Genealogical and Family History
of the
STATE OF MAINE

Volume III

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 Sandra Boudrou]

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

HEATH This is not an uncommon name in New England, although the Heaths have not been a prolific family. The name comes here from England, the mother country, and was planted on this side of the Atlantic ocean some time previous to the middle of the seventeenth century. John Heath, brother of the immigrant, appears to have received greater attention from chroniclers of the family history, but it is doubtful if he occupied a higher station in early town affairs than his brother. Both of frequently mentioned as Heth, but similar errors on the part of town and parish clerks are not infrequent, and they need not be surprising when we consider the very limited education of those of our New England ancestors who came here to dwell among Indians, in a wilderness region, without more than the plainest comforts of life, and when schools for several years were almost unheard of. (I) Bartholomew Heath, brother of John above mentioned, was first of Newbury, Massachusetts Bay colony, and afterward of Haverhill, where the greater part of his life was spent. Savage says he was born about 1600, but other authorities say, with more accuracy, that he was born about 1615; and he died in January, 1681. Chase, in his "History of Haverhill," says that in 1645 "considerable land was this year granted to individuals west of Little river, on the Merrimack, and Hugh Sharratt, Bartholomew Heath, James Fiske and John Chenarie had liberty to lay down their land on the plain, and have it laid out over Little river, westward." In 1646 he owned lands which were estimated as of the value of one hundred and forty pounds, and when plans were made for another distribution of the town's territory, called the "second division of plough-lands," Bartholomew Heath was allotted lot number four. He was one of the signers of the petition praying that the penalty imposed on Mr. Pike on account of his religious exhortations be remitted him, and in this and many other respects he appears to have been a leading man in the town. In 1665 with one Andrew Grealey he entered into an agreement with the town to set up and keep in repair the corn mill, operate it, and in consideration of the expense they might be put to in placing the mill in repair, the town voted them the right "to have so much privilege of the land in the street on both sides of the brook at the end of Michael Emerson's lot as may be convenient to set up another mill on, or any other place on the town's land"; and the town did also "engage that no other man shall set up a mill or mills upon any land that is the town's, with any order from the town." In other words the town ordered that Bartholomew Heath and Mr. Grealey have an exclusive mill privilege in Haverhill, and it may be said here that they carried on this business for several years, to their own profit and to the great convenience of the inhabitants. Mr. Heath's wife was Hannah, daughter of Joseph Moyce, and she died in Haverhill, July 9, 1677. There does not appear to be any record of their marriage, and from the fact that they had a son Samuel, whose name is not given among their children born in Newbury or Haverhill, it may be assumed that they married in old Guilford, Surrey, England whence they came to this country; and it is probable that this son Samuel either remained in England at the time of his father's immigration or subsequently returned there, married and lived there some years before coming over again. As shown by the Newbury, Haverhill and other records the children of Bartholomew and Hannah (Moyce) Heath were: Samuel, John, Joseph, Joshua, Hannah, Josiah, Elizabeth (died young), Benjamin and Elizabeth. John the second child, was born in 1643, and Elizabeth, the youngest, was born September 5, 1658. (II) Samuel, son of Bartholomew (1) Heath, was born in England, married there, and had children, among them a son John. (III) John, son of Samuel Heath, was born in England, married there, and had children, among them a son Bartholomew. (IV) Bartholomew (2), son of John Heath, was born in Surrey, England, in 1710 and came to New England in 1737. This is stated on the authority of a private family record, and from the same source it is learned that this Bartholomew was the son of John, and that John was the son of Samuel, and that Samuel was the son of the first Bartholomew. The last mentioned Bartholomew Heath married twice, and by his first wife had one child; by his second wife he had nine children. Soon after the death of his first wife he settled in Sharon, Connecticut, married his second wife there and raised a large family of children. His sons were Bartholomew, Thomas, Obadiah, Joseph, John, Hezekiah and Daniel. Descendants of Hezekiah are now living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and so late as 1831 Thomas and Obadiah were living on the old farm in Sharon, and in the old house which their father had built over a century earlier. (V) Bartholomew (3), son of Bartholomew (2) Heath and his first wife, was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, and was an infant when his mother died. He married Ann Millard, born in East Haddam, Connecticut, near Hartford, and by whom he had three children: 1. Asa. 2. Nathan, who cared for his mother after the death of her husband. She lived to the good old age of ninety-nine years. 