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.]

DENNETT The Dennett family is of Norman origin, and Hugh D'Anet is said to have come to England with William the Conqueror. The Dennett family is numerous in England, and there are many who can trce their lineage back six centuries or more. John and Alexander Dennett, brothers, came from England to Portsmouth between 1660 and 1670. (I) John Dennett, immigrant ancestor mentioned above, resided at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was a carptner, and had a wife, Amy. He died May 5, 1709, aged sixty-three, and was buried at Point of Graves. Children: 1. John, born Dec. 15, 1675, mentioned below. 2. Amy, born April 9, 1679, married John Adams. 3. Joseph, born July 19, 1682, married June 24, 1704, Elizabeth Meed; died about 1714. 4. Ephraim, born Aug. 2, 1689, married Katherine _____. (II) John (2), son of John (1) Dennett, born Dec. 15, 1675, died Nov. 18, 1742. Like his father, he was a house-carpenter. In 1698 he bought land of Isaac Remick and settled at Great Cove, in Kittery, Maine. He married Feb. 5, 1701-02, Mary, widow of Alexander Shapleigh, and daughter of Christopher and Margaret Adams. Children: 1. Mary, born Jan. 16, 1703-04, died unmarried; she was blind. 2. Sarah, born Aug. 15, 1706, married Joseph Hill. 3. John, born Dec. 22, 1708, mentioned below. 4. Thomas, born June 15, 1712, married Mary Bartlett. 5. Eleanor, born March 8, 1714-15, died March 2, 1735-36. (III) John (3), son of John (2) Dennett, born at Kittery, Maine, Dec. 22, 1708, died Oct. 26, 1797. He resided in Kittery; was selectman nineteen years, and deputy to the general court in 1750-1. He married Mary, born March 25, 1712, died in 1777, daughter of William and Mercy (Spinney) Tetherly. Children: 1. John, born Oct. 18, 1831, died Jan. 20, 1736-37. 2. Eleanor, born April 28, 1734, married Dec. 2, 1756, John Orr. 3. Mercy, born June 11, 1736, married, 1759, Mark Adams. 4. John, born March 15, 1737-38, married Abigail Carter. 5. William, born Feb. 1, 1739-40, mentioned below. 6. Mary, born March 7, 1741-42, married May 13, 1768, Joseph Adams. 7. Mark, born Nov. 13, 1744, married Mary Dennett. 8. Anne, born Nov. 2, 1747, married (first) William Ham; (second) Tobias Walker. 9. Elizabeth, born Feb. 2, 1750, married 1777, Samuel Rice Jr. 10. Sarah, born June 8, 1751, married 1778, Thomas Chase. 11. Thomas, born March 22, 1754, unmarried; went to sea and died abroad. 12. Hannah, born Aug. 13, 1756, married Aug. 17, 1775, John Chase; died Nov. 9, 1806. (IV) William, son of John Dennett (3), born in Kittery, Feb. 1, 1739-40, died Oct. 25, 1803. He married (first) Oct. 31, 1765, Sarah Paul, daughter of Jeremiah and Hannah (Hamilton) Paul. He married (second) May, 1770, Mary Adams, born May 17, 1752, died March 6, 1843, daughter of John and Mary (Fernald) Adams. Child of 1st wife: 1. William, born Nov. 18, 1766, married 1792, Sarah Rice. Children of 2d wife: 2. John, born April 19, 1772, married (first) Betsey Dennett; (second) Dorcas Fernald. 3. Joseph, born Nov. 24, 1774, married April 10, 1796, Abigail Spinney. 4. Sarah, born Oct. 9, 1778, married John Jenkins; died Oct. 29, 1834. 5. Thomas, born Sept. 25, 1782, married April 4, 1805, Anne Fernald; died March 7, 1840. 6. Mark, born Aug. 28, 1786, mentioned below. 7. Benning, born Aug. 30, 1790, married Dec. 24, 1812, Hannah Perkins. (V) Mark, son of William Dennett (4), born in Kittery, Maine, Aug. 28, 1786, died April 30, 1883. Among his papers is found a record of some events in his early life, written by himself. He says: "In early boyhood I hated school, until about nine years old, when my fancy changed and I like the school and began to stand at the head of my class. Our school privileges were very limited. I attended to nothing at school but reading, spelling and writing until I was thirteen years old; but I progressed in the old arithmetic at home under the instruction of my father and brother, to the rule of three. At thirteen years I commenced the arithmetic at school, and during the winter term I mastered about one-half Merrill's Arithmetic. In the spring of 1800, at a short term of six weeks of Grammar School, I progressed in English Grammar so that I could parse simple sentences. In September a term of Grammar School commenced, and I attended to the study of Latin, and during the winter I advanced into Virgil and Cicero. In the spring my father said that I must help him on the farm. In the winter of 1801-2, there was no Grammar School, and I mastered the last half of the arithmetic. In the winter of 1802-3 I studied Latin at home and recited my lessons once a week with Rev. William Briggs. Oct. 25, 1803, my father died, and the care of the farm devolved on me, and I was thus deprived of school privileges. During the winter of 1803-4 I devoted