Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III, Part 16

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry Sweetser, 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 818


USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III > Part 16


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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(V) Captain Robert H., son of Robert Coombs, was born in Islesborough, Maine, July 3, 1828, and died in Belfast, Maine, No- vember 7, 1897. He had but a limited educa- tion, entering on his career as a sailor when but nine years old. He went first as cook on a coasting vessel, and at the age of sixteen was master of the schooner "Jane" of Belfast. After that he commanded a variety of craft, including the schooner "Dime," "Eri," "Royal Welcome," "Tippecanoe," "Pensacola," "Fred Dyer," "Lydia Brooks," the brig "Russian," the bark "P. R. Hazeltine," the bark "Diana," the ship "Live Oak," the ship "Cora," named for his daughter. During the war he sailed the "Diana," under the Hanoverian flag, from America to India and to the United Kingdom. In the spring of 1865 he sold this vessel in Copenhagen. In the "Cora" he sailed round the world, touching at Chinese ports and others on the Pacific coast, and for twenty years his vessel was not on the American coast. Ahout 1880 he returned to Belfast and gave up sea-going for the remainder of his life. He engaged in the furniture trade and under- taking business in Belfast. In politics he was a Republican. He was a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, and his diploma was a most interesting document, coming from the Grand Orient in Paris, where he was made an M. M., bearing indorsements from many lodges ; from Excelsior Lodge in Buenos Ayres in 1862; New Zealand Lodge, Wellington, New Zea- land, 1866; Bute Lodge, Cardiff, Wales, 1859; Mount Moriah Lodge, New Orleans, 1859; Lodge of Love, Falmouth, Cornwall, England, 1860 ; Rising Star, Bombay, September, 1876;


St. Andrew Lodge, Calcutta, 1877; and St. John Lodge, Hong Kong, China, 1880. His home membership was with Phoenix Lodge, No. 24, Belfast, Maine. He married, June II, 1850, Harriet E. Pendleton, born April 13, 1831, died June 7, 1894, daughter of Jared Pendleton, of Belfast. Children: 1. Walter H., resides in Belfast. 2. Cora J., September 18, 1852, married Alexander Leith and had two children. 3. Daughter, died young. 4. Charles R., March 20, 1862, mentioned be- low.


(VI) Charles R., son of Captain Robert H. Coombs, was born in Belfast, March 20, 1862. He attended the public schools of Belfast. When he was but ten years old he went to England with his mother, and while there con- tinued his schooling for two years. When he returned home he took a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College in Boston. He became associated in business with his father in February, 1882, under the firm name of Robert H. Coombs & Son, undertakers and dealers in furniture, in Belfast. Their busi- ness was prosperous and the partnership con- tinued until the father's death in 1897. Since then the junior partner has been the sole pro- prietor. In 1900 he sold the furniture store and business and has devoted his attention ex- clusively to the undertaking business. In pol- itics he is a Republican. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge of Free Masons, Belfast, and at present its worshipful master. He is a member also of the Corinthian Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Belfast, and of King Solo- mon Council, Royal and Select Masters; also of Waldo Lodge of Odd Fellows, Belfast; of Penobscot Encampment and Aurora Lodge of Rebekahs. In religion he is a Unitarian. He married, September 4, 1902, Helena C. Mat- thews, born January II, 1872, daughter of Charles and Carrie Matthews, of Belfast. They have no children.


COOMBS Henry Coombs was of Marble- head, Massachusetts, as early as December 22, 1648, when he with others had lots of land laid out in the swamp. On April 11, 1653, he sold a cow lease to John Legg, and in 1656 was elected "way warden." In 1661 he had temporary charge of the ferry, near which he appears to have lived. In 1667 he was complained against for having uttered alleged slanderous reports concerning the minister at Marblehead, the Rev. Mr. Walton, saying that "he preached nothing but lies, and that he could prove him to be a knave." Henry Coombs was a fisher-


