Archive:Centennial History of Harrison, Maine

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Moulton, Alphonso, Howard L. Sampson, and Granville Fernald, comps. and eds., Centennial History of Harrison, Maine: Containing The Centennial Celebration of 1905, and Historical and Biographical Matter (Portland: Southworth Printing Company, 1909).

[p. 340]

[Children of James P. and Caroline (Hilton) Bailey, b. Westbrook:]

MARY ANN, b. Oct. 17, 1822; married George F. Whitney of Harrison. (See Whitney family.) She died Nov. 8, 1895.

[p. 374]

[Children of Edward Jr. and Abby (Bartlett) Bray:]

Flora Delle, b. June 14, 1864. She was equally distinguished with her sister for her fine scholarship during all her student years. She graduated from Bridgton Academy in 1884. She was married Jan. 14, 1891 to Dr. Charles B. Sylvester of Casco. Their children: Ruth Bartlett, b. May 8, 1892. Lawrence Bray, b. July 13, 1893. Mrs. Flora (Bray) Sylvester died June 3, 1895. Dr. Sylvester subsequently married Mary Florence Whitney. (See Whitney family.)

[p. 375]

The five children of Nicholas [Bray] 1st, were all daughters, viz.: ... and another who married ----- Whitney of Phillips, Maine.

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[Children of Seth and Asenath (Cummings) Carsley:]

1. Betsy, b. Jan. 5, 1823; married James G. Whitney

(See Whitney family).

[p. 405]

DEA. SETH, son of John [and Martha (Crockett) Carsley], b. in Gorham, July 18, 1782, married

Jan. 22, 1809, Susanna, daughter of Moses Whitney of Gorham, and settled in Harrison, then a part of Bridgton. He subsequently settled on the eastern or Otisfield side of the road and lived there all the rest of his life. It is the same homestead now owned by Charles Roberts. Deacon Carsley was one of the original members of the Free Will Baptist Church and as the first deacon with his noble coadjustor, deacons Bray and Walker, was instrumental in building up a large and flourishing religious community of the denomination. He was greatly esteemed and honored for his piety and firmness as a Christian citizen. His children were:

1. Maria, b. Feb. 2, 1810; died July 29, 1839, unmarried.

[p. 406]

2. Susanna, b. Dec. 11, 1811; married June 13, 1833,

Stephen Blake, and died Oct. 9, 1848.

3. Edmund P., b. Mar. 25, 1815; lived at home; never

married. He was, by trade, a brick mason and plasterer, but worked mostly at farming. He died Feb. 13, 1883.

4. Nathan, b. Apr. 20, 1817; married Elizabeth Whitney;

settled in town, working as a carpenter and farmer. He lived for years on the farm known as the Brackett Woodsum place; now owned and occupied by Maurice Lakin. They had three children: Emily A., b. July 16, 1843; died young. George F., b. Nov. 20, 1845; now living in Aroostook County. John E., b. Oct. 18, 1848; deceased.

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[Children of Marquis D. and Sally (Nutting) Caswell:]

4. Arvilla, b. Aug.9, 1827; married Oct. 19, 1848,

Edward K. Whitney of Harrison. (see Whitney family.)

...

6. John Hubbard, b. May 16, 1833; married Mary Elizabeth

Whitney of Harrison, daughter of Freeman and Mary S. (Gray) Whitney. Mr. Caswell settled in Bridgton as successor to his brother, Francis B., in 1873, and has remained there as a skilled jeweler and dealer in jewelry, watches, and silver and gold merchandise.

BETSY [CASWELL], b. June 24, 1795; married Josiah Whitney, who settled near Caswell's Corner, of whom only the following record is obtainable; married in 1826; he died Nov. 8, 1832, aged 64 years. She died Feb. 4, 1855, aged 59 years.

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[Children of James and Mary (Stickney) Gray, b. Beverly, Mass.:]

MARY, married Freeman Whitney. (See Whitney family.)

[p. 478]

HALL FAMILY.

    ISAAC HALL, who moved from Gorham to Harrison (then Otisfield) was a son of Ebenezer Hall, an early settler of Gorham. He was born in Gorham, May 23, 1770; married Ann Whitney of said town, May 19, 1791, and removed from Gorham to Harrison in February, 1812. He settled on the farm in the northeast section wgere Isaac Hall, Jr., and his son Moses Hall, have lived for nearly a century, and is yet in possession of the last named descendant of the original owner. Isaac Hall, Sr., died February 8, 1831. His wife died March 7, 1830, aged fifty-seven years. The children were:

MEHITABLE, b. Nov. 6, 1793, in Gorham; married Benjamin

Jordan of Norway in May, 1814; died Aug., 1851.

MERCY, b. Jan. 31, 1796; married Capt. Wentworth Stuart;

lived many years at Bolster's Mills; died Oct. 29, 1843.

[p. 479]

MARY, b. Oct. 16, 1796l married Solomon Stuart. (See

Stuart family.)

JOSEPH W., b. June 29, 1801; married Sarah Jordan of

Norway, and settled in town; subsequently lived in Lee, and Lewiston, Me., and finally settled in St. Paul, Minn. Their children were:

1. Albert.

2. Emeline, married Nath'l Getchell of Monmouth.

3. Merritt J.

4. Esther A., married Joseph Crockett of Lewiston.

5. Harriet E., married Rev. Otis Andrews of New Sharon.

6. Charles.

7. Isaac.

BETSY, b. Mar. 18, 1803; married Gardner Chadbourne.

(See Chadbourne family.)

