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.]

WOODMAN This pioneer family, members of which are traced in the following account, has the distinction of being descended from the first Woodman who landed on New England soil and became the progenitor of a line which now exists. The family name probably came from the occupation of him who first took it. (I) Edward Woodman, probably from Corshan, a village in Wiltshire, England, elven miles from Christian Malford, came with his wife Joanna, and together with Archelaus Woodman, probably his young brother, settled in Newbury, Mass. in 1635. Archelaus came from Engand in the ship "James"; the name of the ship which brought Edward is unknown. Edward Woodman was one of the ninety-one grantees who settled Newbury, and one of fifteen of that number who was entitled to be called "Mr." He is supposed to have lived in 1681, and for years before, in what was afterward and for a long time known as "Woodman's Lane," now (1908) known as Kent street, and sitaute in the present town of Newburyport. March 25, 1681, Edward conveyed to his son Jonathan "My now dwelling-house, houses and barns and orchard and pasture, and all my plow land lying by and adjoining to the said houses, as also all the plow lands upon the northwest side of the street lying upon the westward side of my house, the said street being vulgarly called the Newstreet." The consideration for this conveyance was "natural and fatherly love and affection" and "twenty pounds which is yearly to be paid during the time of my own and my wife's natural life." Edward Woodman is not known to have had any trade. In a deed dated 1687 he is styled husbandman. He was a man of influence, decision, and energy, and opoosed with great zeal the attempt made by the Rev. Thomas Parker to change the mode of church government from Congregationalism to something like Presbyteriansm. He was made a freeman May 25, 1636; was a deputy in the general court in 1636-37-39-42; in 1638-41-44-46 was one of the three commissioners to end small causes in Newbury, and at various times held other offices of trust in town and state. He was one of the first selectmen of Newbury, elected in 1636, and his name heads the list as given by Coffin. Among his other commissions he had one from the state "to see people marry," of which in 1681 he speaks as follows: "An unprofitable commission; I quickly laid aside the worke, which has cost me many a bottle of sacke and liquor, where friends and acquaintances have been concerned." He and his wife Joanna were living in Feb., 1688. She was then seventy-four. He died prior to 1694, at an unknown age. Children: Edward, John, Joshua, Mary, Sarah, Jonathan and Ruth. Edward and John were born in England. (II) Joshua, third son of Edward and Joanna Woodman, was born in Old Newbury in 1636; "first man child borne in Newbury" is the legend his gravestone bears. He took the oath of allegiance in 1678, and is then called forty-one. It appears that he lived in both Andover and Newbury. He owned land in Haverhill, where he built a house between 1660 and 1668, and probably resided. After he was sixty years old (1698), he bought twelve acres of land of Benjamin Lowe in the tract called the freehold lots, in the upper woods, which was bounded "northerly by the highway upon the Merrimack river." By his will he devised his land in Haverhill to three of his sons; this included one hundred and twenty acres of the two hundred and twenty acres which his father Edward bought of Stephen Kent, Nov. 21, 1662, and is said to constitute a part of the site of the present city of Lawrence. His will was made March 27, 1703, O.S., and probated July 12 of the same year. He died May 30, 1703, aged seventy-seven years, doubtless in Byfield parish, and was buried in the graveyard adjoining the parish meeting house lot, on the line between Newbury and Rowley. His grave and that of his son Joshua are still marked by the (original) small slate stones set there years ago. He married, Jan. 23, 1666, Elizabeth Stevens, who died in 1714, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth Stevens, of Andover. Children: Elizabeth, Dorothy, Joshua, Jonathan, a son (died young), Mehetable, David, Benjamin, Sarah and Mary. (III) Benjamin, eighth child and fifth son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Stevens) Woodman, was born probably in Andover, Mass., July 27, 1683. By deed dated Dec. 6, 1706, he bought, being then of Newbury, for twenty-two pounds, of John Dummer, of Newbury, seven and one-half acres of land lying in Newbury, and there it is believed that he settled and raised his family and resided until his death. There is tradition to confirm the other evidence that this was his home, and it is known that he lived in Byfield parish in Newbury. He