USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 22
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No Richardson is found RICHARDSON on these shores earlier than 1630, but in that year Ezekiel Richardson came from England, probably from Norfolk county, in the fleet with Winthrop. The records show that five
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men named Richardson left England for Vir- ginia in 1635. Some of these may have set- tled in New England later, but there is no further information of them obtainable. The record of the families composing the descend- ants of Ezekiel, Samuel and Thomas Richard- son develop to us the fact that energy, up- rightness, patriotism and a strong military spirit have been prominent features in the character of the members of these lines. More than five hundred Richardsons, with some va- riation in the spelling of the name, were in the revolution from Massachusetts and the prov- ince of Maine. The later record of the race, both in war and peace, has been equally cred- itable.
(I) Thomas Richardson, the youngest of the three brothers, Ezekiel, Samuel and Thom- as, came with his brother Samuel in 1636 to Charlestown, Massachusetts. The first men- tion of either of these brothers is dated Feb- ruary 21, 1636, when Mary, wife of Thomas, united with the church in Charlestown. Sam- uel and Thomas Richardson joined the same church the 18th of the 12th month (Febru- ary), 1638 (N. S.) ; in consequence of which they were admitted freemen of the colony, May 2, 1638. Their names are found on the records of Charlestown for the first time in 1637, when to each of them was granted a house-lot, clearly indicating that they had re- cently become citizens of the place. The same year their names are to be found on the records as citizens of Charlestown. April 20, 1638, Thomas Richardson with his brothers had a lot assigned him on "Misticke Side and above the Ponds," that is, in Malden. Thomas Rich- ardson, his two brothers, and four other men united in the settlement of Woburn, and the formation of a church there in 1641, and the three brothers lived near each other on the same street which, from its having been their residence and that of many of their posterity, has been known from time whereunto the memory of man runneth not to the contrary as "Richardson's Row." Thomas Richardson died in Woburn, August 28, 1651. There is no record of any will. The inventory of his estate, dated September 22, 1651, shows that he died possessed of a dwelling house, a barn, and one hundred acres of land, situated in the town of Woburn, of which twenty-five acres were plowed land and ten of meadow, and that the real estate was valued at eighty pounds. The inventory of his goods amounted to £138 4s. 4d .; and his estate was indebted to the sum of fro Ios. The name of the wife of Thomas Richardson was Mary. She married
(second) October 26, 1655, Michael Bacon, becoming his second wife. She died May 19, 1670. The children of Thomas and Mary Richardson, all but the first two born in Wo- burn: Mary, Sarah, Isaac, Thomas, Ruth, Phebe and Nathaniel.
(II) Nathaniel, youngest child and third son of Thomas and Mary Richardson, born in Woburn, Massachusetts, January 2, 1651, died intestate December 4, 1714, aged sixty-four. Woburn was always the place of his residence, and there he was made a freeman in 1690. He was a soldier in Captain Prentiss's troop of horse in King Phillip's war, and was one of the eight Woburn men wounded in that tre- mendous encounter known as the "Great Swamp Fight," which occurred December 19, 1675, in which eighty white men were killed or mortally wounded, and seven hundred In- dian warriors were killed, three hundred more afterward dying from wounds or from cold. His wife's name was Mary. She died De- cember 22, 1719. Their children, all born in Woburn, were: Nathaniel, James, Mary, Joshua, Martha, John, Thomas, Hannah, Sam- uel, Phinehas, Phebe, Amos and Benjamin.
(III) Captain James, second son and child of Nathaniel and Mary Richardson, was born in Woburn, February 26, 1676. He lived in that part of Woburn which is now the town of Winchester, and was a man of good habits and considerable property. He inherited the military spirit of his father, and was employed in warfare with the Indians of Maine. He died in Woburn, March 23, 1722. He mar- ried (first) Rebecca Eaton, who died the fol- lowing year, 1699. Married (second), De- cember 22, 1699, Elizabeth Arnold, of Read- ing, who died November 3, 1744. The only child by the first wife was William. By the second wife he had children: James (died young), James, Josiah, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Catherine (died young), Catherine, Nathaniel and Mary.
(IV) James (2), second son and child of Captain James (1) and Elizabeth (Arnold) Richardson, was born in Woburn, March 14, 1704. After living in Woburn some years he removed with his family, about 1735, into the northwest part of Lancaster, which became Leominster by incorporation in 1740. There he began a farm on a piece of new land which he cleared himself. He was surveyor of highways in 1745. According to the best obtainable in- formation he died in 1748. According to an- other account he fell backward down some cel- lar stairs, in 1761, and broke his neck. He married, September 24, 1728, Sarah Fowle,
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born in Woburn, July 29, 1703, daughter of Captain James and Mary ( Richardson ) Fowle. The children of this union, the first three born in Woburn, the others in Leominster, were: James, William, Sarah, Luke, Esther, John, Josiah and Joseph.
