USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 70
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 70
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 70
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The following extract from his diary is inserted as an evidence both of the ability of the man as a writer and of his Christian char- acter : -
" December 31, 1800. This day we close the year 1800 and the eigtlicenth century. Great and important scenes have been disclosed on the theatre of human action in the past century, more especially in the latter part of it. The new empire formed by the Union and Independence of the American Colonies in this western world excited the attention of the European nations, which had scarcely subsided when the scene began to disclose in France which has greatly injured all and destroyed some of the nations of Europe and astonished man- kind. Where or when this scene of revolution and devastation will end God only knows. To the wise and good this reflection that He governs the world, restraining the wrath of man and causing it to praise him, affords support and consolation. May I be ever under his fear, constantly devoted to his service, and be enabled to say with full consent of mind, Thy will, O God, be done. Amen."
EMERSON, DOCTOR EBENEZER.
Doctor Ebenezer Emerson came to Maine from Reading, Massa chusetts. The date and place of his birth are both unknown. He moved to Topsham, and occupied the house now occupied by Swan- zey Wilson. He married Sally Stinson, a sister of Captain John Stinson, of Woolwich, and afterward married Beckey, daughter of Reverend John Miller, of Brunswick. His intention of marriage to her was recorded December 20, 1792. His second wife survived him and married again.
Doctor Emerson was a tall, raw-boned man. He was liberally edu- cated, but was an odd character. He kept a span of mules with which he drove about to visit his patients. He died prior to 1798.
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSIIAM, AND HARPSWELL.
ESTABROOK, COLONEL THOMAS S.
Colonel Thomas S. Estabrook was born in Lunenburg, Massachu- setts. August 24, 1777. He served his time as a baker at New Ipswich. New Hampshire, where he married Judith Nichols. He removed to Hopkinton, New Hampshire, where he lived two years. In 1801 he came to Brunswick, where he ever after lived, with the exception of one year, 1817, when he lived at Norfolk, Virginia At first he kept a bakery, but afterwards engaged in trade. He was one of the first mail-carriers between Brunswick and Augusta, and ran the first passenger coach between these towns. He was a Free- mason. He started the first light infantry company and was its commander. In 1812 he was a major of militia. He was also a prominent fireman. For thirty years he was college marshal. He was an honorable, upright, and genial man, fond of joke and story, and an excellent citizen.
EVERETT, EBENEZER, ESQUIRE.
Mr. Everett was the son of the Reverend Moses Everett, of Dor- chester, Massachusetts, and was born in that place in 1788. He was of the sixth generation from Richard Everett, the first American ancestor, who was one of the founders of Dedham in. 1636. His father, and the Reverend Oliver Everett, father of those distinguished men, Alexander HI. and Edward Everett, were brothers, and sons of Ebenezer Everett. His mother was Hannah Clap Gardner, the third wife of his fathers
Entering Harvard College in 1802, he became the companion and room-mate of his cousin, Alexander H. Everett, and pursued his studies with diligence and success, graduating with honor in 1806. After his admission to the bar he established himself in Beverly, where he remained until 1817, and where he formed an acquaintance with the excellent lady, Miss Prince, who in 1819 became his wife. In 1817 he removed to Brunswick, where the remainder of his life was spent. He had several children, three of whom survived their childhood, Moses Everett, a young man of much promise, who died in 1840 ; Sarah Ellen Everett, a most estimable young lady, who died in 1847 ; and Charles Carroll Everett, now a professor in Harvard University. Of Mr. Ever- ett's abilities as a lawyer, the late Honorable William Willis said : " As an advocate, Mr. Everett made no pretension, but as a wise counsel- lor and an upright and conscientious lawyer he had few superiors. He was often employed as a master in chancery and a referee, and by
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his strict integrity and ability he secured the confidence of the commu- nity and acquired a large and profitable practice. In my acquaintance with him of half a century, in most of which time we practised at the same bar, I never knew him guilty of an unworthy or dishonorable action ; his conduct was without fear and without reproach ; it was not strained or put on for the occasion, but was inbred and natural. His countenance exhibited both firmness and benevolence, and his life did not betray this revelation."
