Collection of Papers (1860s-1920) of Civil War Veteran Loring Dunnells of Cornish, Maine

Collection of over 100 manuscript items that belonged to Loring Dunnells of Cornish, Maine; they span from the 1860s to 1920 or beyond.  See an alphabetical list of people mentioned in the document at the end of this post.  The papers consist of:

• pension documents relating to Loring Dunnell's service in the 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War
• deeds and other instruments
• receipts for housing and provisions
• promises to pay
• miscellaneous

From brief online research, hopefully correct:  [corrections and additions welcome!]

Loring Dunnells was born August 15, 1838 at Shapleigh, Maine, the son of David and Mary (Brown) Dunnells.  On September 30, 1862, Loring enlisted in Company H of the Maine 27th Infantry Regiment.  He mustered out at Portland, Maine, on July 17, 1863.

On June 26, 1865 at Parsonsfield, Maine, Loring married Almira B. Weeks, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Eastman) Weeks.  Almira died in 1872.   If they had any children, I didn't find a record of them.

On September 29, 1873, at Freedom, New Hampshire, Loring married Nellie Flora Storer, daughter of George W. Storer and Caroline (Warren) Storer.  Loring and Nellie had, I believe, three children, and they may have raised their granddaughter Reta B. Dunnells, unless Reta was a later child.  She's described as their granddaughter on the 1900 Census of Cornish, Maine.  Children of Loring and Nellie:

• Callie May Dunnells, (1874-1958)
• Charles Edwin Dunnells (1875-?); married Edith May Wilbur
• Fred Clifton Dunnells (1877-1954); married (1) Ellen Clifford (2) Bythe Ethel (Merrill) Rolfe

Loring Dunnells died in 1922 at Cornish, Maine.  If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above or information on any of the people listed at the end of this post, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  

In addition to the Maine Pension Certificate pictured above, 4 other pension items are included.  Whether or not, any of these items deals with Loring's application for his federal pension in 1889, I don't know.  Below, the scrap of paper where Loring wrote down his Civil War service, probably in connection with filling either of his pension applications: 

An example of one of the legal documents: a deed where Loring sold Joseph Moulton a tract of land in Parsonsfield, Maine in 1867.

Many of the papers are receipts for the quarterly rental that Loring paid G. W. Adams of Cornish, Maine.   Adams was presumably George W. Adams, a carpenter, painter and mill owner.  An example:

Names included in the collection [there are more, some of them too faint to decipher]

G. W. Adams

B. Bailey

C. E. Bean

John Bennett

? N. Brackett

Howard Brackett

Loring Dunnells, archive owner

Nellie Flora (Storer) Dunnells, wife of Loring Dunnells

E. Farnham

P. A. Gonzalez

John Harper, State Pension Agent

Abel Jellison

J. M. Mason & Son

Ivory C. Morrison

Lucinda B. Morrison

Joseph Moulton

John L. Newell

Henry Pendexter

Pendexter Brothers

W. H. Smith, M.D.

F. C. Smith

Ira C. Seavey

George Storer

O. H. Thompson

Oliver Thurston

Samuel Tripp

Willis Warren

George W. Weeks

Two other posts featured items from this collection:

• entry list for the Ossipee Valley Union Agricultural Association at Cornish, Maine; it includes many names of competitors and their harness horses.
• invitation to the 1864 Washington's Birth Day Ball at Limerick, Maine; featuring the Ira C. Seavey Full Quadrille Band

1864 Invitation to the Washington's Birth Day Ball at Limerick, Maine

Invitation to the Washington's Birth Day Ball at the Town Hall at Limerick, Maine, on February 22, 1864.

The invitation, approximately 8" by 5-1/4", was printed by Tucker of Portland.   Notice the embossing at the top and margins.

Sir, Your company with Ladies is respectfully solicited to a Grand Ball at the Town Hall, Limerick, Me., on Monday Evening, Feb'y 22nd, 1864.

Music by Ira C. Seavey's Full Quadrille Band; Ira C. Seavey, 1st Violin; D. Small, 2nd Violin; Thomas Seavey, Clarinet; Thompson Lincoln, Bass Viol; A. Barnes, Cornet.  P. A. Gonzalez, Manager.

Tickets $1.50 Supper Included.  Dancing to commence at 8 o'clock.

The invitation was included with the papers of Loring Dunnells of Cornish, Maine, the subject of another post.  Also included with the papers was a vintage entry list of harness racers at the Ossipee Valley Union Agricultural Association at Cornish, Maine.

c1918 Photograph Album with Scenes and People of Corinth, Maine, and the Maine Coast

Small photograph album that features scenes and people from the Corinth, Maine, area, and coastal Maine.  Several people and places are identified; many are not.