(V) John, third child and second son of James (2) and Sarah (Fowle) Richardson, born in Leominster, July 18, 1741, died there February 13, 1814, in his seventy-third year. After his marriage he settled in Petersham, but moved back to Leominster before 1771, and passed the remainder of his life there. He was a yeoman, a capable man, and like his brothers much occupied with town affairs. He was surveyor of highways, 1777; selectman every year from 1778 to 1789, inclusive, except 1780 and 1781, or ten years in all, and town clerk from 1782 to 1791, both inclusive, ten years. He married, December 12, 1765, Eunice, born November 19, 1743, daughter of Peter and Abigail Green. She died in Leo- minster, March 2, 1831, aged eighty-seven years. Their eleven children, the first three born in Petersham, the others in Leominster, were: Eunice, Abigail, Francis, John, Green (died young), Susanna, Mary, Martha, Bet- sey, Green and William.
(VI) John (2), fourth child and second son of John (1) and Eunice (Green) Richard- son, born in Leominster, Massachusetts, No- vember 22, 1771, died in Bath, Maine, August 2, 1855, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He left Leominster a young unmarried man, and went first to Berwick and afterward to Topsham, and finally to Bath, Maine. He was a merchant in Topsham. January 7, 1801, John Richardson, of Topsham, merchant, bought of Joseph West, of Bath, and wife Ann, land and buildings in Bath, as appears in the Lincoln deed record. This probably in- dicates the date of his removal from Topsham to Bath. In 1803 he bought of William Howard, of Augusta, land in Bath. March 2, 1813, John Richardson, of Bath, merchant, is appointed administrator of the estate of James Rowe, of Bath. He married, in Topsham, May, 1748, Sarah, of Lisbon, Maine, daugh- ter of Reuben and Hannah (Carr) Tibbets. Hannah (Carr) Tibbets, the mother, was born December 9, 1754, daughter of Dr. Moses Carr, of Somersworth, New Hampshire. Children of John and Sarah (Tibbets) Ricli- ardson were: Evelina, John Green, Orville, William Carr, Charles, Augustus, Sarah and Betsey C.
(VII) Captain Charles, fifth child and fourth son of John (2) and Sarah ( Tibbets)
Richardson, born in Bath, Maine, February 17, 1807, died of paralysis in Portland, Maine, February 9, 1875, aged sixty-eight. He fol- lowed the sea many years, and became a suc- cessful ship-master. He retired from that oc- cupation and became a member of the well- known firm of Lyman & Richardson, ship chandlers, of Portland, Maine. Several years before his death he retired from active busi- ness, and passed the remainder of his life in pleasant diversions. He was energetic, thor- oughly reliable in business, and genial and kind in his disposition. He married, in Portland, August 25, 1840, Mary H., born June 22, 1815, daughter of Thomas and Lucy (Staniford) Warren; he was of Portland, and she of Ipswich. She died in Portland, Maine, July 18, 1882, aged sixty-seven years. Children : Charles Warren, Mary Leontine, Georgiana, Frank Orville, George Henry and Cassius Darling.
(VIII) George Henry, fifth child and third son of Captain Charles and Mary H. (War- ren) Richardson, was born in Portland, Feb- ruary 3, 1851. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of Portland, which he left at six- teen years of age (1867), and entered the em- ploy of Henry P. Wood, banker and broker. A short time afterward he went to Philadel- phia and spent a year in the office of Warren & Gregg, ship brokers, and then returned to Portland. From 1871 to 1878 he was with J. B. Brown & Sons, bankers, and then changed to the employ of Swan & Barratt, private bankers, and shortly afterward became a mem- ber of the firm, it being the largest private banking institution in the state. In 1903, at which time he was the senior partner, the firm was merged into the Portland Trust Com- pany, of which he was elected treasurer, serv- ing in that responsible capacity from then to the present time (1908). Mr. Richardson's business career has been noted for integrity, far-sightedness and shrewdness, characteristics which insure success in whatever profession or vocation a man may engage in. He steadily progressed from year to year, advancing from a subordinate position in a counting room to one of the most responsible positions in one of the leading financial institutions, and dur- ing his many years of faithful service dis- charged every duty that devolved upon him in a highly creditable and conscientious man- ner. With him good works have proved the key of success. In politics he holds aloof from any hard and fast party lines, and reserves to himself the privilege of voting for the prin- ciples and men that most deserve his support.
