USA > Maine > Somerset County > Embden > Embden town of yore : olden times and families there and in adjacent towns > Part 15
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For his second wife, Wesley married Susan T. Thompson and by her had two children - one Mrs. W. H. Strickland of New Portland; the other Walter F. Gray, who settled at Park Falls, Wis. At his death Wesley Gray was brought to Embden for his long rest and sleeps under a crumbling tombstone in an unfenced field at the right of the River road some two miles above North Anson.
Obed W. Gray in 1835 wedded Deborah S. Smith of New Vineyard and resided at Industry, not far from Starks and the neighborhood of the McFadden brothers, who went there temporarily from their Embden homestead. The children of John Gray, Jr., were familiar with New Vineyard and Industry, because their mother, Catherine Daggett, had many relatives there. Obed's older brother, Aaron, in 1829 married Reliance Tolcott of New Vineyard. Hartley Gray, after marrying Lovina Fish of Leeds, in 1850 settled at Monmouth and died there.
Squire John Gray, the only other son of John, Jr., dwelt in Embden all his mature life, as his father and his grandfather, Capt. John, had done and became a man of much local conse- quence. He and Caroline Chaney had four children :
Charles L. (1842-1870), Harriet E. (1846-1870), who never married; John Sherman (1849) and Charlotte (1853). Charles was survived by a son, Dr. John Gray of Portland. John Sherman Gray has had an extended career on the Pacific Coast as a lumber operator. His wife, Clara Jewett of the old Solon family, died in 1926. They were long accustomed to visiting Maine at five year intervals to renew acquaintance with friends and kindred. Sherman's youngest sister, Charlotte, married Frank F. Caswell of Embden. They have dwelt in recent years at Norridgewock.
Squire John Gray's widow, Caroline, who was 13 years his junior, accepted Erastus Walker of Embden, grandson of John, the Anson pioneer, as her second husband. These were all of the family line of the three John Grays of Embden with a great grandson, Dr. John, the Portland physician, as mentioned.
While the Johns allied themselves with old and patriotic Daggett clan of Franklin County and were first to venture afar the Joshuas held more steadfastly to their Embden heritage.
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Their marriages in the second and third generations were chiefly with families along the Kennebec. Joshua's wife, as told, was a daughter of Thomas McFadden, near by, which brought his children several uncles and aunts in the immediate vicinity - Flings, Clevelands, Thompsons of lower Embden, Youngs and Lowells. Joshua's daughters, as told, also made Embden marriages with Boyingtons, the Thompsons near the Ferry and also with those of lower Embden. Thus the Joshua Grays counted most of the prosperous farmers in that part of the town as their kin.
Joshua and sons, Joseph and Joshua, Jr., maintained themselves long and well as Embden farmers. In the spring of 1820 when Joseph, then 22 years old, had married Tamson Savage - daughter of James and Annah (Young) Savage of North Anson - the home farm was divided for the benefit of the new couple. Although the father was but 52, he executed carefully drawn deeds then and again in 1826 for sharing the farm and buildings. The other son, Joshua, Jr., wrote his name as a legal witness of the arrangements. Joshua, Jr., at one time captain of the Embden militia was married on July 31, 1828 to Betsey Williams (1807), daughter of Caleb and their household became a notable one in all the country side. Joshua, Sr., bought other land in east Embden of the proprietors, so that he and his two sons dominated in the ownership of that community.
Joseph Gray died young and a decade before his father. His family was an outstanding one, however, for it included Joel Gray (1830-1874) who became a prominent business man. Joel married Elvira Drury. He went to Boston, like several other Embden youths of that period. Engaging in the hotel business, he became very successful. His principal venture there was as proprietor of the famous old United States Hotel. About the same time his cousin, George A. Ayer, also a native of Embden, conducted a hotel on the site of the present Bowdoin Square Theater.
Joel Gray was identified with numerous other large enter- prises. He built and owned the first Carrabassett Hall at North Anson in 1870. It was the most conspicuous structure in that village and was long the principal gathering place in all that
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JOEL GRAY
region for meetings of importance. The hall was burned in the big fire that swept the village many years ago. When Joel died his remains were conveyed by train from Boston to Old Point - then the end of the Somerset Railway tracks - where a procession was waiting as an escort to North Anson and Carrabassett Hall and thence to his last resting place. The hall was impressively draped for the funeral ceremonies, attended by a great throng of people from Embden and adjoining towns.
The deceased had been an urgent advocate of the building of the Somerset Railway and has been credited with persuading the town of Embden to subscribe for $40,000 of bonds.
