USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 106
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The name of Morton, Moreton MORTON and Mortaigne is earliest found in old Dauphine, and is still existent in France, where it is represented by the present Comtes and Marquises Morton
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de Chabrillon, and where the family has occu- pied many important positions, states the "Genealogy of the Morton Family." from which this sketch is taken. In the annals of the family there is a statement repeatedly met with, that as the result of a quarrel one of the name migrated from Dauphine, first to Brittany and then to Normandy, where he joined William the Conqueror. Certain it is that among the names of the followers of Will- iam painted on the chancel ceiling in the an- cient church of Dives in old Normandy is that of Robert Comte de Mortain. It also figures on Battle Abbey Roll, the Domesday Book, and the Norman Rolls, and it is conjectured that this Count Robert, who was also half- brother of the Conqueror by his mother Har- lotte, was the founder of the English family of that name. In the Bayeux tapestry he is represented as one of the Council of William, the result of which was the intrenchment of Hastings and the conquest of England. Count Robert held manors in nearly every county in England, in all about eight hundred, among which was Pevensea, where the Conqueror landed, and where in 1087 Robert and his brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, were besieged six weeks by William Rufus. Here Camden ( 1551-1628) found "the most entire remains of a Roman building to be seen in Britain."
When William, Earl of Moriton, and Duke of Cornwall, son of Robert, rebelled against Henry I, that prince seized and razed his cas- tles, but this one seems to have escaped demo- lition. In early Norman times this William built a castle at Tamerton, Cornwall, and founded a college of canons, as appeared by the Domesday Book, where it is called Lan- staveton. On the north side of the Gretna in Richmondshire stands an old manor house. called Moreton Tower, from a lofty, square embattled tower at one end of it.
Of the family of Morton were the Earls of Dulcie and Cornwall : Robert Morton, Esq., of Bawtry ; Thomas Morton, secretary to Edward III: William Morton, bishop of Meath ; Rob- ert Morton, bishop of Worcester in 1586; John Morton, the celebrated cardinal archbishop of Canterbury, and lord chancellor of England, 1420-1500; Albert Morton, secretary of state to James 1; Thomas Morton (1564-1659). bishop of Durham and chaplain to James II. Prominent among the English Mortons who early came to America were Thomas Morton, Esq., Rev. Charles Morton, Landgrave Joseph Morton, proprietary governor of South Caro- lina, and George Morton.
(I) George Morton, the first of the name to
found a family in America, and the ancestor of former Vice-president Levi P. Morton, was born about 1585, at Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, and it is believed was of the ancient Mortons who bore arins : Quarterly, gules and ermine; in the dexter chief and sinister base, each a goat's head erased argent attired or. Crest, a goat's head argent attired or. Hun- ter, in his "Founders of New Plymouth," sug- gests that he may have been the George Mor- ton hitherto unaccounted for in the family of Anthony Morton, of Bawtry, one of the his- torical families of England, and that from Ro- manist lineage "he so far departed from the spirit and principles of his family as to have fallen into the ranks of the Protestant Puritans and Separatists." Of George Morton's early life no record has been preserved, and his re- ligious environments and the causes which led him to unite with the Separatists are alike un- known. His home in Yorkshire was in the vicinage of Scrooby Manor, and possibly he was a member of Brewster's historic church ; but it is only definitely known that he early joined the Pilgrims at Leyden, and continued of their company until his death. When the first of the colonists departed for America, Mr. Morton remained behind, although he "much desired" to embark then and intended soon to join them. His reason for such a course is a matter of conjecture. As he was a mer- chant, possibly his business interests caused his detention, or, what is more probable, he re- mained to promote the success of the colony by encouraging emigration among others. That he served in some official capacity before com- ing to America is undoubted. One writer states that he was "the agent of those of his sect in London," and another that he acted as "the financial agent in London for Plymouth County."