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man. The inventory of his estate was taken September 16, 1669, by Henry Bartholomew, Moses Maverick and Hilliard Veren. His wife was Elizabeth - -, and administration was granted on her estate June 13, 1709, to her son-in-law, Francis Grant, and his wife Susannah, the latter the youngest daughter of the decedent. Henry and Elizabeth Coombs had seven children: I. Henry, was living in 1690, when he was in Salem, Massachusetts, and settled the estate of his brother John. 2. Humphrey, born about 1635. married, July 29, 1659, Bathsheba Rayment (Raymond), daughter of Richard Rayment, of Seabrook, Connecticut. 3. Deborah, who married


House. 4. Elizabeth, who married Thomas Trevey. 5. Michael ( see post). 6. Susannah, who married, October 22, 1668, Francis Grant, of Marblehead, and had nine children : Mary, born July 16, 1669, died young; Susannah, August 19, 1671. died before 1718, married, July 4, 1692, Thomas White; Francis, No- vember 25, 1673; Sarah, August 24, 1675, married Merritt ; Jane, August 29, 1679, married Knight; John, August 30, 1682; David, November 14, 1684, died be- fore 1718; Henry, July 30, 1687; Mary, April 12, 1694, married Pitman. 7. Rich- ard, died January, 1693-94 ; married Margaret -, and had one child, Bridget, born Feb- ruary 25, 1689, married, January 10, 1710, John Lapthorne.


(II) Michael, son of Henry and Elizabeth Coombs, married Joanna -, and by her had two children: Michael (see post) and Joshua, born February 23, 1670-71, no further record.


(III) Michael (2), son of Michael (I) and Joanna Coombs, was born March 22, 1668-69, and died July 26, 1730. He was witness to a nuncupative will made by Thomas Rhoades, of Marblehead, to John Sampson, on board the ship "Essex" at sea, wherein it was agreed that if either died during the voyage the sur- vivor should have whatever clothes and wages the other possessed at the time of his decease. It so happened that Sampson was killed during the voyage. Mr. Coombs married, July 12, 1694, Ruth Rhoades and had six children: I. Joanna, baptized May 19, 1695, married, De- cember 29, 1715, Benjamin Girdler. 2. Rich- ard, baptized February 14, 1696-97. 3. Josh- ua (see post). 4. Michael, born February 28, 1702-03, died January, 1782 ; married (first), March 12, 1724-25, Remember White, daugh- ter of Thomas and Susanna (Grant) White. Their children were Mary, baptized December II, 1726; Ruth, baptized September 28, 1729,


died in infancy ; Ruth, baptized June 30, 1731, died November 8, 1814, married, June 18, 1751, Mark Haskell; Thomas, baptized No- vember 25, 1733, died December, 1764. 5. Ruth, baptized March 25, 1705, married, June 12, 1726, John Down, of St. Island, New Hampshire. 6. Elizabeth, baptized July 26, 1713, no further record.


(IV) Joshua, son of Michael (2) and Ruth (Rhoades) Coombs, was baptized June II, 1699, and died before February 27, 1764. the date his will was proved. He was a member of St. Michael's Episcopal Church of Marble- head. He married, January 29, 1721, Mary Goree, and by her had four children: I. Mi- chael (see post). 2. Susannah, married a Mr. Nicholson. 3. Joanna, married a Mr. Nelson. 4. Richard, date of birth unknown, died young. (V) Michael (3), son of Joshua and Mary (Goree) Coombs, was baptized February 25. 1727-28, and died in 1806. During the revo- lution he cast his fortunes with the British, and having become a Tory he fled from home and all his property, with that of other Tories in the vicinity of Marblehead, was confiscated. In regard to his movements the following an- nouncement was made by the committee of correspondence at Marblehead, in June, 1781. through Jonathan Glover, chairman of the committee : "This may certify that Mr. Mi- chael Coombs, late an inhabitant of Marble- head, in said county (Essex), mariner, has absented himself for 3 weeks and upwards from the usual place of his abode and we verily believe went to our enemies." On Feb- ruary 19, 1782, Michael Coombs' wife present- ed a petition to the general court asking that a portion of his estate which had been con- fiscated should be set off and sold, which re- quest was granted and one-third of it was set off, including the house and the land around it, located "on training field hill." On January 4, 1753, Michael Coombs married Sarah Girdler. In his will he mentions only one son, Nicholas (VI), to whom he gives his great coat, and to Joshua, son of said Nicholas, he gave all the rest of his wearing apparel. To his wife Sarah he gave one-third part of his real es- tate.


