USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 103
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(For ancestry see William Bradford I.)
(V) Major John, eldest son
BRADFORD of Major William Bradford and his first wife, Alice Richards, was born at Plymouth, Massachu- setts, February 20, 1651-52, and died at Kings- ton, Massachusetts, December 8, 1736. He was a justice of the peace, as appears by rec- ord of a marriage ceremony performed at Plympton, and probably bore a part in the colonial wars. He lived a little northwest of the Kingston landing. On January 6, 1674-
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75. he maried Mercy, daughter of Joseph and Priscilla Warren, born September 23, 1653, died in March, 1747, aged ninety-three years six months. Joseph Warren, father of Mrs. Bradford, was son of Richard Warren, who came over in the "Mayflower." Major John and Mercy (Warren) Bradford had children : John, born December 25, 1675; Alice, Janu- ary 28, 1677; Abigail, December 10, 1679; Mercy, December 20, 1681; Samuel, whose sketch follows; Priscilla, March 10, 1686; William, April 15, 1688.
(VI) Lieutenant Samuel, second son of Major John and Mercy (Warren) Bradford, was born at Kingston, Massachusetts, Decem- ber 23, 1683, lived at Plympton, Massachu- setts, and died there March 26, 1740, aged fifty-six years three months. He was often elected a selectman, and was a representative to the general court. October 21, 1714, he married Sarah, daughter of Edward Gray, of Tiverton, Rhode Island, granddaughter of Ed- ward Gray, of Plympton, by Dorothy, his sec- ond wife. Nine years after her husband's death, September 7, 1749, Mrs. Sarah Brad- ford married William Hunt, of Martha's Vineyard, where she died in October. 1770, having passed her fourscore years. Children of Lieutenant Samuel and Sarah (Gray) Bradford: John, born April 8, 1717, died Sep- tember 28 that year; Gideon, whose sketch follows; William, December 16, 1720, died February 16, 1724-25; Mary, October 16, 1722, married Abial Cook, of Tiverton, Rhode Island: Sarah, April 14, 1725, married Ephraim Paddock; William, November 8, 1728, died at Bristol, Rhode Island, July 6, 1808; Mercy, April 12, 1731, died on June I of that year; Abigail, June 12, 1732, married Caleb Stetson and died at Plympton, July 31, 1775; Phebe, March 30, 1735, married Shubal Norton, of Martha's Vineyard ; Samuel, April 13. 1740, died at Williamsburg, Massachu- setts. August 1, 1813.
(VII) Gideon, second son of Lieutenant Samuel and Sarah (Gray) Bradford, was born October 27, 1718, at Plympton, Massa- chusetts, and died there October 18, 1793, lacking three weeks of seventy-five years. He was married about 1742 by Rev. Nathaniel Leonard, to Jane, daughter of Ichabod and Joanna Paddock, of Yarmouth, afterwards of Middleboro, Massachusetts. She was born August 30, 1717, daughter of Elder Thomas Faunce, the last ruling elder of the church at Plymouth. Mrs. Jane (Paddock) Bradford, widow of Gideon Bradford, died at Plympton, Massachusetts, April 18, 1795, aged seventy-
seven years seven months. Children of
Gideon and Jane ( Paddock) Bradford: Levi, born February 16, 1743, died at Homer, New York, September 5, 1822, aged seventy-nine years. Joseph, October 19, 1745, died at Washington, Beaufort county, North Carolina, August, 1787. Sarah, mentioned in next para- graph. Samuel, June 20, 1750, died at Plymp- ton, Massachusetts, March 26, 1835, aged eighty-five years. Gideon, May 30, 1752, died at Plympton, Massachusetts, April 16, 1805, aged fifty-two years ten months. Calvin, July 25, 1754, died at Plympton, April 24, 1835, in his eighty-first year.
(VIII) Sarah, eldest daughter of Gideon and Jane (Paddock) Bradford, was born May 19, 1749, at Plympton, Massachusetts, and died at the home of her son, Freeman (2) Ellis at Carthage, Maine, September 2, 1837, in her ninetieth year. She was married at Plympton, in 1766, to Freeman Ellis, then of that town, but who subsequently removed to Hartford, Maine, where he died March 15, 1802. (See Ellis V.)