The work, however, for which this eminent forefather is most noted, and which will for- ever link his name with American history, is the publication issued by him in London, in 1622, of what has since been known as "Mourt's Relation." This "Relation" may justly be termed the first history of New Eng- land, and is composed of letters and journals from the chief colonists at Plymouth, either addressed or intrusted to George Morton, whose authorship in the work is possibly lim- ited to the preface. The "Relation" itself is full of valuable information and still continues an authority. Shortly after it was placed be- fore the public, George Morton prepared to emigrate to America, and sailed with his wife' and children in the "Ann," the third and last
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ship to carry what are distinctively known as the Forefathers, and reached Plymouth early in June, 1623. "New England's Meinorial" speaks of Mr. Timothy Hatherly and Mr. George Morton as "two of the principal pas- sengers that came in this ship," and from Mor- ton's activity in promoting emigration it may be inferred that the "Ann's" valuable addition to the colony was in a measure due to his ef- forts. He did not long survive his arrival, and his early death was a serious loss to the infant settlement. His character and attainments were such as to suggest the thought that had he lived to the age reached by several of lis distinguished contemporaries, he would have filled as conspicuous a place in the life of the colony. The Memorial thus chronicles his de- cease :
"Mr. George Morton was a pious, gracious servant of God, and very faithful in whatso- ever public employment he was betrusted withal, and an unfeigned well-willer, and ac- cording to his sphere and condition a suitable promoter of the common good and growth of the plantation of New Plymouth, laboring to still the discontents that sometimes would arise amongst some spirits, by occasion of the diffi- culties of these new beginnings ; but it pleased God to put a period to his days soon after his arrival in New England, not surviving a full year after his coming ashore. With much comfort and peace he fell asleep in the Lord, in the month of June anno 1624."
He married Juliana Carpenter, as shown by the entry in the Leyden Records: "George Morton, merchant, from York in England ac- companied by Thomas Morton, his brother, and Roger Wilson his acquaintance, with Juliana Carpenter, maid from Bath in England, accompanied by Alexander Carpenter, her fa- ther, and Alice Carpenter, her sister, and Anna Robinson, her acquaintance" "The banns pub- lished 16 July 1612. The marriage took place 23 July 2 Aug. 1612." Mrs. Morton married ( second) Manasseh Kempton, Esq., a member of the first and other assemblies of the colony. She died at Plymouth, February 18. 1665, in the eighty-first year of her age, and is men- tioned in the town records as "a faithful serv- ant of God." Children of George and Juliana (Carpenter ) Morton : Nathaniel, Patience, John, Sarah and Ephraim.
(II) Hon. Ephraim, third son of George and Juliana (Carpenter) Morton, was born in 1623, on the ship "Ann," on the pas- sage to New England, and died in Plymouth, September 7, 1693. It seems that after the death of his father he was adopted by Gov-
crnor Bradford. He, like his father and two brothers, was a man of ability, and was called to fill various places of honor and trust among his fellow citizens. He was made a freeman of the colony June 7. 1648; constable for Plymouth, 1648; member of the grand inquest, 1654; in 1667 was elected a representative to the Plymouth general court and was a mem- ber for twenty-eight years ; in 1691-92 Płym- outh was merged into Massachusetts, and he was chosen one of the first representatives to the general court ; was head of the board of selectmen of Plymouth for nearly twenty-five years ; magistrate of the colony in 1683; at the time of his death he was justice of the court of common pleas ; was sergeant of the Plym- outh military company, and in 1664 was elect- ed lieutenant. and in 1671 was chosen a mem- ber of the "Council of War," in which he was of much service for many years, including the time of King Philip's war ; for many years he was a deacon of the Plymouth Church, hav- ing been chosen August 1, 1669, and serving until his death. His will, dated September 27, 1693, was probated November 2, 1693. Ephraim Morton married. November 28, 1644, Ann Cooper, who died September 10, 1691. The genealogist. Savage, says she was his cousin, daughter of John Cooper, of Scituate, and Priscilla (Carpenter) Wright, widow of William Wright, and sister of Juliana (Car- penter ) Morton. He married (second), 1692, Mary, widow of William Harlow, and daugh- ter of Robert Shelley, of Scituate. The mar- riage covenant between Ephraim Morton and Widow Harlow, dated October 11, and ac- knowledged October 19, 1692, provided: She is to have her right of dower in the estate of her late husband, and is to quitclaim her rights to the estate of said Epliraim Morton if she survive him. The children of Ephraim and Ann ( Cooper) Morton were : George, Ephraim, Rebecca, Josialı, Mercy, Nathaniel, Eleazer. Thomas and Patience.
