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.]



BODWELL

Henry Bodwell, immigrant ancestor, was born in England in 1654. He was a soldier in King Philip's war in 1676. He was pressed into service August, 1676, and took part in the battle of Bloody Brook. His left arm was broken by a musket ball and he was surrounded by Indians, but seizing his gun in his right hand and swinging it about him he mowed a swatch through the savages and escaped. He was admitted a freeman in 1678. He resided in Newbury a short time, and his eldest child was born there in 1682. He removed to Anodver, where he was living in 1685, and finally to Haverhill, where in 1693 his father-in-law, John Emery, of Newbury, gave him and his wife one hundred acres of land. In 1712 he was living in Haverhill, a renowned hunter and a terror to hostile Indians. He is said to have shot an Indian on the opposite bank of the Merrimac, when the enemy, deeming himself out of range, was making insulting gestures. Bodwell's Ferry and Bodwell's Falls were named for him.
He married, May 4, 1681, Bethia Emery, daughter of John Jr. and Mary (Webster) Emery, of Newbury. Sergeant John Emery Jr. came to Newbury in 1635; married Mary Webster, daughter of John and Mary (Shatswell) Webster, Oct. 24, 1648; was selectman 1670-73; juror 1675-76; appointed to carry the votes to Salem in 1675-76; tithingman in 1679; owned eighty acres of land at Artichoke or Raspberry River, of which half was given him by his father and some is at the present time (1908) owned by his descendantgs. Emery's mill was on the site now known as Curzon's Mills at Newburyport. Emery was admitted a freeman May 30, 1660; his will was dated Aug. 3, 1793; his wife died Feb. 3, 1709; children: i. Mary Emery, b. June 24, 1652; ii. Hannah Emery, b. Sept. 12, 1656, d. July 14, 1730; iv. Bethia Emery, b. Oct. 15, 1658, mentioned above; v. Sarah Emery, b. Feb. 26, 1660; vi. Joseph Emery, b. March 23, 1663, d. at Andover Sept. 22, 1721; vii. Stephen Emery, b. Sept. 6, 1666; viii. Abigail, b. Jan. 16, 1668; ix. Judith Emery, b. Feb. 5, 1673; xi. Lydia Emery, b. Feb. 19, 1675; xii. Elizabeth Emery, b. Feb. 8, 1680; xiii. Josiah Emery, b. Feb. 28, 1681, married Abigail Moody.

Children of Henry & Bethia BODWELL:
1. Bethia, born June 2, 1682.
2. Mary, born April 1, 1684.
3. Henry, born Jan. 27, 1685 (twin).
4. Josiah, born Jan. 17, 1685 (twin).
5. Abigial, born Jan. 15, 1686.
6. Henry, born Nov. 6, 1688; son Henry married Mary Robinson; their son married Mary How; their son Hon. Joseph R. Bodwell, b. June 18, 1818, resided at Methuen until 1852, removed to Maine and became governor of the state; died Dec. 15, 1887.
7. James, born Jan. 16, 1691.
8. Daniel, born Feb. 14, 1693, mentioned below.
9. Sarah, born Dec. 1, 1694.
10. Hannah, born Sept. 1, 1696.
11. Judith, born April 4, 1698.
12. Ruth, born Dec. 2, 1699.
13. Child, born July 10, 1701.

(II) Daniel, son of Henry Bodwell, was born Feb. 14, 1693, at Haverhill. He married Elizabeth Parker, of Haverhill.
Children, b. at Haverhill:
1. Tiffin, born Sept. 28, 1718.
2. Elizabeth, born Feb. 17, 1719-20.
3. Daniel, born Jan. 22, 1721-22.
4. John, born Dec. 27, 1723, mentioned below.
5. Ruth.
6. Abigail, married Nathaniel Ladd and resided at Coventry, Connecticut.
7. Samuel.
8. Mary.
9. Parker.

(III) John, son of Daniel Bodwell, was born in Haverhill Dec. 27, 1723. He resided in Haverhill and Methuen, Mass., a town adjoining.
Child:
Capt. John, mentioned below.

(IV) Captain John (2), son of John (1) Bodwell, was born in Methuen Jan. 16, 1752. He removed from Methuen to Shapleigh, Maine, where he died Nov. 19, 1811. He was representative to the general court in Mass., and afterward a representative and senator in the Maine legilature.
He married Miriam White, born Sept. 27, 1758, died Dec. 21, 1825, daughter of John and Miriam Hoyt (Hazen) White, of Haverhill. He was a solider in the revolution, in the Fifth Methuen Company, under Colonel Samuel Johnson of the Fourth Essex Regiment at Andover, March 26, 1776. He received his commission as captain April 3, 1776. He was also in Col. Jacob Gerrish's regiment in 1778.
Children:
1. John, born Oct. 14, 1776, mentioned below.
2. Mariam, born June 4, 1778, died May 16, 1848; married Daniel Wood.

