USA > Maine > Oxford County > Peru > The history of Peru in the County of Oxford and State of Maine, from 1789 to 1911. Residents and genealogies of their families, also a part of Franklin plan > Part 6
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was not to be restrained for want of literary advantages. Nature endowed him with oratorical and rare ministerial ability. He was able with little study and practice to outdo the majority of institute graduates. He preached extemporaneously with a zeal worthy of the cause. But few divines have been as popular with the masses. His circuit of labor extended from Lewiston to the great lakes and from Sandy river to New Hampshire. His active service in the ministry covers a period of half a century. In addi- tion to social meetings and regular church service, he attended over fifty baptisms, married over four hundred couple and preached over thirteen hundred funeral sermons. Only about one hundred of these were persons of his persuasion, known as Second Advent society. It may be justly said that he was not prompted in his labors by pecuniary gain. On the contrary, like Paul of old. he preached for the love of the cause as did Rev. Woodsum and Rev. Wyman, resident townsmen who preceded him in part. They all got small remuneration of money value, though they were long and faithful in service. God blessed their labors. Nearly the whole town under their leadership became a church going people, who held these ministers in high esteem and showed respect for the Sab- bath. Their teaching and exemplary lives exerted a marked influ- ence on all classes old and young in the development and forma- tion of character. This prepared the people for the moral reforms soon to be inaugurated, and when prohibition became a law. Peru was ready to obey its mandates. The community became noted for temperance and sobriety. Industry and general prosperity followed. No liquor agency in town since the Maine law, when drunken broils and lawsuits ceased. No lawyer tried to live here to practice his profession.
Andrew Abbott, brother of Rev. Alonzo A. Abbott, m. around 1830. Rachel, daughter of John Reddin. Wife d. Dec. 20, 1816. Children :- Sarah Abbott, b. Dec. 8, 1831, in No. 2, m. a Mr. Cole, living in Mass. : Cyrus Abbott. b. Dee. 2, 1839. m. and d. on coast of Maine 20-25 years ago, around 1885. The Rev. Alonzo A. Abbott carried on farming and stock raising on his farm in Frank- lin plantation over twenty years, up to his wife's death in 1904, it being now a part of Peru. Prior to this, his residence was in Peru. He always kept open doors and was noted for hospitality. generosity, affability and scciability. His health failing, among the last of his ministerial services he preached the funeral sermon of Wm. H. Trask at head of Worthly pond Apr., 1903. Rev. Abbott is the last of the old time ministers in this section of
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Oxford county. He was called to his reward Feb. 28, 1909. He has fought a good fight, has kept the faith, hence there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness.
Another Race
Erastus Abbott, b. July, 1817, m. Mar. 21, 1843, Lydia Ann Akeley of Lancaster, N. H. He was the son of Isaac Abbott and Susan Alley, b. Lancaster, N. H. Children :- Geo. Abbott, b. Apr. 20, 1845 ; Erastus T., b. Oct. 17, 1849; Lydia E., b. July 29, 1851; Mary Rosan, b. Ang. 25, 1856; Oreanna E., b. May 3, 1858, died Aug. 17, 1815; Roena S., b. Mar. 4, 1860, m. son of Robert Town- send in Oxford; Tryphena E., b. Apr. 5, 1862, d. Dec. 17, 1883; Julia J., b. Apr. 3, 1864, d. May 30, 1896 ; Albert Winfield. b. Dec. 17, 1866, d. Mar. 19, 1886. Wife, Lydia Ann, d. Feb. 22, 1867. This family came to Franklin plantation, 1852. Erastus m. 2nd, Oct. 9, 1810, Nancy C., daughter of Wm. Piper, and the widow of Thomas Wyman, a soldier in war of 1861. Co. H, 10th Me. Children :- Lee L., b. Sept. 21, 1811; Althea Nancy, b. Nov. 2, 1813, d. Jan. 6, 1875; Fremont Q., b. Nov. 14, 1875. Erastus died Oct. 24, 1905, at his daughter's, Mary R. Oldham. Wife d. Jan. 12, 1906, in Mass.
