Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I, Part 26

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry Sweetser, 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 802

USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 26

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

(VII) Obadiah, son of Ithamar (2) Little- field, was born in Wells or Kennebunk, August 29, 1777. He married, October 28, 1802, Anna Chick, born March 4, 1782. Children, born at Kennebunk: I. Daniel L., mentioned below. 2. Mary. 3. Samuel. 4. Joshua C., April 6, 1810, died April 6, 1887. 5. Anna. 6. James D. 7. Jonas C., August 28, 1817. 8. Jerusha, May, 1820. 9. Nathaniel. . 10. Esther, July 13, 1826.

(VIII) Daniel L., son of Obadiah Little- field, was born in Kennebunk, May 16, 1803, died October 5, 1890. He married Mary Hardy Leavitt, born December 27, 1802, died January 5, 1871. Daniel L. Littlefield was educated in the common schools in Kenne- bunk. He worked first on a farm, then learned the trade of carpenter and followed this trade for some time at Sanford, Maine. In 1849 he removed from Sanford to Biddeford and was in business many years as a carpenter and builder in that city. In politics he was a Dem- ocrat. He was appointed deputy sheriff while in Sanford and was elected to the common council of Biddeford. He was an active and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Children : I. Mary, born May 4, 1830, died May, 1832. 2. Violetta W., Octo- ber 4, 1832, died January 19, 1859. 3. Gilman P., mentioned below.

(IX) Hon. Gilman Porter, son of Daniel L. Littlefield, was born in Sanford, Maine, No- vember 25, 1838. He was educated there in the public schools, and in the grammar school at Biddeford. He began to work as a boy in the office of the Saco Water Power Company, now the Saco & Pettee Machine Shops. Not liking office work he went into the machine shop to learn the trade, rose step by step to the

position of overseer. He was made assistant superintendent and finally, in 1896, superin- tendent of the shops and has filled that respon- sible position since, with conspicuous ability and success. He has been with this concern continuously since 1855. Mr. Littlefield is prominent in public life, being especially inter- ested in municipal affairs. He was elected to the board of aldermen in 1882 and from time to time served in that board down to 1902; was president of the board in 1882-83. He was president of the common council in 1896, and was elected mayor for the year 1906 unanimously ; was re-elected March, 1907, and has had an extremely successful and com- mendable administration. In politics he is a Republican of large influence. Mr. Littlefield is a member of Dunlap Lodge of Free Ma- sons, of which he is a past master ; a member of York Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; of Maine Council, Royal and Select Masters; Bradford Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is past commander, and of Kora Temple, Mystic Shrine, Lewiston, Maine. He is also a member of Mavoshan Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Biddeford. He is a member of the Second Congregational Church of Bidde- ford. He married, August 7, 1861, Sarah Emma Berry, born May 5, 1841, daughter of Gilbert Berry, of Saco. Children : I. Sarah C., born September 19, 1863, graduate of the Biddeford high school, assistant postmaster of Biddeford. 2. Gilbert B., August 24, 1868, attended the public schools of Biddeford and graduated at Bowdoin College; now assistant night manager of the Associated Press office, Boston : married Alice Parsons, daughter of James Parsons, of Biddeford.

(For ancestry see preceding sketches.)

(III) Josiah, eldest son LITTLEFIELD of Lieutenant John and Patience Littlefield, was born in Wells, Maine. He seems to have been a man of prominence and activity in town af- fairs, and his was the first name mentioned in the foundation of the church at Wells in 1701. At the death of his father in 1696, it was de- cided that he should take charge of his estate during the lifetime of his widow Patience, which he did and remained a short time after. In 1708, however, he was captured by the In- dians and while in captivity the court ordered that his estate and children be placed in charge of Josiah Winn, who had married Lydia, his brother's daughter. The second wife of Jo- siah Littlefield, not wishing to be ignored as a suitable guardian for his children, made con-

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tinuous trouble regarding the property and controversies continued in consequence until the death of Josiah, her husband, who was killed by the Indians, April 26, 1713. His widow, Elizabeth, was made administratrix of his estate. There were eight children surviv- ing, three sons and five daughters; the latter married as follows: Anna married Jacob Per- kins. Esther married Joseph Credeford. Sarah married James Clark. Elizabeth married Zachariah Goodale. Lydia married

The sons' names were not given in this ac- count.