(III) Ephraim (2), second son of Ephraim (1) and Ann (Cooper) Morton, was born at Plymouth, January 27, 1648, died February 18, 1732. He was buried on Burial Hill, Plymouth, the inscription on his gravestone being: "Here lyes ye body of Mr. Ephraim Morton, who decd Febry ye 18th 1731-2 in ye 84th year of his age." He married, about 1775-76. Hannah Phinney, who was born in 1657. Their children were : Hannah, Ephraim, John, Joseph and Ebenezer.
(IV) Ebenezer, fourth and youngest son of Ephraim (2) and Hannah (Phinney ) Mor- ton, was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts,
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April 11, 1685, and died in Plymouth, but the date of his death is not known. His first wife was Ilannah Morton, and the second, whom he married in 1720, was Mercy Foster. His children, by wife Hannah, were: Mary, Edmund, Patience, Zacheus; by wife Mercy : Solomon.
(V) Captain Edmund, eldest son of Ebene- zer and Hannah ( Morton) Morton, was born in Plymouth in 1713, and died suddenly at Dorchester, January 9, 1786. About all we know of him is that he was a mariner. He was buried in the Dorchester North cemetery. His tombstone bears the inscription :
"In Memory of Capt. Edmund Morton who departed this life Jan. 9, 1786 aged 73."
In his life he was a kind and loving husband, a tender provident parent, a friendly and ben- evolent neighbor, pitiful and liberal to the poor, needy and distressed, his life useful, his death lamented. His will was made February 8, 1772. His estate was inventoried and ap- praised at £655 15s. 9d. He married, in Bos- ton, April 23. 1740, Elizabeth Rogers, who survived him, and by whom he had : Edmund, Ebenezer, Elizabeth, Zacheus, Mary, Hannah, Solomon, Isaac, Patience and Sarah.
(VI) Captain Isaac, fifth son of Captain Edmund and Elizabeth ( Rogers) Morton, was born in Boston, April 18, 1754, died Septem- ber 24, 1824. Family tradition states that lie was a member of the Boston Tea Party, and was an ensign in a Boston company at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. He en- listed as a private in the revolutionary army, April 5, 1776, apparently (according to the records of the United States war department ) in Captain Samuel Bradford's company. Twenty-third regiment, Continental troops, raised in Massachusetts. "His name appears on an undated pay roll of the company, which shows that he received pay for September, October, November and December 1776, but affords no further particulars relative to his service," says a letter from the chief of the record and pension office, war department, Washington, D. C. The records of the family also show that he served as an ensign and as a captain. The chief of the record and pen- sion office, above mentioned, further states : "The records also show that one Isaac Morton served as an ensign and as a lieutenant in the Tenth Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by Colonel Thomas Marshall, Revolutionary
war. He was commissioned ensign November 6. 1776, promoted to be lieutenant November 1, 1777, and discharged December 4, 1777." From the records of revolutionary war serv- ice in the office of secretary of the common- wealth of Massachusetts, it is learned that "Isaac Morton appears with rank of captain on muster and pay roll of Colonel Thomas Poor's regiment. Engaged July 8, 1778: dis- charged October 2, 1778 ; time of service, three months seventeen days, including twelve days (two hundred and forty miles) travel home. Company commanded by Lieutenant Zaccheus Thayer, subsequent to October 12, 1778. Reg- iment raised for the term of eight months from time of arrival at Peekskill." He "appears among a list of officers of Suffolk county mili- tia appointed to command men raised for vari- ous purposes. Said Morton detached for serv- ice at Peekskill. Commissioned July 14, 1778." He "appears in an account rendered against the state of Massachusetts by said Morton. Captain, for state