Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III, Part 99

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 99

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GILSON

Authorities on nomenclature state that the name Gillson or Gilson is derived from Gi'l or

Giles. In his book on words Archbishop Trench states concerning the name Gilson that some pronounced the G hard and others soft ; and he accounts for it by saying that those who pronounce their name with the G hard are the descendants of Gilbert, and the other class of Giles. The explanation is ingenious if not ingeneous. In the records of the towns where the Gilsons early settled, Attleboro and Dedham Gove, Massachusetts, through the ig- norance of the clerks the name Gilson came to be spelled Jelson and Jillson, and the latter form was permanently adopted by many in the later generations. William Gillson was the first of the name who settled in New Eng- land, later came Joseph and James Gilson. There is nothing to show that these men were in any way related. All the descendants of Joseph write their name Gilson.

(I) Joseph Gilson is not mentioned in any known county or town record previous to his marriage, 1660. He was one of the original proprietors of Groton, whither he removed from Chelmsford previous to March 5, 1666. He located on what is now a part of Dun- 'stable, set off from Groton in 1793. At a town meeting held in Groton, March 5, 1666, the town contracted for the erection of a common pound with three of its citizens: Joseph Gil- son, Joseph Page and Daniel Pierce. In the time of King Philip's war, 1675-76, some of the inhabitants of Groton took their families into garrisons or block houses and others moved from the town to safer places. The name of Joseph Gilson is not found on the list

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of those of the former class : hence it is probable that he had removed in the fall of 1674 or the spring of 1675 to Concord, where he died in April or May, 1676. In the latter year an inventory of his estate returned from Concord was recorded in the Middlesex probate rec- ords at Cambridge. His widow and children probably resided for some time in Concord, or in that part of the town which was incor- porated as Stow in 1683. Joseph Gilson and Mary Caper were married in Chelmsford by Captain Johnson, of Woburn, November 18, 1660. The date of her birth and death are unknown. Their children were: Mary, Tim- othy, Joseph, Sarah and John.

(II) Joseph (2), third child and second son of Joseph (1) and Mary (Caper) Gilson, was born in Groton, January 8, 1667, and resided on a part of his father's estate in Groton. He was a good manager, thrifty, and left a good estate for those times. His will, dated August 20, 1735, shows he had children whose births were not recorded. To his wife, Elizabeth, who was executor of his will, he left sixty pounds out of his estate, also the use and im- provement of all his estate, both real and per- sonal, so long as she remains a widow; to his children, various sums of money besides property he had helped them to before the execution of his will. To his son, Isaac, he left all his real estate and rights in common lands after the death of his wife-Isaac to pay the bequests to the other heirs. He married (first) Hepsibah -, and (second) Eliza- beth There is no record of either marriage extant, no marriage record being kept between 1686 and 1706. His children by the first wife were: Anne, Joseph, Eleazer, Jeremiah, Sarah ; and those by the second wife were: Elizabeth, Mary. Isaac, Jonas and Eunice.

(III) Isaac, third child and eldest son of Joseph (2) and Elizabeth Gilson. He was a farmer, and as already stated succeeded to the homestead of his father and paid off the be- quests to the other heirs. His residence was probably in the east part of Groton in that part set off to Dunstable in 1793. He was more interested in making a good living and enjoying his possessions than in holding offices or filling public stations of any kind; conse- quently his name is not among those who took part in public life. On account of faulty rec- ords or the absence of any record at all noth- ing is known of the date of his birth or death. He was married, January 15, 1730, to Dor- othy Kemp. They had Isaac, Dorothy, Nehe- miah and Joseph, all born in Groton.

(IV) Nehemiah, second son and third child of Isaac and Dorothy (Kemp) Gilson, was born in Groton, and resided there. He mar- ried Abigail, born June 21, 1739, daughter of Nathaniel and Dorothy (Chamberlain) Law- rence, of Groton. Their children were; Ne- hemiah, Nathaniel, Sybil, Jacob B., Oliver, Nabby, Ashabel, Isaac.

