to Jeremiah P. Cronin. It is my
own conjecture that they first met either as a result of a mutual acquaintance or
perhaps because she shopped in Jeremiah’s Watertown store called The Japan
Tea Store. It is also puzzling to me that a 29 year old man would pursue a rela-

tionship with a 16 year old woman but the culture of the time was different and
an early photo of Raycliff portrayed her advanced maturity. Raycliff was listed
on her Marriage Certificate as being 18 years old and yet we know that was not

the case. Perhaps she also hid her true age from Jeremiah the same way she mis-
stated her age in many instances throughout her life.

Excerpt from Marriages Registered in the City of Newton for the Year 1887

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