Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 131

Author: Kingsbury, Henry D; Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York, Blake
Number of Pages: 1790


USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892 > Part 131


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Alexander Hall, born in 1820, is a son of John Goff, and grandson of Ebenezer Hall, who came to Vassalboro in 1808 from New Castle, Me., and bought seventy-three acres of land of Asa Webber, which is included in Mr. Hall's present farm. Mr. Hall, always a democrat in politics, has been selectman since March, 1887. His wife, Mary E., daughter of George Cox, died, leaving one son, William A. Hall.


Isaiah Hawes, born in 1827, is the only son in a family of twelve children of Isaiah and Desire (Collins) Hawes. Isaiah, sen. (1777- 1852), was the son of Eben Hawes, of Yarmouth, Mass., and came to Vassalboro in 1809. His brother, Prince Hawes, father of Rev: Josiah T. Hawes, of Litchfield, came from Yarmouth, Cape Cod, in 1802. The present Isaiah Hawes married Lucy T. Hatch and has five children: Edwin A., Delia C., William I. (now in California), Harry P. and Alice M. Their residence was built by Dea. James Thacher, on the farm where the original Charles Webber first settled.


Sumner Hunt, who came to Vassalboro in 1888 and purchased the Moses Taber place, was born in Thorndike, Me., in 1829, where lived his father Ichabod (1790-1883). His grandfather was Ichabod Hunt, of Gorham, Me., and his great-grandfather was William Hunt, of Eng- land. Mr. Hunt is largely interested in the nursery business, having nurseries in the towns of Benton, Winslow, Pittsfield, Unity and Free- dom. On his farm is the building-then the house-in which General Arnold was entertained in 1775, while his soldiers were repairing the broken bateaux on the Sidney shore.


ORRETT J. HUSSEY, born in 1861, is a son of Jeremy Hussey, men- tioned at page 1114. He married Mabel, a daughter of Melvin C. and


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Roxanna (Merrill) Appleton, and granddaughter of Joseph Appleton, who was born in Vermont in 1780, and came from Belgrade to Vas- salboro about 1815, settling on O. J. Hussey's present farm. They have three children: Harold O., Anna May and Lenora M. The gen- eral view in the accompanying plate is from the elevation northwest of the buildings and overlooking Webber pond and the hills to the eastward. In the left background may be seen also the roofs of the town farm buildings. Mr. Hussey has been engaged in pressing and shipping hay for several years and in the fall of 1892 purchased with his cousin, S. E. Dodge, the mercantile business of the Ward Brothers at Vassalboro.


Charles H. Jepson, of North Vassalboro, one of the proprietors of the shoddy mills at South Winslow, was born in China, Me., in 1833, and four years later came with his Quaker father, Jedediah Jepson, to Vassalboro, where he subsequently learned the carding business in the old woolen mill, where he began work in 1844. In 1871 he went to Lisbon Falls, and for eight years was overseer of the card rooms of the Worumbo Mills. He married Lucy Clark, of China. Their only daughter, Emma E., is Mrs. Samuel S. Lightbody.


Stephen Lawton, born in 1821, married Mary R. Seward, daugh- ter of John and granddaughter of Giles Seward, of Seward's Mills, and has one daughter-Lizzie E. Mrs. Lawton's only brother is John Seward, of Wheatland, Cal. Mr. Lawton is the son of Jonathan, who was born in Dartmouth, Mass., and in 1813, while on his way to Read- field with goods to pay for a farm, was captured with the vessel by British privateers: he was put into a boat with his wife and two chil- dren and made his way up the Kennebec, settling in Windsor, where he became a public man, and where Stephen was born.


Alfred Lee, a dairy farmer, born in 1827, came to Vassalboro with his father, John (born in Phippsburg), from Edgecomb. He is the only survivor of a family of seven children, six of whom came with the parents in 1837. His grandfather, John Lee, came when a lad to Phippsburg with his father, from England. Mrs. Alfred Lee is Nancy J. Goodwin, a daughter of Major Benjamin Goodwin, of Dresden. Their children are: Ada M. (Mrs. Rev. R. M. Peacock); George A., who married Immogene Estes, and at his death left one child, Marion P. Lee; Belle I. (Mrs. C. C. Langley) Clarence, Carrie C. (deceased), and Herbert H. (deceased).


