USA > Maine > Saco Valley settlements and families. Historical, biographical, genealogical, traditional, and legendary > Part 94
USA > New Hampshire > Saco Valley settlements and families. Historical, biographical, genealogical, traditional, and legendary > Part 94
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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" His enterprise and knowledge of the law have given him that prominence which a representative lawyer always commands in every community where his talents bring him into frequent intercourse with the general public. Mr. Larrabee is a well-read man of pleasing address, who has made himself familiar with legal and business details, and he makes a study of all business entrusted to him, thus rendering his client's interest his own. By such course he is better prepared to understand the salient points of every legal controversy which his skill, diligence, and tact are expected to untangle and make clear to the minds of a judge or jury. As a consequence of his knowl- edge, persistence, and clear insight of law and the rules and precedents that govern the same, he has in the course of years of unceasing effort built up a fairly profitable business. His clients include many prominent and wealthy men and leading corporate enterprises, that have important interests at stake, where his counsel is deemed valuable and in all respects satisfactory."
VI. JOHN B.,7 b. Apr. 13, 1840; d. aged 11 months.
4. JESSE,6 b. Nov. 3, 1802 ; m. Augusta M. Lord, in 1834, of Kennebunk, and learned the tinsmith's trade. He died a passenger at sea, April 4, 1840, leaving two children, viz. :
I. MARV A.,7 b. in 1835 ; d. May 20, 1859.
1
Jesse Larrabee
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
11. IDA A.,7 b. June 23, 1837 ; m. Dec. 15, 1859, George Carll, Esq., of Kennebunkport, Me.
5. JAMES, 6 b. July 30, 1805, in Kennebunk. He was m. March 24, 1829, to Eunice, daughter of Capt. John and Bethnla Tripp, by Rev. George Wells. At an early age he was apprenticed to Palmer Walker to learn the harness maker's trade. His first wife d. Sept. 16, 1865, and he m. second, Mary A. Knox, of Alfred, Jan. 1, 1868 ; moved from Portsmouth to Alfred that year and worked at his business there till he was nearly 87 years of age. He joined the Masonic order in 1827, and continued a worthy member; also belonged to a lodge of Odd Fellows in Ports- mouth, N. H. He d. in 1894. Five children named as follows :
I. JAMES H.,7 b. Feb. 4, 1830, in Kennebunk. He m. Elizabeth J. Lord, of that town, Dec. 25, 1853, and is now an overseer in the Atlantic Mills, Lawrence, Mass. He served in Company 1, 6th Massachusetts Regiment, in the Civil war. Four children, two of them survive, viz .: Lillian E.,8 school-teacher; Frank S.,8 postal clerk.
II. JOHN T.,7 born Aug. 6, 1831, in Kennebunk, Me. He m. Martha S. Locke, of Portsmouth, N. H., Nov. 2, 1858; served on board the "Omaha" in the U. S. navy, eighteen months; now a resident of Onset, Mass .; harness maker. Four children living, viz .: Charles F.,8 Emma F.,8 J. Edwin,8 and Arthur H.8
III. ELIZABETH C.,7 b. Sept. 9, 1834; m. Feb. 21, 1865, to Jacob W. Hanscom, who d. Feb. 3, 1872, in Portsmouth. Two children.
IV. MARY A.,7 b. Nov. 10, 1837 ; m. Charles E. Newman, of Portsmouth, in Jan., 1862; have three children; live in Farmington, N. H.
v. HELEN A.,7 b. Nov. 10, 1837; d. Mar. 21, 1890.
6. SAMUEL G.,6 b. July 30, 1805; d. Aug. 14, 1806.
7. ABIGAIL,6 b. Dec. 18, 1808; d. Apr. 8, 1809.
8. MARY E.,6 b. Dec. 26, 1809; m. Lewis L. Wormwood; d. Apr. 6, 1859 -on record, "Apr. 8, 1857."
9. JOHN,6 b. May 2, 1811; m. Mary E. Hardin; second, Sarah Butland; third, Mehitable Hanson. His children were: Mary E.," d. young ; Clara,7 living in Saco, unmarried; Sarah A.,7 m. J. J. Johnson, July 14, 1868, d. 1870; and George II.,7 b. 1855, m. Susan Clark, of Wells, harness maker at Kennebunk.
