USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III > Part 54
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(I) Thomas Greenwood, according to "Munsell's American Genealogy," the son of Miles and Abigaill Greenwood, of Norwich, England, first appeared in New England and was a weaver in the town of Boston in 1665. Munsell gives the date of his birth 1643, which birth date places him between the two known immigrant sons of Miles Greenwood, younger than Nathaniel and older than Samuel. Thomas Greenwood removed from the town of Boston as early as 1668 and received a grant of land in the town of Cambridge, the land being located on the south side of the Charles river and subsequently included in the town of Brookline. He was made a free- man by the general court of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and was admitted to church mem- bership in the South parish of Cambridge in 1681. He served the town of Cambridge as selectman, town clerk and constable. He was married July 8, 1670, to Hannah, daughter of John Wood, a freeman of the town of New- ton, and they had two children: John, who married Hannah, daughter of James Trow- bridge, made his home in Newton, where he became a prominent citizen, and where seven children were born of the marriage, and where he died August 29, 1737. Rev. Thomas, born January 27, 1673, married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Noel Wiswell, had six children, and died September 7, 1720. Thomas Greenwood married as his second wife Abigail and by her had two children: James and William.
(II) William, son of Thomas and Abigail Greenwood, was born in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, October 14, 1689. He married, June 21, 1715, Abigail, daughter of John Woodward, of Cambridge, and removed to Sherborn about 1725, where he secured a considerable grant of land in the new town and engaged extensively in business, besides carrying on the cultivation of his farm. He was a deacon in the church at Sherborn, town clerk, selectman and a representative from the town in the general court of the colony. Wil- liam and Abigail (Woodward) Greenwood had at least nine children, their son Joseph being the ninth child. William Greenwood died in Sherborn, Massachusetts, about 1756.
(III) Joseph, ninth child of William and Abigail (Woodward) Greenwood, was born in Sherborn, Massachusetts, June 10, 1734. He learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, and also employed his spare time in weaving. which occupation was an inheritance from his father and grandfather. He was married about 1758 to his cousin Sarah, daughter of Jo-
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siah Greenwood. Soon after his marriage he removed to Holden, Massachusetts, and thence to Dublin, New Hampshire, where he became a useful and esteemed citizen and the most important business man in the town. He served at various times as schoolmaster, justice of the peace, town clerk, selectman, treasurer of the town, and he was sent as a delegate to the last Provincial congress of New Hamp- shire before the adoption of a state constitu- tion. In 1793 he removed to Bethel, Maine, where he died December 27, 1825, aged ninety-one years. The three sons of Joseph and Sarah (Greenwood) Greenwood were: Ebenezer, died young. John, born December 24, 1760, died young. Nathaniel (q. v.).
(IV) Nathaniel, youngest son of Joseph and Sarah (Greenwood) Greenwood, was born November 6, 1761, and was brought up in the town of Dublin, New Hampshire, where he re- ceived his school training. He was married, June 24, 1782, to Mary, daughter of Moses and Lydia (Knapp) Mason, of Dublin, New Hampshire, and in 1793 he removed with his own family and that of his father to Bethel, Maine, and the three sons by this marriage- Ebenezer, Nathaniel Jr. and Thaddeus-set- tled in Farmington, Maine. Thaddeus, who married Belinda Caldwell, of Hebron, subse- quently removed from Farmington to Indus- try, Maine, where he died in 1864. His wife Mary died in Bethel, February 25, 1825, and he was married in 1827 to Abigail Irving, of Paris, Maine, and he had by this second mar- riage three children. He subsequently re- moved from Bethel to Farmington, where he spent the declining years of his life and where he died, surrounded by children and grand- children, November 7, 1846.
