USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Leeds > History of the town of Leeds, Androscoggin County, Maine, from its settlement June 10, 1780 > Part 13
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Ruggles, born Nov. 25, 1813 ; died Dec. 24, 1851. He mar- ried Harriet Howard and died in Leeds.
Bradbury, born Nov. 19, 1815 ; died Aug. 31, 1889. He mar- ried for his first wife Lydia Bean, for second, Caroline M. Morse. He died in Wayne.
Sewall, born Nov. 5, 1817; died May 16, 1876. Married Jane Foster, of Leeds. He died in Lawrence, Mass., where he had been a book-keeper for many years.
Hannah, born Oct. 30, 1819; living. Married Charles Syl- vester and lives upon the old Sylvester place in Greene.
Jeremiah, born March 12, 1822; died March 13, 1890. 3 Mar- ried Rachel Brown, of Greene, and died in Chicago.
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- Lorenzo, second child of Harvey and Hannah, came to the old home place to care for his father and mother in their declin- ing years. He had lived previously in Livermore and Lewiston. In the latter place he managed successfully a boarding-house for mill hands when Lewiston was a small village. He was also well known in his own and surrounding towns as a successful school teacher, having taught many winters in difficult schools. He was a cooper by trade and some of the tubs which he made are still in use in Leeds.
In politics he was a stanch Republican and a Baptist in religion.
Lorenzo and Sarah Leavitt Sylvester had three children :
Delora, born Dec. 30, 1827. Married Harrison G. O. Mower, of Turner, Jan. 18, 1852.
Sophronia, born June 6, 1831. Married Sumner Bailey, of Turner, June 6, 1854.
Lorenzo Mellen, born Oct. 1, 1834. Married Saphila C. Metcalf, of Hope, Knox County, Me., Aug. 20, 1861.
He was born in Livermore. He attended the common schools and Lewiston Academy. When a young man he worked in the mills of Lawrence, Mass., as also did his wife before her marriage. This was at a time when the operatives in the cotton mills of the Massachusetts cities were composed largely of ener- getic young men and women from the farms of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
He, with his wife, came to the old place to care for his parents. They lived there till the fall of 1893, when they moved to Turner and have since made their home with their son, Arthur M.
He was always a great reader and well informed on the topics of the day. In politics it was ever principles rather than party with him. He was one of the first to enter the Republican party at its formation and was a pioneer in the Greenback movement.
Lorenzo Melen and Saphila C. (Metcalf) Sylvester had four children :
Arthur Mellen, born Nov. 30, 1865.
Lucy Metcalf, born April 26, 1867.
Laura Metcalf, born April 26, 1867.
Henry Cole, b. March 26, 1874; died Dec. 4, 1896.
Arthur M. Sylvester is a successful farmer in Turner, where he has a large farm upon the River Road, six miles from Auburn. He keeps a large herd of cows, selling the milk in Lewiston and Auburn.
Lucy M. began teaching at the age of sixteen; graduated from Farmington Normal School in 1888. Taught in the ungraded schools of the State and Grammar Schools at Bow- doinham, Andover and Skowhegan. From 1892 to 1894 taught a Grammar School in Stockbridge, Mass. Since her marriage
LAURA M. SYLVESTER.
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to Frank H. Herrick, of Leeds, she has taught in the schools of that town, Wayne, and Greene.
Laura M. began teaching at an early age. Graduated from Farmington Normal School in 1888. Taught in ungraded schools in Leeds, Monmouth, Vassalboro; Free High School at Fayette and Grammar School in Bowdoinham.
She served her town during the years of 1890 and 1891 as supervisor of schools, being the only woman who has ever held that office in the town of Leeds.
For the past nine years she has taught in Massachusetts, hav- ing taught five years in the Grammar Schools of Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and Stockbridge, and four years in the ninth grade, High School, Arlington, Mass., where she is teaching at present.
SKETCH OF WILLIAM FISH AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
William Fish was among the early settlers of the territory that is now the town of Leeds. He came here from Sandwich, Mass., previous to the year 1790. He was a man of great strength and physical endurance. He had been a sea-faring man and tradition says he was impressed into the service of the British navy, and that he cleared himself by swimming several miles to the shore. It is said that he afterwards joined the Revolutionary Army. His hearing was considerably impaired, occasioned by a fall from the yard-arm to the quarter-deck of a vessel. A good story is told of him as follows: The wives of two of his neighbors, John and Samuel Jennings, were visiting at his house one winter's day. A great storm came up suddenly and the ladies could not get home on foot. Mr. Fish kindly offered to take them home with his ox-team. The women were comfortably seated on the sled and he trudged along beside the oxen. When about half way on their journey the sled tongue came out. At the top of their voices the ladies called, but not hearing them in the blinding storm he kept right on till he reached the home of one of them, when, looking back, in great astonishment, he exclaimed, "Where in the world are Sam's wife and John's wife?"