ISAAC, JR., b. Oct. 5, 1805; married 1st, Betsy Cobb; 2d,

Dorcas Titcomb, Oct. 9, 1838. Mr. Hall succeeded his father on the paternal homestead where his children were born. He was a man of quiet, industrious habits, had excellent judgment concerning public concerns of the town, which caused him to be elected as one of the selectmen a number of times. He died Aug.4, 1893. Children of Isaac Hall, Jr., were:

1. Adolphus C., b. June 24, 1832; married Fannie E.

Grimshaw of Galena, Ill., and settled in Centralia, Ill.

2. Rose A., b. Feb. 16, 1835; died Apr. 4, 1885; unmarried.

3. Moses E., b. July 21, 1842; married Harriet A.

Huntress of Harrison. Has occupied the home farm but now lives at Harrison Village.

HARRIET, b. May 4, 1808; died Jan. 17, 1809.

NANCY, b. June 4, 1810; married Jonathan Bucknell of

Harrison. They settled on Burnham Hill. She died July 9, 1855.

HANNAH D., b. in Harrison, Feb. 21, 1813; married Samuel

Stuart. (See Stuart family.)

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SILAS E., b. Oct. 2, 1816; married in May, 1844, Esther

A. Pike of Norway (b. Mar. 13, 1819), died Apr. 25, 1893. Mr. Hall lived in his early married life at Stuart's Corner, Harrison; afterward moved to Norway, and settled in the Frost Hill district, where his family spent the remainder of their lives. They had children: Nathaniel Pike, b. in Harrison. Lucy B., Anna, Isaac Elden.

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[Children of Naphtali 2d and Polly (Nason) Harmon:] Susan; married Daniel Whitney. (See Whitney family.)

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Mr. [Joshua] Howard afterward moved into a log house on what was

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long known as the "Howard place," which was, about 1856, purchased by Jonathan Whitney, and where his son, Charles Andrews Whitney, now lives.

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[Children of Simeon and Hannah (Richardson) Kneeland:]

10. Grinfill Blake, b. 30 Jul 1838; married Mary Whitney of Worcester, Mass. Their children: Harry and Frederick G.

DAVID POTTER [KNEELAND], b. May 24, 1798; married Mercy, daughter of James Watson, of Harrison, Jan. 21, 1817, and settled here. ...

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.... Their children were:

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2. Eunice, b. Nov. 28, 1819; married in Harrison, Oct.

18, 1842, Asa P. Whitney of Bridgton (b. July 10, 1819). They lived in Bridgton, Waltham, Mass., and many years in Harrison and Marshall, Minn. Mr. Whitney was the son of Rev. George W. Whitney of Bridgton, a minister of the Free Baptist Church. He was well educated and in early life was a teacher in the common schools. He was employed for years in a cotton factory at Waltham and Salmon Falls, N.H., but afterward moved to Harrison with his family and engaged in farming, living with the father of his wife. He was a deacon in the Free Baptist church of Harrison while he resided here, and was the clerk of the Otisfield quarterly meeting. Their children: Edward P., b. Nov. 25, 1843; married Carrie Whiting in Waltham, Mass.; they had a son, Edward G. Mr. Whitney died in Harrison, Jan. 25, 1874. Charles C., b. in Salmon Falls, N.H.; married 1st, Mattie M. Boyle, 2d, Millie A. Johnson of Bethel, Me.; he resides in Marshall, Minn., and is a printer and newspaper publisher. Mrs. Eunice (Kneeland) Whitney died in Marshall, Minn., Feb. 12, 1897. Deacon Asa P. Whitney died there Oct. 4, 1907, aged 88 years 2-1/2 months.

3. Seth, b. June 24, 1821; married Mary L., daughter of

Simeon and Mary Whitney of Harrison (b. Apr. 13, 1827), always lived in Harrison, was a good farmer, an and upright Christian citizen. He died Sept. 23, 1898. His widow died Mar. 4, 1905. Their children were: Silas Kendall, b. Mar. 7, 1854; married

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Lizzie Hewey; resided in Lewiston or Auburn, Me. Walter Willis, b. June 11, 1856. Mary Addie, b. Aug. 18, 1858. Ernest Scott, b. Dec. 1, 1861. Arthur Bean, b. May 20, 1867. Zula Augusta, b. Sept. 20, 1869; resided in Harrison, Me.

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[Children of Simon and Sarah (Moody) Newcomb:]

Simon, second son of Simon, born June 6, 1803; married May 4, 1822, Eunice Whitney, daughter of Enoch, who was eldest son of Moses Whitney, a pioneer settler. Their children were:

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JAMES ROSS, b. June 26, 1824; he was a carpenter and

carriage maker; married Dec. 1, 1849, Mary G., daughter of Henry and Hannah Rand; moved to Monroe, Me., and settled there; had three sons: Albert, Frederick and George.

ANDREW HOBSON, b. June 20, 1826; was a carpenter; married

Eliza F. Evans, who died in 1859. He married 2d, Jan. 1, 1865, Hannah, daughter of Joseph and Hannah W. Chadbourne; ressided in Newburyport, Mass.

SUSANNA CARSLEY, b. Dec. 6, 1829; married Calvin Dawes,

who died in 1860; married 2d, Warren Purington; 3d, in 1870, Lowell V. Foster; she had by first husband, two children: Elvie F. and Charles Edgar; by second husband one son: Henry Lemont.

