USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV > Part 93
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always have been counted as men of character and worth, men of integrity, industrious, earnest and progressive. The Maine Haneys of the line here considered are on Irish stock, the immigrant having come from Ireland sometime about the revolution. The name of this ancestor appears to have become lost, but the undisputed family tradition is that he set- tled and lived in the vicinity of Castine, and died there. Nor is his occupation known, al- though he is supposed to have been a seafaring man, as were several of his descendants after him.
(II) William S. Haney, son of the immi- grant ancestor of the family in this state, was born in Penobscot in the year 1802 and died in 1888. He was a seafaring man, pilot chiefly during the earlier part of his life and sailed between Penobscot and Boston. Later on he left the sea and turned his attention to farm- ing pursuits, and he died in the same town in which he was born. The family name of his wife was Gordon, and she, too, came of Irish ancestors. They had a large family of chil- dren, two of whom died in extreme infancy. Those who grew up were: Nancy, Newell, Charles, Edward, John Philip, William, Lu- rine ( ?) and Ellen.
(III) John Philip, son of William S. and (Gordon) Haney, was born in Penob- scot, Maine, April 18, 1836, and he has ever since lived in the same locality. As a boy he was sent to the town public school, but he was chiefly self-educated, devoting his leisure hours to study, and by this means he became not only a very well informed young man, but a capa- ble teacher as well ; and to-day there stands to his credit the record of having taught district schools for eighty terms, almost wholly in Hancock county, Maine. During the later years of his active life Mr. Haney has en- gaged in farming, and in connection with busi- ness pursuits has been somewhat closely identi- fied with public affairs. He is a Republican of undoubted quality and frequently has been elected to fill important town offices. In 1877 and again in 1878 he represented his town in the state legislature and as a member of that body served with credit to his constituents as well as to himself. He is a Master Mason, member of Orland Lodge, F. and A. M. In 1861 he married Helen M. Heath, born Janu- ary 2, 1842, daughter of Leonard Heath, of Ellsworth, Maine. Children: I. Clara, born 1866: married Abner T. Gordon, now of Bol- ton, Maine. 2. Oramel Elisha, mentioned be- low.
(IV) Dr. Oramel Elisha, only son and
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younger child of John Philip and Helen M. (Heath) Haney, was born in Penobscot, Maine, September 21, 1876. He received his earlier education in the public schools of his native town and his higher education at the East Maine Conference Seminary, graduating in the commercial course in 1895 and in the academic course in 1898. He was educated for the profession of medicine at Bowdoin Med- ical College, Brunswick, Maine, graduating with the degree of M. D. in 1903. After graduation he served one year as house sur- geon at the Maine General Hospital, and in 1904 began active general practice at Booth- bay Harbor, where he now lives. Dr. Haney is a member of the American Medical Asso- ciation, the Maine State Medical Society, the Lincoln County Medical Society, and also is a member and medical examiner of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Boothbay Har- bor.
BLUNT This name is supposed to have come from the French blond, and refers to fair hair or complexion. The Blondi of Italy derive their surname in the same manner. Sir Robert Le Blount and Sir William Le Blount were sons of Rudolph, Count of Guines (France) and Rosetta, daugh- ter of Count St. Pol. They accompanied Wil- liam the Conqueror to England, where Sir Robert was created the first Baron of Ixworth. The name has passed through various changes, and has been written Le Blund and Le Blunt, but is now usually spelled Blount or Blunt. Contrary to the general opinion, the latter form, without the o, is the one more com- monly found in England at the present time. Blondin and Blundell are kindred cognomens. The name is not very common in the United States, though it is found sparingly in Massa- chusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. It seems to have won its greatest prominence in North Carolina, where Captain James Blount, an officer in the Life Guards of Charles II, settled in 1663, having migrated from Virginia, where he landed in 1655. Among the de- scendants of Captain James Blount were Major Reading Blount, an officer of the revo- lution, who served with distinction at the bat- tle of Guilford Court House; and his elder brother William, who was a member of con- gress and a signer of the Constitution of the United States. William Blount was after- wards appointed by President Washington, governor of all the territory south of the Ohio river. The New England Blounts are mostly
descended from William of Andover, Massa- chusetts, who is mentioned below.
(I) William Blunt, according to Savage, settled at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1634. He probably came from England, though one authority refers him to Ireland.
(II) William (2), son of William (I) Blunt, had a wife Elizabeth, whose maiden name is unknown, and three sons: William, mentioned below ; Samuel and Hanborough.
