USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 11
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might be received within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay Colony. January 16, 1644, he received from the town a grant of ten acres of land, and February 10, 1648, a further life grant of twenty acres; and April 22, 1649, he and others were granted a mill site at Little river. In 1649-50 he was selectman, and March 21, 1650, received a further grant of ten acres of land. On May 13, 1650, as one of the committee of the town, he signed the contract engaging Rev. Samuel Dudley as minister. November 24, 1650, he was given permission to enlarge his garden out of the highway, and on January 2, 1651, he received a further grant of sixty acres of land from the town, and on the same day with John Gil- man, dissented from the vote of the town, re- leasing the Rev. Samuel Dudley from pay- ment of certain rentals due the town, and on February 19, 1651, the town authorized Henry Robie and two other townsmen "to vindicate the credit and the reputation of (Rev.) Mr. Dudley, against the reproachful speeches and calumniation of John Garland, by proceeding against him in law, according to the demerit of his offense." Soon after 1651 he removed into the present adjoining town of Hampton. He was selectman of Hampton for the years 1656-60-65-81, and in 1660 was a member of the committee to regulate the seating of the people in the meeting house. On January I, 1661, he was named as one of a commission to lay out the road, from the Academy green to the Landing, and in 1667 to settle the bounds of the highway between Hampton and Salis- bury. On October 12, 1669, at the session of the court, Henry Robie was allowed to keep an ordinary in the town, and the court licensed him "to sell beere and wine and strong waters by retaile, and ye sd Robie doth binde him- self, in ye sum of £40, on condition not to suffer any townsmen, men's children and serv- ants to be tipling in his house." He kept the ordinary for about ten years, his license being renewed from year to year. On October 18, 1669, he was attorney for the town, in a mat- ter before the court in Boston. In 1677 he was sent out to flank the Indians, who were besieging the Hampton settlement. His name and that of his wife are recorded as members of the town church on September 18, 1671. A royal decree, made September 18, 1679, having ordered that thereafter the Massachusetts Bay Colony should have no further jurisdiction over the towns of Dover, Portsmouth, Exeter and Hampton, it became necessary to establish a new government for the Province of New Hampshire, to accomplish which Mr. Robie
was named as one of the electors from his town. July 13, 1680, he was foreman of the grand jury, and the same year one of the committee appointed to prosecute persons stealing lumber from the town. In 1683, with other residents of Hampton, he petitioned the colonial governor to be freed from head- money, and the same year was elected a mem- ber of the council from his town. He was a justice of the peace for many years, and Feb- ruary 6, 1683, with three other justices, signed the committment of Rev. Joshua Moody, pas- tor of the church in Portsmouth, for six months for refusing to administer the sacra- ment in accordance of the laws of Great Britain. He was a standing juryman in the trials of Mason against Richard Walderne and other persons in New Hampshire for holding lands which Mason claimed as pro- prietor of the province. His first wife, Ruth, died May 5, 1673, and he married ( second) January 19, 1674, Widow Elizabeth Garland, daughter of Thomas Philbrick, who had pre- viously been the wife of Thomas Chase, and of John Garland. She died February 11, 1677. His third wife, Sarah, died January 23, 1703. His children were: Thomas, John, Judith, Ruth, Deliverance, Samuel and Ichabod by the first wife; and Sarah by the third wife. Two other children, Joanna and Mary, may have been born to him.
(VI) John, second child of Henry and Ruth Robie, born at Exeter, February 2, 1649, was killed June 16, 1691. He removed to Haver- hill in January, 1675, and lived in that part of the town which fell into New Hampshire at the establishment of the "Mitchell line." In a list made February 1, 1677, of houses erected in Haverhill since January 25, 1675, is men- tioned that of John Robie. He lived in what is now Atkinson. His wife died a few days before June 16, 1691, and on that day he was removing his family, consisting of seven chil- dren, the eldest not yet eleven years old, to a place of refuge in the North Parish. When they reached a spot opposite a burying ground described as "near Jesse Clements," Mr. Robie was shot by Indians and killed.
