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.]

THURLOW This name is unusual in America, and seems to be confined to the state of Maine, where it has been found for several generations in the towns of Woodstock, Norway and Litchfield. The earliest of the family seems to be Asa Thurlo, as the name was then spelled, who was born June 3, 1760, and went to Woodstock from Buckfield. Some of his descendants afterward settled in Norway. The family at Litchfield, whose biographies form the substance of the following article, seems to be entirely distinct from those at Norway and Woodstock. It may be mentioned in passing, that although the name is rare in the United States, it is found in the peerage of England. The present Baron Thurlow, the fifth of his line, entered the diplomatic service in 1858, and has been an attache of many important legations, including that at Washington. (I) John Thurlow was born about 1760, and some time before 1800 went from Berwick, Maine, to Litchfield, and lived in the Ferrin neighborhood. He married Polly Earle Hanscom. Children: 1. Richard, born Feb. 24, 1786, moved to Lee, Maine. 2. Martha, born May 8, 1788, married Joseph Hanscom. 3. John (2), whose sketch follows. 4. Polly, born May 9, 1792, unmarried. 5. Jacob, born June 20, 1794, married a Dana, and lived in Massachusetts. 6. Lydia, born July 13, 1796, married Richard Ferrin. 7. Moses, born Dec. 12, 1798, married Maria Child and lived in Lee. 8. Rutha, born March 6, 1801, married George Lindsey and lived in Lincoln. 9. George, born Dec. 10, 1803, died young. 10. Elisha, born Jan. 22, 1807, married Elizabeth Jordan and lived in Lee. (II) John (2), second son of John (1) and Polly E. (Hanscom) Thurlow, was born April 11, 1790, probably at Berwick, Maine, and died at Litchfield, Maine, Sept. 23, 1868. When a child he mvoed with his parents to Litchfield, and subsequently inherited his father's farm there. The first wife of John (2) Thurlow, and mother of children, was Sally (Flagg) Thurlow, of Bowdoin, Maine, who died April 15, 1852. John (2) Thurlow married (second) Hannah Brimijohn. Children, all of 1st wife: 1. Kingsbury, born Oct. 2, 1816, married Jane White and lived in Sangerville. 2. Millet, born Aug. 2, 1819, married Catherine Gulliver and lived in Sangerville. 3. Marinda, born Dec. 25, 1821, married (first) Benjamin Potter, (second) James Costellow. 4. William, born May 5, 1825, married Mary Ann White, lived at Richmond. 5. Annie, born Oct. 27, 1827, married William J. Ferrin and lived at Richmond. 6. John F., born Feb. 20, 1830; is now (1908) living at the age of seventy-eight in Bath. 7. Charles L., born March 20, 1832, married Adeline Jack, lived in Gardiner, where he died April 25, 1875. 8. George N., whose sketch follows. 9. Henry J., born May 28, 1837, married Frances Thurlow and lived in Lee. (III) George Nelson, sixth son of John (2) and Sally (Flagg) Thurlow, was born at Litchfield, Maine, Dec. 5, 1834. He received a common school education, and worked in a shipyard as a young man; but afterward turned his attention to farming and cattle buying. In 1862 he enlisted in the Seventh Maine Regiment, and served throughout the war, reaching the rank of corporal. He took part in the battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Thurlow is a Democrat in politics. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Litchfield, and of Libby Post, No. 93, Grand Army of the Republic. On Feb. 2, 1869, George Nelson Thurlow married Emeline Willard Morse, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Children: George Alvan, born Aug. 11, 1870. Harry Harding, whose sketch follows. George A. is a stationary engineer at Berlin, New Hampshire. He married Martha A., daughter of Ruel W. and Emma (Williams) Cunningham, of Litchfield, and a great-granddaughter of Rev. Daniel and Elizabeth (Potter) Cunningham. Children: Milton, Morris, Veryl and Christine. (IV) Harry Harding Thurlough, as he spells the name, younger son of George Nelson and Emeline W. (Morse) Thurlow, was born at Litchfield, Maine, May 3, 1877. He obtained his preliminary education in the schools of his native town, and at the Nichols Latin school, Lewiston, from which he was graduated in 1895. He spent two years at Bates College and two years at the Law School of the University of Maine at Bangor. He also studied law in the office of George G. Weeks, of Fairfield. Mr. Thurlow taught school for twenty terms, and for some years traveled on the road, selling school supplies. In Feb., 1906, he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law at Pittsfield, Maine, where he has since been located. He has been admitted to the bar of the U. S. district court. He is a Republican in politics, and belongs to Pittsfield Grange, Order of Maccabees, and Modern Woodmen of America. On Feb. 1, 1902, Harry Harding Thurlough married Mertie, daughter of Levi Goodwin, of Canaan, Maine. Children: Leland Lloyd, born May 31, 1903, at Canaan, Maine. Norman Nelson, born Jan. 10, 1907, at Pittsfield, Maine.