IO. THEODORE,6 b. Nov. 12, 1814; m. Augusta, widow of Jesse Larrabee, who d. Aug. 20, 1854, and he m. second, Sept. 3, 1856, Susan E. Wormwood. He d. Nov. 20, 1863. Children : Joseph L.,7 b. 1843, m. Mary E. Trafton, of Alfred, and lives in Lyman; George H.,7 b. 1845, d. at sea in 1863; Walter IV.,7 b. Apr. 13, 1858, graduated at Harvard second in his class, studied medicine, d. Jan. 14, 1881.
II. ABIGAIL,6 b. Nov. 12, 1814; d. Dec. 8, 1814 (Dec. 15, 1814? ).
LARRABEES OF SCARBOROUGH, ME.
Thomas Larrabee,2 whose name heads this branch pedigree, was another son of Stephen Larrabee,1 who evidently went from Malden to North Yar- mouth, and one of the seven brothers called "loving kinsmen" in the will of
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
William Larrabee,1 of Malden, dated 1692. Thomas is said to have been born in 1660, and in 1681 was a land owner in Scarborough, but at the time of the Indian war of 1686 he retired to Kittery or Portsmouth,* where some of his children were born and married. I have record of the marriage of William and Elizabeth Adams, of date Mar. 30, 1706. We know that William of Scarborough had a wife Elizabeth, but from date of birth of his son here- inafter named there must have been an earlier marriage. Mr. Larrabee re- turned to his plantation in 1721, and on April 19, 1723, while at work in the field some distance from his house was, with his son Anthony, killed by the Indians. This fatal attack occurred on the "ten-acre home lot" where he lived, and his body was buried on the west side of the Black Point road, now a part of the Storer Libby homestead. The old Larrabee house stood near the junction of the Fogg road, where there is now an orchard. A record of the death of Thomas and his son stands on the town book as follows: "The deth of Thomas Lereby and his son Anthony Lereby who was killed by the Ingons April 19, 1723." Mr. Larrabee was a worthy man who experienced during the trying times many vicissitudes, and his loss was deeply lamented by the towns-people. No authentic list of his children has been found, but the seven whose names follow were probably his issue :
I. ANTHONY,8 killed by Indians, April 19, 1723.
2. ELENOR,3 m. Dec. 1, 1715, to Christopher Mitchell, of Kittery.
3. THOMAS,3 m. Abigail Pitman, of Portsmouth, N. H., in that town, May 7, 1715. He was "of Portsmouth " in 1728, and "of Scarborough " in 1731, where the proprietors had granted him land in 1720. Several children were baptized in Scarborough supposed to have been all born to him, but there are families of the name who claim to be descended from ancestors born in Scarborough -and the pension records sustain the assumption - whose names have not been found in either the town or church registers.
4. JANE,3 "spinster " in 1731.
5. HANNAH,3 "spinster" in 1731; m. Benjamin Richards, of Scarborough, Feb. 28, 1737-
6. JOHN,3 m. Mary Ingersoll, of Kittery, Jan. 13, 1726, by whom he had a numerous family, as will appear.
7. BENJAMIN,3 m. Sarah, dan. of Samuel and Abigail Johnson, of Kittery, Dec. 4, 1724, and lived on " Pleasant hill" in Scarborough.} The in- scription on his gravestone in the Black Point Cemetery is as follows : "Mr. Benjamin Larrabee died Dec. 17, 1763, in the 63d year of his
* THOMAS LARRABEE, probably this man, was pressed into the service for "watching and guarding " for two months by John Usher, commander-in-chief of the forces in New Hampshire, at Dover, Sept 29, 1696; was in Fort William and Mary at Newcastle, N. H., between July 7 and 17, 1708, and for two weeks in a scouting party under Capt. John Davis, in 1712. Thomas Larra- bee and family were set off to Stratham, N. IT., Mar. 14, 1715; was proprietor of 120 acres of land in Barrington, N. H., in 1722. He was identified with various real estate matters of which record was made during his residence in New Hampshire. Some of the statements of later date may relate to his son Thomas.
