USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 97
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(I) Matthew Gannett, the immigrant an- cestor, came with his brother Thomas men- tioned above, and located first at Hingham, Massachusetts, removing in 1651 to Scituate, where he had purchased half a share in the Conihasset lands of Anna Vinal. He resided at Scituate the remainder of his life and died there in 1694 at the age of seventy-seven. His will is dated August 23, 1694, and was proved November 15 of the same year. He bequeathed to his grandsons Matthew and Jo- seph the lands at Bridgewater that he inher- ited from his brother, and he gave his home- stead and land at Scituate and Hingham to his son Matthew. He married, probably at Hingham, Hannah Andrews, who died at Scituate, July 10, 1700, aged seventy-eight, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Andrews. Children : I. Matthew, had two sons, Matthew and Joseph. 2. Rehoboth, settled in Morris- town, New Jersey; died without issue. 3. Hannah, married - Adams. 4. Abigail, married Jonathan Dodson. 5. Elizabeth, mar- ried Leavitt. 6. Joseph, mentioned below. 7. Benjamin.
(II) Joseph, son of Matthew Gannett, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, about 1660, and died there August 14. 1693. He is buried on his farm. He married, at Marblehead, August 15, 1682, Deborah Sharp, widow, daughter of Henry Coombs, of Marblehead, who died in 1660, and his wife Elizabeth, who died 1709. His widow Deborah married (third) about 1702, Joseph Howes, of Scitu- ate. She died September 19, 1728. Children
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Williamett. Gannett
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of Joseph and Deborah Gannett: I. Hannah, born 1684. 2. Joseph, born 1686. 3. Mat- thew, born 1688, married, 1702, Mary Bacon. 4. Deborah, born 1690. 5. Joseph, born 1693, mentioned below.
(III) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) Gan- nett, was born September 14, 1693, at Scitu- ate. He inherited under the will of Matthew Gannett, his grandfather, half of the lands of the immigrant Thomas in that town, and set- tled there with his brother Matthew, who had the other half, in 1713. He died at Bridge- water, April 30, 1774. He married (first) at Braintree, November 21, 1717, Hannah Hay- ward, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Ho- bart) Hayward, of Braintree. She was born January 22, 1693, and died at East Braintree, September 9, 1731. Mr. Gannett married (second) in 1732, Hannah Brett. who died in 1777, aged seventy-eight, daughter of Na- thaniel Brett. Children of first wife: I. Jo- seph, born March 29, 1722, mentioned below. 2. Hannah, born 1724, married Ichabod Cary. 3. Benjamin, born 1726. 4. Benjamin, born 1728. 5. Jonathan, born 1730. Children of second wife : 6. Seth. born 1734. 7. Thomas, born 1736.
(IV) Joseph (3), son of Joseph (2) Gan- nett, was born in East Bridgewater, March 29, 1722. He was a soldier in the revolution in Captain Abram Washburn's company, Colo- nel John Cushing's regiment, in 1776 (page 250, vol. vi., "Mass. Soldiers and Sailors"). He is said to have held the rank of captain during the war. He married, June 7, 1744, Elizabeth Latham, born December 14, 1726, died March 1, 1818, daughter of Charles and Susanna (Woodward) Latham. Children: I. Caleb, born August 22, 1745. 2. Elizabeth (or Betty), born 1749, married Nathan Hudson. 3. Simeon, born 1752. 4. Deborah, born 1755, married Adam Porter and removed to Cum- nington, Massachusetts. 5. Joseph, born 1760. 5. Barzillai, mentioned below.
