Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV, Part 98

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: 896

USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV > Part 98

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(V) Isaiah, son of Timothy Brown, was born in Holden, June 10, 1745. He was a soldier in the revolution, in Captain James Davis's company, Colonel Doolittle's regiment, on the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775, with the rank of first lieutenant. He was select- man of Holden in 1787, and a prominent citi- zen. In 1800, with many others from this section, he removed to Clinton, Maine, cleared a farm of two hundred acres, built a public house and grist mill, and kept a general store. He had large interests and accumulated a handsome property. In his later years he was assisted by and associated in business with his son Luke, who succeeded to the business and real estate of his father. He spent his last years in the home and care of his son Luke. He married (first) November 8, 1770, Phebe How, of Princeton. She died at Holden, July 6, 1775, and he married (second) in that town, Abigail (Nabby) Brown, December 27, 1775. Child of first wife: I. Dorothy, born September 2, 1773. Children of second wife: 2. Thomas, born September 28, 1776. 3. Phebe, September 11, 1778. 4. Nabby, July 2, 1780. 5. Salla, May 5, 1782. 6. Polly, July 16, 1784. 7. Betsey, April 12, 1786. 8. Luke, mentioned below. All were born in Holden.

(VI) Luke, son of Isaiah Brown, was born in Holden, about 1788. He removed to Maine with the family, and worked with his father in building the mill and dwelling house, the barns and other buildings, and in reclaiming the two hundred acres from the wilderness. He inherited his father's estate, and made the farm one of the finest in the county. He died

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at Clinton at the advanced age of ninety-six years. He was treasurer and collector of the town for many years, originally a Whig in politics, but in his later years a Republican. He was a member of the Methodist church. He married Polly Gilman, of Albion; chil- dren, born in Clinton: Rufus F., Lydia, Sybil, George O., Abigail, Elvira, Joseph C., Simeon Stratton, mentioned below; Orren G., Vesta, Achsah, Lurana, Luke.

(VII) Simeon Stratton, son of Luke Brown, was born in Clinton, Kennebec county, Maine, July 6, 1833, and died 1908. He attended the public schools of his native town, fitted for college in the Waterville Academy, under Dr. J. H. Hanson, and en- tered Waterville College (now Colby Univer- sity), where he was graduated with honors in the class of 1858. He was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa on account of his high rank as a student. He then read law one year with Willis B. Snell, of Fairfield, and another year with E. K. Boyle, and was admitted to the bar of Kennebec county in 1859. From 1864 to 1881 he practiced his profession at Fairfield, Maine, then removed to Waterville, where he practiced the remainder of his life. In 1895 the firm of Brown & Brown was formed,. his partner being son, Frank Ells- worth Brown. Mr. Brown attained a leading position in his profession, and was prominent in public life. He was an active and influen- tial Democrat, chairman of the board of edu- cation of Fairfield from 1873 to 1881, and of Waterville from 1881 to 1886. He was a member of the first board of aldermen of the city of Waterville in 1888, and was chairman of the board from 1888 to 1893. He was ac- tive in the party organization, member of the Democratic state committee for seven years, and its chairman four years. He was a dele- gate to the Democratic national conventions of 1880 and 1884. In 1879 he was elected to the governor's council in the administration of Governor Alonzo Garcelon, 1879-80; repre- sented his district in the state legislature in 1893; and for many years was city solicitor of Waterville. In religion Mr. Brown was a Unitarian. He was a member of Lodge of Free Masons.

He married, June 30, 1861, Hepsie B., daughter of John and Dorcas (Sawyer) Wig- gin. Children: I. Frank Ellsworth, men- tioned below. 2. Jennie Irving, married Al- pheus W. Flood. 3. William Wirt, graduate of Colby College, class of 1898. 4. Caddie Hall, married Lewis A. Burleigh, son of ex- Governor Edwin C. Burleigh.