(VII) Joshua. son of Nicholas Coombs and grandson of Michael Coombs, of both of whom mention is made in the preceding paragraph, was born in Bowdoin, Maine, July 7. 1775, and died November 29, 1851. He married Mary -, who was born December 7, 1772, and died in October, 1843.


(VIII) James, son of Joshua and Mary Coombs, was born in Bowdoin, Maine, No-


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vember 7, 1798, and died in Lisbon, Maine, September 1, 1880. He was a blacksmith by trade. The greater part of his life was spent in his native town of Bowdoin, but during his latter years he lived in Lisbon, where he died. He married (first) Love Getchel, who was born July 26, 1801, and died December 20, 1851, having borne him thirteen children. He married for his second wife Mrs. Mary Gould, and by her had one child. His children: I. William Given (see post). 2. Nathaniel G., born February 5, 1821, died October, 1876. 3. John G., May 19, 1822. 4. Mary, July 28, 1823, died July 6, 1824. 5. Mary, June 21, 1825. 6. James, January 13, 1827, died Au- gust, 1864. 7. Hannah, March 5, 1828, died March 5, 1828. 8. Daniel C., March 3, 1830, died September 26, 1891. 9. Martha, Novem- ber 4, 1834, died September, 1871. 10. Charles B., July 28, 1837, died September, 1875. II. Susan, October 28, 1839, died January 3, 1842. 12. Ruth L., April 17, 1841, no further record. 13. Frank B., September 13, 1847, no further record. 14. Nathan S., November 25, 1853, no further record.


(IX) William Given, eldest son and child of James and Love (Getchel) Coombs, was born in Bowdoin, Maine, October 1, 1819, and died in Auburn, Maine, March 6, 1898. He was a blacksmith by trade, which he followed all of his life. In 1852 he removed to New Gloucester, Maine, and subsequently located in Auburn, where the later years of his life were passed. His wife was Clarina Ann Kinsley, daughter of Daniel Kinsley, of Au- burn, Maine, by whom he had two children : James Edward, born in Lisbon Falls, July 3, 1845. Delbert Dana (see post).


(X) Delbert Dana, youngest of the two sons of William Given and Clarina Ann ( Kinsley ) Coombs, was born in Lisbon Falls, Maine, July 26, 1850. When he was two years old his parents removed to New Gloucester, one of the most picturesque old towns in Maine. No doubt the natural beauty surrounding him made a deep impression on the sensitive mind of the young boy and was the first cause of the art impulse that early showed itself. No artistic ancestors as far as known and no art influence whatever about him. Here in this quiet village he received his early edu- cation at the common school. A severe illness when he was about twelve years old (the effects of which were felt for many years) un- fitted him for the broader education his am- bition craved. When almost a babe he would spend hours at his mother's side cutting out all kinds of figures with the scissors and even