(V) Nathaniel Jr. (2), second son of Na- thaniel (I) and Mary ( Mason) Greenwood, was born in Dublin, New Hampshire, Decem- ber 27, 1790. When three years old he was taken by his parents to Bethel, Maine, where he was brought up and where his school ad- vantages were very limited. He was, how- ever, a studious lad, and by self-instruction and reading he became well informed and able to take a prominent part in the business world in which he lived. He married and removed to Farmington, Maine, and in January, 1832, purchased a farm in that town, now the prop- erty of L. B. Manter, and he at the same time purchased the saw mills located on the Farm- ington Falls, where he carried on an extensive lumber business, employing a large number of men during the winter season in cutting and logging, preparatory to the spring freshets and
summer manufacture of lumber at the mills. Ile was the first to manufacture hogsheads for use in the sugar markets of the south, for transporting molasses, and affording them at a reasonable price by knocking down each hogs- head or cask and securing these parts in well mowed shooks ready to reform into their original forms by inexperienced coopers when they reach the sugar plantation and were to be used at the cane mills. This device proved to be very profitable to both the maker and purchaser, and became generally adopted in the trade. He also engaged in farming, and he served his adopted town in various official positions. He was married on May II, 1815, to Huldah, daughter of Jacob and Betty ( Fos- ter) Howe. Jacob Howe had served in the army in the American revolution, and his daughter Huldah was born in Maine, May 25, 1796. Nathaniel Jr. and Huldah (Howe) Greenwood had ten children: I. Julia, born in Bethel, Maine, March 14, 1816, married George B. Brown, of New Sharon, Maine. 2. Mason Knob, July 17, 1818, died December 9, 1827. 3. Albert Newton, August 14, 1820, married Matilda A. Soule, resides in Fairfield, Maine, and has served as county commis- sioner. 4. Zina Hyde (q. v.). 5. Alfred Alan- son, February 25, 1827, married twice, had six children, and resides in Attica, Indiana. 6. Marcia Almeda, born March 28, 1829, mar- ried three times and has no children living. 7. Huldah Jennie, June 17, 1831, died March 28, 1885. 8. Alma Esther, May II, 1833, married James H. Bullen, had five children, and re- sides in Perry, Oklahoma. 9. Charles Mel- len, 1834, died 1836. 10. Charles, February 17, 1837, married Martha A. Prescott, of Hal- lowell, Maine, has three children, and was a hardware merchant first in Farmington, then in Augusta and later in Lewiston, Maine, now of Malden, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Green- wood Jr. died in Farmington, Maine, April 15, 1867, and his widow at the home of her son, Zina Hyde, in Farmington, 1892, in the ninety-seventh year of her age.
(VI) Zina Hyde, third son of Nathaniel Jr. (2) and Huldah (Howe) Greenwood, was born in Bethel, Maine, September 21, 1824. He was educated in the excellent public schools of Farmington, learned the trade of carpenter and builder, worked at his trade in Augusta, Maine, up to 1854, and became an expert bridge builder in Farmington, being appointed by the town authorities to superin- tend the building of the large bridges that were yearly severely tested and frequently de- stroyed by the spring freshets with great loss
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to the town, the reconstruction of some of the bridges costing many thousand dollars. He conducted a fire insurance business in Farm- ington from 1854 up to 1893, but was forced to find more active employment for the pres- ervation of his health. He purchased the farn owned by Jesse Butterfield Jr., and became a farmer and bridge builder. He also engaged in canning sweet corn for the market, and has formed a company, erected a large can- ning establishment and carried on a very use- ful and profitable business known as the Sandy River Packing Company. This addi- tional care obliged him to leave the farm in 1885, and he purchased in 1887 nine acres of the Stewart farm on High street, and on this estate erected a handsome and substantial resi- dence and sold building lots to home seekers who were willing to improve and beautify the neighborhood. He served as selectman of the town for seven years, 1865-68 and 1876-77. He was made a life member of the Franklin County Agricultural Society and of the Maine State Agricultural Society. He was married November 8, 1849, to Emily Merrill, daugh- ter of Isaac and Sarah ( Bradbury) Fellows, of Athens, Maine, born June II, 1829. Zina Hyde and Emily M. (Fellows) Greenwood had six children: 1. Edward, born November 17, 1850, married Emma R. Dutton; he has charge of the railroad shops at Phillips, Maine. 2. Albert Mellen, February 2, 1853, married Affie M. Sanborn, June 22, 1882; he was a jeweller in Phillips, Maine, now resides in Farmington. 3. Orville Short, July 14, 1855, married Cora L. Prescott, and has three chil- dren : Mildred Francis, born January 5, 1883 ; Philip Prescott, October 9, 1884; Fred Al- bert, April 19, 1887. 4. Chester (q. v.). 5. Lizzie A., April 13, 1861, graduated at State Normal school and became a professional teacher. 6. Emilie, June 28, 1863, educated in the public and high schools, and engaged in preparatory gardening, bedding plants under glass for market gardens up to 1906.