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Notwithstanding the years of financial stress in meeting those obligations, Joel Gray's vision of advantages the railway would bring to the agricultural town was justified. It furthered a market for the town's products and enhanced values. These and other benefits were long lost sight of in the general disappointment that construction of the line to Embden was many years delayed.
Joel Gray, dying at 44, left a monument to himself in Embden. To this day who, motoring up the Kennebec River road, fails to note the Joel Gray house with the mansard roof, not far from the Embden station? He erected this house, by far the most pretentious residence in Embden, with barn and outbuildings in keeping with it. This house was on the farm of his father, Joseph, where his grandfather, Joshua, had also dwelt. It had been well cultivated and with some additional acres was many years regarded as one of the first properties in Embden.
The farm had an unusual history. Four years after the death of Joseph Gray in 1836 his widow, Tamson (Savage) Gray, married Jonas Thompson, who lived till 1860, whereupon Tamson Thompson for more than a decade was the owner of the farm. In that time it had been increased from 175 to 275 acres. In the early 1880's, Joel's widow, Elvira H. Gray, held title to the property and for two or three years resided there. It had then been reduced to 160 acres, with David Stevens 2d living on the farm immediately north. But in 1888 the purchase of this holding, by Randall W. Ellis (1831-1907) of Belfast brought a welcome townsman.
Mr .. Ellis and his wife were accustomed to taking long carriage tours throughout Maine and even to Massachusetts. On one of these trips they were much attracted by the sightly buildings of the Joel Gray place and decided to buy it, leaving the Belfast farm to their son, Harlen. In this new establishment at Embden, Mr. Ellis conducted one of the finest and most profitable dairy farms in the state. In 1895 he was joined by his son, Harlen, and family and still later another son, Irvin, came to North Anson, where both of them now reside.
E g S.
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Mr. Ellis was prominent in politics as well as farming. He was born at Temple, in Franklin County, the third and youngest child of Rev. Gilbert and Anna (Mitchell) Ellis, and seventh in descent from Lieut. John Ellis, an early settler of Cape Cod where he was a builder, trader and innkeeper at Sandwich and served as commander of the Sandwich Military Com- pany in King Phillip's war. Rev. Gilbert Ellis was a Methodist minister who occu- pied many charges in Maine and was one of the founders of the East Maine Conference.
Randall Ellis married Amanda Abbott (1832-1897) of Temple and bought his first farm at Northport, Me. He helped organize the Re- publican party there and was elected in 1863 to the state legislature. Following the po- litical scandals of the second Grant administration, he joined the Greenback party RANDALL ELLIS and united with the Democrats in 1879 to carry Maine. The same year he was elected by 2,500 majority as a fusionist to the state senate, of which he was an active member during the exciting "count-out" controversy of 1880. He promoted legisla- tion for the benefit of agriculture and in 1887 was elected mem- ber from Waldo County on the State Agricultural Board for three years and in 1890 was its president. As a member of that Board he prepared several important papers bearing mostly upon problems of the dairy farmer.
With the decline of the Greenback party, Mr. Ellis aligned himself with the Democrats, but refused to follow them on the Resubmission issue in 1904. He was Democratic candidate for state senator from Somerset in 1903. He regularly attended sessions of the legislature as a lobbyist for prohibition and
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agricultural education. A clear, deliberate and impressive speaker, he was recognized as an effective political debater. He served in 1892 as town clerk and first selectman of Embden. Mr. Ellis died of pneumonia after a short illness in the Joel Gray mansion. He and his wife are buried at North Anson.
Harlen B. Ellis kept the Embden farm till about 1915, when he sold it to Joseph Garrette and moved to North Anson village, where he is agent of the American Express Company. His brother, Irvin H. Ellis, was postmaster there from 1916 to 1924 and manager of the Farmers' Union. Their sister, Flora, married George Collins and died at Belfast. Her only daughter, Flora, lived with her maternal grandparents in Embden till her marriage in 1902 with Earl G. Larrabee of Kingfield.
With the death of Joel Gray and the passing of his ancestral farm, as described, the Gray name almost entirely disappeared from Embden. Not many years ago one of the spacious rooms in the mansard roof house was used as a dance hall for the entertainment of young people from Embden, Concord, Solon, Anson and New Portland. The Joel Gray estate was valued at about $40,000. His widow married Daniel Durgin. His only son, Joel H. Gray, married Viola Vittum of Solon and built the Gray Tavern in Solon village. He died in 1925 but his widow still operates that hotel, on the walls of which hang pictures of Joel Gray and several of his family.