HOLT It is said by antiquarians and students of the origin and signifi- cation of surnames that the fam- ily name Holt is derived from "a holt, or grove," at or near which dwelt some remote English ancestor. The progenitor of the American branch of the family was a pioneer settler in two towns and a man of influence among his associates. There is a tradition that the dwelling of Nicholas Holt, the immi- grant, is one which still stands on Holt's Hill, sometimes called Prospect Hill, in Andover, Massachusetts. The descendants of the immi- grant in Andover have been noticeable for their attention to learning. The Holt family in that town included four college graduates previous to 1800. The family in this country in all its branches is very large and includes many names of considerable prominence in the town of Andover and elsewhere.
Nicholas Holt was a passenger in the ship "James," of London, William Corper, master, which sailed from Southampton, England, about April 16, 1635, and arrived at Boston, New England, June 3 following, after a voy- age of forty-eight days. The names of forty- three male persons are found as passengers on the ship's roll, "besides the wives and chil- dren of Dyvers of them." Among the former occurs the name of Nicholas Holte, of Rom- sey (county of Hants), England, "Tanner." Undoubtedly he was accompanied by a wife and at least one child. He proceeded the same
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year to Newbury, where he was one of the first settlers and resided there some ten years. There he received his proportionate share of the lands allotted to each proprietor. In 1637 his name appears as one of the ten persons who in order to prevent the re-election of Sir Henry Vane to the office of governor, and to strengthen the friends of Governor Winthrop, went from Newbury to Cambridge on foot, forty miles, and qualified themselves to vote by taking the freeman's oath May 17, 1637. This defeat was a severe blow to the pride of Sir Henry Vanc.
April 19, 1638, Nicholas Holt was chosen one of the surveyors of highways "for one whole yeare & till new be chosen." February 24, 1637, it was agreed that William Moody, James Browne, Nic. Holt, Francis Plummer, Na Noyse, shall lay out all the general fences in the towne, that are to be made, as likewise tenn rod between man & man for garden plotts this is to be done by the 5th of March on the penalty of 5s apiece." In June, 1638, all the able-bodied men of Newbury were enrolled and formed into four companies under the command of John Pike. Nicholas Holt, John Baker and Edmund Greenleafe. They were required to "bring their arms compleat on Sabbath day in a month and the lecture day following," and "stand sentinell at the doors all the time of the publick meeting."
The first church records of Newbury prior to 1674 are lost, and consequently the name of Nicholas Holt is not found, but it appears in the following order of the town records : "Jan. 18, 1638. It is ordered that Richard Knight, James Brown & Nicholas Holt shall gather up the first payment of the meeting house rate, & the town within one fourteen- night on the penalty of 6s 8d apiece." In 1644 Nicholas Holt was one of the ten origi- nal settlers who removed their families from Newbury and accompanied their pastor, the Rev. John Woodbridge, to "Chochichawicke," now Andover. On a leaf in the town records containing the list of householders in order as they came to the town his name is sixth. He was one of the ten male members, includ- ing the pastor-elect. who composed the church at the ordination of Mr. John Woodbridge, October 24, 1645. May 26, 1647, he was ap- pointed in connection with Sergeant Marshall "to lay out the highway between Reading and Andover, and with Lieut. Sprague and Ser- geant Marshall to view the river (Ipswich River) and make return to the court of the necessity and charge of a bridge and make return to the next session of this court." At a
general court held May 2, 1652, he was ap- pointed with Captain Johnson, of Woburn, and Thomas Danforth, of Cambridge, "to lay the bounds of Andover," and May 18, 1653, he was appointed with Captain Richard Walker and Lieutenant Thomas Marshall to lay out the highway betwixt Andover and Reading and at the same term of court, Sep- tember 20, 1655, the committee made a report of said survey.
Nicholas Holt died at Andover, January 30, 1685, aged one hundred and four years, says the record, but Coffin, with more probability, says cighty-tharce. In his early life he carried on the business of manufacturer of wooden- ware. A few years before his death, in dis- tributing his property among his children, he styles himself "dish-turner." The word "tan- ner" on the roll of the ship "James" is prob- ably an error of the recording official who mis- took the word turner for tanner.
There is no doubt but that the same mo- tives that actuated the other carly settlers of New England in leaving their pleasant homes in England and emigrating to this country had their due influence on him. That he was a religious man is made evident by the fact that he was one of the original members of the Andover church, and by his forsaking his native home in England to encounter the pri- vations and difficulties of the wilderness in or- der that he might enjoy the privileges of wor- shipping God according to the convictions of his own mind and his understanding of God's word. While honestly and conscientiously dis- charging his duties in this regard he took an active part in public affairs of the town and his appointment on important committees in laying out roads and other improvements in- dicates that his services were valuable and appreciated.