ELEAZER WHITNEY, b. Oct. 16, 1831; he was a carpenter;

married Apr. 28, 1856, Ellen, daughter of James and Ruth (Wentworth) Brown of Brownfield, Me.; lived in Brownfield and Harrison. He served as a private in Co. B, 23d Me. Inf. in the Civil War, from Sept. 29, 1862 to Jul 13, 1863; he lived in Marblehead, Mass., in 1865; Chicago, 1868; Plattsmouth, Nebr., 1869, and has bee since in Soldiers' Home, Los Angeles, Cal.

ABIGAIL LEWIS, b. Mar. 16, 1833; married Albert Bassett

of Amesbury, Mass.; died Apr., 1869; had daughters; Agnes and Adelaide.

SARAH, b. Mar. 30, 1835; married June, 1856, Simon Purington

of Harrison; resides there; no children.

ALBERT, b. June 16, 1839; died Aug. 6, 1840.

MARIA CARSLEY, b. Sept. 5, 1840; died Sept. 12, 1849.

ALANSON MELLEN, b. Sept. 1844; died July 20, 1849.

RHODY ANN, d. Sept. 11, ----.

EMILY JANE; died Sept. 25, 1849.

ALBERT MELLEN, b. Sept. 5, 1848.

    Mrs. Eunice (Whitney) Newcomb died August 29, 1856. Mr. Newcomb married 2d, Mary Richards, by whom he had children as follows:

EUNICE ANN, b. Oct. 20, 1858.

ELLA NORA, b. Jan 7, 1860; died July 15, 1864.

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GEORGE W., b. Sept. 23, 1862; died July 10, 1864.

SIMON OSGOOD, b. Dec. 29, 1863; died July 8, 1864.

ELLA ISABEL, b. Dec. 19, 1865.

NATHAN CARSLEY, b. Sept. 9, 1866.

NORA MELVINA, b. Jan. 19, 1868.

ELBRIDGE E., b. July 31, 1870; married Nellie, daughter of

John and Mary Kilgore of Waterford, Me. They have one son, Walter Newcomb.

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SAMUEL, eldest son of Joseph [and Nancy (Lombard) Stuart], b. Apr. 9, 1809; married

Apr. 14, 1832, Hannah D., daughter of Isaac and Anna (Whitney) Hall of Harrison (See Hall family), and settled at Stuart's Corner, East Harrison, near Crooked River. He was a man of exellent character, trained to farming and other habits of industry, and was noted for his public spirit and his devotedness to the principals of temperance and public morality. He was a captain in the State militia and an honored member of Crooked River Lodge, F. & A. M. His death occurred Oct. 3, 1888. His wife died Dec. 24, 1868. Children of Capt. Samuel and Hannah D. Stuart:

1. Albert H., b. Jan. 4, 1833; married Hannah Towne

of Norway; lived many years in the "Yagger" neighborhood of that town, and died there Mar. 25, 1897. He was for years a travelling dealer in tinware and other domestic merchandise.

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2. Angeline, b. Mar. 16, 1835; married Cyrus Chaplin

of Naples. They reside at Welchville, Oxford. (See Chaplin family.)

3. Wentworth, b, Mar. 31, 1837; married 1st, Zilpha Caswell of Harrison; 2d, Catherine Haskell of Harrison; settled in Oxford and died there Sept. 10, 1900. He served in the Civil War in Co. H, 17th Me. Inf.

4. Samuel Porterfield, b. Aug. 14, 1842; in his youth he was a talented musician, and in the early part of the Civil Ward, he enlisted as a musician in Capt. Almon A. Fogg's Co. H., of the 17th Me. Vol. Inf., serving faithfully until he was prostrated by a serious illess and sent to a military hospital in Washington. He was soon detaild to a clerical position in the Adjutant General's office of the War Department where, after securing his discharge from the military service, he was appointed to a clerkship. While there, he married Matilda, youngest daughter of Stephen and Lydia Waterhouse of Bolster's Mills, b. Sept. 16, 1842; they settled for a time in South Paris, afterward permanently in Oxford. Here he was a successful farmer and was, in recognition of his fine clerical abilitym employed for a number of years as bookkeeper and paymaster of the Portland Packing Company in their Mechanic Falls facory. He also served his town as selectman under successiv elections, until his death, which occurred on Apr. 12, 1894. Mr. Stuart was of unblemished character, kind and gentle in deportment, and anthusiastic musician and beloved by a wide circle of friends and townspeople. He was a charter member of Thomas A. Roberts Post, G. A. R., Department of Maine, at Oxford Village. Children of Samuel P. and Matilda W. Stuart: Gertrude, b. Mar. 4, 1868; married Frank Elden Harris of Mechanic Falls, Me.; they reside in Medford, Mass.; children: Irma Gertrude, b. Mar. 20, 1904, in Medford, Mass. Stuart Farnham, b. Jan. 28, 1906, in Medford, Mass. Lulu Harriet, b. May 2, 1873; died Dec. 5, 1905; married Horace Arthur Holmes of East Machias; they settled in Oxford; their children are: Bessie Stu-

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art, b. Aug. 2, 1895. Gladys Mae, b. Dec. 12, 1897. Mattie Arlene, b. Jan. 29, 1901. Maude, b. Mar. 26, 1878; married Edward Spring Fuller of Oxford, Feb. 13, 1899; their children: Marion Stuart, b. Sept. 9, 1899,. Harry Porter, b. Aug. 15, 1901. Marjorie, b. Feb. 13, 1905; died Jan. 18, 1906; they reside in East Oxford, Me.

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[Children of Samuel C. and Rebecca B. (Stuart) Sylvester:]

3. Charles Bradford, b. Feb. 12, 1865 in Casco, Me.; married 1st, Flora Bell Bray of Harrison. (See Bray Family.); 2d, Mary Florence Whitney, Aug. 18, 1896. (See Whitney Family.)