(V) Major Barzillai, son of Captain Jo- seph (3) Gannett, was born at East Bridge- water, June 17, 1765. He graduated from Harvard College in 1785, and preached in various places. He settled in Gardiner, Maine, hen a part of the state of Massachusetts, and became one of the leading citizens of the county. clerk of the court of sessions, county reasurer, representative to the legislature, tate senator in 1807, member of congress :809-II. He was one of the most useful and ionored citizens of the section, and held vari- us offices in the federal government and in he Protestant Episcopal church. He had the
utmost confidence of everybody and was pop- ular to an unusual degree for a man in public life. Later he went west, where he died in 1835. He married, April 30, 1797, Elizabeth Farley, born at Newcastle, Maine, July 7, 1774, died September 18, 1845. She came of an honored and respected family, and was a woman of remarkably fine character, courage and integrity. Children, born in Gardiner: I. Edward F., born June 5, 1798, died June 26, 1826. 2. Elizabeth L., February 21, 1800, died May 30, 1836. 3. Michael F., March 9, 1802, died 1889. 4. Catherine, August 4, 1804, died February 2, 1861. 5. Joseph Bar- zillai, July 1, 1806, died April 6, 1807. 6. Joseph Farley, mentioned below.
(VI) Joseph Farley, son of Major Bar- zillai Gannett, was born July 31, 1810, at Augusta, died January 4, 1888. He married, May 19, 1833, Mary E. Patterson, who died November 25, 1873. Children : I. Charles E., born January 18, 1856, died July 18, 1867. 2. Eben F., May 5, 1837, died February 2, 1843. 3. Mary E., October 27, 1838, died February 14, 1843. 4. George F., February 8, 1840. 5. Sarah P., September 15, 1841, died October 30, 1846. 6. Isabel, September 13, 1843, died January 30, 1881. 7. Addie, 8. February 24, 1845, died May 1, 1903. Emma, December 8, 1846. 9. Joseph E., born September 17, 1848, died September 11, 1849. IO. Miland F., March 23, 1850, died Decem- ber II. 1870. II. Anna E., March 23, 1852. 12. William H., February 10, 1854, mentioned below. 13. Arthur H., August 6, 1857. 14. Samuel S., February 10, 1861.
(VII) William Howard, son of Joseph Farley Gannett, was born in Augusta, Febru- ary 10, 1854. On both his father's and mother's side his ancestry is among the oldest in New England and in each generation in- cludes men conspicuous for their ability and enterprise, leaders in their respective com- munities and prominent in public affairs. His grandfather, Major Barzillai Gannett, a grad- uate of Harvard University in the class of 1785, moved to Gardiner, Maine, where he became a man of great influence, holding various town and county offices, was a state senator and in 1807 a member of congress. His great-grandfather, Joseph Gannett, was a captain in the revolution. Through his mother, Mary E. (Patterson) Gannett, he is descended from the Pattersons and Howards, literally two of the first families of this city, whose progenitors were distinguished characters among the very earliest settlers of Augusta, Maine. His maternal grandfather, Captain
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Samuel Patterson, commanded one of the old- time clipper ships engaged in foreign com- merce in the palmy days of the American merchant marine. Captain James Howard, Mr. Gannett's great-great-grandfather on his mother's side, was the first settler, and so to speak founder of Augusta, and as commander of Fort Weston in the revolutionary war he entertained Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold when the latter halted his army at Augusta on his ill-fated expedition against Quebec. Captain Howard, the leading citizen, the suc- cessful business man, rounded out his official career by holding the office of judge. Mr. Gannett's uncle, Hon. Joseph W. Patterson, was a leading citizen and four times mayor of Augusta, and his great-uncle, Joseph Tink- ham, was harbor master of New York City; and he is related to the late Dr. George Gan- nett, of Boston, founder of the Gannett in- stitution for the liberal education of women, to the Rev. W. C. Gannett, to Kate' Gannett Wells, the talented writer, and to Henry C. Gannett, of Washington, D. C., now chief topographer of the United States topographic survey. His youngest brother, Samuel S. Gannett, also holds a high position in the United States topographic survey. Mr. Gan- nett is a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, and his pedigree discloses a double claim to this distinction in that he is descended in two distinct lines from two of the Pilgrim passengers of that famous ship for whom this association is named, to wit : from Peter Brown, as well as from Mary Chilton, who, famed as the first to step foot on Plymouth Rock, became the wife of John Winslow, brother of Governor Edward Wins- low.
