Handwritten Document written at Brunswick, Maine, on September 27, 1803, where Joseph Lary, Jr., promises to pay Robert McMannas [presumably Robert McManus] the sum of $105 for a pair of oxen. The document was witnessed by Abner Melcher. It mentions Gilead, Maine, at the bottom.
The Robert McMannas mentioned may have been Robert McManus, born in 1764, the son of James McManus and, according to family legend, Ann Connor, not James' wife Mary (Corbett) McManus. Robert married Mrs. Eleanor Coombs sometime after their intentions were filed on March 22, 1794. They had several children, possibly eight before she died in 1811. Robert then married Eleanor Crosby at Brunswick, Maine, on September 20, 1813.
Because of the Gilead, Maine, connection, I believe that Joseph Lary, Jr. was the man born February 17, 1776 at Sanbornton, New Hampshire, son of Capt. Joseph Lary and Mercy (Rogers) Lary. The father and son and other relatives were early settlers at Gilead, Maine, according to an article in the Bethel Courier of March 18, 1859, contained on a website maintained by the Bethel Historical Society. Joseph Lary, Jr., married Rachel Woodman and had at least one child, a son also named Joseph Lary.
Abner Melcher may have been the man born December 25, 1767, or 1769, son of Joseph and Mary (Cobb) Melcher. This Abner married 1) Mary Hunt and 2) Maria Frost.
If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.
Because both Gilead and Brunswick are located on the Androscoggin River, though at great distance from each other, it seems that the river, a highway back in that era, provided the connection between the parties to this agreement. The map below roughly follows the river on its course upstream from Brunswick to Gilead.
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