t He was at the destruction of the Indian settlement at Norridgewock in August, 1724. The desire to aveuge the death of his father and brother the preceding April no doubt inspired him to volunteer in Captain Harmon's company. But he did not kill Father Rasle, the French priest who lived there. After the firing had nearly ceased he went into a wigwam where Father Rasle was, with great composure, smoking a long pipe. Larrabee, being more eager for Indian blood than any other, left him undisturbed and went in pursuit of the savages. Returning to the same wigwam soon afterwards he found the priest upon the floor slain by another hand-by Lieutenant Jacques.
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
age. Also Mrs. Sarah, his wife, died Dec. 26, 1789, in the 86th year
of her age." These had eight children, of whom hereafter.
FOURTH GENERATION.
CHILDREN OF THOMAS AND ABIGAIL:
1. ABIGAIL,4 m. James Libby, of Scarborough.
2. SAMUEL,4 m. Sarah Brown, of Scarborough.
3. THOMAS,4 was published at Falmouth, Feb. 14, 1742, with Mary Long. He was in the company of Capt. Thomas Perkers, June 29, 1747 ; set- tled in Scarborough, as appears by records of his children's baptisms :
I. PHEBE,5 bapt. Aug. 12, 1750; m. Benjamin Hunnewell, Nov. 11, 1773.
11. NATHANIEL,5 bapt. Apr. 29, 1753 ; m. - Hunnewell, Nov. 11, 1773.
III. MARY,5 bapt. May 13, 1757 ; m. Zarubabel Hunnewell, Dec. 28, 1775.
IV. DOROTHY,5 bapt. Dec. 28, 1760; m. John Bragdon, Apr. 29, 1784.
4. ISAAC,4 m. Deborah Larrabee, his cousin, of Scarborough, Feb. 5, 1756. In May, 1763, he and wife and three children, with others, embarked on a small vessel commanded by Capt. Buck, for Machias, where they arrived the 20th of the month. Here he built a large double log-house, within eight or ten rods of the falls, and a saw-mill. He was one of sixteen persons who had formed an association for the purpose of build- ing mills and engaging in lumbering operations in Machias. His wife was baptized Dec. 24, 1732. This pair had not less than six children, whose descendants are now very numerous.
5. EZEKIEL, 4 bapt. June 10, 1733; d. young.
6. JOSEPH, + bapt. April 23, 1738.
7. OLIVE,4 bapt. June 12, 1743; m. Joseph Drisco, Nov. 12, 1760.
CHILDREN OF JOHN AND MARY :
I. DEBORAH,4 b. July 24, 1728 ; m. Isaac Larrabee, her cousin, and settled in Machias, Me., where she survived until more than 100 years of age. She was one of the first white women in the township. Her descend- ants are very numerous.
2. SOLOMON,4 b. Oct. 7, 1731 ; m. Elizabeth Winter, Nov. 16, 1752 ; d. Aug. 6, 1759, leaving one child; was buried at Black Point, Scarborough.
I. PHEBE,5 bapt. May 9, 1756; m. Aug. 18, 1774, Joseph Gilkey, of Gorham. Probably the family of this name that removed from Gorham to Harrison are her connections.
3. JOHN,4 b. Dec. 24, 1732 ; d. young.
4. MARY,4 b. April 29, 1736; m. Thomas Libby, Nov. 15, 1753.
5. STEPHEN,4 b. Nov. 3. 1738 ; m. Hannah McKenney, Oct. 16, 1760, and settled in Scarborough, Me. He had seven children, of whom more.
6. PHEBE,4 b. Aug. 26, 1740; bapt. Jan. 4, 1741.
7. EUNICE,4 b. Nov. 24, 1741; m. Nathan Knight.
8. PHILIP,4 b. Mar. 3, 1744; m. Sally Smith, of Berwick, and settled in Scarborough, where he d. Aug. 22, 1823, aged 77. Issue hereafter.