Returning to the subject of this sketch, Mr. William Howard Gannett is a self-educated and self-made man. The straitened circum- stances of his father rendered it necessary for him to leave school at eight years of age and go to work to assist in the support of the family of fourteen children of which he was the twelfth. Since that time, with his physical strength, moral character and mental talents as his only heritage, he has made his way in the world unaided. Self-reliant, cheerful, hope- ful, ambitious, courageous, sympathetic, kind and charitable in the highest sense, he has attained an uncommon measure of success and won a host of admiring friends. Of keen in- tellect, quick perception and natural refine- ment, by self education he has attained the qualities of a cultivated gentleman. As a boy he clerked in the toy and novelty store. As
a young man, in partnership with W. W. Morse, he purchased the stock and carried on the same business some years. In 1887, while still engaged in the same line of business, the firm of Gannett & Morse began the publica- tion of Comfort with very small capital, and, of course, in a very small way at first. Mr. Morse gave his attention to the store, while Mr. Gannett conducted the publishing busi- ness, which grew so rapidly under his man- agement that in 1890 the circulation of Com- fort had reached the million mark, and the paper was being printed on one of the largest web perfecting presses. In 1891 the business had outgrown the building and plant which Mr. Gannett had bought and fitted up on Willow street on land originally owned by his great-great-grandfather, Captain Howard, so for its accommodation he built a large brick block adjoining the first building, and later on a large fireproof addition to the latter build- ing. Soon Comfort's circulation reached one million two hundred and fifty thousand, the largest in the world, and has been maintained at that figure ever since. The unprecedented success of this publication is not the result of luck or chance. It is due to Mr. Gannett's enterprise and keen business foresight. Com- fort was designed to circulate among the plain people, and Mr. Gannett seems to have an in- tuitive knowledge of their wants and how to touch a responsive chord in their hearts wherein he has laid the foundation of his achievements. He has originated and boldly put in practice new ideas and new methods which others have imitated. Many have fol- lowed where he has led. For instance, he originated the idea of printing parts of his paper in colors, and determined to do so, al- though at that time there was no color press in the world that could print his paper in a month. So in 1892 he commissioned Hoe & Company, at a cost of $50,000, to design and build especially for him the first web-perfect- ing color press ever attempted ; that is, a press which takes in a great roll or web of paper and running it through rapidly revolving cylin- ders around which are bent the electrotyped plates, turns out the perfect papers printed in colors, folded, cut and stitched. This press can print thirty-two thousand sixteen-page papers an hour, or half that number of thirty- two-page papers. His million and a quarter subscribers are scattered nearly in proportion to population through all the states and terri- tories in the union, and he maintains branch offices in New York, Chicago and London, England. Although the building up of Com-
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fort has been his life work, his pride and his ambition, he has also found time for the suc- cessful pursuit of other avocations and civic and social duties.
Mr. Gannett is a life-long Republican, and for two successive terms ( 1903-05) has repre- sented the city of Augusta in the legislature of Maine. He is a member of the Universalist church, and chairman of its executive com- mittee. He is a member of Bethlehem Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; of Cushnoc Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; of Alpha Council, Royal and Select Masters; of Trinity Com- mandery, Knights Templar, and of Kora Tem- ple, Order of the Mystic Shrine; also of Asy- lum Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; of Canton Augusta, Patriarchs Militant, and of the Abnaki Club, of Augusta. He is a director of the Augusta Trust Company, a trustee of the Kennebec Savings Bank, and president of the Augusta City Hall Associa- tion.
