Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II, Part 70

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry S. (Henry Sweetser), 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 736

USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 70

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).

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ceived, in addition to $6,850 in smaller amounts.

While the trustees were obtaining the above subscriptions, one of their number wrote to Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who, upon hearing the result of the popular subscription, immediate- ly sent a check for $9,000 to the treasurer of the board of trustees. With this substantial aid they could undertake the erection of a building. Sixty-nine architects from Maine to Colorado forwarded building designs for ap- proval, none of which were entirely acceptable. without minor alterations. On September 12. 1893, the trustces voted to accept the amended design furnished by Neal & Hopkins of Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania. A building committee was appointed and for the first six months of 1894 the architects and building committee were diligently engaged in their assigned du- ties. June 14, 1894, the cornerstone was laid by the Free Masons, with the solemn and im- pressive rites of that ancient and revered fra- ternity. Great preparations were made for in- vited guests, a military band furnished music, an imposing procession of Masons and public men marched to the library lot, where prayer was offered and addresses made. The occa- sion of the laying of the cornerstone was with great eclat and public approbation, and for- mally inaugurated a new era in the history of the library. January, 1896, saw the build- ing finished and the books arranged in order on the shelves. On February 3 the contrib- utors and their families were invited to attend the simple and appropriate dedicatory services. The building was delivered to the trustees by the secretary of the building committee ; a re- sponse was made by the president of the board of trustees, and an address of acceptance and dedication was delivered by a prominent mem- ber of the board followed by prayer and bene- diction. Augusta may well look with justifi- able pride upon the result of the efforts of her generous and public-spirited citizens, and with satisfaction at the completion of this beautiful library building.

The name on early records PHINNEY was variously spelled ; Pheney, Finney, Fenney, Fennye, but Phinney was most universally adopted. The family were on record in Derbyshire and Staf- fordshire, England, at an early date. Edward Finey, of Coats Park, was high sheriff of Der- byshire in 1690. In the eighteenth century a gentle family of this name resided in Fulshaw. Cheshire, and Samuel Finney. of Fulshaw, who died 1798, was an enamel painter to the Queen.

An Edward Fynney was bailiff of Lichfield, Staffordshire, 1619 and 1627; Edward Finney was sheriff of that city, 1641. The name, how- ever, was represented in Burton-on-Trent fully three hundred years ago.

(I) The first of the name in America was John Phinney, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, whose first child was born there in 1638. His first wife was Christian (surname not given), who died at Plymouth, September 9, 1649, and according to church records he married ( sec- ond), July 9, 1650, Abigail Bishop, widow of Henry Cogan (or Loggin), a wealthy mer- chant and adventurer, and one of the first set- tlers of Barnstable, Massachusetts. About this date John Phinney removed to Barnstable, where his second wife died and was buried May 7, 1653. He married (third), June 26, 1654, Elizabeth Bayley. He held the office of constable at Barnstable, which at that date was an imposing one. He afterward became inter- ested with a friend in the fertile region of Mount Hope, Rhode Island, and removed there.

(II) John (2), eldest son of John (I) and first wife, Christian Phinney, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, December 24, 1638, but baptized in Barnstable fifteen years later, July 31, 1653. He married, August 10, 1664, Mary Rogers. He was a soldier in Captain Gorham's company from the Plymouth Colony in the swamp fight of King Phillip's war, 1675. Their children were: I. John, born May 5, 1665, see forward. 2. Malatiah, October, 1666, died November, 1667. 3. Joseph, born Jan- uary 28, 1667. 4. Thomas, January, 1671. 5. Ebenezer, February 18, 1673. 6. Samuel, No- vember 4, 1676. 7. Mary, September 3, 1678. 8. Mercy, July 10, 1679. 9. Patience, August 27, 1681. 10. Benjamin, June 18, 1682. II. Jonathan, July 30, 1684. 12. Hannah, March 28, 1687, died February 10, 1689.