(VIII) Frank Ellsworth, son of Simeon Stratton Brown, was born in Freedom, Waldo county, Maine, June 14, 1863. He attended the public schools of Fairfield and the Coburn Classical Institute, from which he was gradu- ated in the class of 1882. He was clerk in the United States mail service four years, city clerk of Waterville seven years, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Kennebec county in March, 1895. He became his father's law partner immediately afterward, under the firm name of Brown & Brown, and continued in this relation until the death of his father in 1908. He is a Free Mason and Knight of Pythias. He married, July 8, 1896, Mae F. Wentworth, of Clinton, Maine.

FRENCH This name is probably one adopted as applied to a person of French birth, who lived in England at the time when surnames were generally adopted among the people. He had undoubtedly been called French on account of his nativity, and this was accepted and adopted as a surname. There were several immi- grants of this name at a very early date in New England. Edward French, born about 1590, in England, was an early resident of Salisbury, Massachusetts, and it is quite prob- able that the line herein traced is an offshoot among his descendants. It is possible, how- ever, that it may have come from John French, born in England about 1612, and set- tled at Dorchester, Massachusetts, about 1635. His descendants were numerous in Braintree.

(I) The first in this line of whom any defi- nite record can be found was James French, born 1756-58, who resided in Andover, Massa- chusetts, and married Abigail Fletcher, born 1765, in Ipswich, Massachusetts. It is possi- ble that this is the James French who went from Beverly as a soldier in the revolutionary war, serving in Captain John Baker's com- pany, Colonel Moses Little's (Seventeenth) Regiment. He enlisted May 22, 1775, and served two months and fifteen days. He must have served also in a subsequent enlistment, as there is record of an order for a bounty coat or equivalent, at camp, December II, 1775. James French was one of the first set- tlers of Norway, Maine, whither he removed in 1798. Children : James, Jacob, Abigail, Esther, Sarah, Charles, George, Alice and Clarissa.

(II) James (2), eldest child of James (I) and Abigail (Fletcher) French, was born De- cember 19, 1785, in Andover, and went to Norway with his father. He was a farmer,

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and at times engaged in trade and served as collector of taxes for his town. He married Annis, daughter of Phinehas and Keziah (Farnsworth) Whitney (see Whitney VIII). Children: George, James, Washington, Per- ley, Martha (died young), John A., Martha A., Moses Osgood, William P. and Amos.

(III) James (3), second son of James (2) and Annis (Whitney) French, was born May 26, 1811, at Norway, Maine, and was a farmer and lumberman in Lebanon, Maine, where he died in 1883. He married Sarah Brown.

(IV) Sidney Irving, son of James and Sa- rah (Brown) French, was born in 1852, in Albany, Maine, and now resides at Bethel. He is a carpenter and at this date (1908) is in the employ of Gilbert Tuell, of Bethel. He is an ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican party, believing that this political party best serves the interest of the masses of American citizens. He is an honored mem- ber of the Odd Fellows lodge, of which he is the treasurer, and is also connected with the Pilgrim Fathers at Bethel. He married Anna Buxton Twitchell, born May . I, 1856; chil- dren: Cornelia B., born October 22, 1877; died January 17, 1897; George Harold, April 20, 1881 ; Alice P., April 3, 1887.

(V) George Harold, son of Sidney Irving and Anna Buxton (Twitchell) French, is a native of Bethel, Maine. He attended the · common schools of that place, after which he took a course at Gould's Academy. He went to Augusta after leaving his school room du- ties, and there engaged as an apprentice in the printing business with the Maine Farmer Publishing Company. He served two years, and was then promoted to proofreader and assistant manager of the business. After four years, in 1906, he became manager of the Maine Farmer Publishing Company. He is a decided Republican in his politics, and in church faith a Universalist, and is assistant superintendent of the Universalist Sunday School. He takes much interest in the Grange movement, and is the master of Capitol Grange, of Augusta. Mr. French married, May 23, 1905, Nellie Edna Bradley, born May 28, 1880, daughter of James Bradley and wife, of Fort Fairfield. They have one child, Harold B., born October 8, 1906.

