Genealogical and Family History
of the
STATE OF MAINE

Compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D.

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
New York
1909.

[Please see Index page for full citation.]

[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]

[Many families included in these genealogical records had their beginnings in Massachusetts.]

COUSINS There are families in America bearing this name descended from the French family, Cousin, and from English ancestry. The English name is found in old documents spelled Curzon, Cozzen, Cousin, Cosen, Cousens and Cousins. In New England the two last spelling prevail. Tradition makes these families descend from Geraldine de Curson, or Curzen, a man of Breton extraction who followed William the Conqueror into England in 1066. He was rewarded for his services by his chief with many estates, and lived on the principal one at Locking in Berkshire, and was known as Lord of the Manor of Locking. The most distinguished person of this name is George Nathaniel Curson, first baron of Kedletton, late viceroy and governor-general of India, who married an American, Miss Leiter, of Chicago. (I) John Cousins, the first settler of the name in Maine and probably in New England, was born in England in 1596. He settled at West Gustigo, now North Yarmouth, on an island near the mouth of Royal river, still known as Cousins' Island. He bought this land of Richard Vines in 1645. After living there thirty years he fled to York on account of the Indian depredations committed in King Phillip's war. G. F. Ridlon Sr., in his book "Saco Valley Settlements and Families," says of John Cousins: "He served in the assembly under Cleve in 1648, while he was deputy president of Lygonia, his name being under his mark on a decree against the Trelawny estate in favor of Robert Jordan, by which act the property of said Trelawny in this state was lost to his heirs. The date of death of (John) Cousins has not been ascertained, but he must have survived to a great age. His descendants lived in York, Wells, Kennebunk, Lyman, Saco, Biddeford and Hollis, and are now scattered through the state." Isaac and Thomas Cousins are believed to have been sons of John. (II) Thomas, son of John Cousins, was an inhabitant of Wells before 1670. He had a grant of land consisting of one hundred acres on Little river. Two of his children were Hannah and Ichabod. (III) Ichabod, son of Thomas Cousins, spent his early life in Wells, but moved to Kennebunk in 1745. He was a soldier in the old French war, and died of smallpox contracted while in the army. He had a log house surrounded by flankers during the Indian troubles on the coast. He married July 26, 1714, Ruth Cole, of Kennebunk. Children: Catherine, Thomas, Ichabod, John, Benjamin, Samuel, Joseph, Ruth and Nathaniel. (IV) Ichabod (2), son of Ichabod (1) Cousins, was born in Wells, Nov. 10, 1719. He was evidently a man who paid strict attention to his own affairs, held no public office, and seems to have left no record. (V) Ichabod (3) is said to have been a son of Ichabod (2) Cousins. He was born in Kennebunk, and settled in the plantation of Little Falls, now Hollis, about 1780, being one of the seven purchasers of the Dalton Right, so called, which tract bordered on the Saco river and extended from the northwestern boundary of a "twenty-rod strip" near the brick house of "Uncle David Martin." He cleared a field and built a barn on the rear end of his lot, but afterwards lived on the Bonny Eagle road, near the burying ground. He married (first) Dolly Cole. Children: Ichabod (4), Sally, Mary, Priscilla, Hannah and Nathaniel. married (second) Sept. 15, 1808, Susanna (Deering), widow of Tobias Lord, and mother of Abigail Lord, who married Jeremiah Hobson; Tobias Lord, who married Adeline Hobson, sister of Jeremiah; Mary Lord, unmarried. Children: Dolly. Fanny, born Jan. 3, 1810, married Thomas S. Hanson, of Buxton, who died in 1837, after which she married John, son of Jabez Sawyer. Joseph, see forward. (VI) Joseph, youngest child of Ichabod (3) Cousins, was born in Hollis, May 28, 1812, died at Steep Falls May 5, 1893. He was a farmer and mechanic; a good citizen and a man of integrity who in his latter years became a member of the Free Baptist church. In politics he was a Whig until the Repubican party was formed, of which he was a staunch adherent ever after. He married, in 1837, Deborah Sawyer. Of this union were born six children, only two of whom lived to maturity. 