was a tanner, and the place has been the site of a tanyard time out of mind. He bought, March 26, 1735, a one hundred and twenty-third part of the town of Narragansett, No. 1 (Buxton). May 31, 1736, he bought one-half of an original right; and Sept. 29, 1745, he bought the other half of that original right; and the same year he was one of the two who agreed to build each a house and clear four acres of land in that township within four years. These interests in the town he conveyed to his son Joshua, Dec. 24, 1741, and April 15, 1747. He died in 1748. His will was made April 14, 1748, and probated July 4 following. He married, March 1, 1711, Elizabeth Longfellow, born July 3, 1688, at Newbury Falls, daughter of William and Anne (Sewall) LONGFELLOW. "William Longfellow, the only one of the name who came to America, was born in 1651, in Hampshire, England. He was a man of talents and education, wrote an elegant hand, but was not quite so much of a Puritan as some othes. He married Anne, sister of Judge Samuel Sewall, and daughter of Old Henry Sewall. William Longfellow was very improvident, and loved a frolic rather too well. He was what would be called, at the present time, a high buck. He enlisted as ensign in the ill-fated expedition to Canada, and was drowned at Anticosti in Oct., 1690, when his daughter Elizabeth was a little over two years old." Children of Benjamin & Elizabeth: Ann, Sarah, Joseph, Benjamin, Joshua, David and Jonathan (twins), Nathan and Stephen. (IV) Captain Joseph, third child and eldest son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Longfellow) Woodman, was born in Newbury, Mass., May 31, 1715, baptized June 5, 1715, and died in Hollis, Maine, July 4, 1796, and was buried on his own farm in Buxton. He seems to have been a settler in Narragansett No. 1 (Buston, Maine) as early as May 26, 1742, when his name is found on a petition by the then eleven settlers of the town. On account of the war between England and France in 1744, this settlement broke up, and all the settlers left. There is no record of any settlers in the town between this date and 1750. June 10, 1746, Joseph Woodman was the grantee in a deed wherein he is descried as "of Biddiford, laborer." This deed conveyed title to him on one-eighth of a double sawmill standing on Jordan's creek, and on the west side of Saco river, and known as the upper mill. Feb. 9, 1747, Joseph Woodman and two others, yeomen, were grantees "of one-quarter part of a sawmill standing on Saco river in the town of Biddeford, and on that part of said river known as Cole's spout." "Also one quarter part of a sawmill near adjoining to the former higher up upon the said river, on a place known by the name of Jordan's crick; also one quarter part of eleven acres of land situated in Biddeford aforesaid and adjoining unto the said two sawmills." These eleven acres of land are now covered by the factories and a considerable portion of the city of Biddeford. Joseph Woodman returned to Narragansett No. 1 in 1750, and resided at Pleasant Point; his farm comprising lots 10 and 11 in range B, of the first division, and his house occupying the highest part of lot 11. In 1754 the propreitors' fort or garrison was built on lot 11, close by his house. He sold this place in 1757, and from that time forward the proprietors' records show that he was one of the most active and prominent men in the town, and the registry of deeds shows that he was at different times the owner of much real estate. As early as 1750 he built a sawmill, the first of the kind in the town. He was captain of the first military company ever mustered in Buxton. His daughter Sally stated, in 1755, of her father: "He was a great lumberman in those days; he used to haul lumber to Pleasant Point and raft it to Saco. He sold his place to Cadwallader Gray, moved to the Hollis side of Salmon Falls, and built the first dwelling house there, and lived only three years afterwards." Hollis was then the "Plantation of Little Falls." Joseph Woodman married, in 1737, Betsey Durell, or more probably, Betsey Sewall. She died before she was twenty-one years old. Joseph Woodman married, according to the town records of Reading, Mass., Nov. 7, 1739, Catharine Smith, of Reading, born June 20, 1721, daughter of Isaac and Mary Smith. He married for his second or third wife, widow Cole, probably born Tarbox. He married last Reliance Edgcomb, widow of James Edgcomb, born Thompson, a native of Brunswick. Children: Betsey, probably child of Betsey Sewall. Mary, Olive, Joseph, Rebecca, James, Susanna, Nathaniel and Sally. Seven children were born by the second (third) wife; and one of the last wife. (V) Captain Joseph (2), fourth child and eldsest son of Joseph (1) Woodman, was born in Biddeford, date of birth unknown, probably 1749; and