(For ancestry see John Whitney I.)

(II) Richard, second son of WHITNEY John and Elinor Whitney, was born in 1626, in Eng- land, was brought to Watertown, Massachu- setts, by his parents, and became a freeman

May 7, 1651. He removed to Stow, Massa- chusetts, where his name is given among the list of proprietors, June 3, 1680, but his eight children were born in Watertown. April 7, 1697, he was excused from training, at Stow, because he was seventy years of age. He mar- ried, March 19, 1650, Martha Coldam; chil- dren: Sarah, born November 17, 1652; Moses, August 1, 1655; Johannah, January 16, 1656; Deborah, October 12, 1658; Re- becca, December 15, 1659, died in February, 1660; Richard; Elisha, August 26, 1662; and Ebenezer, June 30, 1672.

(III) Richard (2), second son of Richard (I) and Martha (Coldam) Whitney, was born January 13, 1660, at Watertown, Massa- chusetts, and received a grant of land at Stow, October 24, 1682; he died at the latter place, December 15, 1723. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Sawtell, of Groton, Massachusetts, born February 3, 1668, died November 24, 1723 ; children : Richard, Jona- than, Joshua, Ruhamah, Sarah, Hannah, Eliz- abeth, Hepzibah.

(IV) Deacon Jonathan, second son of Richard (2) and Elizabeth (Sawtell) Whit- ney, was born February 26, 1699, at Stow, Massachusetts, and became a resident of Har- vard, Massachusetts, where he died Novem- ber 8, 1773. He signed the covenant of the First Church at Harvard in 1733, and became deacon; he was also a selectman in Harvard, and a captain of militia. He married, at Lan- caster, January 29, 1718, Alice, daughter of Simon and Mary (Whitcomb) Willard, born December, 1699, died February 19, 1792; children : Simon, born 1719; Jonathan; Bet- sey ; Phinehas, September 5, 1727; Caleb, Oc- tober 4, 1729; Oliver, July 22, 1731 ; Alice, April 2, 1733; Hezekiah, April 14, 1735; Ru- hamah, July 19, 1737; and Sarah, June 10, 1740, died December 26, 1746.

(V) Jonathan (2), son of Jonathan (I) and Alice (Willard) Whitney, was born at Stow, Massachusetts, and died January 20, 1770, at Harvard, same state. He married, November 27, 1746, Sarah Holt, who died October 29, 1769; children: Phinehas ; Jona- than, born July 1, 1749, died October 27, 1756; Sarah, born August 5, 1751; Relief, May 21, 1754, died October 15, 1756; Han- nah, born March 24, 1756, died October 26, 1756; Relief, November 13, 1758; Annes, February 25, 1761, died June 1, 1761 ; Oliver, died March 29, 1763; Abigail, born January 29, 1763; Annes, born March 30, 1765, died January 23, 1768; Rachel, born September 19, 1767 ; Levi, died before 1771.

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(VI) Captain Phinehas, oldest son of Jonathan (2) and Sarah (Holt) Whitney, was born July 3, 1747, at Harvard, Massa- chusetts, and died May 21, 1830, at Norway, Maine, to which place he removed after the revolutionary war, in which he served. His name is found in the Massachusetts Rolls, de- scribed as from Harvard, a farmer, with dark complexion, height five feet eleven inches, served first in Captain Joseph Moore's com- pany, from Groton, Colonel William Pres- cott's regiment, in the earlier part of the war ; from February 5, 1777, to January 28, 1780, he served as corporal in Captain Benjamin Brown's company, Colonel Michael Jackson's regiment. In 1781 he re-enlisted for a term of three years. A story is related of him of his part in the battle of Bunker Hill, which shows him to have been a brave man; he had just loaded his gun with his last cartridge, when an English officer rushed over the breastworks, shouting "Rush on, the fort is ours," when he was immediately shot and killed by Captain Whitney, who was badly wounded in the encounter, but made his es- cape. A pension was granted him by the gov- ernment April 11, 1818, and as a result of wounds incurred in the war it became neces- sary to amputate one of his legs, which opera- tion was successfully performed in 1824, at Norway, Maine, by Dr. French, then living there. He was then over seventy-five years of age, but recovered from the operation and lived for a number of years after. In 1797, when Norway, Maine, became incorporated as a town, the names of Phinehas and Jonathan Whitney appear on the list of inhabitants, and he was then living on what was called "Three Tiers," in another place mentioned as Water- ford Plantation ,and it is said their house was the second to burn in Norway. He married, October 31, 1765, Keziah Farnsworth, who died June 26, 1827, at Norway, Maine. They had two daughters, Mary and Annis, and mention is also made of a son whose name is not given. Mary, born May 15, 1766, mar- ried Richard Bryant.