Frank H. Lewis, born in 1840, is a son of Captain William Lewis and grandson of Jabez Lewis, of Yarmouth, Mass. The captain went to sea at fourteen years of age, was master at twenty-two, was in Texas during the Mexican war, and about 1860 retired to the farm where his son, Frank H., now lives. The residence was built about 1808 by John Cook, the settler. Frank H. Lewis was a carpenter and builder some twenty years prior to 1881, when he succeeded his father on the


RESIDENCE OF Mr. ORRETT J. HUSSEY, VASSALBORO, ME.


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homestead farm. His wife is Jennie Ives. They have six children: William W., Frank H., jun., Charles A., Edna C., Linwood P. and Jesse.


Greenleif Low, born in 1817, is a son of Stephen and Anna (Stack- pole) Low, and grandson of Captain Jonathan Low. He married Ann R., daughter of the late Asa Smiley, of Sidney, and has two sons: Asa S. and George G. Captain Jonathan Low came from Marshfield, Mass., and about 1783 married - Blanchard, whose father had settled south of Remington Hobby's place. Greenlief has been six years first selectman, and several years school supervisor.


William E. Lowell, son of William, jun., and Jemima (Maxim) Lowell, of Wayne, and grandson of William Lowell, of Bath, was born at North Monmouth in 1825. His grandfather, William, removed from Bath, in 1812, to Winthrop, where he lived and died. William E., after forty years' residence in Augusta, where he wrought as a stone-cutter, came in 1885 to Vassalboro, purchasing the farm where Benjamin Farnham first settled. He was married in 1854, to Mary H. Cogswell. She died in 1881, and in 1885 he was married to Abbie R. Leighton, of Augusta. His three children are: Hannah (Mrs. Charles Bailey), Frank L. and Mary (Mrs. Ellsworth Dow).


Charles J. Marden, who was born in Bangor in 1847, and died in Vassalboro in 1888, was a soldier in Company F, 14th Maine, from February 22, to August 28, 1865. His widow, Sarah H., is a daughter of Harrison and granddaughter of Abner Taylor, from Cape Cod, who made an early settlement at Priest hill, where Mrs. Marden was born. Her present brick residence, in the central part of Vassalboro, was built by the Dutton family. Mr. Marden left two daughters: Rose B. and Olive S.


Alvin Marshall, a son of Daniel Marshall, was born in 1808 and died in 1868. He married Sarah J., daughter of Thomas Sherburne, of Readfield. They had six daughters, three of whom are living: Mary E. (Mrs. Nathan Hall, of Waterville), Blanche R. and Alvinna E. (Mrs. Herbert H. Butterfield). Mr. Marshall was a farmer and very active in church work as a Methodist class leader.


Alonzo Moores, a son of James and Olive, and grandson of David Moores, was born in Pittston in 1817. His father's father came from New Bedford to Pittston. His mother was a daughter of Ansel Tay- lor, of Yarmouth, Mass. His wife is Sarah N. Chadbourne, of North Berwick, Me. Their children are: Lewis M. (a clerk in a government department at Washington), Hannah L., Augusta S., J. Aubert, Nellie M. and William H.


William Murray, the hotel man at North Vassalboro, is a native of Montville, Me. His father, Jonathan Murray, who raised eleven chil- dren, was a house carpenter-a man of great physical force, an ardent Baptist and Bible student. He was born in 1771 and died instantly at the age of ninety-five. William Murray has been trial justice


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since January 7, 1880, and held the postmastership at North Vassal- boro under President Cleveland. He married Sarah J. Mclaughlin, of Freedom, and has two children-Charles E. and Emma B.


Charles C. Nash, house-carpenter and farmer, who was born in Sidney in 1816, came to Vassalboro in 1847, and now owns on the river road a part of the place where Nathaniel Doe first settled. He married Julia A., daughter of Nathan Taylor, of Winslow. Their adopted daughter, Nettie H., who graduated at Oak Grove Seminary in 1878, is Mrs. Ora A. Meader.