Ganeston Park, his beautiful suburban home, is one of the finest in Augusta. The grounds embrace one hundred and sixty acres of land partly wooded, but mostly under a high state of cultivation, the natural beauty of which has been much enhanced by artistic landscape gardening. It was once the property of Will- iam Howard, son of Captain James Howard. The elegant and artistic modern house built by Mr. Gannett on the crest of Betsy Howard hill overlooks the city and commands a superb view in all directions. The interior is beau- tifully and tastefully furnished and is decor- ated by many pictures and rare curios collected by Mr. Gannett as souvenirs of his extensive travels. He has a fine stable and greenhouse in which he raises orchids and other rare exotics. Howard Hall, a spacious barn con- structed of hewn pine timber which has stood on the premises for nearly a hundred years, he has transformed into a museum of colonial relics and family heirlooms. In it he has fin- ished a large dance hall, with a stage for private theatricals, and here and at his house, assisted by his wife and oldest daughter, it is his delight to entertain his many friends. Gov- ernors, state and federal officials, and mem- bers of the legislatures so frequently enter- tained at Ganeston Park, are always charmed with the delightful hospitality of Mr. Gannett and his family.
October 20, 1878, he married Sarah Neil Hill, daughter of James Hill, of Skowhegan, Maine, born July 19, 1858. Her great-grand- father, General James Hill, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, was one of the leading men
in the New Hampshire colony, having built the first warship at Portsmouth for the revo- lutionary patriots, and served as representative to the state legislature for six terms. Chil- dren, born at Augusta : 1. Grace B., June 13, 1880. 2. Guy Patterson, November 27, 1881, mentioned below. 3. Florence L., June 23, 1890.
(VIII) Guy Patterson, son of William Howard Gannett, was born in Augusta, No- vember 27, 1881. He was educated in the public and high schools of Augusta, Phillips Academy at Andover, where he completed his preparation for college, and at Yale College. In 1902, after his freshman year, he left col- lege to become associated with his father in the publishing business. In politics he is a Republican. He has been a member of the common council of Augusta from ward two. He is a trustee of the Augusta Trust Com- pany; director of the Kennebec Light and Heat Company ; director of the Opera House Company ; president of the Maine Power Com- pany, of Norway, Maine : director of the Nor- way & Paris Street Railway: director of the Austin Traction Company, Austin, Texas. He married, June 6, 1905, Anne J. Macomber. daughter of Hon. George E. Macomber, of Augusta, Maine.
BOODY This name, in the original Sanscrit language, is supposed to have been Buddha; in the Hungarian or German. Budae; in the French, Boude (pronounced Boo-day) ; and in Eng- lish, spelled in all the old records and by our best scholars, Boodey. The original word Buddha signified, as used in Asia, "Divinity." or "divine knowledge." The family in this country is noted for the longevity of its mem- bers, as well as for physical and mental de- velopment and vigor.
(I) Zechariah Boodey, ancestor of those bearing the name in America, was born in France, and died in Madbury, Cocheco (Dov- er), New Hampshire, about the year 1755, at an advanced age. He is supposed to have landed in Boston on a French ship, about 1695, being then about eighteen years of age. He deserted the ship, and hiding in a haymow of a cow barn, managed to escape capture until the ship had again set sail for France, living on the milk of the cows. Being of French descent, the Indians became very friendly to him, and he settled, or to use a western phrase, "squatted," on a farm of sev- enty-five acres of wild land in Madbury, in the western corner of what was then Cocheco.
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. He is supposed to have been about eighteen years of age at the time he landed in America. He married a New Hampshire woman, but her name is unknown. Their children : Eliza- beth, Hannah, Charity, Sarah, Abigail, Betty, daughter (name unknown, died young), Kes- iah and Azariah.
(IT) Azariah, son of Zechariah Boodey, was born August 15, 1720, in Madbury, and died February 26, 1803, in Barrington. He lived in Madbury until 1760, when he purchased his farm at Canaan, in Barrington, where he finally settled and reared a large family. He experienced all the trials of pioneer life, and helped by persistent effort and hard labor to make way for the civilization we now enjoy. He married (first) Bridget Bushbie, whose parents are said to have lived at the Bermudas and at Boston, and whose remote ancestor emi- grated to this country in the ship "True Love," of whom we have the following records in England : "April 8, 1637. The examination of Nich : Bushbie of Norvich, in Norff, weauer, aged 50 years and Bridgett his wife aged 53 years with four children, Nicho: John: Abra- ham : and Sarah: are desirious to goe to bos- ton in New England to inhabit." His wife Bridget died in Barrington, July 30, 1785, aged seventy years. Two years later he mar- ried a lady of Berwick, Maine, name not known. His children, all by first wife, were: Robert, Zechariah, John, Molly, Joseph, Sarah, Hannah, Azariah and Betsey.