(VII) Colonel Ichabod (probably the eldest ), son of John and (Corlis) Robie, born in 1680, died between October 10, 1752, and September 26, 1753. He was taken captive by the Indians at the time his father was killed, June 16, 1691, and carried away. There are two traditions with respect to his return home. One is that he was ransomed; and the other that by the aid of a friendly Indian he es- caped and returned home. He learned the art
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of tanning, and settled in Hampton Falls, and established his home on what has ever since been known as "the Robie farm." He was a member of the "Society for Settling the Chest- nut Country," attended the first meeting, and was one of the committee to lay out the lots, and also of the old hundred-acre lots, and also for running the lines. He is often mentioned in the records of Chester, and probably built a house on his home lot No. 116, and spent considerable time in the town, but never per- manently lived there. His will is dated Octo- ber 10, 1752, and proved September 26, 1753. He married, January 10, 1707, Mary Cass, born in Hampton, February 26, 1687, daugh- ter of Joseph and Mary (Hobbs) Cass. Their children were: Anne, Ruth, John, Henry, Samuel, Mary and Saralı.
(VIII) Samuel, fifth child and third son of Ichabod and Mary (Cass) Robie, was born in Hampton, October 17, 1717. He lived first in Chester (Raymond), on his father's home lot No. 116. He sold his farm, including his tan- yard, to John S. Dearborn, in 1778, and took his pay in continental money which became worthless on his hands, and he lost all. He then removed to Goffstown. He married (first) a Miss Perkins, by whom he had Sarah, Lydia and Edward. He married (second) Widow Phebe Butterfield, and had Samuel and Polly, who lived at Goffstown.
(IX) Edward, third child of Samuel and (Perkins) Robie, born in Chester, 1746, died December 26, 1837, aged ninety- two. He settled first in Candia, and later re- moved to Chester. He married, 1771, Sarah Smith, daughter of Colonel Webster's second wife. She died in 1843, aged eighty-nine. They had seven children: Mary, Asa, John Smith, Edward J., Toppan, Sarah and Thomas Sargent.
(X) Captain Toppan, fourth son and fifth child of Edward and Sarah (Smith) Robie, born in Candia, New Hampshire, January 27, 1782, died in Gorham, Maine, January 14, 1871, aged eighty-nine. He remained with his parents until seventeen years of age and then, having received a practical education, he went to Gorham, Maine, where he became a clerk in the store of John Horton, and a few months later went into the employ of Daniel Cressey, then a leading trader of Gorham. In Septem- ber, 1802, while still a minor, he took the quite respectable sum of money which by prudence and economy he had saved from his earnings, and forming a partnership went into business with Sewall Lancaster. In 1815 he and his younger brother, Thomas S., became partners
under the style of T. & T. S. Robie, retail merchants, and in the more than twenty year partnership, its members became widely known and popular throughout the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, where they were credited with great activity and abso- lutely square dealing. That was long before the days of railroads, and long lines of loaded sleds and sleighs came from the state of Ver- mont and Coos county, New Hampshire, through the Notch, on their way to Portland, and a good share of their trade fell to Gor- ham. Mr. Robie continued in business until 1850, when he retired, having by his energy and strict attention to business accumulated a large fortune. For more than fifty years Top- pan Robie was a leading citizen not only of Gorham, but of a region including the various surrounding towns. He filled many local offices, and by his faithful and efficient service in the duties thereof proved his qualifications for higher positions and greater honors. In politics he was a Whig and an earnest, unswerving adherent of his party. He served six terms as a repre- sentative in the general court of Massachu- setts, 1813 to 1815, and after the province of Maine was removed from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, in 1820, and made a state, he served in the first two legislatures of the new state, 1820-21. In 1837 he was a member of Governor Kent's council. For half a century he was a trustee of Gorham Academy, and for many years its treasurer. His contributions to that efficient school were generous and timely. He was also long the treasurer of the Congregational Parish and of its ministerial fund, to which latter he contributed $9,000. In the war of 1812 he was captain of a mili- tia company and with his men marched to Portland in 1814, for the defence of the city. He was always ready to do his part in all public movements and no worthy cause ever sought his aid in vain. Toward the erection of the beautiful soldiers' monument, the first erected in Maine, which adorns the village of Gorham, the generous tribute to the memory of the men who died in order that their coun- try might live, he donated $2,000; and toward the purchase of the town clock $500. In the evening of life he passed his years in that peace and tranquility which are the reward of right living. For seventy years he had resided among the people in whose midst he died. He married (first) October 8, 1804, Lydia Brown, of Chester, New Hampshire, born February 6, 1782, died February 23, 1811, aged twenty- nine. She was the daughter of Benjamin and