every spare hour by day and very long evenings to the study of Greek, and in December, 1804, I received a certificate of qualification for teaching in the Grammar School from three ministers who were college graduates. Jan. 1, 1805, at the age of eighteen, I commenced teaching the Grammar School in Kittery, and excepting two or three years (when otherwise employed) I continued to do so several months each year until I was sixty years old, when my hearing failed and I declined the service. In 1807, my mind being religiously impressed, I was baptized and joined the Christian church, of which act I never repented." Mr. Dennett was much interested in local history, and was an honored leader in the town of Kittery. He was selectman seventeen years; deputy to the general court of Massachusetts from 1814 to 1819 inclusive, and a member of the first legislature of Maine. He was state senator several times, justice of the peace, and captain and major of the militia. He married (first) Dec. 22, 1808, Alice, daughter of Edward Wilson. She was born Sept. 22, 1785, died Feb. 4, 1819. He married (second) May 4, 1820, Miriam Pettigrew, born Dec. 12, 1802, died Aug. 10, 1881. Children of 1st wife: 1. Augustus, born Oct. 17, 1809, died Dec. 30, 1811. 2. Alexander, born Nov. 10, 1811, mentioned below. 3. Betsey, born Sept. 19, 1817, died Nov. 18, 1841. 4. Son, born & died Feb. 3, 1819. Children of 2d wife: 5. Alice, born May 24, 1821. 6. Sylvester, born Nov. 26, 1822, died Aug. 30, 1847. 7. Sarah, born April 29, 1824, died Feb. 21, 1844. 8. Charles W., born Feb. 15, 1826, died April 6, 1847. 9. Julia Ann, born Jan. 21, 1828, died Nov. 29, 1903; married (first) a Mr. Clough; married (second) Nov. 10, 1858, Joseph Langton. 10. Mary, born Jan. 2, 1830, married Burlinton Paul; died March 22, 1863. 11. Mark Jackson, born April 22, 1834, died July 15, 1856. 12. John, born July 31, 1836, died May 12, 1838. 13. Oren, born Jan. 9, 1839, died Aug. 14, 1859. 14. Emily, born June 22, 1841, died Feb. 13, 1857. 15. Louisa, born Jan. 15, 1844, died June 17, 1847. (VI) Alexander, son of Mark Dennett (5), born in Kittery Nov. 10, 1811, died May 6, 1889. He was educated in the common schools. He conducted a general store at York, Maine, and owned coasting vessels. He removed to Kittery and lived on the ancestral homestead until his death. During the civil war he was appointed inspector of timer at the navy yard. He was a Whig in politics in early life, a Republican afterward. He was trial justice for many years; represented his district in the legislature in 1849-50-51; was delegate to the convention when the Free Soilers and Whigs fused at the time the Republican party was organized; was frequently moderator of town meetings and selectman of the town. He was active in good works and interested in the great questions of the day, supporting the anti-slavery and temperance movements heartily. He was a member of the Sons of Temperance, and was active in the Methodist Episcopal church, being charter member of the Second Methodist Episcopal church, of Kittery. He married, Nov. 15, 1838, Mary Kingsbury Remick, born in Eliot, Maine, May 10, 1819, died July 18, 1878. Children: 1. Ellen Miriam, born Oct. 8, 1839. 2. Elizabeth, born Aug. 13, 1841, died Sept. 5, 1868; married May 31, 1866, Frank Hill. 3. John, born Nov. 20, 1843, married July 3, 1866, Annie M. Thompson; they had a son John, b. Feb. 13, 1869, married Aug. 20, 1902, Louie Viola Gage, and they have a son John, b. Oct. 17, 1906. 4. Sarah K., born April 28, 1846, died June 6, 1870; married Dec. 19, 1868, Edward S. Marshall; they had a son Frank D., b. 1870, a lawyer in Portland, Maine; he m. and has a son and daughter. 5. Alice, died young. 6. Alexander, mentioned below. (VII) Alexander (2), son of Alexander (1) Dennett, was born in York, Maine, April 13, 1853. He was educated in the public schools, in Eliot Academy and various private schools. In 1878 he entered the U. S. revenue cutter service as second assistant engineer, and continued until 1895, when he retired from active labor, making his home in Kittery. He is a Republican in politics, and has been a member of the school committee for a number of years and superintendent of schools. He is a prominent member of the Second Christian church. He married (first), Oct. 1, 1883, Sarah Eva, born March 14, 1856, in Kittery, daughter of Warrington and Sarah A. E. Paul. She died June 9, 1899. He mararied (second), Aug. 28, 1901, Josephine E., born Oct. 7, 1867, daughter of Joseph and Joanna Cox, of Kittery. Children of 1st wife: 1. William A., born July 2, 1885, graduated from Cornell University in 1907, in the mechanical engineering course. 2. Ralph E., born July 30, 1890, midshipman in the U. S. Naval Academu at Annapolis. 3. Mary Elizabeth, born Nov. 27, 1893, died July 15, 1895.