died Oct. 15, 1824, in the seventy-sixth year of his life. Buston was a forest when he was born and during his boyhood. He was for three months the pupil of Silas Moody, and this was all the schooling he ever had. He settled on lot 3, range A, second division, probably immediately after his marriage, and there he made his home as long as he lived. He built his first house in August, 1775, while the British were cannonading Portland, and when he heard the thunder of their batteries at Buxton, wished he could have the glass they were breaking there to glaze the windows of his new house, which for want of glazing he was obliged to board up. The country was then so near its natural condition that wolves were plenty, and howled about his house at night. In 1802 he built a much more pretentious house, with a hip roof, which is still (1908) standing. He built the first sawmill on the Buxton side of the Saco river, and his cousin, Hon. John Woodman, and others built the first one on the Hollis side. He owned the land where the dam and mill stood, and is said to have felled the first tree in clearing the gound for his impovements. He buit not only the first sawmill, which was double, but three single sawmills on the Buxton side at Bar Mills. Before 1798 he also built a grist mill and a fulling mill there. A carding mill was put into the fulling mill at a later day, and is said to have been the first one in Maine. A large potion of the lumber in his day went to the West Indies, and return cargoes were composed mainly of rum and molasses. The every one drank rum not excepting the women and the clergy; and Captain Woodman, being largely engaged in lumbering, not only drank it, but bought it by the hogshead for the use of his workmen and of his friends. He was the founder of the Bar Mills on the Buxton side of the river. He owned most if not all of the land where the mills and most compact part of the village now stand, and his farm lay adjacent. He never ceased to have a lively interest in all that related to Bar Mills, and though an old man when the building of the first bridge there was undertaken, he was so much interested in the project that he waded into the water to help move and place the crib which was to serve as a foundation for one of the piers of the bridge. While thus engaged he bruised one of his legs; inflammation ensued, and death was the consequence. He was an energetic, wide-awake man, of great natural abilities, who knew as much law as any lawyer of his day, it was said, and to him all the people of the neighborhood went for counsel and advice. In politics he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and capable of maintaining his side in a very spirited debate with his opponents in the Federalist party. He joined no church, but was the first in town to adopt the faith of the Universalists. He had a remarkably fine voice, and attended Parson Coffin's church, where for many years he sang in the choir. He had great muscular strength, was fond of wrestling or any rough game which would test his strength and prove him master. He is said to have been a great joker and fond of convivial entertainment. He was a handsome man, handsomely dresed in the fasion of the time, wearing queue, ruffles, and so forth; in form, noble, erect and commanding, and having manners of the old school, dignified and polished. He was captain of the military company, and was thereafter always called Captain Woodman, a title while his father bore before him. A military captaincy in those days was an honred position, which he was proud to hold. When in command of his company he dressed elegantly, wearing short clothes with silk stockings, silver knee and shoe buckles, ruffled shirt and ruffled wristbands. He was a Free Mason, and his funeral, which was the largest ever seen in the town up to that time, was under ths auspices of that body. There were about eighty carriages in the procession. He was noted for courage and perseverance, and carried through whatever he undertook. He was generally liked, and was benevolent and good to the poor. He married, March, 1773, Abigail Woodsum, doubtless born in Biddeford, where she was baptized May 28, 1755, and died at the house of William Scribner, who married her granddaughter, Abigail Wingate, Dec. 26, 1838, aged eighty-three years and eight months. She was the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Dyer) Woodsum, of Biddeford, who were married Aug. 24, 1749. Her father's father was probably Joseph Woodsum, of Berwick, tailor. Her father moved to Narragansett No. 1 when she was a small child, and she was taken there on a load of hay. She was a tall, stately woman, with black eyes and dark complexion, and perfectly erect, even in her old age. She was of grave demeanor, quite, and not given to