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.]

SEIDERS The plantation of Broad Bay, now Waldoboro, Maine, was settled by German immigrants of the Lutheran faith. The first settlement was made in 1740-42, and additional colonists followed in 1748-53. They were induced to come to this country by General Samuel Waldo and later by his son, Colonel Samuel Waldo. They were promised one hundred acres of land each, subsistence for at least six months, and other important benefits. Under these promises during the years mentioned, it is probably that at least fifteen hundred settled at Broad Bay. They suffered extreme hardships and privations, having been landed in a wilderness and having little or no means of subsistence of their own. Their sufferings were, in a great measure, due to the fact that the promises made to them by General Waldo were not carried out. In 1745-46 the settlement was completely wiped out by the Indians. For three years it remained desolate. Many of the inhabitants with their families joined the Louisburg Expedition, some fled to neighboring settlements, while others were killed or taken in captivity to Canada by the Indians. At the close of the fifth Indian war those who survived the Louisburg Expedition, with those who returned from captivity, and from neighboring places, renewed their settlement at Broad Bay. These colonists suffered much greater hardships even than the first settlers of Massachusetts, but Germanlike, they adhered to their undertaking and finally built up a settlement, which in 1840 exceeded any other in numbers and prosperity then in the present territories of Lincoln and Knox counties. From these colonists have descended many whose names have appeared in the professions, in commercial affairs, and in active public service. (I) Conrad Seiders came to the plantation of Broad Bay in 1748 and brought with him his son Cornelius, who was then but eight years old. The name of Conrad Seiders appears on the records of the town of Waldoboro in later years. Cornelius, his son, married Elizabeth Leistner, daughter of Charles Leistner, General Waldo's agent. Their gravestones, now standing in the Old Meeting House Cove burying ground, near Dutch Neck, alone identify that old burial place. A number of children were born to them, namely: Jacob, Henry, Philip, and daughters. (II) Jacob, son of Conrad Seiders, married Mary Given and they resided in Waldoboro during their lives. The following children were born to them: Henry, Francis, John, Edward, Ambrose, Reuben and Elizabeth who married Ezra I. Wall. John resided on the home farm at Waldoboro until his decease. Edward and Ambrose in their early twenties went to New Orleans and the latter never was heard from afterward. Edward was in the Texan war and afterward settled at Austin, Texas, where he died a few years since, leaving a family, all sons, who have largely settled in Texas. Reuben graduated from Bowdoin College and married Susan Austin, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He taught at Cambridge for some years and afterward graduated from the Divinity School at Harvard college and became a Unitarian clergyman. The two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, lived and died in Augusta, Maine, leaving families. (III) Henry, first son of Jacob and Mary (Given) Seiders, was born in Waldoboro in 1798. Before reaching his majority he went to Thomaston, Maine, where he worked in the ship yards. In 1837 he moved to the town of Union and settled there on a farm, where he lived till the close of his life in 1881, aged eighty-three years. He took great interest in both political and religious matters, and was active in building the first Congregational church in that place. In 1827 he married Mary Whiting Starrett, of Warren, who was born December 24, 1808, daughter of John and Margaret (Fitzgerald) Starrett, of Warren, Maine. John Starrett was a descendant of Colonel Thomas Starrett, who was active in public affairs of Warren, and who was a descendant of William Starrett, who came from Scotland to Pemaquid and from there joined the Waldo colony located in the town of Warren in 1736. Children of Henry and Mary W. (Starrett) Seiders: 1. John Henry, died in infancy, April 5, 1832. 2. Mary Jane, born in 1829, married Captain Oliver J. Starrett, of Warren, and died on passage from New Orleans to Liverpool in 1855. Their only issue, Mary Alice, deceased in childhood. 3. Margaret S., born in 1837, married Charles G. Snell, of Waldoboro, and is now living at Portland, widow. Their only issue, Henry Seiders Snell, deceased in childhood. 4. Joseph Henry, born in 1836, died of yellow fever at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1857, unmarried. 5. Edward, born in 1838, was engaged in seafaring life, and as mate of a vessel on passage from New York to New Orleans, was lost at sea in 1863, unmarried. 6. Emerson, born in 1839, was lost on Lake Erie in 1864, unmarried. 7. Sarah L., born in 1842, single, now lives in Portland, Maine. 8. George M. receives extended mention below. 