USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Wayne > History of the town of Wayne, Kennebec County, Maine, from its settlement to 1898 > Part 3
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Children of Samuel and Lydia Washburn Norris, their marriages and place of death when known :- Ephraim married a Miss Smith. They had four children, viz : Ebenezer, Susan, Nancy and Lydia. Ebenezer married Nancy Harmon of Saco; he died in Wayne. Susan married Isaac Billington of East Livermore ; she died in East Livermore. Nancy married James Wing of Wayne; she died in Wayne. Lydia married Diodatus Allen. Ephraim and his wife died in Wayne. Nathan married Jedediah Hammond, and they had eight
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children, viz ; Mary, Jedediah, Samuel. Benjamin, Hannah, Nathan, Jemima and Maria. Mary married Seth Billington of Byron ; she died in Weld. Jedediah married Cyrus Foss of Leeds : she died in Leeds. Samuel married Phebe Cary ; he died in East Livermore. Benjamin married Charlotte Knowles ; he died in East Livermore. Hannah married Isaac Pettingill: she died in Wayne : Nathan married Abigail Howard : he died in Wayne. Jemima married Joseph Bishop : she died in Augusta. buried in Leeds. Maria married Gardiner Perkins: died in East Livermore, was buried in Wayne. Nathan, his wife. and Jedidiah died in Wayne. Woodin married Polly Wing for his first wife: they had four children, viz : Simeon. Sarah. Joshua and Grafton. Simeon married a Miss Lord ; he died in Jamesville. Wis. Sarah married Dr. Simeon Foss ; she died in Lisbon. Joshua married Polly Norris (the N. H. branch of Norrises) ; he, died in Wis. buried in Wayne. Grafton married a Miss Thing of Mt. Vernon : he died in Mt. Vernon. The second wife of Woodin was the widow, Sally Gilman ; her maiden name was Sally Bean. a sister of Moses Bean. They had three children : viz : Ezekiel Gilman, Mary and Woodin. Ezekiel Gilman married Enni e Maines : he died in Portland. Mary married Daniel Billington : she died in Salem. Woodin married Elizabeth Lancaster ; he died in Augusta. Lydia married Thomas Atkinson ; she died in Montville. Josiah married Militiah Smith for his first wife. They had two children, viz : Ephraim and Abigail. Ephraim married Temperance Billing- ton ; he died in Wayne. Abigail first married Noah Wing. her second husband was Pelatiah Knapp of Leeds. Josiah's second wife was the widow Eunice Thomas ; her maiden name was Ennice Ward of China. They had five children ; viz : Josiah. Jr., Militiah. John A., Deborah and Oliver. Josiah, Jr., married Sarah Foss ; he died in Wayne (his widow is now living in Wayne). Militiah. married Lewis Dexter ; she died in Wayne. Philip Allen married and died in Maryland. Deborah married Nathaniel Foss: she died in South Lewiston. Oliver married Mary Foss ; he died in Wayne. Jemima married Dea. Gideon Lane of Leeds C'entre, where she died at a very old age.
When Jemima Norris first came to Wayne her brother Josiah had a pigeon bed which was baited and fixed up to shoot pigeons from. One day she saw a large number of birds on the bed ; she crept into the bower house, took the old gun which had been left there loaded for the purpose of shooting pigeons, leveled it
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and fired, killing twenty-five pigeons. She always said she fired the old gun bottom side up.
Bears used to get in the corn fields of the early settlers and destroy much of the then "staff of life." Soon after the old gentleman, Samuel the 1st, came to this town, his son had a field of corn on the east cant of the hill now owned by Sewall Pettingill, which the bears had been damaging. One evening the old gentleman took a gun loaded with a bullet and hobbled up on the hill, and lay in wait for Mr. Bruin. Soon he heard a rustling in the corn : he leveled the old musket and fired. He heard the bear run through the corn toward the woods below. Being so lame he could not follow, he returned to the house and told them "he had shot a bear." The next morning, without much faith in dead bears, they went into the corn field and there found his tracks with traces of blood. They followed the trail down into the swamp where they found the bear mortally wounded which they soon dispatched to the satisfaction of the old hunter.
Josiah, the son of Samuel the 1st, after he became an old man, was one time out with his son Ephraim, fox hunting. After starting a fox and while he was "playing around," they having concealed themselves, and were waiting for him to come near enough to shoot, the fox came in sight but not near enough, they thought, to venture a shot By some circumstance the old man's gun "went off." Ephraim said, "What made you fire, father ?" The father hastily replied, "I didn't mean to! but I have killed him !" as the fox went end over end into a hole in the ground which was near by. They dug him out when to their surprise the fox was perforated with shot from the old man's gun.
