Our Wentworth Family, from Boston to Woodstock

5th GGPs Josiah Nute and his wife Rebecca Wentworth were a mystery until I came across her name on the Nute obelisk in Woodstock, Maine, on one of my road trips. I knew they married and had our grandfather, 4th GGF Samuel Nute, in Rochester, New Hampshire, but then they seemed to drop off the face of the earth until Samuel resurfaced in records many years later in Woodstock. Had Josiah and Rebecca died in Rochester and Samuel moved on? Had the family left Rochester together and moved elsewhere? If so, where? The mystery was solved with land deeds.

Now we know Josiah and Rebecca moved the family to Falmouth, Maine, and from there at least Samuel and Rebecca moved to Poland and on to Woodstock where she died, the last of our Wentworth line. Here is our Wentworth family story.

Elder William Wentworth (1613-1696), 9th GGF

William hailed from Alford, Lincolnshire, England, the same area as his cousin, John Wheelwright, and second cousin, Anne Hutchinson. William was baptized in Alford on March 15, 1615, son of William and Susanna Carter Wentworth. His father was a first cousin to Anne. The Wentworth line is traced through his father to King John of Robin Hood and Magna Carta fame, as well as Henry II, King of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, Henry III, and William the Lion, king of Scotland from 1165 to 1214.

William and 9th GGF James Nute I were contemporaries in Dover, New Hampshire, but whereas James arrived in Portsmouth in 1631 and soon to Dover in 1633, William’s religious beliefs and connection with the Reverend John Wheelwright took him on a circuitous route from Boston in 1637 through Exeter and Wells, Maine, before arriving in Dover some 12 years later.

Although Boston has no records of William, it is believed he arrived in July 1637, age 22, along with a contingency of Wheelwright followers from Lincolnshire, including Anne Hutchison’s brother-in-law. Anne and the Reverend John Wheelwright were banned from Boston in late 1637 during the Antinomian controversy. Anne was permitted to stay in Boston through the winter before she went south to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, with a number of our other grandparent ancestors. Wheelwright, on the other hand, was given 14 days to get out of town in the dead of winter. Wheelwright headed for the nearest refuge on the Piscataqua River, now Exeter, New Hampshire, and young William Wentworth followed him “into the wilderness.” William’s signature on the Exeter Combination in 1639 is the first record of him in New England. In 1642, he followed Wheelwright to Wells, Maine, where he lived and owned a small marsh lot until 1649.

Wentworth migration to Dover. William’s final move was to the Cocheco area of Dover in late 1649. He received several land grants in Dover, one of which was on the north side of James Nute’s 12-acre lot granted in 1654. A planter, co-owner in a sawmill, and active in the community, William is best known for holding the position of Ruling Elder in the Dover church for nearly 40 years; hence the title Elder William Wentworth. Although not a clergyman, William was often preaching, not only in Dover, but also in Exeter.

The area of Dover in which William had his sawmill and lumber business was set off to Somersworth in 1729. The lower part where the Wentworths had their homes was set off from Somersworth to Rollinsford in 1849.

No direct record of William’s marriages exists, but both Elizabeth Kinney and Elizabeth Knight have both been posited as one of William’s wives. The tradition that Elizabeth Kinney was William's wife appears to derive from The Wentworth Genealogy, based on a questionable translation and reconstruction from a French Canadian source concerning captives, and has since been repeated through the genealogical "echo chamber.” Further, Elizabeth Knight has been named as a wife of both William and his son, Ezekiel.

New England Marriages Prior to 1700 identifies William Wentworth as having an unknown first wife and a second wife, Elizabeth Knight, whom he married before 1653 at Exeter or Dover, New Hampshire. The same work identifies Ezekiel Wentworth's wife as "Elizabeth (Knight?)."

The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire similarly identifies Ezekiel's wife only as Elizabeth, with no surname; William's first wife as unknown; and William's second wife as Elizabeth Knight.

The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, which reconstructed families primarily from original seventeenth-century records, states that all of William Wentworth's children except the eldest, Samuel, were born to his second wife, Elizabeth Knight. If that reconstruction is correct, it would mean that William's son Ezekiel later married a woman who also bore the name Elizabeth Knight. While certainly possible, such a coincidence would be unusual and warrants caution before accepting that identification in the absence of direct evidence.