(V) Nehemiah (2), eldest child of Nehe- miah ( I) and Abigail (Lawrence) Gilson, was born July 10, 1766. He married Esther Keyes. They had seven children : Joel, Sally, Nathan- iel, Luther. Calvin, Charles and Kendall.

(VI) Calvin, fifth child and fourth son of Nehemiah (2) and Esther ( Keyes) Gilson, was born March 4, 1799, and died in Portland, September 29, 1853. He was a farmer in Buckfield until well along in life, and then sold his farm and removed to Portland, where he is supposed to have established the livery busi- ness in which he was succeeded by his son. Mr. Gilson was not ambitious and held no public office. In politics he was a Whig. He married Hannah C. Austin, born November 14, 1800, died in Portland, June 9, 1874. They had Louisa A., Lydia I., Josephine S., Charles A., Caroline A., Luther C. and Charlotte E.

(VII) Charles Augustus, fourth child and eldest son of Calvin and Hannah C. (Austin) Gilson, was born in Buckfield, June 25, 1826, died in Portland, July 7, 1880. He spent his youth on his father's farm and attended the common schools. He learned the drug busi- ness and was employed in that line until after his father removed to Portland, and then he engaged in the livery business. He was in this line until his death. He was like his father in many ways; belonged to no secret orders or clubs, and took no prominent part in public affairs. He was a Republican, and was a member of the board of aldermen of Portland one year. He married, in Winthrop, Maine, March II, 1852, Angie L., born in Turner, Maine, March 26, 1832, daughter of Thomas L. and Mary J. (Cole) Megquier, of Winthrop, Maine. Six children were born to them : Jennie Lewis, Arthur Scott, Henry Clinton, Anne May, Charles Philip and Mar- gery Lawrence.

(VIII) Arthur Scott, second child and eld- est son of Charles A. and Angie L. (Meg- quier) Gilson, was born in Portland, March 17, 1855. He obtained his literary education in the Portland public schools, and graduated from the high school in 1873. In the year 1891 he matriculated at the Maine Medical School at Brunswick, where he completed the course and received the degree of Doctor of

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Medicine in 1894. After a year's post-grad- uate work in the Maine General Hospital he opened an office in Portland (1895) and be- gan what has proved to be a very successful practice, and to-day he is one of the leading surgeons of the state. He is senior surgeon of the Maine General Hospital, and for ten . years has been the surgeon of the Portland police department. He is a pleasant schol- arly gentleman, sympathetic in his work and inspiring in his manner, a physician whose presence infuses hope and courage in the hearts of his patients. He is a member of the American Medical Society, the Cumberland County Medical Society, the Maine State Medical Society and the Portland Medical So- ciety. He has no affiliation with secret organ- izations or clubs. In religious faith he is a Unitarian. He is an unflinching supporter of the political doctrines of Hannibal Hamlin, James G. Blaine, Abraham Lincoln and Theo- dore Roosevelt. He married, in Winthrop, Maine, August 21, 1895, Mabel Whittemore, born in Brooklyn, New York, March 30, 1870, daughter of George O. and Ada Florer Pack- ard, of Winthrop, Maine. They have two children : Arthur Scott, Jr., born June 30, 1896, and Charles Packard, September 3, 1899.

This is an Irish name, derived

TEAGUE from taiag, meaning a peasant. Uncle Remus has immortalized it in literature by one of his wonderful crea- tions, "At Teague Potts."

"With Shinkin ap Morgan with blew cap or Teague We into no covenants enter nor league." -Ballads of John Bagford.

(I) Daniel Teague lived in Hingham, Mas- sachusetts, September 17, 1719, for in that year he married Sarah Pray, who died Sep- tember 14, 1768, aged seventy, Mr. Teague dying two years before, aged eighty. He was a setwork cooper. His wife bore him : Daniel, Sarah, Elizabeth, Ruth, Grace, John, Jesse and Obed.