Four of the five brothers who came to Wayne from Wareham, Mass., viz : Ephraim, Nathan, Woodin and Josiah, were buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Wayne. Samuel the 2d was buried at Strickland's Ferry, East Livermore.
Mrs. Phebe Billington, a remarkable lady, on account of her long life, was born in Liverpool, England, on October 6, 1762. She died in Wayne, February 9th, 1869, being one hundred and six (106) years, four (4) months and three (3) days old. Her father was a sea captain. Her maiden name was Phebe Doty. She married Daniel Cary for her first husband. They had four children who grew to maturity, viz: two boys, Ichabod and Zenas; two girls, Hannah and Phebe. Hannah married a Mr. Shaw of Buckfield. Phebe married Samuel Norris
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of East Livermore ; she was the mother of S. B. Norris of this town. Her second husband was Nathaniel Billington. They had five children who grew to maturity ; viz : two boys, Enoch and Nathaniel ; three girls; Temperance, Emily and Locady. Temper- ance married Capt. Ephraim Norris of this town. Emily married Charles Nelson of Winthrop. Nelson traded a while in Wayne village and lived where C. H. Barker now resides. Locady married the Rev. John Hutchins, a Methodist ; he died in Troy. It is said she (Mrs. Phebe Billington) never had a physician called to her aid. She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
The ravages of wild beasts were a constant source of annoyance to the early settlers. Small cattle, sheep and swine could not be raised without much care and close attention. Many spent much time in hunting and various means and devices were resorted to to capture and destroy them. One of these was the setting of spring guns, a very dangerous method, not only to the wild beasts, but to persons who might be unfortunate in coming in contact with the dead line. From the history of Monmouth we quote : "Ichabod Billington, one of the first settlers of Wayne, met with a severe accident from one of these indiscriminate engines, placed in a cornfield in the edge of Leeds. Fearing that guns might be hidden in the field that lay between him and the cabin he was approaching, and, to avoid all liability of casualty, he went around the field, walking on the felled trees. But he had proceeded only a short distance, when a gun discharged its contents into one of his lower limbs, shattering it in a frightful manner. The wounded man's cries soon brought assistance. He was carried to the camp, and a messenger was dispatched with all possible speed for the nearest surgeon, whose home was no farther distant than North Yarmouth. When the messenger, who of necessity made the journey on foot, reached his destination, he found that the surgeon was not supplied with the necessary appliances for amputating the limb. After a delay of several hours, during which an outfit of suitable instruments was obtained at Portland, the surgeon started for the scene of the accident. Three days had elapsed in the meantime, and mortification had settled in the wound. The limb was amputated in the barbarous manner in which all surgery was then performed, and, strange to relate, the victim survived."
Ebenezer Besse settled on the farm where H. A. Lowell now lives. He married first Doughty. They had three children,
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Lucy, Cynthia and Margery. His second wife was Lucy Kent. They had one son, Elisha. As shown by the chapter on military affairs, Ebenezer was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was also prominent in civil affairs and often in town office. He was high sheriff, several years. At one time he was troubled to get hold of a certain man. He resorted to this expedient. He sent a man into the barn in the night time, instructing him to brad the cattle and make them bellow, while Besse stood by the door and took his man. He removed to Peru where he died at the advanced age of 93 years. Elisha married Lois Dexter. Their children were Rebecca, Constant, Lucy, Elisha, Louisa, Caroline, Samuel, Mercy, Lois, George and Mary. Elisha was in the war of 1812; his son Elisha was in the Mexican war, also in the civil war, as were his brothers, Constant and Samuel. Three of his family are still living in this town, George, the merchant, Lois, the wife of C. E. Smith, and Mary, the wife of S. G. Carson.
Jonathan Howe was born in Marlboro, Mass., July 31, 1760. He was son of Ichabod Howe (a native of the same place) and Sarah, his wife,-and grandson of Jonathan and Sarah (Hapsgood) Howe. Ichabod Howe, with his wife and three children, Jonathan, then nine years old, being the first born, settled in Winthrop in 1769. At the time of his emigration to Maine his residence was New Ipswich, New Hampshire. At that date the town west of the present village was an unbroken wilderness, known only to the Indian and the adventurous hunter and trapper, and his family was one of the four who that year planted their domiciles westward of the waters that divide the town. Mr. Howe was gifted with great natural abilities ; had better education than most of his fellow settlers ; was something of a mechanic as well as farmer and statesman. He was a member of the Provincial Congress, convened at Concord in February, 1775, being the first Representative elected to a Legislative body by the town of Winthrop, and later was elected to the General Court. He abounded in energy and was full of resources. He had been a soldier in the French and Indian War and came to his new home, hardened and toughened for the work incident to the founding of a home in the forest.