(III) Rev. Robert Boodey, eldest son of Azariah and Bridget (Bushbie) Boodey, was born April 13, 1743, in Madbury, New Hamp- shire, and died in Limington, Maine, April 21, 1814. He settled first in New Durham, New Hampshire, in 1770, holding many places of trust, and in 1772 removed to Lim- ington, Maine, where he was chosen one of the first officers of that town, then new and progressive, of which he was selectman alter- nately as long as he lived. While residing in New Durham he was a town officer. After many years he was sent for to settle a question of law regarding the correctness of one of its town lines. At the call he went some fifty miles, called for a spade, and digging down came to a pile of solid pitch knots. "There," said he, "twenty years ago, when the old line- tree at the end of its life fell, I deep planted, precisely where it lived, this pile of pitch- knots," and turning to a young man then pres- ent, said, "Thee will please remember this." It was thus that a long lawsuit was prevented, and it hath indeed been remembered. Among other things, at one time, there was complaint
against an unequal taxation ; an old veteran in town meeting said that they "never had had any equal taxes in Limington since the old Minister Boodey used to guess them out." He was a clergyman of the denomination of Quakers, and in his life quakerized many of the people of Limington and neighboring towns, and was the leading spirit of that de- nomination, in both New Hampshire and Maine. On June 30, 1780, he and his brother, Joseph Boodey, united with Rev. Benjamin Randall in the organization of that denomina- tion of worshippers known as Freewill Bap- tists. They, with Nathaniel Buzzell, Judith Cartel, Margery Boodey (Robert's wife). Mary Buzzell and Rev. Benjamin Randall, constituted its first church, and September 2, 1780, Robert was ordained to preach and to serve as first deacon, and Joseph, his brother, and Nathaniel Buzzell were sent forth as rul- ing elders. He lived a faithful minister and exemplary townsman. He married, April 13, 1763, Margery Hill, born April 23, 1744, died in Limington at an advanced age. Their chil- dren were: Azariah, Molly, Robert, Abigail, Sarah, John H., Betsey, Ruth, Joseph, Israel, Benjamin, Edmund and Henry H. The num- ber of grandchildren was eighty-four.
(IV) John Hill, third son of Rev. Robert and Margery (Hill) Boodey, was born Sep- tember 18, 1773, in New Durham, New Hamp- shire, and died July 15, 1848, in Jackson, Maine. He was a house carpenter and also farmer, and resided for some time in Liming- ton, Maine, whence he removed to Jackson, Waldo county, early in the nineteenth century. He was active in town meetings and a man of influence, but never accepted any public office. In religious faith he was a Universal- ist, and was respected as an upright man. He married Patience Redman, of Scarborough, Maine, and lived for a short time in that town, where their eldest child was born in 1796; children: John, Isabella, Sally, Lucin- da, David, Redman, Harriet, Henry H. and Alvin.
(V) David, second son of John H. and Patience ( Redman) Boody, was born No- vember 9, 1866, in Jackson, and died in Jack- son, August, 1879. He grew up and always lived in Jackson, where he was a very suc- cessful farmer. He was a man of great force of character, and exerted a wide influence in the community. He married Lucretia B. Mudgett, daughter of John and Mary (Odam) Mudgett, of Prospect, Maine, born February 22, 1813, died May, 1908. Children: Fitz- burg A., resides in Lawrence, Massachusetts ;
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David A., mentioned below; Laura J., mar- ried Dr. Samuel W. Johnson, and resides in Belfast, Maine; John H., of Jackson, Maine ; Napoleon B., resides Medfield, Massachusetts ; Josephine, resides in Brooks, Maine, widow of Andrew B. Fogg.