9. JOHN,4 b. Apr. 23, 1746.
10. JONATHAN,4 b. Apr. 16, 1748 ; m. Alice Davis, July 9, 1771, and had
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
children b. in Scarborough. He then removed to Cape Elizabeth, where he remained several years, but finally settled in Durham, Me., where he died Oct. 20, 1836 ; his wife died in 1818. He was a soldier of the Revolution. There were no less than eight children in this family, of whom more presently .*
CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN AND SARAH:
1. WILLIAM,4 b. May 2, 1727, seems to have been a much married man. He was published with Mary Burns, of Falmouth, July 25, 1752 ; they were married. He married Lydia Mitchell, Oct. 24, 1765 ; Lucy Stone, Oct. 29, 1788, and finally, Abigail Dyer. Eight children.
2. SARAH,4 b. June 28, 1729; m. John Adams, Oct. 19, 1755.
3. ELIZABETH,4 b. May 18, 1732; m. John Watson and Robert Hasty (?).
4. HANNAH,4 b. May 18, 1732 ; m. Joshua Libby, Nov. 2, 1755.
5. LYDIA,4 b. Apr. 3, 1736; m. Moses Fogg, Feb. 12, 1760.
6. BENJAMIN,4 b. May 23, 1740; m. Hannah H. Skillings, July 28, 1778. She d. Sept. 26, 1828, aged 81 ; he d. Apr. 17, 1829, aged 89. He was a captain in the Revolution and colonel of the militia; representative to the General Court. He was a solid man of the old stamp, whose life among his fellow-men was very useful. Three children, of whom more.
7. MIRIAM,4 b. Feb. 24, 1744 ; m. Ebenezer Libby, of Scarborough, Mar. 19, 1767.
8. JONATHAN,4 b. in 1748, in Scarborough (pension records), and was at one time a resident of Durham (probably Maine). In 1774 and 1775, he was in Charlestown, Mass., keeping house with his wife Margaret, dau. of Capt. Thomas Wellington, who owned an old-fashioned tavern in Watertown. In June, 1775, he enlisted in the Continental army. His house was burned down during the firing in Charlestown, and his wife with her child in arms took refuge with her mother in the Welling- ton tavern to which the British often came, asking for food. He served in the companies of Captains Stout and Fogg, and suffered many hard- ships. He d. at the age of 58, and was buried in the old Copps Hill Cemetery in Boston.t There were ten children, of whom more.
FIFTHI GENERATION.
CHILDREN OF ISAAC AND DEBORAH:
1. DAVID,5 m. Sally Haycock, settled in Machias, Me., and had issue as follows ; John,6 Jane,6 m. Moses Holmes; Martha,6 m. Samuel Holmes; Rebecca,6 m. James Robbins; William,6 Olive,6 m. Daniel Downing ; Daniel,6 Eleanor,6 m. David Bryant; Hannah,6 m. John Holmes.
* We are not aware that any attempt had been made to trace the connections of this branch of the Scarborough family, and the ancestry of Prof. William II. Larrabee was unknown .- Author. t There is some obscurity about the history of this Jonathan Larrabee. His pension record shows that he was born in Scarborough in 1748. the same year of the birth of Jonathan, son of John, who married Alice Davis and settled in Durham, Me. That Jonathan had a son Jonathan wbo married Phebe Davis, by whom issue. This other Jonathan had a son of his name whose wife was Mary Davis. One more coincidence was this: Jonathan, son of John, lived in Dur- ham and Jonathan under notice, designated son of Benjamin, according to pension record, was also at one time in Durham, but whether in Maine or New Hampshire we are not informed. It is conjectured that this Jonathan drifted away from Scarborough when young and did not re- turn. It may be that this Jonathan was in some way connected with Capt. John Larrabee, of Castle William, of Boston. Rhoda, daughter of this Jonathan, married James Greenwood, of Boston, and one of the executors of Capt. John's will was his "much respected friend, Capt. Nathaniel Greenwood." I leave these clues for what they may be worth to future genealogists.
