USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Leeds > History of the town of Leeds, Androscoggin County, Maine, from its settlement June 10, 1780 > Part 22
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MAJ. ISRAEL HERRICK.
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but how long is not known to the writer. Children of Israel and Abigail Kilham Herrick: Joseph, John, Elizabeth, Mary, Eli and Samuel (twins) and Abigail.
Samuel Herrick, son of Israel and Abigail (Kilham) Her- rick, born in Boxford, Mass., Sept. 5, 1759, married Abigail House, born in Hanover, Mass., April 18, 1761. Children :
Israel, born Jan. 17, 1791 ; Eli, born May 26, 1793 ;
Polly, b. Jan. 4, '1796;
Abigail, born July 5, 1799;
Betsey, born Oct. 5, 1801 ;
All born in Greene, Maine.
He moved to Leeds in May, 1802, and settled the farm or lot,. which his brother Eli bought one year before of Isaac Free- man, and which has ever since been held in possession by the Herrick family. Samuel died Sept. 5, 1834. His wife Abigail died Jan. 22, 1846. They were buried at West Leeds.
Israel Herrick, son of Samuel and Abigail ( House) Herrick, born in Greene, Jan. 17, 1791 ; married Abigail Lamb, of Leeds, born in Charlestown, Mass., Aug. 21, 1794.
Children,-Margaret, born Nov. 6, 1822; still living; Har- riet and Horace, born Dec. 1, 1826; Harriet d. Aug. 1, 1829; Horace d. Nov. 9, 1890; Harriet, b. July 7, 1830; d. Sept. 20, 1850 : Clarissa, b. Dec. 7, 1834; d. Sept. 4, 1837.
At the death of his father, Israel carne into possession of the homestead farm, on which he lived during his life. When a young man he became interested in the manufacture of silk. He obtained a small quantity of mulberry seed and planted it. When the plants were large enough to transplant, he set a mul- berry orchard. In 1837, he obtained four hundred silk worms of Macy Sylvester, of Greene, and commenced the manufacture of silk on a small scale. He continued to increase the business from year to year, and in 1844, he built a cocoonery 50 feet in length, by 19 feet in width. This business in connection with the farm afforded quite a means of revenue. The silk business was carried on till about the year 1850, when it was dropped alto- gether. In politics he was always a Whig until the dissolution of that party, when he became a Democrat. He served on the Board of Selectmen a number of years, and represented the town of Leeds in the State Legislature in 1835 and 1836. In religion he was a staunch Universalist, and always took an active part in church affairs. He died Feb. 27, 1862. His wife died Aug. 17, 1849. They were both buried at West Leeds.
Eli Herrick, son of Samuel and Abigail Herrick, born in Greene, May 26, 1793 ; died a prisoner of war at Quebec in 1814;
Mary Herrick, daughter of Samuel and Abigail Herrick, born in Greene, Jan. 4, 1796; married Ira Lamb, of Leeds ; died
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in Carroll, Me., Dec. 16, 1875; Abigail K. Herrick, daughter of Samuel and Abigail Herrick, born in Greene, July 5, 1799; died in Leeds, Sept. 13, 1845. She was never married;
Betsey R. Herrick, daughter of Samuel and Abigail Herrick, born in Greene, Oct. 5, 1801 ; died in Leeds, Aug. 14, 1850. She was never married;
Horace Herrick, son of Israel and Abigail (Lamb) Herrick, was born in Leeds, Dec. 1, 1826. He married Sophronia Lyford Palmer, June 27, 1852. Children :
Frank E. Herrick, b. Sept. 2, 1853; d. April 8, 1855;
Frank H. Herrick, b. Aug. 22, 1856;
Hattie A. Herrick, b. Nov. 15, 1862; d. Aug. 6, 1866;
Loring Herrick, b. June 10, 1866;
Lottie A. Herrick, b. Sept. 3, 1868;
Israel H. Herrick, b. Jan. 5, 1871 ;
Horace, being the only son, settled on the home place, the same as his father had done. He was the third generation to occupy this farm. During the earlier part of his life he was sick a great deal. At one time he was out of health for five years, and at another, three years. But for thirty years before he died he enjoyed good health, and worked hard nearly all the time on his farm. In politics he was a Democrat. He never aspired to hold office, although he took quite an interest in matters relating to his town. He always attended the Universalist Church when there were Universalist meetings in town. As a neighbor he tried to practice the Golden Rule and not knowingly did he do any one an injury. I think I shall not be questioned if I say that he was an Honest Man. He died Nov. 9, 1890. His wife, Sophronia, died March 26, 1901.