Joseph Gray and Tamson Savage had four other children besides Joel, their youngest. Anna (1821) married Calvin Danforth of Madison, in 1843. Naomi (1825) was the wife of David Stevens who tilled the adjoining farm.
Capt. Joshua Gray, Jr., brother of Joseph, and the elder Joshua's only other son, lived and died in Embden on the farm his grandfather, Capt. John Gray, "took up." "Aunt Betty" (Williams) Gray, his wife, survived him. Their children, however, travelled far. Marshall Gray, a son, resided in Pennsylvania but when his father died, returned to Maine with his wife and three sons. He resided for a time with his mother in T'm'den. Later a residence was purchased at North Anson and "Aunt Betty" lived there the remainder of her days. Joseph Gray, brother of Marshall, married Elizabeth Smith,
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from over Dexter way, and also went to Pennsylvania to live. They had no issue but brought up one or more of Marshall Gray's children. This Joseph Gray was brought back to Maine for burial.
There was still another son of Capt. Joshua and Betty Gray - Enos who married Mindwell, daughter of Nathan Thompson and settled in North Dakota. Emogene, daughter of Enos Gray, is deceased. Oscar F. Gray, a son, resides at Casselton.
Capt. Joshua Gray had two daughters, Lizzie (Gray) Miller and Helen (Gray) Hilton. Mrs. Carrie E. Dickenson, living at Neatogue, Conn., is a daughter of Lizzie.
The Anson branch of Grays, headed by Rev. George, has been more prolific. It comprises many names known to Somerset county people. Several of these Grays married Embden women. Rev. George, as already told, married the daughter of an Embden pioneer. Stickney Gray, already mentioned as a grandson of Rev. George, married June 2, 1862, Ellen Caswell (1844-1913). She was a daughter of John Caswell of Embden, and his wife Caroline (Fuller) Caswell, a descendant of Edward Fuller who came in the Mayflower.
Stickney Gray, and his wife, left three children - Mrs. Evie H. Robinson and Mrs. Marion Hartwell of North Anson, and Uhler Gray of Malden, Mass. Mrs. Robinson, a highly gifted woman, has inherited qualities of the Grays, Cragins, McFaddens and other pioneer families from whom she is descended. As a student and writer on historic subjects Mrs. Robinson has a wide reputation.
Daniel Gray (1790-1842) the oldest son of Rev. George, mar- ried Deborah Dudley, daughter of Eliphalet and Mary (Gilman) Dudley descended from Gov. Dudley of Massachusetts. Daniel and his wife moved to Ohio. Their eight children all lived in the West. One son, Joshua R. Gray, was born near Graysville, Ohio, Nov. 23, 1828, migrated to Wedderburn, Australia, in the Province of Victoria during the rush of the 1840's and became a wealthy man. A son of Joshua R. Gray was postmaster of Wedderburn. Other children of Daniel Gray settled in the Iowa towns of Harper, Richland and Talleyrand, Keokuk County.
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But Rev. George Gray's eleven children set up their house- holds in even other distant parts. It has already been told how Hannah and Betsey after marrying the Hilton brothers went with an ox team caravan to Ohio in August, 1817. There were two younger sons, Josh- ua, (1811-1860) and Abial, (1813-1852) who settled in Alabama. Both died before the Civil War. Joshua, after
NANCY BUNKER GRAY
marrying Martha Cowan of Sidney, hung out his shingle as a lawyer in Alabama. Abial married Sarah O. Dick- inson of Alabama.
The third generation from Rev. George continued the BETSEY GRAY HILTON march westward. George B. Gray, brother of Stickney and son of Thomas, lived in Anson but went later to Ruthville, Idaho, where he died in 1902. His wife was Abbie W. Bunker. The Grays of Anson and the Bunkers were intimate friends and. neighbors and there were several marriages between them. Robert Gray (1803-1859) - a son of Rev. George - married Nancy Bunker (1814-1891). The late Niron Gray, (1830- 1901) of Anson, remembered as an exemplar of the same sturdy religious faith his grandfather had preached long years before
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him, was their son. Niron and his family were neighbors of the Paines, from whom he chose his wife Eveline (1837-1905). She was a daughter of Asa W. and Almira (Leete) Paine. Two of Asa Paine's daughters married sons of Seth and Mary (Nut- ting) Ayer, whose home was in Embden. Cordelia P. Paine married Joseph Ayer, who died at Charleston, Mass., June 15, 1889, Jeannette Paine married Elmore C. Ayer, formerly an employee of the United States Leather Company, at Dorchester, Mass., but now a resident of Rochester, N. H.