(VI) David Augustus, son of David and Lucretia B. (Mudgett) Boody, was born Au- gust 13, 1837, in Jackson. He attended the public schools of his native town, and was afterward a student at Phillips-Andover Acad- emy. He took up the study of law in the office of Charles M. Brown, of Bangor, Maine, and completed his course under Jeremiah Ab- bott, a distinguished lawyer of Belfast, Maine, where Mr. Boody was admitted to the bar. He engaged in practice in Camden and at Thomaston. Maine, and subsequently entered the banking office of Boody & Mclellan, in New York City, as a clerk. Here his progress was rapid, and within a year he had entered into partnership, his uncle being the head of the firm, and purchased a seat in the New York Stock Exchange. For nearly twenty years he continued an active member of that body, being for a long period one of its board of governors. For some time he was presi- dent of the City Savings Bank of Brooklyn (in which city he maintains his home), and the Thomas Jefferson Association; was vice- president of the Long Island Free Library. He is president and trustee of the Brooklyn Free Library, Berkely Institute, and Institute for the Blind; vice-president and director of the Brooklyn Life Insurance Company, and Sprague National Bank; director of the Peoples' Trust Company. Mr. Boody was one of the founders of the Montauk Club, of which he is still in active membership, and is identified with the Carleton, Brooklyn, Marine and Field Clubs, and the New England So- ciety. Mr. Boody has always taken an active interest in political affairs, affiliating with the Democratic party, and has filled two offices of conspicuous importance and honor. In 1890 he was elected as representative from the Second Congressional District, in the Fifty- second congress, and resigned this office to accept that of mayor of the city of Brooklyn, to which he was elected in the fall of 1891, and served for the years 1892-93. He was the twenty-third individual to occupy that of- fice. He was active in securing many im- provements in the city government, and served his constituency faithfully and with credit. Mr. Boody displays great physical and mental vigor, and is a very busy man, although now past the age when most men retire from
business activities, having served his fellow citizens for a reasonable time, 'he gladly laid down the responsibilities of office in order to give the time needed to his personal affairs. His home in Berkely Place, Brooklyn, is one of the recognized social centers of the district. He married, June 1, 1862, in Frankfort, Maine, Abbie H. Treat, born June 15, 1840, daugh- ter of Henry and Abby Treat, of Frankfort. The family includes a daughter and four sons : Henry T., resides in Rockwell, Connecticut ; Maude Louise, widow of Leon Carey, resides in Brooklyn; Charles A., president of the People's Trust Company, of Brooklyn ; Alvin, of Portland, Oregon; Edgar, associated with his father in business.
(V) Hon. Henry Hill, fourth son of John H. and Patience (Redman) Boody, was born November 8, 1816, in Jackson, where his youth was passed. Ambitious and energetic, he first sought an education, as an equip- ment for a life of activity. Having passed through the local schools, he fitted for college at the Bangor Classical School, and matricu- lated at Bowdoin, from which he was grad- uated in 1842. Immediately upon graduation he became a tutor in his alma mater, and from 1845 to 1854 was professor of rhetoric in that institution. Having a deep interest in human progress, and especially that of his native land, he visited Washington during the spring vacation of 1854, and witnessed the passage of the "Kansas-Nebraska Bill," which exerted such a powerful influence upon the history of this nation. It was a most dra- matic scene, and strongly impressed every par- ticipant and witness: to the analytical and prophetic vision of the young college pro- fessor it conveyed a strong meaning. Hav- ing observed the feeling prevalent among poli- ticians, he was firmly convinced that the abo- lition of slavery and its attendant evils could never be brought about by either of the then leading parties. Returning to his home, he at once set about the organization of the Re- publican party in Maine. Calling upon his friend, General Samuel Fessenden, he found the latter of the same mind as himself. They immediately set about consultation with their friends and found a strong feeling in favor of the movement, and steadily built up a senti- ment that led to the calling of a convention early in the following year and the launching of the movement under most favorable aus- pices, though a few who subsequently allied themselves with the party failed to be among its original organizers. Strange to say, Han- nibal Hamlin, afterward elected by the Repub-
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