Nicholas Holt was married in England a few years before he came to Massachusetts. The name of his wife was Elizabeth Short, of whom nothing more is known except that she died at Andover. November 9, 1656. He mar- ried (second) June 20, 1658, Hannah, widow of Daniel Rolfe, and daughter of Humphrey Bradstreet. She died June 20, 1665, at Andover, and he married (third) May 21, 1666, Widow Martha Preston, who died March 21, 1703, aged eighty years. He had by his first wife four sons and four daugh- ters; by his second wife, one son and one daughter. His children, born in Newbury, were: Elizabeth, Mary, Samuel, Andy; and in Andover, Henry Nicholas, James, John and Priscilla.
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Various members of the Holt family re- moved from Andover, Massachusetts, soon after the revolutionary war, in the settlement of the towns of Maine, back from the coast. Captain William Holt, of Andover, a master mariner, with his two sons, Stephen and Na- than, settled in Wilton and later in Weld, Maine; the sons in 1807, and the father in 1812. The sons took up land, and were for many years farmers. Another son of Wil -. liam was Asa, who lived in Weld, where he died in 1825.
(I) Abel Holt, supposed to have been a na- tive of Andover, Massachusetts, lived and died in Weld. He was a farmer, and took a lively interest in public affairs and held town offices. He married (first) Lydia Pratt; children : Hubbard, Erastus, Abiah Jr., a son who was lost at sea; Otis, Grace and Isabel. He mar- ried a second wife, by whom he had two chil- dren : Whitman and a daughter Lois.
(II) Erastus, second son of Abel and Lydia (Pratt) Holt, was born in Weld, in September, 1818, and died January 28, 1897, aged seventy-nine. He was a farmer and car- penter, and lived for years in Portland, where he worked at his trade. He married Lucinda, daughter of Ephraim and Lydia (Stiles) Packard; children: I. Artemas G., killed in- stantly in a railroad accident in 1905. 2. Nel- lie A., married (first) a Mr. Bishop, and (second) Franklin Sanborn; now resides in Walpole, Massachusetts. 3. Charles O., mar- ried Miss Bucknell, of Canton, Maine; lives in Lewiston. 4. Henrietta L., married Charles Glover, now deceased; she lives in Canton. 5. Emma L., deceased ; married M. T. Hatch, of Hyde Park, Massachusetts. 6. Erastus E .; see forward.
(III) Dr. Erastus Eugene, youngest child of Erastus and Lucinda (Packard) Holt, was born in Peru, Oxford county, Maine, June I, 1849. He was a boy of four years when his father removed with his family to East Stoughton, Massachusetts, and there had charge of the Alms House and House of Cor- rection, and in connection with his official du- ties carried on the farm connected with the almshouse property, and also performed con- siderable work in highway construction. In 1857 he returned with his parents to the old homestead in Peru, and two years later his father went to California, leaving young Eras- tus at home with his older brother, Artemus C. Holt, and their mother, who kept house for them while her sons did the work of the farm. In 1861 he went to Canton, Oxford county, and in August of that year his mother was
stricken ill and died. Young Holt lived with the family of his grandfather, Ephraim Pack- ard, of Buckfield, until 1864, being then fifteen years old, and he then went to live in Canton with John P. Swasey and Albion Thorne, and worked as clerk in the store of which they were proprietors.
During the latter part of the time young Holt was at work in the store in Canton, he organized an amateur minstrel company and gave exhibitions in the district school house of the village. Soon afterward he went to Lewiston, and there found work in a store kept by a Mr. Pulverman, whose stock in trade comprised Yankee notions. In 1866 he went to Clinton to work for Abijah Billings, in a wool-carding mill which was run day and night. It was here that he strapped his books at the side of the feeder of the carding ma- chine, and studied them at every opportunity during the long and weary nights; and here too he committed to memory Harkness' Latin Grammar, and when he went back to school again in the fall his classmates wondered how it was that he happened to know so much about Latin.
