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.]

TARBOX This family is of Huguenotic extraction. It has been spelled Tarbeaux, Tarback and Tarbock. Among the scions of this stock were Rev. Increase N. Tarbox, D.D., of Boston, Judge James Tarbox, of Vermont, and Hon. John K. Tarbox, a member of congress from Mass. A limb of the family tree branched off into Vermont and Admiral Dewey is of this line. (I) John (1) Tarbox was in Lynn, Mass. as early as 1640, and had seven acres of land on Water Hill. He was an owner in the iron works, an infant industry in the struggling colony. He served as appraiser in the estate of George Fraile, and was a man of good character and a substantial citizen. His will is on record in the probate office in Salem, Mass., and in it appears this: "I bequeath my house and housing with all my land and meadow, with a Greene rug and a great Iron Kettell and a round Joyned Table to my Sonne John Tarbox." The name of his wife was Rebecca. Children: Rebecca, Jonah, John and Samuel. (II) John (2), second son of John (1) and Rebecca Tarbox, was born in 1645. He shared much more largely in his father's estate than did Samuel, probably under the old English law of primogeniture. There may have been other reasons. Samuel seems to have filled a larger space in the public eye than his elder and more fortunate brother. John married Mary Haven July, 1667. Children: John, Joseph, Sarah, Joseph, Jonathan, Samuel, Ebenezer, Hannah, Mary and Susanna, (the last three triplets) Nathaniel and Mary. His wife died Nov. 10, 1690. (III) Nathaniel, sixth son of John (2) and Mary (Haven) Tarbox, was born Jan. 25, 1684, and was the first to carry the name to Maine, moving to Biddeford on the Saco river. He had charge of the garrison house near Biddeford Pool, the remains of which are still to be seen there. The name of his wife was Elizabeth; they were married in 1710. Children: Joseph, Benjamin, John, Hosea and Sarah. He was killed by the Indians in 1723. (IV) Joseph, eldest son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Tarbox, was born in 1711. He went with his father to Biddeford. He married Mary Belcher, of Boston, Feb. 22, 1732. Children: Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Hannah, Jonathan, Zachariah, Eliakim, Sophia, Eliezer and Lavinia. (VI) Andrew, probably a grandson of the above-named Joseph and Mary (Belcher) Tarbox, was a leading and influential townsman of Woolwich, Maine. [trans note: beware the word "probably"]. He was a shipmaster and sailed the seas for many years. Captain Tarbox was a Whig when it was a time to be Whigs and subsequently shifted to the Republican party on the question of slavery. He was a great admirer of Henry Clay, after whom he named his son. He removed to Bath, served in the city government and died at eighty-four. (VII) Henry C., son of Captain Andrew Tarbox, was born on Phips' Point, Woolwich, Maine, Dec. 2, 1836, died Dec. 9, 1897. He was reared on the family estate. His early education was in the district schools, complemented by terms at Pittston and Litchfield Academy. He early imbibed a love for the mariners' art, and at thirteen years of age went "down to the sea in ships" with his father. He arose in successive gradations from cabin-boy to master, commanding the "Samuel Tarbox" six years, most of the time in the Chincha Island trde. In 1866 the "Samuel Tarbox" was lost in a hurricane sailing from Baltimore to Aspinwall. Capt. Tarbox was rescued after being without food for three days. He sailed other ships, the "Itasca," "Alexandra" and the "Almira Robinson." On Feb. 15, 1866, he married Aramede S., daughter of Alfred Lemont, of Bath. Children: Alfred L., Lida L. (deceased), Harry R., Malinda L., M. Louise, Barnard L.