pay for service from July 14, 1778, to October 24, 1778, 3 months, 10 days, at North river. Reported a supernumer- ary officer." He "appears with the rank of Captain on pay roll of Capt. Isaac Morten's company, Col. Thomas Poor's regiment, for September, 1778. dated Fort Clinton, Noven- ber 14, 1778." He "appears in a copy of a regimental order dated West Point, October 12, 1778. Said Morton and others reported as having been discharged by Colonel Poor from any further service in his regiment, agreeable to General Washington's orders. Rank, captain." The records of the family state that Captain Morton served throughout the war, eight years in all, in the army and navy; also that he drew a pension of twenty dollars a month. At the close of the revolu- tionary war Captain Morton removed from Boston, Massachusetts. to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, engaging in the bread and sea biscuit baking business. In 1798 yellow fever appeared in Portsmouth and he removed to Exeter, New Hampshire, where he continued the baking business, his son William, then about twelve years old, delivering the bread to customers. Isaac, like his father, died sud- denly. It is said that he was sitting in a chair down by the old Piscataqua bridge, tell- ing his revolutionary yarns, when he fell back- ward dead. As the graves of Captain Morton and his wife are in Portsmouth, it is presumed they returned there from Exeter after the yel- low fever epidemic had passed. He and his wife are buried in the Proprietors' cemetery,
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in the south part of the city. The following inscriptions are upon the gravestone :
"Captain Isaac Morton Died Sept. 24, 1824 Ae. 70
Anna his wife Died Aug. 2, 1817 Ae. 62."
Isaac Morton married, 1774, Anna, born May 1, 1755, daughter of John and Anna (Eaton ) Barber, of Reading, Massachusetts. Their children were: Elizabeth, Anna, Isaac, Benja- min, William, John (died young) and John.
(VII) William, third son of Captain Isaac and Anna (Barber) Morton, was born Decem- ber 7, 1785. He was a noted contractor, build- er and millwright, and developed the water power and built the first mills at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire. He died suddenly at Sal- mon Falls, and was found dead in his room at the hotel which he built, December 12, 1865, aged eighty. He married, at Portsmouth, April, 1813, Sarah Roberts Griffith, born in 1793, died at Salmon Falls, February 8, 1849. Both were buried at Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire. Their children were: William Henry, Albert, Charles, Eliza Ann, Edmund Griffith, John Barton, James Anderson, Mary Hannah, Charles Augustus and Isaac Newton.
(VIII) Charles Augustus, seventh son of William and Sarah Roberts ( Griffith) Morton, was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, March 25, 1834, died at Biddeford, Maine, April 28, 1879. He was educated in the public schools and at the academy at South Berwick, Maine. He was an expert machinist. He married, at Standish, Maine, October 15, 1856. Susan Nason, born October 15, 1834, died at Biddeford, January 30, 1892, daughter of Samuel and Sarah ( Meservey) York. She was a member of the Second Congregational Church of Biddeford. Their children, all born in Biddeford : I. Lillie Sarah Eliza, born April 1, 1858, married, July 31, 1882, Jolin Kermott Allen, journalist and author, and re- sides in Chicago. 2. Cora Estelle, August 8, 1860, married, at Biddeford, November 29. 1904, Levi Woodbury Stone, ex-mayor of Biddeford. 3. Charles James, January 23, 1863 ; resides in Boston. 4. William, October 24, 1865. 5. Angie Fidella, August 29. 1867, graduated from Biddeford high school. 1885; married, at Biddeford, September 3, 1889, Abraham L. T. Cummings, and resides in Portland. (See Cummings II.) 6. Charlotte May, September 19, 1872, married, in Bidde- ford, June 27, 1900, Henry Hutchinson Gove, manufacturer, Biddeford.
