USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III > Part 106
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(II) Maurice (2), son of Maurice (1) and Sarah (Swett) Hobbs, was born in Rollins- ford, New Hampshire, September 13, 1680, and died May 7, 1739. He married Theodate,
James @Nables.
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daughter of Nathaniel (2) Batchelder, about the year 1700, and their children were : James, Mary, Sarah, Josiah, Theodate, Morris, Han- nah, Jonathan, Esther and Elizabeth.
(III) James, elder son of Maurice (2) and Theodate (Batchelder) Hobbs, was born March 20, 1701, married Rebecca Hobbs, about the year 1719, and had a son James. (It is possible that the next mentioned was also their son.)
(IV) A very rigid search has failed to dis- cover the birthplace of Obe (probably Oba- diah) Hobbs, who was born August 7, 1736. None of his descendants have been found who could tell anything about his native place or his residence or any particulars concerning him.
(V) Obe (2), son of Obe (I) Hobbs, was born June 3, 1780, died December 18, 1836. Nothing can be found showing where he lived or died, and in fact the birthplace of his son, the next in the line, is unknown. He married, January 1, 1807, Sally Huey, born June 5, 1782, died June 22, 18II, and they had one child, Charles Huey (q. v.), born July II, 1807, and a girl baby that died with its mother on the eve of its birth, June 22, 1811. He married (second) Hannah Littlefield, Sep- tember 27, 1815, and they had children as follows: I. Samuel Littlefield, born June 8, 1816, died May I, 1817. 2. Suel, August 18, 1817, died November 21, 1818. 3. Samuel B., April 16, 1819. 4. George Littlefield, March 21, 1822. 5. Sally Huey, September 23, 1824. Hannah Littlefield's sister, Rhodia Littlefield, born March 29, 1801, was drowned from falling in a well September 1I, 1819.
(VI) Charles Huey, son of Obe (2) and Sally (Huey) Hobbs, was born July II, 1807. He learned the trade of cabinet- maker, and carried it on in Sabattus, Lisbon township, Androscoggin county, Maine. He married Jemima, daughter of Mesach Pres- cott. They had only one child, born January 10, 1830. The father died in Sabattas, Maine, November 19, 1830, after six weeks' illness, the result of typhoid fever. The only child of Charles Huey and Jemima (Prescott ) Hobbs was James Bartlett (q. v.). The widowed mother, Hannah Hobbs, died September 23, 1876, aged eighty-nine years and upwards.
(VII) James Bartlett, son of Charles H. and Jemima (Prescott) Hobbs, was born in Sabattus, Lisbon township, Androscoggin county, Maine, January 10, 1830. He re- ceived a liberal school training in the local schools of his native town and at the Litch- field Institute, Litchfield Corners, and was ap-
prenticed and learned the mason's trade at Portland, Maine. In 1853 became proprietor of a general merchandise store in Wales, Maine. He removed to Chicago, Illinois, in 1856, and engaged in the produce commission business in 1857 and continued that business successfully for thirty years, retiring in 1887. During this time he was president of the Chi- cago board of trade for one year and an im- portant factor in building up the grain and produce market of Chicago. He was presi- dent of the North Waukegan Harbor and Dock Association, of the National Church In- surance Company, of the Commercial Loan & Trust Company and of the National Amer- ican Fire Insurance Company. His political affiliation was with the Prohibition party, as he consented to allow his name used as the candidate of the party for governor of Illi- nois in 1884, for the good of the cause of which he was a champion. His church affilia- tion was with the Methodist Episcopal church after he located in Chicago. He is a member of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church and president of its board of trustees. He has served the denomination in all ways open to a layman. He has been class leader for many years; has been elected twice to attend the general conference of the church and once to attend the ecumenical conference. He is president of the Methodist Deaconess' Asso- ciation and of the Deaconess' Orphanage and Epworth Children's Home, at Lake Bluff, Illi- nois, president of the City Missionary and Church Extension Society; a trustee of the Northwestern University, which institute is under Methodist control. His native state has always received the devotion and attention of a loyal son and he joined the Maine Society of Chicago and the New England Society of Chicago and gave both liberal support. He married, March 20, 1853, at Litchfield, Maine, Mary Marrill, a daughter of the Rev. Con- stant Quinnam, a clergyman of the Free Bap- tist church, and by her he had one son, Frank Wallace, who was born in Chicago, where he was brought up and educated ; he died in New Mexico when thirty years of age; he married Margaret Blaisdell, of Chicago, and they had one child, James Blaisdell Hobbs, who en- gaged in the insurance business in Los An- geles, California. The wife of James Bart- lett Hobbs was brought up in the communion of the Free Baptist church and when she came to Chicago joined the Indiana Street Metho- dist Episcopal Church, which church was merged later into the Grace Methodist Episco- pal church, where she entered into all the ac-
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tivities of the society and later in life she be- came actively interested in the various char- itable and benevolent institutions of the city, and when her husband became interested in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church she ably seconded him in the special work in which he was interested as an executive offi- cer. They were both persons of broad views, high ideals and determined industry, and bore a large part in quickening the march of spir- itual and humanitarian progress in the city of Chicago.