Margaret M. Herrick, born in Leeds Nov. 6, 1822, has always made her home with her brother Horace. A large part of her life has been spent in caring for the sick. Probably there are but few persons in town who have been of so much help and comfort to so many families in Leeds in time of sickness as she. Since the death of her brother, she has continued to live on the old place in the family of Frank H. Herrick.
Frank H. Herrick, son of Horace and Sophronia (Palmer) Herrick, was born in Leeds Aug. 22, 1856. He remained at home working on his father's farm during the summer season, and teaching in fall and winter till he was twenty-four. In the spring of 1880, he went to Massachusetts and remained there till the death of his father. During this time he was in the employ of the West End Railroad Company. In the spring of 1891, he returned to Leeds and settled on the home place occupied by three generations of the Herrick family before him. In 1892, he was elected Supervisor of Schools, and re-elected the next spring. He married Lucy M. Sylvester, of Leeds, Aug. 22, 1894. In
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FRANK H. HERRICK.
LUCY M. HERRICK.
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1899, he was again elected Superintendent of Schools and was twice re-elected. In politics he has followed his father and grandfather, voting with the Democrats. He is a Universalist and always attends the Universalist Church when possible to do so. Laura Margaret Herrick, only child of Frank H. and Lucy (Sylvester) Herrick, was born in Leeds, April 15, 1899. She is the fifth generation of Herricks to reside in Leeds on the same place.
Loring Herrick, son of Horace and Sophronia Herrick, was born in Leeds, June 10, 1866. He attended the common and Free High Schools of Leeds, and fitted for college at the Coburn Classical Institute, Waterville. He entered Colby University in 1888 and graduated in the class of '92. He belongs to the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Since he left college he has taught most of the time. He has been Principal of a private school in Brad- ford, Mass., Principal of the High School in Collinsville, Conn., Principal of the High School in Berlin, N. H., and Principal of the High School in Winthrop, Me. He married Linnie E. Clifford of Winthrop, Me., Aug. 17, 1898. At the present time, he and his wife are in Los Angeles, Cal.
Lottie A. Herrick, only living daughter of Horace and Sophronia Herrick was born in Leeds, Sept. 3, 1868. She attended the Normal School at Farmington and taught several terms. Since the death of her father she has made her home with her brother Frank. She is a member of the Main Street Free Baptist Church, of Lewiston, where she has resided con- siderable of the time during the past few years.
Israel H. Herrick, the youngest of the family of Horace and Sophronia Herrick, was born in Leeds, Jan. 5, 1871. He went to Biddeford when about twenty-one years of age, learned the butter-maker's trade and was in the employ of a company having a butter factory at Biddeford until the company dissolved. He married Alice G. Hanson, of Biddeford, Jan. 29, 1896. He has been in the employ of different railroad companies as fireman enough so that the Grand Trunk Railroad Company offered him a position as engineer on their road. For the past two years he has been in the employ of the Armour Company. He works in one of their stores at Biddeford, where he resides.
BOOTHBY FAMILY.
English Ancestry.
The name and family of Boothby are of great antiquity, and may be traced backward for the long period of a thousand years. A distinguished antiquarian writer states, that about the year 800
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A. D., King Egbert divided the nation into counties, hundreds and wapentakes, and that one of the later sections in Lincolnshire was named Boothby. In the same county was a market town named Boothby-Payell; also a manor house of the same designa- tion.