    Dr. Charles B. Sylvester has resided in Harrison nearly twenty years, where he is a popular and esteemed physician. He takes much interest in civic affairs, and has served very acceptably on the school board as superintendent of schools. He is much identified with the progress of medical science and is a member of the medical associations of Cumberland and Oxford counties. He has been a contributor to various medical publications, and is a member of several fraternal organizations: Lakeside Grange, P. of H., Harrison; Oriental Lodge, Oriental Chapter and Oriental Commandery of Masons, Bridgton; Oxford Council of Norway; Kora Temple Mystic Shrine, Lewiston.

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    WENTWORTH STUART, third son of Joseph and Hannah (Smalley) Stuart was born in Gorham, September 26, 1791. He came to Harrison about 1812, and married, April 24, 1814, Mercy, daughter of Isaac and Anna (Whitney) Hall of Gorham, who came to Harrison about the same time.

[p. 643]

[Stephen Tebbetts married Lucy Baston].

    His wife died on August 13, 1889, at the age of eighty-seven, afteer which the old gentleman's daughter, Mrs. Olive Whitney, kept house for him for some years, ...

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[Children of Stephen and Lucy (Baston) Tebbetts.]

OLIVE, married a Green, by whom she had one son, Henry; secondly, she married Eleazer Whitney of Harrison, by whom she had one son, Freeman E. He husband died many years ago, and she is now living a widow near the Village.

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Charles and Sally (Barbour) Walker had six children:

EDNAH, b. in Falmouth, Nov.9, 1810; married Oct. 15, 1832, Elias Howard of Harrison. They had a son: Elia Howard, Jr., b. June 27, 1835; married June 24, 1859, Mary Ann, daughter of Hon. Jeremiah Parker of Gorham, b. Oct. 2, ----; children: Parker, b. May 15, 1860; charles A., b. Feb. 25, 1862; Harry, b. June 7,

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1865, all died in infancy. Jennie, b. Oct. 18, 1872. Fred H., b. Apr. 17, 187; married Rosanna Gladu, b. in 1882 married Sept. --, 1902; children: Parker, b. May 30, 1903. Fred Leon, b. Mar. 15, 1905. Mrs. Mary Ann Howard died Apr. 5, 1907. Elias Howard and family reside in Westbrook.

    Elias Howard, first husband of Ednah, was drowned from a canal boat, near Mast Cove in Long Pond, October 20, 1834. She was married 2d, May 8, 1839, to Jonathan Whitney of Bridgton, b. Apr. 11, 1811. They had a son:

1. Charles Andrews, b. May 16, 1841; married Sept.

3, 1870, Julia Sturgis Roby of Harrison *b. June 28, 1850). Children: Roscoe Howard, b. May 9, 1875; married June 6, 1896, Edith M., b. June 8 1877, daughter of George W. and Nancy Z. Holland Tracy; they have a daughter, Dorothy M., b. Oct. 25, 1904; they reside in Harrison. Franklin Elwood, b. Apr. 17, 1877; unmarried. Jonathan Whitney died Apr. 27, 1888. Ednah (Walker) Whitney died Aug. 3, 1891.

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WHITNEY FAMILY.

The Whitney family has been most numerously represented among the inhabitants of Harrison, and it seems eminently proper that something in regard to the ancestry of our many fell ow citizens of this name shall be given at the beginning of this sketch.

The Whitney family trace their descent from Turstin de Wigemore, a Fleming, who came to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror, and participated in the battle of Hastings in October of that year. The family took their name from their residence, called Whitney Court, at Whitney-on-the-Wye. Each succeeding generation of the family married into the best families of England, and held prominent positions at the court of the king. The estate not being entailed, and the last Whitney of Whitney Court having only daughters, it was sold, but is still called Whitney Court.

Thomas Whitney and wife Mary, belonging to a younger branch of the family, moved to Westminster, England, where their son, John, was born in 1589. He emigrated to America in 1635, and lived in Watertown, Massachusetts. He had nine children, from the youngest of whom, Benjamin, the Harrison Whitneys are descended.

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    Nathaniel Whitney, son of Benjamin, and grandson of John, was born in York, Maine, April 14, 1680, and it appears that he was a resident of that town during his whole lifetime. He must have lived to a good old age, as it is known that he was living in York as late as 1760, and his estate was not settled till 1768. He married Sarah, daughter of John Ford of Kittery, by whom he had ten children.

    Nathaniel Whitney, second son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Ford) Whitney, was born in York, December 12, 1709, and moved to Gorham from Falmouth, about 1769, having previously lived in Biddeford, where the most of his children were born. The hill in Gorham where he and some of his brothers made their settlement is still known as Whitney's Hill. He married Hannah Day of Wells, and they had nine children.

    Moses Whitney, son of Nathaniel and Hannah (Day) Whitney, was born in Biddeford, March 17, 1739, and was said to have been remarkable for his strength and courage. He served in the French and Indian wars, and also in the Revolution, and finally settled in Gorham, where he married Susanna Crockett, by whom he had one daughter. Mrs. Whitney died when her daughter was but two days old. On September 6, 1763, Mr. Whitney married Molly Page of England, an old diary of the time, chronicling it as "a tall wedding," and by her he had eight children. On Jan uary 22, 1792, Mr. Whitney married, for a third wife, Mrs. Abigail (Skillings) Kimball, by whom he had one daughter, Sally, who married Rev. Joseph H. Phinney of Harrison on September 26, 1812. Mr. Whitney moved to Harrison about 1813, and resided with his son-in-law, Mr. Phinney.