(VII) Annis, daughter of Phinehas and Keziah (Farnsworth) Whitney, was born February 13, 1785, and married James French, Junior. (See French II.)

Samuel King Hamilton, of HAMILTON Wakefield, Massachusetts, is the youngest of six sons of Benjamin Ricker Hamilton and Sarah Carll, and a grandson of James Hamilton and John Carll, both farmers and respected men of Wa-

terborough, Maine. Mr. Carll served in the revolutionary war, and was the first settler of the little hamlet known as Waterborough Center. The village was formerly called Carll's Corner, having taken its name from his son, Peter Carll, who built the first house, kept the first store and tavern at that place. (See Carll.)

Mr. Hamilton was named in honor of Sam- uel King, who married his cousin, and who was mayor of Calais, Maine, and for many years one of the leading lumber manufacturers on the St. Croix river, and who afterwards re- moved to St. John, New Brunswick, where, in connection with his sons, he had one of the most extensive lumber interests on the St. John river.

The Hamilton family for centuries has been one of the most distinguished in Scotland and England, and closely related to royalty in both countries. Mr. Hamilton's earliest ancestor in America was David Hamilton, who lived in the township of Hamilton, near Glasgow, Scotland, and who was taken prisoner by Cromwell at the battle of Worcester, Septem- ber 3, 1651, and who was transported to this country by him in the ship "John and Sara," which sailed from Gravesend, near London, on November 8th, and arrived at Charles- town, Massachusetts, prior to May, A. D., 1652. There he was sold into servitude to work out his liberty, and was probably held in this service from five to ten years. After the expiration of this term he went to Dover, New Hampshire, and soon settled in what is now the town of Rollinsford, on the westerly bank of the Salmon Falls river, at a place then called Newichawannok, and which he pur- chased in 1669, and where he lived until the time of his death in 1691, being slain by the Indians. On July 14, 1662, he married, at Biddeford, Maine, Annah , Jaxson (Anna Jackson), daughter of Richard Jackson, who was a neighbor of David Hamilton, of Scot- land, and who was taken prisoner at the same battle and transported to this country in the same ship and also sold into servitude, at the expiration of which he settled on the west bank of the Saco river.

Children of Benjamin R. and Sarah (Carl1) Hamilton: Porter, of Saco, Maine; Alonzo, of Boston, Massachusetts; Benjamin, of Saco, Maine; Jason and Almira, of Waterboro, Maine; John, of Portland, Maine; and Sam- uel K., of whom further.

Samuel King Hamilton, youngest child of Benjamin R. and Sarah (Carll) Hamilton, is of the sixth generation in a direct line from

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David, and was born at Waterborough, Maine, July 27, 1837. His early life was spent upon his father's farm. The rudimentary educa- tion which he obtained at the district school was supplemented by a single term at Limer- ick Academy, then a famous institution of learning; six months' private tuition under M. D. L. Lane, of Hollis, Maine, who was just then beginning the practice of law, and who afterwards became prominent in politics and was appointed consul to Vera Cruz by President Lincoln, and later was appointed judge of the superior court of the county of Cumberland, a position which he held at the time of his death; and a part of one year at the high school in Saco, Maine, under the in- struction of William Hobson, a graduate of Bowdoin College, who at the breaking out of the civil war entered the army and served his country with conspicuous ability and bravery, returning with the rank of colonel and brevet brigadier-general.