William Fish settled on the farm now owned by the Deane Brothers, on the Androscoggin River, about half a mile north of West Leeds village. The buildings were near the south line of the lot. He cleared his farm and few men could do as much work in a day and still fewer could work as many days in suc- cession. He was converted and baptised during the great revival in Leeds. He lived to an advanced age and sleeps in the soil of his native town.
His wife was Mehitable Tupper, of Sandwich, Mass. She had a sister, Olive, who married Samuel Jennings ; another sister,
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Grace, married James Stanley, of Leeds ; and still another sister, Esther, married Col. John May and was the mother of Judge Seth May, who died in Auburn, Me., Sept. 20, 1881.
Mrs. Fish was a person of superior intellectual attainments for the times in which she lived and was a teacher. She died while on a visit to her daughter in Wayne, Me., Jan. 10, 1838.
The children of William and Mehitable Fish were William, Jr., Grace, Mary, Olive, Seth, Caroline, Patience, Desire, Enoch, and Warren. All were born in the town of Leeds and all lived to mature age.
William, Jr., born July 25, 1790, married Lydia Reed in 1826; lived in Leeds where he died in 1866. No children.
Grace, born Oct. 15, 1792; married Abel Stevens in 1815. Mr. Stevens was a prosperous farmer of Fayette, Me. Their children were Hiram, Abel, Jr., Harriet, John and Emily. Mrs. Grace Stevens died in Fayette Jan. 1, 1832, and was buried in the Lovejoy cemetery in that town.
Mary, born March 9, 1795; never married. She died in Leeds in 1884.
Olive, born Dec. 10, 1797; married Lewis Pettingill in 1824. They had a family of several children. She died Dec. 21, 1843.
Seth, born Nov. 14, 1800; married Rosilla Leadbetter. They had a family of five children. Capt. Seth Fish's buildings were on the north half of his father's lot, where the Deane Bros.' fine set of buildings now stand. He removed to Solon, Me., about 1837.
Caroline, born May 22, 1803 ; married in 1824 Nathaniel Wal- ton, of Wayne. She died Dec. 30, 1886. She was a woman of great industry and energy, and possessed the physical endurance of her father and the mental vigor of her mother. Skilful with wheel and loom, spinning the yarn and weaving the cloth, not only for her own household, but was relied on to do the same for many other families. She was a kind mother, a devoted wife and faithful friend. Their children were Lucy A., Jeremiah D., Martha M., and George W. Jeremiah D. carried on the Foster place at Leeds Center for a term of eight years. He is a thorough and successful farmer. He now owns and occupies the William Wing farm, in Wayne. He married Beulah P. Nor- ris, by whom he has three sons, Fred W., of Montana, Charles H., of California, and Herbert N., living with his parents.
George W., who has been a life-long resident of his native town, is an enterprising citizen and successful farmer. His con- nection with the schools of Wayne and many other Maine towns in the capacity of teacher, and his long and efficient service on the school board and as supervisor, together with his record in the legislative halls of Maine, are sufficient evidence of his standing in the community in which he lives. In 1866 he married Sarah
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E., a daughter of Deacon Francis Dexter, of Wayne. They had issue Carrie May, born in 1867; graduated from Hebron Academy in June, 1891, was a teacher, died in 1895; and Win- fred W., graduated from Kent's Hill in 1894; is a teacher and the present superintendent of schools in Wayne.
Patience, born April 3, 1806; married Ira Sampson in 1835. They had one son, Leonard G., whose widow and her daughter, Ada, and son, John, now reside in Leeds.
Desire, born March 10, 1808; married Nathaniel Daggett in 1828. They had two sons, Warren and Lloyd. Warren was for many years a successful scythe-maker at North Wayne. He married Pamelia Wing. Their son, Fred, graduated from Bates College and is now a lawyer in Boston, Mass. Lloyd served in the navy during the Civil War. By a second husband, Eben Hodgdon, Desire had three children, Charles, who died in child- hood, Martha Jane, and Matilda.