    ENOCH WHITNEY, son of Moses and Molly (Page) Whitney, was born in Gorham, April 8, 1773, and married, first, Hannah Newcomb; second, Mrs. Kendall, mother of the celebrated bugle player, Ned Kendall; and, third, a

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Mrs. Dennett of Brownfield. He lived in Limington, Standish, and Buxton, and subsequently, in 1810, moved to Harrison, settling on the Joseph Phinney farm. He had ten children, all by the first wife:

DANIEL, b. in Limington, Jan. 22, 1793; married Jan. 19,

1815, Susan, daughter of Naphtali Harmon, 2d, of Harrison, b. Aug. 31, 1792. He settled in this town and lived many years on a small farm at the turn of the road leading to the residence of Fred Whitney. "Uncle" Daniel had some of the best traits of his ancestral family. He was honest, kind and true as neighbor or friend and "Aunt" Susie was his perfect counterpart. Daniel Whitney died Mar. 24, 1873. Mrs. Susan Whitney died Oct. 31, 1875. They had one daughter:

I. Sarah P., b. Feb. 29, 1816; married Ebenezer Whit-

ney of Bridgton, b. ---; died Dec. 20, 1877. Sarah P., his widow, died Sept. 10, 1883. Ebenezer and Sarah P. Whitney had: Susan Augusta. Calvin Crocker, b. Feb. 22, 1839; married Sarah Blake of Gorham, Sept. 3, 1841. He died in Bridgton, Sept. 30, 1896. She died Feb. 7, 1907. Calvin C. Whitney was a carriage painter of high professional ability. He worked many years in the great carriage factories of Charles P. Kimball in Portland, Me., and in Chicago, Ill. He also worked in the great Pullman Car Shops in Pullman, Ill. Their children: Eveline Augusta, b. Sept. 1, 1862; died Feb. I1, 197; unmarried. Margie Isadore, b. Apr. 3, 1864; married Willis E. Marriner of Bridgton, June 29, 1889; children, Ernest Cummings, b. Oct. 16, 1891; student in Bridgton High School, college preparatory year. Frederick Whitney, b. Feb. 5, 1896. Evelyn Louise, b. Feb. 2, 1905. Fred Ernest, 3d child of Calvin, b. in Gorham, Aug. II, 1867; married Emily Brackett of Watertown, Mass.; and resides there. He is a provision dealer in Cambridge, Mass. James Cummings Sloan, 4th child of Calvin, b. in Portland, Sept. 19, 1869; was grocer in Bridgton for years; now of the firm of Whitney & Hobson, in trucking business in Portland; married Georgia McGee of Bridgton; they had one son: Clarence Eastman Whitney, b. Mar. 5, 1897; died May 6, 1906. Mar-

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garet Edith, b. Nov. 10, 1906. Lillian, b. Aug. 19, 1871; married Willis E. Crosby of Bridgton, Nov. -, 190I; children: Mary Lela, b. Aug. 20, 1903. Calvin, b. July 19, 1905. Maude Esther, b. Nov. 19, 1873; married Edwin Rae Hill of Cumberland,Me. Clifford Calvin, b. Apr. 13, 1882; grocer; resides in Portland.

MARY; married William Decker of Casco.

FREEMAN, b. in Standish, Mar. 9, 1800, coming to Harrison

with his father when he was ten years of age. He married Mary S., daughter of James and Mary (Stickney) Gray; and, second, Mrs. Melinda (Packard) Trafton. He was a farmer and resided in Harrison till his death Mar. 24, 1873. Their children:

1. Stephen T., b. May I5, 1821; married May 4, 1845,

Catherine Brown of Waterford, and settled in town as a farmer and veterinary surgeon. He died Dec. 15, 1897. They had nine children: Mary, b. Apr. 10, 1846; died in infancy. Irene L., b. June 110, 1847; died June 23, 1865. Ann Eliza, b. July 11, 1849; married George E. Tarbox of Harrison; they have one child, Chester D. Tarbox, who is proprietor of a flourishing livery business in Harrison Village. George E. Tarbox was engaged a number of years in the business of manufacturing clothing for Boston contracts. He has been an active farmer, and has served the town on board of selectmen and as a member of school committee. He represented his district (Harrison and Otisfield) in the Legislature of 1907. He has been station agent for the Bridgton & Saco Valley R. R. at Harrison Village and is now employed in an extensive lumber business in Cornish, for the Maine Central R.R. Co. Frances D., b. Feb. 19, 1851; married Daniel Woodsum of Harrison. (See Woodsum family.) Charles Sumner, b. May 6, 1853; married Anna Decker, daughter of Rev. Gideon T. Ridlon; their children: Harvey Sumner, b. Apr. 17, 1878; married Flossie Belle Winslow of Bridgton, b. Aug. 5, 1884; their son, Donald Harvey, b. Feb. 5, 1908. Flora Ethel, b. Sept. 27, 1883. She graduated from Bridgton Academy in class of 1902, and was two years in Bridge-

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water Normal School. She has taught one year in Harrison and two years in the public school at Bridgewater, Mass. Her present engagement as teacher, is in a school at Melrose, Mass. William Henry, b. May 12, 1855; married Laura Ella, daughter of Enoch and Susan (Lord) Whitney of Harrison, May 18, 1880. Their children: Maud Agnes, b. July 31, 1882; married Stephen Winslow of Otisfield; have one daughter, Ethel. Adaline, b. Jul 3, 1885; married Clayton Wenworth of Brownfield. Guy, b. May 3, 1887. Herbert, b. Feb. 23, 1893. Laura E., b. Sept. 10, 1899. Stephen Horace, b. Aug. 24, 1857; married Harriet Waldron Rodick of Freeport, b. June 144, 1860; died Mar. , 1893; children: Raymond Rodick, b. May 16, 1887. Herbert Clifford, b. Aug. 17, 1888; died May 9, 1889. Edith iriam, b. Feb. --, 1891; died Feb. --, 1893. Fred A., b. Nov. 20, 1859; married Mabel Wheeler of Berlin, N.H., Apr. 7, 1862; children: Harry F.,b. Apr. 26, 1888, Elizabeth, b. Nov. 25, 1889. George Arthur, b. Apr. 22, 1894. Percy Thomes, b. Apr. 17, 1895. Howard Sharp, b. Aug. 18, 1898. Infant, b. July 25, 1899; deceased.