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He is a member of the Congregational church. He is fond of home, and belongs to but one club, the Cumberland. He married, October 9, 1873, Emeline P., born in Portland, Maine, April 24, 1850, daughter of the Rev. Eaton and Mary ( Roberts) Shaw, of Portland. Four children have been born of this marriage : Mary W. and Maud S., July 26, 1874, both of whom died young. Lawrence S., June 28, 18SI, died December 31, 1883. Marian Pau- line, May 3, 1894.
SYMONDS The ancient family of Sy- monds lias for its arms : Azure, a chevron engrailed between three trefoils slipped, or ; motto : Dum vivo spiro. The chevron, which is found only on the arms of the followers of William the Conqueror into Britain, indicates that the fam- ily is of noble and very ancient origin. In Lancashire it is traced through twenty genera- tions ; six certainly recorded by Richard Sy- monds, antiquary and poet, who fought at Naseby. Richard of the third generation was an ancestor of the Symonds of Norfolk, Eng- land; John, of the eighth, to those of Cam- bridgeshire. The coat-of-arms of the families of Deputy Governor Samuel Symonds and John Symonds the immigrant are precisely the same.
(I) John Symonds, afterward of Salem, Massachusetts, and Samuel Symonds, after- ward of Ipswich, and deputy governor of Massachusetts, appeared together in Boston, in March, 1638, and took the freeman's oath. About 1850 the coat-of-arms, the genealogy, as well as the desk and table brought over by John Symonds, perished by fire at Middleton, but the descendants have always preserved the memory of "three trefoils slipped, or" and have counted themselves of the same stock as the governor. Topsfield, largely owned by him, was named out of deference to his old home in England, and as Middleton was not only to be found wherever a Symonds existed, but was a hamlet near, or in, his old estate of "Ollivers" in Essex, a name transplanted to his farm at Ipswich, it seemed natural when this name of Middleton was given to the town- ship occupied by the descendants of John of Salem, to ask the reason why. The names of Topsfield and Middleton indicate a common origin, but there are other indications of com- mon interest. When John Symonds took the freeman's oath, in March, his wife Elizabeth was pregnant with her youngest child, the only one born in this country, and when that child was born in the following November, either
because it was the name of the head of the family or because of tender regard for the deputy, he called it Samuel. John Symonds brought with him from England, 1637-38, his wife Elizabeth and three children, and died in 1671. His will was proved September 19, of that year. He left apprentices and is called a carpenter, much as Sir Richard Saltonstall is called a miller, but it is claimed that he did not work at the trade. His children were : James, Ruth, Katherine, Samuel, the subject of the next paragraph.
(II) Samuel, youngest child of John and Elizabeth Symonds, born in Salem, Massachu- setts, November 4, 1638, died in Boxford, Au- gust 14, 1722, in his eighty-fifth year. He bought land from Zaccheus Gould for his homestead in 1662, and lived in what is now Boxford near the Topsfield line, and was there connected with Rowley and Topsfield churches. Samuel Symonds and Captain Baker, the dep- uty's sons-in-law, held all the first town and church offices, and it is remarkable that the signature of this Samuel Symonds and all his successors is so like that of the deputy that it seems like a tracing. The likeness is evi- dently international. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Andrew, of Topsfield. She died March 17, 1725, aged eighty-two. Both were probably buried at Topsfield. Their chil- dren were: Elizabeth, Hannah, Grace, Mary, Samuel, John, Ruth, Rebecca (died young), Phebe (called Rebecca after her sister's death), Phœbe, Joseph, Nathaniel, and John, next mentioned.
(III) John (2), youngest child of Samuel and Elizabeth (Andrew) Symonds, was born in what is now Boxford, January 6, 1690. He was taxed until 1761 and probably died in that year. He married, February 13, 1708, Hannah, daughter of John Hazen, of Topsfield, and Mary (Bradstreet) Hazen, daughter of John and granddaughter of Governor Simon and Ann (Dudley) Bradstreet. They had chil- dren : John (died young), Hannah, Thomas, Jacob, Alice (died young), Alice, Sarah, Francis, Lydia, Phoebe and John.