Mr. Everett's services were not confined to his profession, but were required in other departments. On the establishment of the Union Bank, in Brunswick, in 1825. he was appointed its first cashier, with David Dunlap, president. The duties of this office he discharged with great fidelity and promptness for fourteen years, at the same time con- tinuing the practice of his profession.
In 1828 he was elected one of the trustees of Bowdoin College, and held the office thirty-six years, until compelled by the infirmities of age to resign.
In 1838 he was appointed a commissioner, with Chief Justice Mellen and Judge Samnel E. Smith, to review and codify the public statutes of the State. This important work constituted the first published vol- ume of the Revised Statutes, a valuable acquisition to the profession and the people.
In 1840 he was chosen to represent Brunswick in the legislature, but politics and public life had no charms for him ; he preferred the quiet pursuits of private life to the noisy and unsatisfactory contests of the political arena. In politics he was an unwavering disciple of the Fed- eral school and of its successors, and was uniformly loyal to the true Republican principles on which our government was founded. During the civil war he gave substantial aid toward sustaining the cause of freedom and equal rights. In his religious views he was a Unitarian, conservative without dogmatism, liberal without radicalism. He was a public-spirited citizen, taking a lively interest in whatever affected the welfare of the town. He died at his home in Brunswick, February 6, 1869.
FIELDS, MRS. ELIZABETH.
Mrs. Fields was the widow of Robert Fields, Esquire, barrister, in England, a lawyer of ability, who came to America and lived for many years in Boston, where he died in 1812. In 1831, Mrs. Fields came to Topshamn, and opened a school for young ladies in the house now owned and occupied by Mrs. Susan T. Purinton. Of her early life, before coming to this country, nothing is known. Although a woman
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSIIAM, AND HARPSWELL.
of marked ability and refinement, and fitted to adorn any station in life, her reputation in this vicinity was mainly due to her pre-eminent qualities as an instructress. Although she was apparently lax in dis- cipline, yet she allowed no shirking of duty or abuse of privileges. She always managed to know what was going on around her, and it was a common saying of her pupils, " Mrs. Fields can hear us think." She possessed a wonderful power of drawing out whatever latent power her pupils possessed. She was also very mindful of their physical needs. She followed the English customs in many respects, especially in requiring her household to tarry at their meals. Though herself adhering to the social etiquette of the English, she did not require it of her pupils, acknowledging its absurdity here. Although French was made a specialty in the school, she insisted upon the necessity of a thorough preliminary knowledge of English, and even went so far as to insist upon a knowledge of American history before commencing that of England. She was extremely intolerant of shams. She was a good story-teller, and was wont to take pleasure in rehearsing tales of the exiled French nobility, many of whom she personally knew. Though not opposed to what she deemed real improvement, she was by nature conservative, and had a profound veneration for the great minds and thinkers of the past. She not only told anecdotes of exiled noblemen, but would occasionally tell tales of her own youth, espe- cially of her presentation at Court, and give her recollections of Mrs. Siddons and of the plots of foreign plays. She was stately in figure, and possessed a pleasant but dignified demeanor that was a comfort to her friends, but a terror to the evil disposed. She was very charitable in her disposition, and always had two or three pupils at a time to whom she gave board, tuition, or both.
FROST, MAJOR WILLIAM.
William Frost was born December 11, 1781. He was a trader in Topsham for many years, and was also engaged in the lumbering and shipping business. He was the second president of the First Union Bank of Brunswick.
He was chosen major of the militia, and was also a representative to the legislature in 1823, 1824, 1828, and 1830. He was esteemed as a charitable, liberal, hospitable, and honest citizen. His religious views were Unitarian. He died January 17, 1857.
FURBISH, BENJAMIN.
Mr. Furbish was born in Wells, Maine, May 2, 1807. He learned the trade of a tin-plate and sheet-iron worker, and worked a year or
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BIOGRAPHIICAL.
two in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. In 1831 he went to Exeter. New Hampshire, and in 1834 married Mary B. Lane of Exeter. He moved to Brunswick in 1836 and continued in trade in Brunswick until January, 1866.
His health was broken down early in life, but a strong constitution enabled him to battle with disease through many years. He was one of the earliest and most earnest supporters of the graded school sys- tem in Brunswick, and a member of the first board of agents, in which position he served for a number of years. He was also one of the building committee for the erection of both the grammar schools and Union Street primary school-houses. He was a Freemason. He was a representative in 1854 and in 1861. selectman in 1851, and also town treasurer, and in the discharge of his public duties secured the full approbation of his fellow-citizens.