(For first generation see Roger Eastman I.)
(II) Philip, third ' son of
EASTMAN Roger and Sarah (Smith) Eastman, was born in Salis- bury, Massachusetts, October 20, 1644. The name of his first wife is unknown; by her he had one daughter. He married (second) Au- gust 22, 1678, Mary Morse, born September 22, 1645, widow of Anthony Morse, and daugh- ter of Thomas and Eleanor Barnard, of New- buryport, Massachusetts. He married (third) Margaret His children were: I. Susannah, born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1673, died in the one hundredth year of her age. She was twice married, and twice cap- tured by Indians. 2. Hannah, Haverhill, No- vember 5, 1679. 3. Abigail, 1680. 4. Eben- ezer, see forward. 5. Philip, August 18, 1684. Philip Eastman first lived in Haverhill, Mas- sachusetts, where his house was burned by Indians, March 15, 1697, some of the family being captured and others dispersed. He also was captured at the same time, but finally es- caped. Later he settled in Connecticut, where his son had preceded him. A full record of the family has never been found. It is known, however, that he served in King Philip's war. On the town record of Woodstock, Connecti- cut, where he settled, mention is made of Philip Eastman as being represented by his heirs in the distribution of lands as laid out among the proprietors in 1715; mention is also made of his buying a piece of land in Ashford, a town adjoining Woodstock. He died prior to the year 1714.
(III) Ebenezer, son of Philip Eastman, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, February 17, 1681. He married, March 4, 1710, Sarah Peaslee or Peasley, daughter of Colonel Na- thaniel and Judith (Kimball) Peaslee or Peas- ley. Captain Eastman was the first settler in Concord, New Hampshire. There are many interesting facts concerning the part Mr. East- man took in the settlement of the town that was to become the future capitol of the com-
monwealth. The services he rendered, and the affairs of trust and honor committed to his charge were many, and always faithfully and honorably administered. Having considerable property, and coming as he did at the earliest period of settlement, with six sons, the eldest of whom was fifteen years of age and able to perform the work of a man, Captain Eastman became in a few years the strong man of the town. In 1731 his house and home lot were in better order and he had more land under cul- tivation than any other person in the settle- ment. At the age of nine years his father's house was destroyed by Indians, and at nine- teen years of age he joined the regiment of Colonel Wainwright in the expedition against Port Royal, Nova Scotia. In 17II, when about twenty-one years of age, he had com- mand of a company of infantry which em- barked on a transport forming a part of the fleet under Sir Howenden Walker in the expe- dition against Canada. In the ascent of the St. Lawrence river, tradition says, the weather was very rough and the fleet had orders to follow at night the great light at the admiral's masthead. To do so in doubling a certain rocky and dangerous cape would bring sure destruction to any ship so doing, but Captain Eastman, having previous knowledge of the state of things and supported by his men, by force, compelled the captain of the ship to deviate from the admiral's instructions and thus saved the ship and all on board, while eight or nine other vessels and about a thou- sand men perished by following the orders of the admiral.
Captain Eastman went to Cape Breton twice, the first time, March 1, 1745, in com- mand of a company, and was present at the reduction of Louisburg, June 16, 1745. He returned November 10, 1745. Early in the next year he went again, and returned home July 9, 1746. He was also a captain in Colonel Sylvester Richmond's regiment of Massachusetts, February 6, 1744. On settling in Pennacook (Concord) his "house lot" was number 9, second range, on Main street. In the second survey, in 1727, he had lot No. 16, containing four and a half acres, on "Mill Brook Range," east side of the river, where he finally settled and had a garrison around his house. At the time of the massacre in Pennacook, August II, 1746, Captain East- man and family were in a garrison on the east side of the river. Subsequently he erected on or near the spot a large two-story house, but before it was finished he died. This house is still standing and is occupied by Colonel J. E.