The first settlers, from necessity if not of choice, were generally hunters and trappers. Many of them, Mr. Howe included, loving the excitement of the chase, continued it long after the necessity had passed away. In this vocation Mr. Howe became very expert. His expeditions through and about the neighboring territory were
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educating him to a thorough knowledge of its lands, woods and waters. One of his favorite hunting grounds was what later became the town of Livermore. In 1772 he had guided an exploring party to the Androscoggin River via the Great Lake and Dead River, and the next year in company with Major Fish, selected and marked a way from Winthrop via Wayne village to the Androscoggin River, at a point a little north of Strickland's Ferry. At that date the "Wing Pond" and the chain of ponds leading into it were much smaller in area than at present and this whole line of water ways from the northerly part of the country to the Great Androscoggin Lake, was then and for many years later, known as the Thirty Mile River.
Among the factors incident to the building of a town in the forest, there is none perhaps more potent than the mill. A man of Mr. Howe's acute characteristics, could not fail to note the excellent advantages these waters offered for such a purpose, and that here where now stands the village of Wayne must at some future day become a business centre, where the surrounding inhabitants would come with their grists to be ground, their logs to be sawed and to exchange the products of the soil at the village store. Jonathan, the son, was endowed by nature with some of the remarkable gifts of his father. Ile was active, enterprising and energetic, and with vanity enough to believe that he could accomplish what he under- took. In 1779, while still a minor, he became a landbolder in Winthrop ; but the quiet, uneventful life of a tiller of the soil was not congenial to his restless spirit, and at. or soon after arriving at majority, sought other fields where he might expend his surplus energy. With all around from which to choose he selects the Thirty Mile River. He could not fail to observe its numerous ponds that serve for storage of water in times of drouth-so large as not to be seriously afflicted by the frosts of winter, and here where the cart- way from the Kennebec to the Androscoggin crosses the Thirty Mile River, he selects the spot on which to plant his mills, and surely no better spot on all these waters to convene present or future population, could be found. Here about 1783 he erected his dam, being the first to obstruct these waters and make them pay tribute in their passage to the sea. Near the outlet of the pond he locates his reservoir dam, and his mill dam proper, 65 to 100 feet below the county road. On this dam he built a saw mill and later Mr. Wing built on the same dam a grist mill, which subsequently became the property of Mr. Howe. The store follows the mill, then the
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meeting house, (they were not called churches in Puritan New England in the early days), later, came the school house and the nueleus for the village was complete. In view of the preceding, must we not accord to Jonathan Howe the honor of being the father of the beautiful village that has grown around the spot where this mill was planted ?
The energies of Mr. Ilowe however were not to be confined to these mills alone, or to his adopted town. and having established his works here on a firm basis, sought other fields and waters to con- tribute to his service. On a small stream that empties into the Great Androscoggin Lake, near its southern shore, he selects the spot on which to build, and commences the construction of a saw mill that would accommodate the settlers in the vicinity. At his own mill in Wayne, lumber for the purpose was prepared to be rafted across the Lake to its destination. By some fatality, he was unfortunately drowned. The precise date of Mr. Howe's death is unknown, but as the mill property in Wayne was taxed to Joseph Lamson in 1802, it was probably the preceding year. By this sad calamity, Wayne lost one of her most enterprising citizens, cut down in the full vigor and strength of his manhood-but the waters he subdued still flow on. turning the busy wheels,-the little village grown in strength and beauty, doubtless far beyond his wildest dreams, while the name of its founder, if not forgotten, is vaguely remembered like some dim vision of the misty past.