1. Harriet N., born March 18, 1839, married Nov. 8, 1857, Charles J. F. Knapp, of Bridgton; of the three children born to them the first two were twins, one of whom died in infancy, the other, James Knapp, married Harriet Chase, who bore a child, now deceased. Joseph Knapp, the youngest, married Florence Jones, one child: Charles. 2. Stephen Hobson, see forward. (VII) Stephen Hobson, son of Joseph Cousins, was born in Steep Falls, Dec. 13, 1845. He was educated at Standish Academy, the common schools of his native town and a school at Randolph, Mass., where his sister, Harriet N. (Cousins) Knapp, then lived. In the early '60s he went to Portland, Maine, where he was in the employ of his cousin, John D. Lord, until he returned to Steep Falls in 1870 and built a store to deal in general merchandise. In 1871 he formed a partnership under the name of Cousins & Banks, with Samuel Banks, who came there from Island Pond, Vermont, and was the husband of Elizabeth, sister of Samuel D. Hobson and daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Sawyer) Hobson. They continued in general merchandise business - grain and lumber - until the death of Mr. Banks in 1886, when Mr. Cousins formed a partnership with Gideon M. Tucker, who was a well-known lumberman. In 1892 they built a grist mill run by a gasoline engine, and in 1904 they formed a corporation with Stephen H. Cousins as manager, a position which he still fills. He is a Republican, interested in what is for the best interests of the community, but has ever declined to accept positions of political preferment. He is prominent in the work of the Free Baptist denomination in this state, and is deacon of the church in his village. He belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias. He married, Sept. 12, 1869, Martha Alma Hobson. Children: 1. William L., see forward. 2. Harriette Knapp, born May 8, 1875, at Steep Falls, educated there and at Limington Academy; is unmarried; makes her home with her parents, but spends much time at the home of her brother, Dr. Cousins, in Portland. (VIII) Dr. William Lewis Cousins, only son of Stephen Hobson Cousins, was born in Steep Falls, Oct. 2, 1870. After attending the public schools of his native village, Fryeburg Academy, New Hampton College and Limington Academy, he spent a year at the Maine Medical School, and then matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the medical department of that institution in the class of 1894. During the remainder of 1894 and the year 1895 he was assistant resident surgeon of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. In 1895 he settled in Portland, Maine, where he became associated with Dr. Seth C. Gordon. In 1904 he established a private hospital, St. Barnabas, at the corner of Woodfords and Norwood streets, in the Deering district, which has become well and favorably known. He now makes the diseases of women a specialty and is meeting with gratifying success. He is also a surgeon of noteworthy attainments. For eight years he has been on the staff of the Maine General Hospital, four years as assistant and four years as surgeon. He has been for a long term of years consulting surgeon of the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary, and is instructor in clinical surgery in the Maine Medical School, having been appointed in 1906. He is a member and has been president of the Cumberland County Medical Association; member of the Maine Medical Association, and chairman of the National Legislative Committee of that body for Maine; member of the Cumberland County Medical Association; member of the Maine Medical Association, and chairman of the National Legislative Committee of that body for Maine; member of the Cumberland Club, Athletic Club, Portland Yacht Club and others. In politics he is a Republican, and in 1907 was a member of the Republican city committee. In religious belief he is a Unitarian. Dr. Cousins married Jan. 6, 1897, Maude McKenney, daughter of Charles and Hannah (Gordon) McKenney, granddaughter of Deacon Humphry McKenney, of Limington, and niece of Dr. Seth C. Gordon, of Portland. She was born July 10, 1870, in Limington, and has borne two sons: 1. Seth Chase, born in Portland, Nov. 2, 1897. 2. McKenney, born Nov. 12, 1901, died the following day. These children were the ninth generation from John Cousins, the immigrant.