gossip. She performed faithfully and well the duties which were incumbent upon her, and commanded the respect and esteem of all who knew her. It has been written: "Her children were justly proud of her as of their father, and I never saw more admiration expressed and more reverance manifested by children toward their parents than I witnessed in grandmother's children toward her. She would have commanded respect in any company." Children, b. in Buxton: Edmund, Joseph (died young), Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph, Abigail, William, Submit, Tamson, John, James and Hannah. (VI) William, seventh child of Joseph (2) and Abigail (Woodsum) Woodman, was born Dec. 17, 1787, and died at Bar Mills, Jan. 1, 1833. He was a lumberman, and resided at Bar Mills. He was considered a reliable and honorable man, and was beloved for his manly and social qualities. He was genial, social, fond of society and amusements, of quick and sympathetic feelings, and had a merry laugh which made all those who heard it laugh also. All regretted his early death. He married, July, 1815, Eliza, daughter of Aaron Burnham, of Scarborough. She died July 30, 1877. Children, b. in Buxton: Sarah Moody, Abigail Harris, Mary Jackson, Eliza Burnham, Isabella Tappan, and Martha Weeks, next mentioned. (VII) Martha Weeks, youngest child of William and Eliza (Burnham) Woodman, was born in Buxton, Feb. 10, 1824, and died in Limerick, March 23, 1891. She married, Aug. 10, 1849, Jeremiah M. Mason, of Limberick. [Now go back and pick this next line up, which occurs after (I)] (II) Edward (2), eldest child of Edward (1) and Joanna Woodman, was born about 1628, probably in England, and was married Dec. 20, 1653, in Newbury, Mass., to Mary Goodrich. Both were members of the Newbury church in 1674. He subscribed to the oath of fidelity in 1678. His will was made Dec. 16, 1693, and proved Sept. following, which approximately indicates the time of his death. Children: Mary, Elizabeth (died young), Edward (died young), a child unnamed, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Sarah, Judith, Edward, Archelaus, a daughter died sixteen days old, and Margaret. (III) Archelaus, third son and tenth child of Edward (2) and Mary (Goodrich) Woodman, was born Jun 9, 1672, in Newbury and died there March 17, 1766. He was married about 1695, to Hannah (surname unknown). Children: Mary, Edward, Archelaus, Hannah, Judith, Joshua, John, Elizabeth, Joseph and Benjamin. (IV) Joshua, third son of Archelaus and Hannah Woodman, was born June 6, 1708, in Newbury, and settled about 1736 in Kingston, New Hampshire, where he died April 4, 1791. He was a man of most pious and sterling charcter and bore up the principles and charied [married?], in March, 1736 to Eunice Sawyer, born Jan. 21, 1714, daughter of John and Sarah (Wells) Sawyer, and granddaughter of Samuel and Mary (Emory) Sawyer, and great-granddaughter of Lieut. William and Ruth Sawyer, pioneer settlers of Newbury. Of their fifteen children, three died in infancy. The survivors were: Joshua, Eunice, John, Moses, Samuel, Jonathan, David, Joseph, Hannah, Sarah, Mary and Benjamin. (V) Moses, third son of Joshua and Eunice (Sawyer) Woodman, was born March 25, 1743, in Kingston, N. H., and resided for a short time in Salisbury that state. The latter returned to the neighborhood of his native place and settled in Hawke (now Danville) N. H., where he died in 1824. He married, in 1777, Hannah (Pierce) Eaton, born 1751, died in August, 1850, at the age of ninety-nine years. They were the parents of: Polly, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Moses and John. (VI) Benjamin, eldest son of Moses and Hannah (Pierce) (Eaton) Woodman, was born in 1783, probably in Danville, N. H., and went to Lovell, Maine, whence he removed to Sweden, Maine. His active years were devoted to agriculture, and he maintained an intelligent interest in all that pertained to the public welfare, being an active Methodist in religion and a Whig in politics. He married Rachel Eaton. Children: Timothy, John, Abigail, Hannah, Nathan and Mary. (VII) John, second son of Benjamin and Rachel (Eaton) Woodman, was born in 1808, in Dover, N. H., and removed with his parents to Fryeburg, Maine. When seventeen years of age he went to Fryeburg, Maine, but soon after settled in Sweden, same state, where most of his life was passed, engaged in farming and lumbering. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he held various official stations, and was a Whig and among the early supporters of the Republican party. He was a captain of militia and prominent in all public affairs. He died about 1890, at the age of eighty-two years, at Kent's Hill, Maine. He was married, in Sweden, to Sarah Ann Evans, born 1810, died 1905, at the age of ninety-four years, daughter of Timothy and Mary (Gammage) Evans, and granddaughter of Joshua and Rebecca Gammage. Joshua Gammage came from Scotland and fought at Bunker Hill, his weapon being a pitchfork. At the age of seventeen he enlisted under General Washington and served through the war. At the age of ninety years he went from Fryeburg, Maine, to attend a soldiers' reunion in Boston, and died soon after. John and Sarah A. (Evans) Woodman were the parents of five children: The eldest, Sarah Worth, became the wife of Marcus Nash, and both are now (1908) deceased. Rebecca married Simeon Charles, of Fryeburg. John Francis is mentioned below. Caroline Evans married Edwin Lord, of Kezar Falls, Maine. James Oscar served in civil war; died at South Windham, Maine, leaving a son George. (VIII) Rev. John Francis, eldest son of John and Sarah (Evans) Woodman, was born Sept. 12, 1836, in Sweden, and grew up there, receiving the educational training afforded by the common schools, but is largely a self-educated man, having prepared himself by private study, after which he took a course in preparation for the Methodist ministry. Meantime he worked at blacksmithing. He was made a deacon and subsequently became a member of the Maine Conference, May 9, 1875. He has served as pastor at Shapleigh, Acton, New Vineyard, New Portland, Phillips and Strong. Because of the failure of his health he was compelled to abandon the ministry, and located on a farm in Oxford, Maine, where he has since resided and is a man of affairs in the community. A Republican in politics, he has filled various junior offices, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married, March 28, 1859, at Raymond, Maine, Sarah Small Nash, daughter of Daniel S. and Achsah A. (Small) Nash. Daniel S. Nash was a farmer residing in Raymond, and had four children: Marcus, Sarah S., Samuel and Mary. Sarah S. (Nash) Woodman died before 1875, and Mr. Woodman married (second) Jan. 9, 1875, Dorothy Melissa Abbott, youngest child of Tobias and Dorothy (Wilson) Abbott. Tobias Abbott was a farmer residing in Newfield. Children of 1st wife: Daniel Nash, mentioned below. John, died aged two years. Sarah Ann, wife of William H. Merchant, residing in Yarmouth, Maine. Children of 2d wife: Alice May, Frank Evans and Ethel Hoyt. (IX) Daniel Nash, eldest son of Rev. John F. and Sarah S. (Nash) Woodman, was born March 31, 1861, in Sweden, Maine, and there passed his boyhood, but attended Kent's Hill Seminary for three years and graduated at the Eastern Maine Seminary with the class of 1899. He was subsequently a student for two years in the medical department of Bowdoin College, and studied medicine two years at the medical school connected with the Maine General Hospital at Portland. After one yar at the Collegve of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, he was graduated in April, 1893. He immediately began the practice of his profession at North Yarmouth, where he remained four years, and has ever since been established at Yarmouthville, where he has a large and growing practice and is highly esteemed as a man and citizen. Dr. Woodman is a member of the American Medical Association, of the Miane Medical Society, and of the Academy of Medicine and Science, at Portland. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, having obtained the Royal Arch degree, and is also a member of the Improved Order of Redmen, and the Knights of the Golden Eagle; and of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was once active in political matters, associating with the Republican party, but in recent years has given little attention to matters of that nature. He married, Oct. 11, 1890, Hattie Worthley Kendell, born in 1871, in Bangor, Maine, daughter of Alva and Harriet (Worthley) Kendall. Children: Lewis A., Edward Francis, Alfred King, Ruth Nash, Sarah Melissa, Arthur T., Ethel Maud and Alice Cynthia. [Now go back and find (III) Benjamin and Elizabeth (Longfellow) Woodman, which this follows.] (IV) Joshua (2), third son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Longfellow) Woodman, was born in Newbury, Mass., Jan. 22, 1720. Together with his brothers Joseph and Nathan he settled near Pleasant Point in Buxton, Maine in 1750. On Dec. 24, 1741, his father conveyed to him one full right of land, being one one-hundred and twenty-third part of Narragansett No. 1 (now Buxton), and by subsequent purchase he acquired title to six and one-half full rights, or about one-seventeenth part of the entire township. It is said that he also owned still other lands than those mentioned. According to Dennett's map (1870) he settled and had his home on lot No. 22, range C, first division. Under date of Biddeford, Aug. 21, 1749, the clerk of the propretors of Narragansett No. 1 was requested to call a meetin