(III) William (3), son of William (2) and Elizabeth Blunt, was born in 1671, and died in 1737. He had four sons: David, born 1699; Jonathan, Ebenezer, and Rev. John, whose sketch follows.
(IV) Rev. John, son of William (3) Blunt, was born at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1706, and died at Newcastle, New Hampshire, Au- gust 7, 1748. He was graduated from Har- vard College in the large and distinguished class of 1727, and was ordained to the minis- try at Newcastle, New Hampshire, December 20, 1732. Although his brief pastorate was less than twelve years in length, it is said that Newcastle never had a more excellent preacher or more useful citizen. During his charge there was a revival of religion in which forty members were added to the church. Upon the death of Rev. John Blunt, the town voted to continue his salary to Madam Blunt for nine months; and to pay two hundred pounds (old tenor) toward the funeral expenses. The money would amount to about forty dollars, according to our standards, and the way in which it was apportioned throws an illumina- tion on the customs of the times. For coffin, sixty-six pounds ; for rings, thirty pounds ; for gloves, twenty-eight pounds; for grave, two pounds ; for rum, two pounds, ten shillings ; for tobacco pipes, one pound. One commen- tator says that the tobacco itself was supposed to be provided by the mourners. A great din- ner was served, and people sent in dainty dishes, as to a picnic; but among the funeral baked meats purchased by the common fund were: A barrel of cider, three pounds; a dozen of cabbages, one pound, sixteen shil- lings ; and a bushel of turnips, one pound.
Rev. John Blunt married into one of the notable families of the day, his wife being Sarah Frost, daughter of Hon. John and Mary (Pepperell) Frost, of Newcastle. Hon. John Frost was a son of Major Charles Frost, who was slain by the Indians, July 4, 1697, as he was returning from meeting. John Frost was born at Kittery, Maine, in 1681, and early es- tablished himself at Newcastle, where he soon
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rose to prominence. His place of residence was on an eminence, west of what is now the alms-house; and some remains of his exten- sive wharf could be traced as late as 1870. He was a distinguished merchant, a member of His Majesty's Council, and at one time com- mander of a British ship-of-war. He married Mary Pepperell, a sister of the renowned Sir William Pepperell, and several daughters were born to this couple, who were noted for their amiability and intelligence. Sarah Frost, who married Rev. John Blunt, was born in 1713, and after the death of her first husband, she became the wife of Judge Hill, of South Ber- wick, Maine. It is thought that she wrote the verses inscribed on the grave-stone of Rev. John Blunt in the old yard at Newcastle. These lines are so much above the ordinary mortuary poetry that we quote in full :
"Soft is the sleep of saints; in peace they lie. They rest in silence, but they never die.
From these dark graves their flesh refined shall rise, And in immortal bloom ascend the skies. 'Then shall thine eyes, dear Blunt, thine hands, thy tongue, In nicer harmony each member strung-
Resume their warm devotion, and adore
Him, in whose service they were joined before."
To Rev. John and Sarah (Frost) Blunt were born six children: William, Charles, John (2), whose sketch follows; Sarah F.,. married Thomas Furber, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Abigail F., married William Par- sons, of Alfred, Maine; and Dorothy, married Campbell, of Deer Island, Maine. Charles was the only one of the minister's children who died unmarried, and the other five were the parents of forty children in all; so that it can be seen that Rev. John and Sa- rah (Frost) Blunt were the ancestors of a numerous posterity.