(II) Daniel (2), eldest son and child of Daniel (I) and Sarah (Pray) Teague, was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, February 22, 1719, and married, February 26, 1741, Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac and Hannah (Lincoln) Lane, who was born also in Hing- ham, November 21, 1717. They had: Bani, Elizabeth, Elkanah, Sarah and Daniel.

(III) Bani, eldest son and child of Daniel (2) and Elizabeth (Lane) Teague, was born February 27, 1742, and married Lucy, daugh- ter of Ebenezer Lincoln. Several of her brothers removed to Maine, and with them

probably went Bani, who settled in Turner, Androscoggin county, Maine. The town of Turner (then called Sylvestertown) was large- ly peopled with citizens from Plymouth county, Massachusetts.

(IV) Bani '(2), son of Bani (I) and Lucy (Lincoln) Teague, was born in Turner, Maine, and died in 1809, his death being caused by a carriage accident. He owned and operated a sawmill about 1800 at Chase's mills, and married, in 1796, Sarah Tuttle, of Buck- field, Maine. He had a son Bani.

(V) Bani (3), son of Bani (2) and Saralı (Tuttle) Teague, was born in Turner, Maine, January 2, 1805, and died in 1894. After a com- mon school education he learned the trade of wood turner, and that and the carpenter's trade was his lifework. He married Sally, daughter of John White, who died in 1864. Their children were: Henry, Horace, who went south and was supposed to have been drafted into the Confederate service, Greenleaf, Ellen, Sarah Jane, Emily, Laura, Calista and George.

(VI) Greenleaf, third child and son of Bani (3) and Sally ( White) Teague, was born in Atkinson, November 19, 1835, and died January 1, 1892. Receiving a common school education, he came to Lewiston, Maine, when nineteen years old, and learned the barber's trade, later becoming a carpenter. He was the first man to bring western horses into Lewis- ton, was for many years a successful horse dealer. He was a strong temperance worker in both the Good Templars and the Golden Cross, and was a Republican, devoting much of his time to the interests of the party. He married Rebecca Jane, daughter of Philip and Mahala (Smiley) Seymour. Her father was born in Rottery, Devonshire, England, Feb- ruary 14, 1802, and came to this country when nineteen years old. Children of the above union were : Howard A., Elmer C. and Grace L.

(VII) Howard Abbott, eldest child and son of Greenleaf and Rebecca Jane (Seymour) Teague, was born December 4, 1866, in Lewis- ton, Maine, was educated in the public schools, and at the age of seventeen learned the car- riage-making business. In 1894 he estab- lished an undertaking business, in which he is now engaged. Although not an active poli- tician, he served in the city councils in 1895- 96; he is a thirty-second degree Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, a member of the Grand Lodge of the same and of the uniformed rank, holding the commission of captain. He is also a member of the Knights of Malta, the Improved Order of Red Men,

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Knights of the Golden Eagle, Sons of St. George, Order of American Mechanics, the Grange, B. P. O. E. and M. W. A. He mar- ried, August 25, 1897, Carrie, daughter of William and Frances (Wadleigh) Cole, of Old Town, where she was born in 1873.

BICKFORD There is an old tradition which runs to the effect that the New England Bickfords are descended from three brothers, who came to this country probably from England in the ship supposed to have been the "Mayflower," but not on the historic voyage of that vessel which brought over the Pilgrims; and accord- ing to the tradition one of these brothers set- tled in one of the plantations in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, another in New Hamp- shire, and the third brother down in the colony of Maine. The genealogical references give a brief account of one John Beckford, or Bick- ford (the surname in earlier generations from the time of the immigrant was written both ways), who was born in 1612 and was settled in the locality called Darby Field in the an- cient town of Dover, New Hampshire, as early as the year 1645. In his "Genealogical Dictionary" Savage mentions the same John Bickford, and all authorities incline to the opinion that he was the immigrant ancestor of the Bickford and Beckford families of New England.

