USA > Maine > Oxford County > Sumner > Centennial history of the town of Sumner, Me. 1798-1898 > Part 4
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Paris. Hattie, who married Oscar Swift, resides in Sumner.
The Pulsifer family has been known and respected everywhere as honest, reliable, temperate and indus- trious people. All the members of the family are persons of strong convictions, and, for the most part, they have the courage of their convictions. Many of them have accumulated considerable of this world's goods, which they use with credit to themselves and with honor to the places in which they reside.
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نفسية
WILLIAM E. PULSIFER.
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GEORGE ELMER PULSIFER.
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PERSONAL SKETCHES.
GEORGE E. PULSIFER.
George E. Pulsifer, youngest son of Charles Pulsifer, was born March 19, 1851. He married Flora H. Ripley, born September 21, 1851, daughter - of Col. Orison and Hannah Ripley of Paris, and had three children, namely : Harry E., born June 27, 1875; Arthur M., born Sept. 23, 1877; and Bertha, born Jan. 16, 1882. Of these,
Harry E., received his education in the public schools of Sumner. At the present time he resides at his home in Sumner.
Arthur M., received his education in the common schools of Sumner ; was a 'student at He- bron Academy, and graduated from Shaw's Business College at Portland, Maine. He successfully taught several terms of school in Sumner, and was much liked as a teach- er. At the present time he holds a respon- sible position in the office of the Lewiston, Brunswick and Bath Street Railway Com- pany at Lewiston, Maine.
Bertha, died in infancy.
George E. Pulsifer has been in the nursery busi- ness for a number of years, and is well and widely known, not only in Sumner, but over New England, as one of the ablest salesman and most enterprising business men of our time. He owns a nicely located stand in town where he and his family reside. Of the large number of Pulsifers, descendants of Jona- than and Nancy Pulsifer, the family of George E. Pulsifer is the only family by that name in town to-day.
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THE NOYES FAMILY.
The Noyes family in town to-day are descendants of Capt. Edward Noyes of Portland, Me.
Capt. Edward Noyes had four children, Edward, Jr., James, Harriet, and Mary Ann. Of these,
Edward, Jr., immigrated to this section, married and had ten children, Rufus, (deceased), Philemon, Lydia, (deceased), Orelia, Joseph, John, James, Mary, Edward, (deceased), and Louisa, (deceased).
Joseph A. Noyes, son of Edward, Jr., married Sylvina Faunce, and had eleven children, Lillian, Josephene, Mary, George, Eva, Jessie, Tracy. Cecil, Maurice, Arthur and Leon. Of these,
Lillian, married Eugene S. Hammond of Peru, and has children.
Josephene, married Rev. John E. Berry of Sum- ner, and died having no children.
Mary, an estimable young lady, died unmarried. George, married Abbie Davenport of Sumner. and settled on a farm in town. He has one child, Arthur.
Eva, married Fletcher Parlin, has one child and resides in Paris.
Jessie, married Albert Ames of Hartford. She has one child.
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Tracy, married W. E. Bowker, a prominent and successful farmer who has been one of the selectmen in Sumner for several years. They have one child.
Cecil, married Lincoln Davenport of Sumner, and died without children. .
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Maurice, resides at South Paris, where he is em- ployed.
Arthur, died in infancy.
Leon, the youngest child, is yet at school and resides at home.
Joseph A. Noyes enlisted in the 8th Maine Reg- iment, August 24, 1861, and served four years, five months and eight days, which was, as near as the writer can learn, the longest time served by any man who enlisted from this town during the civil war. While in the service he was present and did his part in twenty-seven different battles. He was a good soldier and has a splendid war record. He has served as Commander of Barrows Post, G. A. R. of this town, of which organization he is a promi- nent member. At the present time he is chairman of the Republican town committee. Mr. Noyes is a generous-hearted, temperate, industrious and hard- working farmer, and owns a good farm in this town, on which he resides.
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THE GOWELL FAMILY.