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Pecker as a residence. Captain Eastman was an extensive farmer, and in 1729 took a lease of the farm land of Judge Sewall, containing five hundred acres, with the island, for a period of thirty years, for which he was to pay rent as well as to greatly improve the prop- erty. He died July 28, 1748, and the inventory of property he then left amounted to seven thousand nine hundred and twelve pounds, ten shillings and six pence. Children: Ebenezer, Philip, Joseph, Nathaniel, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Ruth and Moses.
(IV) Philip (2), second son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Peaslee or Peasley) Eastman, was born November 15, 1713, died in Concord, New Hampshire, September 1, 1804. He was one of the most useful citizens of his genera- tion in the community where he lived, took a leading part in town affairs, and was known as a man of sterling integrity, great resolu- tion, moral strength and sound judgment. He married, in Concord, May 29, 1739, Abiah, daughter of Abraham and Abigail (Philbrick) Bradley. She was probably born in Haver- hill, Massachusetts. Children: Robert, Jona- than and Ruth.
(V) Jonathan, second son of Philip (2) and Abiah (Bradley) Eastman, was born in Con- cord, New Hampshire, June 10, 1746, died there October 19, 1834. He is described as a man of robust frame, distinguished, daring, active and enterprising. He was an ardent patriot in the revolution; was in Captain Jo- seph Abbott's company of volunteers which marched to reinforce the Northern Army, September, 1777, and was ready to fight for his country at any time afterwards. Squire Eastman, as he was usually called, lived on the east side of the Merrimack river in Con- cord, on the spot near where the old garrison house stood in which his grandfather had lived, and where all his children were born. He had but very little education, but learned to write on birch bark in the absence of pa- per, and in his mature years was well in- formed on political and local public affairs. As illustrative of his enterprise and force of character it is related that when a boy of fif- teen years he was sent by his father on foot to Conway, New Hampshire, driving two cows and two shoats the whole distance, and going by way of Saco, Maine. Near a solitary cabin in the woods about half way to the place where he was to stop, he met a bear in his path, which he faced, till old bruin, put out of countenance, fled. He lodged in the cabin alone at night, and reached Conway in safety the next day. He married (first), January 5,
1769, Molly Chandler ; and (second) July 12, 1776, Esther Johnson, who died September 17, 1834. She was the daughter of Francis John- son, son of Uriah, grandson of Major Wil- liam, and great-grandson of Captain Edward. The latter, the immigrant, came from Hern Hill, county of Kent, England, in 1630, and settled in Woburn, Massachusetts. He repre- sented Woburn in the general court twenty- eight years, and was speaker of the house. He published a history of New England in 1652 and died at an advanced age, April 23, 1672. The children of Jonathan Eastman by his first wife were: Asa and Philip. He had by the second wife: Molly (died young), Seth, Jon- athan, Robert, John Langdon, Molly and Susannah.
(VI) Asa, eldest child of Jonathan and Molly (Chandler) Eastman, was born in Concord, December 5, 1770, died August 16, 1818. About 1796 he removed to Chatham, New Hampshire, where he died. At the time of his going to Chatham, it was a wild place on the borders of civilization. There were no roads and the settlers traveled along paths on horseback, and in winter drew their supplies through the woods on sleds. He married, De- cember 31, 1795, Molly, born in Concord, May 15, 1775, died in Chatham, daughter of Phineas and Lucy (Pearl) Kimball. Children : Jonathan K., Philip, Susan, Eliza, Molly Chandler, Robert Kimball, Asa Parker, Lucy Eliza and Esther Johnson.