9. Frederick A., born in 1848, is now living on the old homestead at Union. In 1871 he married Sarah Jane Linscott, of Palermo, to whom there have been born four children, all living, to wit: Harold Latimer, Conrad Arvidson, Carl Frederic and Clarice Hayes. (IV) George Melville, eighth child and fifth son of Henry and Mary W. (Starrett) Seiders, was born in Union in 1844. His early education was obtained the public schools of that place. September 10, 1862, when attending the high school, he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-fourth Maine Volunteer Infantry, and was made a corporal. The company rendezvoused first at Augusta, then at East New York, Long Island. Later in the fall the regiment was transported on the "Lizzie Southard" to New Orleans. After remaining there for a few days it was encamped for some weeks at Bonnet Carre, above New Orleans and later joined the forces then besieging Port Hudson. While at Bonnet Carre, Mr. Seiders had an attack of typhoid fever and a relapse therefrom, and after recovering joined his regiment at Port Hudson. In the meantime Vicksburg was besieged and taken, and also Port Hudson shortly after. The regiment returned home via the Mississippi river and Chicago, and was mustered out of service at Augusta, August 25, 1863. After the war Mr. Seiders returned to Union and remained on the home farm until he attained his majority, then he went to Portland, where he obtained employment in the machine shops of Charles Staples & Son, where he remained some months. Having a desire to obtain a better education, he left the workbench in 1866, attending two terms at Kent's Hill Seminary, and subsequently continuing and finishing his preparatory course for college at Lincoln Academy, Newcastle, Maine. He entered Bowdoin College in the class of 1872. During his preparatory and college courses he paid his way by teaching in district schools and academies. He graduated with the degree of A. B. and later received the degree of A. M. After his graduation he was immediately appointed principal of Greeley Institute, Cumberland Center, Maine, which position he occupied two years, during which time the institute enjoyed a larger degree of prosperity than it had ever before or has since. At the close of his services at Greeley Institute he was elected submaster of the high school at Waltham, Massachusetts where he taught one year, when, having received an advantageous offer, he accepted a professorship in the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut at Cheshire, Connecticut, where he taught during the school year of 1875-76. While there he took up the reading of law, and in July, 1876, entered the office of Thomas Brackett Reed, at Portland, and there continued the study of law. In October, 1878, Mr. Seiders was admitted to the bar and took desk room with Hon. F. M. Ray for a few months, when he returned to Mr. Reed's office and remained in association with him until Mr. Reed moved to New York in 1901. In January, 1893, Mr. Seiders and F. V. Chase, Esq., formed a co-partnership under the style of Seiders & Chase, which continued until January, 1901. In 1883 he was appointed assistant counsel for the United States in the Alabama Court of Claims, and acted in that capacity during the continuance of the court. In 1885 he was elected county attorney for the county of Cumberland and again in 1887, serving two terms. During his services as county attorney many important cases were tried by him, including murder cases. After having completed his services in that capacity he was engaged in both civil and criminal practice. He defended tow murder cases which perhaps excited as much public interest as any that have been tried in the county of Cumberland. During the period when Mr. Seiders was reading law and for two years after his admission to the bar he lived in the town of North Yarmouth, where he was elected representative to the Legislature of 1878 on the Republican ticket by the classed towns of Yarmouth and North Yarmouth. Although he had not been admitted to the bar, he was appointed on the judiciary committee and others of importance. He took up his residence in Portland in 1880. In 1892 he was elected to the State Senate and served on the judiciary and other important committees. Two years later he was re-elected and was unanimously chose president of that body. His business methods, prompt and courteous rulings, and impartial dealings in public affairs secured for him strong support, which in 1901 was the means of his being elected attorney general of the state. He was re-elected in 1903, serving two full terms. His administration of this office was highly commended. In 1898 he was elected a member of the Republican state committee, and served in that capacity until 1905. Mr. Seiders has been attorney for and officially connected with many corporations. From his youth he has been a member of the Congregational church. He is a member of Bosworth Post, G. A. R., of the Cumberland Club, and of Bramhall League, all of Portland. He married, November 24, 1874, Clarice Small Hayes, who was born in North Yarmouth in 1854, daughter of Isaac S. and Asenath (Batchelder) Hayes, of North Yarmouth. They have three children, all living: Grace Ruiten, born 1875 Mary Asenath, born 1877 Philip Reed, born 1885 Grace R. married Dr. Phillip Webb Davis in 1903. They have two children, Mary Louise, born 1904, and Katherine, born 1906.