Niron Gray's daughter, Mrs. Daisy Cushing, is now a resi- dent of Starks. His aunt, Rebecca Gray, was the second wife of Josiah P. Paine, a worthy son of that Rev. William Paine, who served in the Revolution and for years thereafter expound- ed Free-will gospel. All were intimate characters in that splen- did old neighborhood of Anson where Paines, Bunkers, Cragins, McFaddens and Grays were connected by marriage ties and kin- ship. The cherished memories of that ancient community are shared by a far flung circle.
Thus for quite a season the Embden Eldorado of the early Grays seemed particularly alluring. There the several scions flourished in one of the most attractive landscapes of all the river valley. Rev. Paul Coffin described his "sweet ride" thither in the autumn of 1797, while on a missionary tour. "Rode to Capt. Gray's, two miles above Anson," runs an entry in his journal on September 15. "Conversed much with him and Mr. Colby on religious and other matters."
On September 20, 1798, Rev. Coffin made another entry in his journal as follows: "Capt. Gray's. Conversed freely and prayed again with Mrs. Gray. Not well. She is a lovely woman, meek, pleasant. thankful and pious. The captain secretly chose her when only seven years old and found her as mild and good as he then thought she would be."
A week later the missionary was at Capt. Gray's again and wrote: "Capt. Gray has a grand farm and much intervale. Had corn 50 bushels to the acre. He said 'I have corn as good as any between this and New York' and that a man working two days in a week will grow rich enough." A bit further on Mr. Coffin writes that "Capt. Gray is like old Esop in body and
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mind, round in his shoulders and of a witty turn of thought." The next day the missionary was with Luther Pierce and wife, Susannah, Capt. Gray's daughter, a "mile above Carrytunk Falls." The day after that Luther "sat him up the river four miles in his canoe."
Capt. John Gray was not a soldier of the Revolution and, as far as known he was not a sailor in the cause of Independence. Thomas Gray, of Anson, his grandson, used to tell that George Gray and family came from England in 1755 and settled first in Connecticut and then near Portsmouth, N. H. George died soon after reaching this country, but his sons, Robert and John, carried on. They were the two oldest boys and for a while went to sea. Capt. John, who is said to have been very English, went eventually to Woolwich and Wiscasset and settled at George- town nearby. The Grays had been at Berwick and also at Wool- wich for two or three generations before Capt. John came, but while they all may have been of the same family, it is claimed the Embden pioneer was of a separate branch. His title of Captain probably came from service with a militia company or from command of a sailing vessel.
He was chosen by Embden for several terms as selectman and as justice of the peace. His sons, John, Jr., and Joshua, were likewise honored from time to time with whatever places of trust their townsmen could bestow. Capt. John and those after him - good sons and splendid daughters - wrought with un- usual character and high resolve. Their example stands as encouragement to worthy endeavor.
What a proud reference it should be to those of younger family blood who have trailed westward !
CHAPTER XII
THIS OX-SLED WELL LADEN
One Monday morning, presumably in late February, 1790, Thomas McFadden - at that time spelled McFaden - and wife. Hannah, stood at their front door in Georgetown, all bundled up for an eighty-mile journey. Around them were eleven young McFaddens, ranging from Mary, a buxom young maiden of eighteen, to Andrew, a babe in arms. Seven of the brood were girls, the youngest, Lucy and Grace, twins less than four years old. All were out for a bright and early start on another ven- ture into a newer part of the new country.
Thomas McFadden (1740-1840), of Scotch-Irish stock, had purchased in 1773 the Georgetown place he was now leaving. During the interim of sixteen years he had wooed and won Han- nah Savage (1745-1807) from nearby Woolwich, served for three years in the Revolutionary War, returning home, a first lieutenant. Quite half of the big McFadden family was born before the war was over.
He represented the third generation of McFaddens, who had wrested a livelihood from rugged gateway towns of the Kenne- bec Valley. First was Andrew, his grandfather. Born in the Highlands of Scotland in 1675, this Andrew crossed the narrow channel to northeast Ireland which was the early home of more than one family whose descendants went eventually to Embden. He settled at Garro in the county of Derry, on the river Ban at a point called "Summersett." There he belonged to a band of Protestants, whom the Londonderry Catholics besieged vigor- ously and in 1718 Andrew McFadden sailed away to the land of promise.