(VII) Chester, son of Zina Hyde and Emily M. (Fellows) Greenwood, was born in Farm- ington, Maine, December 4, 1858. He was educated in the Farmington public school and Wilton Academy. He patented an ear pro- tector, which he devised when fifteen years old and patented when seventeen. It came into almost universal use, and to meet the demand of the trade he manufactured the protector on a large scale, first on the farm near Farm- ington and in 1883 moved the industry to West Farmington ; in 1887 he erected a large building for the purpose in Centre Village,
which he gave up in 1901 to take possession of a large brick factory which he had erected on Depot street. He invented his own machin- ery, and the factory continued to turn out sixty thousand pairs annually, and of late years as high as eighty thousand, the business being conducted as Chester Greenwood & Company. He organized the Franklin Independent Tele- phone Company, and was made president and manager of the corporation, and shortly after he negotiated a sale of the property to the Rockland Telephone Company. He is also largely interested as owner and trustee of val- uable and profitable real estate. He is a Pro- hibitionist in political faith, and a member of Franklin Lodge, No. 58, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Farmington. He was married October 12, 1884 .. to Sarah Isabel Whittier, of Chesterville, Maine. She is a daughter of Phineas Whittier, an extensive farmer and orchardist, and at one time known as the "Apple King" of Maine. The children of Chester and Sarah Isabel ( Whittier) Greenwood are: I. Lester C., born July 28, 1885, graduated at Dartmouth College, A.B., 1908, and at once entered Institute of Tech- nology, Boston, in naval architecture and marine engineering. 2. Donald Whittier, Feb- ruary 17, 1887, matriculated at Dartmouth with the class of 1910. 3. Vodisa E., Octo- ber 7. 1888, matriculated at Smith College, class of 1912. 4. Clinton W., February 6, 1893, a sophomore at Brewster Free Academy.
The tradition of this family ELDER states that the early ancestors were Scotch and went to Ireland in the time of the great exodus from the for- mer to the latter country in the seventeenth century. The name Elder is from the Anglo- Saxon ealdor, meaning older or senior, and the earliest progenitor of the family, as well as the name, may have come from some point south of the Scotch border.
(I) Samuel and Robert Elder, brothers, came from Ireland, one authority says from Londonderry, another says Artmore, county of Antrim, in the north of Ireland. Robert settled at Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and Samuel made his settlement at Presumpscot Falls, in the year 1729, at which time a company of Scotch-Irish came to this state. In 1743 Sam- uel removed to Windham, then called New Marblehead, where he purchased home lots Nos. 45 and 46, and there he and his son Wil- liam made themselves a "Dubble house," as was sometimes done by well-to-do settlers. The ordinary house of pioneer days consisted
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of a single room built (generally) of logs. The double house had two such rooms, and a space between them roofed and floored, but having no outer walls. This middle space was a very handy and comfortable place to work in warm weather. Samuel Elder married a Huston, by whom he had seven children: I. Margaret, born in Ireland, married (first) 1752, Samuel Watts; (second) November 9, 1759, Isaac Gilkey, of Gorham. 2. William, mentioned below. 3. Isaac, born in Falmouth, January 19, 1739, married, October 16, 1761, Mary Hunnewell. 4. Elizabeth, born in Fal- mouth, 1741, married, July 23, 1761, Simon Huston, who moved in 1763 to Gorham, and died there. 5. Eunice, born 1745, married, January 1, 1767, Cary Mclellan, of Gorham. 6. Samuel, born "August 29, 1748, married (first) March 3, 1774, Hannah Freeman ; (second) Mary Graffam. 7. Jane, whose date of birth is not known, married Eleazer Chase, of Standish, Maine, and settled in Windham, where she died.