The Gowell family were original settlers of Bow- doin, Me., and are said to be of Scotch descent. Charles Gowell, who immigrated to Sumner, from Bowdoin, some time in 1813, and settled on land near the present Labrador Pond, being the first Gowell to settle in Sumner.
Like all of the earliest settlers he commenced by · building a log cabin and making a clearing. He afterwards built a framed house on land at south- east corner of Labrador Pond. The house is yet standing and at the present time occupied by George Foster.
The Gowells were industrious and prosperous- farmers, equal to any of their time, and were well represented in the war of 1812 and 1861, several of their number being killed in the latter.
CHARLES GOWELL, first, was born June 16, - 1760, and died July 14, 1835. He married Anna- born Mar. 31, 1758, and died Nov. 14, 1829. They had eight children, Jerusha, born July 11, 1783: Joseph and Jenne, born July 19, 1786; Joanna, born August 4, 1788; Rebecca, born August 11, 1790. The sixth child was a son, born Dec. 26, 1792, and died the 27th of the same month. Anna, born June 26, 1794 and died Feb. 28, 1796; William, born Jan. 9, 1797.
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JOSEPH, son of Charles, first, married Hannah Bessey Whiteman, born April 14, 1797, and had nine children, Anna, Charles, Su- san Devine, Robert Whiteman, Mary Ann, Joan Bonney, William, James Whiteman
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Anna, born Dec. 16, 1816, married Allen G. Abbott of Sumner, and settled on a farm in the center of the town. They had seven children.
Charles, born Sept. 9, 1818, married Emeline McAlister, and had five children, Charles A., Leroy A., Robert A., Emeline and Henry H. After the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth St. Clair, and had two children, George St. Clair, who died at the age of three years, and George Weston, who at present resides at Lynn, Mass. He enlisted in the 9th Me. Regiment U. S. Volunteers June 23, 1863, and gave his life in his country's cause. Of the children by his first wife, Emeline McAlister,
Charles A., born June 21, 1843, married Martha E. Bowker, and had five child- ren, Ellen Emeline, who married and had two children; Lizzie Eudora, who - also married and had one child; and three boys who died in infancy.
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Robert A., born Aug. 9, 1847, married Lucy Ann Staples of Hartford, Me., and had one child, a son, who lived to be six- teen months old. After the death of his first wife he married Mary J. Little- field of Melrose, Mass. They have one child, Fred Addison, born Feb. 12, 1887.
Leroy A., the third son, enlisted in the 32d Maine Regiment U. S. Volunteers, . and was killed in battle at Spottsylva- nia Court House, June 3, 1864.
Emeline, was born. Feb, 11, 1851. When but three years old her mother died, leaving several small children, which were all put out with different families, and she, at the age of four, was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Gurney of South Weymouth, Mass. She married Noah Franklin Vining of South Wey- mouth, who enlisted, in Jan., 1864, in Co. E. 4th Mass. Cavalry, and was in the Petersburg Campaign; was also present at the surrender of Lee and evacuation of Richmond. At the pre- sent time Mr. Vining holds the respon- sible position of Cashier in the Bank- ing House of Fogg Brothers, 48 Cong- ress St., Boston, Mass., a position he has successfully held for years. He
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has a nicely located stand in South - Weymouth, where he and his family reside. They have five children, Sam- uel Albert, who was born Oct. 23, 1873, and educated in the schools of Wey- mouth, and was a graduate of Comer's Commercial College at Boston. After completing his studies, he accepted an office position with the firm of Alden & Nevin, wholesale coal dealers in Boston, and at the present time is a - successful and popular traveling sales- man for the above named firm. The second child, Fannie Maria, born March 31, 1875, was also educated . in the schools of Weymouth, and was a graduate of the Weymouth High School, class of 1894. At the present time she resides at home. Robert McAlister, born Oct. 8, 1876, received his education in the schools of Wey- mouth, being Valedictorian of his class in both the Grammar and High School. At present he is taking a five-years course in Mechanical Engineering at the Mass. Institute of Technology; will . graduate in June, 1899. Louisa Eme- line, born Sept. 2, 1886, and Mary Ara- bel, born June 30, 1888, are still at school and reside at home.