In February, 1856, Mr. Hamilton began teaching his first school at the district now called East Waterborough, then the "Ford District," and from that time to August of the same year he was engaged there and in his home district. In the autumn of that year he entered the Chandler Scientific Department of Dartmouth College, of which the late Profes- sor John S. Woodman was the head, from which he graduated in 1859. During the win- ter season of his course in that school, he taught school in Waterborough and in Wells, Maine. In August, 1859, he entered the office of Hon. Ira T. Drew, at Alfred, Maine, where he remained several years, pursuing his legal studies and teaching a portion of the time in Wells, Alfred, and South Reading (now Wakefield), Massachusetts. In 1860 he was principal of Alfred Academy, a position in which he had been preceded by such men as Hon. Bion Bradbury, Hon. John M. Good- win, Professor Charles Cumston, Hon. Hamp- den Fairfield, and Hon. Amos. L. Allen.

In June, 1862, after an examination by Hon. E. E. Bourne, Hon. Increase S. Kim- ball, and Hon. Edwin R. Wiggin, and upon their recommendation, he was admitted to the bar at Alfred, before Hon. Charles W. Wal- ton, who was then holding his first term as judge of the supreme judicial court. On the day of his admission he was offered a copart- nership with Mr. Drew, which was quickly and gladly accepted, for it opened the way at once for a young and penniless lawyer to earn his livelihood. This copartnership continued un- til April, 1867, when Mr. Hamilton removed

to Biddeford, and a copartnership was entered into between himself and B. F. Hamilton, who descended from the same ancestor in a differ- ent line, and who was born in the same town, studied law in the same office, and was admit- ted to the bar in 1860. During the continu- ance of the copartnership of Drew & Hamil- ton the firm had the largest docket in the county, and were engaged in substantially every important case arising in that jurisdic- tion. While at Biddeford, Mr. Hamilton built up a substantial law business, which was left to his partner on his removal to Wakefield. While living in his native town, Mr. Hamilton served two years upon the school committee. He served two years on the board of alder- men in the city of Biddeford, and in 1872, with Hon. Ferguson Haines, represented that city in the Maine legislature. In these posi- tions he established a reputation as a safe legislator and a ready and able debator.

In December, 1872, he left Biddeford and removed to Wakefield, and formed a copart- nership with Chester W. Eaton, a college classmate, and opened law offices in Wake- field and Boston. This copartnership contin- ued to 1879, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Hamilton retaining the Boston offices and Mr. Eaton those in Wakefield. Soon after beginning practice in Boston he acquired considerable business, which has been continually increasing and for a number of years has almost constantly engaged in the trial of cases in the court or in hearing those which have been referred to him by the court, and his practice has extended into every state in New England and into New York. In 1899 Theodore Eaton, son of his former part- ner, became associated with him in practice, and this copartnership continues to the pres- ent time (1908).

Soon after his settlement in Wakefield, Mr. Hamilton became prominent in town affairs, and served twelve years upon the school board, nine of which he was chairman, and was instrumental in effecting a complete re- organization of the school system. His efforts in this work were appreciated by the people of the town, who recognized it in a conspicuous manner by a vote in town meeting that the new brick school house then being erected be called in his honor the "Hamilton School Building." He was also chairman of the board of selectmen six years, chairman of the board of trustees of the Beebe Town Library, counsel for the town for over twenty years, and moderator in nearly all the town meet- ings for even a longer period. He had charge

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of the litigation which resulted in the town acquiring the plant of the Citizens' Gas Light Company, which was the first and leading case of the kind in the commonwealth and at- tracted much attention.