3. Oliver, who entered the profession of law, went to England and settled in Liverpool. (VI) Rev. Asa (1), son of Bartholomew (3) and Ann (Millard) Heath, was born in Hillsdale, Columbia county, New York, July 31, 1776, and married, March 26, 1801, Sarah Moore, whose great-grandparents came from Londonderry, Ireland, and her grandfather was born on board the ship in which they came to this country. They had the grant of Cape Elizabeth, but not liking it exchanged it for a township of land in New Hampshire, now the town of Derry. Rev. Asa and Sarah (Moore) Heath had two sons, Asa and Jonathan, and six daughters. (VII) Asa (2), son of Rev. Asa (1) and Sarah (Moore) Heath, married (first) Margaret Boynton and (second) Mary Clary. He was a physician by profession, a Methodist in religious preference, and a Republican in politics. His children were: Flavius, Margaret, Alvan M.D., George, Adelia, Mary, Martha, Genevieve, Olive and Eva. (VIII) Alvan M. C., son of Dr. Asa (2) Heath, was a printer by trade and newspaper editor by principal occupation; a soldier of the civil war and was killed in battle at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. He married Sarah H. Philbrook, daughter of Milton and Ora (Kendall) Philbrook, and by whom he had four children: 1. Herbert M., born August 27, 1853. 2. Willis K., February 12, 1855. 3. Dr. Frederick C., 1857, now a physician in active practice in Indianapolis, Indiana. 4. Dr. Gertrude E., January 20, 1859, engaged in medical practice at Gardiner, Maine. (IX) Herbert M., lawyer, son of Alvan M. C. and Sarah H. (Philbrook) Heath, was born in Gardiner, Maine, August 27, 1853, and was educated in the public schools of that town, graduating from the high school in 1868, and at Bowdoin College, where he was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1872. After leaving college he devoted the next four years chiefly to pedagogical work and during the latter part of that period took up the study of law. In the fall of 1872 he was appointed principal of Limerick Academy, Limerick, Maine, remained there one term and from the beginning of the school year in 1873 until the close of the session in 1876, he was principal of Washington Academy at East Machias, Maine. In August, 1876, he was admitted to practice in the courts of this state, and since that time has been a member of the Augusta bar and has always held a standing of enviable prominence in all court and professional circles throughout the entire state. Few lawyers have more extended acquaintance than he, and few indeed are they who have given more faithful service, whether as a lawyer at the bar of the courts or a public servant in the discharge of official duties. Mr. Heath is a Republican in all that the name implies, and while active in politics was recognized as one of the leading men in the councils of the Republican party in the state. His political career may be said to have begun when he was a boy of thirteen years, for in 1866 and the next succeeding three years he was a page in the senate of the Maine legislature. In 1870 he was appointed assistant secretary of the senate and served in that capacity through that and the next three legislative sessions. In 1878 he was elected city solicitor of Augusta and in 1879 he was elected county attorney for Kennebec county, filling the latter office for three years. In 1883 he was a member of the Maine house of representatives, served until the end of the session in 1886, in all four years, and during the following four years, 1887-1890, occupied a seat in the senate of the state. In 1883 he was a member of the commission appointed to revise the statutes of the state. Mr. Heath is a Mason, member of the various subordinate bodies of the craft, and of the higher bodies up to the thirty-second degree; member of the board of trustees of Kennebec Savings Bank and of the Augusta Trust Company; member of Zeta Psi fraternity, Bowdoin, and of the Abnaki Club of Augusta. He married at East Machias, Maine, August 27, 1876, Laura S. Gardner, born East Machias, June 5, 1855, second daughter of Daniel F. and Sarah (Lincoln) Gardner, of East Machias. Mr. and Mrs. Heath have four children: 1. Marion, born November 26, 1879. 2. Gardner K., May 29, 1886. 3. Gertrude L., twin with Herbert M., April 14, 1892. 4. Herbert M., twin with Gertrude L., April 14, 1892.