(IV) Peter, son of Josiah Littlefield, was born in Wells, where he resided. He was one of a military company of Frankfort, Maine, who petitioned to organize a company of light infantry. Like his father, he was a very active man. He married

(V) Nathaniel, son of Peter Littlefield, was born in Wells, and was shipwrecked in the West Indies in 1769. He married in 1750.

(VI) Richard, son of Nathaniel Littlefield, was born in Wells. He married, 1788, Ann Stevens.

(VII) Theodore, son of Richard and Ann (Stevens) Littlefield, was born in Wells, May 6, 1782, died in 1863. He married Martha Hobbs. Children: Richard, Theodore, Olive E., Christopher, Woodbury, Ann, William H., Sylvester and Erros Hoag.

(VIII) William Hobbs, fifth son of Theo- dore and Martha (Hobbs) Littlefield, was born in Wells, June 14, 1818, died 1899, hav- ing survived his wife. He was a Freewill Bap- tist minister, and was in politics a Republican. For many years he was superintendent of schools at Vinalhaven, Maine, and was a mem- ber of the building committee of Bates Col- lege. He married, at Kennebunk, March 20, 1845, Mary, daughter of Paul and Dorothy (Hobbs) Stevens, who was born at Kenne- bunk, August 7, 1823. Children: I. Leroy, born May 24, 1846, deceased. 2. Martha Ann, December 14, 1848. 3. Charles Edgar, June 21, 1851. 4. William Trafton, January 12, 1855. 5. Frank Leslie, July 23, 1857. 6. Hat- tie Prescott, November 28, 1859, deceased. 7. Arthur Stevens, April 10, 1864., 8. George Paul, February 5, 1862, deceased. 9. Mary Florence, February 18, 1868, deceased.

(IX) Arthur Stevens, fifth son of William Hobbs and Mary (Stevens) Littlefield, was born at Vinalhaven, Knox county, Maine, April 10, 1864. He was educated at the pub- lic schools of his native town, Nichols Latin School and Bates College, from which institu- tion he was graduated in 1887, and from Co-

lumbia Law School, New York City, 1889. He was admitted to the bar in December, 1889, and at once commenced practice at Rockland, Maine, where he has built up a large and lucrative law business, ranking probably the first in the county. His offices in a finely ap- pointed suite of rooms are attractive and com- modious. In politics Mr. Littlefield is a Re- publican, representing his district in the state legislature 1903-1905, and is a member of the city council and the school board. He is also a director in the Security Trust Company of Rockland. Mr. Littlefield is a Mason and master of Aurora Lodge, No. 50, F. and A. M .; member of King Solomon Temple, No. 8, Royal Arch Chapter; King Hiram Coun- cil, No. 6, Royal and Select Masters ; and the Claremont Commandery of Rockland. He is also a member of the Consistory of S. P. and R. S. of Portland, and Kora Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Lewiston. On March 23, 1907, he was elected without a dissenting vote, exalted ruler of Rockland Lodge, No. 1008, B. P. O. E., which fact testified to his popularity and fitness for office. Mr. Littlefield married, at Lewiston, January 29, 1890, Rosa A., daugh- ter of F. P. and Rosalba A. Weymouth, who was born in Lewiston, January 29, 1864. They have no children.

MASON Mason has been a distinguished name in New England from the early settlement of the country, and no generation since then has been without leading citizens of this cognomen. The fam- ily herein treated is one of the ancient fam- ilies of York county, Maine, whose early his- tory is enveloped in the dim and shadowy town and family records of Hollis, where the name has existed from the early days of pioneer set- tlement.