The earliest mention of the Maine Bickfords in any of the published accounts appears to be that found in Bradbury's "History of Kenne- bunk Port," 1837, where it is stated that Jeth- ro Bickford had a grant of land from the town in 1729, and that he probably lived in the town and may have removed thence to Bidde- ford. In the same work mention also is made of Eliakim Bickford, ship master, who came from Salem about 1740 and was licensed to keep tavern in Arundel in 1744; and it is stated that this Eliakim probably was a de- scendant of John Beckford, who lived in Dur- ham in 1659. Eliakim Bickford died suddenly March 22, 1748, and left at least two children, Abigail, who married John Cleaves, and Jo- seph, who married Mary Averill and by her had Eliakim, James, Thomas, Lucy, Abigail, Joseph, Hannah, Mary, John, George, William and Gideon. How many generations removed from John the ancestor Jethro and Eliakim may have been appears somewhat difficult to determine by records extant, and it is equally uncertain what may have been the relation of either of them to the family whose record here must begin with Anson Wayne Bickford.

(I) Anson Wayne Bickford is supposed to have been born in Pittsfield, Maine, and it is known that he became well educated and taught several terms of winter school before reaching the age of twenty-three years. He then determined to go to the gold fields of California in pursuit of a fortune, and while he did succeed in gaining a fair competency in that region it was in other pursuits than gold mining. For ten or twelve years lie was owner of an express business and made a success of it ; but about 1880 he returned east, purchased a tannery in Readfield, and con- ducted it with good success for a few years, but had the serious misfortune to lose his en- tire investment in the property by a disastrous fire which burned the building to the ground. Mr. Bickford had toiled hard and patiently to establish himself in comfortable circumstances in his declining years, and the loss of so much of his property told heavily against him. While living in San Francisco he married twice, his first wife dying without issue. His second wife was Jennie (McGowan) Bickford, by whom he had eight children, all of whom ex- cept the last two were born in California. His children : 1. Nettie F., born January 30, 1868. 2. Ralph Watson, May 8, 1870. 3. Edwin Wayne, June 17, 1872. 4. Matilda Louise, September 9, 1875. 5. Everett Anson, Octo- ber 31, 1876. 6. Estelle Adelaide, August 15, 1880. 7. Maude Barbara, February 10, 1883. 8. Erna Eliza, September, 1886.

(II) Edwin Wayne, second son of Anson Wayne and Jennie (McGowan) Bickford, his second wife, was born in San Francisco, June 17, 1872. He received his education in Kent's Hill Academy, but on account of his father's loss of his tannery building by fire it became necessary that young Bickford find some em- ployment for his own support while complet- ing his course in the academy. This he did by canvassing and doing whatever work a boy of twelve years could find to do outside of school hours. After graduating from the academy he went to Auburn and found work in a shoe factory in that city, and during the next six years he had saved money enough to maintain himself and pay the tuition charges of a course in the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, where he graduated with the degree of D. D. S. in 1893. On returning from Balti- more with his diploma and degree, Dr. Bick- ford opened an office in Lewiston and soon found himself engaged in successful and con- stantly increasing practice. The success he has since achieved has been fairly earned and fully deserved, for since he was a boy he has

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virtually made his own way in life. He is a member of various professional organiza- tions, an Odd Fellow in excellent standing and making his way through the chairs, and a member of the Clan Campbell of the Society of Scotchmen of America. On November 14, 1904, Dr. Bickford married Luella, daughter of Edgar Smith, of Belfast, Maine.

WEDGWOOD The surname Wedgwood, which in church and town records is spelled some- what inconsistently both with and without the vowel e after the g, is of obvious origin. While not a common surname, it has held its own in America better than its fellow Wedge, which a hundred years ago was met with more frequently. Though of Anglo-Saxon descent, the connection between the American family and the famous English family settled in Staf- fordshire has not yet been clearly traced.