(III) John (3), eldest son of John (2) and Mary ( Rogers ) Phinney, born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, May 5, 1665, died November 27, 1746. He married, May 30, 1689, Sarah P., sister of Hon. Solomon, and daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Deeby) Lombard. (Lineal descendants of Thomas Lombard, who came in the "Mary and John," 1630.) It is said that the Lombard family trace back to the time of William the Conqueror and by history of undoubted creditability to the kingdom of the Lombards in Italy, who finally dispersed, settling in Germany, France and elsewhere. Rudolph de Lambert (French spelling), of Normandy, France, went to England with William the Conqueror as his knight of arms,

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and from his son Hugh all of the name in England and America are said to be descended. John (3) Phinney was given the title of dea- con on the records, and he probably was active in the Barnstable church. He was the father of nine children, viz .: I. Elizabeth, born April 4, 1690, married David Bradford, 1714. 2. Mary, January 20, 1692, died January, 1694. 3. John, April 8, 1693, see forward. 4. Thom- as, May 25, 1697. 5. Ilannah, April 8, 1700. 6. Sarah. October 8, 1702. 7. Patience, Sep- tember 12, 1704. 8. Martha, July 12, 1706. 9. Jabez, July 16, 1708.

(IV) John (4), eldest son of Deacon John (3) and Sarah P. (Lombard) Phinney, was born in Barnstable, April 8, 1693. He was the founder of Gorham, Maine, and known as "Captain John." Maine was at that time a part of Massachusetts, and the soldiers of the Indian wars felt that they had a claim on this territory. In 1727, after many delays, the legislature of Massachusetts granted to the officers and soldiers of the Narragansett expe- dition during King Phillip's war, and their heirs, a township six miles square, in the prov- ince of Maine, "to each of one hundred and twenty persons whose claim should be estab- lished within four months of the passage of the Act." The seventh town was named Gor- ham in honor of Captain John Gorham, of Yarmouth. The first who took up residence there was Captain John Phinney. On May 26, 1736, he and his eldest son, Edmund (after- ward the distinguished colonel of the revolu- tionary army), started the building of his house, the young son felling the first tree for the settlement. Captain John married, Sep- tember 25, 1718, Martha, daughter of John and Patience Coleman, of Barnstable. About 1732 he removed with his family from Barn- stable to Falmouth, Maine, and settled in Gor- ham in 1736. At the beginning of the French and Indian war, in 1745, Captain Phinney's and eight other families moved into the fort, while the remaining families, although repeat- edly warned, were either entirely killed or some of them carried captive to Canada. Here, under the command of Captain Phinney, these brave settlers, together with a handful of sol- diers, furnished by Massachusetts, defended the fort for fourteen years against the repeated assaults of the Indians. During four years of this time the settlers were confined continuous- ly within the fort. Captain Phinney was a brave, energetic, sagacious man, who "looked after the interests of the little colony that grew up around him with the affection and discretion of a father." He died greatly beloved and re

spected, December 29, 1780, aged eighty-four years. His widow died at the same age, De- cember 16, 1784, and both were buried in the old cemetery in Gorham village. A monu- ment in the center of the town bears this in- scription :

May 6, 1805 Capt. John Phinney Came the first settler in this town May 1736 Granted by the General Court 1732 to the Narragansett Soldiers This Assigned to Captain John Gorham and nineteen others Then called Narragansett No. 7 Town Incorporated 1764.

