USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 21
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To no one more truly than to him can be ap- plied the words : He "kept at eve the faith of morn."
SMALL The Smalls were intimately con- nected with the earliest history of Maine and New Hampshire. They were of English blood, and brought with them the traditions of a valiant ancestry. In the year 1330, John and William Small, of Dartmouth, were flatteringly mentioned in an act under Edward III, and some of their descendants seemed to have resided there con- tinuously to this day. There were also rec- ords in 1682 of Smalls in Gloucestershire, England, who claimed to be of the same or- igin as the Smalleys of Leicestershire. In the early York deeds we find that the name has been spelled Smale, Small, and Smalley- these different spellings having been used by the same men. It is not to be wondered at that some branches of this family have adopted the form Smalley.
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(I) Edward Small, who came to America about 1632, was probably from Dartmouth, or some other point in Devonshire, England, where the family has long been one of high character and position. He is said to have come under the auspices of his kinsman, Sir Ferdinando Gorges. He, with Champernown and others, founded Piscataqua, which was afterwards divided into the Maine towns of Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, and Berwick. Edward Small was at the first general court at Saco in 1640, also member of the grand jury the same year. His name was entered on the list as "Edward Small, gent." We find him at old Falmouth, Maine, in 1640 ; a magis- trate there in 1645; and that afterwards he was at the Isle of Shoals. He was one of the magistrates of the general court held at Saco, October 21, 1645. He seems to have built a house in Piscataqua before 1643, as the grant of one hundred acres made to him July 25, 1643, by Thomas Gorges, deputy governor of the Province of Maine (in be- half of Sir Ferdinando Gorges Kt. Ld., pro- prietor of said province) was specified as "ly- ing between two crickes of each side of the house of the said Edward Small, and so back- ward to Sturgeon Crick," five shillings yearly being payment for the same. Five years later, June 23, 1647, Edward Small sold this tract of land and "my dwelling house field" to An- tipus Maverick, for forty-five pounds. No mention of wife or children is found in any deed or record. The last mention we find of
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him is in the Isle of Shoals, in 1653. He probably returned to England.
(II) Francis Small, who may be regarded as the ancestor of the Small family of Maine, may have been son of Edward Small, but of this we have no proof. He came to America about 1632. He was baptized in England, October 6, 1625. He may have been named for Captain Francis Champernown, whose father, Arthur Champernown, was owner of large grants of land in Maine and New Hamp- shire. Francis Champernown died in 1687, aged seventy-three. He had no children of his own, so willed his large estates to his wife (who was the widow of Robert Cutt) and to her children. He also gave to Eliza- beth Small, "my servant maid, in behalf of what I formerly promised her," thirty acres of land at Spruce Creek; also ten pounds in cattle and ten pounds in goods. Elizabeth Small may have been a sister of Francis. She was the wife of Thomas Hooper, of York, when she sold this piece of land to Henry Bar- ter, of Kittery, March 5, 1697-98. Francis Small was living in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1648, with his wife Elizabeth. In 1657 he was a resident of Falmouth, Maine. The earliest Indian deed of land in Falmouth was made July 27, 1657, by Scitterygussett, to Francis Small. It reads thus : "Bee it knowne unto all men by these presents, that I Scittery- gussett of Casco Bay Sagamore, do hereby grant, sell &c all that upland and Marshes at Capissicke, Lying up along the Northerne side of the river unto the head thereof & so to reach & extend unto ye river side of Amme- cungan." Francis Small bound himself. "yearly to pay unto ye said Scitterygussett Sagamore, during his life, one Trading coate for Capussicke & one Gallone of Lyquors for Ammomingan." May 10, 1658, Francis Small assigned one-half of this land to John Phil- lips, of Boston. July 13, 1658, the "Inhabi- tants of Black Poynt, Bleu Point, Spurwink and Cascoe Bay owned themselves subject to the Government of Mass. Bay in N. E." Francis Small headed this list, and was one of the few whose names were written without a mark. November 2, 1658, he sold to Isaac Walker, of Boston, "the plantation lately bought of Richard Martyn, called Martyn's Point, over against Clapboard Island." He had a grant of one hundred acres of land in that part of Kittery called Newichawannock, also two hundred and two acres on eastern side of the Piscataqua river. (See deed to his son Daniel Small, of Truro, Mass., dated Oc- tober 31, 1712.)