Mr. Abbott was a useful and respected citizen. By occupation he worked farming and when the melting snow afforded flood of water in his mill brook, he tended a rickety up and down saw mill. No one but a genius can saw lumber well, even, smooth and trne with such equipment. Mr. Abbott filled the place with case, doing the best of work. Daughter Mary R., by 1st wife m. 1st Isaac Hopkins, soldier war of 1861, Co. F. 23d Regt. Me .. Vols. ITe died. She m. 2nd, Daniel Wilson Oldham of Peru. a pros- perous farmer on Ridge road. Farm embraces the Ichabod Ben- son lot. Dan. Bertha E., by Hopkins, m. Sylvester Searls in Wilton. Isaac Hopkins was son of George Hopkins. He d. Apr. 25. 1880. Geo. Hopkins was the son of Peter, Jr., 2nd. See Capt. Peter.
Joseph A. Arnold
Joseph A. Arnold. b. Rumford. son of Samuel, b. Mass .. and Mary (Carleton b. Byron) Arnold, m. 1st Georgie Stevens. Children :- Willard S., b. 1878. m. Dec. 14, 1904, Osca MI. Child (divorced) dau. of John A. Putnam ; Joseph A., b. 1884, m. Apr. 17, 1909. Daisy B. Dwinal of Minot. Wife Georgie Stevens d. 1884, in Rumford. Joseph A. m. 2nd, Nov. 22, 1884, Ada MI., dau. of Win. A. and Nancy Burgess. No issue. Husband d. Nov.
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25, 1904, ae. 57 yrs. Mr. Arnold came from Rumford to West Peru. His first occupation was a village blacksmith. This he followed faithfully and well a few years after his last marriage. Mr. Arnold was an upright. exemplary Christian, a strong pillar in the church, an active useful citizen.
Arnold Bros. are doing an extensive business at the old stand in grain, feed and flour, also carry on a repair shop of carts, car- riages and bicycles. Willard A. has served as town clerk and tax collector a term of years very satisfactorily. Mrs. Ada M. Arnold, a very exemplary lady, has her home in the family and with her sister, Mrs. Ida J. Demeritt at West Peru Vill.
Baileys
Brady and Nancy Bailey. He was b. around 1770 and d. Sept. 19, 1856. His wife d. July 7, 1862. This family was in the township before the incorporation of Plantation No. 1 in 1812. His name first appears on the record of meeting Apr. 6. 1813. Children :- Samuel Lunt, b. July 1, 1:98, m. 1818, Charlotte Brackett, b. 1799, dan. of Maj. Wm. Brackett by 1st wife, d. June 19, 1890; Brady, Jr., b. Apr. 7, 1804, d. July 13, 1813, m. Pub. May 29, 1837, Marinda, dan. of Zadoc Fobes of Peru. Her mother was Judith Roberts, sister to Seth. Her father was brother to Benj. and Arza Fobes. The Fobes family came from Buckfield. Benj., the first settler, came before 1821 with wife and seven child- ren. The children of Samuel L. Bailey were Win., b. Nov. 13, 1818, d. Jan. 22, 1821; Wm .. b. Nov. 19, 1821; Betsey, b. Dec. 20, 1823, d. Mar. 20, 1904, m. Pub. 1851, Henry S. McIntire ; Gilbert Hathaway, b. May 18, 1828, d. Feb. 7. 1894; Lydia Salmon, b. June 23, 1830, m. Adrian, son of Seth Roberts; Cornelius Holland, b. Mar. 23, 1832, m. Lydia Perry in Turner; Nancy, b. May 20, 1834, m. Newton Perry, Res. Turner : Susan Fobes, b. Nov. 7, 1836, m. - Haskell; Emeline Augustus, b. June, 1839, m. Nov. 21, 1861, Wm. Lombard; Samuel Stillman, b. Jan 25, 1844, killed in army, battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 23, 1862.
Grandchildren of Samuel L. Bailey. His oldest son, Win., b. Nov. 19, 1821, is reported to be living in Windham, 1901. He m. Feb. 6, 1850, Emeline. b. March 16, 1818, d. July 16, 1854 dau. of Merrill and Rachel Knight, Jr .* Their children :- Mary Calo- line, b. Sept. 1, 1852 ; Catherine, b. Apr. 16, 1854; Samuel Henry, b. June 29, 1858 ; Frances Jane, b. Apr. 29, 1856.