then it is said he showed remarkable skill in some of his work. At school his pencil often brought him trouble, but the corner grocery store was the place where it found encourage- ment. Many evenings has he entertained the frequenters of that resort, sketching on the rough wrapping paper anything they would call for. Crude no doubt these sketches were, but it was the school that trained the pencil for the rapid work required for animal paint- ing later in life. The old village smithy, too, was a picture gallery for the young artist, where the boy's father proudly exhibited to his customers his son's skill in chalk on the black- ened wall of the old shop. It was a great day for young Coombs when Scott Leighton, the celebrated Boston animal painter, came to New Gloucester to paint some horses. This was the turning point in Mr. Coombs' life. Through the kind encouragement of Mr. Leighton he soon took up the brush and for nearly forty years he has been an active work- er in his chosen art. Mr. Coombs had many difficulties in his way. He lacked the physical strength to pursue the course that many art students take, and his father lacked the means, but he gave him what was perhaps better, en- couragement and faith. Mr. Coombs took a few lessons at first of Mr. Leighton and also of H. B. Brown, of Portland, the marine and landscape painter. In 1870 he took a studio in Lewiston for a short time, receiving a number of pupils, but little encouragement. He soon after went to Portland, when his parents had removed, and while there he spent a short time with Mr. Lamson, the photog- rapher, learning the principles of his profes- sion. This, however, did not satisfy his love of art. A business enterprise brought him again to Lewiston, but he soon gave this up to return to his brush. He again opened a studio in Lewiston, and soon took up sign painting as a support to his art work. He also took pupils and for over twenty years he had quite a following of art students. About this time he won some recognition as a caricaturist. His work in this line attracted the attention of the late James G. Blaine, who sent for Mr. Coombs and made arrangements to use his cartoons in the political campaign. This work seemed to establish Mr. Coombs' reputation as an artist, and he was enabled to give up sign painting and devote all his time to art work. At this time he did considerable illus- trating and there was a good demand for his work. A Boston engraving company gave him a call to take charge of their illustrating, but he had been with them but a few months when


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he was called to Auburn by the serious illness of his father. The Lewiston Journal was about establishing an illustrating plant, and they engaged Mr. Coombs to take charge of that department. Here Mr. Coombs found free course for his pencil and an opportunity to express himself in caricature, and his suc- cess in that line was most marked, his subjects being always appropriately chosen and his tastes inclining to the higher order of por- trayals rather than to those of the baser order. But notwithstanding his success in caricature and the freedom of his connection with news- paper illustrating and its comfortable income, Mr. Coombs' old love for color finally over- powered all other considerations and drew him back into the domain of legitimate art; and while he would have gone abroad for a deeper and broader study, conditions he could not control forbade the consummation of his high- est aims; and yet he has by intuition and na- tive genius been enabled to acquire such thor- ough knowledge of technique and in the finesse and finish of his work that he has come to be recognized as one of our famous Ameri- can artists. Mr. Coombs never graduated from an art school, never belonged to an art club and has lived and worked in a community far removed from art and artists. He re- ceived instruction from some of the best Bos- ton artists from time to time, as circumstances would allow, and he kept in touch with the art world by visiting the Boston and New York art exhibitions, and for several winters had a studio in Boston. His pictures are sel- dom seen at exhibitions or on sale at art stores, yet his landscapes and cattle pieces are owned from Maine to California and many of them represent scenes of his old boyhood home in New Gloucester. The first picture sold from the Poland Spring art gallery was one of his cattle pieces and is owned in Philadelphia. He has painted many of Maine's distinguished sons. Examples of his work in these lines may be found in the collection of eight of his portraits that adorn the walls of the state house gallery at Augusta. A large portrait of the late Chief Justice Peters, of Maine, is hung at Yale College, and a life-size portrait of Judge Haskell was burned in the city hall fire in Portland. His most recent work is "Calling the Cows," painted from life at the Poland Spring farm. The canvas is four by . six feet in size and represents the herd of over fifty cows in the pasture, with the farm buildings and hotels in the distance. This picture is owned by H. Ricker & Sons, and is hung in their New York office.


On September 10, 1902, Mr. Coombs mar- ried Mrs. Martha Lufkin and has one child, Martha Pauline Coombs, born in Auburn, July 19, 1907.


NEWELL In early times the patronymics, Newell, Newall and Newhall, seem to have been one and the same, but after the migration to America each name seems to have preserved its identity. The origin of Newhall is evident, and the old- est mention of it in printed history confirms the natural supposition. "Bloomfield's His- tory of Norfolk" says that a certain manor was bestowed by one of the baronial proprie- tors upon one of his sons, who built a new hall, whence he obtained the name of Johannis de Nova Auia, otherwise John de Newehall. The earliest manuscript record of the name dates from the end of the fifteenth century; it relates to the will of one Thomas Newhall, whose will, written in Latin in 1498, was proved on April 22, 1499. He appoints, among others, his wife Emmeta to be executrix, and wishes his body to be buried in the chapel of Witton and makes bequests to the Abbot and Convent of the Blessed Mary of Vale Royal, and for the repairs of the church of End- worth, all of which places are in Cheshire. The first immigrants of the name to the new world were two brothers, Thomas and An- thony Newhall, who came to Lynn, Massachu- setts, about 1639, and are the ancestors of a numerous posterity, which has filled such an honorable place in that town.