In the year 1659, Francis Small "was employed by Major Nicholas Shapleigh to purchase a certain great Ysland called Se- bascoe Diggin, lying against a Necke of land called Merriconeag." He built a house there "by order of Major Shapleigh and possessed the Ysland in his behalf." "This was called Small's Island." May 10, 1683, Francis Small, senior, aged about fifty- six, and his wife Elizabeth, aged about forty- nine, testified to the above facts. They had one child born there, which was the "first white child of English parents" born in that part of Maine. Francis Small was again attorney for Falmouth in 1663. He was living in Kit- tery in 1668, but he had a house and trading camp where the village of Cornish now is. This was doubtless the first house built in that town or in any part of the Ossipee lands. "In the summer of 1668, Francis Small sold goods to the Newichawannoch tribe of Indians on credit, to be paid for in furs in the autumn ; but when the time of payment drew near the red men deemed it easier to kill Small than to pay him, and they decided to fire his house and shoot him when he came out to escape the flames. Captain Sunday, the chief of the tribe, was friendly to Small, and told him what the Indians were to do, and advised him to flee for his life. Small thought the tale a cunningly devised fable to frighten him away in order to avoid payment; but when night came, thinking it wise to be on the side of safety, he secreted himself in some pines on the hill near by, and watched through the long November night. With the coming of the dawn, a flame of fire shot up from the burning house, whereupon Small took flight and paused not until he reached his home in Kittery. Chief Sunday followed Small to Kit- tery, and there made good the loss, by selling to him the entire Ossipee tract of land. The deed was dated November 28, 1668. The
signature of Captain Sunday was a turtle. It conveyed to Francis Small "my great tract of land at Osobe containing twenty miles square and lying between the two rivers of great Osobe, and Little Ossipee, so called, and being the same land where the said Francis Small's trading house now stands, and from the river Meehewonock near Humphrey Chadbourne's logging camp, and to extend Northerly and Easterly to Saco river." The consideration was "two large Indian blankets, Two gallons Rum, Two pounds powder, four pounds of Muscet Balls, and twenty string of Indian beads, with several other articles." This deed is still in existence, and was recorded in 1773,
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when one hundred and five years old. Francis Small conveyed one undivided half of the Os- sipee lands to Major Nicholas Shapleigh ; and the other half to his son Samuel, April 30, 17II. These lands were divided between the heirs of Francis Small and Nicholas Shap- leigh, about 1781. It is now incorporated in the towns of Limington, Limerick, Cornish, Parsonsfield and Newfield. Cornish was first named Francisborough.
Francis Small had wife Elizabeth in $1648, when they were living in Dover, New Hamp- shire. No record of marriage has been found, but it is probable that she was a Leighton. Their children were: Edward, married Mary Woodman, of Dover, New Hampshire; Fran- cis, married Elizabeth and died in Truro, Massachusetts, 1709; Samuel, born about 1664, in Kittery, Maine; (see forward) ; Benjamin, married Rebecca and went to Harwich, Massachusetts; Daniel, a car- penter of Truro, Massachusetts, in 1712; was of Provincetown, Massachusetts, February, 1729-30; Elizabeth, married March 7, 1704-05, John Pugsley, of Dover, New Hampshire; Alice, married Thomas Wormwood; and Mary, born about 1654, married Nicholas Frost, before 1677. Francis Small went to Cape Cod to spend his last years, with his son Daniel, and died there about 1713, "be- ing about 93 years of age."