Enoch, born Sept. 10, 1810; married Eliza Kimball in 1837. Their children were Enoch, Jr., Eliza M., William H., Olive R., Sarah J., Caroline W., and Elmira A. William H. was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion and lost his life in the service. Enoch Fish removed to Lexington, Me., where he died March 15, 1888.
Warren, the tenth child of William and Mehitable Fish, born Jan. 10, 1812; married Irena Andrews in 1837. Their children were Austin A., Arvilla, Octavia, and one son whose name is unknown to the writer. Warren Fish was a blacksmith by trade. He died Dec. 4, 1849.
LIFE OF ANDREW CUSHMAN, BY HIMSELF.
Andrew Cushman was born in Plympton, Mass., Jan. 6, 1761, and died in Leeds Feb. 6, 1844, aged 83 years. His wife, Bathsheba Cushman, was born in Sandwich, Mass., Aug. 12, 1768, and died in Leeds May 12, 1843, aged 75. Her name before marriage was Bathsheba Jennings. Isaac Cushman, the father of the writer, was born in Plympton, Mass., Feb. 22, 1732, and died at Niagara, New York, Jan. 1I, 1819. The wife of Isaac died at the age of 78, but what year is not remembered. A record of the family is now in the hands of Levi Cushman, of Sumner, Me., which will furnish the family with any desired information.
I enlisted in the War of the American Revolution May 8, 1777, and went first from Plympton to Boston, where I tarried about two weeks, when I proceeded to Ticonderoga, New York, and remained there about a fortnight. General Burgoyne came upon us from Quebec with ten thousand men. The American soldiers at that time were under the command of General St.
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Clair whose number was said to be not more than five hundred men. While in the fort at Ticonderoga they made three suc- cessive attempts to rout us, but without success till they drew up some cannon to the top of a high hill called Mount Defiance, which was directly opposite to our fort, from which lofty eleva- tion they could pour down into our fort the fire of cannon. Per- ceiving the danger and peril to which we were exposed, our men concluded that it would be prudent to retire from our fort in the morning, accordingly we retreated the next morning, and trav- eled thirty-two miles, to the nearest house, and arrived about dark at Habbleton. Our baggage was conveyed down Lake Champlain in two schooners. During the night the British Gen- eral sent down some of his men and cut off our rear guard. I was all the preceding day with this guard, but at evening wish- ing to be with those with whom I was best acquainted, I man- aged to join the main body of the army in their march. On the day after this rear guard was cut off we started for Bennington, Vt., and continued our course three days towards Bennington, but learning that General Burgoyne was directing his course towards North River, we immediately changed our course and proceded directly towards Fort Mella at which we arrived three days after we had changed our course, having been nearly desti- tute of food for six days at Fort Mella. General Burgoyne came upon us ; our men had cut down trees to prevent the British artillery from proceeding. Before, however, we arrived at Fort Mella, about twenty of us were compelled to camp out in the woods over night, having no protection from the rain which fell upon us during the night. In the morning we found that we had missed our way, but finding ourselves not a great way from Fort Mella, we repaired thither and recruited ourselves from the store of provisions. We remained perhaps one week at this fort ; some of our company died from long abstinence from food and from fatigue. Finding the British coming upon us, we pro- ceeded as was supposed with about five hundred soldiers. This was in the spring of the year. We marched to Saratoga where we tarried two days. Then we retreated down within ten miles of Albany. General Burgoyne heard that three brigades were coming to the assistance of General Gates from New York. General Burgoyne, therefore, made a halt at Saratoga, and did not immediately proceed. General Gates moved on to Stillwater and three miles beyond is a place called Beeman's Height, where we engaged in action during one whole day. At night the British hoisted their flag, and then we hoisted ours, when the engagement ceased for that day. The British agreed to meet us the next day, but the next day came and they did not appear. About ten days after we had another engagement with Burgoyne's remaining troops which amounted to about two thousand. This action
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lasted about half a day. Our men rushed on with all their force and were at one end of their cannon at the same time they were at the other and bravely drove the enemy back leaving two of their cannon loaded in their retreat. Our men raised a general shout at which the British made a halt, when we killed Fraizer, their General. We rushed on and took possession of their line. They buried their General that day. On the following day they hauled up stakes and retreated eight miles as far as Saratoga; having started late in the afternoon they did not arrive that night at Saratoga. The following day it rained and our men remained in the camp, but the day following being fair weather, we marched towards Saratoga, and arrived there in the afternoon. On our arrival there the same night, General Burgoyne, finding himself in close quarters, sent to General Gates proposals of adjustment, to which General Gates would not agree. Hearing by one of General Washington's aids that a large number of soldiers were coming from New York to his assistance, we tarried in a waiting posture at Saratoga about three days, at the end of these days, about sunsetting, General Gates sent to Burgoyne that unless he would surrender before eight o'clock the next morning he should engage with him in hot battle. To this Bur- goyne replied that he would surrender the next morning at the rising of the sun, at the time appointed by himself. He came and rode through two brigades of our army which were paraded on both sides of the way. General Gates received them on the right at the end of the parade, and he delivered his sword into the hands of General Gates. Having achieved this victory without fighting, our men then immediately marched to Albany, where we tarried about ten days, after which we proceeded down the North River to Querman's Overslough, so called, which is on the west side of the river. General Washington sent orders to us to march to Valley Forge, at Philadelphia, but some of our members had a permit to go to Boston and be vaccinated for the small pox. I was among that number, but instead of going to Sewall's Point near Boston, where the other soldiers went, I pro- ceeded to Plympton, and arrived from Philadelphia to Plympton in the month of March, 1778, where I remained two months till recovered of the small pox.