There were several early immigrants by the name of Newell. Thomas Newell settled at Farmington, Connecticut, soon after 1640, coming there from Hartford. He married Rebecca Olmstead and reared a numerous family. Abraham Newell, of Roxbury, Mas- sachusetts, came over in the ship Francis in the year 1634. He was older than most of the immigrants. being fifty at the time he made a change of continents; and he brought a wife and several full grown children with him. One of the sons named Isaac married Eliza- beth Curtis, and among their children was an Ebenezer, born November 29, 1673. Ebenezer ( I) Newell had a wife Mary, and among their children was an Ebenezer (2), born in 17II, who died in 1746. All of these generations lived in Roxbury. There were other early Newells living in Massachusetts, but it seems quite probable from the identity of the Chris- tian names that the following line is descend- ed from Abraham, though the connecting link is lacking.


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(I) Ebenezer Newell, whose descendants have occupied an honored place in the state of Maine for five generations, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, March 18, 1747, and died in Maine, November 20, 1791. Ile moved to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, in early life and came to Durham, which was his final home, in 1779. Ile served in the revolution during 1775 as first lieutenant in Captain Samuel Dunn's company, Colonel Phinney's regiment. In 1781 he was first lieutenant in the ancient militia or training-band of Royalsborough, which was the carly name for Durham. He was also town clerk for many years, which would indicate that he had a good education for the times. On December 12, 1765, Ebe- nezer Newell married (first) Catharine, daughter of James and Mary (Woodward) Richards, who was born at Newton, Massa- chusetts, December 15, 1747. Nine children, the three eldest of whom were born in New- ton, the next three at Cape Elizabeth, and the last three at Royalsborough: I. Ebenezer, August 23, 1767. 2. Enoch, February 14, 1770. 3. William, whose sketch follows. 4. Sally, Cape Elizabeth, November 20, 1773, married David Gross, of Pejepscot. 5. Daniel, October 5, 1775. 6. John, July 20, 1778, drowned when a young man. 7. Mary, Roy- alsborough, April 20, 1781, married


Bond, of Jay. 8. Jesse, July 20, 1783, died at sea. 9. Rev. Samuel, became a missionary. Mrs. Catharine (Richards) Newell died No- vember 21, 1788, and on July 13, 1789, Lieu- tenant Ebenezer Newell married (second) Hannah Sylvester, of Harpswell. They had one child, Barstow, born April 19, 1791, died of sickness in the war of 1812. Lieutenant Newell died in a little more than two years after his second marriage, and on August 19, 1802, eleven years after his death, his widow married a second husband, Anthony Murray, of Pejepscot.


The career of Samuel Newell was so re- markable that it deserves special mention. He was the youngest of the nine children of the first marriage, and the family were left in lim- ited circumstances by their father's early death. He longed for an education, which his native village could not afford ; so at the age of fifteen, he set out for his grandfather's in Newton. Taking the traditional bundle in a bandana, he walked from Durham to Portland, and there found a sea captain, who was so at- tracted to him that he offered to give him passage in his vessel. Judging from his por- traits, Samuel was possessed of a beautiful countenance as well as character ; at all events