(I) Amos Mason was a farmer of Hollis. He married there Betsey Plaisted; children : Eliza Jane, died at age of twenty-three ; Han- nah Morse; Sarah G., married Mr. Palmer ; Jeremiah M., of whom further; Josiah, Lo- renzo; Benjamin; Dorcas Jane, died young ; Catherine, died young.

(II) Hon. Jeremiah Miller Mason, son of Amos and Betsey ( Plaisted) Mason, was born in Hollis, Maine, March 20, 1820, and died in Limerick, March 26, 1897. By force of cir- cumstances he was denied the privileges of education in his youth, and in order to shift for himself soon became an apprentice and learned the tailor's trade. With characteris- tic energy he thoroughly mastered his trade and in early manhood moved to Limerick and

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engaged in business, and by close application and indomitable courage not only acquired a good elementary and business education, but became possessed of a wonderfully clear judi- cial knowledge which later served him well in his active career. He soon won recognition throughout the northern tier of towns in York county, as a carefully energetic, honorable and successful man of business. For many years he conducted a general store in the town of his adoption, which, by means of his rare busi- ness sagacity and spirit of fair dealing, he made a center of trade throughout the Ossi- pec Valley. He was a pioneer in the manu- facture of ready-made clothing when that im- portant branch of industry was introduced; and. during the civil war he gave employment to a large number of skilled operatives, in this way advancing the growth and prosperity of the flourishing borough with which he had identified his fortunes. In 1879, when the vil- lage of Limerick was swept by a great fire, Mr. Mason's store was destroyed; but, not one whit dismayed, he at once rebuilt it, on the old site, and continued to do business as before. This store was conducted by him un- til about the year 1888, when he disposed of it in order to devote his entire time and atten- tion to other interests in which he was ac- tively engaged.

Having made for himself an enviable repu- tation for business ability, strict integrity, in- domitable perseverance, and conservatism in the conduct of affairs, Mr. Mason was chosen to fill the responsible position of president of the Limerick National Bank, the duties of which office he discharged up to the day of his death, to the entire satisfaction of the stock- holders and the business public, and with credit to himself. He also served in the ca- pacity of director of the Westbrook Trust Company, and as a member of the board of directors of the Portland National Bank. In addition to these engagements he was inter- ested in the real estate business, and purchased as investments many tracts of state lands in the wooded section of northern Maine, and on the islands along the coast. In all enterprises which he undertook, Mr. Mason acted up to the strict letter of his engagements, expecting the same treatment in return from all those with whom he had dealings.

In politics Mr. Mason was originally a Whig, but on the break-up of that party in 1856 he became a Democrat. When the civil war began he was classed as a "War Demo- crat," but he soon came to entertain the belief

that the only substantial hope for a restoration of the Union lay in the triumph of the Repub- lican, or, as it was at that time termed, the "Union" party. Believing thus, he acted promptly, as was his wont, and threw in his lot with the organization which recognized Abraham Lincoln as its leader, and he felt it to be his imperative duty to take an active and aggressive part in politics. So thoroughly were his unselfish motives appreciated by his fellow citizens, and so unhesitatingly was his fitness for public service recognized by them, that political preferment came his way without solicitation on his part, and indeed sometimes against his personal inclinations. It was felt by his political associates that his name would be a tower of strength on the party ticket, and conduce greatly to its success.