(VII) Philip (3), second son of Asa and Molly (Kimball) Eastman, was born in Chat- ham, New Hampshire, February 5, 1799, died in Saco, Maine, August 7, 1869. He was graduated Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in 1820, and also received the degree of M. A. In 1823 he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice at North Yar- mouth, Maine, where he remained till 1836, when he removed to Harrison, and in 1847 to Saco. Here he formed a law partnership with his old classmate, Mr. Bradbury, and remained in the practice of his profession until his death. He was actively interested in town, county and state affairs, and was often called to stations of honor and responsibility. In politics he was a Democrat. He was chairman of the county commissioners for Cumberland county from 1831 to 1837, and was elected to the state senate in 1840-42, and in 1840 was chair- man of the committee on the revision of the statutes, and superintended their publication. In 1842 he was appointed chairman of the commission on the port of Maine to locate grants in the territory which had been claimed
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by Great Britain in the northern part of the second wife: Molly (died young), Seth, Jon- state. In 1849 he published a digest of the first twenty-six volumes of the Maine reports. He was a member of the Maine Historical Society, and for several years a trustee of Bowdoin College. For six years prior to his death he was president of the old bank, now the Saco National. He was closely identified with the social and business interests of the city of his residence. He married, July 23, 1827, Mary, born in Concord, New Hamp- shire, July 23, 1802, daughter of Stephen and Hannah (Eastman) Ambrose. Children : Ellen J., Ambrose, Edward and Mary Searle. (VIII) Edward, second son of Philip (3) and Mary (Ambrose) Eastman, was born April 3, 1837, died in Saco, July 5, 1882. He was educated in the common schools and at Bowdoin College, from which latter he was graduated in 1857. In 1876 he was elected to the state legislature as a Democrat; was trustee of the Saco Savings Bank, direc- tor of the Saco National Bank, and trus- tee of the Saco Academy. He married, in Baltimore, Maryland, June 18, 1868, Frances Ellen, born in Saco, August 23, 1843, daugh- ter of Amos and Mary Frances ( Akerman) Chase. (See Chase, XI.) Children : Philip, born April 23, 1869, died August, 1869. Chase.
(IX) Chase, second son of Edward and Frances Ellen (Chase) Eastman, born in Saco, September 12, 1874, was educated in the pub- lic schools, at Coburn Classical Institute, and at Bowdoin College, graduating from Bow- doin in 1896, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Subsequently he attended Harvard Law School, where he took the degree of L. C. B. in 1899. Two years later he began the prac- tice of his profession in Portland, Maine, where he has since continued in practice. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Kappa Epsilon and Theta Nu Epsilon college fraternities, and the Cumberland and Country clubs of Portland. He married, June 18, 1903, Mary, born in Portland, September 30, 1871, daughter of Jonathan H. and Mary J. (West) Fletcher, of Portland. (See Fletcher, VII.) Mary, their only child, was born March 19, 1904.
(For first generation see Roger Eastman I.)
(VI) Colonel Benjamin EASTMAN Franklin, ninth child and fifth son of Benjamin and Ann Carr (Barker) Eastman, born in Mt. Vernon, November 15, 1800, died in Portland, Febru-
ary 10, 1894, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. He removed with his parents to Avon and afterwards lived in several other towns before he was twenty years old. He then became a clerk for his brother Samuel, who had a store at Strong, where he worked five months for five dollars a month and his board. In 1821 he went to school at Farmington Academy for about ten months. Soon after he successfully taught the Freeman Ridge school of fifty or sixty pupils, and in the year that followed taught various other schools to the satisfac- tion of his constituency. For pay for his first term's work as a teacher he received eleven dollars a month for three months, and was paid in wheat at one dollar a bushel. In 1822 he attended school at the academy at Bloom- field, now Showhegan, a short time. That fall he went to Ohio by wagon, being four or five weeks making the trip. He taught school in Liberty township in Butler county, and other places, and in 1825 returned to Strong, Maine. The return trip occupied thirty-seven days. In the year following he taught and attended school, bought and conducted a fulling mill, and worked on a farm. In 1828 he and his brother-in-law, James Dyar, formed a partner- ship and engaged in merchandising and carry- ing on a "potash" business in Strong. This partnership continued three years. Mr. East- man then bought Mr. Dyar's interest and car- ried on the business alone until 1836. In 1837 he settled on the farm which for many years had been the homestead of his father-in-law, and, there spent the following twenty-three years. In 1859 he sold this farm and in 1860, forming a partnership with his son Briceno M., engaged in trade in Strong, under the firm name of B. F. Eastman & Company. They were in business together five years, and then B. F. Eastman retired from active business. In 1874 he removed to Portland, where he re- sided the remainder of his life. In politics Mr. Eastman was active, and a fellow laborer in the Republican party with Hamlin, Dow, Blaine and other noted leaders. He was a member of the celebrated Strong convention of 1855 or 1856, at which by a coalition of the Morrill Democrats, the Whigs and the Free- soil Democrats, the Republican party was formed. He was town clerk in Strong in 1833-34, two years, selectman in 1834-35. While on the farm in Strong he served the town four or five years as selectman, most of the time as chairman. He was twice elected councilor to the governor, first in 1840, and second in 1857. He represented Franklin county in the senate when Hannibal Hamlin
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was a member of that body, and thereafter a lifelong friendship existed between the two men. In military affairs he was also prom- inent and held offices as follows : July 3, 1827, elected ensign of the Strong Light Infantry ; March 29, 1828, promoted to lieutenant ; April 2, 1829, elected major of the regiment ; July 31, 1832, elected colonel of the First Regiment, Second Brigade Eighth Division of the Mi- litia of Maine; January, 1833, he resigned his office as colonel. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1826, and was baptized in Sandy river in Strong, by Elder Elisha Streeter, in the summer of that year. He was steward or class leader of the church the greater part of the time of his church mem- bership, until incapacitated by age. His in- fluence was strong, in all church matters he was a leader, and in his contributions for the support of the church he was prompt and lib- eral. He was a staunch supporter of the tem- perance cause, and was the first merchant to refuse to sell rum in Strong. It hurt his trade to give up the traffic, but he would not handle what he knew to be a curse to the community. In 1831 he built a house in Strong and the frame of that house was the first house frame in the village and perhaps in the town raised without rum. . Colonel Eastman possessed many fine traits of character which won him the confidence and esteem of his fellow citi- zens. Some time before his death he wrote an extended account of his ancestry and of him- self which is highly prized by the members of his family, giving as it does many facts of interest which would otherwise have been lost.