The name is derived from Arn, ARNOLD an eagle, and Holt, a grove, and in its various spellings is traced back in England to the time of the Norman kings. One Thomas Arnold married Agnes, daughter of Sir Thomas Gammage, lord of Cpytey, and his son Richard married Emmate. daughter of Pearce Young. Richard died in 1595 and his son, Thomas, married Alice, daughter of John Gully. She was born in 1552 and their son John, born in 1685, died in 1616. He married and had five children : John, William, Edith, Thomas and Christian Arnold.
(I) William, son of Thomas and Alice (Gully ) Arnold, was born at Cheselbourne. Dorsetshire, England, June 24, 1587, married Christian, daughter of Thomasine Peck, and had children in Leamington, Warwickshire, England, as follows: Elizabeth, born Novem- ber 23, 1611, married Thomas Hopkins. Ben- edict. Thomas. Stephen, born December 22, 1622, deputy governor of Rhode Island, 1664, married Sarah, daughter of Smith, of Rehoboth, November 24, 1646. Joanna, born 1617, married Zachary Rhodes. They were followers of Roger Williams' party and landed in Hingham. Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1635, and joined Williams on his expedition to Rhode Island and became original proprie- tors of the Colony of Providence Plantations in 1637, and founders of the First Baptist Church in America. William Arnold had a grant of land in Newport in 1638, but was number two of initial deed of Roger Williams to the proprietors of Providence Plantations in 1655.
(II) Benedict, eldest son of William and Christian (Peck) Arnold, was born December, 1615, removed to Newport in 1635. In 1637 he became one of the thirteen heads of families who signed the agreement for majority rule, made a study of the Indian language, conduct- ed negotiations with the Indians, being ap- pointed by the proprietors of Providence, emis- sary for that purpose. In 1654 he was made assistant for the town of Newport, and in 1657 joined Coddington in the purchase of Quodnoquat Island, and the same year he was elected president of Rhode Island as successor to Roger Williams, who had resigned the of- fice, and he was re-elected in 1662-63. Under the Royal Charter he became the first gov- ernor of the colony of Rhode Island, 1663-66, and was re-elected to that office four times successively, and under his administration. 1669-78, friendly relations were re-established with the Providence Plantations. He married,
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December 17, 1640, Damaris, daughter of Stukely Westcott, of Salem. She was born 1592, died 1679. Benedict Arnold died June_ 20, 1678. Their children were: Josiah, Bene- dict, Godsgift, Freelove, Lester, Caleb, Dama- ris Priscilla, Penelope, John Golding, Eliza- beth, Absalom.
(III) Benedict (2), eldest son of Benedict (1) and Damaris (Westcott) Arnold, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, February IO, 1642, and died July 4, 1727. He married, March 9, 1671, Mary, daughter of John Turn- er. She died December 16, 1690, after bearing six children, all born in Newport, Rhode Is- land: Godsgift, May 19, 1672. Simon, Sep- tember 12, 1674. Mary, 1678. Constant, Feb- ruary 26, 1681. Benedict (q. v.), August 28, 1683. Caleb. Benedict (2) married as his second wife Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Saralı (Sherman) Munford, born 1668, died October 14, 1746. He was deputy to the gen- eral court I686-90-99-1701-02-06-08-09-12; speaker of the house of deputies 1706-07. The children of his second marriage were: Com- fort, born May 21, 1695. Ann, July 14, 1696, married a Mr. Chase. Sarah, November 3, 1698.
(IV) Benedict (3), fifth child of Benedict (2) and Mary ( Turner) Arnold, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, August 28, 1683. He was a selectman of Newport, a cooper, ship- owner, trading with the West Indies, and was known as Captain Benedict. He settled at Norwich, Connecticut, where he married Han- nah Waterman, widow of Absalom King. Their children, born in Newport, Rhode Is- land: Benedict (died young). Benedict (q. v.), January 14, 1740. Hannah. Mary. Ab- salom King. Elizabeth. Mary. Elizabeth. Absalom.