his personality was so winning that the cap- tain invited him to spend a night at his home at Roxbury Hill. There he offered to sub- scribe two hundred dollars for his education, introduced him to two friends, who added one hundred and fifty cach, and the old Roxbury school-master, who heard his story with tears and shouted': "I will be good for three hun- dred more." Three years under this teacher at the Roxbury Latin School fitted the boy for Harvard, where he graduated with honor in 1807. He was principal of Lynn Academy for a short time, but, feeling the missionary call, he entered Andover Theological Seminary, where he became intimate with Rev. Adoniram Judson. Samuel Newell was one of the sign- ers of the memorandum from Andover, July 27, 1810, that led to the organization of the American Board of Foreign Missions, and was one of the first four who offered themselves to that society for missionary service. After graduating from Andover in 1810 Samuel Newell studied medicine in Philadelphia, and on February 19, 1812, set sail for India, ac- companied by his young wife, formerly Miss Harriet Atwood, of Bradford. The scene of Samuel Newell's labors was at Ceylon and Bombay, and he died at the latter place, March 30, 1821. At the Centennial of Durham, Au- gust 22, 1889, the poet of the occasion, Miss F. C. Durgin, thus speaks of the departed missionary, whose earthly career had ended nearly seventy years before :


"In far-off lands, 'mid sorrows manifold,


He sowed the seed that grew to harvest white; The sun of India pours its liquid gold


Upon our Newell's grave; he walks in light,


A son, a saint-a conqueror through God's great night."


(II) William, third son and child of Ebe- nezer and Catharine (Richards) Newell, was born at Newton, Massachusetts, May 25, 1772. He married, February 19, 1797, Anna Hoyt ; children : 1. John, born April 7, 1798. mar- ried Lucy Vining, November 30, 1820; he died December 28, 1884. 2. William, March 23, 1800, was a colonel of the militia ; he died un- married, January 3, 1881. 3. Nancy, Septem- ber 3, 1802, married her cousin, Ebenezer Newell, and died in May, 1880. 4. David, mentioned in next paragraph. 5. Samuel, April 3, 1807. married Deborah Sawyer, De- cember 30, 1832; he died June 30, 1854. 6. Joseph, August 29, 1810. died in Havana, Cuba, in October, 1830. 7. Harriet A., Jan- uary 13, 1813, married William Wallace Strout, August 25, 1830, and died June 21, 1898. 8. Katharine, November 21, 1815, died the next year.


(III) Rev. David. third son of William and Anna (Hoyt) Newell, was born in Durham,


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Maine, January 20, 1805, and died at Gor- ham, March 2, 1891. He studied for the min- istry, and held successive pastorates over five Free Baptist churches, baptizing people at dif- ferent times and places. On August 27, 1825, he married Jane S. Brackett, of Gorham, Maine, who died on April 2, 1877. Children : I. William B., whose sketch follows. 2. Charles C., whose sketch follows. 3. Harriet A., born September 29, 1835, died January 7, 1886; she was a teacher in the public schools many years. 4. Margaret B., born April 22, 1838, married Joseph W. Libby and died at Ocean Park, Old Orchard, September 7, 1896. 5. Henry H., born November 5, 1840, enlisted at the out- break of the rebellion, and died at Alexandria, Virginia, November 28, 1861. 6. Lizzie A., born at Durham, September 28, 1845.


(IV) William B., eldest child of Rev. David and Jane S. (Brackett) Newell, was born at Portland, Maine, May 12, 1827, died June 24, 1899. In early life he secured a good common school education, which in after years he em- ployed to good advantage during his thirty winters of teaching. In those days it was not an uncommon occurrence "to carry the master out and lock the door," but Mr. Newell's abil- ity to inspire the confidence and respect of his pupils and to secure the co-operation of their parents made his career as a teacher an un- qualified success, even in difficult districts. Mr. Newell inherited those excellent mental and moral characteristics which have distin- guished the family for generations, and he could have chosen no profession where his sense of justice, his ability to decide fairly and his firmness in adhering to that decision, in short, all those qualities which leave a moral impress, could have had a wider influence in moulding the character of the succeeding gen- eration than the vocation of an old-fashioned school-master. " For nearly half a century he had made his home in Durham, during the greater part of which time he has occupied the farm and homestead where he died. He had always been closely identified with the life of the town, and he had served at various times as-town clerk, superintendent of the school committee, selectman and town treasurer. He is a Democrat in politics, and for many years was moderator of the annual town meeting. In religion he was a Congregationalist. No citizen of Durham had a better reputation for honesty and uprightness than Mr. Newell, and his word was as good as his bond.




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