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Henry H., died Dec. 15, 1860, at the age of seven.
Susan Devine lived at home and died unmar- ried, Oct. 25, 1866.
Robert Whiteman, born June 21, 1822, mar- ried Eliza Bishop, and had five children, Willis, Frank, Loren, Alonzo A. and Herbert. He enlisted in the civil war and died while in the service, and was buried at sea on his way home. Mary Ann, born Jan. 25, 1825, married and had five children.
. Joan Bonney was born Mar. 7, 1827, and died at the age of four.
William, born Oct. 31, 1830, married Mary Brown and had eight children, Henry, Ida, Lorenzo, George, Lewellyn, Sarah, Robert L. and Carrie.
James Whiteman, born Apr. 21, 1832, married and had three children, Elmer, Susan and Charles.
Sally Hall, (deceased), born Mar. 7, 1835, married Henry Lawler of Mass. and had one child, Henry Herbert, who is married, has one child and resides in South Weymouth. .
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GAPT. GILBERT M. SMALL.
Capt. Gilbert M. Small, who at the present time resides in Jackson Village, is great-grandson of John Small, who removed from Cape Elizabeth to what is now Milbridge, in 1762; grandson of Dea. Elisha Small, who was one of the early settlers of Cherryfield; and son of Benjamin Small, who married Serena Wakefield, and also resided in Cherryfield. At the age of eighteen years, he hired on a sailing vessel "to go before the mast," and continued in . that capacity, with a salary of from eight to sixteen dollars per month until he had saved money enough to pay his way at an Academy in Gorham, at which place he took a course in navigation .. After com- pleting his studies he returned again to his sea-far- ing life, and was soon promoted to the position of captain. He served as captain of merchant vessels doing business in foreign countries, up to the time of the civil war, and seeing his country's need of officers in the navy, he enlisted as "acting master," and served one year, part of that time on the ship "Ohio." At the close of the war he returned to his home, and having contracted disabilities which made him physically unable to follow his chosen vocation, that of following the sea, he commenced the study of medicine. He continued the practice of medicine for a term of ten years, at which time his old long- ing for the sea came back to him, and he again served as captain of merchant trading vessels until
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1880, when he retired from the sea and removed to Sumner. In 1847 he married Eleanor G. Moore, and had three children, Helen S., who is wife of Capt." J. A. Robertson, resident of Harrington : Byron M., an attorney at law and clerk of courts for Franklin County, who resides in Farmington; and Daniel D., a successful farmer of Sumner.
HENRY H. MAXIM.
Henry H. Maxim, an enterprising and successful farmer of Sumner, is son of Benj. Maxim of Buck- field, was born March 28, 1841. He enlisted in the 12th Maine Regiment, U. S. Volunteers, and served three and one-half years, and is spoken of by his officers and comrades as having been a good soldier. The writer recently read in the "Oxford Democrat," issue of April 12, 1898, an interesting account of an exciting and hazardous experience of his in rescuing two wounded comrades from the battle-field during the first day's battle at Port Hudson. The account was written by himself, and its truth is vouched for by responsible testimony. The writer of this sketch has seen the letter containing the sworn statement of the party he rescued, in which they acknowlege in most glowing terms the daring and bravery he displayed in saving their lives at the risk of his own. He was married July 4, 1865, to Alice E. Ripley, daughter of Col. Orison and Hannah Ripley of Paris. They have one child, Henry B., who was born July 17, 1868.
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PERSONAL SKETCHES.
DEA. INGREASE ROBINSON AND DESCENDANTS.
Dea. Increase Robinson, the progenitor of the Robinsons that have since lived in Sumner, was born in 1739, and his wife, Rebecca Bourne, in 1733.
They moved into town from Pembroke, Mass., in 1783, being the sixth family to settle in the east part of the town. They brought with them eight child- ren, four boys and four girls. The names of the children, by order of their birth, were as follows :
Joseph, Priscilla, Asa, Elizabeth, Alvin, Myrtilla, Susan and Increase. With the exception of Priscilla, who married John Keen, and settled at North Turner, and Myrtilla, who remained single, the children all lived and reared families in Sumner.
