Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I, Part 33

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 33

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swimming ; for 1 considered the danger before 1 set out ; but on the 26th day of March, 1704, I had drawn up a resolution that I would rid myself of this company, or lose my life when night came. I found it something difficult to get away undiscovered, there being centinels afore and abaft, with muskets loaded to shoot any one that should attempt to run away, and likewise a guard boat to row round the ship all night. I watched them till about ten o'clock at night, at which time, finding the centinels pretty careless, and the guard boat ahead of the ship, I went down between decks, and hav- ing begged of God to carry me through that dangerous enterprize and deliver me out of those distresses, I went out of a port and swam with my shirt and breeches on right out to sea, before the wind, till I was clear of the ship and guard boat, and then turned along .shore awhile, and then wheeled more towards the shore, but the seas beat over my head so fast I could hardly swim, and I thought beat me more out to sea, whereupon I turned and swam right against the wind towards the shore, and after a considerable time got to one of Captain Gillam's buoys, and rested myself awhile, and if I had known the ship I would have gone on board, but I aimed to swim to a brigantine that lay in the road belonging to Boston. Then I put off from Captain Gillam's buoy, and had not swam far before I saw a Shark just as he took hold of my left hand, he pulled me under water in a moment, at which I was very much surprised, and thought of a knife which I used to carry in my pocket, but remembered I had left it on board; then I kicked him several times with my right foot, but that proving ineffectual, I set my foot against his mouth, intending to haul my hand away or haul it off, and then he opened his mouth a little and catch'd part of my foot into his mouth with my hand, and held them both together. Then I cried unto God (mentally) that he would have mercy on my soul, which I thought would soon be separated from my body ; but still I did not leave off striving, but punched him with my right hand, though to very little purpose; at last being almost drowned ( for I was all the while under wa- ter) I had almost left off striving, and ex- pecting nothing but present death; all at once my hand came loose and also my foot, and so finding myself clear of the fish I got to the top of the water, and having a little cleared my stomach of water, I called out for help, and swam towards the nearest ship, and I quickly heard them mustering to fit out their boat, which encouraged me to continue my calling

for help, thinking thereby they might find me the sooner, it being very dark; they came to me with all speed and took me into their boat, and carried me to the ship's side, where I saw they had a lanthorn, but the blood turning just at that time, caused me to be extreme sick at my stomach, and my sight also left me, but I answered Captain Gillam to many questions while I was blind; then they fastened a rope about me and hauled me into the ship and carried me into the steerage, and after a while recovering my sight, I asked if there was any doctor on board, they said yes, and pointed to Mr. Peter Cutler of Boston, he then being Captain Gillam's doctor. I asked him to cut off my mangled limbs if he saw it needful, and he spoke to the captain about it, but he would not allow of it, but sent advice to the Milford of what had happened, and the lieutenant sent a boat and carried me on board again, and the doctor being ashore, he sent for doctor Cutler and another doctor, who came on board, and after a glass of wine they ordered I should be tied, but upon my earnest solicitation they for- bore to tie me, and then doctor Cutler per- formed the first amputation, which was my arm, and the other doctor cut off part of my foot. I endured extreme pain all the while, and after they had dressed those two wounds, they dressed three other flesh wounds, which I received at the same time, and the next day I was carried on shore, where I remained without appetite, and so full of pain, that I thought I did not sleep three hours in three weeks; but at last thro' God's great goodness, the pain left me and my appetite was restored, and my wounds healed wonderful fast, so that in about four months my foot was healed up, and I could go on it; but it broke out again, and I could not thoroughly heal it till I got home to New England. I was about nineteen years of age at the time of this disaster. I received much kindness from many gentlemen belonging to New England, as well as from those of Barbados, under those difficulties, all which I desire gratefully to acknowledge. But above all, I would acknowledge the great good- ness of that God that supported me under and carried me through those distresses, and has provided for me ever since, so that neither I, nor mine, have wanted the necessary comforts of this life, notwithstanding my inability of body for many employments. Thus having run through the most observable passages of that disaster, I shall conclude, desiring your prayers to God for me, that so signal a de- liverance may not be lost upon me; and that I may, by believing and yielding obedience to the

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Gospel of Jesus Christ, become a subject 61 eternal as well as temporal salvation.

"Your humble servant, "SAMUEL JENNINGS.

"Sandwich, August 8, 1716."

