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.]

HYDE Several families of this name settled in Massachusetts in the first half of the seventeenth century. The one which claims as emigrant ancestors, Deacon Samuel Hyde and his brother, Jonathan Hyde, of Cambridge, has combined in an unusual manner family affection and public spirit. In a single group of eight children, four daughters married their cousins of the same surname. Until comparatively recent times, the inhabitants of Newton were using for school grounds and playgrounds land given for that purpose by members of this family. (I) Jonathan Hyde was born in London, England, in 1626, and joined his elder brother Samuel at Cambridge, Mass. in 1647. They bought of Judge Thomas Danforth, later president of the district of Maine, forty acres of land in what is now Newton and subsequently secured two hundred additional acres. This land was held in common until 1661. Five years before, Jonathan obtained eighty acres of the tract recovered by Cambridge from Dedham and increased his holdings in this locality to some three hundred and fifty acres. He bought and sold many lots in what was then known as Cambridge Village, and in some deeds he is entitled Sergeant Hyde. He was admitted to the Cambridge Church in 1661, became a freeman of the colony in 1663, severed as selectman of Newton in 1691 and possibly other years. Previous to his death, which occurred Oct. 5, 1711, he settled his own estate by deeds of gifts to eleven of his children, thus conveying four hundred acres and several dwelling houses. His deed to his son Samuel makes the condition that the property should never be sold, or, if necessity forced a sale, it should be transferred to some one of his descendants. An intersting document, still extant, is the prenuptual agreement made with his second wife, and witnessed by the sister of John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, which provides for the disposal of property in case of the death of either. By his two marriages, he had twenty-one children, of whom five died in infancy. His first wife was Mary, daughter of William French, of Billerica, who died May 27, 1672, aged thirty-nine years. Children: Samuel, Joshua, Jonathan, John, Abraham, Elizabeth, William, Eleazer, Daniel, Ichabod and Joseph. His second wife was Mary, daughter of John Rediat, of Marlboro, who died Sept. 4, 1708. Children: Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Lydia and Ann. (II) Daniel, son of Jonathan and Mary (French) Hyde, was baptized in 1665, lived in Newton, where he married in 1696 his cousin, Sarah, daughter of Job and Elizabeth (Fuller) Hyde. She was born Aug. 2, 1675, and survived him, dying in 1754. He died in 1736. Children: Sarah (who d. in infancy), Daniel, Sarah, Amos, Job, Enos, Nathan, Abraham, Ezra. (III) Job, son of Daniel and Sarah (Hyde) Hyde, was born May 6, 1707, at Newton, where he lived and married in 1736, Prudence, daughter of Lieut. William and Deliverance Hyde. His wife's father was a prominent man in the community and served in the expedition against Port Royal. She survived her husband, dying in 1795, aged eighty years. He died in 1768. They had twelve children, two of whom died in infancy. Those that survived were: Prudence, Hulda, Esther, Martha, Daniel, Ezra, Job, Ichabod, Ebenezer and Lydia. (IV) Job (2), son of Job (1) and Prudence (Hyde) Hyde, was born Feb. 20, 1752, at Newton, Mass. He served for a short time in 1778 as a private in Captain Edward Fuller's company, Colonel Thatcher's regiment. In 1798 he removed to Winchendon, Mass., where he died April 5, 1824. He married, in Dec., 1779, Elizabeth, daughter of George and Abigail (Myrick) Ward, who was born Aug. 24, 1759, and died Aug. 23, 1804. Children: Abigail, Elizabeth, Job, George Ward, Reuben, Lucretia and Joel. (V) Job (3), son of Job (2) and Elizabeth (Ward) Hyde, was born Nov. 21, 1786, at Newton, Mass. The most of his long life, however, was spent at Winchendon, Mass., where he died Nov. 29, 1869. His wife, Elizabeth (Tolman) Hyde, whom he married Nov. 12, 1817, was the granddaughter of Aquilla and Waitstill (Leadbetter) Tolman, of Dorchester, Mass., and the daughter of Deacon Desire and Sarah (Howe) Tolman, of Winchendon, Mass. She died Jan. 3, 1866. Children: Sarah Tolman, Joel and Eliza Ann. (VI) Joel, son of Job (3) and Elizabeth (Tolman) Hyde, was born Oct. 10, 1819, at Winchendon, Mass. Here he was engaged in the manufacture of wooden implements as a sub-contractor. He married (first) Oct. 9, 1849, Eliza, daughter of John and Lucretia (Towne) DeWitt, of South Hadley, Mass., who was born Dec. 2, 1828, died Nov. 15, 1858. Married (second) Dec. 28, 1861, Catherine W. Dole, who survived him. He died March 3, 1866. His only children were Edward Francis, who died in infancy, and William DeWitt Hyde. (VII) William DeWitt, son of Joel and Eliza (DeWitt) Hyde, was born Sept. 23, 1858, at Winchendon, Mass. He was prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy, graduated at Harvard in 1879, studied at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and completed the course at Andover Theological Seminary in 1882. After a year of postgraduate study of philosophy at Andover and Harvard, he was for two years pastor of the Congregational church at Paterson, New Jersey. In June, 1885, he was chosen president of Bowdoin College, a position he has since occupied despite repeated invitations to larger institutions. Under his administration the students, the faculty and the endowment of the college have increased twofold, while his papers and addresses on educational subjects have won him a foremost place among the college presidents of the country. A series of successful books in the department of ethics and religion has not only established his reputation as a clear thinker and forceful writer, but extended his influence across the water. His "Practical Ethics: appeared in 1892, "Outlines of Social Theology" in 1895; "Practical Idealism" in 1897; "God's Education of Man" in 1899; "Jesus' Way" in 1902; "From Epicurus to Christ" in 1904; "The College Man and the College Woman" in 1906; and "Abba, Father" and "Self-Measurement" in 1908. Of these, "Jesus' Way" has been translated into French, and several others have passed through repeated editions. As a preacher and public speaker he is widely sought and has given generously of his time and strength to the furtherance of many good causes. He was the organizer and for many years the president of the Maine inter-denominational commission, and a leader of religious thought in his denomination. He recieed the degree of D.D. from Bowdoin and from Harvard in 1886, and of LL.D. from Syracuse University in 1897. President Hyde married, in 1883, at Washingtonville, New York, Prudence M., daughter of Alpha and Prudence Morris (Hibbard) Phillips. Beside two children that died in infancy, they have one son, George Palmer Hyde, born April 9, 1887, who graduated at Bowdoin in 1908, and is a student at Harvard Law School.