Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III, Part 4

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 4

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).

This surname is of French PULSIFER origin. and the progenitor was of French Huguenot stock. The name is spelled Pulsever, Pulcifer, and in various other ways, in the early rec- ords. The name is not recognized by the authorities as an English surname, though the first settler may have been from Guernsey, or elsewhere on or near the English channel, where many French Protestants took refuge. The nearest French resemblance to the name is Pulosevits, the pronunciation of which might give rise to the spellings in vogue dur- ing the life of the pioneer. The coat-of-arms is given in Rietstap: De gu. a'une aigle de profil d'or le vol levé perchée sur un serpent de sin. ondoant en forme de S posé en bends la tete en haut. Crest : Un . ramp. patti d'or et de gu. tenant de ses pa tes un demi-vol de gu.

(I) John Pulsifer, immigrant ancestor, born about 1650-60, in France, found a Huguenot place of refuge in England. He settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1680, according

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to tradition, on the spot still occupied by a descendant on the old road leading to Coffin's Beach. In 1688 he had a parcel of land grant- ed by the town, "given to the house where he then lived." He married, in Gloucester, De- cember 31, 1684, Joanna Kent. The only other early settler named Pulsifer was Bene- dict Pulsifer, of Ipswich, who was probably father or near relative of John. The "His- tory of Gloucester" says: "A tradition was current some years that a man of this family was one of a number of fishermen who were taken from two schooners by Indians at Sheepscot river, Maine, in the early part of last (eighteenth) century. The Indians fas- tened the men to stakes and then barbarously tomahawked them all except Pulsifer, who was suffered to live, and after three months confinement among the savages made his es- cape and returned to Gloucester. His mind was so much affected by the awful sight of the murder of his companions and his own suf- ferings that the mention of the word Indian would throw him into a paroxysm of fright. It is said that in one of these paroxysms he wandered about in the woods a week, having fled thither upon being told that some sav-

ages were near in a boat." Children of John Pulsifer : 1. John, born November 17, 1685, died August 27, 1707. 2. Joanna, October 7, 1688. 3. Mary, April 8, 1691. 3. Thomas, February 10, 1693, had homestead at Glouces- ter ; married (first) Sarah Grover, January 6, 1726; (second) October 29, 1730, Hannah Woodward; had sons Thomas, Nathaniel and Samuel, and three daughters; Nathaniel, born May 29, 1736, was a soldier in the French and Indian war; married, 1765, Abigail Proctor ; had five daughters in succession, then four sons-Nathan, Samuel, Epes and Isaac; the last named Nathan died December 25, 1765, aged eighty-six ; Thomas, the father, died Sep- tember 27, 1778. 4. Ebenezer, July 20, 1695, married, February II, 1720, Huldah Silley, and had several children. 5. Mary, April 27, 1697. 6. David, January 9, 1701, see for- ward. 7. Jonathan, July 30, 1704, married, December 1I, 1729, Susanna Hadley ; children : Susanna, Jonathan, Samuel.

(II) David (I), son of John Pulsifer, was born in Gloucester, January 9, 1701. He re- sided there, and married Mary -. He doubtless followed the sea. Children : David, and three daughters.

(III) David (2), son of David Pulsifer, was born in Gloucester, September 29, 1731. He married a cousin, Hannah Pulsifer, of Brent- wood, New Hampshire, and settled in Poland,

Maine. He was a soldier in the revolution, from Gloucester, a private in Captain Charles Smith's company, also matross in Captain William Ellery's company, First Artillery, 1776. Children: Jonathan, and probably others.

(IV) Jonathan, son of David (2) Pulsifer, was born in Gloucester about 1770. He mar- ried, August 30, 1789, Polly Rust, born Sep- tember 1, 1769, died 1862. He settled in Poland, Maine, with his father. Two chil- dren grew to maturity: Moses Rust, men- tioned below, and Benjamin.

