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.]

FRANK This name is spelled Francke in the earliest mention of the family, both in Boston records and those of Falmouth, Maine. This fact, taken in connection with marked personal characteristics and supported by family tradition, would seem to indicae a German or Saxon origin. (I) Thomas Franck and Rachel Pomery (Pomeroy) were married in Boston by the Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, Nov. 11, 1714, and a son Thomas was born in Boston, Jan. 14, 1717-18. (Boston Commissioners' Record). The father probably removed to Falmouth, Maine, not many years later, for we find the name of Thomas Franckes among those whom the town voted to admit as inhabitants in 1727-28, on the payment of 10 pounds and a promise to settle within twelve months. A deed is still in possession of the family dated Nov. 2, 1733, signed by the "Proprietors' Committee for Laying out Land," conveying sixty acres of land in Falmouth on the east side of Presumpscot river to Thomas Frank. On June 26, 1750, Thomas Frank, of New Casco (or Falmouth) is published to Ann Babbidge, whom he subsequently married. The First Parish Church of Falmouth (now Portland) contains the record of baptism of two of their children: James, June 3, 1753, and Rachel, Aug. 3, 1755. (II) James, son of Thomas and Ann (Babbidge) Frank, was baptized June 3, 1753. He was a revolutionary soldier, enlisting in Falmouth in May, 1775, in Capt. Samuel Noye's company, Colonel Phinney's regiment. In 1776 he served under Capt. Daniel Merrill, in 1777 under Capt. Ellis, and in 1779 under Capt. William Cobb. Many years after the close of the war he was allowed a pension. He resided in Falmouth and Gray, and was a farmer. He married Roxilanna, daughter of Thomas White, of Gray. Children: Josiah, Thomas, Jane, David, Alpheus, Jael, James and Stephen. The order and date of birth of all in unknown except Alpheus. (III) Alpheus, son of James and Roxilanna (White) Frank, was born in Gray, Sept. 3, 1794, and died in Portland, Oct. 7, 1876. He was a farmer in Gray, a Democrat in politics, and had no religious preference. He married, in Gray, Aug. 30, 1821, Naomi Stimson, born in Gray May 29, 1798, died May 18, 1873, daughter of John and Ann (Simonton) Stimson. Children: 1. Maria Louisa, born Nov. 13, 1822, married July 1, 1849, Ezra Haskell, and died in Portland May 14, 1896. 2. George Robinson, born in Gray, May 2, 1824, was a major in the civil war in which he served three years; married Matilda Price; died in Muscoda, Wisconsin, May 20, 1900. 3. Mary Elizabeth, born May 5, 1826, married May 6, 1849, Albion P. White, and died in Lewiston June 12, 1893. 4. Julia Ann, born March 28, 1828, married April 5, 1849, Almer H. Small, and died Sept. 23, 1853. 5. Charles Woodbury, born April 2, 1830, died unmarried at West Point, N. Y. June 28, 1853. 6. John Warren, born June 12, 1834, married June 18, 1868, Augusta E. Thayer, and resides in Gray. 7. Royal Thaxter, born May 6, 1836, mentioned below. 8. Francis Edward, born May 14, 1838, died in Gray, March 9, 1856, unmarried. 9. Melvin Porter, born Dec. 26, 1841, mentioned below. (IV) General Royal Thaxter, seventh child of Alpheus and Naomi (Stimson) Frank, was born in Gray, May 6, 1836, died in Washington, D. C., March 14, 1908. He graduated from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in the class of 1858, and fought his way through the civil war. He received the brevet rank of major and lieutenant-colonel for gallantry at Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862. He was taken prisoner at San Antonio, and was confined for a year in Libby prison, and was later colonel of the First U. S. Artillery, having charge of the artillery school and commanding Fortress Monroe from 1888 to 1898. From 1895 to 1899 he was a member of the board of ordnance and fortification, and commanded the Department of the East in May and June, 1898. In July and August of the same year he was in command of the second division of the third army corps and had charge of the entire corps in Sept. and Oct. He commanded the second devision of the fourth army corps from Nov., 1898 to Jan. 1899, and the whole corps in Feb. and March, 1899. From March to Oct. he was in command of the Department of the Gulf, and in that year was appointed brigadier-general. He was buried in Arlington cemetery. He resided in Washington from 1899 till the time of his death. He married, Oct. 12, 1864, Emma Knight, of Brooklyn, New York. (IV) Hon. Melvin Porter, youngest child of Alpheus and Naomi (Stimson) Frank, was born in Gray, Dec. 26, 1841. He was educated in the public schools of Gray, the Lewiston high school, the Maine State Seminary, now Bates Collee, Lewiston Falls Academy and Tufts College, from which latter institution he graduated with the class of 1865. Shortly after graduation he entered upon the study of law in the office of Shepley & Strout in Portland, and in 1868 was admitted to the bar and began a successful career as a lawyer. In the forty years following his admission to the practice of his profession, Mr. Frank has had a large clientage and in every case which has been entrusted to him he has done all for his client that an honorable practitioner could do to further their interest, and is accounted one of the leading lawyers of Maine. In the councils of the Democratic party, of which he has been a member ever since he attained his majority, Mr. Frank has filled a responsible position. He has been a party worker and active, and often the candidate for public office. He was a member of the Maine house of representatives in 1876, and speaker of that body in 1879, and so acquitted himself in these positions as to win the confidence and commendation of his associates. He was made the Democratic candidate for congress in the first district in 1890, and candidate for governor in 1896. In 1900 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Kansas City, and in 1904 to the St. Louis Convention. He is not a society man, and the only order in which he holds membership is the Sons of the American Revolution. Melvin P. Frank married, in Gray, Oct. 31, 1869, Susan Augusta, born in Yarmouth, March 5, 1847, daughter of Henry P. and Augusta Moody (Weston) Humphrey. Children: 1. Mary Weston, born Jan. 13, 1871, in Portland, married June 1, 1892, Frederic Frothingham Talbot, of Portland; children: George Foster, b. March 29, 1893; Melvin Frank, born March 1, 1894. 2. Henry Pennell, born Feb. 25, 1872, graduated from Westbrook Seminary, 1891, Tufts College, 1895, and Harvard Law School, 1898, and is now a lawyer in Boston, Mass. he [trans note: I'm not sure who this 'he' is, Henry or his father?] married (second) Caroline Hadley; children: Frank, died in infancy; Edith, Oscar, Lucinda, Edgar.