" Mr. Furbish was a man who exhibited marked characteristics, a per- son of strong individuality, great frankness of expression, but toler- ant of the faith and opinions of others. He was reserved, uncommu- nicative at times, but still, beneath all this reserve, there flowed a vein of humor which rendered him a most desirable companion in social life. and which was the charm of home. He was keen in his criticisms, but no ill nature marked them. A man with a clear judgment, enlarged and liberal views of men and things, reading much, he proved an excel- lent citizen, ready to promote any good object, with labor or purse ; and his fellow-citizens marked their appreciation of the merits of the man by repeatedly electing him to fill offices of honor and trust in this his home for many years. Of incorruptible integrity, dishonesty and low dealing he held in scorn. and all his transactions were marked by honesty, and a desire to do justice as between man and man. A mem- ber of the Congregational Church for many years, he maintained a Christian character, to the sincerity of which others have borne testi- mony." He died in Brunswick, February 27, 1873.
GETCHELL, CAPTAIN JOHN.
Captain John Getchell came to Brunswick from Spurwink, about the time of the incorporation of the town, and settled on Gurnet Point. He was said to be " a large, portly, venerable looking old gentleman. especially when he made his appearance on the Sabbath, dressed in his white wig and triangular hat." Captain Getchell was a member of the board of selectmen in 1739 and in 1749. He was also the first captain of the militia, and served in that capacity for many years. His first wife's name was Elizabeth. It is not known with certainty whether he was married a second time.
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
GIDDINGS, DOROTHY.
Miss Dorothy Giddings was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, Janu- ary, 1785. She came to Brunswick in 1812, and was welcomed to the hospitality of Captain Richard Toppan, a relative by marriage. She was soon persnaded to undertake a private school for children, kept a part of the time in a back chamber of Captain Toppan's house, and then in a room in the house of Robert D. Dunning, Esquire. Her influence as a teacher was greatly valued. She joined Reverend Mr. Rowland's church in Exeter, and her life for more than sixty years tes- tified to the sincerity of the consecration she then made.
She remained in Brunswick about three years, and for a time she was a respected and beloved inmate of the family of President Apple- ton. In 1815 she left Brunswick, spending two or three years with a sister in Newburyport, where she was highly esteemed as a teacher.
In 1818, Miss Giddings, with a heart ready for any good work, was indneed to undertake a mission in the neighborhood of Foxcroft and Brownfield. Her object was to open a school for children and youth to fit them to become teachers, to open a Sabbath school, and to insti- tute other means of moral and religious instruction as she could.
She lived and kept her school for some time in a log-dwelling, with- out a door to the rude abode, and she was charged with extravagance for having a cheap carpet on the floor.
On the Sabbath she had her Sabbath school, which the parents of the children often attended, and if no minister or brother to conduct the service was present, she would, after the school exercises, read a tract or sermon, adding such words of instruction as she could. Besides her school work, Miss Giddings was a nurse for the sick, where she exerted her skill in the knowledge of disease. At one time she became so much oppressed with the poverty of the people, that she formed a scheme to travel on horseback from her wilderness home to Exeter and Newburyport, to beg assistance from friends.
She finally made that journey of about two hundred and fifty miles on horseback, with saddle-bags. She returned to her people laden with gifts. disposed in the saddle-bags and on or about the horse.
In 1824, Miss Giddings left her mission to minister to a dying sister in Newburyport, and then came to Brunswick, her abode for forty- six years. She opened a store, a well-known resort, in a building which stood where the house occupied by Doctor Mitchell and Captain J. D. Pennell now stands. After some years she removed to a building which stood on the corner of Maine and O'Brien Streets, on the site of the present residence of Mr. Benjamin Greene.
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Here the poor knew where to find help, the pastor or Christian brother or sister some aid in their Master's work, the inquirer a word in season. She was a woman of no common mould. Energy, decis- ion, determination, a deep fountain of benevolence, strong individual- ity of character, were unmistakably revealing themselves in her daily life under the power of a thorough, overmastering faith.
GOSS, DOCTOR EBENEZER H.