* Grave of Emeline beside parents in Knight cemetery.
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Gilbert Hathaway Bailey, b. May 18, 1828, m. in the late fifties Ellen Roberts, b. Mar. 18, 1838, d. Dec. 9, 1862, dau. of Benj. and Mercy (Tuttle) Roberts. Child :- Addie M., b. Mar. 25, 1859. Mr. Bailey was a soldier Co. K, 29th Me. Inf. He m. 2nd, Sept. 22, 1867. Maria E. Chandler at Belgrade, Me. No issue. He lived and died at his residence on Water street, Auburn, Me., where he accumulated a good property. He was overseer in the factory a term of years.
Children of Cornelius H. and Lydia (Perry ) Bailey :- Joel Leslie, b. Ang. 1, 1859, m. Althea Davis. Have son, Fred M. : Emma, m. Harvey Verrill; Annie, m. Orin M. Bailey, no issue.
Emeline A. Bailey, m. Nov. 21, 1861, Wm. F. Lombard, b. Harrison, Me., 1834, son of Joseph and Mary Lombard, d. Apr. 3. 1907. Wife d. 1872. Child :- Winnie Frances, b. Apr. 28. 1862, m. Geo. O. Tufts. Living Turner St .. Auburn. Mr. Lom- bard m. 2nd, Mary B. Temple, Lewiston. He served in Co. D, 16th Me. till close of war when he resumed carpenter trade. He helped rebuild Portland after the great fire around 1870. Worked there ? or 3 yrs. ; thence removed to Lewiston where he was fore- man and general manager of the contracting firm of Smith and Miller 6 yrs. His health failing he removed to Limestone, Aroos- took county, where he remained a term of years. He d. at Auburn.
The children of Brady, Jr. and Marinda Bailey were Victoria, b. Mar. 22, 1839, m. Pub. Nov. 11, 1856, Algenon S. Knox; Mans- field Grover, b. Jan. 22, 1843; Leonard Atkins, b. Mar. 25, 1848; Betsey Flavilla, b. May 5, 1853.
Grandchildren of Lydia Salmon (Bailey) Roberts :- Gilbert, Oscar, Ida, Etta Everett. Child of Nancy Bailey Perry :- Edelia, m. Ernest Dillingham. No issue. Wife d. Child of Susan Bailey Haskell :- Lena, m.
Major Wm. Brackett
Maj. William Brackett came soon after the Walker family. His farm lay between Wm. Walker, Jr.'s and Merrill Knight's on the river road, now owned by Evander Bert Knox whose wife is a great grandchild by Brackett's first wife, Betty Walker before marriage. Win. Brackett, born 1752, was the son of Thomas and Mary (Snow) Brackett who were m. 1744 and he was a soldier at Louisburg in 1745. They had sons,-John Snow, b. 1749; William. b. 1752. a Revolutionary soldier : Peter, b. 1:56. a Revo- Jutionary soldier ; and daughters, Mary, Anna and Hannah.
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The above Thomas was a son of Zachariah Brackett and all we can learn of him "he went back to Hampton because of an unhappy marriage to a second wife named Mary Ross in 1741." Zachariah was a son of Anthony who lived on the Deering farm. He was captured there by the Indians in 1676, and afterwards escaped, going to Portsmouth, N. H., where he had formerly lived. At a later date unknown, he returned to the Deering farm and was killed there in 1689, evidently by the Indians. See extract from Indian history.
It may gratify some one to learn that Maine's noted statesman, Thomas Brackett Reed, had this strain of Brackett blood in his veins. His great grandfather, Thomas Reed, married the daughter of Thomas Brackett who was the father of our Maj. Wmn. Brackett. Wm. Brackett's sister became the great grandmother of Thomas B. Reed and there he got his name in full, Thomas Brackett Reed.