A York County deed provides direct evidence that Elizabeth Knight was the second wife of William Wentworth. In that deed, Elizabeth Knight, identified as a daughter of Ezekiel Knight, conveyed land to her daughter, Elizabeth Wentworth Tozier, wife of Richard Tozier.

Absent direct evidence identifying Ezekiel's wife as a daughter of Ezekiel Knight, the available documentary evidence more strongly supports Elizabeth Knight as the second wife of William Wentworth than as the wife of his son, Ezekiel.

The first record of Elizabeth’s father, 9th GGF Ezekiel Knight, (abt. 1612-1689) is a 1645 purchase of a house and conveyance of a tract of marsh in Wells, Maine, from Elder Wentworth’s cousin, Rev. John Wheelwright, to Ezekiel.  

Ezekiel was in Salem as early as 1637 and in Braintree in 1641 where his first wife, Elizabeth, died. He migrated to Wells by 1643 and records clearly show that Ezekiel Knight, Elder William Wentworth and his son Ezekiel, and Rev. John Wheelwright were all living in the small settlement of Wells at the same time. One of the first settlers of Wells, he built near the mouth of the Mousam River, and moved to the area of the Webbhannet in 1645. 

Ezekiel Knight was commissioner of Wells in 1654, 1662, and 1663, on the grand jury in 1654, and a petitioner to Oliver Cromwell in 1656 that Wells remain under Massachusetts government. He stood in as a Puritan minister in 1661. Ezekiel had four wives. His second wife, Ann, was probably the mother of our 8th GGM Elizabeth Knight. Ezekiel’s 1687 will left one-third of his estate to “daughter (Elizabeth) Wentworth.”

While there is evidence Elder William had nine sons, only indirect evidence exists for at least two daughters.

Son of William Wentworth unknown wife:

Samuel, born abt. 1640, ran a tavern in Portsmouth, m. Mary Benning, d. 1690 of smallpox; his son John was Lt. Gov. of New Hampshire.

Children of William Wentworth and Elizabeth Knight:

John, b. before 1649, m. Martha, moved to York, but the settlement was nearly wiped out in 1692 by Indians and he moved to Dorchester, MA.

Gershom, born abt. 1650, m. Hannah French, d. 1731.

EZEKIEL, b. about 1651, m. Elizabeth, d. 1711. He may have been named after 9th GGF Ezekiel Knight of Wells as William and he seemed to be good buds.

Paul, b. 1655, m. Catherine, lived in Rowley and Newbury, then New London, CT, d. 1750.

Sylvanus, m. Elizabeth Stewart of Rowley.

Timothy, b. before 1673, m. Sarah Cromwell, d. 1719 in Berwick, Maine.

Elizabeth, m. Richard Tozer of Berwick, d. after 1734.

Sarah, no information.

Ephraim, m. 1) Mary Miller of Kittery (sister of Martha who married Ephraim’s nephew John); 2) widow Elizabeth Beard.

Benjamin, m. Sarah Allen, d. 1728 when he and his horse fell into a river while crossing a bridge.

William’s daughter Elizabeth was captured and taken to Canada by Indians three times. Her husband was taken twice, but on seeing the Indians coming the third time, he abandoned her, ran out of the house and across a frozen river, saying he couldn’t bear making the trek again. 

The hero of Cocheco. William was sleeping in the Heard garrison about a mile from his house the night of the Cocheco massacre in 1689 while the Heard family was away. Two Indian women asking to sleep for the night were admitted early evening and opened the doors to attacking Indians after others had gone to sleep. Awakened by a barking dog to find Indians entering the compound, William, age 74, was able push the Indians out, shut the garrison doors, and hold the gates closed until others in the garrison came to help. The other four garrisons were not so lucky. All were burned, 23 people were killed, and 29 taken captive.

Elder William went to Exeter to live for a few years after the massacre, but returned to Dover by 1696 where he died a few days after he was “taken speechless with a sudden shivering,” age 81. His second wife, Elizabeth, was still living at the time of his death. His land had already been deeded to his sons. The rail track of the Boston and Maine Railroad was placed directly over the Wentworth burying-place in Dover.

In spite of having substantial land and being high on the tax list, I’m always amazed how simply these folks lived. Inventory at his death included, 1 ox, 1 horse, 4 cows, 1 swine, 2 iron pots, 1 frying pan and warming pan, 4 looking glass, some pewter, 1 candle stick, 2 stone jugs, 2 tablecloths and 10 napkins . . . well, that’s not the entire list but it gives the idea.