JOSEPH, the eldest, married Patty Spaulding of Buckfield, and had nine children, Rebecca, Joseph, Jr., Lydia, Loami, Stephen, Patty, Leonard, Susan and Spaulding.
PRISCILLA, who married John Keen, had eight children, Anna, Priscilla, John, Jr., Jacob, Josiah, Jerusha, Rebecca and Thomas.
AsA married Deborah Briggs and Margaret Bart- lett, and reared a family of nineteen child- ren, Asa, Salome, Margaret, Deborah, Lucy, Orrin, Sumner, Sabrina, Sophronia, Livona, . Ervin, Susan, Wealthy, John, Daniel, A. Judson, Lucius, and George Dana.
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ELIZABETH married Simon Parlin, and had ten children, Merinda, Ira, Almond, Oliver, Harvey, Robinson, Simon, Jr., Elizebeth, Wealthy and Vincent Cooledge.
ALVIN married Lydia Soule, and had seven child- ren, Alvin, Jr., Abigail, William, John, In- crease, Zebulon and Isaac.
MYRTILLA did not marry, as before stated.
SUSAN married Judah Keen, and had nine children, Cyrus, Judah, Jr., John, Joanna, Myrtilla, Elvira, Juliette, Asher and Lydia.
INCREASE, JR., married Abigail Parlin, and had six children, Zury, Anna, Almeda, Sharon, Rebecca and David Brainard.
Nearly all of them reared large families, that in time married and multiplied, until the names of Robinson, Keen, and Parlin, were as familiar as household words.
DEA. INCREASE ROBINSON was, in his early days in the new settlement, a useful citizen, as he erected the first saw, shingle and grist-mills, and opened the first place for the sale of groceries. He also was a cooper, and made many useful wood- en utensils for pioneers' use. The first public religi- ous meetings were held in his house. The house that he built was the first framed house in town, and is still in good condition, and occupied by some of the fourth generation. His son, Increase, Jr., suc- ceeded him in the mills, and he in turn was succeed-
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ed by his son, Dea. Sharon Robinson, who operated the mills many years, and lived and died at the old homestead.
"Dea Sharon," as he was familiarly called, was also a useful and respected citizen, a devoted chris-" tian-man, a hard-working and honest person, with a character above reproach. His son, Sharon, Jr., at date of this sketch, still lives upon the old farm, . and was the author of the three-page account of the "Sumner Centennial," published in the "Lewiston Evening Journal," June 11, 1898. -
Tradition says that the numerous families bear- ing the name of Robinson in New England, sprang from one of two brothers that came over from Eng. land, and one of whom settled in New Jersey, and the other in Massachusetts. As will be seen in the foregoing paragraph of this sketch, Dea. Increase Robinson came from Massachusetts, History and observation show that the Robinson race were hardy. industrious, temperate and useful in their day and generation.
- CHARLES G. HANDY, JR.
Charles Edward Handy, Jr., the publisher of this , little volume, who for the past twelve years has - been a resident of Sumner, was born in Andover, Me., Feb. 4, 1865. His father, Charles E. Handy, who served as Coporal in the civil war nearly four years, and at present is a carpenter and contractor
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in Lewiston, is son of Samuel Handy of Norridge- wock, who is yet living, having attained the ripe old age of ninty-nine years. His mother, who died March 26, 1894, was daughter of Reuben R. and Joan Barrett, who were among the early settlers of Andover, Me. He received his education in the schools of Lewiston; was a graduate of Smith's . Business College, class of 1880, and for one year he continued at the same school as assistant instructor, at the end of which time he entered the employ of the "Lewiston Weekly Gazette," as general office hand, to learn the trade of a printer, and has since conducted various kinds of business. In the fall of 1886, he removed to Sumner, and for ten years con- ducted a horse-shoeing and carriage- making shop. In May, 1898, he purchased the entire printing plant of Harold Chandler, in Sumner, and is at present conducting a publishing and printing establishment at West Sumner. He is a member of A. C. Pray - Camp, Sons of Veterans, of Auburn, and the West Paris, No. 15, Lodge of Odd Fellows. Sept. 25. 1887, he married Mary Emma McAlister, daughter of Hannabel H. and Isabel C. McAlister of Sumner. and has three children, Francis Carlyle, born July 24, 1888; Archie Revere, born Sept. 23, 1890; and Florence Alma, born Mar. 2. 1898.