(II) William, eldest son of Samuel and (Huston) Elder, was born in Ireland, and was brought in early childhood to Maine by his parents. He married Mary Akers, and they lived and died in the "Dubble house," which stood on the River road, near the spot where Caleb Elder later lived, in the south part of Windham. They had twelve children : I. John, born August 20, 1752, married Re- becca Graffam. 2. William, February 19, 1754, married Keziah Hanson. 3. Prudence, June 30, 1756, died July 9, 1756. 4 and 5. Joseph and Samuel, twins, July 26, 1757, Jo- seph married Hannah LeGrow; Samuel died April 10, 1758. 6. Prudence, May 31, 1759, married Thomas Craig. 7. Samuel, March 18, 1761, died March 30, 1761. 8. Reuben, June 22, 1762, married Elizabeth Huston. 9. Rebecca, August 27, 1764, married James Webb. 10. Charles, June 29, 1767, married Betsey Kingsbury. II. Silas, March 2, 1789, married Abigail Chesley. 12. Isaac, next men- tioned.
(III) Isaac, youngest child of William and Mary (Akers) Elder, was born December 9, 1770, died December 3, 1844. He settled in East Windham, and cleared a farm of one hundred acres, the title of which has never since been out of the Elder name. The house he built on this farm is still standing, some- what modernized in its appearance, it is true, but many of its rooms remaining as he fin- ished them and the wooden cornice in the par- lor, around its upper part, remains exactly as he made it. In recognition of the fact that
they were Scotch-Irish, and that their an- cestor, Samuel the emigrant, came directly from Ireland, the neighborhood and school district in which Isaac Elder cleared his farm and lived, was called Ireland, while the neigh- borhood next south, for similar reasons, was called Scotland, both of these localities retain- ing their respective names to-day. Isaac El- der married (first) Hannah Chesley, born July 12, 1792, died June 2, 1798. He married (second) Mary Jackson, born April 23, 1778, died July 11, 1832. By his first wife he had four children : 1. Joseph, born February 18, 1792, married Ruth Quint, and settled in An- son, Maine. 2. Mary, December 30, 1793, married, June 3, 1830, Major William Smith. 3. Charles, December 1, 1795, married Esther Lowry. 4. Rhea, November 8, 1797, married Harriet Fields. By his second wife, Mary Jackson, the children were as follows: I. Hannah, September 9, 1799, married Amos LeGrow. 2. Eleanor, February 16, 1801, died unmarried. 3. Betsey, November 17, 1802, married Ezekiel Mayberry. 4. Lydia, April 8, 1905, died unmarried. 5. Richard Jackson, mentioned below. 6. Frances, born August 4, 1810, married Edward Mayberry. 7. Esther A., May 25, 1813, married John E. Kemp. 8. Jane B., November 28, 1817, married Peter Craig. 9. Catherine, June 6, 1820, married Ebenezer Field.