(V) Benedict (4) (general), second son of Captain Benedict (3) and Hannah (Water- man) (King) Arnold, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, January 14, 1740, died in London, England, June 14, 1801. He was married (first), February 27, 1767, to Margaret. daughter of Samuel Mansfield. She died June 19, 1775. The children of Benedict and Mar- garet ( Mansfield) Arnold were: 1. Benedict, born February 14, 1768, died unmarried in Jamaica, West Indies, 1805. 2. Richard, Au- gust 22, 1769. died December 9, 1847, married Margaret, daughter of Samuel Weathered, of Augusta, Canada, and lived in Maine. 3. Hen- ry, born 1772. He married (second) Marga- ret, daughter of Judge Edward Shippen, of Philadelphia, April 8, 1779, and by this mar- riage had five children: 4. Edward Shippen,
who became a lieutenant in the Sixth Regi- ment Cavalry of the British Army, and pay- master at Muttra, India. He died at Singa- pore, India, in 1813. 5. James Robertson, be- came a lieutenant-general in the British army : married Virginia, daughter of Bartlett Good- nick, Esq., of Saling Grove, Essex. Ile died in 1834 and his widow in 1852. 6. George, who was an officer in the British army in India, holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the Second Brigade Cavalry. He married Anne Brown and died without issue in India in 1828. 7. William Fitch, also an officer in the British army, being captain of the Nine- teenthi Lancers. He was married in 1819 to Elizabeth Cecelia, only daughter of Captain Alexander Ruddock, of the Island of Fobago, a captain in the royal navy. Captain Arnold died in 1846 and left six children: Edwin Gladwin, William Trail, Margaret Stewart, Elizabeth Sophia, Georgianna Phipps and Louisa Russell. William Trail died without issue ; Margaret S. married Rev. Robert H. Rogers; Elizabeth S. married Rev. Bryant Burgess; Georgianna P. married Rev. John Stephenson ; Louisa R. married Rev. G. Cecil Rogers, all clergymen of the Church of Eng- land. Edwin Gladwin Arnold perpetuated the name. He was a clergyman of the Church of England and rector of Barron in Cheshire. He was married in 1852 to Charlotte Georgiana, eldest daughter of Lord Henry Chalmondeley, son of the Marquis of Chalmondeley, and these children were born of the marriage: Edward Chalmondeley; William Henry ; Charles Lu- ther ; Henry Abel; Arthur Seymour ; Herbert Tollanache; Maria Elizabeth; Emma Char- lotte ; Georgiana, and Mabel Caroline Frances. Rev. Gladwin Arnold, grandson of Benedict Arnold, was the owner by inheritance of the Canadian possessions in New Brunswick granted by the British Crown to his grandfa- ther, under the English law. At the time, Gen- eral Benedict Arnold lived in St. John, New Brunswick ; after the revolutionary war he en- gaged in mercantile pursuit, carrying on an extensive trade with the West Indies. His only daughter, Sophia Matilda, married Colo- nel Powell Phipps, of the British army in In- dia, a relative of the Earl of Mulgrave. She died in 1828. The Arnold estate and seat in England is Little Missenden Abby, Bucking- hamshire. an old estate that belonged to the church before the reformation.
(VI) Ambrose Arnold was born 1769 and died 1813 in Rhode Island. He married Nab- by Smith, born 1767, died 1812. He was a preacher of the Free Will Baptist church, and
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joined the exodus of adventurous pioneers who left the older colonies immediately after the American revolution for the wilds of Maine. He located in the Kennebec valley and was one of the first settlers of that beautiful and fertile region. Children : Jolin, Samuel, Edwin, Cyrus, Rebecca, Jeremiah, Betsey and William.