From Indian War History
One Simon, an Indian who had taken this name and who was called by his associates the "Yankee Killer," boasted that he had shot many a white man and that he had never failed but once in striking his victim to the ground. Early in Aug., 1676, this Simon, with a party of savages, entered the house of Anthony Brackett in Falmouth. They seized all the weapons in the house and bound Mr. Brackett, his wife, five children and a negro ser- vant. Mrs. Brackett's brother, Nathaniel Mitten, made some slight resistance and they instantly killed him. The unhappy captives were all carried away by the savages. Circumstances indicate that Mr. Brackett had by his fair dealings won the confidence of the Indians and therefore they spared his life and the lives of the members of his family. Brackett occupied a large farm at Back Cove.
There was an ancestor of the Brackett family by the name of Thomas Brackett who was killed at Clark's Point in 1676, some fifty years before the father of Wm. was born. He m. Mary Mit- ton, daughter of Michael Mitton. They had a son Samuel, b. about 1674, who escaped from the Indians. He was carried to Portsmouth to his grandfather Anthony's house. Afterwards he was sent to Kittery, now Berwick, to live with his aunt, Martha Mitton. He m. Elizabeth Botts before 1695. He was a resident of Kittery in 1712, ae. about 67 yrs. He d. at Little Compton, R. I. From him sprang a long line of Brackett families in the towns of Berwick and China.
1
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Maj. Wm. Brackett m. 1st, Betty Walker, b. Kittery Point, Nov. 10, 1761, d. July 9, 1823, daughter of Geo. and Elizabeth (Snow) Walker, and sister to Wm. Walker, sen. Their children here at date of incorporation were Betty, b. 1786; Simeon, b. Aug. 10, 1792; Seth, b. Dec. 23, 1800; Thomas, b. June 9, 1808; Betsey, b. 1818, d. 1827; Miriam, b. 1794, m. about 1818 to George Babb. Thomas was married and had children. He worked at stone cut- ting. He cut the front doorsteps of Chas. H. Kidder's house, for Robinson Turner, Jr., in 1841. Tradition says there was a Polly Brackett who m. a Barber. The mother, Betty, d. July 9, 1823, in Peru.
Wm. Brackett, m. 2nd, June 23, 1825, Judith Smith, a sister to Henry Smith. She d. July 8, 1844. He was the father of Amos and Lewis Smith and others. This family lived in a log house on bank of Stony Brook in 1839 where the house of Alfred B. Walker now stands. They left town soon after. Children :-- Amos Smith Brackett, b. May 1, 1826 ; Cyntha W., b. Jan. 19, 1828; Charlotte and Charles W., twins, b. Aug. 15, 1829 ; Syrena, b. June 4, 1832 ; Peter, b. Mar. 22, 1837; Charlotte, m. about 1818, Samuel L. Bailey, Peru. The writer is indebted to Wm. H. Walker late of Peru for a newspaper clipping containing the foregoing history of the ancestors of Maj. Brackett. The records were compiled by one Alpheus L. Brackett of Everett, Mass., who states that Anthony Brackett, "The selectman of Portsmouth, N. H., in 1640 was probably the ancestor of the Maine families of that name." The above children by 2nd wife, Amos, Charles and perhaps others, settled about Biddeford soon after the home was broken up in 1845. They were there when last known. Further account of Maj. Brackett on another page. His dau. Betty is first on record here in 1821. No further knowledge is obtained.
Simeon Brackett, b. 1792, d. Oct. 30, 1844, m. Aug. 4, 1822, Anna, b. Aug. 6, 1801, dau. of Benj. Fobes by 1st wife, a sister to Stephen Gammon. Children :- Hannah Pride Brackett, b. Jan. 26, 1822, m. Oct. 30, 1842, John H. Morse; Sybil Walker Brackett, b. Apr. 30, 1824. No account of marriage; Willard, b. Feb. 8, 1826, d. Dec. 1, 1852; Betsey, b. Nov. 18, 1827, had two sons, b. Dec. 31, 1849, Edgar Nutting and Edwin Nutting. No further knowledge ; Charlotte B., b. Aug. 15, 1829, m. 1st, Edwin A. Lane .* They had two daughters; Marilla, b. Jan. 5, 1861, and Lena, m. Fred Chase of Dixfield. Lane and wife parted. Charlotte m. 2nd, Harrison Harvey. They lived together a short time and each went their way.
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Nancy Brackett, b. Aug. 2, 1831; Miriam Roberts, b. Apr. 3, 1833.