(V) John (3), son of Capt. John (2) Bodwell, was born Oct. 14, 1776. He resided in Shapleigh, Maine, and was a prominent citizen. He was representative and senator in the Maine legislature.
He married, Dec. 9, 179_, Sally James.
Children;
1. Elisha, born Dec. 6, 1797, married Polly Wood, born Aug., 1798; children: i. John F., b. Dec. 15, 1823, married Sarah Jane Bragdon, b. Feb. 25, 1823, and had Eliza F., b. Dec. 8, 1845, died Oct. 8, 1847, and Sarah, b. June 1, 1850; ii. Enoch W., b. Jan. 9, 1827, m. Sarah J. Garvin, b. Nov. 12, 1827; iii. Sarah, b. April 18, 1831, d. April 23, 1847.
2. John White, born Sept. 2, 1800; mentioned below.
3. Asa, born Jan. 3, 1804, married Temperance Hilton, born Sept. 26, 1809.
4. Ursula, born March 11, 1806.
5. Miriam White, born Sept. 13, 1809, married Increase Sumner Kimball, born Aug. 7, 1803; children: i. John Bodwell Kimball, b. March 24, 1832, d. young; ii. Sumner Increase Kimball, b. Sept. 2, 1834; iii. Miriam White Kimball, b. June 13, 1836; iv. Maria H. Kimball (twin), b. June 13, 1836, d. Dec. 18, 1836; v. Helen Maria Kimball, b. Aug. 30, 1839; vi. Mary Emily Kimball, b. Aug. 11, 1842; vii. John Bodwell Kimball, b. Aug. 24, 1843; viii. Sarah Bodwell Kimball, b. Sept. 7, 1845; ix. Elizabeth Frances Appleton Kimball, b. Oct. 29, 1847.
6. Araspes, born Feb. 4, 1812, married Maria Jenkins; children: i. Sarah, b. April 5, 1842; ii. Joan, b. April 8, 1843.
7. Horace, born Oct. 4, 1816, a brigadier-general in the militia; married Eliza Brackett, born Sept. 17, 1817; children: i. John Brackett, b. Oct. 5, 1838; ii. Mary Elizabeth, b. April 5, 1840; iii. Miriam Brackett, b. Feb. 9, 1842; iv. Phebe M., b. Dec. 23, 1843; v. Julia M., b. Dec. 3, 1845; vi. Horce Jefferson Dallas, b. March 17, 1848.
8. Sally Belinda, born March 11, 1819, married Lewis Wentworth, born in Somersworth, Aug. 27, 1817.
9. Mary Ann, born June 14, 1821, maried David Grant, born Feb. 13, 1819; children: i. John Bodwell Grant, b. Feb. 8, 1845, d. Jan. 23, 1847; ii. John Bodwell Grant, b. June 22, 1839.
10. John E., born Feb. 19, 1824, married Louisa Jane Goodrich, born Jan. 26, 1829; children: i. William Albion, b. June 28, 1847; ii. Amos Dinsmore, b. Sept. 24, 1848; iii. Increase Sumner Kendall, b. Feb. 8, 1850.