(I) The Wedgwoods of Maine are de- scended from John Wedgwood, planter and husbandman, at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1637. He displayed the martial spirit observed in succeeding generations, serving and being wounded in the Pequot war. As early as 1644 he removed to Hampton, New Hampshire, where he became a landowner, and in 1650 bought "the Elder's Lot" of Rev. John Wheel- wright, so prominent in the early history of Maine and New Hampshire. Here he died December 9, 1654, leaving a wife Mary, who died August 24, 1670, and five children, John, the eldest, who lived in Exeter, New Hamp- shire, Jonathan, Mary, Abigail and David.

(II) David, youngest child of John and Mary Wedgwood, was born December 12, 1652, and married, January 4, 1683, Hannah, daughter of Morris and Sarah (Eastow) Hobbs, who was his junior by several years. He served as a soldier in King William's war. Their children, born in Hampton, were John, and Mary, who married, January 31, 1712, Ezekiel Knowles.

(III) John, son of David and Hannah (Hobbs) Wedgwood, was born August 8, 1688, married, January 31, 1712, Hannah, daughter of Benjamin and Esther (Richard- son) Shaw, who was born July 23, 1690, and died August 9, 1755. His name occurs among those who did garrison duty at Fort William and Mary in 1708. They lived at North Hampton, where he died July 31, 1755. Their children were David and Jonathan.

(IV) Jonathan, second son of John and Hannah (Shaw) Wedgwood, was born No- vember 9, 1716, married, January 25, 1737,

Mary, daughter of Ensign Samuel and Cath- erine (Carr) Marston, who was born March 5, 1719, died June 29, 1790. He was for several years town clerk of North Hampton, residing upon the homestead. The later por- tion of his life was spent with his son James on Birch Plain. He died in his ninetieth year, June 11, 1806. Of their children, three named for their father died in their infancy; the others were Hannah, David, Samuel, Hepzi- bah, James, Mary, Catherine, Josiah, John.

(V) Samuel, son of Jonathan and Mary (Marston) Wedgwood, was born at North Hampton, February 8, 1752. He enlisted at eighteen in Captain George March's company in the expedition against Canada, and was taken ill at Crown Point. In the revolution he served under Captain William Prescott, and was a sergeant-major in Colonel Drake's regiment in the campaign against Burgoyne in 1777. Three of his brothers were fellow soldiers and of these James was an officer and led a regiment at the battle of Bunker Hill, whose name repeatedly occurs in the New Hampshire archives. His children by his wife Deborah were Lydia, Mary, Sarah, Chase.

(VI) Chase, son of Samuel and Deborah Wedgwood, married Martha Mitchell. He was an early settler in Lewiston, Maine, but removed to Tamworth in 1812. His children were Dana. Samuel, Curtis, Josiah, Martha, George and Melissa.

(VII) Curtis, son of Chose and Martha (Mitchell) Wedgwood, was born March 29, 1806, at Lewiston. He received an academic education at Fryeburg Academy and was en- gaged in teaching over half a century. He settled in 1837 at Litchfield, Maine, where he was one of the founders of the Litchfield Lib- eral Institute, and where he served as mod- erator of town meetings for thirty years, and died in 1893. All of his sons served in the war of the rebellion. His wife, Hannah, daughter of David and Hannah (Smith) Springer, was born February 12, 1807, and died in 1877. Their children were Milton Curtis, Thomas S., John G., Martha H., George S., Newton J. and Luella P.