Alvarado H. Brackett, b. June 21, 1835. When nine years old his father died causing the family to leave their log cabin on the bank of Stony Brook and scatter abroad. This boy lived around in town a few years and when sixteen he worked on a farm at South Paris where writer saw him in fall of 1851. From there he drifted to seacoast and entered coasting service, the last known of him. Bethia Fobes, b. May 11, 1838.
Samuel Bailey Brackett, b. Apr. 18, 1841. He was the last child. His father died Oct., 1844, and his mother left their rude cabin and with this boy went to do house work for Robinson Turner some- time that fall. They continued there till next spring. Subse- quently the boy lived with Barnard Marble in Dixfield where he was favored with common school advantages. Through Mr. Marble's influence and aid he pursued his studies from district to high school and fitted for teaching. He taught a term in his native district during the war with good success. He next fitted for the bar, was admitted and practiced at one time in the vicinity of Biddeford. It is said he was able in his profession. He m. Mary Frances Smith, daughter of Freeman Smith, late of Mexico. He was in the employ of the Bureau of Pensions twenty years in the eighties and nineties. He and his wife came on a visit to Dixfield, Mexico and vicinity in 1892. They came and returned on Wmn. Fernald's stage coach near the close of its service. He then alluded to our playing together 45 years before. His home was in Biddeford where he d. around 1900. No issue. His widow is caring for her mother past four score years (1908) on the home farm in Mexico. Mr. Brackett was held in high esteem for his able and efficient service in the U. S. Pension Bureau. His field of labor was south.
Seth Brackett, b. 1800, m. Oct. 2, 1825, Nancy Starbird. Children :- Almira, b. July 27, 1826; Dwinal, b. Sept. 24, 1828, d. Sept. 24, 1897, m. 1st, Purse Eastman. Their child :- Herbert L.
Henry Willis, b. 1844, d. 1907, m. 1st, Mary, dan. of Calvin Hopkins of Peru. No issue. Married 2nd, Lucretia Doloff, Rum- ford. He and his mother yet surviving on their farm on the Weld road two miles from the village of Dixfield. Henry W. Brackett was a prosperous farmer, here working also at his trade of mason. He was b. in this town. His father and grandfather Seth, were b. in Peru. Children :- Kloss K .; Carrie, m. Bid Waite, son of Byron Waite, Canton Pt .; Nellie, d. ae. 20 yrs. ; Irvin, d. ae. 5 yrs.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PERU
Dwinal, m. 2nd, Olive E. Thompson, dau. of John N., July 1, 1871. Their children :- Margie, b. Apr. 27, 1875, m. John Tup- per, have one child; Ida M., b. May 1, 1819, m. Wm. (. Babb, have two children, Glindon O. and Raymond; Mary O., b. Nov. 29, 1882.
Leonard Valentine Brackett, the 3d child of Seth, b. Jan. 7, 1837, d. Mar., 1900, m. 1869, Eliza Ellen, dau. of Calvin Hop- kins, b. Peru, Jan. 4, 1845. d. 1872, of consumption. No issue. He m. 2nd, Lucinda, dau. of Freeman Smith, Mexico. She d. 1877. No issue. This man followed the trade of mason and brick maker many years. He served the public well in his calling.
Thomas Brackett, brother of Seth, and family lived at the Brackett mansion in 1840. His wife's name was Emma, that is all we can learn of her. Their children :- Emily Maria, b. Apr 9, 1837; Mary Ann, b. Mar. 4, 1839, and twin Angeline, who grew up and married a Hodsdon. Their son lives at Somerville, Mass. Thomas, Jr., b. Dec., 1840; Reliance, b. Sept. 17, 1842. In the fall of 1845 Thomas decided to remove with his family to West- brook. His father was then abont 93 yrs. old and feeble. HG expressed a desire to remain at his old home through life and be laid beside his two wives on the knoll in the pasture. He was promised that he should be brought there when he died. With this assurance he finally consented to accompany the family. He was not buried there. His son Simeon and daughter Betsey were buried there. He came to Peru around 1802, was an important official in public affairs a score of years. He d. at Westbrook aged about 96 yrs.