For those wondering about a warming pan, here is a photo of my 1800 antique warming pan. The pan would be filled with hot coals and used to warm the sheets before retiring for the night.

Antique warming pan

All American Wentworths are descended from Elder William Wentworth. A grandson, John, captain in the merchant marines, was Lt. Governor of New Hampshire. A great-grandson, Benning, was the first governor of the Province of New Hampshire and donated the land on which Dartmouth College stands. The town of Bennington, Vermont, was named in his honor.

Ezekiel Wentworth (c. 1651-1712), 8th GGF

The birth year of 8th GGF Ezekiel Wentworth is calculated as 1651, assuming he was 21 years-old when he first paid tax in Dover. He inherited  the old farm and farmhouse in the area which was incorporated as Somersworth in 1754; a section was incorporated as Salmon Falls Village in 1823 and rolled into Rollinsford when it incorporated in 1849.

Ezekiel married 8th GGM Elizabeth  (abt. 1647-1726) of Wells, Maine, in 1670.

Like his dad, Ezekiel Wentworth was active in community government serving as selectman in 1698 and 1702, tax assessor in 1705, and died while serving a term as Representative in the New Hampshire Province legislature in 1711.

Children of Ezekiel and Elizabeth, in approximate order as no birth records are available:

Thomas, m. Love, d. before 1719; mariner.

COLONEL JOHN,  b. 1676, m. Martha Miller of Kittery, farmer and lumber dealer.

Colonel Paul, b. 1678, m. Abra Brown, d. 1747, no children, lived at Salmon Falls, “one of the wealthiest men of the time;” a philanthropist, merchant and lumber dealer with mills at Salmon Falls; his lumber was shipped down river to Portsmouth and out to the rest of the world. He was selectman of Dover for 14 years and member of Province Representatives. Among the many beneficiaries of his will was his nephew, our 6th GGF Richard Wentworth, as well as giving generously to his brother, 7th GGF John. His will clearly shows he had at least three slaves that he bequeathed to his brother Gershom, nephew John, and niece Mary.

Elizabeth, m. Nathaniel Brown; Nathaniel’s sister Abra married Elizabeth’s brother, Paul.

Tamsin, b. 1687, m. 1) James Chesley, d. 1707, killed by Indians; 2) John Hayes, d. 1753.

Gershom, m. Sarah, perhaps a Twombly, d. about 1759.

Captain Benjamin, b. abt. 1691, m. Elizabeth Leighton, d. abt. 1731. Benjamin was one of the Committee of Proprietors for Rochester in 1722 where our Wentworth and Nute ancestors would settle later in the century.

The various military titles for John, Paul, and Benjamin come from their participation in local militia organized for defense against the constant Indian threat. Numerous offspring of Ezekiel have served in the New Hampshire Provincial, Massachusetts, and Maine legislatures, and Continental Congress.

The historic circa 1701 Colonel Paul Wentworth’s house at 47 Water Street, Rollinsford, has been nicely restored. It is open for visits, and hosts living history events, hearth-cooked dinners, and special activities.

1701 Colonel Paul Wentworth House in Rollinsford, from the CPW Facebook page

John Wentworth (1679-1719), 7th GGF

John was early in the sibling order but, again, no birth records are available. He married 7th GGM Martha Miller (1684-1755), daughter of Richard and Grace Miller of Kittery, in 1703. John had land at Salmon Falls and lived in that part of Dover known as Sligo, today called Somersworth. He held several town positions, including surveyor of highways and constable. Little else is known of John other than he was a farmer and lumberman.

8th GGPs Richard Miller (abt 1649-1692) and Grace had at least three offspring - Samuel, Mary who married John’s uncle Ephraim, and Martha who married our John. The family resided in Kittery, Maine, but their origins are unknown. Grace had him “bound” for good behavior and proper maintenance in 1672, and the court warned her “to be more careful of appearances and attend to her family.” Both daughters Mary and Martha were under 12 when their father died in 1692 at age 44, and mother remarried Christopher Banfield.

Children of John Wentworth and Martha Miller

RICHARD, b. 1708, m. Rebecca Nock, d. 1796 in Rochester. Richard was named for his maternal grandfather.