Mr. Mason first served the town of Limer- ick as its representative in the state legislature, and in the years 1866 and 1867 represented the county of York in the same body. So well and so faithfully did he serve his town and shire that he was selected for a seat in the executive council, and held this position for four consecutive years-the first term in 1874, being during Governor Dingley's administra- tion, and the others in 1875, 1876 and 1877, during the three years' incumbency of Gov- ernor Connor. While he was a member of the governor's council Mr. Mason's habit of close attention to financial detail rendered him a most valuable man at the council board, and in the discharge of his duties as auditor of ac- counts he saved the great sum of $200,000 to the state by his careful scrutiny of every bill which was presented for payment. Nor did Mr. Mason neglect the town's interests while engaged in state affairs ; he was chairman of the board of selectmen of Limerick in 1868, and again in the years 1876 and 1877. For many years he was a trusted political leader in the county of York, and was looked up to for counsel and advice. The compass of his acquaintance was wide, and he numbered among his friends and associates many men who stood high in political life and financial circles. By them his views were eagerly sought, and his opinions about all important matters pertaining to his section of the country had great weight. His advice, so often sought, was given with circumspection and with con- scientious regard for the welfare of the seek- ers, and with a careful consideration of the attendant circumstances and the weighty prob- lems involved. By his uprightness, his frank- ness, his probity and his loyalty to his friends,

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he clasped his associates to by hooks of steel; and they held not only in high esteem, but in genuine affection as well.

Mr. Mason married, August 10, 1849, Mar- tha Weeks, born in Buxton, February 10, 1824, died March 23, 1891, in Limerick, daughter of William and Eliza ( Burnham) Woodman, of Buxton (see Woodman). A friend once wrote of her: "She was a woman of whom it may be truly said, 'Her price is far above rubies.' Naturally of a clear and discrimi- nating mind, kindly disposition and refined taste, all the surroundings of her early years tended to cherish and develop those traits, and made her what she was, a true wife and mother. Living in circumstances where every desire of her heart of a worldly nature could be gratified, her sensitive and retiring nature shrank from everything that had the appear- ance of display, or could attract observation. Her home was the center of her cares and af- fections, and by her loving ministrations and ready tact she made it a true haven of peace and rest. Here her husband, laying aside the cares and perplexities of a busy life could al- ways come, sure of hearty greetings, sympathy and cheer ; and her children feel that here was one heart that beat only for their comfort and highest welfare."

Children of Mr. and Mrs. Mason: I. Wil- liam W., of whom further. 2. Mattie B., who resides at the Mason homestead in Limerick, was educated in the public schools and Limer- ick Academy of her native town. She is a lady of quiet tastes and womanly attainments, combining a thorough knowledge of the house- hold science with clear business insight, en- abling her to serve efficiently as an active di- rector of the Limerick National Bank while managing her own estate and maintaining a home of refinement and culture. 3. Frances E., married Charles G. Moulton (see Moul- ton) ; one child, Olga Frances.

(III) William Woodman, only son of Jere- miah Miller and Martha Weeks (Woodman) Mason, was born in Limerick, August 25, 1850. He was educated in the common schools, at Limerick Academy, and Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York. After com- pleting his studies he devoted himself to the extensive lines of business which his father was then managing, becoming his assistant, and acquired a thorough knowledge of both business and finance. Subsequently he accepted the cashiership of the Lim- erick National Bank, of which his father was president, and served in that capacity for many years. In 1889 he became vice-president of the

Portland National Bank, and in 1907 was ad- vanced to the presidency of that institution. Be- ginning at the very bottom round of the ladder, he has advanced steadily upward, step by step, until he is now occupying a position of promi- nence; and through his entire career he has ever been looked upon as a man of integrity and honor, never making an engagement that he has not fulfilled, and standing as an exam- ple of what determination and force, com- bined with the highest degree of business acumen, can accomplish for a man of natural ability and strength of character. Inheriting in a marked degree the fine characteristics of his father, strict integrity, straightforward dealing, generosity and independence, he has proven himself most successful in carrying out the policies so sagaciously projected by the father whose example he emulates and whose memory he both cherishes and honors.