2. James G., b. Dec. 20, 1822; married Jan. 8, 1846, Betsy H., daughter of Seth Carsley, 2d (See Carsley family), and settled in town as a farmer. Mr. Whitney was a very intelligent and prosperous farmer, and prominent in church and civil affairs. He was one of the successors of the famous first board of deacons in the Free Baptist Church, which office he filled with strict fidelity to the honor and advancement of the church and its sacred interests. They had three children: Charles F., b. Oct. 13, 1846; resided in Paris, Me.; married ----- -----; has a son: Karl; unmarried; resided in Harrison. Horace R. b. Oct. 3, 1847; moved to State of Washington; married; removed to San Jacinto,, Cal., and resides there. Eleazer P.,, b. Feb. 15, 1852; moved to Washington about thirty years ago; resided in Penton, King Co., Washington. They were all born in Harrison, and are excellent representatives of an old and respectable family.

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3. Edward Kendall, b. Sept. 9, 1824; married Oct. 29,

1848, Arvilla, daughter of Marquis D. and Sally (Nutting) Caswell of Harrison. (See Caswell family.) Children: Edward, b. Aug 19, 1851; fitted for college at Bridgton Academy and Norway Liberal Institute, and graduated from Bates College in class of 1876. He was afterward employed at teaching in academies and high schools, during which time he learned the art of stenography. About 1878, he engaged as stenographer and typewriter for the New Home Sewing Machine Company of Orange, Mass., where he continued in service thirteen years. In 1898, we was appointed to a clerkship in the Bureau of Statistics of the U.S. Treasury; since then made one of the bureaus of the Department of Commerce and Labor. His efficiency in clerical service has been recognized by a number of honorable promotions to higher grades of duty. He married Mar. 7, 1888, Mary Eliza Stone of Windsor, Conn.; their children are: Robert Buckingham, b. Nov. 19, 1890; a student in the East Washington high school Clifford Caswell, b. May 1892; is a student in high school. Harrison, b. Oct. 21, 1858; fitted for college at Bridgton Academy in 1880, and graduated from Bates College, in class of 1884; also from Harvard Veterinary College in 1887, with the degree of V.D.S. He has since resided in New Haven, Conn., where he has gained distinction in his profession, and has been president of the State Veterinary Association. Fairfield, b. Feb. 20, 1862; prepared for college at Bridgton Academy in 1882, and graduated from Bates College in 1887. He immediately entered the teaching profession and was principal of Greely Institute, Cumberland, Me., for six years. Since then, he has engaged in the superintendence of the public schools in a number of Massachusetts towns. He is now superintendent of the schools in the town of Saugus. He married Aug. 5, 1898, Alma Maria Brackett of Cumbeland; they had a daughter who died in infancy. Mrs. Alma M. Whitney died ----- ----. Mr. Whitney married d, Caroline Sprague of North Easton, Mass., July 22, 1908. Mary Florence, b. Apr. 28, 1866; grad-

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[Photo of Edward Kendall Whitney]

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uated from Bridgton Academy in class of 1885; taught in the public school one year; afterward for five years working as stenographer in Bridgeport and New Haven, Conn. She was a constant nurse and attendant to her father during the years of his last illness. She was married, Aug. 18, 1896, to Dr. Charles B. Sylvester of Harrison; their children are: Allan Whitney, b. July 27, 1898. Miriam Caswell, b. Dec. 31, 1900.

    Edward Kendall Whitney was engaged in brick making, near Cape Monday, three years, about 1850. In 1853, he moved to the homestead of his father-in-law, Mr. Caswell, and settled permanently as proprietor and manager, assuming the care and support of his wife's parents. He instituted a number of progressive schemes for improvement and profit in farm culture, and some of his ideas and innovations upon old, standard habits of farming, produced a startling effect upon the public mind. Yet, in a few years his favorite ideas relative to higher modes of farming "caught on" with many of the most progressive and thrifty farmers in his own and adjoining towns; in fact, his success as a breeder of fine Chester swine and Jersey cows, and his large and productive orchards became objects for imitation and emulation on many other farms. Mr. Whitney was an expert in the art of tree production, and had apple and pear tree nurseries, from which he planted large orchards on his own farm and sold to neighboring farmers, many hundreds of choice trees for new orchards; among them the valuable apple orchard of S. H. Dawes, one of the handsomest and most productive orchards of its size in the State.