After his return from Barbadoes, Samuel Jennings probably devoted himself to the ac- quisition of a superior education in conse- quence of his being maimed. He was the grammar-school master, and the records of 1710 show that he was voted twenty pounds, and it was provided that "those who send shall pay additional and board." He was "still em- ployed" in 1712. He was selectman in 1712, representative 1714-17-21, town clerk 1721-51 (thirty years), town treasurer 1719-51 (thirty- two years), surveyor of lands, trader and pos- sessed a large estate. In 1712 the north part of the township of Falmouth included in what was called "the New Purchase," was ordered to be laid out; and "Thomas Bowerman and Philip Dexter were appointed to lay out said lands, and were to associate with them, in the performance of their duty some suitable per- son. They called to their aid Mr. Samuel Jen- nings of Sandwich, an accomplished surveyor and good scholar, whose able and neatly pre- pared report of the proceedings amply justifies the enconium we bestow," says the historian. "In 1717, February 6, John Bacon, agent for the town of Barnstable, presented a petition to the General Court 'for the division of the town into precincts ;' and, February 10, on the peti- tion of Mr. Joseph Crocker and others, Mr.

1 Samuel Sturgis, Melatiah Bourne, Esq., and Mr. Samuel Jennings, were appointed 'a com- mittee to determine the controversy and settle the bounds between the said town and the In- dians,' which was accordingly done." April 4, 1718, Samuel Jennings in a deed of land to "Joseph Ney" describes himself as "shop- keeper." Freeman states, "In 1764, two of the most influential and respectable citizens of the town deceased, Samuel Jennings, Esq., May 13, aged eighty, and Hon. Ezra Bourne in September, aged 88." On a well preserved slate stone in the Old Cemetery in Sandwich is the following inscription: "In memory of Samuel Jennings Esq., who having served God and his Generation with uprightness in several important trusts, deceased May 13th 1764 in his 80th year. The memory of the just is blessed." The marriage between Samuel Jen- nings and Remembrance Smith, both of Sand- wich, was solemnized "before William Bassett, justice of the Peace, att Sandwich the 20th day of January Anno Domini 1712-13." She was the daughter of Shubael and granddaugh-

ter cf Rev. John Smith, who was pastor of Sandwich from 1675 to 1688. Near her hus- band's stone is a slate slab on which is the legend, "Here Lyes ye body of Remember Jennings, aged About 28 Years Dec'd Jan'ry ye 23d 1717-18." He married ( second) De- borah Newcomb, who died February 10, 1753. The children of the first wife were Lydia and Ruhamah, the latter a woman of fine educa- tion. The children of the second wife were: Samuel, Esther and John, whose sketch fol- lows :

(III) John (2), youngest child of Samuel and Deborah (Newcomb) Jennings, was born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, September 3, 1734, and died in Winthrop, Maine, as stated in the Winthrop records, March 10, 1800, aged sixty-five years. He was interested with his father in shipping, and one of their ves- sels was the sloop "Deborah." John used to take "negro and Indian boys and bring them up to send on whaling voyages," and was evi- dently a prosperous man. But after the revo- lution began he lost considerable property. He was a zealous Tory, and, history states, "was arrested and imprisoned in 1778 for disaffec- tion to the popular cause." Being a high- spirited man, he determined to go to a new country. Accordingly he took his eldest son and went to Maine, then being rapidly settled. They went up the Kennebec to the Hook (now Hallowell) and thence through the woods of Winthrop (then Pondtown), inquiring of the few settlers he saw for land partly fenced by water. This he found in Wayne, where he was one of the earliest settlers. There he se- lected a tract of about a thousand acres bounded on three sides by Pocasset (now Wing) and Lovejoy ponds and what has since been called from him the Jennings stream, which unites the other two bodies of water. Here he finally obtained possession of about two hundred acres bordering the stream and the Wing pond, other settlers getting the rest. Here they felled a "possession," and John re- turned to Sandwich, leaving Samuel to fell more trees during the summer. The next sum- mer Samuel was also sent to make further im- provements. The next year John and his son John went from Sandwich and built a log house and extended the clearing. The greater part of the land John Jennings then settled on has ever since been the property of his descend- ants in the male line and is now the property of Tudor G. Jennings, the occupant, and his nephew, Loton D. Jennings, a lawyer of Bos- ton. This is now one of the finest farms in Kennebec county. Vestiges of the first house