He married, March 4, 1826, Eliza Dyar, born in Malden, Massachusetts, February 14, 1806, died January 5, 1874. Their children were: Eliza Velzora, Briceno Mendez, James Fred, Imogene and Ermon Dwight. Eliza Dyar was the daughter of Joseph and Sally (Merritt) Dyar, of Strong. Joseph Dyar was the son of Joseph Dyar, of Boston, a sea cap- tain, who was a member of the celebrated party which threw the tea into Boston harbor in revolutionary times.
(VII) Briceno Mendez, second child and eldest son of Benjamin F. and Eliza (Dyar) Eastman, was born in Strong, February 17, 183I, and was educated in the public schools of Strong and Phillips. He remained with his father until 1865, and then came to Portland and with his brother, in 1865, started the firm of Eastman Brothers, dealers in dry goods, now one of the leading houses of its kind in the city of Portland. In 1866 the "Great Fire" swept away their entire stock; but they were
not discouraged, and started again, continuing under the firm name of Eastman Brothers until 1880, when Walter P. Bancroft was ad- mitted as a partner and the style of the firm was changed to Eastman Brothers & Bancroft, which it has ever since remained. Mr. East- man is a conservative Republican. In religious faith he is a Methodist, is a trustee and steward of his church and has been superin- tendent of its Sunday-school. He married, in Strong, August 4, 1864, Martha Russ, born in Strong, November 6, 1840, died June 16, 1904, daughter of Adam and Mary (Johnson) Clark. Their children are: Fred Ermon, Caroline Imogene Alice Clark, Lucina Theresa and Har- old Benjamin. Fred E. is mentioned below. Caroline Imogene, born in Portland, May 7, 1868, married Herbert A. Richardson, mer- chant, of Portland. Alice Clark, Portland, October 30, 1871, is single. Lucina Theresa, Portland, January 8, 1873, died February 17, 1893. Harold Benjamin, Portland, June 24, 1878, married Elizabeth Clifford, and has one child, Martha.
(VIII) Fred Ermon, eldest child of Briceno M. and Martha R. (Clark) Eastman, was born in Strong, July 17, 1865. At the age of one year he was brought by his parents to Port- land, where he has since resided. He went to school until eighteen years of age, and then became a clerk in the employ of the firm of Eastman Brothers & Bancroft. From that po- sition he advanced through different depart- ments in the store until 1902, when, upon the incorporation of the concern, he was made gen- eral manager, a position he has since held. He is a director of the Fidelity Trust Com- pany, vice-president of the Portland Board of Trade, director Associated Charities, director of Portland Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, president of the Eastman Association of America, member of the Maine Genealogical Society, of the Civic Federation, the Portland Athletic and the Portland Country clubs. He is also a member of Portland Lodge, No. I, Free and Accepted Masons, of Portland, mem- ber and steward of Chestnut Street Methodist Episcopal church. He married, at Portland, September 10, 1890, Lilian Thomas, born in New Bedford, August 3, 1869, daughter of Thomas and Mary Josephine ( Pierce) Ed- wards. Her father, a son of John Crabtree Edwards, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsyl- vania. Her mother was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The children of Fred E. and Lilian T. (Edwards) Eastman are: Thomas Edwards, born March 7, 1892. Laurence Ed- wards, born October 4, 1894.
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