T. B. NICHOLS .- A widely respected citizen, and a prominent and influential member of the Society of Friends was Thomas B., son of Stephen Nichols, of Vassalboro. He was born on his father's farm in East Vassalboro, in January, 1813. He received a sound education, and taught school at intervals for several years in different parts of Maine and Massachusetts. When a young man, he went to Lynn, Mass., where he met and married, in 1841, Rachel B., daughter of David Holder, of Bolton, Mass. The year previous to his marriage he purchased the farm adjoining his father's, and built the house in which he lived until his death.


His only son, David H., born in 1842, was a promising young man who graduated from Haverford College in 1865, and the same year entered Harvard University, but who, a few weeks after his matricu- lation, was cut off by a brief fever, in the flower of his young man- hood.


Ruthanna H., the only daughter of Thomas B. and Rachel B. Nich- ols, married in 1889, John Franklin Washburn, of Worcester, Mass., the only child of John N. Washburn, of China. They, with his daughters, Alice W. and Nettie G., now occupy the old homestead with her mother.


Thomas B. Nichols began mercantile life in 1843 as a dealer in country produce, making eggs a specialty. His business flourished, and he employed a number of men and teams in collecting the prod- uce which he bought and shipped to Boston, Providence and other New England markets. He was distinguished as an honest, upright man in all his dealings, punctual to his promises, just in the payment of his debts, and always unselfishly considerate of others in his busi- ness transactions. He shone more in private than in public life, how- ever, and was more widely known as a consistent Christian character than as a merchant. He was a pillar of strength in the Society of Friends, and his widow, who survives him, still carries on the good work he began. Their home meeting was at East Vassalboro in the building shown in the illustration at page 276; and for forty years he was a minister and earnest, devoted gospel worker, both within and without his own church. Though a very humble man, he had the courage of his convictions. He traveled much in New England as a


Thomas J3 Nichols


PRINT, E. BIERSTADT, N


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minister, visiting not only his own people, but penal institutions and the sick and afflicted in all places. In 1866, accompanied by his wife, he traveled in gospel work in New York, Ohio and Indiana; and in 1868 they labored in Maryland and North Carolina. He also traveled in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, accompanied by Hartwell A. Jenkins, of China. He was an earnest Sabbath school worker from early life, having organized and conducted, in 1844, the first Sabbath school in this vicinity, at the Hobbie school house in Winslow. He was also a frequent contributor to the papers of his own denomination as long as his failing strength permitted. The last years of his life were passed quietly about home. The months of invalidism, in which health and disease alternated, were calmly spent, with no anxiety for the future, knowing that the Lord whom he had served with a zeal according to knowledge "doeth all things well." He entered into rest December 30, 1889.


His wife, Rachel B. Holder, who still survives him, was born of Quaker parents, and is a direct descendant from Christopher Holder. During all her life in this county, she has lifted willing hands and an earnest voice to promote the best interests of humanity, holding im- portant positions in the church, and for many years has been an ac- knowledged minister of the Society of Friends.


George Nowell, born in 1818, is a son of George (1777-1868), and grandson of Major Ebenezer Nowell, who lost an arm in the revolu- tionary war, and is buried at Berwick, Me. George Nowell, sen., mar- ried Winifred Parker in 1800, and in 1806 came to Vassalboro. He later moved to Winslow, where he was a farmer, and where he died. Of his family of ten children but four survive: George and Jonathan, and two daughters. George married Mary J., a daughter of Francis Wyman, in 1849, and settled the same year where he now lives, on the farm settled by Peter Pray. He was constable and collector many years, and also served as selectman. Jonathan Nowell, born in 1820, married Mary J. Wilson, of Topsham, Me., and has one daughter, Liz- zie, now Mrs. George Homans.


William H. Pearson, born in 1813, is a son of Captain William Pearson, who came from New Hampshire to Waterville in 1816. The captain's father was Major Edmund Pearson, of Exeter, N. H. After a business career at Waterville, William H. came to Vassalboro in 1861. His wife, Hannah P., is a daughter of Edmund Pearson, jun. Their children are: Ella S., Henrietta M., Mary E. (Mrs. George L. Bailey), William C. and James H. Pearson. Mr. Pearson has served the public in various minor offices and is a well known contributor to agricultural journals.