(III) Samuel, son of Francis Small and Elizabeth (Leighton ?) Small, was born about 1664, in Kittery, Maine. He was living there in 1737, and may have reached an age as great as his father. A deposition of Samuel Small, dated November 1I, 1737, "aged about seventy-three years," testifies that in his youth he was a servant to Henry Jocelyn several years at Pemaquid. He may have remained there until the death of Mr. Jocelyn, in 1683. He had grants of land in Kittery in 1694-99, of one hundred acres. He lived at Sturgeon Creek. He bought of Peter Wittum, Decem- ber 12, 1696, sixteen acres on the southwest side of Sturgeon Creek, with house and or- chard. He was still living there in 1728 (when he deeded it to his beloved son Joseph to be his "after my decease"). He had a grant of thirty-eight acres at Sturgeon creek on the 4th day of March, 1699-1700, which he sold to James Davis, October 31, 1727. He was one of the most respected men of the town. He was a witness to many deeds and wills, and helped settle many estates. No doubt he was an early member of the Berwick Con- gregational church, as his name is in the list of members June 4, 1702, the day that the
new meeting house was dedicated. In 1711 he received the deed of the Ossipee lands from his father, Francis Small. It may be well to mention here that when Francis Small was over ninety years old and too feeble to sign his name, he gave a deed of these same lands to his son Daniel (dated October 31, 1712). This deed was proved invalid. Sam- uel Small married, before 1694, Elizabeth Chadbourne, widow of James Chadbourne, and daughter of Ensign James Heard. Their children were born in Kittery, and were: Elizabeth, born November 9, 1695, married Benjamin March, February 10, 1713-14; Sam- uel Jr., born April 17, 1700 (see forward). Joseph, born December 3, 1702, married Mary Libby, April 12, 1722; and Mary, baptized May 27, 1707, married Solomon Davis, of Marblehead, October 15, 1720.
(IV) Deacon Samuel (2), second child of Samuel (I) and Elizabeth (Heard) Small, was born at Kittery, Maine, April 17, 1700. When but a lad he displayed all the sturdy characteristics of his long line of noble an- cestry. He threaded the pathways of the for- ests to the north and west, and sailed far along the eastern coast. He was the third and last single owner of the famous Ossipee lands. He was very active in the organization of the First Congregational Church in Scar- boro (where he made his home after 1726), and was its first deacon in 1728. He was chosen clerk of Scarboro in 1727, and with the single exception of 1775, when he was probably absent from home attending to mat- ters in connection with the coming war, he was clerk every year until 1779-a period of fifty-two years. And strange as it may seem to us, he was usually moderator of the meet- ings also. He was usually one of the select- men, and a member of all important commit- tees. In 1786, when carrying the weight of eighty-six years, he was moderator of the meeting for the last time; and when at the ripe old age of ninety years, he for the last time served on a committee. For sixty-three years his was the most conspicuous name on the Scarboro records. Deacon Samuel was very active in matters which led up to the revolutionary war, and was so extremnely enthusiastic in the cause of liberty that he recorded the entire Declaration of Independ- ence in the town clerk's book. At the age of seventy-eight years he was at the head of the committee of correspondence, inspection and safety, and at the age of seventy-nine years he was a member of the convention at Cam- bridge to form a state government. The
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date of his death is unknown, but his years probably equalled those of his grandfather Francis, who died at the age of ninety-three. He was buried in the old cemetery at Scar- boro, and a stone marks the spot.
He married, January 17, 1716-17, Anna Hatch, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, daughter of Captain John Hatch. A reason for this early marriage is to be found in the fact that her father died about the time of her birth; and her only brother died in Au- gust, 1716, leaving her without a home. No doubt she was welcomed to her new home by the parents of her husband. Samuel Small Sr. deeded to his son Samuel a portion of the homestead land at Sturgeon Creek, July 9, 1719. Their children, as recorded on Kittery records, were: Samuel, see forward; Anna ; John; Joshua ; and Elizabeth. The others, born in Scarboro, were Sarah, Benjamin, James and Mary.