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
2. JOSEPH,5 bapt. in Scarborough, Oct. 31, 1756; m. Jan. 17, 1816 (?) Phebe Libby, settled in Machias, and had children named as follows : Joseph," Isaac," George," Isaiah,6 Archibald,6 Jane,6 m. Benjamin Rice ; Rebecca,6 m. Enoch Libby ; Daniel,6 Abigail,6 m. David Colson.
3. EUNICE,5 bapt. Feb. 5, 1756 ; m. Benjamin Pettigrew ; lived in Machias.
4. ABNER,5 m. Jane Chase, lived in Machias, and had issue: Deborah,6 m. Joseph Colby; Phebe,6 m. Daniel McGuire; Lucy,6 m. Benjamin Johnson ; Thankful,“ m. Joseph L. Carter; Delana,6 m. Joel McKenzie; Hannah,“ m. Hiram Johnson; Betsey,6 m. George Pettigrew.
5. PATTY,5 m. Nathan Libby, and her dau. Hannah m. John Larrabee and Sally m. Daniel Larrabee.
6. MOSES,5 m. Sally Sanborn, settled in Machias, and had issue : Abraham, 6 Stephen," Susan,6 m. James Wood; Hannah,6 m. Daniel Merrett; Seth, 6 Lavinia," Mary,6 m. Samuel Kenney; Phebe,6 m. Daniel Smith, and had Sally, m. William Larrabee.
CHILDREN OF STEPHEN AND HANNAH:
I. SOLOMON,5 m. Lucy Dram, and with his five youngest children emigrated to Ohio, about 1818. His children were : Hannah,6 m. - Witham, of Minot ; Sally," m. - Hackett, of Minot; Edward," Samuel,6 Lucy,6 and Mercy.6
2. STEPHEN,5 had children named Mary,6 m. Moses Libby, of Danville, Me .; Asenath,“ m. - Freeman, of Portland; Dennis,6 died at sea ; Dorothy,6 Stephen," Priscilla," John II'., Fanny," married George Hame, of Portland.
3. JACOB,5 b. in Scarborough ; m. Jane Meserve, Sept. 24, 1793, settled in the "Pejepscot country," afterwards Danville, now Auburn, Me. His children were, Keziah," William,6 settled in Hartland; Stephen," b. 1799, lived in Auburn ; Jacob,6 lived in Auburn, d. June, 1886; Abner,6 lived in Auburn, d. in 1882 ; Hannah," Margaret,6 and Jane.6
4. JOSEPH,5 m. Abigail McKenney, of the old Scarborough stock, and set- tled in Danville, now Auburn, where his children, named as follows, were born :
I. ISAAC,6 b. 1799: m. Rebecca Adams; d. 1861.
II. JOSEPH,6 b. 1801 ; m. Charity Littlefield ; d. July 15, 1872.
III. SALOME,6 of whom no record.
IV. STEPHEN,6 b. in 1803 ; m. Bethia Hall, and lived in Parkman, Me .; d. in 1873.
V. HARRIET," b. in 1805 ; m. Nathaniel Raynes; d. in 1880.
VI. HANNAH,6 b. in 1807 ; m. Daniel McDaniel.
VII. DORCAS,6 b. in 1809 ; m. Miles King, of Dexter, Me.
VIII. JACOB,6 b. in 1811 ; m. Mary Philbrick, and settled in Litchfield, Me.
5. MOSES,5 b. in Scarborough, in 1775 ; m. Eunice Martin, and settled at Black Point, in his native town: in 1802 he removed to Danville, where he resided until early in 1834, when he went to No. 6 Range, Penobscot county, now the town of Carroll, where he died. Seven children :
I. PAMELIA,6 b. in Scarborough, Nov. 19, 1800 ; m. in Springfield, Me.,
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
Phineas S. Woodman, of Belfast, and had four children ; d. Oct. 8, 1885, in Springfield.
II. HIRAM,6 b. in 1803; d. in Carroll, Me., in 1840.
III. EUNICE,6 b. in 1806; m. Nov. 20, 1832, to Joseph Larrabee, who d. in Medford, Mass., Jan., 1892.
IV. MOSES,6 b. in 1811 ; d. in Carroll, Me., in 1862.
v. JOHN,6 b. in 1814; m. Harriet M. Martin, and resides in Carroll, Me. He has several children, of whom more.