The children of Captain John (4) and Mar- tha (Coleman) Phinney were: 1. Elizabeth, born in Barnstable, July 15, 1721, married Eliphlet Watson in 1740. 2. Edward, born in Barnstable, July 27, 1723, married Eliza- beth Meserve, 1750. 3. Stephen, born Barn- stable, December 16, 1725, married Olive Early. 4. Martha, born Barnstable, October 18, 1727, married, February 18, 1750, Hart Williams, of Falmouth. 5. Patience, born Barnstable, June 27, 1730, married, February 3, 1750, Thomas Weston. 6. John Jr., born Falmouth, March 18, 1732, see forward. 7. Sarah, born Falmouth, May 18, 1734, married, January, 1756, Samuel Leavitt, of Buxton, died April, 1793. 8. Mary Gorham, the first white child born in Gorham, August 13, 1736, mar- ried, March 10, 1756, James Irish. 9. Cole- man, born Gorham, July 18, 1738, died young. IO. James, born Gorham, April 13, 1741, mar- ried, July 12, 1763, Martha Hambleu, and (second) Lucy Cross.

(V) John (5) (or John Jr.), third son of Captain John (4) and Martha (Coleman) Phinney, was born at Falmouth, March 18, 1732. He married, January 24, 1755, Rebecca, daughter of John Sawyer and sister of Captain Jonathan Sawyer. When his father settled in Gorham. John (5) Phinney was but four years old, and "under his father's direction he plant- ed the first hill of corn that was planted by white hands in that town." In 1775 he en- listed as sergeant in Captain Hart Williams' company, in Colonel Phinney's regiment, and served out his enlistment. Afterward he was drafted, but being a man of considerable means it was thought best he should send his two sons Ebenezer and John to serve, while he remained to assist in the support of the families of the poorer soldiers of Gorham. His home was on a thirty-acre lot, given him

STATE OF MAINE.

by his father in 1763 with another thirty-acre lot opposite, which he sold to his brother Ed- mund, in 1766. He died May 3. 1815, aged eighty-three years, and his wife died about the same time, aged eighty. Their children were : I. Sarah, born November 21, 1755, married John Emery, 1776. 2. Rebecca, born August 18, 1757, married John Moody, of Standish, 1788. 3. Ebenezer, born December 14, 1759, see forward. 4. John, born April II, 1762, married, 1786, Susanna Stone. 5. Martha, born April 29, 1764, married, 1793, Jonathan Haskell. 6. Abigail, born 1766, died unmar- ried. 7. Coleman, born December 13, 1770, died in Portland, 1856; married, 1793, Peggy Moore.

(\'I) Ebenezer, eldest son of John (5) and Rebecca (Sawyer) Phinney, was born Deccm- ber 14, 1759. He married, May 28, 1781, Saralı P., daughter of Wentworth and Susan- na ( Lombard ) Stuart, born February 28, 1764. They lived and died in Standish, but most of their children resided in Gorham. Captain Wentworth Stuart, father of Sarah, was son of Joseph and Mary Wentworth (Lord) Stuart, of Berwick, York county, Maine, and was a man of prominence. He was town clerk, selectman, representative to general court, 1773-74, received commission of captain in the army of the revolution, and died in serv- ice at Sewell's Point, near Boston, of small- pox, April 17, 1776. The mother of Sarah (Wentworth) Phinney was a daughter of Rev. Solomon Lombard. As his widow she mar- ried, May 4, 1779, William Wood, of Gorham. She died in Standishi (probably at the house of her daughter Saralı), May 7, 1803. The children of Ebenezer and Sarah Phinney were : 1. Statira, married, June 11, 1807, Thomas Files. 2. Wentworth S., married Moore, of New York city. 3. John, lived at Stockton, Maine. 4. Patience, married, April 2. 1818, Robert Files. 5. Isaac, see forward. 6. Rebecca, married Charles Jordan, of Ray- mond, lived at Gorham.

(VII) Isaac, third son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Stuart) Phinney, was born in Gorham, Maine, where he resided. He married Edie Merrill, of Raymond, Maine. Their children were: Thomas Files, see forward. Another son, John Coleman, died in 1889. Other chil- dren who died young.