J. Frank Perkins, born in Dresden in 1847, is the only son of Ed- win (born in 1815) and Helen (Meservey) Perkins, and grandson of Zebediah Perkins, of Dresden. Edwin came to Vassalboro in 1860,


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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.


settling east of Homan Corner, where he was a farmer, and where he died in 1882. One of his four daughters (all dead), Clara, married Artemas S. Atherton, and at her death left two sons, D. Frank and Shirley Atherton.


William Perkins, son of Daniel, and grandson of Jonathan Perkins, was born at Strafford, N. H., and married Sarah, daughter of Dea. James Johnson, of South Berwick, Me. In 1856 they came to Vassal- boro, where William's two sons-Charles S. and George S .- reside. Charles S. Perkins was born in 1856, married Laura, sister of Seth B. Richardson, and has one daughter, Grace.


John C. Perley, born in 1821, is a son of Israel Perley, of Winthrop, who settled at Seward's Mills in 1830. Israel was born in Roxbury, Mass., where his father, Amos, and grandfather, Francis, lived. Fran- cis was the grandson of Thomas Perley, the first of the family in America. Mrs. John C. Perley was Eunice Meiggs. Their children are: Charles I., Anna M. (Mrs. Dana B. Marden), Carrie (deceased), and Alice M. (Mrs. Elmer Randall). Charles I. married Clara Richardson and has four children: Edith C., George A., Fred B. and Anson M. Perley.


Charles E. Pierce, son of Benjamin, grandson of George, and great- grandson of Pelatiah Pierce, was born in 1859. He married Minnie Warren, daughter of Ambrose, and granddaughter of Jared Warren, and has one son, Benjamin S. Pierce. His farm is the birthplace of Judge Whitehouse.


James C. Pierce, born in 1819, is a son of Luther (1784-1861), and grandson of Samuel Pierce, who came from Dedham to Augusta and later, in 1801, removed to Windsor. Mrs. Pierce is a daughter of Ed- mund Cates. They have one child, Annie May (Mrs. Henry A. Priest). Mr. Pierce was engaged in a lumber business, and from 1854 to 1873 was in the tannery with William H. Cates, Vassalboro.


The Pope family here descended from Ebenezer Pope (1780-1834), son of Elijah Pope, a blacksmith, of Windham, Me. Ebenezer mar- ried Sarah Chase, of Unity, in 1804, settled in Vassalboro, and raised seven children: Hezekiah, James, Bethiah (Mrs. Benjamin Goddard), Hephzibeth (Mrs. Jacob Taber), Phebe (Mrs. Jeremiah Jones, of China), Esther B. (Mrs. George Taber) and Elijah Pope. Of these, James, born May 17, 1808, married first, Phebe, daughter of Adam Wing, of Sidney, and second, Content, daughter of Josiah Winslow, of West- brook, Me. She left one son, Edward W. Pope, who married Edith M., daughter of Clarkson Jones, of China, and has one son, Frederick J. Elijah Pope, born 1825, married Susan Maddocks (deceased). Her children are: Albert H., Etta and Frank T. Elijah's second wife, Kate M., daughter of Hallett Crowell, has one son, Ralph M. Pope.


William B. Priest, born in 1816, is a son of Josiah and grandson of Jonas Priest. He married Hannah, daughter of Amasa, and grand-


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daughter of Samuel Taylor, who settled where Albert J. Priest now lives. Their children are: Hiram T. (killed at Gettysburg), Gusta, Alonzo W., Belle and Edward E. Jonas Priest came from Groton, Mass., and built the first house near Priest hill, by a stream west of Theodore W. Priest's present residence.


Daniel H. Priest, born in 1816, married Emeline E. Brown, of Wil- ton, Me. Their children are: Emma L. (Mrs. Alonzo Hamlin), Everett W., Ida S. (Mrs. Mark R. Shorey), Nancy A. (Mrs. J. C. Evans), Effie E. (Mrs. Frank H. Upham) and Charles E. Mr. Priest is one of the four sons of Josiah Priest.