Cambden says: "These places received their names from the Boothby family, then resident there"; and the ancient histo- rian, Leland, makes a like statement. Some modern writers have taken exception to this view from the fact that few sur- names existed at so. remote a period, but the family tradition is, that the name in its rudimentary form was derived from a Danish tribe named "Bobi" who settled early in Britain, and that the family of Boothby is descended from the chiefs of this tribe, who held lands in Lincolnshire.
Charles E. Boothby, Esq., a distinguished representative of the family in England, says: "Judging from the termination of the name, ethnologists have been of opinion that the name is of undoubted Danish origin. Certainly it is not Roman, nor is it Saxon." In Norman times, the "de" was added. Two parishes in Lincolnshire still bear the name of Boothby; one in Wapen- take of Boothby-Graffo, a few miles south of Lincoln; and Boothby-Paynell, a few miles southeast of Grantham. If in King Egbert's reign the Boothbys owned the intervening territory, their possessions must have been very considerable. The ancient manor house which belonged to them is still standing in the last named parish. The name of Paynell came in only when the Boothbys lost their Lincolnshire estates by the marriage of the only child of the owner of them to a Paynell of Devonshire. But the male line of the family was preserved, descending from an uncle of the heiress, in unbroken succession; and the male line has continued unbroken through all the centuries since their first settlement in Lincolnshire in the ninth century. The pedigree of the family was compiled by Dr. Sanderson, who subsequently became bishop of Lincoln, and the manuscripts are preserved in the British museum."
The lineal descent of a family so ancient cannot be traced with certainty through the earlier generations; there are, how- ever, in ancient documents, evidences to prove the existence of the family and name until the regular successsion is established, and these following down the line of descent we have a con- nected genealogical history, down to the
American Branches.
The history of the early generations of the Boothbys of New England is somewhat obscure, and the traditions and published accounts cannot be harmonized with the vital public records.
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Judge Bourne, who was an excellent authority, made the state- ment that, "Thomas and Henry Boothby came with families from Magwater, Ireland, to Wells in 1720." This may have been true, but I find no evidence that Henry was ever in Wells, and am not sure that one of that name came over at the time stated. Thomas and Richard Boothby were inhabitants of Wells as early as 1726, and I suppose the former was father of the latter, and of the first John Boothby in that town and of Henry Boothby, whose name appears in Scarborough, in 1727, as a church member, but who returned to Wells and died, leaving descendants there who are accounted for in the following pages. Southgate has written of the early settlers of this name in Scarborough as follows : "Joseph and Samuel Boothby emigrated from the north of Ire- land to Kittery early in the last century, whence they came to Scarborough." This statement is in part true ; in some respects untrue. Thomas Boothby, born in Ireland, came with his parents to Kittery, where he married Lydia Came in 1724, and had sons, Jonathan, Samuel and Joseph. He came to Scar- borough with the Deering family with whom his daughters inter- married about 1730-6. ' The first Samuel Boothby settled in Scarborough was a brother of Thomas, and had children bap- tized in that town in 1736.
Rev. Samuel Boothby, who traveled as a missionary exten- sively in Maine, and who was much interested in the family history, left, with other data relating to his ancestry, the follow- ing written statement: "Two brothers, so far as known, went from England into Ireland, married and had families. They afterwards came to Nova Scotia, then to what is now the State of Maine. One settled in Wells near the sea; the other in Kit- tery. The one who settled in Kittery had a son Thomas who came to Scarborough." This statement was doubtless correct, so far as it went, but he makes no mention of Samuel, the brother of Thomas, who also settled in Scarborough, and from whom a large number of the families who bear the name in Saco are descendants.
In consequence of the imperfections in the extant records of Kittery and Wells, and from the absence of an early book of records once belonging to the former town, we cannot make up a complete record of the first two generations.