(VIII) Thomas Files, eldest son of Isaac and Edie ( Merrill) Phinney, was born at Gor- ham, September 3, 1833. He was in business in Portland, Belfast, and Thomaston, Maine, until the breaking out of the civil war, when

he volunteered and served throughout the war He married Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Ephraim Adams and Susannah (Houston) Pitcher, of Belfast. She was descended from the Adams family of Massachusetts, and the Houston family, of which Sam Houston, of Texas, was the most noted. His children were: Horace Coleman, born June 28, 1861, see forward. Nathaniel Clifford. Warren Rice.

(IX) Horace Coleman, eldest son of Thom- as Files and Sarah E. ( Pitcher ) Phinney, was born at Portland, June 28, 1861. He was edu- cated at Thomaston high school, from which he was graduated in 1878 and fitted for col- lege under private tutors. He was graduated from Bowdoin College, A. B., 1884, and A. M., 1887, and attended Harvard summer school, 1889-90. While at Bowdoin he was captain of the tennis team, champion of the college, and was the promoter of this sport at Bowdoin. He was also organizer and captain of the Bow- doin polo team, and a member of the college baseball nine, and of his class nine. He en- gaged in business in New York city with his uncle, F. W. Pitcher, immediately after gradu- ation ; later became a partner, remaining as such until the business was sold, and has since been actively engaged in the real estate busi- ness in New York. He is a member of the Bowdoin Alumni Association, Maine Society, West Side Tennis Club, and Alpha Delta Phi Club. He married, September 12, 1894, Sarah Estelle Clarke, of New York city. They have two children : Horace Adams, born in Thom- aston, Maine, September 12, 1898. Beryl Isa- belle, born in New York, May 4, 1903.

FESSENDEN This family, in every gen- eration in America, has contributed its full share of brilliant and highly distinguished person- ages. They have been found answering po- litical, legal, medical and religious callings, to a marked degree. They have also furnished illustrious patriots, who forsook their own in- terests that their country might be defended and preserved. The first of the name who set- tled in America was John Fessenden, who came from Canterbury, England, and located in 1636, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1641. Both he and his wife Jane were members of the church. He died December 21, 1666, without issue, and this fact was the means of bringing others of the name to this country. From the earliest settlement of New England this family has

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been noted for its respectability. Up to 1828 it has furnished fifteen college graduates, four of whom were ministers.

(I) Nicholas Fessenden, the kinsman of John above mentioned, came to this country with his sister Hannah in 1674. to take charge of the estate left by John Fessenden. Nicholas was the progenitor of the family which has been so conspicuously represented in the com- monwealth of Maine. One of his sons, bear- ing the same name, was graduated from Har- vard College in 1701, and died eighteen years later, at the age of thirty-eight years. Han- nah, the sister of Nicholas, married John, son of Henry Sewall and a brother of Chief Jus- tice Sewall. Nicholas Fessenden married Margaret Cheeny, and resided at Cambridge, where they had fourteen children, eleven of whom grew to maturity, namely: Jane (died young), Hannah (died young), John, Nich- olas, Thomas (died young), Thomas, Mar- garet. Jane, Mary, William, Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah and Eleazer.

(II) William (1), son of Nicholas Fessen- den, was born in 1693, was a carpenter, and resided in Cambridge, where he died May 26, 1756. He was married, October 10, 1716, to Martha Wyeth, and they were the parents of seven children. He married, second, January 4, 1728, Martha Brown, who bore him four children. The whole list is: Ruth, William, Martha. Margaret, Benjamin (died young), Benjamin, Nicholas, Peter, John, Hannah and Thomas.

(III) William (2), son of William (1) and Martha (Wyeth) Fessenden, was born De- cember 7, 1718, and graduated from Harvard in 1737. He was a noted teacher and was li- censed to preach but not ordained. He died at the age of forty years, June 17, 1758. He was married, March 31, 1740, to Mary Pal- mer, who died at Topsfield, Maine, March 22, 1773, and they were the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom only three grew up, namely : William, Mary and Ebenezer.