(IV) Richard Jackson, only son of Isaac and Mary (Jackson) Elder, was born in Windham, July 11, 1807, and died in Wind- ham, in the same house in which he was born, February 1, 1877. He received a common school education, and devoted himself to culti- vating the soil and was a farmer in comfort- able circumstances. He was industrious, loved his home and had no use for secret societies. He was progressive in politics, kept abreast of public thought, and was a strong supporter of Lincoln and his war policy. He married (first) Roxcillana Washburn, born in Hebron, Maine, February 28, 1810, daughter of Stephen Washburn, of Hebron. She died in Windham, June 1I, 1866. Stephen Wash- burn, a miller by trade, moved from Bridge- water, Massachusetts, to Hebron, Maine. He married Betsey Record, by whom he had Anna, 1792; Betsey, 1794; Stephen, 1796; Calvin, 1798; Luther, 1800; Otis, 1802; Hulda, 1804; Thankful, 1806; and Mercy, 1806. (twins). The children by his second wife were: Ruth, born in 1809; Roxcillana, 1810: Isaac, 1812; and Lovisa. Ruth married (first ) Washburn; (second) Zacariah
Field. Roxcillana, married Richard J. Elder.
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Isaac L. Eeder
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Isaac, married Cynthia Stevens. Lovisa, mar- ried James Hadlock. Ruth had by second husband: James, who was drowned while young ; Ellen who married Albert Libby, and Georgia, who died unmarried. Isaac had Charles, who died leaving no issue; Emma, who married Warren Dorman, and had one child, Nellie W. Dorman; Lovisa died leaving eight children. Richard J. Elder married ( second) Adah S. Elder, widow of Peter El- der, who was born in 1805 and died in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1895. Children of Richard J. and Roxcillana (Washburn) Elder were : I. Cynthia Jane, born December 14, 1838, mar- ried Jordan Mclellan and died January 2, 1894. They had: i. Stephen, died young ; ii. Minnie E., married Clarance Rolfe, and has five children: Luther Wiswel, born Novem- ber 18, 1883; Jennie Gertrude, August, 1885; Iris Ola, 1887; Mona Ball and Guy Ellsworth. ii. Lana, married William McLellan, and died in 1894, leaving five children, Mamie Gertrude, November 29, 1833, Jordan Elmo, 1885, Edna P., 1888, Bessie, 1890, and Ruby Lana, 1894. iii. Guy Richard, died young. iv. Wesley Mayberry, married Maud Barrows and has two children, Horace and Cynthia. 2. Isaac, born March 6, 1840, died March 24, 1846. 3. Stephen Washburn, born June 30, 1841, died February 5, 1843. 4. Mary Lovisa, born Feb- ruary 19, 1843, died unmarried, April 9, 1878. 5. Almeda Louisa, born March 29, 1844, died single, May 26, 1860. 6. Stephen Washburn, born June 2, 1845, enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Maine Volunteers, when but six- teen years old, served his term of enlistment and was honorably discharged. He learned the carpenter's trade and worked in Boston and Portland; then went to San Francisco, where he carried on a large business as house carpenter, contractor and builder, returning to Portland in 1879; he married Lucetta F. LeGrow and settled in Portland, where he con- tinued his business. He died May 18, 1908, leaving one child, Cona Bertrand, who mar- ried Lizzie Smith, and with his mother con- tinues to live in Portland. 7. Isaac L., men- tioned below. 8. Ellen Maria, born Septem- ber 16, 1850, died March 31, 1851. 9. Elva Roselett, born August 7, 1851, began teach- ing at the age of fourteen, teaching in the towns of Windham, Westbrook, Falmouth, Orrington and Brewer ; she was assistant prin- cipal of Hampden Academy for one year and then went to San Francisco, where she laugmt in the public schools of that city for twenty- five years and then returned to Portland, where she is living with her brother Isaac.
Elva R. graduated from Westbrook Seminary in the class of 1894. She was never married.