William Woodman Mason is in full sympa- thy with all the great movements of the world about him, and watches the progress of events with the keenest interest. He is a generous friend, and a warm advocate, of all those who are battling for the right, and for principles and policies for the public good, and he has a pleasing personality which has won for him a legion of friends. Like his father, he is an earnest Republican, and exercises an influ- ence in the councils of his party. He has held but one official position, that of representative in the legislature, to which place he was elected in 1885 from the classed towns of Limerick and Waterloo, serving one term most efficiently and creditably. He is a charter member of Highland Lodge, No. 48, and a member of Fraternity Encampment, No. 32, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Mason married, in Portland, May, 1891, Mary, daughter of Thomas and Sophia ( Brad- street) Cleaves (see Cleaves family ).

This pioneer family, mem- WOODMAN bers of which are traced in the following account, has the distinction of being descended from the first Woodman who landed on New England soil and became the progenitor of a line which now exists. The family name probably came from the occupation of him who first took it.

(I) Edward Woodman, probably from Cor- shan, a village in Wiltshire, England, eleven miles from Christian Malford, came with his wife Joanna, and together with Archelaus Woodman, probably his young brother, set- tled in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1635. Archelaus came from England in the ship

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"James"; the name of the ship which brought Edward is unknown. Edward Woodman was one of the ninety-one grantees who settled Newbury, and one of fifteen of that number who was entitled to be called "Mr." He is supposed to have lived in 1681, and for years before, in what was afterward and for a long time known as "Woodman's Lane," now known as Kent street, and situate in the pres- ent town of Newburyport. March 25, 1681, Edward conveyed to his son Jonathan "My now dwelling-house, houses and barns and or- chard and pasture, and all my plow land lying by and adjoining to the said houses, as also all the plow lands upon the northwest side of the street lying upon the westward side of my house, the said street being vulgarly called the Newstreet." The consideration for this con- veyance was "natural and fatherly love and affection" and "twenty pounds which is yearly to be paid during the time of my own and my wife's natural life. " Edward Woodman is not known to have had any trade. In a deed dated 1687 he is styled husbandman. He was a man of influence, decision, and energy, and .opposed with great zeal the attempt made by the Rev. Thomas Parker to change the mode of church government from Congregationalism to something like Presbyterianism. He was made a freeman May 25, 1636; was a deputy in the general court in 1636-37-39-43; in 1638- 41-45-46 was one of the three commissioners to end small causes in Newbury, and at vari- .ous times held other offices of trust in town and state. He was one of the first selectmen .of Newbury, elected in 1636, and his name heads the list as given by Coffin. Among his other commissions he had one from the state "to see people marry," of which in 1681 he speaks as follows: "An unprofitable commis- sion; I quickly laid aside the worke, which has cost me many a bottle of sacke and liquor, where friends and acquaintances have been concerned." He and his wife Joanna were liv- ing in February, 1688. She was then seventy- four. He died prior to 1694, at an unknown age. Their children were: Edward, John, Joshua, Mary, Sarah, Jonathan and Ruth. Ed- ward and John were born in England.

(II) Joshua, third son and child of Ed- ward and Joanna Woodman, was born in Old Newbury, in 1636; "first man child borne in Newbury" is the legend his gravestone bears. He took the oath of allegiance in 1678, and is then called forty-one. It appears that he lived in both Andover and Newbury. He owned land in Haverhill, where he built a house be- itween 1660 and 1668, and probably resided.

After he was sixty years old (1698), he bought twelve acres of land of Benjamin Lowe in the tract called the freehold lots, in the up- per woods, which was bounded "northerly by the highway upon the Merrimack river." By his will he devised his land in Haverhill to three of his sons; this included one hundred and twenty acres of the two hundred and twenty acres which his father Edward bought of Stephen Kent, November 21, 1662, and is said to constitute a part of the site of the present city of Lawrence. His will was made March 27, 1703, O. S., and probated July 12, of the same year. He died May 30, 1703, aged seventy-seven years, doubtless in Byfield parish, and was buried in the graveyard ad- joining the parish mecting house lot, on the line between Newbury and Rowley. His grave and that of his son Joshua are still marked by the (original) small slate stones set there years ago. He married, January 23, 1666, Elizabeth Stevens, who died in 1714, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth Stevens, of Andover. Children : Elizabeth, Dorothy, Joshua, Jonathan, a son (died young) Me- hetable, David, Benjamin, Sarah and Mary.