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WELLINGTON H. EASTMAN.
PERSONAL SKETCHES.
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THE EASTMAN FAMILY.
ROGER EASTMAN,' the father of all the East- nians in America, was born in Wales in 1611, and settled in Salisbury, Mass., in 1640. THOMAS,? his fourth child, was born Sept. 11, 1646, married Deb- orah Corlis, and settled in Haverhill. Jonathan, 3 only son of Thomas, was born Jan. 8, 1683. He married- Hannah Green. Dea. Richard, + fifth child of Jonathan, was born Aug. 9, 1712. He was chairman of the first board of selectmen in the town of Fryeburg, and for many years deacon of the Congregational church there. He died Dec. 9, 1807. Daniel,s thirteenth child of Richard by his first wife, Sarah Abbott, was born in April, 1766, and married Sally Whiting: Den. Isaac,6 ninth child of Daniel, was born Mar. 2, 1883, married Esther Woodbury, and settled in Sweden, Me. He died June 16, 1887.
The Eastman name is represented in Sumner by Wellington Harris,7 the eighth and youngest child of Isaac. He was born Jan. 6, 1853. The first ten - years of his majority he was engaged at the printing trade and in- newspaper work in this state and Massachusetts. Jan. 26, 1881, he was married to Rachel Willey Stetson, and a year later settled at East Sumner, where he established his seed business in 1885. He has four children, Ella Leona (adopted), born Sept. 9, 1887; Esther Her- sey,s born Dec. 10, 1892; Augusta Tillson,8 born Jan. 14. 1995; and Roger, born Jan. 22, 1897.
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SAMUEL HERSEY.
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, one of Sumner's most successful and "up- to-date" farmers. In 1895 he was elected one of the selectmen of Sumner, and was re-elected in 1896-97, an office he held with credit to himself and the town.
DEA. ABEL STETSON, JR. succeeded his father on the farm at West Sumner; where he con- tinued tó reside until his death, which occured Oct. 29, 1891. Dea. Abel and wife were charter mem- bers of the Baptist Church at West Sumner, and he was elected a deacon at its first meeting.
The Stetson family are known and respected as honest and upright christian people, hard but will- ing workers in and for the church, generous and charitable to the needy, and beloved by all.
A REVOLUTIONER.
James Hersey was born in 1759, and was of the fifth generation from William Hersey, who came over from England in 1635 and settled in Hingham, Mass. He was a soldier of the American Revolu- tion; married Alethea Poole, and first settled in Ab- ington, Mass .; later removed to Minot, Me., and in ISOI came to Sumner, and settled in the south-west part of the town.
JAMES and ALETHEA HERSEY had twelve children, one died in infancy. The names of eleven are as follows: Simeon, James, Samuel, Alethea, Anna, Susan, Ruth, Olive, Maria, Ira and Sophronia.
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SIMEON married Lois Warren, and settled in - Sumner. They had eleven children, Nancy, . Sabrina, Simeon, 2nd, Almira, Warren, Alva, Lois, Levi, John Milton, Tristam and Mary Jane.
JAMES, and married Olive Freeman; and set- tled in Sumner. To them were born seven children, Jane, Samuel F., James 3d., Mary Ann, Cynthia Eveline, Sophronia Maria and Lewis G. His second wife with whom he lived many years was Abegail (Bradford) Chase.