(IV) John (3), youngest child of John (2) and Hannah (Hazen) Symonds, born at Box- ford, March II, 1725, died at Danvers of smallpox, June, 1778. His son, Jolin, was administrator of the estate, living at Holden. His inventory amounted to £1,492 125. 4d., re- turned August 4, 1778. John Symonds was married (first), March 13, 1746, at Rowley, to Ruth Dorman, of Topsfield, by John Hob- son, justice of the peace. Their children were: John, Joanna, Mary and Joseph. Soon
Leaseplan Waymandi
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after the birth of Joseph the mother must have died, and in 1759 John removed to Danvers, where he married (second) Ruth Metcalf, by whom he had: Ruth, Thomas, Francis, Abi- gail, Nathaniel, Hannah and Huldah.
(V) Nathaniel, third son of John and Ruth (Metcalf) Symonds, born in Danvers, Mas- sachusetts, October 28, 1764, died at Ray- mond, Maine, February 19, 1823. He mar- ried, in 1791, Martha, daughter of Moses Starbird, and soon after settled in Bridgton and then in Raymond, where he spent the re- mainder of his life engaged in farming, and where his children were born. They were: Joseph, Martha, Hannah, Huldah, Sally, Eliza C. and Henry A. Moses Starbird's name ap- pears with rank of private on continental army pay accounts of Captain Smart's com- pany, Colonel Smith's (Wigglesworth) regi- ment, for service from March 1, 1777, to March 1, 1780. Credited to Bradford. Also on a return dated Camp Valley Forge, Febru- ary 5, 1778. Town belonged to Raymond- town. Town enlisted for Bradford, in Cap- tain Nicholas Blaisdel's company, Colonel Wigglesworth's regiment. The above is certi- fier to be a true extract from the record index to the revolutionary war archives by William M. Olin, secretary. After the revolution Moses Starbird settled in Raymond and built a large, old-fashioned farmhouse on the shore of Panther's pond, which was the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Na- thaniel Symonds, practically during their lives. (VI) Joseph, eldest child of Nathaniel and Martha (Starbird) Symonds, born in Ray- mond, Maine, June 12, 1793, died in Portland, April 6, 1873, aged seventy-nine. He was engaged in mercantile pursuits, and spent some of his last years in Portland. He mar- ried, October 7, 1819, Isabella, born July 4, 1799, died in Portland, November 19, 1885, daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Humphrey) Jordan, of Raymond, Maine, and descendant in the eighth generation from Rev. Robert Jordan, the first Episcopal clergyman in Maine. The children of this union were : David J., Lydia M., Rachel J., Elizabeth C., William Law, who receives mention in a fol- lowing paragraph; C. Isabel, Joseph W., who receives mention in a following para- graph ; and Anson Jordan, who died young.
(VII) William Law, second son of Joseph and Isabella (Jordan) Symonds, born in Ray- mond, April 29, 1833, died January 18, 1862, in his twenty-ninth year. His father removed from Raymond to Portland in March, 1845, when he was nearly twelve years of age. He
was fitted for college in the Portland high school and entered Bowdoin College in the fall of 1850, graduating in the class of 1854, with the highest honors, having been marked by scholarly tastes, maturity, refinement and purity of character. After a year spent as private tutor in the family of Mr. Richards, son-in-law of Robert H. Gardiner, of Gardiner, he pursued theological study at Cambridge two years. From the summer of 1857 until his death, with the exception of about six months as preacher at Chicopee, Massachusetts, he re- sided in New York. He became connected with the staff of the New American Cyclo- pedia, devoting himself with untiring labor to the work laid upon him. A detail of his con- tributions would surprise one by their number, variety and extensive attainments which they involved, having himself, it is said, furnished twenty-six hundred articles-historical, philo- sophical and biographical-which gave him high reputation for taste, research and wide acquisitions. He wrote some of the heaviest articles for the New American Cyclopedia, stich as "History," "English Literature," "Philosophy," etc. He was also a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, the Knickerbocker, and newspaper press, papers which attracted attention by original thought and brilliant fancy. Of one of his essays in the Atlantic Monthly, "The Carnival of the Romantic," published in August, 1860, Mr. James Russell Lowell, then the editor, said it was the best essay ever printed in the magazine. Mr. Will- iam Winter, literary and dramatic editor of the New York Tribunc, who knew Mr. Symonds in New York as long ago as 1860, is now editing a volume of selections from his letters and writings with a view to the publication of the same in connection with a biography of him by Mr. Winter. The knowledge of books possessed by Mr. Symonds led Dr. Coggswell of the Astor Library to leave that library in his care during the absence of the former in Europe. Mr. Symonds was unaffected in manner, of gentle disposition, of elevated tone of mind and character, of peculiar refinement, and of warm affections. He was stricken with erysipelas, which, in his sensitive organization, accomplished its work in three or four days, he passing away in the Artists' Studio building on West Tenth street, and thus perished the most brilliant promise and hopes.