on the application of Robert Brooks, John Brooks, Jacob Davis, John Redlon, Thomas Bradbury, Joseph Woodman, Joshua Woodman and Amos Chase. At that time all of these men were doubtless living in Biddeford and Saco, all of which territory then was under the name of Biddeford. The year 1749 seems to have been one of preparation on the part of the proprietors of the town, and from the following year (1750) dates the permanent settlement and continuous history of the town. In 1742 a temporary settlement was made and was continued for two years, when the pioneers were compelled to abandon their lands on account of the outbreak of war between England and France, which of course involved their American colonies. Joseph Woodman was one of that small band of intrepid pioneers who in 1742 made the first attempt to found the town which was compelled to be abandoned two years later, but his brother Joshua is not known to have been one of them. Joshua evidently moved from Newbury to Biddeford some time during the year 1749, at the time when the proprietors were making preparations for the second attempt at permannent settlement of old Narragansett No. 1. The proprietors' records show that Joshua Woodman was one of the leading men in the new region, frequently moderator of the town meetings and his name appears often among the petitioners to the proprietors for various purposes and also among those who had occasion to present petitions to the general court of the province; and the records bear tesimony to the fact that he was chosen to serve on committees to which were delegated important and rsponsible duties. In fact history establishes that Joseph and Joshua Woodman were recognized as leaders among the founders of the town. On June 27, 1765, probably on account of financial embarrasments Joshua Woodman conveyed to his brother Stephen (the of Falmouth, now Portland) "my homestead farm whereon I now dwell, containing one hundred acres, more or less, the same being six home lots in said township, viz: In Letter C the home lots numbered 21, 23, and 26, and in Letter D lots numbered six and seven, together with the buildings thereon standing." This appears to have been the beginning of a series of financial reverses which eventually resulted in the loss of a considerable part of his once large land holdings in the town. Several judgments were obtained against Joshua Woodman at the June twem of the court in York county in 1767 and several others at the June term of the court in the following year. The causes of his misfortunes are not known. He died in Buxton about the year 1800, and his wife is said to have died six years afterward. Both were buried in the graveyard at the Lower Corner, and Cyrus Woodman, in his work entitled "The Woodmans of Buxton, Maine" (1872), says that the stones marking their graves are still standing. (V) Joshua, son of Joshua Woodman, married June 14, 1787, Sarah Wheeler, of Buxton, and died Jan. 16, (or 21), 1844. He served in the American navy during the revolutionary war, was captured by the British, and confined in what was called the Mill prison in England; but after a time he managed to escape by digging under the prison wall. He also was in the land service during a part of the ear, and was with the army under General Washington throughout the eventful winter at Valley Forge, at which place it also is said that he was one of Washington's life guards. Captain Robert Wentworth, of Buxton, is our authority for the statement "that with others he dug under the walls of the Mill prison in England and escaped to France." He remained in the latter country for some time, without money or means of any kind by the use of which he was able to return to America. However, one of his fellow townsmen, a Captain Harding, who happened to be in England about that time and heard of his misfortune, went to France and provided him with the means to get back home. His gravestone says that Joshua Woodman died Jan. 16, 1844, aged ninety-five years, which doubtless is an error, if his brother Benjamin was older than himself, for their father was not married until May 25, 1749. (VI) Samuel, son of Joshua and Sarah (Wheeler) Woodman, was born in Buxton, Maine, Aug. 28, 1790, and died in Portland, Maine, about 1827. He married (first) June 5, 1815, Paulina Libby, of Gorham, Maine, and (second) in 1821, Lydia Raymond. (VII) Benjamin J., only son of Samuel and Paulina (Libby) Woodman, was born in Westbrook, Maine, Nov. 20, 1818, and died there in 1903. He was a shoemaker by trade, and in the earlier part of his business life was associated with William H. Neal, of Westbrook, in the manufacture of shoes. This was before the days of modern shoe factories. The firm of Neal & Woodman, as the partnership was known, manufactured shoes largely by hand