Daniel C. Purinton, a son of Daniel C., came to Vassalboro when a boy, in 1825, where he lived with his uncle, Joseph Howland, an early settler. He married Mary Whittum. Their two sons are: Charles L., born in 1854, who married Zellar Hamlin, and now lives on the old Pratt place; and Henry W., born in 1855, who married Minnie M. Parks, of Richmond, N. B., and has one daughter, Jessie.


George M. Richardson', born in 1825, is a descendant from Samuel Richardson1, born in England in 1610, came to Woburn, Mass., about 1635, was leading citizen there until his death in 1658. His sixth child, Stephen2, was born in 1649. Francis3 (1680-1755) bought in Attle- boro in 1714; Seth4 (1716-1785) had a son, Seth® (1756-1784), whose son, Silas® (1791-1877), settled in Winslow about 1822. His wife was Ruth Cutting, of Attleboro. Their son, George M., married Achsah D., daughter of Richard, and granddaughter of Richard Handy, who came to Albion from Wareham, Mass. Their children are: Clara J., Ruth C. (Mrs. C. H. Morse, of Randolph), Lester, George D. and Everett.


Seth B. Richardson, born in 1856, is a son of John Richardson (1813-1884), and grandson of Seth Richardson, who came to Vassal- boro from Attleboro, Mass., about 1799, with his wife, Susanna Bal- com, and here built the first house on the Richardson farm, the frame of which was a part of Mr. Richardson's residence until it was burned in June, 1891. Seth and Susanna Richardson had a large family of children. He died in 1856, aged seventy-eight. John succeeded to the homestead and married Hannah Sanborn, deceased. His second wife was Cynthia Cross. Seth B. married Eliza C. Mosher, daughter of the late Elisha Mosher, of China. Their children are: A. Gertrude, Guy M. and James Corey Richardson.


HEMAN ROBBINS AND HIS DESCENDANTS .- The Robbins family was well known on Cape Cod for more than a hundred years preceding the revolutionary war. There Heman Robbins belonged to the host of seafaring men-a characteristic avocation of the inhabitants of that stout arm of Massachusetts from that day to this. For several years before the war many representative families left the Cape and settled in the Kennebec valley, among whom came Heman and his


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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.


family-living a short time in what is now Dresden, but settling per- manently in Vassalboro, on lot 53. of the second range, in 1777, where he built a log house the same year. He had four sons-Thomas, Nathan, Isaac and Heman, jun., the latter born in 1776, in Dresden- and three daughters.


Heman Robbins, jun., married Desire, daughther of James Mathews, an old revolutionary soldier who served in the navy. They settled on the old homestead, where they had six children: Stillman, who lived to be only six years old; George A., James, Isaiah, and two daughters, Elmira and Rebecca.


George A. Robbins, the eldest survivor of this family, whose por- trait appears on another page, was born in 1812. On arriving at ma-


ture years he advised his father to make ample provision for the girls. This he did by giving them the old homestead, where Elmira still lives, also Rebecca's husband, James A. Eugley. She died some years ago. To his three sons the old gentleman gave $20 each. In 1840 George A. Robbins bought his present farm of eighty acres, lot 59, in the second range, on which he erected the same year the comfortable house still his home. The land was entirely wild, but his industry and good management soon made it productive and profitable, adding buildings and modern improvements.


October 26, 1834, Mr. Robbins married a girl of his own age, Ro- setta, daughter of Andrew Bonney, of China, who came from Win- throp to Parmenter hill, before Rosetta was born. He was a soldier


E. A. Rabbim


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under General Jackson and in the war of 1812. Their married life, although not blessed with children, has been a long and happy one. The completion of its fiftieth year was celebrated by a golden wed- ding. Among their many guests were several from Augusta, includ- ing Dr. H. H. Hill, Ira D. Sturgis, Nelson Leighton and Rev. Mr. Gledhill and his wife.


Heman Robbins and his wife were both Methodists, and in politics he was a whig, and later a republican. The son cast his first presiden- tial vote for General Harrison in 1840, and has been a republican ever since that party has existed. He was town collector of taxes for three years, and has settled some estates. He has often been solicited to take local offices, but has always declined.