I then went in company with about thirty soldiers to Dela- ware. While there we learned that the British were marching through New Jersey, wherefore we tacked about and marched to Monmouth, New Jersey, where we engaged in battle with the enemy on the plat of ground which had been selected by General Washington. On the morning before this battle General Wash- ington rode through our ranks and addressed us; encouraged us to be courageous to fight valiantly for our country's cause, tell- ing us that the country's liberty depended upon that day's battle.
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We were greatly animated by the General's moving address. It infused new courage into our hearts. The action continued till the sun was about one hour high, when we compelled them to retreat. This battle was very warm, some of our cannon balls melted at the cannon's mouth and stuck fast beneath the mouth of the cannon. Having traveled during the night previous to the battle, we were unable through fatigue and weariness to pursue the British troops, so we let them go. After this action, Washington commended our men for their bravery in fighting. About one o'clock in the morning those who survived the battle set out from the field of action, and after three days' march going at the rate of only ten miles a day' we crossed, I believe, Passaic River in New Jersey and proceeded to King's Ferry, crossed over and went to White Plains, New York. In passing over the Passaic River we crossed on a bridge, at which our company stopped one day, which was the Fourth of July, and celebrated the National Independence. We tarried at White Plains until August, when hearing that the British were invading Rhode Island, Gen. Washington sent orders for two brigades to go to the assistance of Gen. Sullivan, who then commanded a part of the United States troops in that quarter. We were among the number who had orders to march thither. We therefore immediately proceeded and arrived at Hartford, Conn., and tarried there about ten days, but in the meantime hearing that the British had left Rhode Island, we changed our course and went to West Point, where we wintered. The close of which completes my two years' service in the army.
This spring, about the first of April, about 1,000 of the most robust young men at West Point were selected and thoroughly trained, daily, in military tactics, for what future purpose we were not then informed. This military exercise lasted till the last part of June. Orders then came to us from Gen. Washing- ton to march in our regimental coats, or if not, in our regimental shirts, but to what place none except the officers knew! All the orders we had were to march. We accordingly took up our line of march, and halted within two miles of Stony Point, which is eighteen miles from West Point, and when we halted it was about sunset. We were then drawn up under the command of Gen. Wayne, and the most severe orders were read to us of what we were to do that night. We were informed that we must take the enemy's fort by storm, and the question was proposed directly who would go first and with the point of the bayonet. All stood in profound silence. When our captain, Isaiah Stetson, said "I will go." then said Gen. Wayne, "go." Capt. Stetson answered, "I will choose my own men, I know what they are." The platoon I belonged to was in the middle, and consisted of about sixteen or eighteen soldiers. At eleven o'clock that night we were to start. Being myself near Gen. Wayne, I saw him with his
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watch, while he held it up by the starlight, and heard him say to us, "it is time to move." When we got up to start all the officers shook hands with our captain, and bid him farewell, never expecting to see him again in time. The orders were if any man was afraid to go with the company and storm the fort to stand aside. We were further ordered that if any man flinched back, he should be instantly put to death by his right-hand man, or his officer. As soon as we had entered the fort, the whole company cried out at the top of their voices, "We command you in the name of Gen. Washington to deliver up the fort." The shout was so loud that it could be heard at some distance. I entered the fort in the front platoon, a ball whizzed close by my ears. My right-hand man was wounded and my left-hand man killed. One of the enemy was about to kill the French Colonel who piloted us into the fort. My right-hand man, at the moment he was wounded, knocked off my hat, which I caught in falling. This wounded man cried out, "For God's sake, Cushman, don't leave me." But I made no reply, knowing my orders. The French Colonel previously surveyed this fort with a spy-glass, and when we entered the fort he was at my right hand, and rushed forward and took hold of the colors and pulled them down, which the British colonel, Johnson, seeing, ordered the men to lay down their arms. We lost of our men that night about twenty-eight, and the British lost about thirty men to my knowledge. This was a very strongly fortified fort; Colonel Johnson had said he would defy all the American army to take it. I counted thirteen brass mortars to throw bombs.