He was an alternate delegate to the Demo- cratic national convention in 1868, a delegate to the national conventions which nominated General Hancock in 1880, and William J. Bryan in 1896, but did not support the last named. He has presided over many Demo- cratic conventions, and was candidate for dis- trict attorney for the northern district of Mas- sachusetts in 1887, and in 1890 was a candi- date of the Democratic party for Congress from the Seventh congressional district, and in 1892 a candidate for presidential elector in the same district. In 1893 he purchased and became president of the Wakefield Water Company, which he controlled for ten years. He was one of the originators of the Pine Tree State Club of Boston, which he served as treasurer for the first eleven years of its existence, and afterwards as president. He became a member of the Bar Association of the city of Boston shortly after it was organ- ized, and upon the organization of the Bar Association of the County of Middlesex in 1898, he became its president, a position which he now holds.

In 1874 Mr. Hamilton became connected with the Congregational church in Wakefield, of which he has been ever since an active member. He was chairman of the committee which erected the beautiful stone edifice con- nected with the church, and aided materially by his effort and money in paying the debt thereby contracted. He presided and made an address at the centennial celebration of the church in 1876, and when the town, in connection with Reading, celebrated its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, he presided at the proceedings on Settlers' Day, and de- livered an address. In August, 1908, he de- livered the centennial address of Limerick Academy, in which he was a former student. In every capacity he has exhibited the highest qualities of a progressive, patriotic and public- spirited citizen, and is universally respected and esteemed.

February 13, 1867, Mr. Hamilton was mar- ried to Annie E. Davis, eldest daughter of the late Joseph B. and Harriet N. (Dam) Davis, of Newfield, Maine. They have lived a beau- tiful and simple life, devoted to each other, and their home has been the abode of happi- ness and good cheer, and from it has ema- nated much charitable and kindly work.

The surname Carll and Carle, CARLL common in the Saco Valley and other districts of Maine from the earliest settlement, is derived from the bap- tismal name Carl or Karl, equivalent to Charles, and very common at the present time in Scandinavian families. There is some reason to believe, however, that the family mentioned below is identical with the Carlisle family, which is often spelled Carle, Carley, and Carlyle, in Scotland. There are Carlisle families at the present time in the Protestant counties of Ireland, Antrim and Down, de- scended from Scotch settlers. There is a very plausible tradition that the ancestry of the Carll family of Maine came from Ireland. The first of the name in this country was Richard Carle, who was in Kittery, Maine, in 1666, when he sold land to John Shepherd. Pope's "Pioneers of Maine and New Hamp- shire" spells his name Caull, but it was prob- ably Carroll, as in the deed to Samuel Spin- ney, May 3, 1693, he spells his name Carell. Carle's Point and Carle's Cove are named for him. He had a wife Amy, and his daughter Amy married Samuel Knight. There is no proof that he had a son, though a Benjamin Carll was a soldier in York, August 26, 1696. (I) Samuel Carll was born in the north of Ireland, about 1690, according to tradition, and doubtless came to Maine when several of his sons were grown, in 1734, or perhaps a few years earlier. He was a prominent citi- zen of Scarborough, Cumberland county, where he settled. His name appears often in the public records between 1741 and 1762. He died December II, 1762. He married Pa- tience He and his wife joined the church, and their children, Robert, Benjamin, Daniel, Simeon, Hannah and Mary, were bap- tized at Scarborough, January 28, 1741. Chil- dren of Samuel and Patience Carll: I. Sam- uel, born 1710-15; mentioned below. 2. Tim- othy, born about 1715; married, December 20, 1744, Deborah Farmer. 3. Nathaniel, born 1717, deposed March 26, 1801, when his age was eighty-seven: "I came to live in Fal- mouth (now Portland) in 1734, and the year after, in 1735, Mr. Thomas Westbrook and Brigadier Waldo built a sawmill with three saws and a grist mill on the lower falls of the Presumpscot. I helped to frame the said mills, the same being built on the southwest side of the river ; and a year or two after they raised another mill on the northeast side, but it was never finished." According to the census of 1790 he was then of Falmouth, and had three males over sixteen, one under six-

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV, Part 98

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: 896

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: 896