(IV) Rev. William (3), son of William (2) and Mary (Palmer) Fessenden, was born in 1746-47, in Cambridge, and graduated from Harvard College in 1768. He settled at Frye- burg, Maine, as the first minister of the first church there, being ordained October II, 1775. He possessed many rare and noble virtues. Souther said of him, "Dignified in bearing, gentle in spirit, hospitable to a fault, fearless and uncompromising in maintaining right, yet eminently courteous, he left his heirs that good name much 'rather to be chosen than riches.' " He died March 5, 1805. He married, first,

Sarah Reed, of Cambridge, who died about a year later. For his second wife he married Sarah Clement, of Dunbarton, New Hamp- shire, and their children were: Sarah, Will- iam, Caleb, Ebenezer, Mary, Elizabeth Clem- ent and Joseph Palmer. The last named was a clergyman of Kennebunkport, Maine. The two eldest sons died unmarried. The third has one male descendant now living at Fryeburg

(V) General Samuel, fourth son of Rev William (3) and Sarah (Clement) Fessenden. was born July 16, 1784, in Fryeburg, and be- came one of the most conspicuous sons of Maine. He was very studious as a boy, and was accustomed to study by the light of the forest fire, where he assisted his father in ma- king maple sugar. He graduated from Har- vard College, read law with Judge Dana at Fryeburg, was admitted to the bar in 1809 and began the practice of law in Gloucester, Maine. Thence he removed to Windham Maine, where he practiced for a short time, and settled at Portland, same state, in 1822 He was a representative to the general court in 1814-19, and senator in 1818. After fifty years of successful practice of his profession, he retired to private life. A ripe scholar, an eminent jurist, he was distinguished as a statesman. He was among those who initiated the movement in Maine for the organization of the Republican party, to whom, in conjunction with the Hon. H. H. Boody, is due the credit for the development of this movement of his native state. While many were ready to join them, they were not assisted by some of the leading men of Maine. Among the reluctant ones was the Hon. William Pitt Fessenden. son of General Fessenden. The movement, however, was successful, and the organization of the Republican party was perfected early in 1855. General Fessenden was married in 1813 to Deborah Chandler, of New Gloucester, and every one of their children became distin- guished in their various professions. Four of the sons became lawyers, two entered the med- ical profession and one the ministry. Three of his sons were in congress in 1864, viz .: William Pitt, mentioned below; Samuel C. Fessenden, a graduate of Bowdoin College, and a minister; Thomas A. D. Fessenden, a graduate of Bowdoin College, and an eminent member of the bar in Androscoggin county. Philip was lost at sea when nineteen years old Oliver G. graduated from Dartmouth College, and practiced law in Portland, Maine. Hewitt C. was a graduate of the same institution, and practiced medicine at Eastport, Maine. Daniel WV., also a graduate of Dartmouth, was the

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sixteenth clerk of the supreme court of Maine. Charles S. D., a graduate of Bowdoin College, was a surgeon in the United States marine corps. Joseph l'., a graduate of the same in- stitution, was a physician, and at one time mayor of Lewiston, Mainc. but later removed to Salem, Massachusetts. The younger daugh- ter of the family, Ellen, was born April 21, 1823, at Portland, and was married, June 16, 1862, to Dr. John Dunlap Lincoln, of Berwick. She was noted for her writings in both prose and poetry. The children of General Fessen- (len, in order of birth, were: William Pitt, Samuel Clement, Phillip Chandler, Oliver Griswold, Hewitt Chandler, Daniel Webster, Deborah Sarahı. Thomas Amory Deblois, Charles Stewart Davies, John Palmer and El- len Elizabeth Longfellow. The elder daughter died before two years of age.