(V) Samuel (3), oldest son of Deacon Samuel (2) and Anna (Hatch) Small, of Scarboro, Maine, was born May 26, 1718, in Kittery, Maine, but went to Scarboro with his parents when about ten years old. Like his father, he was deacon in the Congregational church, and was town clerk. He was chief justice of Cumberland county court of com- mon pleas. In 1773 his father divided the Ossipee lands, giving to him and his brother Joshua three-eighths each, and to Benjamin (son of this Samuel) one-twelfth. These three men went up to Limington and took posses- sion of their ancestral acres. After a contest in the courts, the Indian deed was pronounced valid, and their title perfect. Samuel Small married, February 16, 1741-42, Dorothy, daughter of Captain Richard Hubbard, of Kingston, New Hampshire, born June 25, 1723. Their children were all born in Scar- boro: Abigail, Benjamin, Sarah, Samuel, Francis, Martha, Dorothy, James, Willam ( see forward), Anna and Dorothy.
(VI) William, son of Deacon Samuel (3) and Dorothy (Hubbard) Small, was born June 8. 1759, in Scarboro, Maine, and died about 1833, in Limington, Maine. He always resided in Limington, was a manufacturer of shoes, and a most highly respected citizen. His home was one of truest joy and peace ; nothing delighted him more than to help his neigh- bors, and give a cordial greeting to all strangers who came to the town. William Small married (first) January 7, 1782, Mary March, born August 29, 1761, in Scarboro, Maine, and died October 16, 1794, in Liming- ton, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Samuel
March, of Scarboro, a brave soldier of the revolutionary war (and granddaughter of Benjamin March, who married Elizabeth Small, and great-granddaughter of Samuel Small (IV) and Mrs. Elizabeth Chadbourne.) William Small married (second) November I, 1795, Sarah March, born January 22, 1771, in Scarboro, and died May 3, 1849, in Calais, Maine (sister of Mary March). The children of the first marriage of William Small were : Sarah, Eunice, Mary, Martha, Anna, Samuel, and twins-Lucy and Jane. The children of William Small's second marriage were: Will- iam, James, Issacher, Abner, Eliza, Lavinia, John M. and Harriet N.
William Small was a revolutionary soldier, serving as a private in Captain Benjamin Lar- rabee's company, under command of Colonel John Mitchell, in 1775; 'a private in Captain Roger Libby's company in 1779; also sergeant in Captain John Andrew's company, under Brigadier General Wadsworth, in 1780. He made an application for pension July 30, 1832, at which time he was seventy-three years of age, and was allowed for nine months' service.
(VII) Abner, son of William Small and of his second wife, Sarah March, was born in Limington, Maine, October 27, 1802, and died November 17, 1867, in Gardiner, Maine. He was an alert and active business man-a man of truly patriotic spirit, and was one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Gardiner. He joined Adoniram Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, at Limington, Maine, in 1824, and in 1826 became a member of Hermon Lodge, in Gardiner, Maine. He was one of thirty-two members who stood firmly by the lodge during the Morgan excitement. He lived for several years in Mount Vernon, Maine; was made master of Vernon Valley Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and served as postmaster under two administrations. He was also commissioned a captain in the state militia. Abner Small married, in 1832, Mary Ann Benard Randall, born in Gardiner, Maine, October 21, 1805, died February 28, 1881, in West Waterville, Maine, daughter of Benja- min Randall and Mary Hill Webber. She was a woman of gentle and refined character, and a devoted member of Christ Church, Gar- diner. Their children were : I. Hampton Dunreath Plumer, born May 31, 1833; grad- uate of Waterville College; died August 23, 1862. 2. Abner Randall, born May 1, 1836; see forward. 3. Emilus Norris Dumont, born June 8, 1842; a brave lieutenant in the Sec- ond Maine Cavalry in the civil war. He was first mustered into the United States service as
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first sergeant of Company A, Sixteenth Maine Infantry, August 14, 1862, and discharged for disability, March 2, 1863. Recovering his health, he was again mustered into the serv- ice, December 11, 1863, as sergeant major, Second Maine Cavalry, and soon after pro- moted to second lieutenant of Company M, same regiment. He married Annie M. Ben- son, June 28, 1871, in Oakland, Maine. They have one son, Deane Benson Small, born April 8, 1879. He is now district superintend- ent of the New England Telephone & Tele- graph Company, and located in Portland, Maine. He married, June 27, 1907, Alice Cor- nish Bassett, daughter of Hon. Josiah W. Bassett, of Winslow, Maine. 4. Emma Sedg- wick, who has been for several years super- visor of drawing in the public schools of Seattle, Washington.