    Mr. Whitney's herd of Jersey cows, raised on his own farm, generally numbered fifteen, but at one time he had eighteen. His wife was the butter maker for a number of years, until the labor became too arduous for her, when Mr. Whitney assumed the charge and personal manipulation of that department of the farm dairy. It is believed

708

A HISTORY OF THE

no similar farm dairy--so large in extent and so productive of finest butter has ever existed in town. It must not be forgotten, but ever remembered, that, to the co-operation and intelligent assistance and encouragement of his wife was due successful results of his practical application of his advanced theories. There is abundant evidence of wise foresight in the present aspect of world-wide demand for the precise articles which he produced and which his farm has produced in late years, since his ownership and management ceased. It is sufficient to say, that though he may have erred in judgment as to the prospective profitableness of one or more schemes for money making in a pursuit quite proper for some farmers, the general methods pursued by him were judiciously carried out, and, as the world judges, his career was crowned with triumphant success.

    Near the end of the century, Mr. Whitney's increasing cares and infirmities of body and impairment of mental faculties compelled him to relinquish his oversight of his extensive operations, and he was led to retire to the quietude of his home, where, with the beloved companion of his youth and prime, he passed the remaining two years of his life; the object of the kind ministrations of many sympathizing friends.

    Mr. Whitney made a profession of religion at the age of eighteen years, and joined the Free Baptist Church in Harrison; being baptized with three of his brothers on the same occasion. He was zealous and faithful in his efforts to promote the welfare and prosperity of the church of his choice through all the vicissitudes of its history to the end of his active life. He gave liberally to the cause of the church at home and the Sunday-school, of which he was a teacher and superintendent, and to missions and other institutions for church extension.

    Although not possessed of a liberal education in the schools of his early days, Mr. Whitney was, yet, a man of wide information on many subjects pertaining to agricul-

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ture and farm management. That was not, however, the limitation of his knowledge or sphere of active interest. He read much and thought deeply on the political questions of the times and on the subject of the future prevalence of the power and influence of Protestant Christianity through the missions among the nations of the world. He was a true friend of public education and gave all his children a course of training in Bridgton Academy, fitting them to become competent teachers in schools of high grade. From that stage of advancement in learning, they each took up the work of self-help, and pushed their way through, without assistance, to the end of a college course, each graduating with the degree of A.B. Thus they attained the object of their ambition as they entered upon a higher sphere of achievement in professional life. Mr. Whitney's death occurred on February 14, 1897.

4. George F., b. June 12, 1826; married Nov. 16, 1848,

Mary Ann Bailey of Harrison. He has been a farmer in Harrison for many years. In his earlier life, he worked at wire making business in Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut, about 25 years. Their children are: George F., Jr., b. Sept. 24, 1850; married 1st, Frederica Boody of Westbrook; they had one child; Fred; married; lives in Buffalo, N.Y. Mrs. Frederica M. Whitney, first wife, died in Harrison, June 28, 1878. He married 2d, Susan Edith, daughter of Alpheus and Sophia A. Converse of North Brookfield, Mass. No children. Frank H., b. May 30, 1852; married July 30, 1873, Almeda F. Cutter of Westbrook; they had one daughter, Anna Louise, b. Oct. 17, 1874; married Oct. 17, 1894, Lewis F. Briggs of Harrison; their children are, Hazel Erdine, b. Oct. 10, 1895. Frank Laurence, b. Oct. 29, 1898. Myron Whitney, b. July 11, 1905. Second daughter of Frank H., May Evelyn, b. May 9, 1881; resides in Harrison; unmarried. Frank H. Whitney died in Harrison, Mar. 11, 1887. Mary E., b. Aug. 15, 1855; married Sept. 27, 1873, Charles Roberts of Westbrook; their children, Edna Warren, b. Feb. 23, 1878; married Apr. 16, 1903, George

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L. Fickett of Portland, city electrician of the city; they have one son: John Roberts, b. July 4, 1906. Ralph Waldo, b. Nov. 3, 1882; is employed by the N.E. Telephone Co. Joseph Edward, b. June 9, 1884; died Oct. 18, 1885. Ruth Elden, b. July 28, 1885; married Sept. 26, 1907, Alfred Day Venus, of New York. Leona Earl, b. Oct. 10, 1891; resides 1n -----.

5. Eleazer K., b. May 13, 1828; married Jan. 6, 1867,

Mrs. Olive (Tibbetts) Green of Harrison. He was a shoemaker; they had one son, Ernest Freeman, b. July 17, 1867; married Etta Jackson of Gorham, N.H.; had four children: Joyce Augusta, Nathaniel Eleazer, Margie Evelyn and a baby, unnamed. Eleazer Whitney died Jan. 22, 1880.

6. William Lyman, b. June 12, 1832; married July 3,

1854, Maria Simpson of Cambridgeport, Mass.; they had one daughter, Lizzie Emma, b. Aug. 2, 1866; married Elmer Willison of Cambridgeport; lives in that city; has a summer residence on the shore of Long Lake in Harrison Village.

7. Mary Elizabeth, b. Jan. 25, 1836; married Oct. 10,

1866, John H. Caswell of Bridgton. (See Caswell family.)

8. Irene I., b. in Springfield, July 29, 1838; died May 6,

1846.

EUNICE, daughter of Enoch, b. in Gorham, May 30, 1807;

married Mar. 4, 1824, Simon Newcomb of Buxton and had issue. She died Aug. 29, 1856.

ELEAZER, b. in Gorham about 1809; died at sea in 1829; unmarried.

WILLIAM, b. in Harrison; married Agnes Smith of Lee;

they had three sons and one daughter-names and births unknown.

JOHN, b. in Harrison and died young.

ELI; no date of birth or residence.

    Moses, Richard, Samuel, sons of Moses and brothers of Enoch of Harrison; no data. Molly, daughter of Moses; married Lemuel Rounds and moved to Ohio, about 1800.