(VIII) Milton Curtis, eldest son of Curtis and Hannah (Springer) Wedgwood, was born December 27, 1832, at Bowdoin, Maine. He was fitted for college at the Litchfield Liberal Institute and taught several years before he graduated from the Medical School of Maine in 1859. He began the practice of his profes- sion at Durham, Maine, and three years later entered the army as assistant surgeon of the Eleventh Maine Volunteers. On his return

M. to , Longwood

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from the south in 1864 he settled in Lewiston, where he met with marked success in his pro- fessional work, and which continued to be his home till his death. For the last twenty years of his life he was consulting physician at Po- land Springs Hotel, and became an expert in diseases of the kidneys. He died April 9, 1906, from a lesion in the blood-vessels of the brain. Dr. Wedgwood was a member of the American Medical Association, served as president of the Androscoggin Medical So- ciety, of the Maine Medical Association in 1879, and of the Maine Academy of Medicine and Science for three years. He was a mem- ber of the governor's council under both Gov- ernor Burleigh and Governor Hill, and of the state board of health from 1894 till his de- cease. He was prominent in the Masonic or- der, being a member of the Maine Consistory of the thirty-second degree. A member and friend of the Pine Street Congregational Church, he was a man of old-fashioned hon- esty and straightforwardness, sympathetic with his patients and loved by a wide circle of friends.

Dr. Wedgwood married, December 2, 1861, Elizabeth J., daughter of Joseph and Lucinda (Williams) Webster, of Durham, Maine, who survives him. Mrs. Wedgwood, through her mother, is descended from Thomas Williams, a physician and teacher, who came to Boston in 1717, and in 1729 became the first perma- nent settler in what is now Bath, Maine. His son, Samuel Williams, married Mercy, daugh- ter of Anthony Coombs, of Brunswick, settled - Cawdor. From this place Sir Elidyr Stack- in Harpswell and served in the revolutionary war. His grandson, George Williams, born August 3, 1777, at Harpswell, married Mabel, daughter of Noah and Mabel (Wade) Litch- field, of Lewiston, and settled in Durham, Maine, where he died February 8, 1867. Mrs. Lucinda (Williams) Webster was the seventh of his thirteen children, all save two of whom had families of their own.

On her father's side, Mrs. Wedgwood is the great-great-granddaughter of James and Isabel Webster, of Cape Elizabeth. Their son William married, December 24, 1769, Mrs. Jane (Little) Yeaton, and moved to Gray, where he was a captain in the militia and one of the first board of selectmen. He died De- cember 19, 1808, aged sixty-eight. His son, William Webster, born April 30, 1774, at Cape Elizabeth, married Hannah, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Dunning) Stackpole, and was one of the original settlers in Durham. He was a farmer and a maker of plows and farming utensils. During the war of 1812 he

was a captain in the militia. His seventh child was Joseph Webster, who lived the most of his life upon the old homestead in Durham, and is remembered as an honest, industrious and successful farmer. He was largely en- gaged in the purchase and sale of lumber and timber lands. An earnest and active Chris- tian, he gave generously for the support of the church in his native town. He died in Lewiston, August 24, 1877.

By her paternal grandmother Mrs. Wedg- wood is descended through John 4, James 3, Philip 2, from James Stackpole, the emigrant, who was born in 1652 in Ireland. "He was a branch of the Pembrokeshire family, Wales; having the same coat-of-arms as the other family, and going from 'Stackpole Court' to Ireland, where a house and home were found- ed called 'Edenvale' at Ennis, county Clare." He came to Dover, New Hampshire, before 1680, married Margaret, daughter of James and Margaret Warren, of South Berwick, Maine, and died in what is now Rollinsford, New Hampshire, in 1736. It is quite certain that he was connected with the Stackpole fam- ily of Limerick, Ireland. Between 1450 and 1650 A. D. twenty-six persons named Stack- pole, or Stacpole as the surname was then written, appears as mayors, aldermen, and re- corders of Limerick. They were descended from the Stackpoles of Pembrokeshire, Wales, whose Norman ancestor built a castle, early in the twelfth century, on the site now occupied by Stackpole Court, the seat of the Earl of pole, who was founder of the family, went on the crusade with Richard the Lion-hearted.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume III, Part 99

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