Frederick Globe-
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Prudence (Kelley) Brown, and sister of the late Francis Brown, D. D., president of Dart- mouth College from 1815 to 1820. He mar- ried (second) September 17, 1811, Sarah T. Lincoln, who was baptized in Hingham, Mas- sachusetts, May 12, 1793, died April 23, 1828, daughter of John and Bethia (Thaxter) Lin- coln, of Gorham, Maine, and was a descendant from Samuel Lincoln, who came from Eng- land, and settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1637. General Benjamin Lincoln, of revo- lutionary fame, Lieutenant Governor Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, his sons, Levi Lin- coln, governor of Massachusetts, and Gov- ernor Enoch Lincoln, of Maine, were de- scendants of this pioneer; and Abraham Lin- coln, president of the United States, was of the same family. He married (third) in No- vember, 1828, Mrs. Eliza (Stevens) Cross, daughter of William Stevens, of Portland, and widow of Captain William Cross. She died November 2, 1865, aged eighty-three. The children born of first wife, Lydia Brown, were: Harriet, August 9, 1805, married, Au- gust 29, 1829, Oliver Lincoln, of Boston, and died in 1832. Francis B., August 19, 1809, married, March 27, 1838, Martha L. Prince, of North Yarmouth. The children of second wife, Sarah T. Lincoln, were: Charles, July 30, 1812, married, September 2, 1835, Emily March. George, October 1, 1816, married, April 27, 1841, Frances M. Barrett. Freder- ick, whose sketch follows.
(XI) Governor Frederick, youngest child of Captain Toppan and Sarah T. (Lincoln) Robie, was born in Gorham, August 12, 1822. After completing the usual studies at Gorham Academy, and with private tutors, he entered Bowdoin College in 1837, and was graduated with the class of 1841. After graduating he went south and for a time taught in Georgia academies and in Florida. While there he de- cided to become a physician, and matriculated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and was graduated from that institution in 1844. In April of the same year he opened an office in Biddeford, where he practiced eleven years. In 1855 he removed to Waldoboro, where he remained three years. In each of these towns his practice was extensive and profitable. Re- turning to Gorham he resided there until the outbreak of the slaveholders' rebellion. June , I, 1861, he was commissioned by President Lincoln, paymaster of United States Volun- teers. He served in the Army of the Potomac until 1863, and was then transferred to Bos- ton as chief paymaster of the Department of New England. In 1864 he was sent to the
Department of the Gulf of New Orleans, where he paid the troops for a year, or until 1865. At the end of the war he returned to Maine, where he had charge of the paying off of the Maine soldiers. His efficient services were recognized and rewarded by the brevet commission of lieutenant-colonel, dated No- vember 24, 1865, he being the first Maine pay- master to receive brevet of that rank. He was honorably mustered out July 20, 1866, and at once returned with energy to the pursuit of peace, his course having been approved by both the government and the people of the state. In 1866 Colonel Robie was elected to the state senate, and re-elected the following year. He was also appointed in 1866 by Wil- liam Pitt Fessenden as special agent of the treasury department, in which capacity he served two years. From 1868 to 1873 he was a member of the Republican state committee. He was a member of the house of representa- tives eight years, and in all served ten terms in the Maine legislature. In 1872 and 1876 he was speaker of the house. He is an able parliamentarian, and discharged the duties of his position with a skill born of much ex- perience and a courtesy and grace which were pleasing to all, and contributed in no slight degree to the dispatch of business that dis- tinguished these periods. He was a member of Governor Washburn's executive council in 1866, of that of Governor Davis in 1880, and of that of Governor Plaisted in 1881-82. In 1872 he was a delegate to the Republican Na- tional convention which nominated General Grant for a second term. In 1878 he was ap- pointed commissioner of the Paris Exposition, and traveled extensively in Europe during the year he remained abroad. In 1882, at the meeting of the Republican state convention in Portland, Colonel Robie was nominated for governor. At the ensuing election Colonel Robie received a plurality of about nine thou- sand votes over the Democratic candidate, Governor Harris M. Plaisted. In 1884 Gov- ernor Robie was again nominated and re- elected by a majority of nearly twenty thou- sand votes, which plainly showed that the firm, intelligent and business-like administra- tion of Governor Robie had the full approval of his entire party and of many good citizens of other parties, who cast their ballots for him. A retrospect shows him to have been one of the most efficient and popular governors the state of Maine has ever had. In various busi- ness enterprises Governor Robie has been and now is an active and powerful business factor. For many years he was a director of the Port-