(VII) Hon. Joseph White, youngest child of Joseph and Isabella (Jordan) Symonds, was born in Raymond, September 2, 1840. At four years of age he was taken to Portland by his parents and has ever since resided there.
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He received his early education in the public schools of Portland, leaving the high school to enter Bowdoin College in 1856. He gradu- ated in 1860, and entered upon the study of law in the office of Samuel and D. W. Fessen- den, and subsequently continued it with Hon. Edward Fox, afterward judge of the United States District court for Maine. In 1863 he was admitted to the bar in Cumberland county and began practice of law in Portland. In 1869 he associated with himself Charles F. Libby and the firm took the name of Symonds & Libby. They practiced together until the fall of 1872, when Governor Perham appointed Mr. Symonds to the superior bench of the state. Six years later, September, 1878, he was appointed by Governor Selden Connor to a place on the supreme bench, which posi- tion he held from that time until 1884, when he resigned to resume the practice of the law. In 1863 he received from his alma mater the degree of Master of Arts, and in 1894 received the degree of Doctor of Laws. The profes- sional life of Judge Symonds has been sin- gularly felicitous. Naturally endowed with ready wit, an active, logical mind and good judgment, and having the advantage of su- perior training in both his literary and legal studies and possessing a vocabulary and fa- cility of expression seldom excelled in New England, he soon took high rank as a lawyer, and has for years been credited by his brethren of the bar as being at the head of the pro- fession in the state. In his practice he has successfully handled many cases in which great amounts were at stake, and his remuneration has been correspondingly large. His record while upon the bench was characterized by probity and a high regard for justice in every case. His decisions while on the supreme bench are found in volumes of the state re- ports, and are clear, logical and just exposi- tions of the law as applied to the facts ad- duced, and in almost every instance his views were shared by his associates on the bench.
As an orator his reputation is second to that of no other man in Maine. His forensic ef- forts have always received the approbation of his auditors, and he has been called many times to address political conventions, to place dis- tinguished candidates in nomination, and to deliver addresses on various subjects before learned societies and popular assemblies. Judge Symonds has never held any but judicial offices. He is a Republican. He is a citizen who commands the respect of the community, and with men of all parties he is a social fa- vorite. He is a member of the Maine His-
torical Society, Cumberland Club, Fraternity Club, and was for many years an overseer of Bowdoin College. Mr. Symonds's sisters are distinguished in Portland as ladies of culture and refinement. He has one son, Stuart Oak- ley, born August 3, 1885, a graduate of Bow- doin in class of 1905, and now ( 1908) a stu- dent of law in his father's office.
STEWART
Several Stewarts were among the Scotch prisoners sent over by Cromwell to New Eng-
land. The Stewart family is one of the most ancient and distinguished of Scotland. Aside from the royal branch, the family has had many noble and distinguished men and the family has been powerful for many centuries. (I) Alexander Stewart may have been one of the Scotch prisoners of war. He and Dun- can Stewart, of Newbury, who are thought to be brothers, came to Massachusetts when young men between 1650 and 1660. Alexan- der married, October 15, 1662, at Charlestown, Hannah Templer, who died there August 21, 1674. An Alexander Stewart, of Marlbor- ough, thought by some writers to be the same man, may have been a son. Children of Alex- ander and Hannah Stewart, baptized at Charlestown: I. James, born May 8, 1665. 2. John, November 24, 1667. 3. Samuel, De- cember 19, 1669, mentioned below. 4. Han- nah, January 2, 1671. 5. Margaret, August II, 1674.
(II) Samuel Stewart, of Wells, Maine, thought to be the son of Alexander Stewart, was born in Charlestown, December 19, 1669. He had a grant of one hundred acres of land in Wells, York county, Massachusetts, now Maine, in 1699. Duncan Stewart, of New- bury, bought of Timothy Collins, of Newbury, in 1680, land formerly of Christopher Collins, his father, at Blue Point, Scarborough, near Wells. Samuel Stewart was of Wells in 1716; was an inhabitant in 1726 with his son Samuel Jr., the only heads of family of this name there. He was a prominent citizen; in 1728 was made one of the trustees of the province loan to the town. He was a carpenter and builder and had the contract for the parsonage at Wells in 1727. He was on the committee to supply preaching in the Wells church in 1728. Children : 1. Samuel Jr., lived in Wells. 2. Joseph, mentioned below. Perhaps others.
(III) Joseph, son of Samuel Stewart, was born at Wells, and died there about 1734. His widow was appointed administratrix July 23, 1734. He married Mary Lord, born about 1711, daughter of Captain Samuel and Martha
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