(VI) General John White, son of John Bodwell, was born Sept. 2, 1800, in that part of Shapleigh now Acton, Maine. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and left home before reaching his majority to enter the employ of General Elisha Allen, his grandfather, as clerk in his general store in Sanford, Maine. As a young man he demonstrated unusual ability and good judgment and won the confidence of his employer to such an extent that when he resigned the office of postmaster in 1820 in order to serve as presidential elector, young Bodwell, though but twenty years of age, was appointed to fill the vacancy and was postmaster until April, 1821, when General Allen, having performed his duty as elector, was reappointed postmaster.
Before 1825 General Bodwell removed to Kennebunk and engaged in trade, but returned to Sanford after a few years, and resided in the Clark house in that town during the remainder of his life. He possessed military talent of a high order and rose rapidly from the ranks to the command of a brigade. He was successively quartermaster, brigade quartermaster, major and aide to the brigadier-general, and at the age of twehty-six was commissioned brigadier-general himself, and served with distinction many years.
General Bodwell was a natural mechanic and was fond of cabinet-making, at which he worked occasionally. He was postmaster from 1841 to 1846, and for two years member of the Sanford school committee. The history of Sanford says of him: "Whatever came from his hands was well done. He carried on gardening and farming on a small scale, and was interested in fruit raising. Garden sauce and apples were his specialities. His orchard extended southeast from Nasson's Hill, was the best cultivated in town, and his hand-picked gilly-flowers, sheep-noses, goose-eggs, Baldwins, greenings and russets were the best fruits the marked afforded. In his field and orchard he was neat, orderly and methodical, as elsewhere. As an illustration of his methodical manner, we may instance his manner of planting corn and potatoes in straight rows in perfect squares, so that whichever was seen they appeared to be almost mathematically straight. It was frequently remarked that if a six-inch cannon ball should be shot at a row lengthwise, it would cut down every stalk of corn growing in that row. He was one of the first, if not the first, to cultivate tomatoes for talbe use. When first cultivated they were a curiosity and an ornament."
He married, Nov. 10, 1823, Julia Ann, born Sept. 26, 1806, died April 20, 1875, daughter of Gen. Elisha Allen.
Children, b. in Sanford:
1. Elisha Allen, born Jan. 10, 1826, died May 12, 1827.
2. Elisha Allen, born May 2, 1829, married Grace Elizabeth Robinson; he died Aug. 13, 1853, at Sanford.
3. William Henry (twin), born Dec. 31, 1834, mentioned below.
4. Henry William (twin), born Dec. 31, 1834, married Elizabeth Tebbetts and (second) Almira Richardson; he died Aug. 9, 1873, at Sanford.

(VII) William Henry, son of Gen. John White Bodwell, born in Sanford Dec. 31, 1834, died July 20, 1866. He received his education in the public schools of Sanford, and learned the trade of shoemaking, which he followed most of his active years. He had to give up active labor and business about a year before his death.
In politics Mr. Bodwell was a Democrat; in religion an orthodox Congregationalist.
He married Eliza Bennett, born in Sanford in 1836.
Children, b. in Sanford:
1. Lillian Frances.
2. Nellie Maria.
3. Abbie Julia.
4. William J., born Feb. 19, 1864, has been connected in some capacity with the Sanford Mills since he was ten years old and is now (1908) superintendent of the printing department; married, April, 21, 1886, Emma, dau. of George Haigh; children: Edward L., Donald R., Nellie M.
5. Stillman A.
6. Charles Allen, mentioned below.

(VIII) Charles Allen, son of William H. Bodwell, was born in Sanford, Sept. 4, 1857, and was educated there in the public schools. He learned the trade of block printing in the Sanford mills, where he worked until 1886. He then established himself as a contractor and builder, and for many years has invested freely in real estate in his native town. He was one of the prime movers in building the electic railway between Sanford and Springvale and had charge of its contruction; he also built the electric road from Sanford to Cape Porpoise, and was actively engaged in promoting and building electric railways until 1900. He has been superintendent of the water works since they were constructed in Sanford, and he bulit the water works in the town of Bridgton, Maine, in 1902, and is president of the Bridgton Water & Electric Company of that town. He has been president and manager of the Sanford Light and Power Compony since 1903. He had the contract for the water works at Berwick in 1901 and still has charge of it. He was superintendent of the Mousam River railway, the Sanford and Cape Porpoise railway; is director of the Building and Loan Association of Sanford. He was one of the organizers of the Sanford Bank and was a director several years. In politics Mr. Bodwell is independent. He is a member of Springvale Grange, Patrons of Husbandry.
He married, Aug. 30, 1877, Annette S., daughter of Moses H. Libby, of Sanford.
Children, b. at Sanford:
1. Stillman A., born Oct. 25, 1880, educated in the Sanford public schools and Westbrook Seminary; partner in the firm of Bodwell Brothers, electricians, and has charge of the Sanford Electric Light & Power Company; married Maud E., dau. of Joseph and Mary (Slingsby) Northrop.
2. Lilliam E., born March 3, 1884, attended the public schools of Sanford and Shaw & Gray's Business College in Portland; stenographer with the Keith Shoe Company of Springvale, Maine.
3. Vernor C., born May 5, 1885, educated in the Sanford schools and Brewster Academy of Wolfborough, New Hampshire, graduating in the class of 1906; in partnership with his brother in the firm of Bodwell Brothers, electricians. Married April 15, 1908, Nellie B. Garvin, of Hartford, Connecticut.


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