The album may have belonged to Martha Rapsima Palmer of Corinth, who attended Eastern State Normal School at Castine, Maine, on the coast, about 1916-1918, or to one of her schoolmates.

Martha Rapsima Palmer of Corinth, Maine, daughter of Frank L. Palmer and Lottie E. (Stinchfield) Palmer; future wife of Gardiner Dudley Page

The Palmer Farm at Corinth, Maine

 Haying at the Palmer Farm

Main Street, East Corinth, Maine

Roland Kingsbury; presumably Roland W. Kingsbury, son of William and Ella (Patterson) Kingsbury
  

  Roland W. Kingsbury and wife/future wife Madeline (Stanley) Kingsbury, daughter of Seth and Louise (Pickering) Stanley    

Ada Peckham; possibly Ada Peckham of Northeast Harbor, Maine; daughter of William M. and Ada (Frazier) Peckham

Old Man Seavey

Leona (possibly Haynes) and Madoline Haynes  

The prettiest tree on Center Street in Brewer, Maine

If you have knowledge of these people and can provide more identification, please leave a comment.  Please don't leave information about living people.

Below, the entire album:

1875 Autograph Album of Martha (Forbes) Tremayne, "Pattie", of Brooklyn, New York

Autograph album given to Martha (Forbes) Tremayne, "Pattie", of Brooklyn, New York, on her birthday, July 16, 1875, by her mother Elizabeth Anastasia (Carroll) Forbes.

Many pages of the album are enhanced by the later notes of one, or more, of the 9 children of Pattie's brother John Forbes and his wife Blanche Rose (Purcell) Forbes.  One of the notes describes an inscription written in 1890.  By that time, both of their daughters and one son had died.  Another son, William Tremayne Forbes, was described in a note as "My Brother".  That leaves:

• Arthur Carroll Forbes
• John Forbes
• Philip Jones Forbes
• Frederic DePeyster Forbes
• Robert Skidmore Forbes

The album measures approximately 5-1/4" by 3-1/4" and contains the sentiments of 20 of Pattie's relatives and friends.  An alphabetical surname list and an alphabetical list of the inscribers, together with any personal information they left and the added notes, appear at the end of this post.

Much information about Pattie's relatives by blood and marriage, including lengthy descriptions of Pattie, her parents, siblings and husband, can be found in The Descendants of William Forbes, A Genealogical and Biographical History of that Branch of the Family of Forbes, written by Arthur Carroll Forbes and published in 1955.  Search for specific names; you'll find them described in more than one section, including diary and personal recollections.

From brief online research, hopefully correct:  [corrections and additions welcome!]

Martha Forbes, "Pattie" was born July 16, 1851 at Tompkinsville, New York, on Staten Island, the daughter of Philip Jones Forbes and Elizabeth Anastasia (Carroll) Forbes.  Philip Jones Forbes' diaries (1848-1876) 

Pattie had, I think, six siblings, four of whom inscribed pages in the album.  In page order:

• Philip Jones Forbes; merchant, salesman; married Anna T. Shell.
• John Forbes; Librarian; married Blanche Rose Purcell, described by her son Philip as "the dearest and most loving mother that ever trod the earth".
• Elizabeth Forbes, "Bessie"; a teacher before her marriage to Charles H. Fancher.
• Harold Alexander Forbes; he signed as Harold but the later note identified him as Pattie's brother.  Harold was a merchant and salesman; married Anne Ibbotson.

On June 26, 1873, at Brooklyn, New York, Martha Forbes, "Pattie", married accountant William Henry Tremayne; he was born on the island of Jamaica about 1829.  The book above describes each of them, in more than one section, and their unusual marriage of long periods apart, perhaps resulting from their age difference and financial reversals that William suffered in 1884.  He inscribed a page in Pattie's album in 1875.

Pattie and William had no children.  Presumably in William's honor, Pattie's brother John and wife Blanche named one of their sons William Tremayne Forbes, "Treet".  William Henry Tremayne died in 1896, and Pattie in 1929.  They're buried at Green-Wood Cemetery at Brooklyn, New York.