I have not even found the name of the first Henry Boothby. said to have settled in Kittery, on any document there, but the presence of sons in that place supports the tradition that such a person was at one time an inhabitant of the town. The absence of his name from the existing records is no proof that he was not a resident. From a careful examination of the early records, printed statements, and traditions handed down in various branches of the family, I have come to the conclusion which fol-
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lows, namely; that Thomas and Henry Boothby, natives of England, settled in the Province of Ulster along with the other English planters in that province; that they married and had sons born there, who had grown to man's estate when they came to seek homes in the New World; that the parents were well advanced in life before coming to New England and soon after deceased. The Mclellans came with the Boothbys, and were connected by marriage after settlement here. At this point I must correct another published misstatement. In the history of Parsonsfield ( 1888) the following may be found: "Brice Boothby came to this country from Scotland and settled in Scarborough, and from him all of the name have descended." This is unwar- ranted tradition and without a shadow of foundation. The fact is, that Joseph Boothby of the third generation married Susanna, daughter of Brice Mclellan, and a son, who settled in Buxton and became the progenitor of the families now living in Parsons- field, was named for his grandfather.
GENEALOGY.
Thomas Boothby1, born in England, settled in Ireland, mar- ried and had children born there; came by way of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Wells in the District of Maine, with his sons, where he made his home the remainder of his days. No record of his death.
Henry Boothby1, born in England, settled in Ireland with his brother Thomas, married there and came with his children to Kittery now in Maine, about 1720, where he settled. It is pos- sible that he removed to Scarborough with his sons, and was the Henry Boothby whose name appeared as a charter member of the Black Point Church; if so, all of that name in town and vicinity, are his descendants, and following down the line of descent from Henry we come to the fifth generation and to the
CHILDREN OF JOHN OF SACO.
Isaac5, born October 10, 1774; married Hannah Foss, (who died December 27, 1838), and settled in Leeds, Me. With reso- lute will and strong arms, he swung the shining axe, adding clearing to clearing and field to field until he had one of the largest and best farms intown. From him "Boothby's Hill," north of Leeds Center, took its name. He also engaged largely in the live stock business and carried many a drove of sleek bullocks to Brighton market. With few advantages for education in the schools, he trained his mind to solve the most complicated prob- lems with figures, and there was not an example in Kenney's Arithmetic that he could not perform mentally with more facility
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HISTORY OF LEEDS
than most men with the slate and pencil. He was a man of solid build and constitutionally robust. Positive and uncompromising, shrewd and cautious in business, industrious and frugal, he proved a success. He died May 20, 1835, aged 61. Six children, of whom hereafter.
Lydia, born Jan. 25, 1777; married Hamilton Jenkins, of Wayne, Me .; died December 16, 1833, aged 56 years, 10 months, 21 days. They had one child, Eliza, who married Capt. Benj. Ridley. She died August 15, 1825, aged 20 years, 6 months and 26 days.
Stephen", born in Saco, Nov. 7, 1779; first married Susan Buzzell, of Winthrop, (who died May 17, 1817 ;) settled in Leeds, Me., as a farmer, and had three children : Samuel, William and Abigail. He was an extensive owner of lands in Leeds and Wayne, which he sold to many natives of the Saco Valley, who were induced to settle there. He next married Hepsabeth Tib- betts, of Wells, County of York, who died Sept. 1, 1838; no issue. He next married Mrs. Hannah Page of Belgrade, for- merly Hannah Churchill, of Plymouth, Mass., who was buried in Belgrade. He was an industrious and successful farmer and a kind-hearted Christian man. About 1814, he built a large, two- story, square house and other buildings on the old farm in Leeds, Me., which still remain practically as first built. He died June 5, 1871, aged 91 years and 6 months.
Susan5, born Dec. 1, 1781.