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and one built later and apple trees John planted are still to be seen. John probably removed to Wayne with his family in the spring of 1780. They went on a vessel to Portland, and from there John with his son Samuel ascended the Kennebec in one of his old whale-boats. From Hallowell they made their way on foot, driving before them the sheep and hogs they had brought from Sandwich. The swine were subsequently taken to an island in the Andros- coggin pond in Leeds, where in the following July the outcries of the animals gave notice of trouble. The settlers living near hastened to the island and discovered that bears had killed the hogs, and escaped. From this circum- stance the island has since been known as Hog Island. Having no salt, the neighbors smoked the meat of the slaughtered animals, which was a substantial part of the provisions of Mr. Jennings's family the following winter. In the autumn John Jennings returned to Sandwich to settle his affairs and came the next spring to Wayne, where he lived until the latter part of 1799, when he was taken sick and carried to the home of his daughter Deborah, wife of Joel Chandler, son of John Chandler, the first settler in Winthrop Village and builder of the first mills on the stream there. The Winthrop records state that "Mr. John Jennings died at Winthrop, March 10, 1800." He was buried in the cemetery there. According to the rec- ord John Jennings and Hannah Sturgis, both of Sandwich, were married by Mr. Abraham Williams, minister of Sandwich, May 13, 1759. Hannah, born June 4, 1732, was the widow of Jonathan Sturgis and daughter of William and Bathshua ( Bourne) Newcomb. They had : Deborah, Samuel ( see below), John, Hannah, Bathsheba, Sarah, Nathaniel (mentioned be- low), and Mary-all born in Sandwich.

(IV) Samuel (2), eldest son of John (2) and Hannah (Newcomb) Jennings, was born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, November 15, 1762, and died in Leeds, Maine, March 23, 1842, in his eightieth year. He accompanied his father on his first visit to New Sandwich and was left there to continue the work of clearing the farm which they there began, and returned to Sandwich later on foot with oth- ers. The next spring he was sent back alone, to further improve the place. He boarded with Job Fuller, the earliest white settler in Wayne (1773), and exchanged work with Eben Wing. They secured only a poor "burn" of the tim- ber on the ground, and the "turf" still left was deep; and they had to use the bag in which they brought their dinner to carry sand from the shore of the pond, to cover the corn they

planted. Samuel soon wearied of this style of farming, and arranged with a neighbor to care for the crop, and again trudged back to Sand- wich, and made the best excuse he could to his father for thus leaving the place in the wilder- ness of Maine. The next spring, when the time for going to New Sandwich drew nigh, Samuel seized an opportunity when his father . was away and went to Plymouth, and thence to Boston, where he met some acquaintances and enlisted on board a privateer which made a successful cruise, capturing three prizes, Sam- uel returning to Boston as one of the crew of the third one. Samuel Jennings also served as a private in Captain Simeon Fish's com- pany, Colonel Freeman's regiment, on an alarm at Falmouth in September, 1779. The next year he went with his father and his fam- ily to Wayne. Samuel Jennings in his account of the family at this time says, "They thought it rather hard times to live on smoked meat and keep their cattle on meadow hay." In the early spring when Samuel found the neigh- boring settlers could not pay in corn for cer- tain utensils they had bought of his father the year before, he went to Littleborough, now Leeds, some ten miles away, and worked a week for Thomas Stinchfield, chopping and piling logs for a peck of corn a day. On Sun- day he was set across the Androscoggin pond by the Stinchfield boys in a canoe, and carried his bushel and a half of corn on his back to his home, where he and his burden were warmly welcomed by the other members of the family. On the day when Samuel completed his twenty-first year he refused to "tote" a bag of corn on his back through the woods to mill. His father was angry, disowned him, and told him to leave the place. But while the father was absent hunting that day in Port Royal, now Livermore, Samuel and his brother John seeing a bear swimming in the pond, dispatched it with an axe, dressed the carcass and hung it on a pole. The father re- turning from his hunt without game and see- ing the supply of meat, inquired who killed the bear. Being told that Samuel had been chiefly instrumental in killing bruin, he with- drew his objections and the young man con- tinued to live at the homestead.

In 1784 Samuel, accompanied by his brother John, took up a large tract of land, mostly rich intervale, on the bank of the Androscog- gin river in Leeds, where the hamlet of West Leeds now is. This is still owned by his de- scendants in the male line. Somewhat later he returned to Sandwich and married. Leav- ing his wife there, he went to Hallowell,

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Maine, where he worked for his brother-in- law, John Beeman, for four dollars a month. In the spring of 1787, Mrs. Jennings with her infant son, Samuel, went to Hallowell, and thence to Wayne, where she met her husband. On their journey to Leeds they crossed the Androscoggin pond in a birch canoe; the wind blew a gale, the waves beat over the canoe, compelling the mother to sit very quiet in the bottom of the bark boat with her babe in her arms, while the father, alternately paddling and bailing, urged the canoe forward. The shore was reached at last, and at the house of Thomas Stinchfield they were warmed and re- freshed, their clothing dried, and again on foot they made their way through the woods to their home. Samuel Jennings was a wealthy and influential farmer in Leeds. He married in Sandwich, in 1785, Olive Tupper, daughter of Enoch and Mehitable (Davis) Tupper. She was born February 16, 1763, and died April 20, 1848, aged eighty-five. years. They were the parents of Samuel, who was born in Sand- wich, Massachusetts, and Perez Smith, one of the earliest born white children in Leeds.