Capt. Rogers, a son of Rogers and Sarah Stinchfield, nee Sarah Babson, was the first white child born in the town of Leeds. His parents, with Thomas Stinchfield. a brother of Rogers, Sen., and their families were the first white settlers of that town, and removed there from New Gloucester in June, 1780. They were born in Gloucester, Mass., and were children of John and Elizabeth Stinch- field, nee Burns, who came from England to this country, in 1734. With their parents they came to New Gloucester in 1756. Capt. Rogers was born in Leeds, Feb'y 9, 1781. Mary Lindsey, his first wife, was born Mar. 21, 1777. They were married June 5, 1799 and settled on the place now occupied by Mr. Cyrus Gould. He became an extensive owner of real estate in and near Wayne village. He subsequently built a large, square, two story house on the site where now stands the dwelling occupied by Ward B. Howard, the same in which Mr. Eliakim Foss resided for many years subsequent to Mr. Stinchfield's removal from the town. He was an owner in the water power and engaged in lumbering and manufacturing from
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1805 to 1814, at which time he removed his family to Robinston ; thence to Marion, Iowa, in 1818, where for many years he was extensively engaged in the Inumbering business. ITis first wife died in Marion, lowa, June 10, 1819, and Sept. 12, 1821, he married Fanny Allen. By consulting the genealogieal department of this book, it will be noticeable that he was the father of 16 children - nine by the former wife. and seven by the latter. In his advanced years, he returned to Robinston, where he died May 31, 1862.
Benjamin and Seth Burgess, brothers, and fifth in descent from Thomas, who came from England, in 1630, and who settled at Sandwich on Cape Cod, came to Wayne in 1794. Benjamin settled first on the place now owned by A. S. George, building a log house about twenty rods south of the present buildings. After living there two or three years he moved to the farm on Beech Hill now occupied by his great grandson, A. P. Wing, where he died June 13, 1852, aged 101 years, 3 months. At the time of his death his descendants numbered 178, 11 children, 67 grand children, 90 great-grand-children, and 10 great-great-grand-children.
Seth Burgess settled in the southern part of the town. He was a signer of the petition for the town's incorporation in 1797; soon after that date he moved to Livermore, where he died in 1815.
Ichabod Burgess, brother of Benjamin and Seth, came to Wayne in 1802 with a family of 6 children, his daughter Celia having mar- ried Renben Besse preceded him and was then living on the place now occupied by F. D. Larrabee. Ichabod came by schooner by the way of Hallowell, and settled on the farm now owned by Adams Morse, and which joined that of his brother Benjamin on the east. He died Dec. 17, 1834, aged 82 years.
William Burgess, son of Ichabod, was born in Sandwich, Mass., May 6, 1784. In early life he followed the sea, his last voyages as mate of the ship of which his brother Thomas was captain. In 1806 he came to Wayne, married Anna M. Jenkins of Saco, and after living a few years on the farm now occupied by Cyrus Gould, he moved to the one on which his son A. K. P. Burgess now lives, where he died Ang. 7, 1862. He was a large land owner in Wayne, a prominent man in both civil and military affairs, serving several years as chairman of the board of selectmen, and being a captain in the State militia.
Simeon Wing, father of the Wayne Wings, was born in Sand- wich, Mass., Nov. 15, 1722. He was a lineal descendant of the emigrant John Wing, who with his wife Deborah-daughter of
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Rev. Stephen Bachelor of London, Eng.,-came to America in 1637 ; first settled at Lynn, and later removed to Sandwich. Simeon's wife, Mary Allen, was born in Falmouth, Mass., March 3, 1726. Mr. Wing was exceedingly prominent in town affairs. They had a family of thirteen children, three of whom died in early life. The names of the others were Eliza- beth, Thomas, Sarah, Ebenezer, Moses, Aaron, Allen, Simeon, Mary and William. The oldest daughter, Elizabeth, was the wife of Job Fuller, who had made a home in New Sandwich (now Wayne). While on a visit to their old home in Sandwich, they gave such a glowing account of the new country the whole family decided to emigrate to it. Date, between 1775 and 1780. It was agreed that the youngest son, William, should remain for a time with the par- ents, and that the other brothers should take up a tract of land and make a clearing of so many acres, and build a house and barn, and when done, William was to have it, together with what the parents should give him, and he should care for his parents in their old age. The brothers chartered a coasting vessel to take them to the Kennebec river. After the vessel had proceeded too far to return, great was their surprise to see the youngest son, William, emerge from a hiding place among the freight. He had left the parents to get along as best they could, while he went to superin- tend the building of his new house. They settled around the pond which bears their name. Thomas settled between the two ponds, and it is claimed he built the first mills on the stream which connects them. He soon removed to Livermore. Ebenezer settled on the east side of the pond. on the farm now owned by Mrs. Ebenezer Norris. He married Mrs. Lucy Bonney, whose maiden name was Chandler.