After taking the fort, I returned to West Point, and served my time out for which I enlisted, which was the eighth of next May following, when I got my discharge and came home to Plympton, being then nineteen years of age. In January of that year, at the age of twenty-seven, I went from Plympton to North Yarmouth, where I remained about five years, after which I went to Winthrop, and married Bathsheba Jennings, remained in that town one winter and came to Leeds, Maine, where I have lived during the past fifty-five years. When I first came to Leeds the place was almost a wilderness, there being no grist mill in the town at that time. I went to mill in the town of Winthrop, and often carried my grain on my shoulders, and my way was marked out by spotted trees. About five years after I came to Leeds the house in which I lived took fire, accidentally, and was burned to the ground. I saved nothing of my furniture. except a great silver spoon, a quart basin, and my money, amounting to about seventy dollars. I have been wonderfully carried through many imminent dangers, for which I desire to thank the Lord.
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CUSHMAN FAMILY.
Isaac Cushman, a son of Andrew, succeeded his father on the old homestead, where he cared for his parents in their late lives, who had rendered him a like service in his youth. Very appro- priately the family record of the old soldier and pioneer might here be introduced, and its absence is not attributable to the writer. In after years regrets for neglect may find their own reward.
Isaac, born in Leeds July 17, 1801 ; married first, Dorcas H. Loring, of North Yarmouth, Me. Their children were:
I. Corrilla F., b. April 16, 1841 ; d. Aug. 22, 1843.
2. Marcellus F., b. Aug. 9, 18.42.
3. Corrilla F., b. Nov. 6, 1843.
4. Thirza S., b. Aug. 28, 1845.
Isaac married, second, Angeline Harvey, of Winthrop, Me. The fruits of the marriage were :
I. Flavilla A., b. April 15, 1854.
2. Angie D., b. March 27, 1856.
3. Emogene, b. Nov. 4, 1857.
4. John B., b. June 16, 1860; died Sept. 9, 1881.
Isaac Cushman was born, brought up and died on the old Cushman homestead at West Leeds. His age was 81 years, 6 months. His entire life was devoted to farming. His neigh- bors speak of him thus: "He was an honest man, and his word as good as gold. He was a hard-working man, always up and at it in the morning. He usually kept one or more hired men and knew when he got a good one." He manifested great interest in the education of his children, did what he could to aid them and lived to see the happy results. He lived an honest Christian life and died a triumphant death.
2. Marcellus F., his only son who grew to manhood, enlisted in the old store of Solomon Lothrop at Leeds Center, April 30, 1861. With him John Q. Robbins and Wansbrow Turner affixed their names to the roll of recruits to the Federal Army. They went to Monmouth, where they were drilled in military tactics, and in August mustered into United States service at Augusta, Me. Their regiment was at once sent to the front and continued to hold a front position all the time. When the advance on Richmond was in progress the Seventh Maine Regi- ment to which he belonged, was sent up the James River where it did skirmish duty. They met the Confederates at Warwick Creek and later at Williamsburg, Mechanicsville, Golden Farm, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, second Bull Run, and Antietam ; after which the regiment came home to recruit. Feb. 14, 1863, he was discharged on account of disability. After spending a
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few years at home on the farm, in 1868, he married Matilda, a daughter of Deacon Jason and Lydia (Gordon) Pettingill, of Leeds. His present residence is Waterville, Me., to which place he removed his family in 1886, and has since built himself a house in that city.
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