(III) Benjamin, eighth child and fifth son of Joshua and Elizabeth ( Stevens) Woodman, was born probably in Andover, Massachu- setts, July 27, 1683. By deed dated December 6, 1706, he bought, being then of Newbury, for twenty-two pounds, of John Dummer, of Newbury, seven and one-half acres of land lying in Newbury, and there it is believed that he settled and raised his family and resided until his death. There is tradition to confirm the other evidence that this was his home, and it is known that he lived in Byfield parish in Newbury. He was a tanner, and the place has been the site of a tanyard time out of mind. He bought, March 26, 1735, a one hundred and twenty-third part of the town of Narra- gansett, No. I (Buxton). May 31, 1736, he bought one-half of an original right ; and Sep- tember 29, 1745, he bought the other half of that original right ; and the same year he was one of the two who agreed to build each a house and clear four acres of land in that township within four years. These interests in the town he conveyed to his son Joshua, December 24, 1741, and April 15, 1747. He died in 1748. His will was made April 14, 1748, and probated July 4 following. He mar- ried, March I, 17II, Elizabeth Longfellow, born July 3, 1688, at Newbury Falls, daughter of William and Anne (Sewall) Longfellow. "William Longfellow, the only one of the name who came to America, was born in 1651, in

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Hampshire, England. He was a man of tal- ents and education, wrote an elegant hand, but was not quite so much of a Puritan as some others. He married Anne, sister of Judge Samuel Sewall, and daughter of Old Henry Sewall. William Longfellow was very im- provident, and loved a frolic rather too well. He was what would be called, at the present day, a high buck. He enlisted as ensign in the ill-fated expedition to Canada, and was drowned at Anticosti in October, 1690, when his daughter Elizabeth was a little over two years old." Children of Benjamin and Eliza- beth : Ann, Sarah, Joseph, Benjamin, Joshua, David and Jonathan (twins), Nathan and Stephen.

(IV) Captain Joseph, third child and eldest son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Longfellow) Woodman, was born in Newbury, May 31, 1715, baptized June 5, 1715, and died in Hol- lis, Maine, July 4, 1796, and was buried on his own farm in Buxton. He seems to have been a settler in Narragansett No. I (Buxton, Maine), as early as May 26, 1742, when his name is found on a petition by the then eleven settlers of the town. On account of the war between England and France in 1744, this set- tlement then broke up, and all the settlers left. There is no record of any settlers in the town between this date and 1750. June 10, 1746, Joseph Woodman was the grantee in a deed wherein he is described as "of Biddiford, la- borer." This deed conveyed title to him of one- eighth of a double sawmill standing on Jor- dan's creek, and on the west side of Saco river, and known as the upper mill. February 9, 1747, Joseph Woodman and two others, yeo- men, were grantees "of one-quarter part of a sawmill standing on Saco river in the town of Biddeford, and on that part of said river known as Cole's spout." "Also one quarter part of a sawmill near adjoining to the former higher up upon the said river, on a place known by the name of Jordan's crick ; also one quarter part of eleven acres of land situated in Biddeford aforesaid and adjoining unto the said two sawmills." These eleven acres of land are now covered by the factories and a considerable portion of the city of Biddeford. Joseph Woodman returned to Narragansett No. I in 1750, and resided at Pleasant Point ; his farm comprising lots 10 and 1I in range B, of the first division, and his house occupying the highest part of lot II. In 1754 the pro- prietors' fort or garrison was built on lot II. close by his house. He sold this place in 1757, and from that time forward the proprietors' records show that he was one of the most

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I, Part 26

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry Sweetser, 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe Publication date: 1909 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 802

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry Sweetser, 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 802