Dr. Moses, at this date, was in the Continental army, entering it at the age of 16 years. He suffered the loss of a leg. IIe settled first at Winthrop in 1779, but came to Wayne in 1782 and took up the farm known as the Weeks place. He was the first physician located in Winthrop, and there he married Molly, daughter of John and Lydia (Taylor) Chandler. The wife of his youth, Molly Chandler, died Jan. 7, 1788, and later he married Patty Maxim. The children of Moses and Molly (Chandler) Wing, were : Elizabeth, Moses and John.
Dr. Moses Wing was a most able and efficient physician, a Christian gentleman, and held many offices of trust and honor. He practiced medicine until the time of his death in June, 1837. Moses
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Wing, Jr., was born Dec. 6, 1787. He developed into a man of good business ability, and when quite young was established in business in his native town, where he was ever, by his fellow towns- men, regarded as a man of the highest integrity, never allowing the prospects of financial gain to corrupt his high sense of honor or swerve him from the path of duty. As had been his father, he was post master and magistrate. At the age of 26 he represented "The District of Maine" in the legislature in Boston. In 1812 he rc- sponded to his country's call ; in 1813 he settled in Hallowell ; from there he returned to his native town, and in about 1840 he removed to Brunswick, where he died in 1846, deeply lamented, at the residence of his son Samuel. His wife was Clarissa Bartlett Spear, daughter of Samuel Spear of Wayne.
Samuel Spear Wing, son of Moses and Clarissa Spear Wing, was the eldest of 13 children and was born in Wayne Apr. 2, 1809. The earliest years of his life were spent in his native town ; he accompanied his parents to Hallowell, where he was placed in school," attending the noted Hallowell Academy. Later he returned with his father to Wayne, and at the age of 10 years he went with his uncle William Spear, who was engaged in the lumber business, to Brunswick, and soon after became established in business for him- self. During his entire life there he was one of the representative men of the town. Ile met with great losses by financial panics, fire and food. He was called to many responsible positions in his town. He died Sept. 19, 1883, in the honse which in his early manhood he had builded, and which had for more than fifty years been occupied by him and his family. His wife, to whom he was married in 1832, was Mary, daughter of James Cook of Topsham. She survived him eleven years ; her death, occurring May 31, 1894. Of their large family, only four are now living, viz. : Mrs. Mary C. Melcher of Superior, Wis. ; Mrs. Lonise F. Emery of New Bedford, Mass. ; both widows ; Mr. Charles A. Wing of Malden, Mass., and Mrs. Emma B. Chamberlin of Chicago, Ill.
Aaron first took up the place where G. H. Lord now lives. He built a two-story house and a barn on it but sold out and settled on the farm now occupied by J. M. Pike. He was one of the select- men chosen at the first town meeting held in Wayne, Apr. 2, 1798. Ile married Sylvina Perry. They had twelve children. He died in Wayne, Apr. 18, 1841, aged 80. His wife died Dec. 24, 1865, aged nearly 95. Nine of the twelve children were teachers, one, Alonzo, was a student two years in Waterville college. He removed
SAMUEL S. WING.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE.
to Wisconsin, where he held the office of State Superintendent of Common Schools. He was a successful lumberman. Zachariah P. was a physician. Parintha married Capt. Samuel Frost. Eliza Ann married James S. Emery. and resides with her oklest son, Judge Emery.
Allen, son of Simeon, married first, Temperance Perry, who died, leaving a daughter one week old. He afterward married Cynthia Burgess, and by her had nine children. He took up the farm now owned by A. W. Riggs, a great-grandson. He carried on a large farming business, besides building and owning an interest in several saw mills and grist mills. He also completed the meeting house commenced by Isaac Dexter. It was built as a union church, but was afterwards made a Baptist church. His ten children spent most of their lives in Wayne. Simeon, Jr., married Elizabeth Atkinson and had six children. He settled on the place now owned by his grandson, J. M. Wing.
Mary, youngest daughter of Simeon, married Woodin Norris and had five children, viz. : Grafton, Simeon. Woodin, Joshua and Sarah.
William, the youngest son of Simeon, married first, Deborah Besse, and had eleven children. Thomas, the youngest, is still living in Fayette, well preserved at the age of 88 years. Ilis second wife was Lucy Blackstone, who had one child, making seventy-five grand-children of Simeon and Mary ( Allen) Wing. The most of these grand-children lived to a good old age and a large part of them spent most of their lives in Wayne and with their families made up, at one time, a large share of the inhabitants of the town. William was assessor in 1799. He was often in town office.
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