In 1866 he returned to Canton, and again was employed by Mr. Thorne, and in 1867 he taught his first school in that town. About this time he secured the services of a Dr. Major to give a course of lectures at Canton on psychology, in which he illustrated all the features of what is known as hypnotism. At Canton he also worked in the general mer- chandise store of Hayford & Bradford, and while there in 1868 he took a rather promi- nent part in amateur theatricals, on one occa- sion playing Polonius to Albion Thorne's im- personation of the title rôle of Hamlet, with Mrs. D. P. Stowell as Hamlet's mother, and Otis Hayford as the ghost. In the same year he attended Hebron Academy, and taught pen- manship and bookkeeping. He also acted as local correspondent for the Oxford Democrat, a Republican newspaper published at Paris, Maine. On one occasion an article written by him, under the caption of the "Singing Mouse," was widely copied throughout the country and attracted considerable attention. The article in question had its inception in the capture by a Mrs. Cooledge of a mouse which in some way was injured about the throat, causing it to make a peculiar rythmic sound. One interesting divertisement of our young man about this time was his scheme of organizing a lottery, with the drawing set for the day appointed to decide the contest as to whether the town of Canton or Hartford had
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the best wrestler. However, the wrestling con- test may have resulted is of little importance to our present narrative, but young Holt's lottery enterprise turned him net profits suffi- cient to pay all the expenses of one term at Hebron Academy. In 1869 he taught school at North Turner, Maine, and had classes in penmanship during the winter term. In 1870 he became a student at Westbrook Seminary, and taught penmanship and bookkeeping dur- ing the spring term. During the interval of vacation he canvassed the towns of Cumber- land and Falmouth, selling maps of the world and of the United States. In the fall of 1870 he became a student at Gorham Semin- ary, and also taught penmanship and book- keeping during the term. In the fall of 1870 he began teaching in the Willard district at Cape Elizabeth, and continued through the winter term, at the same time conducting an evening school in penmanship and bookkeep- ing. In 1871 he was a student at Gorham Seminary, and during the spring term taught the special branches referred to in the pre- ceding paragraphs.
In this year young Holt took up the study of medicine under the instruction of Dr. J. G. Pierce, of Canton, with whom he became regularly registered. However, he continued teaching as previously, and also kept up his evening classes in penmanship and bookkeep- ing. In 1871 and the early part of 1872 he taught in the Ferry district at Cape Eliza- beth, and afterward in the Willard district ; and in the former year also he went to Boston and became expert accountant and bookkeeper for the wholesale drygoods house of Anderson Heath & Co. In 1872 he attended his first course of lectures at the Medical School of Maine, Brunswick, and afterward during the same year went to Deer Island, Boston, as teacher in the City Reform School, of which in the next year he became principal. At that time he suffered a serious attack of typhoid fever, but even this served its useful purpose in his own after life, for he wrote out about forty large pages of manuscript with a full account of his experiences while in typhoid delirium. In 1873 he went to Hanover, New Hampshire, and took a course in the prepara- tory school of medicine of Dartmouth Medical College. In 1874 he resumed study in the Medical School of Maine, and at the same time took up especial laboratory work under Pro- fessor Carmichael. In June, 1874, Mr. Holt completed his second course of medical lec- tures at Brunswick, and received the degree of M. D. His graduation thesis was on the
subject of typhoid fever, and in the presen- tation of his argument he was able to draw largely upon his own recent experiences while suffering with that disease. His class num- bered twenty-eight members, of whom only twenty-one were successful at the final ex- aminations and received diplomas. Imme- diately after graduation he was elected demon- strator of anatomy in his alma mater, and during the same year became a member of the Maine Medical Association. During that summer he took a summer course at the Port- land School . for Medical Instruction, later went to New York City and attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, now the medical department of Columbia Uni- versity. In 1875 he graduated from the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, and received its degree of M. D., again presenting a thesis on typhoid fever, to fulfill the requirements of graduation. While in New York he also took a special course in operative surgery under Prof. Sabine, and on returning to Maine be- came demonstrator of anatomy in the Medical School of Maine. In 1875 he attended clinics at the Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, and studied the ear under Dr. Clarence J. Blake; and returning, was made house surgeon at the Maine General Hospital, beginning his duties there in August of that year. He made quarterly reports of all medi- cal and surgical cases treated at the hospital for the year 1875, and these reports were published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. He also wrote a history of the Maine General Hospital, which was published in the Portland Transcript.
