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.]

FENNELLY The racial characteristics of Erin's sons are bravery in war, progress in peace and a quickness to grasp opportunities. To these should be added an inborn love of liberty and a ready assimilation with our republican institutions. The Irish emigrants to Maine have been foremost in the work of developing the vast resources of the state from its early history, and an account of the families of the state would be imperfect without the Milesian strain. They are in every walk in life in mechanics, in manufacturing, in commerce, in the professions and in that highest industrial condition of man, the open life of the farm, the basis of the old Pine Tree's wealth. (I) Locklan Fennelly lived in the Emerald Isle and the baptismal name of his wife was Alice. (II) Andrew, son of Locklan and Alice Fennelly, was born in Ireland and came to Salem, Mass. in 1830. He married Melinda Smallidge, of Tremont, Maine. Children: Alice, Thomas, Martha, Nathan and William. (III) Hon. William, eldest child of Andrew and Melinda (Smallidge) Fennelly, was born in Boston, Jan. 9, 1840, in the administration of President Van Buren. His parents removed to Lynn, where he lived till twenty years of age, and to the thriving shoe city he owes his early schooling. In 1860 he came to Mount Desert, Maine. William enlisted in the Sixteenth Maine Volunteers and served throughout the war, participating in twenty battles and engagements, and was prisoner of war confined in Salisbury. He was with the First Brigade under Genearl Root at the battle of Frederickburg. With his regiment he crossed the rapid Rappahonnock, Dec. 12, 1862, three miles below Fredericksburg, which drew up in line of battle near a stone manson used as a hospital. The regiment maintained its position through the day and night. The following morning dawned bright and fair. The world seemed cheerful, full of promise and hope, and life never so sweet, but alas! it proved the last call for many a poor fellow. Colonel Tilden had his regiment under arms by eight o'clock the next morning. At noon he deployed his men by a right flank to an open field, unmasking the One Hundred and Fifth New York, and began his fire. Here orders to charge on the enemy's breastworks were given, which were responded to with the promptness and firmness of old veterans, driving the enemy from his position and capturing sixty prisoners. It was here that Mr. Fennelly was borne from the field wounded. In the Wilderness campaign, at the engagement of Laurel Hill, Mr. Fennelly remained in the breastworks with his regiment till twelve o'clock at night, and participated in the general charge on the rebels. At Gettysburg the sixteenth was east of Seminary ridge and double-quicked to the right of it, and took position behind the rail fence, in a piece of woods parallel with the Chambersburg turnpike, and engaged the enemy and held their position against fearful odds, and Private Fennelly here bore himself with conspicuous gallantry. Among other battles where Fennelly fought were Chancellorsville and Mine Run. Mustered out at the close of the war with scars and an honorable discharge, he returned to Bar Harbor and followed fishing to the Banks. In 1870 he was appointed keeper of the Bear Island light by his old commander, President Grant. In 1879-80 he was representative to the Maine state legislature. In 1880 he began the manufacture of boots and shoes and soon added harnesses. This business, in which he is still interested, he learned in his old home city of Lynn, back in his boyhood. Mr. Fennelly is an active Republican worker in his county and has taken part in most every campaign since the war. He has been called to discharge many important offices by his constituents, and he has given a good account of his stewardships. He has been sheriff and high sheriff of Hancock county, was appointed postmaster of Bar Harbor by President McKinely and reappointed by President Roosevelt, and now holds it. This office handles a large lot of mail matter in summer and it is one of the most important in the state. Mr. Fennelly is treasurer of the Bar Harbor Fair Association, trustee of the Bar Harbor Medical and Surgical Hospital. He is a member of Mount Desert Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a capitular Mason in Mount Kebo Chapter, has been accorded the council degree at Bangor, admitted to the commandery of St. John's, at Bangor, and belongs to James M. Parker Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Fennelly married Ann Rebecca SOMES, from an old and respectable Mount Desert family. Child: Flora Somes, died Sept. 6, 1908. She married Dr. Edwin J. Morrison; children: Paulina and William Fennelly Morrison. Morris Somes was born in England in 1614. He was a first settler in Gloucester, Mass., and is ancestor of all of the name in America. The Christian name of his wife was Margory. Abraham Somes, fourth in line from the progenitor, was born in Gloucester in 1732. He removed to Mount Desert in 1762 and was one who hewed the way for the coming population and the present prosperity. He and those of his race have always held an important place in the civil policy of the island. He was the first selectman chosen in Mount Desert and belonged to the militia. Somesville perpetuates the name in local geography. He married Hannah, daughter of Samuel Herrick, on Christmas day, 1753. She died March 16, 1790. He married (second) Joannah, widow of Edward Beal, of Union River, Maine, and she died Dec. 17, 1831, but survived Abraham by twelve years, his death occurring Sept. 7, 1819, having reached the extreme age of eighty. Children: Hannah, Patty, Lucy, Prudence, Abraham, Mercer, John, Daniel, Louis, Joab, Betty and Isaac. John, second son of Abraham and Hannah (Herrick) Somes, was born in Mount Desert, and married Judith Richardson, Jan. 6, 1793, the Hon. Paul D. Sargent performing the rites. Children: John, Judith, Jacob, Abraham, Benjamin, Emily and Julian. Hon. Jacob, second son of John and Judith (Richardson) Somes, was born in Mount Desert in 1799. He represented his town in the Maine house of representatives and was elected to the state senate, and was altogether an all-around citizen, taking a leading part in public affairs and was certainly one of the greates Somes in Maine's history. He left a name his descendants may point to with a pardonable pride. He married Rebecca Seavey. Children: 1. Adelina. 2. Ann R., married the Hon. William Fennelly. 3. John. 4. Kate.