(V) Moses Rust, M. D., son of Jonathan Pulsifer, born in Poland, Maine, September 10, 1799, died January 27, 1877. He was ed- ucated in the district schools, and studied the profession of medicine. He practiced at Eden, Sullivan and Ellsworth, Hancock county, Maine. He married, 1819, Mary Strout Dunn, born May 30, 1801, died March 1I, 1850, daughter of Hon. Josiah and Sally ( Barnes) Dunn. Her father was born September 8, 1779, and died February 3, 1843. Her mother was born January II, 1783, and died Decem- ber 29, 1858, daughter of Rev. Thomas Barnes, who was a representative to the gen- eral court of Massachusetts; a monument to his memory was erected in Norway, Maine, by the Universalists. Children of Dr. Moses Rust Pulsifer : 1. Josiah Dunn, born 1822, was the first stenographer employed in the courts of Maine for reporting, and held that office a number of years; he compiled a "Digest of Maine" during this period. 2. Nathan Gold- smith Howard, January 24, 1824, see for- ward. 3. Reuben, 1826, a farmer. 4. Caro- line, married B. F. Crocker, of Hyannis, Mas- sachusetts. 5. Augustus Moses, June 15, 1834, see forward. 6. Horatio, became a medical practitioner. 7. Thomas Benton, became a physician ; practiced at Yarmouth, Massachu- setts. 8. Ella Dunn, married Joseph Bassett, of Yarmouthport, Massachusetts. Children of second wife: 9. Georgia, married Dr. Charles Byron Porter, of Old Town, Maine. IO. Charles Leslie, a farmer at Corinna, Maine.

(VI) Nathan Goldsmith Howard, M. D., son of Dr. Moses Rust Pulsifer, was born Jan- uary 24, 1824, in Eden, Mount Desert, Han- cock county, Maine, and died in Waterville, Maine, December 3, 1893. He attended the common schools of Eden and Minot, Maine, and studied for his profession at the Dart- mouth Medical School, from which he grad- uated with the class of 1847. He had previ- ously studied in the offices of his father and Dr. N. C. Harris, and assisted them in prac-

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tice. Immediately after receiving his degree he began to practice at Fox Island, Maine. In 1849, when the gold fever broke out, he went to California as doctor in the barkentine "Belgrade," around Cape Horn, the voyage lasting six months. He remained in California two years, returning in 1851 to Ellsworth, where he practiced a short time, then spent a year in study in medical schools and hospitals in New York and Philadelphia, and from 1852 to the time of his death practiced in Water- ville, Maine. He had a very large practice, and ranked among the leaders in his profes- sion for many years. He was held in the highest esteem by his fellow practitioners as well as by the families whom he served. His judgment was sound, his ability and fidelity remarkable. He was a director and vice-presi- dent of the People's National Bank of Water- ville, and was president for ten years imme- diately preceding his death. In politics he was a Republican, and in religion a Unitarian. He was a member of the American Home- opathic Association, and the Maine State Homoeopathic Society. During the last twen- ty years of his life he devoted much attention to his real estate investments in Waterville, and was prominent in financial circles. He married, October 24, 1855, Ann Cornelia Moor, born February 16, 1835, in Waterville, daughter of William and Cornelia Ann (Dun- bar) Moor. (See Moor family.) Children : I. Nora, born January 24, 1856, married Frank Lorenzo Thayer, son of Lorenzo Eu- gene and Sarah (Chase) Thayer; children : Nathan Pulsifer, born December 20, 1878; Lorenzo Eugene, born March 8, 1883; Frank L. Jr., born December 5, 1895. 2. Cornelia Ann, August 8, 1860, married Herbert L. Kel- ley, son of Herbert L. and Mary (Crie) Kel- ley ; child: Cornelia Pulsifer, born February 17, 1897. 3. William Moor, August 18, 1863, see forward. 4. Ralph H., August 19, 1865, see forward.