The cut on the opposite page shows Mr. Robbins' attractive home, where this worthy couple, in serene and happy old age, are enjoying the rewards of well spent and useful lives.


James Robbins, born in 1813, is a son of Heman Robbins, jun., whose father settled on the estate now owned by James A. Eugley. James married Martha Turner, of Whitefield, Me. She died leaving one child, now Mrs. Hartwell Getchell. In 1844 he married Harriet Turner, sister of his first wife. Their children are: Julia D., George, Albert and Ira J.


Oliver P. Robbins, born in 1838, is a son of Howes Robbins (1812- 1889), and grandson of Thomas Robbins, the oldest son of Heman Robbins, sen. Mrs. O. P. Robbins is Martha T., daughter of Isaiah Pierce, of Windsor. They have seven children: Fred E., Mabel E., Frank A., Alice M., Lena P., Ethiel M. and E. Payson Robbins. Mr. Robbins is a farmer and prominently identified with the order of P. of H.


Smith Robbins, born in 1846, is a son of Charles, whose father, Isaac, was a son of Heman Robbins, from Cape Cod. Smith had one brother, Sumner, who was born in 1844 and died in California in 1878. Charles Robbins went to California in 1849 and ten years later re- moved his family there. They all returned in 1862, to Vassalboro, where Mr. Robbins died in 1884, aged seventy-four. Smith Robbins married Florence, a daughter of Captain David, son of Captain Elijah and grandson of Eli Hawes, a farmer, who settled the farm at Cross Hill, where Mr. W. Alvah Austin now lives. Mr. Robbins had two sons: Arthur, and Charles S., deceased.


Samuel Robinson came from Lewiston to Vassalboro in 1798 or 1799. David, the third of his fifteen children, lived at East Vassal- boro.


Mark R. Shorey, boss weaver since 1890, was born in 1850, in Albion. He is a son of Sidney (born 1813), and grandson of Daniel Shorey, who with his brothers, Luther and Phineas, were among the first settlers in Albion. Mark R. came to North Vassalboro in 1868,


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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.


as apprentice in loom repairing for the woolen company. He then learned weaving and was two years at Rock Bottom, Mass. His wife, Ida S., is a daughter of Daniel Priest. Their children are Alton and Adin.


J. Warren Starkey, born in 1825, died in Vassalboro in 1891. His parents were Moses Starkey, and his second wife, Janette, daughter of George Warren. Of their four sons, J. Warren was the youngest. He married Charity Carr. Their four children were: Thomas H., Georgia, Howard and Sarah (Mrs. Carleton Shorey). Thomas H. Star- key, born in 1854, married Agnes Cross, and has two children: Glenn W. and Howard A. Moses Starkey was a Friend minister from Attle- boro, Mass. He bought the home of John Taber, whose daughter, Eunice, was Moses' first wife, agreeing that he would keep the house open to all Friend ministers, as John Taber had done.


John Stevens, of Cross Hill, who died in 1876, was born in 1795, about the time his parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Hillard) Stevens, came to Vassalboro from Gilmanton, N. H. They settled on the east side of the Cross Hill road, opposite the Jethro Gardner place, where Jacob died in 1843, aged sixty-eight. John Stevens taught public schools and was superintendent in the Methodist Sunday school. His widow is Rhoda C. Hilt, from Camden, Me. Of her five children three-Jacob M., Adella C. and R. Rufina-survive. Denman P. (de- ceased) left four children. George W. died in 1855.


Greenleaf W. (page 757) and Frank M. Ward are sons of Franklin and Betsey (Spratt) Ward, grandsons of Abijah, and great-grandsons of Abijah Ward, who was born in 1758 and was an early settler at Ward's Hill in China. Frank M. had been more than twenty years in Nevada prior to 1890, owning large sheep ranches there, when he re- turned to Vassalboro and joined his brother in a mercantile busi- ness. His deceased wife was Louise, daughter of William White- house. She left three children: David, Lulu and Humboldt N. His present wife was Jennie Anderson.




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