Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I, Part 8

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 8

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).

Mr. Cobb married, October 16, 1839, at Thomaston, Maine, Martha J., daughter of Dr. Chauncey C. and Lovisa (Miller) Chand- ler, who was born at Belfast, April 2, 1820, and died at Rockland, May 23, 1895. They had eleven children: Mary A. C., widow of E. P. Norton; Captain Frank K., who com- manded the bark "Jennie Cobb," and was lost at sea on its first voyage; Lovisa H., wife of James S. Hanley, of San Francisco; Maria F., wife of Louis T. Snow, of San Francisco; Charles W. S., of St. Louis ; Jennie W., wife of A. W. Butler, of Rockland; Maynard S., who died in infancy; William T., mentioned be- low; Martha F., who died February 3, 1883; Nathan F., and Lucius Edward, both of Rock- land.

(VIII) William Titcomb, son of Francis and Martha J. (Chandler) Cobb, was born July 23, 1857, at Rockland, Maine. He re- ceived his early education in the public schools of his native city, graduating at its high school in 1873. He pursued his college course at Bowdoin, where, though one of the youngest members of the class, he won reputation for excellence in English composition and was an editor of the undergraduate journal. Fol- lowing his graduation in 1877 he studied at the Universities of Leipsic and Berlin for two years. Returning to America he was a student at the Harvard Law School for a year, con- tinued his law studies with Messrs. Rice and Hall, of Rockland, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1880. He did not, however, engage in practice, preferring a business life, and entered at once the firm of Cobb, Wight & Company, wholesale and retail grocers. Sub- sequently he formed a partnership with his father for the manufacture of lime at Rock- land; and, upon the latter's death, became

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president of the Cobb Lime Company, a po- sition he held till the sale of this property to the Rockland-Rockport Lime Company in 1900. He is director in the Rockland National Bank, the Rockland Trust Company, the Cam- den and Rockland Water Company, and the Rockland, Thomaston & Camden Street Rail- way. He is a trustee of his alma mater, Bow- doin College, where in his undergraduate days he received from his classmates the "wooden spoon," the coveted emblem of the most popu- lar man.

In 1889-90, Mr. Cobb served as a member of the executive council, and in 1904 was chosen governor of Maine. He was reelected in 1906 for a second term of two years. What- ever may have been said in the bitterness of political contests during the election period, the citizens of Maine now agree that not for half a century has any governor stood so strongly and so consistently for the enforce- ment of law, regardless of personal or party interests. His administration witnessed the passing of legislation enabling the state to pre- vent open nullification of its prohibitory law by local officials; the adoption of the referen- dum; the substitution of salaries in places of fees in the case of most officials, and the es- tablishment of a state auditor.

Governor Cobb married, June 14, 1882, Lucy Callie, only daughter of Dr. William A. and Mary A. (Tillson) Banks, of Rockland. Their two children are Martha Banks and Anna West Cobb. Dr. Banks, a native of East Livermore, graduated at Jefferson Med- ical College in 1846, was commissioned sur- geon of the Fourth Maine Infantry in 1861, and practiced his profession at Rockland, where he died in 1893. He was a descendant of the emigrant ancestor Richard Bankes, a prominent citizen of York, Maine, where he was a provincial councillor in 1651-52, select- man for seven years, trial justice in 1669, 1672 and 1679, and is believed to have perished in the Indian massacre of January 25, 1692.

The sources from which names are

FRYE derived and the circumstances which dictated the taking of them are so numerous and varied as to be beyond all knowledge, yet careful study and prolonged search have discovered the origin of a multi- tude of them. Writers have classified sur- names from their origins as baptismal, local, official, occupative and sobriquet. Not a few names of both ancient and modern times are expressive of the condition of the persons who

bore them. Among primitive and uncivilized nations slavery has generally been a recog- nized institution. Our Saxon ancestors cher- ished it, and the last slave was not liberated in Britain until after surnames were adopted. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when men had but one name, and a nickname was added to designate more closely the person re- ferred to, a slave might be mentioned as "Ive De Bond," or "Richard le Bond," while a man who had been born free, though of humble circumstances, would be anxious to preserve himself from a doubtful or suspected position by such a name as "Walter le Free," or "John le Freeman." In our "Fryes," a sobriquet that has acquired much honor of late years and represented in the mediaeval rolls by such en- tries as "Thomas le Frye," or "Walter le Frie," we have but an absolute rendering of "free."