In 1876 Dr. Holt opened an office at No. II Brown street, Portland, and began his career as a general practitioner of medicine and surgery. About the same time he became attending physician and surgeon to the Port- land Dispensary, was elected member of the Cumberland County Medical Society, founded the Portland Medical Club, served as demon- strator of anatomy at the Medical School of Maine, and prosected for Dr. Thomas Dwight, professor of anatomy in that institution. At the same time he continued his connection with the Maine General Hospital, to the first of August, and reports of medical and surgical cases treated there. In 1877 he read a paper before the Portland Medical Club on diseases of the eye, served as attending physician and surgeon to Portland Dispensary, read a paper entitled "Report on Otology" before the Maine Medical Association, which was pub- lished in the Transactions of that year, and at-
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tended clinics at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, New York, where his instructors were Drs. Agnew, St. John Roosa, David Webster, O. D. Pomeroy and J. Oscroft Tans- ley. In the following year he attended clinics at the same famous institution, and also at the New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute, under Dr. Herman Knapp; served as delegate from the Maine Medical Association to the meeting of the Connecticut Medical Society, and was elected a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1879 he took a special course of instruction in the laboratory of Professor Heitzmann, of New York, at- tended clinics at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital and the New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute, delivered a lecture on the eye before the Maine Charitable Mechanics' Asso- ciation, and read a paper on "Strabismus Con- vergens" before the Maine Medical Associa- tion, the same being published in the Transac- tions of the Association.
In 1880 Dr. Holt became a Master Mason, attended clinics in New York as mentioned in the last paragraph, took a second course in Professor Heitzmann's laboratory, and pre- sented before the State Medical Association a valuable paper on "Oitis Media Non-suppura- tiva," based on one thousand cases of diseases of the ear observed in private practice. In April, 1881, he went to Europe and visited various hospitals in England, Ireland and on the continent, but spent the greater part of his time at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hos- pital. from which institution he received a cer- tificate; was elected member of the seventh International Medical Congress, held in Lon- don : made a report of the proceedings of the Congress to the Maine Medical Association ; attended special lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons by Jonathan Hutchinson; pre- sented papers on "Supperation of the Middle Ear" and "Acute Diseases of the Ear" before the Portland Medical Club; lectured on the eye before the Maine Charitable Mechanics' Association, and read a paper before the Cum- berland County Medical Society on the "Pupil of the Eye in Health and Disease."
In 1882 he became a member of the Amer- ican Otological Society, and read before that body a paper on "Boilermakers' Deafness and Hearing in a Noise"; also read a paper on "Diseases of the Lachrymal Apparatus" before the Maine Medical Association. This paper embodied much work, as it included the views of many medical men consulted in England and elsewhere while Dr. Holt was abroad ; also prepared an article on "Acute Inflammation of
the Middle Ear," published in the American Journal of Otology; and read before the Port- land Medical Club a paper on "Practical Points in Eye Diseases." His work for 1886 in- cluded a paper on "Diseases of the Mastoid," read before the Maine Medical Association and published in the Transactions; "Observa- tions on the Hearing Power in Different Con- ditions"; "Report of a Case of Teratoid Tu- mor of Both Auricles," having a clinical his- tory of a recurrent fibroid, papers read before the American Otological Society, and pub- lished; "Commotio Retina, or some of the effects of direct and indirect blows to the eye," paper read before the American Ophthalmo- logical Society and published, 1884; "Dif- ferential Diagnosis between Conjunctivitis and Iritis," and "Treatment of Ulcers of the Cor- nea," papers read before the Maine Medical Association and published ; "Catarrh and Its Results," paper read before the Portland Med- ical Club; and an address on the eye at a meeting of the teachers of the public schools of Portland, 1885; "First Series of One Hun- dred Cases of Cataract, with Operations," paper read before the Maine Medical Asso- ciation and published; "Refraction of the Eye," paper read before the Portland Medical Club ; "Does Cocaine Hydrochlorate while re- lieving the pain in Acute Olitis Media pro- long the congestion," paper read before the American Otological Society, and published ; "Strabismus, its correction when excessive and in high degrees of Amblyopia," paper read before the New England Ophthalmological Society and the American Ophthalmological Society, and published; "Present Condition of Patient from whom Teraloid Tumors of Both Auricles were removed in 1883," paper read before the American Otological Society, and published. In 1885 Dr. Holt was one of the founders of the New England Ophthalmolog- ical Society. In 1886, "The treatment of De- tachment of the Retina," paper published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology; "The importance of an Institution devoted to the Treatment of Diseases of the Eye and Ear in Maine," address before the incorporators of the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Holt founded the Maine Eye and Ear In- firmary, and became its executive and attend- ing surgeon. In this year he wrote several articles which were intended to answer cer- tain statements published in the Portland Evening Advertiser against organizing the in- firmary, and by his argument showed con- clusively why such an institution was a great public necessity. He also prepared for pub-
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