(V) Samuel (3), elder of the two sons of Samuel (2) and Olive (Tupper) Jennings, was born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, Feb- ruary 7, 1787, and died at the village of North Wayne, Maine, March 29, 1876, in the nine- tieth year of his age. Leeds in the days of his boyhood was little better than an unbroken forest ; there was no school until after he was twelve years old, and many children received but little book knowledge; but he had all the school privileges the locality afforded and ac- quired a good common school education and a desire for reading, which a small library in the town afforded him some means of gratifying. He was a constant reader throughout his life, especially in his age, and became familiar with the Bible, works of history and other books. In tlie fall of 1809 he settled on a farm on the west side of North Wayne, where the active portion of his life was spent, except six years between 1826 and 1832, when he lived on the homestead in Leeds. From 1852 to 1868 he live 1 with his son Seth, and after that time on a place he bought on the north side of North Wayne. He was a liberal, social and law- abiding citizen and a man of practical sa- gacity and determined will. He left a written account of the settlement of the family in Wayne and Leeds, from which much of the foregoing has been taken. For a large part of his life he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, singing and playing the bass viol in the choir. He was a Whig until that

party dissolved, and thereafter a Democrat. In the war of 1812 he served at Wiscasset in the coast defense. His health seemed to be always good, and he was never seriously ill till his last sickness. Samuel Jennings married (first) in Middleborough, Massachusetts, January 14, 1809, Phebe Morton, born in Mid- dleborough, May 15, 1791, died at North Wayne, October 26, 1858, aged sixty-seven years. She was the daughter of Seth (2) and Priscilla (Morton) Morton ( see Morton VI), and a cousin german of Rev. Daniel Oliver Morton, the father of Levi P. Morton, late Vice-President of the United States. She was related, but more remotely, to Governor Mar- cus and Chief Justice Marcus Morton, of Mas- sachusetts. She was also a descendant of Stephen Hopkins of "Mayflower" fame, thus : Deborah, daughter of Stephen Hopkins, mar- ried Andrew Ring; Mary Ring, their daugh- ter, married John Morton (2) (see Morton III), ancestor of Phebe Morton. Samuel Jen- nings was married (second) December 20, 1868, by Rev. J. R. Masterman, of Wayne, to Laura M. (Rackley) Gilmore, widow of Ansel Gilmore, of Turner, who survived him and died in her seventy-fifth year, while on a visit to Livermore, September 20, 1882. The chil- dren of Samuel and Phebe were: I. Olive (first), born April 8, 1810, died January, 1811. 2. Olive (second), born August 2, 1811, mar- ried, January 1, 1833, Captain James Lamb; died in Chesterville, December 23, 1893, aged eighty-two. 3. Louisa, born September 14, 1813, married, March 6, 1836, Captain Morton Freeman, of Middleborough, Massachusetts ; died May 24, 1844. 4. Lavinia, born June 12, 1815, died June 17, 1815. 5. Cleora, born Au- gust 10, 1816, married Willard Torrey, of Dix- field, March 4, 1845, and died in Auburn, No- vember 3, 1900, aged eighty-four. 6. Samuel M., mentioned below. 7. Lovias, see further. 8. Granville Temple, born September 28, 1822, died October 4, 1843. 9. Perez S., see below. IO. Seth W., receives mention below. II. Martha, born March 9, 1828, married, Janu- ary 15, 1846, John H. Lord; died at North Wayne, February 19, 1854. 12. Velzora, born July II, 1833, died October 25, 1843. 13. Mary Helen, born March 30, 1837, died Sep- tember 8, 1843.