Among the early New England families of English origin this has been more conspicu- ously identified with the state of Maine than with its original home in Massachusetts. It has furnished one of the most distinguished members of the United States senate, and many useful and worthy citizens in various localities. Its origin is directly traced to Eng- land, and its establishment in New England was early.

(I) John Frye, born 1601, was a resident of Bassing, Hants, England. In May, 1638, he sailed from Southampton in the ship "Bevis,". of Hampton, commanded by Robert Eaton, and was an early settler in Newbury, Massa- chusetts. In 1645 he removed thence to An- dover, Massachusetts, where he was a very active citizen up to the end of his life, and where he died November 9, 1693, at the age of ninety-two years and seven months. His wife Ann died at Andover, October 22, 1680. Their children were: John, Benjamin, Sam- uel, James, Elizabeth and Susan.

(II) Samuel, third son and child of John and Ann Frye, was born about 1650, in An- dover, Massachusetts, where he passed his life and died May 9, 1725. He married, Novem- ber 20, 1671, Mary, daughter of John Aslett (or Asledee). She survived her husband about twelve years, dying in 1747. John Aslett, or Asledee, of Newbury and Andover, was born about 1614, and died June 6, 1771. He married, October 8, 1648, Rebecca Ayer, daughter of John Ayer. Their children were: John, Samuel, Mary, Phoebe, Hannah, Ebe- nezer, Nathan, Deborah, Samuel and Benja- min. Their third child and daughter, Mary,

W T. Bacher !!

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became the wife of Samuel Frye; she was born April 24, 1654, and died August 12, 1747.

(III) John (2), eldest child of Samuel and Mary (Aslett or Asledee) Frye, was born September 16, 1672, in Andover, and died in that town, April 7, 1737. He married, No- vember 1, 1694, Tabitha, daughter of Thom- as and Elizabeth Farnum, who died May 17, 1775, in her seventy-fifth year. Their chil- dren were : John (died young), Isaac, Joshua, Abiel, Mehitabel, Anne (died young), Joseph, Samuel, Anne, John, Tabitha and Hannah.

(IV) Joseph, fourth son and eighth child of John (2) and Tabitha (Farnum) Frye, was born in April, 1711, in Andover and re- sided in that town, where he was a very prom- inent citizen. He served as justice of the peace, representative in the general court and was generally active in the affairs of the town. He served in the war of 1755 and par- ticipated in the siege of Louisburg. In the war of 1757 he was colonel of a regiment at the capture of Fort William Henry by Mont- calm. He was promised protection by La- corne, who had great influence among the savages and whose countrymen had been hu- manely treated by Colonel Frye in Nova Sco- tia. He expressed great gratitude and pre- tended that he desired to make returns in this way, promising that neither he nor any of the Massachusetts troops should receive injury from the Indians. This promise was in no- wise fulfilled, and Colonel Frye was plundered and stripped of his clothes and led into the woods by an Indian, who intended to dispatch him. On arriving at a secluded spot the colo- nel made a desperate effort to preserve his life, and with no other arms than those which na- ture gave him, he overpowered and killed the Indian and by rapid flight in a thick woods eluded his captors, and after several days of suffering in the wilderness he arrived at Fort Edward. He was appointed major-general, June 21, 1775, by the provincial congress and continued a short time with the troops at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the revolution- ary war. In recognition of his military ser- vice he was granted a township of land by the general court of Massachusetts, which he se- lected in a very lonely locality in the present state of Maine, and this town is still known as Fryeburg. He was a land surveyor among other accomplishments, and was enabled to secure a very fine location. His descendants are still very numerous in that locality and other sections of the state of Maine. He mar- ried, March 20, 1733, Mehitable Poore, and

they were the parents of: Joseph (died young), Samuel, Mehitable (died young), Me- hitable (died young) Mehitable, Joseph, Ta- bitha, Hannah, Richard, Nathan and Samuel.