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land & Rochester Railroad Company; also a director of the First National Bank, of which he is now and for seventeen years has been president. In 1885 he was president of the Eastern Telegraph Company, and one time he was business manager of the Portland Press Publishing Company. He is also a director of the financial committee of the Mutual Life In- surance Company. Governor Robie was raised in a community where agricultural in- fluences were predominant, and his interest in the cultivation of the soil and those who carry it on has always been hearty and sincere. Not long after the grange movement was started he allied himself with it and still gives it his strong support. He was chosen worthy mas- ter of the Maine State Grange in 1881, and continued in that office the ensuing eight years. Naturally he feels a deep and abiding interest in the Grand Army. He became a member of John R. Adams Post at Gorham, and has been one of the foremost to aid in the promotion of many of the wise measures undertaken by that organization. During the year 1899 he was commander of the Department of Maine of the Grand Army of the Republic. For over nine- teen years he has been president of the board of trustees of the Insane Hospital of the state at Augusta. This institution has received much of his attention, and every annual report of the trustees has been written by him. While a member of the legislature the question of the location of the State Normal school came up and he was instrumental in securing its loca- tion in Gorham. He has generously con- tributed to its success and the trustees hon- ored him by calling the handsome new dormi- tory "Frederick Robie Hall," and that in- scription is cut in its granite walls. Similarly, the active and permanent interest of Governor Robie in the public schools of Gorham, mani- fested in a multitude of ways, prompted his fellow townsmen to change the corporation name of one of the Gorham schools to the "Frederick Robie High School." The same high qualities that made his father a leading man in the region about Gorham, have made Governor Robie one of the ablest, most pro- gressive, most influential and most highly es- teemed citizens of the commonwealth over whose destinies he has had the honor twice to preside. The strong character he inherits from various lines of worthy ancestors has placed him in the front rank of the patriotic, worthy and leading men of the state, and his unvarying courtesy, kindliness of heart, in- tegrity, liberality, and irreproachable charac- ter have made him a myriad of friends whose
regard is lifelong. Governor Robie has re- cently become a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Maine, tracing his descent from Richard Warren, one of the passengers of the "Mayflower," a signer of the compact, and a six year resident of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Frederick Robie married (first) November 12, 1847, Mary Olivia Priest, born in Bidde- ford, September 23, 1828, died November 5, 1898, daughter of Jonathan and Mary ( Em- ery) Priest, of Biddeford. She was a lady of many accomplishments, unusually proficient as. a pianist, and also endowed with those per- sonal graces and social qualities which endear their possessor to all whom they meet. Four children were born of this union: Harriet, Mary Frederica, Eliza and William P. F. Harriet, born September 3, 1848, married Clark H. Barker, one time postmaster of Port- land, now deceased. Two children were born of this marriage: Mary Olivia and Benjamin Barker. Mary Frederica, born March 3, 1852, married George F. McQuillan, a prominent lawyer of Portland; one child was born of this marriage, Harriet R. Eliza, born February, 1856, died September 3, 1863. William P. F. is mentioned below. Governor Robie married (second) January 10, 1900, Martha E. Cres- sey, born in Gorham, May 3, 1849, daughter of Alvin and Sarah (Flagg) Cressey. She had always resided on the farm where she was born, and has always been interested in agri- culture and the farm is now carried on under her direction. She is a member of the Congre- gational church; the Order of the Eastern Star; the Relief Corps, Grand Army of the Republic ; and the Patrons of Husbandry.
(XII) William Pitt Fessenden, youngest child and only son of Governor Frederick and Mary Olivia ( Priest) Robie, was born in Dor- chester, Massachusetts, November 5, 1863. From the public schools he went to the pre- paratory school at Fryeburg, Maine, and grad- uated from that institution in 1884. The same year he entered Bowdoin College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1889. After leaving college he assisted his father ir the management of his farm in Gorham unti. 1896, when he entered the medical department of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company of Portland, where he has continued to the present time. He resides in Gorham, Maine. He married, April 6, 1891, Flora Barton, of Cherryfield, who was born June 4, 1862, daughter of Alonzo and Mary (Pineo) Bar- ton. Five children have been born of this mar- riage: Mary Frederica, Frederick, Catherine
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Carlton, John Waterman and Elizabeth Read. The information relating to the early history of the Robie family is due to the researches of Hon. Henry J. Roby, Sanerigg, Grasmere, England, and Ruben Edward Robie, Bath, New York.
