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.]

WHITTIER The name of Whittier, so long identified with Salisbury, Haverhill and Amesbury, Mass., was transplanted in New England by an immigrant from the mother country who became an early settler in the first-named town, and has been made famous by the distinguished poet and Abolitionist, John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892). The name Whitcher and Wicher were originally Whittier. (I) Thomas Whittier, first ancestor in America of the Essex county, Mass. family, was born in England about the year 1622, and in 1638 sailed from Southampton in the ship "Confidence" of London, John Johnson, master. With him came John Rolfe, and several other colonists who became the progenitors of highly estimable families. Settling in Salisbury, Mass., he resided there until 1650, when he removed to Haverhill and was admitted a freeman there in 1656. He built the famous Whittier homestead in that town, wherein his illustrious descendant, the poet, was born, and he appears in the early records as a prominent man in both religious and public affairs. He died in Haverhill Nov. 29, 1696. He married Ruth Green. Children: Mary P. (married Benjamin Page), John, Ruth, Thomas, Susanna, Nathaniel, Hannah, Richard, Elizabeth and Joseph. (II) Nathaniel, third son and sixth child of Thomas and Ruth (Green) Whittier, was born in Haverhill Aug. 11, 1658. He took the oath of allegiance to the colony in 1677, and was admitted a freeman in 1690. He was a carpenter and resided in Salisbury. He died July 18, 1722. He married (first) Aug. 26, 1683, Mrs. Mary Osgood, widow of John Osgood, of Salisbury, and whose maiden name was probably Mary Stevens. She died May 11, 1705, and in 1710 he married (second) Mrs. Mary Ring, also a widow. Her death occurred July 19, 1742. Nathaniel Whittier and his first wife witnessed the trial of Susanna Martin for witchcraft in 1692, and the same year they both signed the petition for the release of Mary (Perkins) Bradbury, who had been sentenced to death for a similar offence. Children of Nathaniel: Reuben and Ruth. (III) Reuben, eldest child of Nathaniel and Mary (Osgood) Whittier, was born in Salisbury May 17, 1685-86. His intention to marry Deborah Pillsbury, of Newbury, was published Nov. 13, 1708, and the ceremony was performed Dec. 19 of that year. In 1710 he was a soldier in the colonial service, and his death occurred in Salisbury Nov. 18, 1722. Children: Nathaniel, Mary, French, William, Reuben, Richard, Joseph and Benjamin. Sept. 8, 1724, Mrs. Deborah Whittier married (second) Zachariah (4) Eastman. (IV) Nathaniel (2), eldest child of Reuben and Deborah (Pillsbury) Whittier, was born in Salisbury Aug. 12, 1711. He resided in his native town until after 1750, going from there to Poplin, N. H., and thence to Raymond, same state. His death occurred at the home of one of his children in Winthrop, Maine, Jan. 21, 1784. He was married in Salisbury Nov. 16, 1734, to Hannah Clough, and had a family of ten children, all of whom were born in Salisbury. (V) Nathaniel (3), second son of Nathaniel (2) and Hannah (Clough) Whittier, was born in Salisbury Feb. 23, 1743. He was among the early settlers in central Maine, going there from Raymond, N. H., and residing for a time in Winthrop, and he died in Readfield April 17, 1798. In 1766 he married Elizabeth Prescott, born in Brentwood, N. H., Jan. 5, 1745, daughter of Jedediah and Hannah (Batchelor) Prescott; died in Vienna, Maine. (VI) Benjamin, son of Nathaniel (3) and Elizabeth (Prescott) Whittier, was born in Readfield Aug. 21, 1783, died in 1832. He married Nancy Hathaway. Children: Elizabeth, Alice, Joseph Hathaway, Julia Maria and Charles Thomas. (VII) Charles Thomas, youngest child of Benjamin and Nancy (Hathaway) Whittier, was born in Belfast, Maine, 1823, died in Bangor, 1891. He was of Damariscotta, Maine, prior to settling in Bangor, and learning the carriage-trimmer's trade became an expert in that calling. For many years he was in charge of the trimming department of a well-known carriage manufactory in Bangor, and possesses numerous commendable qualities. He married Fannie Parker McQueston, born 1825, daughter of Daniel McQueston, an early settler in Bangor. She is a highly estimable woman, possessing much natural ability and a strongly defined character. Children: 1. Benjamin Franklin, born in Bagor 1844, died in New York, 1871. 2. Charles H., born in Bangor 1847, died in Washington, D. C. 1864. 3. Julia Maria Hathaway, born in Bangor 1850. 4. John Johnson, born in Bangor 1852, died 1855. 5. Asa S., born in Bangor 1855, died in Portland, Oregon, 1884. 6. Mary Emma, born in Bangor 1857, died in Bangor 1889. 7. Alice Belle, born in Bangor, 1864. (VIII) Julia M. H. Whittier, eldest daughter of Charles T. and Fannie Parker (McQueston) Whittier, became the second wife of William B. Tobey, of North Berwick, Oct. 23, 1889.