Doctor Goss came to Brunswick soon after the Revolution. He married a sister-in-law of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. He lived at Maquoit until 1804, when he moved up to the village, and soon after moved to Paris, Maine, where he died. He is said to have had an extensive practice, but was a very eccentric man. He some- times indulged too frequently in alcoholie potations, and it is narrated concerning him that on one occasion when he was inebriated some young rogue got him and his horse into a cow-yard, and put up the bars. The doctor started for his home at Maquoit, riding, of course, around the yard several times, and exclaiming with oaths that some one had fenced the road.
GRAVES, JOHNSON.
Johnson Graves was born February, between 8 and 19, 1732. He married, first, in Falmouth, Sarah, a sister of Stephen and Samuel Staples. He married, second, June 23, 1803, Mrs. Susanna (Hobbs) Staples, formerly of Falmouth. He was grantee in a deed of March 4, 1763, from Samuel Staples, John Patten, and John Fulton, of lot No. 3, of fifty acres in the Cathance mill right. He was in the disas- trous expedition to Bagaduce (Castine) in the summer of 1779. He was a private in the company under the command of Captain Actor Patten. After the defeat of the expedition, he travelled through the wilderness from the Penobscot, until he struck the Sebasticook, where he was met by his brothers Samuel and John, who, on hearing that the remnants of the ill-fated troops were endeavoring to wend their way homewards, had started on to meet and relieve their suffering brother and his fellow-patriots. He was found by his brothers much fatigued and in want, but sorrowing most of all for the ill suceess of the expedition. He was among the troops who first engaged in battle in the attempt to land at Bagaduce. Of his private character nothing is known.
GREEN, HONORABLE NATHANIEL.
Nathaniel Green came to Topsham with his brother, Peter H. Green, in 1804. They were engaged in lumbering and trade for a number of years, but after a time dissolved partnership.
746 HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
Nathaniel Green was a member of the convention that formed the Constitution of this State in 1820, was a member of the Senate from Lincoln County five years, and a member of the House of Represent- atives from the town of Topsham five or six years. He was sheriff of Lincoln County one year, register of deeds several years, and at the time of his death a member of the Board of Commissioners of Lincoln County. As a politician, he was upright and honorable : as a citizen, respected and loved by all classes for his moral worth and public and private virtues ; and as a man and a Christian, the friend and counsellor of the poor and unfortunate. He died in Topsham at the age of sixty-six years.
GREENLEAF, RICHARD.
Richard Greenleaf was born in 1787. He was a man of acute men- tal powers, and was often consulted and employed in matters relating to the settlement of estates. He was a selectman for twelve succes- sive years (1842-64) and also in 1859, and held other public trusts. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He died in Brunswick, April 29, 1862.
GRIFFIN, JOSEPH.
Mr. Griffin was born in 1798, and came to Brunswick in 1819, and set up a printing-office. His first work was the publication of the Baccalaureate address by President Appleton. He subsequently printed the works of Professors Upham, Newman, Smyth, and Long- fellow, the publications of the college for a long series of years, and much other matter. He was a printer of judgment, taste, industry, and fidelity, and enjoyed the reputation of being the best printer in the State. In restricted quarters, and with few of the modern appli- ances and conveniences, Mr. Griffin accomplished an immense amount of work.
His last elaborate work, "The Press of Maine," testifies to his untiring activity and his interest in all that pertains to the craft. It is due to his earnest labors that so much that relates to printing in this State is presented in so enduring a form. The last publication which came from his hands was a catalogue for the Maine Historical Society. He opened the first bookstore in Brunswick about 1822, and continued the business until his death. He was interested in all matters pertaining to beautifying the town, and took an active part in the work upon the Mall. Mr. Griffin was earnest and devoted in the cause of religion. which to him, in his later years, was rather the out-
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growth of Christian love than of dogmatic belief. He was a man of strict integrity, and thoroughly straightforward in all his dealings. He died November 18, 1874.