(V) Captain Joseph (2), third son and sixth child of General Josephli (1) Frye, was born July 10, 1743, in Andover, and passed most of his life in Fryeburg, Maine. His children were: Joseph, Mary, Mehitable, John, Nancy, Dean, Sarah, William and Sophia.

(VI) Dean, third son of Captain Joseph (2) Frye, was born May 25, 1775.

( VII) Colonel John M., son of Dean Frye, was born November 28, 1802, in Westbrook, Maine, and settled in Lewiston, same state, where he was many years identified with man- ufacturing, and was a prominent and public- spirited citizen. He was colonel of the local militia, and a popular and efficient officer. For thirty-five years he served the town as clerk, was selectman in 1831-32-33, and moderator in 1840-41-42-43-44. He was town treasurer in 1849-50-51-52-53-54 and 1858-59-60-61-62. In 1841 he was elected a member of the state senate and was a member of the council in 1861. He married Alice, daughter of David Davis, of Lewiston, who was a Friend and an elder in his church. She was born May 10, 1809, died November, 1871. Colonel Frye and wife were the parents of Mary D., Sarah, Addie, a child who died in infancy, William Pierce, and Dr. Albert S., who died in early manhood.

(VIII) William Pierce, only surviving son of Colonel John M. and Alice (Davis) Frye, was born September 2, 1831, in Lewiston, Maine, and received his primary education in the public schools, preparing for college at Lewiston Falls Academy. Entering Bowdoin College, he was graduated from that institu- tion in the class of 1850 and immediately went to Rockland, where he began the study of law in the office of Lowell & Foster. Later he pursued his legal studies with Hon. William Pitt Fessenden, at Portland, and was ad- mitted to the bar in October, 1852. He at once engaged in practice at Rockland, but was destined soon to take a prominent place in the conduct of public affairs. In 1855 he re- moved to Lewiston and rapidly built up a legal business through his superior ability and care- ful attention to the interests of his clientele. A man of his talents and broad mental makeup could not be long confined to private affairs, and he soon came to be recognized as a power in public concerns. He was elected to the state legislature in 1861-62 and again in 1867. In the latter and preceding years he was

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mayor of Lewiston, and was attorney-general of the state in 1867-68-69. He was a presi- dential elector in 1864, and was a delegate to the National Republican conventions of 1872- 76-80; was elected chairman of the National Republican executive committee in the same years, and was made chairman of the Repub- lican state committee upon the resignation of James G. Blaine in 1881. He was elected representative in the United States congress, serving through the forty-second, forty-third, forty-fourth, forty-fifth, forty-sixth and forty- seventh congresses. He was elected to the United States senate, March 15, 1881, to fill the unexpired term of James G. Blaine, who resigned to become national secretary of state. Mr. Frye took his seat three days after elec- tion, and has filled the position continuously since, by repeated elections. He was elected president pro tempore of the senate, February 7, 1896, March 7, 1901, December 5, 1907, and presided as vice-president of senate for six years ; first upon the death of Garret A. Ho- bart and second upon the death of President McKinley. He was a member of the commis- sion which met in Paris in September, 1898, to adjust terms of peace between the United States and Spain, and has been a member of nearly all important committees, especially those relating to New England coast matters, was a member of the committee on rules for the senate and is the author of nearly all the rules now governing that body and also house. Senator Frye reported the bill governing the Geneva award and, though he was opposed by all the large insurance companies, won out and secured direct payment of the money to those entitled to it. For many years he has been chairman of various important com- mittees of congress, including those on ways and means, commerce, judiciary, foreign re- lations, and served three times on the Canadian fisheries commission, winning the contest with Canada and breaking up the old treaty and es- tablishing that now in force. Senator Frye was instrumental in bringing about the annex- ation of Hawaii, and in fact in all important legislation for more than a quarter of a cen- tury. His continuous service is longer than any other man in congress, and he is yet active in the service of his country, respected and honored by his colleagues as well as by the entire nation. No other wields a greater in- fluence. His democratic manners and straight- forward methods endear him to all lovers of justice and liberty. He was elected a trustee of Bowdoin College in 1880, received the de- gree of Doctor of Laws from Bates College

