Saturday, August 11, 2012

1854 Marriage Intention between Zebulon Rowe of New Gloucester, Maine, and Mrs. Eliza Walker of Poland, Maine


Marriage intention of Zebulon Rowe of New Gloucester, Maine, and Mrs. Eliza Walker of Poland, Maine, handwritten in 1854 by Elisha H. Moseley, Town Clerk of New Gloucester, Maine.

State of Maine
This certifies that the intentions of marriage between Mr. Zebulon Rowe of New Gloucester and Mrs. Eliza Walker of Poland have been entered in the town clerk's office in the town of New Gloucester according to law.
Certified at New Gloucester this fourth day of October A.D. 1854.
E. H. Moseley, Town Clerk

This is one of several New Gloucester marriage intentions written by Elisha Moseley, thankfully in a very legible hand, that I'll be featuring. They include intentions between:
Reverse of the document shown above:








From online research, hopefully correct: [corrections welcome]
























There were at least three Zebulon Rowes in New Gloucester: grandfather, father and son. The Zebulon that seems to fit here is the middle Zebulon, whose first wife died in 1850.   This Zebulon Rowe was born June 15, 1787 at New Gloucester, Maine, son of Zebulon and Prudence Ellery (Rowe) Rowe.

On August 29, 1811, he married Judith Eliza Eveleth, daughter of Nathaniel and Judith Eveleth and had at least seven children with her.   Judith Eliza died on December 10, 1850.

My theory is that Mrs. Eliza Walker was Eliza Smith, born about 1787, daughter of John Kilby Smith and his wife Sally or Polly Webb or Sally Simpson [found references for the various names].  John Kilby Smith was aide-de-camp to Lafayette during the American Revolution. In the 1790s, Smith operated an inn at New Gloucester, Maine.

About 1812, Eliza Smith married Gideon Davis; he was born at Poland, Maine, about 1793. They had a daughter Mary, born March 18, 1813. Mary married Ebenezer Edwards and had a child before her death on March 14, 1833.

On November 30, 1828, Eliza (Smith) Davis married Curtis Walker of Thompson Pond Plantation and had two children with him, Phoebe and Phinehas, who died in the Civil War. Curtis was born in December 1768 at Windham, Maine, son of Micah and Elizabeth (Stinchfield) Walker.

Curtis' first wife was Sally Pool [Poole or Pooler], whom he married on April 28, 1791 at New Gloucester, Maine. They had at least ten children, one of whom, daughter Mary, lived to the age of 102.  Curtis died October 20, 1849 at Casco, Maine.

Assuming my information about Eliza is correct, she was free to marry again by 1854, the year of her marriage to Zebulon Rowe. The 1860 Census, Maine, found Zebulon and Eliza living at New Gloucester, Maine. Their ages approximate the ages for Zebulon Rowe and Eliza (Smith) Davis Walker Rowe.

Zebulon died December 27, 1865. Eliza returned to Poland, Maine, where she died in October 1870.

As for the town clerk, Elisha H. Moseley, who was also a postmaster at New Gloucester, he was born about 1813 in Maine, possibly the son of Rev. Elisha and Nancy (Lobdell) Moseley, but I haven't found proof of that.

Elisha H. Moseley married Sophia or Sophronia A. L. Sampson on May 15, 1847 at New Gloucester. They had at least three children, I believe. Elisha died November 11, 1862.

Elisha's possible father, Rev. Elisha Moseley, ministered at New Gloucester, Maine, from 1802 to 1826. He married Nancy Lobdell, daughter of Isaac and Polly (Stetson) Lobdell, on October 27, 1811 at Minot, Maine. Again, I haven't yet found a record linking the two Elishas; perhaps a reader will step in.

If you can clear up some of the loose ends above or if you have information that Zebulon married a different Mrs. Eliza Walker, please leave a comment or contact me directly.


2 comments:

  1. I am the archivist of the New Gloucester Historical Society, and curious to know in what respect you are reuniting these documents?

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  2. My goal is that eventually a descendant will contact me to say how pleased they were to happen upon something of their ancestor. Most of them are happy enough just downloading an image of whatever photograph or document the post features. A very few want the actual item. Please feel free to download a copy of this document for your Society.

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