GYLES, JAMES.1
The subject of this sketch, one of the early settlers of Topsham, was undoubtedly a relative and is presumed to be a brother of Thomas Gyles, who died at Pemaquid. According to his own account, which has been preserved, he left the Downs, England, September 5, 1668, probably with his family, and arrived at Boston November 9. On November 30 they went to Braintree, Massachusetts, where they " hired a house until spring," during which time he took a voyage eastward to look out for a place to settle. On May 10, 1669, they left Boston, and May 17 he says, "We arrived at Merrimathing in Kennebec River, and not liking that house, the fourteenth of October we removed from thence to Whidby,2 a house on the same river, and having lived there two years I bought a tract of land of the Indians, and having bought a house upon the same, October 31, 1671, we removed from Whidby to go into our own house ; but Muddy River being frozen over, we were fain to go into James Thomas's house. April 16, 1672, we removed from thence into our own house at Muddy River, and having lived there three years and four months," on account of the Indian outbreak they left their house and went to Samuel York's as a garrison, where they stayed a month, but the Indians molesting their cattle and plundering their houses, and having killed several in Casco Bay, some of their men became timid and left, so that they had but nine men in garrison. They accordingly left about the middle of September, and went to Arrowsic. They remained there until the last of November, when on account of the number of people in the house, they, with five other families, went to Sylvanus Davis's house, " on the west side of the river " (probably in what is now the town of Phipsburg), where they stayed all winter. After the peace of April, 1676, he went to a Mr. Weaswell's house (which was empty), and planted some corn, intending to go up to Muddy River again ; but on account of the attack on Arrowsic, August 9, 1676, they were forced to flee for their lives in a canoe, and went to Dam- ariscove, where they stayed a week, and then, August 16, sailed for Boston, where they arrived August 18. October 11, 1676, they sailed from Boston, and on the twenty-sixth arrived at Southold, N. Y.
1 From Gyles Memorial.
2 Whidby or Whisgeag, near Stevens's Carrying-Place.
.
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
They stayed there at the house of Richard Brown for one year, during which time he bought some land about fourteen miles west from there, and October 26, 1677, they removed to Mattelock, a house about two miles from his lot, where they stayed about a year. The land being poor, and he dissatisfied, April 7, 1680, they sailed for [New] York [City], where they arrived on the seventeenth. May 22, they went to Governor Andros's house on Staten Island, where they remained four months. On September 7 they went to Mr. Witt's house, "to look after his land, until Sir Edmund could get a lot of land laid out for me." but he being recalled to England, Gyles did not get as good a lot as he expected, and accordingly he sold it and bought a lot in New Jersey.
October 14, 1681, he continues, " We removed from Staten Island to Benj. Hull's house in Piscataway, where we stayed all the winter, until our own house was ready. April 6, 1682, we removed into our own house at the Bound Brook, upon Rariton River, in Piscataway, in the East Province of New Jersey."
The reasons for supposing him to be a brother of Thomas are : -
. 1. They both came from England, -James from Kent, and it is not certainly known what part Thomas came from, but probably from the same county.
2. James left Boston for Merrymeeting, May 10, 1669. Thomas Watkins's deed to Thomas Gyles was dated only two days before, viz., May 8.
3. They lived near each other while in Maine.
4. They both went to Long Island, N. Y., in 1676.
5. They both had interest with Governor Andros.
6. Thomas Gyles named his first son for himself, his third son for his brother John (probably), and his second son was named James.
7. Tradition.
The negative testimony is that Thomas and John have left nothing in regard to him, and that there are no affidavits of the settlers as in the case of Thomas.
GYLES, CAPTAIN JOHN.1
The subject of this sketch, a son of Thomas who was killed at Pemaquid, was taken prisoner by the Indians at the time of his father's death, August 2, 1689, and was carried to the St. John's River. He was with the Indians six years, and was then sold to a French gentleman in New Brunswick. He remained with the latter
1 From Gyles Memorial.
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BIOGRAPHIICAL.
until June 13, 1698, when he was given his freedom and sailed for Boston, where he arrived on the nineteenth of June. He was in cap- tivity eight years ten months and eleven days. After reaching Boston he was employed the greater part of the time, by private parties and by the government, as an interpreter with the Indians, from June 28, 1698, to April, 1706. This latter year he received a commission as captain, having previously served as lieutenant. In 1707 he went to Port Royal under Colonel Salstonstall. In 1708, and again in 1709, he was sent to Port Royal with a flag of truce to exchange prisoners. Between 1709 and 1715 he resided in Salisbury, Massachusetts, and was an innholder there.
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