(VII) William Moor, M. D., son of Dr. Nathan G. H. Pulsifer, was born in Water- ville, August 18, 1863. He attended the pub- lic schools, graduated from Coburn Classical Institute in 1878, from Colby University in 1882, and from the Harvard Medical School in 1887. He took a post-graduate course in the Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1890. He opened an office and practiced for a time in Skowhegan, removed in 1892 to Waterville, where he practiced until 1900, when he again located in Skowhegan, and has since been engaged in practice there. He married, October 2, 1896, Helen G. Libby,

daughter of Isaac C. and Helen Libby. They have one child, Libby William Moor, born March 27, 1899.

(VII) Ralph H., M. D., son of Dr. Nathan G. H. Pulsifer, was born in Waterville, Au- gust 19, 1865. He attended the public schools ; prepared for college in the Coburn Classical Institute, where he was graduated in 1882. He graduated from Colby University in the class of 1886. He studied for his profession at the Boston University Medical School, where he received his degree of M. D. in 1889. He also graduated from Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1890. He practiced for two years in Waterville, for five years in Vassalborough, then at Skowhegan until 1897, when he returned to Waterville, where he is now permanently located. He married, February 23, 1893, Grace Goodridge Yeaton, born May 23, 1871, daughter of Free- man G. and Ellen (Page) Yeaton, of Bel- grade. Child, Page Moor, born August 20, 1896.

(VI) Augustus Moses, son of Dr. Moses Rust Pulsifer, was born in Sullivan, Hancock county, Maine, June 15, 1834. He received his early education at Hebron Academy (Maine), the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill and Waterville Academy (Maine). and after attending Waterville College, now Colby University, one year, entered Bowdoin College, where he was graduated in 1858. He taught in the public schools of Maine, Massa- chusetts and New Hampshire and in 1858-59 was principal of the Lewiston Falls Academy in Auburn, Maine. He read law in the offices of Record, Walton & Luce at Auburn, Maine, and was admitted to the Androscoggin county bar in September, 1860. From that time he has practiced law in Auburn. From 1870 to 1873 he was county attorney of Androscoggin county. He has also been chairman of the school board of Auburn and president of the common council. He is president of the water commissioners, organized in 1895, and was one of the projectors and prime movers in forming the Auburn Aqueduct Company. He was interested in building Roak Block, Au- burn, and in other real estate investments in that city. He has been exceedingly active in business, especially in promoting various cor- porate and public enterprises. In 1870 he organized the Androscoggin Water Power Company and has been treasurer to the pres- ent time. This corporation owns and operates the Barker Cotton Mill in Auburn, of which Mr. Pulsifer is treasurer and managing di- rector. He is one of the founders of the Au-

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burn public library and has been trustee from the first ; was one of the incorporators of the Auburn Young Men's Christian Association ; also one of the founders of the Sixth Street Congregational Church of Auburn, of which he is a member. He has been prominent in the temperance movement. In politics he has always been a Republican. He is a member of the Maine Historical Society and of the Maine Genealogical Society; also of the Home Mar- ket Club of Boston. He married, July 2, 1863, Harriet, daughter of Hon. George W. Chase, of Auburn. Children : I. Jennie Deane, who is at the head of the art depart- ment of the Ohio Wesleyan University. 2. James Augustus, attorney at law at Auburn. 3. Dr. Tappan Chase, graduate of Columbia Medical College. 4. Mary Helen, graduate of Mount Holyoke College. 5. Chase, graduate of Bowdoin College, class of 1897. 6. Nathan, graduate of Bates College. 7. Harriet Chase, graduate of the Auburn high school.

(For early generations see John Pulsifer I.)

(V) Benjamin, son of Jon-

PULSIFER athan Pulsifer, was born in Poland, Maine, about 1810, and was educated in the public schools. He learned the trade of harness maker and fol- lowed it during his active life. He lived at what is called Minot's Corner in the town of Poland. He married (first) Miss Ford; (sec- ond) Miss Chandler, and (third) Mrs. Bur- nett. Children : I. Fobes F., mentioned be- low. 2. Angelina, widow of Timothy Down- ing, of Auburn, Maine.