the following year and from his alma mater in 1889.

Senator Frye married, February 29, 1853, Caroline F., daughter of Captain Archibald and Angelica ( Branton) Spear, of Rockland. Children : 1: Helen, married Wallace H. White, of Lewiston; children: i. William Frye, a lawyer in Boston; married Charlotte Wilson, of Washington; two children, Eliza- beth F. and Charlotte W .; ii. Wallace H., an attorney in Lewiston ; married Anna Pratt, one child, Herbert ; iii. John, married Julia Bearch ; he is superintendent of a large cotton mill in Augusta, Maine ; iv. Emme Frye, married Dr. Horace P. Stevens, of Cambridge, Massachu- setts; v. Thomas C., merchant of Boston; married Martha Pratt, of Lewiston; vi. Don C., merchant of Lewiston; married Ethel Ham; vii. Harold, a student of Bowdoin Col- lege; all the sons in the White family grad- uated from Bowdoin College. 2. Alice, mar- ried Frank H. Briggs; children : i. Benjamin F., now a student at law; ii. Eugene Hale, a machinist; iii. Leland Stanford, at school; iv. Caroline Frye, married Garret A. Hobart, son of the late Vice-president Hobart, now of Patterson, New Jersey ; one child, Garret A. Hobart 3rd. 3. Emme, died while attending school at Stamford, Connecticut, aged about fourteen.

FULLER John Fuller, ancestor of Ed- ward Fuller, and his brother, Dr. Samuel Fuller, both of whom came on the "Mayflower," and of Cap- tain Matthew Fuller, who came later to Ply- mouth, lived in the parish of Redenhall with Harleston, in nearly the center of the hundred of Earsham, county Norfolk, England. Wort- well, an adjacent parish, shares in the parish church, through which the division line passes. He was born probably as early as 1500 and died in 1558-59. There were living in Reden- hall in 1482 and 1488 John and William Ful- ler, one of whom was doubtless father of John Fuller (I), whose will was dated February 4, 1558-59, and proved May 12, 1559, bequeath- ing to his son John lands in Redenhall and Wortwell; also to son Robert and daughter Alice (Ales) ; and to Stephen and Frances Sadd. Children : I. John; mentioned below. 2. Alice. 3. Robert, mentioned below.

(II) John (2), son of John (I) Fuller, lived at Redenhall. His will is dated January 29, 1598-99, and proved May 8, 1599, be- queathing to wife Ann; sons Thomas, the younger : Roger, Ralph, Robert, "young Will- iam, my sonne," "Thomas Fuller, the young-