(V) Isaac Luther, fourth son of Richard J. and Roxcillana (Washburn) Elder, was born in Windham, July 27, 1849. He attended the public schools in Windham and Westbrook Seminary, graduating from the seminary in the class of 1868. He entered Bowdoin Col- lege in 1869, and graduated in the class of 1873. He acquired his higher education by dint of his own efforts, teaching school during the time in Falmouth, Windham, Westbrook and Bristol, and after graduation at Orring- ton for two years was principal of Hampden Academy. During a portion of the time he was put to much inconvenience by reason of trouble with his eyes, often suffering ex- tremely, and during his college course, for a period of six months, he was unable to use them at all, not reading a line of print in a book. But he was energetic and determined, and succeeded in securing his diploma with his class, in spite of all the obstacles which hindered but could not stop his progress. In 1875 Mr. Elder entered the office of Strout & Gage of Portland to read law, and in Octo- ber, 1877, passed his examination and was admitted to the bar of the supreme court. Soon afterwards he began the practice of law in Portland, where he has since built up a successful business. Politically Mr. Elder has been a lifelong supporter of the Republican party. From 1894 to 1896 he was city solici- tor of Deering, and from 1893 to 1897 judge of the Deering municipal court, when he re- signed because of his private business. From 1902 to 1906 he was chairman of the Cumber- land County Republican committee. Since 1896 he has been on the board of trustees of Westbrook Seminary. His Masonic standing is as follows: Made a Mason in Presumpscot Lodge, No. 127, at Windham ; joined Deering Lodge, No. 183, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a past master; Mount Vernon Royal Arch Chapter, No. 1; Portland Com- mandery, No. 2, Knights Templar ; Portland Council, No. 1, Royal and Select Masters; and Deering Chapter, order of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of Fraternity Lodge, No. 6, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, Rocky Hill Lodge, No. 51, Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor. He is also a past grand representative, past dep- utv grand chanceffer, past grand chancellor and past supreme representative in that order. He is also a member of Cumberland Lodge, No. 45, New England Order of Protection, and Presumpscot Grange, No. 27, Patrons of
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Husbandry, of which he is a past master. For many years Mr. Elder has lived, first in the town of Deering, then the city of Deering, and then Ward 8, in the city of Portland, on Dalton street, Pearl street and finally on Coyle street, in one house which he built and from which he has never moved.
Isaac L. Elder married (first ) at Windham, October 31, 1875, Georgia A. Starbird, born in Gray, November 10, 1846, daughter of El- lery H. and Olive Ann ( Wilson ) Starbird, of Falmouth. Mr. Starbird was born in Gray and moved to Falmouth, where he was a far- mer, teacher, surveyor, and one of the lead- ing citizens for forty years ; about 1878 he re- moved to Gray, where he died. Mr. Elder died in Deering, August 3, 1897, and was buried in Evergreen cemetery. Mr. Elder married (second) in Portland, October 18, 1902, Mary Elizabeth, born in Standish, June 28, 1849, daughter of William H. and Mary Jane (Hamlin) Moody, of Standish, and widow of Benjamin A. LeGrow. The chil- dren, both by first wife, were: 1. Olive Marie, born November 2, 1879, graduated from Westbrook Seminary in the class of 1895 and entered Colby University. Unable by reason of ill health of entering upon her studies at the University, she spent several years in Cali- fornia and the west in a vain effort to regain her health, finally returning to her father's house in Portland, where in 1904 she died and was buried in Evergreen cemetery, at the age of twenty-seven years. Ollie Marie was never married. 2. Harold Starbird, born June 24, 1884, was taught by his mother until able to enter Westbrook Seminary, where he gradu- ated in the class of 1902, entering Bowdoin College, graduating from that institution in the class of 1906, and is now a student in his father's office. In college both father and son were members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, a Greek letter fraternity, and both are members of Rocky Hill Lodge, No. 51, Knights of Pythias.
BABSON The surname Babson is of an- cient English origin, derived like Robson, Batson, Watson, Jackson, from abbreviated personal names. The family has never been numerous in the mother country. The author of the history of Gloucester, Massachusetts, a learned man, and perhaps the most prominent of the American family, searched at the registrar-general's office in London and found no recent traces of the family in the United Kingdom. Tradition in one branch of the American family gave
the English home as Bristol, but the records he examined showed no trace of the name. It is possible that the name is the same as Bat- son.
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