(VI) William Pitt, eldest son of General Samuel Fessenden, was born October 16, 1806, at Boscawen, New Hampshire, and entered Bowdoin College before he was seventeen years of age, graduating in 1827. He studied law under the instruction of his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He practiced first at Bridgton, for one year at Bangor, and then settled in Portland. He early became active and conspicuous in political movements, and refused the nomination to congress in 1831 and again in 1838. In 1832 he was sent to the legislature, and won a reputation as a debater, though the youngest member of that body. He served again in 1840 and was made chairman of the house committee to revise the statutes of the state. In the autumn of that year he was elected to congress on the Whig ticket and served one term, during which he moved the repeal of the rule excluding anti- slavery petitions, and was also an able de- bater on various important measures. At the expiration of his term he devoted himself dili- gently to his law practice until 1845-46, when he again served in the legislature. In the meantime he had acquired a national reputa- tion as a lawyer and an active anti-slavery Whig. In 1849 he prosecuted before the United States supreme court the appcal which gained the reversal of a decision previously made by Judge Story, and in this trial his reputation was much enhanced. He was again in the state legislature in 1853-54, and at this session was elected to the United States senate by the Whigs and Anti-slavery Democrats. One week after he took his seat, in February, 1854, he made a stirring speech on the Kansas- Nebraska bill and immediately took the front rank in the senate. He was everywhere re-

garded as the ablest opponent of the pro- slavery plans of the Democratic party. Very soon after this he allied himself with the or- ganization of the Republican party in Maine, and through the balance of his life was one of its foremost workers. While ardent in his partnership, he was ever a patriot, pursuing a disinterested and manly course, and was be- loved by the nation for his clean public record and the purity of his personal character. His speeches on the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. 1856, the proposed Lecompton constitution for Kan- sas in 1858, and his criticisms upon the decision of the supreme court in the famous Dred Scott case were each pronounced to be among the ablest discussions of those matters. He was again elected to the senate in 1859 and was a member of the peace congress in 1861. Upon the resignation of Salmon P. Chase in 1864, Senator Fessenden at first declined to become his successor, but was compelled by the uni- versal demand to forego his personal prefer- ence and take charge of the treasury. Such was the confidence reposed in him by the peo- ple that the quotation of premium on gold fell in a short time from $2.80 to $2.25. One of his first measures was to declare that no issues of currency would be made. He was the author of the plan for issuing government bonds at 7 3-10 per cent. interest, popularly known as "7.30 bonds." These were issued in denominations as low as $50, in order that people of small means might invest in them. The result was a substantial advancement of the national credit. Mr. Fessenden also pre- pared a measure authorizing consolidation of the bond loans at 4 1-2 per cent. Charles Sumner said of him, "in the financial field, he was all that our best generals were in the armies," and his services to the country in these times of trial were invaluable. Having established a financial system and restored credit to the nation, he resigned his seat in the cabinet, March 3. 1865. again to take a seat in the senate, to which he had been elected in that year. He was made chairman of the finance committee of the senate and of the committee of reconstruction, and wrote out the report of the latter body, which was universally approved. This led the way to the constitu- tional amendments, and other measures which established the position of the south and its relations to the nation forever. The thing which added most, perhaps, to the luster of his fame was his opposition to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, although it brought him much execration at the time. The wisdom and foresight of his course was plainly seen, after

SENATOR FESSENDEN AND HIS SONS

WILLIAM

JAMES FRANCIS

SAMUEL

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the prejudice of passion had evaporated, and it was clear that Senator Fessenden and those who acted with him in this matter had saved the country from a great crisis. His last speech was made in 1869 on the bill to strengthen public credit. He strongly op- posed the proposition of paying bonds in greenbacks and urged that they be paid in gold. Senator Fessenden was particularly noted for his swiftness in retort. He was one of the delegates to the Whig convention which nominated Harrison in 1840, Tyler in 1848, and Scott in 1852. For many years he was regent of the Smithsonian Institution. His alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws in IS58, and he was similarly honored by Harvard in 1864.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II, Part 70

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry S. (Henry Sweetser), 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe Publication date: 1909 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 736

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry S. (Henry Sweetser), 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 736