(VI) Samuel Morton, eldest son of Sam- uel and Phebe ( Morton) Jennings, was born in Wayne, March 23, 1818, and died in Wayne, September 25, 1877. He was educated in the common schools and grew to manhood a farmer. An old account book of his father shows that he worked for his grandfather Jen-

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nings in Leeds from March, 1832, to Novem- ber 25, 1835-almost four years. He built the house at North Wayne afterward occupied by Captain Lamb and lived in it for a time. Later he bought the homestead of his father and lived on it from 1846 to 1874, disposing of it at the latter date and living in the village. He was thrown from a horse in 1869 and so seri- ously injured that he was never afterward able to perform heavy labor. As a farmer he was diligent and successful, and ranked among the best of that class in Wayne, which is one of the best agricultural towns in Maine. He was a Democrat in young manhood, but became a member of the Know Nothing party, and later of the Republican party, which he loyally sup- ported till his death. He cast his vote for John C. Fremont for president, in 1856. He cared nothing for public office and would never allow his friends to make him a candidate for official position. He was a constant attendant ani liberal supporter of the Methodist Epis- copal church, but not a member; a man of strict integrity, and his word was as good as his bond, and either was as good as gold. He was a strong supporter of schools, both public and private, and gave his children opportuni- ties for good educations. He was married in Portland, March 15, 1842, by Rev. Mr. Pierce, to Mary Lobdell, who was born in Westbrook, December 12, 1819, and died in Oakland, Sep- tember 15, 1893. She was the daughter of Isaac and Charlotte ( Pratt) Lobdell, of West- brook ( see Lobdell VII). She was a woman who possessed common sense in large meas- ure, was well informed on current topics, a pleasant companion, and greatly beloved by her husband and children. The children of this marriage were: I. Samuel W., mentioned below. 2. Aroline Edson, born August 8, 1844, was married to Charles A. Hall, at North Wayne, August 22, 1866, by Dr. Charles H. Barker. She died in Springfield, Massachu- setts, April 19, 1903, and was buried at North Wayne. 3. Zelina Elizabeth, born July 29, 1846, was married at Leominster, Massachu- setts, April 5, 1883, to Angus Dankason, by Rev. Dr. Savage. She died May 5, 1883, at Leominster, and was buried there. 4. Edward Lobdell, see below. 5. Annie May, born May 31, 1861, was married at Winthrop, Maine, November 9, 1880, by Rev. David Church, to William Hurlbutt. She died at South Fram- ingham, Massachusetts, May 15, 1892, and was buried there.

(VII) Williston, first named Samuel Willis- ton, eldest child of Samuel M. and Mary (Lobdell) Jennings, was born at North

Wayne, March 24, 1843, and was educated in the common and high schools of Wayne and at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary. At seven- teen years of age he left the farm, and worked at the jeweler's trade in Buckfield until April 28, 1861, when he responded to the first call for troops in the civil war and enrolled him- self as a soldier. The organization which he joined had for its commissioned officers : Isaac []. McDonald, of Buckfield, captain ; John P. Swasey, of Canton, now member of congress from the second district, first lieu- tenant ; and Joseph Shaw, of Buckfield, second lieutenant. This company of more than one hundred men was mustered in May, 1861, and well drilled in camp until nearly the first of July, when on account of the state's quota be- ing full, it was paid off and discharged. Young Jennings, still anxious to render service to the country, went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he enlisted as a marine, July 9, 1861, and served till August 13, 1862. On August 22, he was detached to serve on the "Cambridge," a steam propeller of one thousand tons, which had been taken from the merchant service and remodeled for the naval service. Her crew now consisted of one hundred and thirty-five officers and men, and her armament of four eight-inch guns, one twenty-four pound rifle gun and a thirty-two pound Parrott rifle gun, said to be the first Parrott gun mounted on shipboard. The two rifle guns were of long range, as subsequent service proved. The "Cambridge" went into commission August 29, and sailed for Hampton Roads, Virginia, September 4, 1861. She was assigned to the blockading squadron, and captured many blockade runners. In February she joined the "Congress" and "Cumberland" at Newport News to guard the mouth of the James river and was at Hampton Roads March 8, 1862, when the famous rebel ram "Merrimac" at- tacked the federal fleet there, and took part in that celebrated battle which revolutionized modern naval warfare. He was one of the crew of the after pivot gun and was in the fight from start to finish. Three of the gun crew, Midshipman Cushing (who later, as Lieutenant Cushing, blew up the "Albe- marle"), J. H. Woods and Frank A. Kelley, were wounded. Between March 10 and 17 while at sea, Mr. Jennings wrote an account of the battle to his mother, in which he says of the "Cambridge": "She is cut up badly, both in her hull and top hamper, with her timbers stove in on her portside, her bowsprit gone close to her figure-head and her after pivot gun split at the muzzle by a shell." Contin-

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I, Part 33

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