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er," "ould William, my sonne," then deceased, and his four children. He married Ann -, who married second Giles Chalker. Children and date of baptism: I. Elizabeth, February 1, 1559. 2. Ann, September 8, 1560. 3. Garthred, February 30, 1562. 4. Ralph, No- vember 4, 1565. 5. Thomas, December 18, 1565. 6. Roger, October 19, 1572, died 1644; married Jane Gowen who died in 1647; chil- dren : i. Giles, who came to America, was in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1638, removed that year to Hampton, New Hampshire, where he died in 1673 ; ii. Elizabeth baptized 1609, mar- ried John Fuller, perhaps brother of Matthew ; iii. Susanna married Thomas Thurston, father of Thomas Thurston, who came to New Eng- land in 1677. 7. William, the younger, mar- ried Alice Linge, November 25, 1581 ; their children were baptized at Redenhall; among them was Ralph, baptized November 8, 1584, married, November 3, 1608, Elizabeth Eliot, and had among other children Thomas Fuller, baptized January 20, 1619, settled at Dedham, Massachusetts. 8. William, the elder, one of the older children, died before his father. 9. Thomas, the younger. Perhaps others. There is no doubt that there were two children, adults at the same time, named William and two also named Thomas. This perplexing cus- tom of having two children of the same name, both living, was not at all uncommon.

(II) Robert, son of John (I) Fuller, lived at Redenhall. He was a yeoman. His will was dated May 19, 1614, and proved May 31, 1614, by the widow and June 16, 1614, by son Thomas. He bequeathed to wife Frances a place in Assyes, in Harleston or Redenhall, for the term of her natural life ; to son Edward the same tenement after his wife's death; to son Samuel; to daughter Anna; daughter Elizabeth Fuller and daughter Mary Fuller ; to son Thomas a tenement "wherein now dwell, held of Tryndelhedge Bastoft Manor in Redenhall or Harleston ;" and mentions grand- son John, son of John deceased. He married Frances -- He was a butcher by trade. Children and date of baptism: I. Thomas, December 13, 1573. 2. Edward, September 4, 1575, came in the "Mayflower" and signed the compact ; died in 1621, left an only son Sam- uel. 3. Ann, April 22, 1577. 4. Ann, Decem- ber 21, 1578. 5. John, March 15, 1578-79, mentioned below. 6. Samuel, January 20, 1580, the physician of the Plymouth colony, who came in the "Mayflower." 7. Robert, Oc- tober 22, 1581. 8. Edmund, May 19, 1583. 9. Sarah, September 4, 1586. 10. Christopher, December 15, 1588. Several other children of

Robert Fuller may have been of another of the same name. The will of Robert Fuller, butcher, mentions those of the American fam- ilies, however.

(III) John (3), son of Robert Fuller, was baptized at Redenhall, March 15, 1578-79, or March 25, 1582, and died in 1608, before his father. He married Margaret Balls and lived at Redenhall. Children: I. John, baptized April 25, 1602. 2. Matthew, October 16, 1603, mentioned below. 3. Thomas, June 16, 1605. 4. Thomas, March 1, 1606. 5. William, bap- tized after his father died, June 30, 1609.

(IV) Captain Matthew, son of John (3) Fuller, was baptized in Redenhall, England, October 16, 1603. He came to Plymouth, where his two uncles, Edward and Dr. Sam- uel, had preceded him, and until recently it was supposed that he was a son of Edward. The first record of him at Plymouth was Oc- tober 26, 1640, when he sold to Andrew Ring for one cow, a calf and two goats a piece of land at Plymouth and six acres in the new field, lately bought of John Gregory. In later years he was accounted to be "one of the first born of the colony" and had land assigned him by virtue of his primogeniture. It was the law that where no children were born to a family in this country, the right of drawing land was given to the eldest son, though he were born in the old country. Nevertheless he was classed among "the first born of the col- ony." In 1642 he was granted ten acres near the farm of Thurston Clark in Plymouth, and in the same year served as a juryman. He applied for admission as a freeman September 7, 1642, but was not allowed to qualify until June 7, 1653. He was one of the leading mili- tary men of the colony. When the first com- pany was organized under command of Cap- tain Myles Standish in 1643 he was appointed sergeant and made lieutenant in September, 1652. He was a lieutenant June 20, 1654, under Captain Standish, in command of fifty men organized for the proposed expedition against the Dutch of New Amsterdam, later called New York. The company was ordered to rendezvous at Sandwich, Plymouth colony, June 29, to embark from Mahanet in the barque "Adventure," owned by Captain Sam- uel Mayo, of Barnstable, and to join the other English colonial forces; but on June 23 news was received that peace was declared between England and Holland and preparations for war ceased. Fuller was elected to the council of war October 2, 1658, and was made chair- man in 1671. In that year also he was lieu- tenant of the colonial forces in the expedition