Rev. John5, born Sept. 30, 1787 ; married Anna Foss, Nov. 20, 18II, by whom issue, seven children. He died in Saco, April 4, 1878, aged 91. I think he spent some early years in Leeds, but returned to Saco in 1815, and made his permanent home on a large farm where the brick mansion was erected. He was con- verted during the "Grove Reformation," in Saco, in 1808; was ordained by Elders Henry Frost and Moses Rollins in the town of Wayne, Oct. 12, 1812, the services being conducted out of doors in an ox-cart. He spent the early years of his ministry traveling as an evangelist, preaching in six states ; saw his first revival in Eastport, Me., where a Christian church was organized. He served in the Legislature of Maine in 1851-52, and voted for the "Maine Law," framed by Neal Dow. He was engaged in the ministry more than sixty years; one of the most extended terms of service in the sacred office of which we find record. At his funeral twelve elders took part in the services. Elder Boothby was a sturdy pillar of the church, uncompromising and undis- mayed, and his death was a denominational loss widely felt. He was not an eloquent preacher estimated by the popular standards, but was sound, logical, and at times profound and masterly ; his voice was deep, mellow, and of great compass, and was used by way of emphasis upon his hearers with powerful effect. As a
14
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counsellor in conventional assemblies he was cautious, discreet and magnanimous. Being venerated by the younger ministers, they vied with each other to do the patriarch servant of the Most High honor. His stately presence at the conference, during his old age, was a benediction. As a farmer he was quite success- ful, and acquired a comfortable support. His frame was massive and his tall, erect form gave him a commanding and dignified personality. His visage was of elongated mould and his com- plexion swarthy. In his eye there was an expression of meek- ness and kindly light that was noticeable. He had his failings, but was a good and eminently godly man. It is related that his wife once expressed grave fears that he would be lost; that hav- ing preached to others, he would himself be a "castaway." He asked the reason for her anxiety and was answered in this wise: "John, you know a 'woe' is pronounced against those of whom all men speak well, and you certainly belong to that class." On his return from his appointment soon after this conversation, he gravely informed his good wife that he saw some chance for him, for, as he was passing a crowd of men while entering church, he overheard one say: "There goes that d-d old black John Boothby."
CHILDREN OF ISAAC, SEN., OF LEEDS.
Walter6, born in 1798; married Betsey Ayer, of Standish, Me., in 1821, and died in Leeds, June 20, 1827; leaving issue, of whom hereafter.
Hannah6, born in 1800 (twin) ; died June 20, 1821, in Leeds. Betsey6, born in 1800 (twin) ; died Sept. 21, 1821, in Leeds.
Isaac6, born Nov. 20, 1809; married first, Jane Graves, of Wayne, who died December 16, 1848, aged 42, by whom thirteen children. He married second, in 1850, Mary Jennings, of Leeds, by whom three children. Mr. Boothby inherited the homestead and always lived there. He was the cultivator of an extensive farm, comprising about 250 acres, and for several years engaged in live stock trade; an owner of valuable timber lands in town ; one of original stockholders in the Androscoggin Railroad ; lib- eral in religious views ; in politics Whig and Republican ; not an aspirant for office, but a man of public spirit, who kept abreast of the current issues of the day; was selectman for nine years ; was positive of temperament, perceptive and quick to grasp a sit- uation. In business transactions he was cautious and shrewd ; believed in being governed by first impressions; was attached to his fireside, where, when not attending to his business affairs, he employed his time in reading. He was a useful citizen, who man- ifested an interest in the town's progress and held the respect of those who knew him.
John6, died young.
REV. SAMUEL BOOTHBY.
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HISTORY OF LEEDS
Cyrus6, born August 22, 1791, in Saco; married Charity Chub- buck, of Wareham, Mass., Sept. 28, 1811. She was born Nov. 22, 1791. He settled in Embden, Somerset County, Me. in the spring of 1814, and cleared his farm from the wilderness. Here he spent his days; dying May 10, 1847; his wife died They had eight children, three of whom died in infancy. He was in the War of 1812; many years in the live stock trade ; rep- resented his town in the Legislature of 1837 and 1839; a man of sterling integrity, whose word was law; as a man of business, full of energy and enterprise.