The MacQuillans were McQUILLAN powerful chiefs of county Antrim, Ireland, who en- tered Ireland with the earliest English adven- turers. The McQuillans became lords of the northern coast of Ireland, and the contiguous territory from Dunseverick Castle in the county Antrim, near the Giant's Causeway, to Dunluce Castle. Dunseverick, built according to tradition by the McQuillans, is now a heap of ruins ; and Dunluce a once strong and beau- tiful fortress, is dismantled and crumbled with age. MacDonnell, a Scottish chieftain, mar- ried a daughter of McQuillan, and came into possession of the Antrim territory. King James First confirmed the title of the McDon- nell to the country, and since that time a Mc- Donnel has Been Earl of Antrim. The Mc- Quillans became scattered through northern Ireland, and from there to all parts of the world.
(I) John McQuillan was born in the north of Ireland, where he enlisted in the English navy. In course of time, being a man of fine physique and soldierly bearing, brave and of good habits, he was promoted to the position of a subordinate officer. He came to America in a vessel of the English navy which, after some period of naval service, he left at Port- land, Maine, and settled in Gorham, Maine. He resided there many years, and died in 18II. He married (first) Abigail Cook, who died in 1794-95. He married (second) Octo- ber 13, 1796, Elizabeth Brown, who died in 1797, leaving no children. He married (third) September 20, 1798, Olive, daughter of Sam- uel and Mary Edwards. She died September 17, 1821. The children of John McQuillan by his first wife Abigail were: John, Rebecca and William; and by his third wife, Olive Ed- wards: Eliza, Hugh McL. and Sargent.
(II) Rev. Hugh McL., second child of John and Olive (Edwards) McQuillan, was born in Gorham, Maine, July 18, 1803, and died in Casco, Maine, April 14, 1861. After the death of his father he went to live with a gentleman in Windham, Maine, who gave him a good education, and with whom he stayed until he attained his majority. Afterward he studied for the christian ministry, and was ordained a minister of the Christian Baptist church. From
that time forward he was engaged in evangeli- cal work until the time of his death. He was a devout man, and an earnest worker in the cause of religion. He married, at Naples, Maine, in 1842, Elvira (see Wight VI), daughter of Jonathan and Mercy (Harmon) Wight, of Naples, Maine. She was born April 16, 1807, died in Yarmouth, Maine, November 27, 1881. Mrs. McQuillan was a woman of noble character, a companion and helpmeet to her husband, and after his death did all in her power to keep her children together, and give them the best education her circumstances per- mitted. Children: Rufus H., mentioned be- low; George F., mentioned below, and Liza A., born in Naples, Maine, unmarried, and lives in Portland, Maine.
(III) Rufus H., eldest child of Rev. Hugh McL. and Elvira (Wight) McQuillan, was born in Naples, Maine, November 18, 1844, died April 23, 1896. May. 24, 1862, at the age of seventeen years, he enlisted in Company G, First Regiment, United States Infantry, and took part in the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, South Mountain, and the first bat- tle of Fredericksburg, and was present at the siege of Vicksburg from May 19 till its surren- der, July 4, 1863. During the year preceding his discharge on May 24, 1865, he was orderly to the general commanding at New Orleans. On leaving the army he engaged in the lumber business, and at different times had charge of various lumber mills in the west. In 1873 he returned to Maine, and in 1880 located in Yarmouth, where he engaged in the lumber business and also carried on a large hardware store for a number of years. In politics he was a Republican, and as such took an active interest in public affairs. He was deputy sher- iff of Cumberland county, at Yarmouth, under Sheriff Benjamin True for two years. He had an abiding interest in Grand Army affairs, and was the first commander of W. L. Haskell Post, No. 108, at Yarmouth. In business he was a man of the strictest integrity, and in civil and social affairs was one of the best known and highly esteemed citizens of Yar- mouth. He married, March 17, 1874, Alma B. Sawyer, in Raymond, Maine, who survives him. Children : Hugh Dean, George H. and Leroy Rufus. George H. died May 14, 1903.
(III) George F., second child of Rev. Hugh McL. and Elvira (Wight) McQuillan, was born in Naples, April 18, 1849. He passed his boyhood days in Raymond, where he attended the common schools, and fitted for college at North Bridgton Academy and Gorham Semi- nary. In 1870 he entered Bowdoin College,
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