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.]

WINGATE The Wingates of England are an interesting and profitable family to study, and it has always been the ambition of the Wingates of America to secure an unbroken claim to connect the two families, but up to this time the missing links have not been restored, and only in an indirect way can the relationship be established. In view of this it is not our purpose to regard the English family, but to name the progenitor of the family in America and to trace from him the subject we have in hand. (I) John Wingate, American progenitor of the Wingates of New England and of the northwest, if not of the entire family in America, came to New Hampshire from England when an independent young man with no responsibility of family or relatives. He was credited with being in the service of Thomas Layton, who located at Hilton's Point, now known as Dover Neck, New Hampshire, as early as 1658. Thomas Layton gave him a consideration for services already rendered, or to be rendered, twenty acres of land in the Neck, and the selectmen of the town thought it expedient to grant him an allotment of twenty acres immediately adjoining that given him by his master. He thus became an important yeoman or farmer in the colony. He built a house and established a homestead which has been handed down from generation to generation in uninterrupted succession, even to this day. In early records his name is written "John Winget" and there appear various other spellings of the name. He married after securing a homestead, Mary, daughter of Elder Hatevil Nutter, a stern and exemplary Puritan, and they had two children: Anne, born February 18, 1667 John, July 13, 1670. His wife died, and about 1676 he married as his second wife Sarah, widow of Thomas Carney, by whom he had five children, as follows: Caleb, Moses, Mary, Joshua, Abigail and John Wingate who died December 9, 1687. (II) John (2), eldest son of John (I) and Mary (Nutter) Wingate, was born in Dover, New Hampshire, July 13, 1670. As the eldest son, he inherited the homestead and it was his home during his entire life. He commanded a company of militia in the expeditions to Port Royal, 1707-10. His wife was Ann, and after she had borne him twelve children, and he had left her a widow, she married, December, 1725, Captain John Heard. br> The children of Captain John and Ann Wingate were: 1. Mary, born October 3, 1691. 2. John, April 10, 1693, died September, 1694. 3. Ann, February 2, 1694, died 1787. 4. Sarah, February 17, 1696. 5. Moses, December 27, 1698, died February 9, 1782. 6. Samuel, November 27, 1700. 7. Edmond, February 27, 1702. 8. Abigail, March 2, 1704. 9. Elizabeth, February 3, 1706. 10. Mehitable, November 14, 1709. 11. November 14, 1709. 12. Simon, September 2, 1713. Captain John Wingate died in 1715. (III) Simon, youngest son and child of Captain John (2) and Ann Wingate, was born on the homestead in Dover Neck, New Hampshire, September 2, 1713, two years before the death of his father, who left him to the care of his mother and eldest son John to be brought up. He sold, in 1736, in conjunction with his youngest sister, Joanna, to their brother, Moses Wingate, for thirty pounds, "a part of thirty acres of land granted by Dover to our honored father, John Wingate, late of Dover, deceased." The deed is dated May 26, 1736. He removed from Dover to Biddeford, Maine, where he was admitted to the First Church of that town, October 17, 1742, and he soon after was elected a deacon of the church. He married Lydia, daughter of Ebenezer and Abiel (Snell) Hills, and she was admitted to the First Church, November 29, 1774. They had twelve children born to them in Biddeford, as follows: 1. Anne. 2. Elizabeth. 3. Hannah. 4. Snell, baptized February 3, 1744. 5. Simon, baptized June 21, 1747. 6. John, baptized April 8, 1750. 7. Lydia, baptized April 26, 1752. 8. Edmond, baptized January 5, 1755. 9. _____. 10. Lucy, baptized December 25, 1757. 11. Sarah, baptized March 22, 1761. 12. Susannah. (IV) Snell, eldest son and fourth child of Simon and Lydia (Hill) Wingate, was baptized February 3, 1744. He married (first) Margaret Emery, of Biddeford, Maine, who died November 29, 1783, and (second) Mehitable Davis Crocker, of Dunstable, Massachusetts, widow of Elijah Crocker, who was a sea captain and sister of Daniel Davis, solicitor-general. After his marriage, Snell Wingate removed from Biddeford to Buxton, Maine, and built a house on Lot No. 12, Range D., Third Division. He was a selectman for eleven years. His five children by his first wife were: 1. Molly, baptized April 13, 1770. 