CHILDREN OF STEPHEN, OF LEEDS.
Rev. Samuel6, born April 17, 1808; married May 1, 1831, Sally, daughter of Samuel and Betsey Leadbetter, of Leeds, born Sept. 27, 1811 ; by whom eight children. He died in Lewis- ton, Me., July 9, 1884; aged 76 years. His widow died in same city June 12, 1887; aged 76 years. Samuel Leadbetter died Sept. II, 1859; aged 76 years. Betsey, his wife, died April 25, 1854 ; aged 68 years.
Elder Boothby was baptized and united with the Baptist Church in Wayne, and in 1840 was ordained. He served as pas- tor at Turner Bridge four years, and subsequently in Wayne for five years ; these were his only pastoral charges. He afterwards labored for a year as a missionary, employed by the Maine Bap- tist Convention, in Aroostook County, Me. He then entered the service of the American Foreign Bible Society, where he con- tinued until 1883. Since 1857, he resided in Lewiston, Me., where he acted as a local missionary. Shortly before his death, he was asked how the promises of God appeared to him then, and he answered : "Yea and Amen." Being asked if the gospel was his support during his illness, he responded: "The words of the wise are as swords and as nails fastened by the Masters of Assem- blies, which are given from one shepherd." He lived for the truth and the truth did not forsake him. He was a good man, a good husband and father, a good citizen, a good church member, a good minister of the New Testament.
It was said of his companion : "Her devoted and self-sacrific- ing life will ever be fragrant in the memory of her four surviving children, and many others who knew and loved her."
William6, born Aug. 1, 1810; died Feb. 2, 1901, aged 91 years. He married Caroline Pinkham, of Saco, daughter of Isaac Pinkham ; she is still living. They had three children. He spent his whole life on the old farm, and was a very industrious and successful farmer.
Abigail6, died March 8, 1814; aged 8 months.
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CHILDREN OF WALTER, OF LEEDS.
Isaac T.7, born Sept. 13, 1822 ; married Louisa M. Spear, of Standish, Me., Oct. 14, 1848, and lived in that town. Children as follows :
I. Cyrus H.8, born March 19, 1852, in Leeds, Me .;
married Mabel Wilds, of Biddeford, Nov. 21, 1885.
II. Sarah S.8, born May 10, 1855; married Nov. I, 1874.
III. Frank M.8, born Nov. 10, 1857; lives in Boston, single.
Hannah7, born July 19, 1827; married Henry A. Brown, of Lowell, Mass., by whom three sons. She died in 1861, in Lowell.
CHILDREN OF ISAAC, OF LEEDS.
Betsey7, born May 26, 1831; married Horatio Williams, of Leeds; no children; died in July, 1862 ;
Lydia J.7, born Jan. 20, 1833 ; died May 15, 1849;
Augusta R.7, born August, 1835;
Rafina A.", born July 1, 1837; died Dec. 11, 1842;
Walter W.7, born June 28, 1838; was sergeant in Company K, Third Maine Infantry, and killed at Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, I862;
Cyrus7, born June, 1840; died Dec. 20, 1846;
Charles D.7, born July 10, 1842 ; died Dec. 27, 1862 ;
Thomas Henry7, son of Isaac and Jane (Graves) Boothby, was born April 24, 1845. He was educated at district school and at Monmouth Academy ; married December 28, 1867, Sarah, daughter of Tillotson and Mary (Hart) Libby, a descendant of Eben Libby, an early settler. Mrs. Boothby died Oct. 28, 1888. He married second, Nov. 24, 1892, Estella S., daughter of Seth Stinchfield, of Danforth, Me. Mr. Boothby inherited the prop- erty of his ancestors at "Boothby Hill," in Leeds, Me., and is a farmer ; also a member of Leeds Grange; Deacon of the Baptist Church ; was town treasurer from 1896 to 1901, and a member of the 70th Legislature ; has children :
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