VI. EMILY,6 b. in 1816.
VII. MINERVA,6 b. in 1820; m. Samuel Clark.
6. ISAAC,5 had children named Mary,6 Stephen," Eunice,6 George,6 Annie." 7. MARY.5
CHILDREN OF PHILIP AND SALLY :
I. JOHN,5 b. Aug. 5, 1769 (records have it Nov. 5th); m. Susan Andrews, b. Dec. 10, 1774, d. Oct. 5, 1854. He settled in Wales, Me. He d. Apr. 7, 1854. Eleven children, of whom more.
2. SARAH,5 bapt. Jan., 1773; m. Ivory Killburn, Dec. 29, 1796.
3. BETSEY,5 bapt. Aug. 26, 1776; m. Steven Seavey, Sept. 30, 1798.
4. GUINNE,5 bapt. Nov. 9. 1778.
5. ANNA,5 bapt. Oct. 2, 1780; in. John Meserve, Mar. 24, 1802.
6. CAPT. DANIEL,5 b. July 4, 1782 ; m. Mary Quimby and settled at North Scarborough, where he d. June 6, 1864, aged 81. He was captain in the war of 1812 ; his wife d. at the age of 70 years and 3 months. Six children, of whom hereafter.
7. PHILIP,5 bapt. Oct. 3, 1784 ; m. Polly Grant and lived in Gorham, Me., where he d. aged 87. He had a son James.6
8. EUNICE,5 bapt. August 23, 1787 ; m. Thomas Weymouth and lived in Webster, Me.
9. HANNAH,5 bapt. Dec. 20, 1789.
10. PHEBE,5 bapt. Feb. 18, 1792 ; child of Philip and Hannah.
CHILDREN OF JONATHAN AND ALICE:
1. JOHN,5 bapt. Sept. 27, 1781, in Scarborough.
2. ICHABOD,5 bapt. Sept. 27, 1781, in Scarborough.
3. EUNICE,5 bapt. Sept. 27, 1781, in Scarborough.
4. MARY,5 bapt. Sept. 27, 1781, in Scarborough.
5. WILLIAM,5 lived in Durham, and had children named Mary,6 Martha," and Emeline.6
6. JONATHAN,5 b. April 21, 1782, in Scarborough ; m. Phebe Davis, his cousin, Oct. 20, 1809 (she b. Nov. 20, 1788, and d. Oct. 16, 1869, in Mexico, Me.), and settled in Durham. He removed to Hartford, where he d. Feb. 12, 1853. He had issue, thirteen children, all born in Durham, Me., of whom hereafter.
7. CALEB,5 settled in Bowdoinham, where he was living in 1834, but I have not reached any descendant with my letters.
8. JOANNA,5 m. a Roach, and has connections in Auburn, Me.
M.C. dansalie
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
Prof. William Clark Larrabee,6 grandson of Jonathan + (10), was born in Cape Elizabeth, Me.,* Dec. 23, 1802; m. Sept. 28, 1828, to Harriet, eldest daughter of Col. William Dunn, of Poland, and died in Greencastle, Ind., May 4, 1859. By this union there were four children, of whom hereafter.
From the seventh year of his age to the seventeenth he lived with his Uncle Jonathan and grandfather in Durham, where he assisted in cultivating the farm, attending the district school in summer and winter, and earned a little money by working for the neighbors and picking berries. He began to attend Methodist meetings when eight years old, was converted under the preaching of Rev. Daniel Plummer and others, and began a devout Christian life. In 1818 he walked to Strong, seventy miles distant, and engaged to work for Dr. John L. Blake till he should be twenty-one years old. Eliphalet Clark, after- wards an eminent citizen and physician of Portland, was at Dr. Blake's as a student of medicine, and a life-long friendship was established between the two young men. In recognition of this attachment and encouragement re- ceived from Mr. Clark, he assumed the name of Clark as a middle name.