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against the Indians of Saconet. Fuller was a physician by profession and had a good stand- ing as shown by his appointment December 17, 1673, as surgeon-general of the Plymouth Colony troops and also of the Massachusetts Bay troops. He served as captain of the com- pany in King Philip's war and took a dis- tinguishing part. He was deputy to the gen- eral court as early as 1653. He lived first at Plymouth, then at Scituate, where he was ad- mitted to the church by letter from Plymouth church, and finally at Barnstable, where he was the first regular physician. His son John and some of his grandsons followed him in his profession, which he doubtless learned of his uncle, Dr. Samuel, and in turn taught to his son. He and his cousin lived side by side on Scorton Neck, which was bought of the Se- cunke (Seeconk) Indians by Barnstable and Sandwich. The west end of the Fuller farm formed the town line between Sandwich and Barnstable. A dispute as to this boundary line caused a lawsuit, which was eventually compromised, the Fullers relinquishing their claim to certain lands granted by Barnstable October 3, 1672, and the town of Sandwich conceding to the Fullers certain rights of way with the privilege of cutting fence stuff in Sandwich. Captain Fuller had land granted at Suckennesset, now Falmouth, and in the "Major's Purchase," Middleborough, as "first- born" rights. He was a man of sound judg- ment, good understanding and courage. He was faithful to his trusts, liberal in politics and tolerant in religion. In fact he was too toler- ant for his day and too frank in his speech to avoid trouble. He was indignant at the pro- secution of the Quakers, and was indicted for saying "the law enacted about minister's main- tenance was a wicked and devilish law and that the devil sat at the stone when it was enacted." He admitted that he used the words, and was fined fifty shillings. Yet he held the confidence of the people and received further honors and high office afterward. He died at Barnstable in 1678. He bequeathed in his will, dated July 25, proved October 30, 1678, to his wife Frances, to grandchild Shubael, son of Ralph Jones ; to son John, and to Thomas, Jabez, Timothy, Matthias and Samuel, sons of his deceased son Samuel; to Elizabeth, wife of Moses Rowley, and Anne, wife of son Samuel; to Bethiah, wife of son John; to grandchild Sarah Rowley, Jedediah Jones and all the rest. Also to Robert Marshall, "the Scotchman." Children: I. Mary, married, April 17, 1650, Ralph Jones. 2. Elizabeth, married, April 22, 1652, Moses Rowley. 3.

Samuel, mentioned below. 4. John, married (first) Bethia; (second) Hannah Martin. 5. Ann, married Samuel Fuller Jr., her cousin.

(V) Lieutenant Samuel, son of Captain Matthew Fuller, was born in England. He was a prominent citizen and soldier. In 1670 he served on a committee of Plymouth colony to assess damages for injury to the cattle of the Indians. He held various town offices. He was lieutenant of the Barnstable company in King Philip's war and was killed in battle at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, August 15, 1675. By a singular coincidence another Samuel Fuller, the son of Robert Fuller, of Salem, was killed at Rehoboth, March 25, 1675, but a few months before. He married Mary

The following children are mentioned in his will: I. Thomas. 2. Jabez, mentioned below. 3. Timothy, resided at Haddam, Connecticut ; married Sarah Gates. 4. Matthew, died un- married at Barnstable in 1697; bequeathed half his land at Middleborough to his mother and half to his brother Timothy. 5. Anne, married, April 29, 1689, Joseph Smith, of Barnstable, born December 6, 1667, died 1746. 6. Abigail. 7. Samuel (posthumous), born 1676, married Elizabeth Thacher.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I, Part 8

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