Samuel March, grandfather of Abner Small, was a member of the provisional congress. He was lieutenant-colonel of Colonel Edward Phinney's thirty-first Regiment of Foot, and served at Cambridge until December 31, 1775. He held the same commission under the same colonel in the Eighteenth Continental regi- ment in 1776, and served through the siege of Boston, marching in August to reinforce the Northern Army at Fort Ticonderoga, serving until December 31, 1776.
(VIII) Major Abner Randall Small, son of Abner and Mary A. B. (Randall) Small, was born May 1, 1836, in Gardiner, Maine. When a boy he changed his middle name to Ralph. He has been a resident of Oakland, Maine, since 1860-one of the. noblest sons of the old Pine Tree State, beloved by all who know him, for his energetic character, sturdy patriotism, strict honesty, warm hospitality, and other fine qualities.
"Major Abner Randall Small was first mus- tered into the United States volunteer service as a private in Company G, Third Maine In- fantry, in June, 1861. He was speedily pro- moted corporal, then sergeant. In June, 1862, he received further promotion by being com- missioned and mustered into the United States service as first lieutenant and adjutant, to be assigned, and later was mustered in as adju- tant of the Sixteenth Maine Infantry. In December, 1862, he was assigned to duty as aide-de-camp on the staff of Colonel Adrian R. Root, commanding First Brigade, Second Division, First Army Corps. While thus serv- ing he was complimented with a well-deserved special mention for his distinguished gallantry displayed in the battle of Fredericksburg. On July Ist, 1863, he was also appointed assistant
adjutant general, same brigade. Later on he received special mention in general orders for his brave conduct in the battle of Gettysburg, which has been well described in many papers and histories. He also participated in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged until taken and held prisoner from August 18th, 1864, to February 22nd, 1865. In the meantime he was commissioned major, Octo- ber, 1864, of the same command. Thus he was with his regiment, the Sixteenth Maine, from the time of its organization until it was mustered out, June 5th, 1865.
"It is needless to say of Major Small that his record is one of sterling honor. His mili- tary skill and ardor, his devotion to the best welfare of his regiment, his lofty and unflag- ging patriotism, and his conspicuous gallantry, have placed his name on the roll of the most distinguished officers who aided to put down the rebellion." His fine military record is contained in Report of Adjutant General of Maine, vol. i, p. 456, and U. S. Official War Records-Gettysburg, series I, vol. xxvii, p. 293, and Fredericksburg, series I, vol. xxi, pp. 487, 489.
After the civil war, Major Small settled in Oakland, Maine. He was for thirty-three years treasurer of the Somerset Railway Com- pany, and for many years one of its directors ; first clerk and treasurer of the Madison Wool- en Company since 1892, and accountant of the Dunn Edge Tool Company, since 1868. Major Small is a charter member of De Molay Commandery of Knights Templar, also a mem- ber of the Military Order of the Loyal Le- gion of the United States, and of the Maine Society of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion.