With Andrew was a son James (1701-1754) - the father of Embden Thomas. They located on Somerset Point probably named for their ancient home at Summersett in Ireland. It is the Senters Point of the present day in Merrymeeting Bay. An Indian war followed after three or four years, so that Andrew fled with his family to a garrison at Arrowsic Island and there
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spent the remainder of his days. About that time his son James married Rebecca Pierce (1701) of a family in Massachusetts. He and his wife resided on Arrowsic Island and there Thomas McFadden, along with several brothers and sisters, grew to be a young man.
And now Thomas McFadden, after the example of his father and grandfather, was moving on in search of a larger oppor- tunity. The autumn before the February morning in 1790 he had traded his Georgetown farm with George Michael, one of the earliest of Embden settlers. He obtained in exchange Lot No. 18, situated close by the Kennebec and known ever since then as one of the most desirable farm properties in that vicinity.
The picture of the departing McFadden family was entirely typical of the pioneers of that day, bound for the upper reaches of the big river. Their conveyance was a long ox-sled, which stood in the front yard, fully packed with their worldly goods. There were household utensils of many sorts, a little furniture, some bedding, a few bags of seed corn and other grain and forage for a horse, a cow, a yoke or two of oxen and whatever other livestock had to be taken on the migration journey.
With visiting former neighbors from Georgetown and Wool- wich and with traveling eighty miles and more it was toward the end of the week before this McFadden cavalcade - which had been joined by others en route - pulled along the winding channel of the Kennebec up toward the Seven Mile Brook outlet marked by Island B, otherwise called Savage Island. All the way up was over a winter road. It was on the river ice, from settlement to settlement, with passageways "swamped" through the forest at waterfalls and rapids. By February the road was well trodden. There was a good volume of traffic. One vexing problem, however, was to hit upon wide places in the road for ox-teams that had to pass.
Stopping places for noon-day meals and for the family's lodging at night were made at cabins where there were friends or relatives. That was not difficult. At Hallowell, Augusta, Vassalboro, Fairfield and Bloomfield were numerous settlers who had preceded the McFaddens from the lower valley. There was splendid hospitality all along. The travelers bore tidings
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from Arrowsic, Georgetown, Bristol, Dresden, Woolwich and Wiscasset and from the several settlements they traversed on their pilgrimage northward. On the McFadden ox-sled, also, were many little articles that traders down-river had been re- quested to dispatch by the earliest convenient transport, to say nothing of keepsakes sent along by kin as evidences of affection- ate rememberance.
So the McFadden ensemble, with their bevy of attractive maidens and James, John and young Thomas - lads of twelve, seven and five years respectively - were welcome at every stop- ping place along the winter road. Rebecca McFadden (1768- 1844), the oldest daughter, had gone up the river two years before as the bride of George Gray - the same George who was to become a Free-will Baptist preacher in the Seven Mile Brook region. As a matter of fact George and Rebecca, married in February, 1788, had taken their honeymoon trip on father John Gray's ox-sled, when it was bound on a similar expedition during the favorable late-February period of winter from Georgetown to the Embden Eldorado. All of Capt. John Gray's family - which included six or seven attractive daughters - after having made this journey in 1788, were now established at. Embden on a farm next to that which Michael had traded to Thomas McFadden.
Friday night or Saturday night was given over to a visit with the Jacob Savages, who had been living for about six years on Savage Island - nearly east of the present village of North Anson - and had a pretentious pioneer establishment. Jacob was Hannah McFadden's brother, as were Dr. Edward and Isaac Savage of Embden; James of Anson, and two or three others not far away. There were Hilton relatives, too, for Hannah's mother was that Mary (Hilton) Savage who had been a veri- table mother in Israel to Woolwich people of her day. Mary was a daughter of that Ebenezer Hilton of Berwick and Wiscasset, whom the Indians slew, and a sister of that William Hilton who, when a captive of Indians on the trail to Canada, up over the Embden high hills, spied the fertile intervales. Accordingly John and Ebenezer Hilton, near the latter day Patterson bridge;
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(Top Left) ANDREW MCFADDEN, OZIAS H. MCFADDEN, HIS SON; HANNAH MCFADDEN GRAY, HIS SISTER; LAFAYETTE YOUNG, LAST SURVIVING GRANDCHILD OF PIONEER THOMAS MCFADDEN.
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William Hilton of Solon and Joseph Hilton of Embden were Hannah McFadden's nephews.
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