(V) John (2), third son of Rev. John (I) and Sarah (Frost) Blunt, was born at New- castle, New Hampshire, about 1735, and died some time after 1789, though the exact date is not known. He was a shipmaster and far- mer, and owned and occupied the peninsula at Little , Harbor, afterwards the property of Jacob Sheafe. He was a delegate from New- castle to Exeter in the first assembly called during the revolution ; and if family tradition is correct was once brought into picturesque association with Washington. When the great general crossed the Delaware, there was much floating ice. Seeing the danger, he inquired, "Is there any one here who is well acquainted with the river?" Some one replied : "Here is Captain Blunt." The latter had been regularly coasting for years between Portsmouth and Philadelphia, and was nearly as familiar with the Delaware as with the Piscataqua. Upon
the personal invitation of Washington, "Cap- tain Blunt, please take the helm," the latter stepped on board, and was the navigator of the boat in which the prints represent "Wash- ington Crossing the Delaware." The two men met once in after years, when Washington vis- ited Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1789. Captain Blunt was a man of great decision and strength of character, and he brought up his six sons so that every one of them became a master of a vessel. There was an unoccupied room in the old captain's house, and there he taught navigation to his own boys, and to an- other youth, Thomas E. Oliver, who made his home with the family. It was an elementary school, but its graduates all made their mark in the world. Captain John Blunt is described as a short, stout man, with a bald head covered by a wig, and the habit of carrying a cane, which came down with firmness as he stepped. He was a stern believer in Calvinism and the revolution, and made good his faith with his loud and trumpet voice. The following anec- dotes illustrates his emphatic ways, and his devotion to principle. When the old captain's last son was born, in due time he took the child to be christened at the Newcastle church, then under the charge of the Rev. Stephen Chase, a Tory in his sympathies. The preacher had just given a sermon expressive of his views, in which Cromwell, as a revolutionist, was de- nounced in no measured terms. Captain Blunt had previously decided on the name of William for the new boy; but the sermon caused him to change his mind. When the child was handed up, the minister whispered, "What is his name?" "Oliver Cromwell," was the re- ply. Thinking he must have misunderstood, the minister inquired again. "Oliver Crom- well," thundered the old captain in the voice of a boatswain, bringing down his cane till the church rang. There was no misunderstanding now, and the name Oliver Cromwell was brought into the family, and descended to sub- sequent generations. Captain John Blunt mar- ried Hannah Sherburn, at Newcastle, April 30, 1756, and they were the parents of nine chil- dren : I. John, born in 1757, mentioned below. 2. Captain George F., 1761. 3. Captain Robert W., 1763. 4. Captain Charles, 1768. 5. Cap- tain Mark S., 1770. 6. Captain Oliver C., 1774. 7. Sarah, married Mark Simes, postmaster at Portsmouth. 8. Frances and 9. Mary Ann, died unmarried. Most of the sons lived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Captain George F. had his home at the corner of Vaughan and Hanover streets; Captain Robert W., at 24 Washington street ; Captain Charles, at 57
IF Blunt
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Pleasant street ; Captain Mark S. died at sea ; and Captain Oliver C. lived at 88 State street. All these houses were built by their occupants. It is seldom that so numerous and forceful a family is given to the world.
(VI) John (3), son of John (2) Blunt, was born in 1757, and was supposed to have been drowned at sea. He was the father of three sons, Mark S., mentioned below; Oliver Cromwell, who married and was the father of fifteen children, resided in Maine; John, lost at sea.
(VII) Mark S., son of John (3) Blunt, was born August 12, 1788, and died probably at Norridgewock, Maine. He had a general store at Norridgewock, and was also postmas- ter. In politics he was a Whig, and was chair- man of the board of selectmen for many years. He was a member of the Universalist church. He married (first) February 26, 1811, Mary Ann Telker, who bore him two children: Oliver C., 1812, and Mary Ann, 1814. Mar- ried (second) January 1I, 1816, Martha Drew, of Barnstead, New Hampshire, born Novem- ber 19, 1788. Children: I. David D., 1816, mentioned below. 2. Martha W., 1818. 3. Elizabeth J., 1820. 4. Sarah C., 1821. 5 Susan N., 1824. 6. Mark S., 1826. 7. Aaron D., 1828, died July 7, 1877; married (first) Helen Titcomb, who bore him two children, William T. and Jeanie T .; married ( second) Mary B. Mayhew, who died May 18, 1899, in Somerville, and who bore him one child, Matthew M. 8. William F., 1831.
(VIII) David D., son of Mark S. and Mar- tha (Drew) Blunt, was born at Norridgewock, Maine, 1816, died at Quincy, California, 1885. When a young man he bought
a hotel at Belgrade, Maine; and after disposing of that, he went to Augusta, where he engaged in the stage business, keeping many horses and owning several stage routes. He subsequently went to Skow- hegan, where he continued in the same busi- ness till about 1854. In 1859 he went to Cali- fornia, where he spent the rest of his life, en- gaged in farming. He was a Republican in politics, and attended the Universalist church. About 1839 David D. Blunt married Lucinda G. Bishop, daughter of Squire and Mary (Moore) Bishop, of Mount Vernon, Maine. Their children were: Mary L., born at Bel- grade, Maine, 1840; David F., whose sketch follows; Mary E., 1849; Fred and George W., who died in infancy ; and Annie J.