Major Small married (first) Julia Maria Fairbanks, in 1865. He married (second) October 24, 1888, Medora Frances Clark, who was born February 15, 1850, in Gardiner, Maine, daughter of Nathaniel Clark Jr. and Maria A. G. T. Holbrook. Mrs. Small is an enthusiastic club woman, having been a loyal member of the Maine Federation of Women's Clubs since its organization in 1892. She is a member of Koussinoc Chapter, D. A. R., of Augusta, Maine. Their children are: Ralph Hugo Small, born in Oakland, Maine, Decem- ber 27, 1889; and Harold Adams Small, born in Oakland, Maine, April 19, 1893.
Mrs. Medora Frances (Clark) Small is de- scended from the immigrant Edward Clark (q. v.), through Joseph (II), David (III), Nathaniel (IV), and
(V) Ephraim Clark, son of Nathaniel and
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Abigail (Dennett) Clark, was born May 14, 1756, in Kittery, Maine, and died August 12, 1847, in Limington, Maine. He married, Au- gust, 1784, Lucy Small, born February II, 1763, in Scarborough, Maine; died June, 1827, in Limington, Maine. She was daughter of Joshua Small and Susanna (Kennard) Small, of Scarborough and Limington, Maine. Their children were : Nathaniel, Samuel, John, Mary, Edward, Ephraim, Lucy, Eliot (died young), Asenath and Eliot.
Ephraim Clark inherited a spirit of adven- ture and daring from his Small ancestors, which found full scope in the revolutionary war. His record was a remarkable one. He enlisted November 17, 1776, as seaman on the privateer "Dalton," was captured on her and taken to Plymouth, England, and put in Mill Prison, where he remained till March 15, 1779; when with other prisoners he was taken to Nantes, France, to be exchanged. He en- listed April 5, 1779, for one year's service, on Continental frigate "Alliance," Captain Pierre Landais, in the fleet under Commodore Paul Jones, and was in the fight September 23, 1779, when the "Serapis" and "Countess of Scarboro," British frigates, were captured. He was taken prisoner October 9, 1779, and taken to Fortune prison, Portsmouth, England. He escaped and went to Cherbourg, France, May 3, 1780. He was on the cutter "Marquis Marbeck," a privateer under American colors sailing from Dunkirk, France, when she was captured September 9, 1781, by a British ves- sel, and he was taken again to Mill Prison in England. He was exchanged, and arrived at Marblehead, Massachusetts, August, 1782. In 1784 he was. living in Kittery, Maine. He settled in Limington, Maine, and owned a farm.
He was pensioned July 4, 1820, and again in 1832. His grandsons spent many happy hours at the old homestead listening to the stories of his hairbreadth escapes and ad- ventures by sea and land. It is related of him that when almost ninety years old he offered to teach one of his grandchildren to dance, saying: "When I was young I gave dancing lessons in France." Two rare old books, written by comrades of Ephraim Clark, contain much of interest about the infamous Old Mill Prison and the prisoners confined in its walls, viz .: "Memoirs of Rev. Andrew Sherburne" and "Diary of Charles Her- bert."
(VI) Nathaniel (2), eldest son of Ephraim and Lucy (Small) Clark, was born in Liming-
ton, Maine, December 24, 1785, and died there March 6, 1850. He married, October 13, 1808, Martha Small, daughter of William Small and his first wife Mary March. She was born June 15, 1788, in Limington, and died there January 20, 1826. Their children were: Ira, Julia A., Charles, Harriet S. and Nathaniel. Nathaniel Clark Sr. married (second) Octo- ber 22, 1826, Mary Gilpatrick (Adams) Small, widow of David Small. Their children were Lewis, Martha, George A., Julia A., Cordelia and Sarah. He was one of the charter mem- bers of Adoniram Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Limington. The lodge erected a monument to his memory in 1850. He was a very genial man, kind and upright, and highly respected in the community. He was a manufacturer of boots and shoes. He was chorister of the Baptist church for many years.
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