Babb Family
George Babb, b. 1794, m. 1818, Mariam, b. 1794, dau. of Maj. Wm. Brackett by 1st wife, Betty Walker. He d. Aug. 5, 1878, ae. 84 yrs,, 1 m., 23 ds. Wife d. Mar. 16, 1854, ae. 60 yrs. The heads of this family came from Westbrook or vicinity and with the dau. named were here at date of incorporation. They lived on the farm next north of Wm. Walker, Jr., now the U. G. Lunt place. Their descendants are prominent, prosperous citizens now in town, though but a small portion bear the family name. Children :- Mary Ann, b. Oct., 1819; Maria, b. May 16, 1822, d. May, 1888; Seth, b. Mar. 29, 1824; Wm. b. Nov. 16, 1825, did not m., d. Oct. 3, 1856; Hezekiah W., b. Sept. 11, 1827; Ellen, b. Apr. 6, 1830, name changed to Ella W .; Louise, b. Oct. 17, 1834; George, Jr., b. Sept. 16, 1836, m., d. Mar., 1867, left a son 1 year old, is edu-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PERU
cated, named George Babb; Danville D., b. Jan. 2. 1840, d. Sept. 9, 1842.
Maria Babb, m. July 30, 1843, Ephraim Benson ; Mary Anne Babb, m. Apr. 2, 1844, Elmore Knight.
Seth Babb, m. Dolly K. Peabody of Canton, dau. of Samuel Peabody and Susannah Reynolds, both b. Bridgewater, Mass. He d. April 20, 1901. Wife d. July 19, 1908, ac. 73 yrs., 7 mos., 23ds. Child :-- Clinton Reuel, b. Nov. 18, 1854.
Leroy O. b., m. Bessie M. Purington of Livermore. They are prosperous farmers on the Albert Griffith farm, E. Peru. Their children :- Gladys M., Marguerite L.
Elda H., b. Jan. 1, 1875, m. Dee. 18, 1895, Chas. S. Luce, son of Henry H. and Christiana C. (Hall) Luce, b. Dixfield. She was the daughter of Christopher C., the oldest son of Erastus Hall. Children of Chas. Luce :- Fred, b. May 29, 1902: John Merton, b. Apr. 7. 1905.
Hezekiah Walker Babb, b. Sept. 11, 1822. d. Jan. 10. 1904, 11. Nov. 11, 1849, Mary Ann, the dau. of Perkins and Polly (Pet- tengill) Turner, b. Dec. 11, 1830. Children :- Amos Alphonso, b. Nov. 2, 1855, m. July 6, 1884, Ellen, b. May, 1856, d. Jan. 25, 1905, the dau. of Melville H., b. Leeds and Phebe (Drake) Carver, b. Kingfield. Their dau., Esther L., b. Nov. 17, 1886, m. Oct. 25, 1902, Wm. B. Gillespie. Child :- Winnie Bell, b. Dec. 20, 1903. Ina Lillis Babb, b. Apr. 10, 1885, d. July 10, 1885; Marshall Howard, b. July 21, 1889, son of Amos A. Babb. Ella W. Babb, d. Apr. 5. 1873, m. Aug., 1869, Cyrus Knight, son of Samuel and Olive Knight. He was b. Dec. 29, 1826. They had a son b. Dec., 1871, adopted by George Child at Canton, a short time before the death of mother Apr. 3, 1873. Mr. Child named him George Child and brought him up to manhood. He m. around 1905, Josephine N., b. 1880, dau. of Henry H. and Christiana C. (Hall) Luce of Dixfield. They live at Canton Point. Farmers. He is a good industrious business man.
Louise Babb, m. Mar. 6, 1856, Daniel Reynolds, Canton. He d. May 5, 1872. Wife d. May 15, 1894. Their dan. Lizzie, b. 1858, d. when about 16 yrs. old.
Marshall H. Babb, m. May, 1909, Daisy M. Conant. Child, a daughter, b. Jan. 5, 1910.