2. Samuel, baptized August 26, 1772. 3. Daniel, baptized August 27, 1775 or 1776, married Sarah Whittier in 1802, settled in Buxton near his father, had one son John, who left Buxton and was never heard from, and his large family of daughters married and removed from Buxton. 4. Abigail, baptized August 3, 177. 5. Simon, born August 27, 1780 (or baptized September 1, 1781). Children of second wife: 6. Robert Davis, born August 8, 1789, died April 23, 1806. 7. Elijah Crocker, born December 17, 1790, married Mary Lombard, of Gorham, Maine, and died without issue. 8. Snell, born August 7, 1792, died 1814. 9. Ansel, born March 16, 1794, died 1814, while a soldier in the American army in the war of 1812. 10. Margaret Emery, born January 3, 1797. 11. John, born April 28, 1799, married, January 22, 1821, Salome Small, of Buxton, Maine, and (second), September 22, 1829, to Sophronia, widow of Mr. Frost. John Wingate lived in Gorham, Maine, and had by his first wife three children and by his second eight. He died at Gorham, Maine, in 1859. Snell Wingate, his father, died in Buxton, Maine, early in the nineteenth century, but no date is on record. (V) Samuel, eldest son and second child of Snell and Margaret (Emery) Wingate, was born in Buxton Center, Maine, and baptized August 26, 1772. He married Molly Woodman, of Buxton, Maine, October 17, 1796, and lived in West Buxton, where five children were born of the marriage: 1. William. 2. Edmond, who lived and died in Saco, Maine, and left a son who lived at Boston. 3. Margaret. 4. Nabby, married a Mr. Scribner, lived at Buxton, Maine, and had three sons. 5. Harriet. (VI) William, eldest son of Samuel and Molly (Woodman) Wingate, was born at West Buxton, Maine, his birth probably occurring in 1797 or 1798. He was married to Mary Ann Coolberth, of Standish, Maine, and they lived first at Steep Falls in the town of Standish and later at Limerick, Maine. He was a merchant, a member of the Baptist church, a devoted advocate of the principles of the Whig party, and as a Republican he was elected selectman in 1861. He served in the Thirteenth Maine Regiment in the civil war and was a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. William and Mary Ann (Coolberth) Wingate had two children, Edwin R. and Mary Ann. (VII) Edwin R., only son of William and Mary Ann (Coolberth) Wingate, was born at Steep Falls, a town of Standish, Maine. He became a merchant, and also held the office of postmaster at Steep Falls, in the township of Standish, Maine. He was also a manufacturer. In the civil war he enlisted in the Thirteenth Maine Volunteer Regiment and served during the entire war, receiving the credit of being a good soldier, a faithful officer and a patriot of undoubted repute. His church affiliation was with the Free Will Baptist denomination, and his political faith was with the party that put down the Rebellion and preserved the Union of the states. He was a companion of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and a commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. He married, 1868, Harriet Boulter, of Steep Falls, and they had three children: 1. Edwin R., who became a hotel clerk in Swampscott, Massachusetts. 2. Thomas H., a clerk and partner in his father's business. 3. William W. (q.v.). (VIII) William W., son of Edwin R. and Harriet (Boulter) Wingate, was born at Steep Falls, Standish township, Maine, September 12, 1870. He attended the public school and was graduated at Fryeburg Academy, Bowdoin College, and Harvard University Law School, and was admitted to the bar. He established himself in the practice of law in Brooklyn, New York, with offices at 44 Court street. He became a Republican politician and served as counsel for the sheriff of Kings county, New York, and as undersheriff of the county. He was appointed attorney for the state comptroller, January 1, 1909. He affiliates with the Masonic fraternity and with the order of Elks, and is a member of the Republican Club of New York, of the Reform Club and of the Maine Society of New York. He is a member of Plymouth Congregational Church of Brooklyn. Mr. Wingate is unmarried.