(IX) David Frank, eldest son of David D. and Lucinda G. (Bishop) Blunt, was born at Belgrade, Maine, February 23, 1843. He was
educated in the public schools of Augusta and Skowhegan, and at the age of nineteen en- listed in Company G, Sixteenth Maine Volun- teers, and served throughout the war, being mustered out in June, 1865. On his return from the war he went into a store at Lewis- ton, Maine, where he remained about seven years. From there he went to Westbrook, where he bought out a grocery store which he conducted for about two and one-half years. In 1875 he sold out his establishment, and came to Livermore Falls, where he engaged in the meat business, which he carried on for eleven years. Feeling the need of an outdoor life, he bought a farm, which he has made into one of the most beautiful and productive dairy farms in the region. In 1904 he engaged in the lumber business, and now has a mill at Jay, Maine, where they cut and dress from one-half to three-quarters of a million feet of lumber yearly. Mr. Blunt is a Republican in politics, a member of the Universalist church, and be- longs to the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On December 20, 1866, David Frank Blount married Sarah Louise Lord, daughter of Gershom and Betsey (Langley) Lord, of Owenville, Maine. They have three children: Leon, born April, 1868; married Nellie Ladd ; resides in Portland. Guy, July 29, 1879; married Leona Bean ; resides in Portland, Gladys, April, 1885 ; married Augus- tus Ingham, of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
LARY The Lary family name is co-exist- ent with the early settlement of New England and the early mili- tary history of the colonies. Cornelius Lary, of Exeter, New Hampshire, took the oath of fidelity November 30, 1677. Daniel Lary, of Epping and Exeter, New Hampshire, was a member of Colonel Baldwin's regiment, of Middlebury, and he took the oath of allegiance to the revolutionary cause in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, July 7, 1775, and served in the revolutionary army up to the close of 1778. The same or another Daniel Lary, of Sanford, Green county, New York, served as a private in Captain Morgan Lewis's company for three days from April 21, 1775, and a soldier of the same name from East Greenwich, New York, was in the American army 1778-79. Then we find that James Lary was a soldier in the Con- tinental army in 1776, and a John Lary served for three years in the army under Washington. Alexander Lary was mustered in the Amer- ican forces at Boston on December 21, 1780. That the family were patriots and of fighting blood that had been the gift of Celtic ances-
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tors, is indisputable. That this family in Amer- ica were laboring men and more ready to work hard and fight hard than to accumulate property or settle permanently in one place, is evident from the absence of the name from the list of freemen and early landed proprietors. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire the name appears and disappears on the town and county records, with no evidence of a perma- nent residence in either state.
(I) Joseph Lary was born in Massachusetts, and removed to Wolfboro, New Hampshire, where he married Hannah Blake. He was a prosperous farmer and innkeeper, and during the revolutionary war was influential in rais- ing men and money for the Continental army. In 1789 he moved to Gilead, Maine.
(II) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (I) Lary, was born in Gilead, Maine, where he grew to manhood. He married Mehitable Grover, of Bethel, Maine. They resided for a time in Gilead, then removed to Shelburne, New Hampshire, where they lived a few years, finally returning to Gilead, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Their children were: Joseph Woodman, Jedediah Grover, Jonas Green, Lavina Grover, Valentine Little, Silas Adolphus, Almena King, Fanny Lucre- tia. Joseph, Almena and Fanny were born in Gilead, Maine, the others in Shelburne, New Hampshire. The sons were all farmers, lum- bermen and railroad contractors.
(III) Jonas G., son of Joseph (2) Lary, was born in Shelburne, New Hampshire. He was a soldier in the civil war from 1861 to 1865. He maintained a residence in Gilead all his life, though much of his time was spent. in other parts of the country. He married Rowena Ingalls Burbank, daughter of Gen- eral James Burbank, who at the age of sixteen enlisted in the Continental army from Brad- ford, Massachusetts, a few days after the bat- tle of Lexington. Children of Jonas G. and Rowena Ingalls (Burbank) Lary : Alice Janet and Arthur Howard, both born in Gilead, Maine.
(IV) Arthur Howard, son of Jonas G. and Rowena I. (Burbank) Lary, was born in Gilead, Oxford county, Maine, December 9, 1855. He was brought up in that lumbering district, and was given a good education first in the district school and then as a student at Oxford Normal Institute, South Paris, Maine. On attaining his majority he left home and engaged in the grocery business in Boston, Massachusetts, and subsequently in mining and ranching in Colorado. He married, December 25, 1889, in Gilead, Maine, Minnie K., daughter of Jede-
diah G. and Deborah C. (Burbank) Lary, and engaged in the trucking express and livery bus- iness in New York City, with an office and headquarters at 704 Greenwich street. He at- tends the Congregational church with his fam- ily, is a member of the Maine Society of the City of New York, and in his political convic- tions affiliates with the Republican party, his residence being in Jersey City, New Jersey. A son, Arthur Howard Jr., was born February 13, 1891, at Gilead, Maine, and is now attend- ing the Jersey City high school.