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Betsy; married Jonas Cates and moved to New York. Lucy; married John Greenlaw of Brownfield. Susanna; married Seth Carsley, 1st. (See Carsley family.) Sally; married Rev. Joseph Phinney of Harrison. (See Phinney family.)

CHARLES SUMNER WHITNEY.

    Charles Sumner Whitney has had a business career deserving of extended mention. He was, in boyhood, inured to farm life and working in many places in many kinds of business. He was for several years in the employ of a cattle drover in the town, during which he had a good share of "knocking about," and roughing it generally. It must be said that in all his experiences of that rude kind of life, he was honorable and faithful to his employers, and rendered excellent service, sometimes under very unpleasant circumstances. He, quite early in life, developed a taste for working in the logging and general lumbering business, and a capacity for operating and trading successfully in different kinds of lumber. On September 1, 1888, he made the first deal of importance, which was an introduction to a series of business contracts and operations which have, to the present time, marked him as possessing the qualities of a leader and master of men and of industrial enterprises almost unexcelled in their scope and variety by any ever before attempted in the town. It was on the date mentioned above that he contracted for a lease of the saw mill of the firm of Philander Tolman & Co., with all its appurtenances and requisite water power for the term of one year. That contract was the first of a number of leases and purchases of mill properties situated on the outlet of Anonymous Pond, and experiences of successes and reverses in business, sufficient to prostrate with discouragement and despair, a man of less vigor of ambition and hopefulness.

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    Mr. Whitney has exhibited a recuperative faculty that has been very surprising and gratifying to his many friends, who have implicit faith in his business talent and iin his personal integrity, and in spite of destruction of his manufacturing plant and valuable properties of furniture and stock worth $50,000, and of other heavy financial losses, in the few years past, Mr. Whitney is seen, the day after the great fire of 1907, calmly and courageously clearing away the wreck of his sawmill in preparation for rebuilding that and others for the rehabilitation of his extensive lumber and manufacturing trade. Now, looking backward to the scene of the destruction of the great chair factory box and shoe block factories and sawmill, it is a wondrous transformation scene from the black desolation of one year ago to the present of great buildings and busy mills full of whirring machines, making money for the own, and for the compensation of the skilled laborers who operate them.

    As an item of present history, it is deemed proper to show the latest exploit of Mr. Whitney by a brief description of the great barn he erected during the last year. It is located on the side of the late chair factory--the former wire factory building of P. Tolman & Co. The dimensions of the building are as follows: Length, one hundred free; width thirty-six feet; length of post to eaves twenty feet; height of basement, twelve feet; tie-up of cattle on main floor, sixty-two and one-half feet long, will accommodate six yokes of oxen and five cows; five horse stalls, four feet wide, each. The basement floor is concreted throughout heavily. There is a large watering tank for stock, in the basement, with a constant supply of water from the lake. There is a silo, twelve feet in diameter, eighteen feet high, with capacily for twenty-six tons of ensilage. Another silo is to be installed the present year. The contents of a full silo is estimated to fee seven cows, forty pounds each per day, for six months. In one end,

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on the main floor, are to be two finished rooms for family use, and one finished room in the basement. There is to be this year, cooking apparatus for steam cooking of feed for hogs, etc., of which there are several breeding animals of ----- -----. There is a Westinghouse motor for cutting ensilage and operating hay fork and electric lighting is obtained by a dynamo located in the sawmill, nearby. The building is thoroughly boarded and covered with metallic sheathing, rendering it comparatively fire-proof externally. This latest establishment is only one of numerous innovations and useful improvements introduced by Mr. Whitney in the course of his business career.

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[Children of John and Chloe (Howard) Woodsum:]

6. Daniel, b. Mar. 12, 1847; married Frances D., daughter

of Stephen T. and Catherine (Brown) Whitney, of Harrison. He was a skilled machinist at engineer, and in company with his brother, Frank M., invented a superior type of turbine water wheel in

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their early life. They worked at Harrison a few years in a machine shop, and subsequently went to New Hampshire, and built several steamboats to run on Lake Sunapee, owning the line for transportation of passengers and freight and for excursion use on that fine like which is surrounded by several fashionable summer resorts. They had a son: Silas Melvin. He was a brilliant scholar; graduated from Bridgton Academy in 1889; studied law in New York. He was obliged to go to Denver, Colo., on account of ill health, but finished his law studies there and was admitted to the Bar. He died in Denver in 1900. He married Miss Estelle Hubbard of New York, a fine singer in New York and Philadelphia churches,. She died in -----. A second son, Edgar, b. Feb. 13, 1877, lives with his mother in Newport, R.I., unmarried.

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    DAVID FROST, a native of Norway, died Jun 26, 1876, aged sixty-six year, three months. Nancy (Whitney) Frost died Dec. 8, 1903, aged 86 years. She was a daughter of Benjamin Whitney of Bridgton, and sister of Jonathan Whitney of Harrison. They were very excellent and lovable neighbors and esteemed members of the Free Baptist Church. Mr. Frost was a well educated man, and a very intelligent student of the scriptures. He was a pillar of strength inn the church and Sunday-school. He took much interest in the prosperity of the public schools and served the town on the School Committee from 1864 to 1870. Their daughter, Susanna O. Frost, died April 19, 1887, aged forty-seven years. Another daughter married and lived in the State of Connecticut. D. Anson, only son, died in Harrison, August 12, 1868, aged fourteen years.

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    SIMEON WHITNEY died December 4, 1894, aged eighty-five years, eight months. Joan, his wife died September 8, 1873, aged seventy years. Marshall Whitney, their son, born 1825, died in Harrison in 1871.

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Copyright © 2021, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group.