(VII) Jeremiah, fifth son of Rev. Ambrose Arnold, was born in the town of Sidney, Ken- nebec county, Maine, November 20, 1802. He was a carpenter and builder, and many of the old homesteads still standing in the country were erected under his supervision and are ev- idences of his skill as an architect. He lived in Waterville, where he helped to build the First Universalist Church, of which society he was a charter member, and he was a man of sterling worth and much esteemed by his fel- low citizens. He was one of the original mem- bers of the Waterville Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was master of the lodge for many years, and past master at the time of his death. He married Vesta Bailey, of Sidney. Children were: Laura, Mrs. Reull Howard (Lorand) ; William H .; Willard Bailey ; Victoria ; Flora, widow of Charles F. Barrelle. Mr. Arnold died August 14, 1860, and his wife died August, 1884.
(VIII) Willard Bailey, son of Jeremiah and Vesta (Bailey) Arnold, was born in Sidney, Maine, August 22, 1835. He was brought to Waterville when a child, was educated in the public schools of Waterville, the Waterville Liberal Institute and Westbrook Seminary. On April 5, 1852, he began his business career as clerk in the hardware business of Dunn, Elden & Company, of Waterville, Maine. He became a partner in the business, as Elden & Arnold, in September, 1863, and on the death of Jones R. Elden, in April, 1864, the firm was dissolved and the new firm of Arnold & Mead- er was formed with Nathaniel Meader as junior partner. This firm continued more than a decade, when Mr. Arnold purchased the in- terest of Mr. Meader, and the business con- ducted as W. B. Arnold & Company, and so continued up to the time of his death, and still the firm name is retained. He served the town and city of Waterville in several official posi- tions. He was a member of the board of se- lectmen in 1877; served as chief engineer of the fire department, and the esteem with which he was held by the members and friends of the department is evidenced by a gold medal presented to him and which is carefully pre- served by the family among the memorials of his useful and excellent life. For over twenty
years he served on the committee having in charge the interests of the Pine Grove ceme- tery. He was prominent in Masonic circles, having held office as past master of the Water- ville Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons, and as a member of St. Omer Comman- dery, Knights Templar. He was married No- vember 28, 1864, to Ellen Louise, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah H. (Saunders) Furbish, of New Sharon, Maine, and their only child, Frederick Jeremiah, was born in Waterville, April 29, 1866, was educated at the Coburn Classical Institute, at Phillips Academy, Exe- ter, New Hampshire, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachu- setts, where he was graduated M. E. After his graduation he joined his father in the hard- ware business and became manager of the heating and plumbing departments, and at the death of his father he succeeded to the busi- ness. Willard B. Arnold with his family at- tended the Unitarian church. He died April 5, 1905. Mrs. Arnold was the first president of the Waterville Free Library Association. Frederick J. married, October, 1891, Alleen Foster, daughter of Moses Foster, and had children : Margaret and Willard B. Mrs. F. J. Arnold died February 23, 1907.
I. Richard Furbish, the pioneer, was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and came through the wilderness of the Maine woods to where he founded the town of Rome, Maine. His house, the first in the place and still standing, in a good state of preservation, known as the "Furbish House," afforded a room for the first school organized in the town. His farm was well cultivated and he carved it out of the dense forest, among whose trees he saw the possibilities for the foundation of a town.
2. Jeremiah, son of Richard Furbish, was born in Rome, Maine. He was a manufacturer of doors, sashes and blinds in Augusta, Maine, and in 1858 removed to Waterville, where he engaged in the lumber business, carrying on lumber manufacturing in the Kennebec and Messelonskee rivers, and for a time engaged as a hardware dealer in Waterville, later pur- chased the water power on what was then Emmitts stream, now Messolonskee. He was a member of the Universalist church, but extended his benefactions to the Unitarian So- ciety of Waterville. His political faith was that held by the Republicans, and like his fa- ther was originally a Whig. He was married to Sarah Hall Saunders, born in New Sharon, Franklin county, Maine, and their daughter, Ellen Louise, was married to Willard B. Ar- nold, as mentioned above.
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