Feeling impressed that he was called to preach, he was given a license to exhort, and made his first effort to preach in June, 1821. He entered upon the course of study prescribed for candidates for the ministry by the M. E. church, helping himself forward by teaching; attended for one term the academy at Newmarket, N. H., and in the fall of 1823, while teaching in Wells, was advised by the Rev. Moses Greenleaf to take a college course. By private study and a term at Farmington Academy he was prepared to enter the Sophomore class of Bowdoin College at the commencement of 1825. He was graduated from this institution in 1828, second in a class of twenty. While a student in college he taught school during vacations in Poland ; and during two terms of his junior and senior years labored as an assistant, and after the failure of the principal, Zenas Caldwell, as acting principal, in the Maine Wesleyan Seminary.
After graduating he was principal of a newly established academy at Alfred and spent there two happy years. On the opening of the Wesleyan Univer- sity, Middleton, Conn., in 1830, the president elect, Dr. Wilber Fisk, not being able to take personal charge at once, he was appointed tutor with actual charge of the school, and taught the first class of five or six freshmen with twenty preparatory students. The next year he was elected principal of the Oneida Conference Seminary, Cazenovia, N. Y. Here he became, in 1832, a member of the Oneida conference of the Methodist Episcopal church - technically, though never practically, an "itinerant" preacher. After four years of remarkable success as a teacher at Cazenovia, Mr. Larrabee was called to be principal of the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, to succeed the Rev. Merritt Caldwell, who had accepted a professorship in Dickinson College. The seminary had been a manual labor school, but never financially success- ful as such. Mr. Larrabee assumed the full management, paying all expenses
* The Larrabee homestead was on Barren hill, in Cape Elizabeth, on the left side of the road leading from Portland, some three miles out, where the cellar depression could be seen a few years back. The father of Prof. William C. Larrabee, a seaman, was lost on the ocean or died on shore about the time of his birth. His mother became the wife of Captain Small, of Cape Elizabeth, and had two daughters; one of them, Eunice, married a Mr. Fickett, of that town, where a son Joseph, a teacher in the Portland schools and a prominent citizen, now resides and with whom his aunt, Dorcas I. Small, has made her home. The mother of Prof. Larrabee died April 11, 1852; she is spoken of as a mnost estimable woman, held in great esteem by her children and grandchildren.
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LARRABEE FAMILY.
and receiving all the revenues. His career here brought him a high reputa- tion as an educator, but caused him financial embarrassment.
He was engaged as assistant in the geological survey of Maine under Dr. Charles T. Jackson, in 1837-38; and was appointed chaplain of the Regiment of Artillery in the ist Brigade and 2d Division of the state militia, and a director of the Maine Insane Hospital, in 1840.
Mr. Larrabee was a delegate to the general conference of the M. E. church, which met at Baltimore in 1840. There he became acquainted with persons who were interested in founding a Methodist college in Indiana. He was afterwards elected professor of mathematics and natural science in the Indiana Asbury University. Greencastle, and removed to that state in 1841. Serving as acting president of the institution in 1848-49, he introduced considerable reforms in the course of studies, making it systematic and bringing it up as near as the conditions of scholarship in the state would allow to the standards of the older colleges. In 1848, he served as a member and secretary of the board of visitors of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was offered and declined important positions in several institutions of learn- ing, among which were the presidency of the Iowa and Indiana State Uni- versities.
In 1852 he was appointed editor of the Ladies' Repository, a Methodist monthly magazine, published at Cincinnati, Ohio, to which he had long been a leading contributor. He declined this position, taking care of the magazine, however, for six months, till a permanent editor could be installed, to accept the Democratic nomination as the candidate for state superintendent of public instruction of Indiana. He was elected and spent his term of two years in organizing the school system of the state from the foundation, in conformity with the provisions of a new law. He was defeated as candidate for re-elec- tion in 1854, under the impulse of a general political revolution. Having in the interval been appointed superintendent of the Indiana institution for the blind, he was elected, in 1856, state superintendent of public instruction for a second term. The former school law had been decided unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and his second term was largely devoted to re-construc- tion of the school system under the provisions of the amended law.
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