(VI) Fobes F., son of Benjamin Pulsifer, was born in Poland, Maine (now Minot), died 1877 in Minot. He attended the common schools and learned the trade of his father- harness making. Later he took up shoema- king, which he followed most of his active years. He married Adelaide Bucknam, born in Massachusetts; they lived in Auburn and Minot, Maine. Children: I. Orpha E., un- married. 2. James Brown, mentioned below.

(VII) James Brown, son of Fobes F. Pulsi- fer, was born in Auburn, October 7, 1875. He was brought up in the family of an uncle, Aldin C. Pulsifer, where his mother also made her home, and from early youth worked at farming. After receiving a common school

and wood business of Hastings & Smith and have since conducted it under the firm name of Pulsifer & Young. Mr. Pulsifer is a member of Tranquil Lodge, Free Masons; of Bradford Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; of Lewiston Commandery, Knights Templar, and of Kora Temple, Mystic Shrine, Lewiston. In politics an Independent. He married, October 29, 1900, Maidee Parsons, born at Turner, Maine, January 6, 1877, daughter of Edward and Mary ( Allen) Parsons, of Auburn. Child, Pauline Rebecca, born March 22, 1907.

This old Scotch name has MITCHELL long been conspicuous in the history of New England, and its bearers have been noted for those Scotch qualities of industry, grit and stern ad- herence to principles which are proverbial. Many immigrants have come to these shores directly from Scotland and others from Eng- land, but the name is of noted Scotch origin in the early ages of Great Britain. In the early settlement of Maine and the development of its industries, past and present, it has borne no mean part, and is now known honorably throughout the United States, many of its rep- resentatives being descendants of those stern old Maine pioneers.

(I) Experience Mitchell was one of the forefathers of Pilgrims, as those immigrants were called who came to New England in the first three vessels; he arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the ship "Ann" in 1623 and had a share in the first division of lots in that year and of the live stock in 1627. He sold this place in 1631 and removed to Ducks- bury, where he purchased another in 1650. He was an original proprietor of Bridgewa- ter, Massachusetts, but did not remove thither until late in life. He died there in 1689, aged about eighty. His will was made at Leyden with the Pilgrims and he left a brother Thom- as, who lived and died in Holland. His first wife was Jane, a daughter of Frances Cook, who arrived in the "Mayflower" in 1620. His second wife bore the same baptismal name, but her family name is unknown. His will and other documents show the names of the following children : Thomas, John, Jacob, Ed- ward. Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah and Hannah.

(II) Jacob, son of Experience and Mary education in Auburn and three years in Heb- ' Mitchell, was probably born in the old world ron Academy, he worked for a time in a shoe factory. He then engaged in the retail milk business on his own account and was very suc- cessful. After eight years of prosperous busi- ness he and Calvin C. Young bought the coal

and resided at Dartmouth, now Fairhaven, Massachusetts, where he died in 1675. He was a carpenter by trade, was ensign of the military company, and was killed with his wife by the Indians while they were on their way

: HE

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in the early morning to the garrison. Their children had been placed in the garrison the night before, and thus escaped the massacre. They were Jacob, Thomas and Mary. Edward Mitchell, a younger brother of John, who was then childless, took and reared these children in Bridgewater. The daughter was married in 1696 to Samuel Kingman. Jacob Mitchell's wife, to whom he was married in 1666, was Susanna, daughter of Thomas Pope, of Plym- outh.