and distributed the product of the shop through the surrounding towns with wagons. It was the custom of the "shoe team" to call at the merchant's door and supply their wants from stock carried in the wagon driven by the salesman. The firm carried on a profitable business for many years and became large holders of real estate in the town, but finally was compelled to suspend operations during the panic and business depression of 1857. At that time Mr. Woodman disposed of his interest in the concern to his partner and removed to a farm in Westbrook, where he died in his eighty-fifth year. He married in Dec., 1840, Charlotte Babb, of Westbrook, and both she and her husband were members of the Westbrook Methodist Episcopal Church for more than half a century. Children: Charles B., Paulina H., Benjamin F., Clara, Mary and Charlotte. (VIII) Charles Babb, eldest son of Benjamin J. and Charlotte (Babb) Woodman, was born in Westbrook, Maine, in 1841, and died in that city in August, 1901. He received his education in the common schools of his native town and in Gorham Academy, and for the next ten years after leaving school was employed in the steward's department of different coast steamboats, three years of that period being spent on government transports during the civil war. He enlisete early in the war, but was not able to pass the required physicial examination. At the close of the war he returned home, and in company with E. H. Sturgis entered general merchandizing, the firm name being Sturgis & Woodman. In 1872 he purchased his partner's interest in the business, and soon afterward gradually sold out his grocery stock and confined himself to the sale of drugs and medicines. For a number of years he was proprietor of the only drug store in Westbrook, and he continued in that business until the time of his death. Mr. Woodman always took an active and commendable part in public affairs. Before Westbrook became a city he was for many years a member of the Republican town committee and its chairman for thirteen years. For several years also he was a member of the Republican district committee of the state, having been selected for that position by the late Thomas B. Reed. For five consecutive years he was town clerk and treasurer of Westbrook, and in 1885 and again in 1887 represented Westbrook in the lower house of the state legislature. After the town became a city he was twice elected member of the board of aldermen, serving as president of the board during his second term of office. He was postmaster of Westbrook four years during the administration of President Harrison, and in April, 1899, was reappointed by Mr. McKinely for another term. He died during the second term of his incumbency of office, and as an appreciation of his faithful performance of duty his youngest son, Benjamin J. Woodman, was appointed his successor; and the son is now postmaster of the city. In 1863 Charles Babb Woodman married Clydemena Spears, of Waterville, Maine, and by her had six children: Charles Harold, now dead. Alice Louise, now dead. Guy Perley, a business man of Brunswick, Maine. George M., a physician of Westbrook. Benjamin J., postmaster of Westbrook. Philip Everett, now dead. (IX) George M., third son of Charles Babb and Clydemena (Spears) Woodman, was born in Westbrook, Maine, June 20, 1872, and acquired his earlier literary education in the public schools of that city, graduating from the high schools of that city, graduating from the high school in 1890. He then took the scientific course at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, Kent's Hill, and was graduated from that institution in 1892. After spending one year as clerk in his father's drug store and a like time as reporter on the staff of the Portland Evening Express, he determined to enter the profession of medicine; and to that end he matriculated at the medical department of Bowdoin College, completed the course of that institution, and graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1897, cum laude, and with honors of the valedictory. After graduating he received the appointment of house surgeon to the Maine General Hospital and remained there one year. He began his professional career at South Windham, Maine, remained there for five years, and has since practiced in his native city of Westbrook. He holds membership in the American Medical Association, the Maine State Medical Society, the Portland and Westbrook Medical Clubs. He at present holds a commission from the governor as contract surgeon of the National Guard of the State of Maine. He married, Feb. 25, 1904, Wilna Frost Newcomb, of Westbrook, daughter of Erwin B. and Ellen (Pennell) Newcomb. Two children have been born of this marriage: Charles B., born Nov. 30, 1904. George M. Jr., born May 6, 1907.