WHITE England gave to America the numerous family bearing the name of White, and the fact that the first child born in New England of Eng- lish parentage was Peregrine White, born in the "Mayflower," in Cape Cod Bay, in 1620, gives to the name a peculiar interest. Tradi- tion has given to Peregrine White a numerous progeny and it has become the custom of biographers to use his name as the first ances- tor in America, and trace the genealogy of the Whites to Peregrine rather than to his father, William White, who died in Plymouth Colony shortly after the Pilgrims landed. As William White of the "Mayflower" had other sons than Peregrine, it will be safer to say that the first generation represented in this sketch by Ben- jamin White who lived in Dudley about 1735, was a descendant of William the English im- migrant, rather than of Peregrine, who was a native born American. Of this we are sure, however, that whether Benjamin was a de- scendant of William of Plymouth or of John of Roxbury, tradition supports the former pre- sumption.
(I) Benjamin White lived in Dudley, Mas- sachusetts, early in the eighteenth century, but diligent search of records fails to discover his parentage. He had wife Abigail, and the fol- lowing children were born to them in Dud- ley : Mary, October 25, 1733 (died young) ; John, October 23, 1735; William, March 15, 1737; Mary, March 10, 1739. They prob- ably lived for a time in Dedham, and prob- ably had other children there, where Benjamin White Jr. was married in 1749; he was a sol- dier of the revolutionary war, and died about 1830.
(II) William, second son of Benjamin and Abigail White, born March 15, 1739, removed to Gorham, Maine, in 1762, and married there, April 7, 17-, Mary, daughter of Richard and Dorothy (Moray) Dresser. They had six children.
(III) John, son of William and Mary
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(Dresser) White, was born in Dedham, Mas- sachusetts, November 28, 1760, and married, in Penobscot, Maine, June 18, 1789, Jane Ran- dall, born in St. George, Maine, June 22, 1765. Children: I. Benjamin, born in Vienna, Maine, May 13, 1790; married. 2. Milly, April 7, 1792, married Mr. Clement; died in Westville, Maine, January 21, 1847, and only one of their four sons is living, in Lowell, Massachusetts. 3. John Randall, born Win- throp, Maine, January 1, 1794; was a physi- cian, and died in Illinois, March 20, 1849. 4. Ambrose, April 19, 1796; married, had one son and two daughters, and died on his farm in Westville, Maine, January 28, 1827. 5.
Sewall, April 15, 1798; married, had two sons and three daughters, and died on his farm in LaGrange, Maine, November 8, 1860. 6. Thomas, August 2, 1800, died young. 7. Na- than, June 27, 1801; married, October 15, 1826, Mary_ Bangs. 8. Thomas, March 25, 1804; married; was a house carpenter, and died in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1871. 9. Joseph Warren, July 19, 1806, died July 19, 1829, unmarried. 10. Milton, September 5, 1808; was a seaman, and died in France, unmarried, John White died in Winthrop, Maine, January 3, 1813, and his widow died January 21, 1847. (IV) Nathan, sixth son of John and Jane (Randall) White, was born in Winthrop, Maine, June 27, 1801. He married, October 15, 1826, Mary Bangs, of Knox, Maine; chil- dren : Eliza, Leonora, Ambrose. He died in Buckport, Maine, May 1, 1874.
(V) Ambrose, son of Nathan and Mary (Bangs) White, was born in Freedom, Maine, March 27, 1832. He married Sarah Atwood, daughter of John and Harriet (Atwood) Sherman, of Bucksport, Maine. Ambrose White was a merchant in Bucksport, served in the office of town auditor, and represented his district in both houses of the Maine legis- lature. He was a Congregationalist in re- ligious faith, and a Republican in political be- lief.
(VI) Ambrose Harding, son of Ambrose and Sarah Atwood (Sherman) White, was born in Bucksport, Maine, September 6, 1868. He received his school training at a private primary school, the East Maine Conference Seminary, and the University of Maine, but did not graduate in arts, having taken a special course in civil engineering, which profession he followed in New York City, with offices at No. 30 Broad street. He affiliates with the Masonic fraternity, and at college was a mem- ber of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He is a member of the Engineers Club of New York
City, and of the Beta Theta Pi Club of New York. He is an attendant at Plymouth Con- gregational Church, of Brooklyn, of which his family are members.
He married, at Brewer, Maine, September 8, 1901, Mary Stone, daughter of Albert A. and Ella (Holyoke) Bolton, who was born in Brewer, Maine, November 20, 1869, and their daughter Kathleen Wheeler, was born in Kearney, New Jersey, October 19, 1902.
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