Surnames in the Album

? [2]	F	J	P	T
B	Forbes [6]	J ?	Post [2]	Tremayne [2]
B ?	Ford	Jacob	S	W
D	G	M	Stearns	Wickett
D ?	Graham	Moody

Inscribers in the Album

• C. C. C.; J. I. F; C. H. H., inscribed on February 9, 1876. "Three Blind Mice". Not sure of middle set of initials.
• Maggie ?, inscribed on August 17, 1878

B

• Leon L. Belanz or Beland or ?, inscribed on August 1, 1879 at Mountain House

D

• E. R. D., inscribed on February 26, 1876

F

• Philip Jones Forbes, inscribed on August 9, 1875. Later note by Pattie's niece: "Her brother"; brother of Martha Pattie (Forbes) Tremayne
• John Forbes. Later note by Pattie's niece: "her brother, my father".
• Bessie Forbes, inscribed on August 10, 1875. Later note left by Pattie's niece: "her sister Elizabeth Forbes Fancher"
• Harold, inscribed on October 4, 1876. Later note by Pattie's niece: "Her brother". Harold Alexander Forbes
• Blanche, inscribed at Brooklyn, New York, on August 12, 1875; "your loving sister". Later note by Pattie's niece: "mother". Blanche was Blanche Rose (Purcell) Forbes, wife of Pattie's brother John Forbes. They had one daughter who lived to maturity - Natalie Blanche Forbes.
• Tremayne Forbes, inscribed on February 20, 1896. Later note by Pattie's niece: "My Brother".  Nicknamed "Treet".
• Samuel I. Ford, or ? ?. Ford, inscribed on January 30, 1876

G

• Peg, inscribed on January 14, 1890. Later note by Pattie's niece: "Miss Graham of Washington, D.C."

J

• I. J., inscribed in August 1879
• K. M. Jacob, inscribed at Winchelsea House on August 13, 1879. Later note: "Aunt Kathie"

M

• Charles Moody

P

• John C. Post, inscribed in August 1879 at Stony Clare [?]
• Mary P. Post, inscribed at Mountain House on August 5, 1879

S

• Sarah C. Stearns, inscribed at Winchelsea House in the Catskills on August 21, 1879. "74 yrs"

T

• Pattie from Ma, July 16, 1875. A later note by Pattie's niece explains that Pattie, the album owner, was Martha (Forbes) Tremayne; her mother, who gave the album to Pattie, was Elizabeth A. (Carroll) Forbes.
• William Henry Tremayne, inscribed at Brooklyn, on August 10, 1875. Later note by Pattie's niece: "Her husband"; husband of album owner Martha Pattie (Forbes) Tremayne.

W

• Carrie D. Wickett, inscribed on February 26, 1876

Tompkinsville, on Staten Island; Brooklyn, New York and Palenville, New York, where Pattie apparently vacationed

1849 Somerset County, Maine, Court Document Warning Inhabitants of Hartland, Maine, to Pay to Repair Highway: Names John O. Gardner; L. Kidder

May 1, 1849 document from the District Court of Somerset County at Norridgewock, Maine, reflecting a fine of $25 and prosecution costs of $5.95 assessed against the inhabitants of the town of Hartland, Maine, for the cost of repairing a highway in their town.

The document mentions several names:

• The document was directed to John O. Gardner of Hartland; he is also mentioned as one of two men whose property the applicable portion of the highway runs between.

• The document was signed by the Somerset District Clerk of Court L. Kidder, who was Llewellyn Kidder.

• George Loomis, Jr.; the applicable portion of the highway runs between his property and that of John O. Gardner.  

The section of highway is described as "Commencing at the West line of the town of Hartland near the Dwelling house of George Loomis, Jr. thence running Easterly to the Dwelling house of John O. Gardner in said Hartland about one mile."

John O. Gardner was born October 1, 1807 at Canaan, Maine.  He married Eliza Connor in 1835 at Skowhegan, Maine.

Llewellyn Kidder was born November 16, 1813 at Canaan, Maine.  According to History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians, by J. W. Hansen and published in 1849 at Boston, Massachusetts, Llewellyn Kidder became clerk of the court in 1847.   He married Mehitable Merrill Robinson in 1840.

George Loomis, Jr., may have been the George Loomis, Jr., who was born May 27, 1813 at or near Skowhegan, Maine, son of George and Martha (French) Loomis.  He married Randilla Baker at West Forks, Maine, in 1843.  

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Norridgewock, Maine; Skowhegan, Maine; Hartland, Maine; Canaan, Maine

1855 Document Suspending Bounty Land Claim of Privateer Abel Sampson of Maine; Mentions Hugh D. McLellan, Esq., of Gorham, Maine

October 13, 1855 document from the Pension Office suspending the claim for Bounty Land of Abel Sampson who had based his claim on his service aboard the American privateer Yorktown.

This document was found with another Bounty Land claim document with the name of Hugh Davis McLellan on it.  That claim was pursued by Almira Skillen based on the service of her late husband Enoch Skillen.

The Abel Sampson document, shown below, with the printed signature of Pension Office Commissioner J. Minot, states that the claim is suspended because, as an Auditor reported, "The rolls of said ship not on file in this office."  The name Hugh D. McLellan, Esq., of Gorham, Maine, appears at the bottom of the document, which was apparently addressed to him.  I don't know if Hugh Davis McLellan represented claimants or was a Maine representative of the Pension Office.