(III) Jacob (2), eldest child of Jacob (I) and Susanna ( Pope) Mitchell, was born about 1668 and resided in Bridgewater. He mar- ried Deliverance, daughter of John and Eliza- beth Kingman, of West Bridgewater, and granddaughter of Henry Kingman, of Wey- mouth, where he was made a freeman in 1636. She was born in 1676 and lived but a short time after her marriage. Soon after her death Jacob Mitchell removed to Kingston, Rhode Island, where he married (second) Rebecca, daughter of Isaac Cushman. He was a black- smith and sold out his establishment in Kings- ton in 1728 and removed to North Yarmouth, Maine, where he died about 1744. One child, Jacob, was born in Bridgewater. Others in Kingston.

(IV) Jacob (3), eldest child of Jacob (2) and Deliverance (Kingman) Mitchell, was born January 10, 1697, in Bridgewater, fol- lowed his father to North Yarmouth in 1743, and died there December 1, 1784. He was elected a deacon at the church at North Yar- mouth, July 10, 1745. He was married (first) in 1721 to Mary Howland, and they were the parents of Mary and John. He married (sec- ond) Rachel (Lewis) Cushing, who was born June 19, 1694, and died March 15, 1768, a daughter of John Lewis. The records of North Yarmouth give the following children : David, Rachel, Jacob and Sarah. The family records give the birth of the next mentioned as Yar- mouth, Massachusetts. He was undoubtedly the son of Jacob and Rachel (Lewis) Mitchell, born during a temporary residence in Yar- mouth, which was then, of course, a part of Massachusetts.

(V) John, undoubtedly son of Jacob (3) and Rachel (Lewis) (Cushing) Mitchell, was born in 1733 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, and settled in Unity, Maine, when it was a wilder- ness. He was a farmer, merchant and local magistrate and took an active interest in the development of the town and the advancement of church work and education. He erected a saw and grist mill and operated them until he turned them over to his son, Isaac, who

succeeded him in business. He was religiously trained, maintained a high character and at- tained an honorable position in that part of the state where he resided. He was so set in his religious belief that he would not allow food to be cooked in his house on Sunday. He held an office in the revolutionary army. He married Mary Vickery Weston, a native of England, who came to America a short time before her marriage. No record appears of their children, but the family account makes the next mentioned their son.

(VI) Isaac, fourth son of John and Mary Vickery (Weston) Mitchell, was born, lived and died in Unity. He followed his father's line of occupation, belonged to the same church and maintained a similar interest in municipal and educational matters. He re- built and enlarged the Mitchell mills as they were called, and filled every elective office in the town, being for many years chairman of the board of selectmen. He built the house now occupied by Silas Bither near Unity Pond at Bither's Mills and his children were born there. While breaking a colt he was thrown against a rail of the bridge near his home and was so seriously injured as to cause his death. He married Hannah Vickery, of Unity, and their children were: Isaac, Reuben, Happy, Sybil, Lydia, Susan, Solomon Stuart, James Madison, Rufus B. and Eliza W.

(VII) Solomon Stuart, third son of Isaac and Hannah (Vickery) Mitchell, was born in Unity, 1807, and died at Troy, 1850. He fol- lowed the occupation of his father and grand- father and was a farmer and millman in Unity. His education was what was acquired at home and in the town and in high or graded schools. He lost his life by exposure in run- ning his mills, dying before he was thirty years of age. He was a member of the local military company, and in politics was a Whig, but he held no public offices. He married Lucinda Tyler, who was born in Dixmont, and died at Unity in 1846, daughter of Major Roland and Sallie Tyler, of Hampden. Roland Tyler was a son of General Ebenezer Tyler, of Attleboro, Massachusetts, who took part in the battle of Lexington ; was an officer in the Massachusetts military forces during the revolution ; attained the rank of major general in the military es- tablishment of Massachusetts; was a member of the general court of that state for several terms, and always took a leading part in the public affairs, educational, political and mili- tary. The children of Solomon Stuart and Lucinda (Tyler) Mitchell were: Wilfred A., who was killed at Port Hudson, Louisiana, in

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the civil war; Roland T., who resides in Sac- ramento, California; and Henry L., who is next mentioned.