SAMUEL married Eunice Bradbury, and settled in Sumner. They had six children, Wm. R., Hiram, Samuel, 2nd, Moses B., Jason and Julia Ann. By his second wife, Mary or Polly, a sister of Eunice his first wife, were born Henry B. and Eunice M. 1 The last named being the mother of EUGENE H. ANDREWS, M. D., a graduate of Bowdoin University Medical School, now practicing - his profession with success in Sumner, who was born in Paris, July 30, 1862. He is son of the late Alfred P .- and Eunice M. (Hersey) Andrews, the former of whom was born in Paris, Sept. 15, 1837, and died in Groveton, N. H., June 26. 1882: and the latter born in Sumner. July 18, 1835, and died in Paris, Aug. 25, 1862; grandson of Sullivan Andrews, of Paris, and great-grandson of Edmund Andrews.
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Alfred P. Andrews was an able business man, · who for many years was engaged in trade at North and West Paris. He acted in the capacity of a justice of the peace and was highly regarded by his fellow townsmen. After the death of his first wife Eunice, he married Ada M. Lane, daughter of John M. and Sarah (Coburn) Lane of Sumner. and had two children, Sullivan L., who is at present studying medicine; and Alma L., desceased.
Eugene H. Andrews acquired his early education. in the common schools of Paris, and at North Bridg- 'ton Academy. After leaving school he took up the" study of painting and decorative art, and pursued it for ten years; during which period, however, he taught school for a time and served several years on the School Board of Paris. In 1895 he began the study of medicine. Later he attended the Maine General Hospital and the Portland school of Medical - Instruction the term of two years. He then entered the medical department of Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in June, 1894. He first located
in Paris, where he practiced one year. In 1895 he removed to West Sumner, where he is fast establish- ing a reputation as a skillful physician, and having gained the confidence of the -community, enjoys a .
wide field of practice. He is a charter member of
the Oxford County Medical Society; and is connect- ed with the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Granite Lodge, No. 182 of West Paris, and of the Chapter, Council and Commandery. Sept. 26, 1889,
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he was united in marriage to Annie Bartlett Burgess, daughter of Charles G. Burgess, a retired merchant of Brunswick, Me. They have two children, Ruth Burgess, born Sept. 20, 1893; and Mariam Eunice, born May 1, 1898. 1 ALETHEA married John Bradbury, and settled in Bangor, Me. Children born to them were two, Albion and Matilda.
ANNA married Mesack Keen, and settled in Sumner. They had nine children born to them, Alethea, Lucius and Louisa, twins ;- Asia and Africa, twins; Anna, Mary Jane, Samuel and Nancy.
SUSAN married John Thayer,' and settled in Buckfield, Me. They had three children, Washington, John Greenlief and Isaac. RUTH married Benjamin Hammond, and settled in Lincoln, Me. Eight children were born to them, Frederic A., Maria H., Althea P' .. Rebecca S., James H., Peter C., Benjamin, 2nd and Edwin B.
OLIVE married Stephen Cobb, and settled in Sumner. Children born to them were five, Mary W., Olive R., John F., Rosette and Lewis A.
MARIA married Ezra Cobb, and settled in Sum- ner. Three children were born to them, Cynthia, Horace B. and Matilda,
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EUGENE H. ANDREWS, M. D.
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IRA married Omittee Fletcher, and first settled in Sumner, but later went West." They had seven children, Sylvinia. Timothy, Charles, Eunice, Alethea, James and Albert. SOPHRONIA married Hiram Heald, and settled in Sumner. They had eleven' children, Marsella, Lysander, Hiram H., Albert; Abel S., Stephen C., Emogene, Alethea, James, Franklin and Oscar,
HANNIBAL H. MCALISTER.
The McAlisters were a clan in the south of Scot- land. Trouble arose among them which caused them to divide, part of them emigrating to Ireland and the others to America, Those who came to this country finally settled in . what is now Lovell, and the descendants of those sturdy old Scotchmen are now scattered from Maine to the Pacific coast.
The writer, in making research, has discovered several ways in which the name is spelled. One of the old Scotch ways of spelling the name was "Mac. Alister," and other ways found to-day are "McCollister," "McAllister" and "McAlister," the last named being the most proper.
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