Abel Sampson later related his exploits to author Edmund Hale Kendall, who produced "The Wonderful Adventures of Abel Sampson, as Related by Himself", published at Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1847.   Below, Abel's likeness from this book:

Click here to see a description of the book and a color photograph of its cover.

As he related to the author of the book above, Abel Sampson was born August 24, 1790 at Turner, Maine, the son of Seth and Appie (Pomphilly or Pompelie) Sampson.  The New England Historic Genealogical Society records show his birth as August 24, 1787.  Appie was the daughter of Capt. John Pumphilly of Duxbury, Massachusetts.  Seth, son of James Sampson, was also from the Duxbury area.

After the his career at sea, Abel became a planemaker at Portland, Maine.    He mentions that he married in 1821, but does not give his wife's name.  The 1825 Portland fire destroyed much of his property.  In 1837 he moved to Gorham, Maine, and in 1846 to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he presumably met author Edmund Hale Kendall.  An archive of Abel Sampson's papers is held at the Maine Historical Society.

It appears that Abel returned to Maine.  The 1850 Census lists an Abel Sampson and wife Sarah, a Maine native.  The 1860 Census shows them living at Gorham, Maine, again; Sarah is shown as a New Hampshire native.  Abel died at Portland, Maine, at the age of 93, in 1879.

A contemporary account of Abel's life, "Maine's Privateer Turned Planemaker", was written by Dale Butterworth and Bennett Blumenberg, and published in The Chronicle in 1992.  And it appears that another book, "Life of Abel Sampson" was published at Portland, Maine, in 1860, but I haven't found it digitized.

Hugh D. McLellan, Esq., was presumably Hugh Davis McLellan (1805-1878), son of Alexander and Chloe (Davis) McLellan.  In 1833 Hugh Davis McLellan married Elizabeth Prescott (Lewis) Staples, widow of Stephen McLellan Staples.  From the Memorial Biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Volume VII, 1871-1880, published in 1907:

McLellan was also an amateur historian and author, who wrote The History of Gorham with his daughter Katherine Bigelow Lawrence (McLellan) Lewis, wife of Rev. George Lothrop Lewis.  An archive of papers, notes and correspondence of Hugh Davis McLellan and family are held at the Maine Historical Society at Portland, Maine.

Turner, Maine; Portland, Maine; Gorham, Maine; Poland, Maine

1857 Document Related to the Bounty Land Application of Almira Skillen, Widow of Enoch Skillen; Addressed to H. D. McLellan Esq. at Gorham, Maine

February 16, 1857 document from the Pension Office to H. D. McLellan, Esq., at Gorham, Maine, relating to the application for bounty land by widow Almira Skillen, based on the service of her late husband Enoch Skillen.   The document, signed by Pension Office Commissioner J. Minot, indicates that the claim was being suspended until the receipt of further evidence.

I don't know whether Hugh Davis McLellan was representing the claimant or whether he was a local agent for the Pension Office.

This document was found with another, dated October 13, 1855, addressed to Hugh Davis McLellan regarding rejection of the claim made by Abel Sampson for Bounty Land, based on his service "board the privateer armed ship Yorktown".

The Skillen document:

It's possible that Almira Skillen was Almira (Libby) Skillen, widow of Enoch Skillen of Scarborough, Maine; they were married May 17, 1807 according to the "Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder", Volume III.  The surname occurs in several other variations, including Skillin, Skilling, Skillins, Skillings, etc.

Enoch Skillen was born in 1778 at Scarborough, Maine, son of Simeon and Rebecca (Sawyer) Skillen.  Enoch died at Scarborough in 1851.  Almira (Libby) Skillen was born in 1790 at Scarborough, Maine, daughter of Nathan and Abigail (Davis) Libby.  She died at Cape Elizabeth, Maine, in 1870.  Enoch and Almira had, I believe, 9 children, at least two of whom died young.

H. D. McLellan, Esq., was presumably Hugh Davis McLellan (1805-1878), son of Alexander and Chloe (Davis) McLellan.  In 1833 Hugh Davis McLellan married Elizabeth Prescott (Lewis) Staples, widow of Stephen McLellan Staples.  From the Memorial Biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Volume VII, 1871-1880, published in 1907:

McLellan was also an amateur historian and author, who wrote The History of Gorham with his daughter Katherine Bigelow Lawrence (McLellan) Lewis, wife of Rev. George Lothrop Lewis.  An archive of papers, notes and correspondence of Hugh Davis McLellan and family are held at the Maine Historical Society at Portland, Maine.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Scarborough, Maine, and Gorham, Maine