(VIII) Henry Lyman, youngest child of Solomon Stuart and Lucinda (Tyler) Mitch- ell, was born in Unity, February 6, 1845. He attended the town schools, private schools and high schools in several different towns, Corin- na Academy for several years, and was a pri- vate student under the instruction of Pro- fessors E. E. Small, Isaac W. Cates and J. H. Sawyer, all graduates from Bowdoin Col- lege, and of the best teachers turned out by that college. He was left alone in the world when under five years old, without money or friends to assist him, and had early knowledge of the many trials and disappointments that fall to a boy in those circumstances, yet he made the acquisition of the best education pos- sible his sole aim, and constructed a foundation upon which he could stand and defend him- self, for he had to defend himself, as he had no one to rely on, no one to care for or en- courage him, and very many who sought to push him back or drag him down. But in spite of misfortune and opposition, and strengthened by the efforts he was compelled to make, he succeeded and acquired in youth a training that has served him well through life. For two years he was assistant under Professor Sawyer at Corinna. In 1865 he began the study of law and was admitted to the Maine bar in 1870, United States circuit court in 1880, and United States court of ap- peals, 1891. Since his admission to the bar of Maine he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Bangor, where he has at- tained a leading position as a lawyer. In poli- tics he is a Republican, and began to march for Republican candidates four years before he became a voter. He never aspired to public offices other than in the line of his profession as a lawyer. He was elected ten consecutive years to the office of attorney for the city of Bangor. without canvassing for office, and while he held that position the Piscataquis rail- road, running from Bangor to Greenville, in which the city of Bangor had a two-million- dollar interest, was disposed of. The railroad excise tax on the European North American railway, in which the people of Bangor held $1,900,000 in securities which had not been taxed for several years, was restored by his efforts; the celebrated case relating to the use of the "Hersey Trust Fund," so called for the erection of a new city hall, was disposed of in favor of the city, requiring a special act ; a new law was passed by the legislature, pla-

cing the police force upon permanent basis ; the fire department was reorganized; as well as many other matters of importance to the people of the city. In military affairs Mr. Mitchell has long been active. He was a mem- ber of the First Maine Cavalry Volunteers; adjutant of the Second Maine Volunteers ; colonel of the Second Maine Regiment, M. V. M .; and for several years brigadier general, commanding the First Brigade, M. V. M. In religious faith he is an Independent Congrega- tionalist (Unitarian). He was a member of the standing committee fifteen years, and chairman of the committee ten years. In 1895 General Mitchell organized the Penobscot Loan and Building Association, which has done a large and flourishing business. He is secretary and director of the company. He is a past chancellor of Norembega Lodge, No. 5, now Condeskeag, No. 53, Knights of Pythias ; past master workman of Bangor Lodge, No. 7, Ancient Order United Workmen ; and past post commander of Hannibal Hamlin Post, No. 65, Grand Army of the Republic.

Henry L. Mitchell married, September 22, 1880, in Albion, Maine, Emma L. Ryder, who was born in Washington, Maine, and educated in the town and private schools and in the La- dies' Boarding School at Brunswick. Her father, Robert E. Ryder, a practicing physician and surgeon, held every municipal office he could be induced to accept, was twice a mem- ber of the house of representatives, and twice elected to the senate. He rendered no military service, but took a very active part in looking after the welfare of the Union soldiers in the war of the rebellion. Many of Mrs. Mitchell's ancestors were celebrated in the line of their calling as editors, doctors and law- yers. Her mother was Emily E. (Rust) Ry- der, a descendant of Henry Rust, the progeni- tor of the Rust family in America, who came from Hingham, Norfolk county, England, in 1623, and settled in Hingham, Massachusetts. Mrs. Mitchell met with a very serious acci- dent six months prior to her marriage, which left her an invalid for life, but she has borne up under her sufferings, bright and cheerful, and looked on the fair side of life with patient resignation, and with the assurance that her trials and sufferings in this life will fit her for the hereafter.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III, Part 4

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

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