Benson Family
The names of Ichabod Benson and wife Abigail Smith are on the early records of Peru. He was b. Oct. 9, 1784, in Middle-
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PERU
borough, Province of Canada, the son of Ichabod and Abigail Ben- son to whom there were b. 5 sons and 4 daughters, as follows: Stephen, b. 1777, the first child known. Both parents were of age this year, indicating it was the year of their marriage. Stephen d. 1852. ae. 75 yrs; Polly, b. July 12, 1779, d. Aug. 12. 1795: ('larisa. b. 1781. m. Capt. Wm. Sweet. b. around 1:22, d. Feb. 1, 1850. They lived, raised up a family and died on a farm, one mile from Bretton's Mills, Livermore. Wife d. Dec. 25. 1818; Ichabod, Jr., the first named above, was next in the order of births : Waitstill, b. 1787, d. Nov. 1822: Abigail Clock. b. 1789, d. Jan. 28, 1846, the wife of Ezekiel Holmes of Winthrop, editor of the "Maine Farmer." He d. in 1865.
Joshua Benson, b. 192. d. Boston Sept. 25, 1871. He is the only member of the Benson family known to writer who accumu- lated a considerable amount of wealth. His occupation was a house carpenter. He married and located on some outskirts of Boston, bought house lots and by his own labor erected cheap cot- tages that he rented to Irish tenants. He followed this mostly through life. By tireless energy and rigid economy he secured when 8? years old more property than all the rest of the Benson family. He had two wives and no issue of either to heir his property. His last wife survived him. She was Irish and in his decline of health and feebleness. she exercised such rigid economy over his diet that it alienated the affection that bound them as man and wife. He had neglected to make a will disposing of his property till this estrangement long existed and the end of life was near. It was at this opportune period that an agent of Bates College found him an easy vietim and managed to seoop in his life earnings. However his wife from some cause became jealous that nothing would be left and got a lawyer to intercede in her behalf, whereby the testator was prevailed to sign a paper giving her the house they lived in. Agreeable to his will he was interred in Wm. Sweet's lot in the cemetery at Bretton's Mills, Livermore. A monument there bears the names and dates of death of his father's family. Ephraim, b. 1794; Seth, b. 1797. No further knowledge.
Family of Ichabod Benson, Jr .- He m. 1st, (date wanting) Betsey Goodwin. They were living May 15, 1808 at Lewiston, Me., when their first child named Betsey was born. Quite likely they m. there 1807.
Betsey grew to womanhood and though deprived of a mother when less than nine years old, she kept the path of rectitude.
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When a young woman she was employed one fall in the family of George Walker doing housework and dressing apples. To show the contrast with wage earners of present day, she got fifty cents per week, pay out of the store (not a cent of money). Her school advantages must have been very limited, yet she was able in 1829 to teach the summer school in the first schoolhouse erected in town. She m. Feb. 8, 1830, Robinson Turner, Jr. The next of her father's family was John Goodwin, born it is said in town of Winslow, March 6, 1810. He m. Oct. 16, 1831, Dorcas Smith, b. 1814, dau. of Josiah and Comfort Smith and Comfort was a sister to Amos Knight. The next was Ephraim Benson, b. Wins- low or Hartford, Feb. 17, 1813, m. Maria Babb; Amanda Mel- vira, b. in Hartford, May 23, 1815, m. Winslow Walker; Abigail, b. Hartford, Feb. 15, 1817. The day following, her mother de- parted this life. Judging the tree by its fruits, we believe the parent mother was a woman of some culture, gentle and sweet disposition, upright and possessed a Christian hope. Ichabod Benson was a member of the school committee in Peru, 1829, and moderator of March meeting 1830. He m. 2nd. Apr. 7, 1829, Abigail, dau. of Josiah Smith, the oldest sister of Dorcas, and settled on the Ridge road. His parcel of land is now a part of Wilson Oldham's farm. His occupation was house carpenter in prime of life. Ile built the Leonard Trask house near head of Worthly Pond where his grandson now lives. Benson's wood carving is in evidence on the Francis Waite house near Waite cemetery. Ichabod's intellectual ability exceeded that of his brother Joshua but the latter was more miserly. Both strove to be exemplary Christian men. The epitaph of cach, cut in marble reads "Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord." Ichabod Benson d. June 3, 1859. His widow remarried April, 1863, Capt. Daniel Hall. She d. Apr. 16, 1882. No issue. She was a devoted wife, a good housekeeper. upright and commendable in all her deportment.
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