Ezekiel, b. abt 1710, m. Martha Lord, d. after 1755  He lived and died on land in Berwick, Maine, inherited from his uncle, Paul Wentworth. Ezekiel’s son, Paul, was in the Continental Army at West Point at the time of capture of Major Andre.

Thomas, b. unknown, m. Mary Nock, sister to Richard’s Rebecca, lived in Somersworth, d. 1758.

Demaris, m. a Mr. Brock, birth and death unknown.

Mercy, m. Captain Moses Butler who commanded a company during the siege and capture of Fortress of Louisberg in 1744, d. after 1759. Their son, Moses Butler, Jr., was the first permanent settler of Franklin, Maine.

John was 40 years old when he died, leaving Martha, 33, with five young children. Martha likely raised the children on the family property with assistance from the extended Wentworth family. She didn’t remarry and died at age 71 in the area of the Wentworth farm.

Richard Wentworth (1708-1796), 6th GGF

Richard was 11 years old and the eldest of the five children when his dad died in 1719. Richard, Ezekiel, Thomas, and Demaris and mother, Martha, were baptized at the First Church in Dover the same year as John’s death.

The first meetinghouse of the First Parish Church was built of mud and logs at Dover Point soon after the first colonists settled in 1634. This first site is now covered by the Spauling Turnpike. The second meetinghouse, on the US National Register of Historic Places, was built on Nutter’s Hill further north and is one of the few colonial church sites known to be fortified against Indian attacks, with a log palisade and earthworks. A new meetinghouse was built in 1712 at Pine Hill located in present day Dover center by wealthy men from Cocheco who objected to traveling down to Nutter’s Hill. The Wentworths were likely in this group of men and the third meetinghouse likely where Martha and the children were baptized. The current Federal Style First Parish Church at 218 Central Avenue was built in 1825.

In 1729, twenty one year-old Richard and his future father-in-law 7th GGF Deacon Thomas Nock (1685-1754) both signed a petition to the Governor to separate from Dover and establish the parish of Somersworth.

The Nock family line was in Dover by 1657 when 9th GGF Thomas Nock (1617-1666) bought 20 acres “upland on the north side of the Cocheco River called by the name of the Gulf.” 7th GGF Deacon Thomas Nock, originally from Dover, moved to Newbury for a few years and returned to Dover around the time of his father’s death in 1716. He and the family lived in that part of Dover that was set off to Somersworth in 1729, the same area of Dover as the Wentworth land. Deacon Thomas gave land toward settling the Somersworth minister in 1729, and served as Deacon of the church from that year until his death. Hence, he was known as Deacon* Thomas Nock. Thomas was a carpenter by occupation. 6th GGM Rebecca Nock was born around 1712 in Newbury, Massachusetts. She was the second of eight children, six of them girls.

*In the early Colonial church, everyone had to be silent for the minister’s one-hour prayer and two to four-hour sermon. The church deacon enforced the rule by poking people who talked with a stick.

Rebecca’s father, the Deacon Thomas Nock, was an original proprietor for Rochester in 1722 along with several other Nock family members, but never moved onto the property he owned. The move may have been deterred after one of the Nock family was killed by Indians in the Rochester area - shot off his horse and scalped - while returning on horseback from setting beaver traps.

The Wentworth family migration to Rochester, New Hampshire. Rochester, north of Dover, was incorporated in 1722, but serious settlement was delayed until 1729 due to fear of Indian attacks. The Wentworths, including Ezekiel and Martha’s sons Capt. Benjamin, Capt. Paul, Ephraim, and Gershom, invested heavily buying whole shares as proprietors in 1722. Being along in years, none settled Rochester and left that task to their young and hardy descendants.

Present day Rochester sits on the border of New Hampshire and Maine, bordered on the northeast by Lebanon, Maine; on the northwest by Farmington, NH; on the southeast by Somersworth; and on the southwest by Barrington, NH. Milton lies due north and was set off from Rochester in 1802.

For those who need a visual

Richard, 27, moved to Rochester between 1732 and 1735 and three years later married Rebecca Nock of Dover. Rebecca’s sister, Mary, married Richard’s brother, Thomas. We don’t have a marriage record for Richard and Rebecca from Somersworth, but have to presume they were married by 1737 before the birth of their first child.

Richard and his brother Thomas were named as Rochester pioneers in a verse from a lengthy poem “A Tribute to the Memory of the Departed Heroes of Methodism, both Ministers and Laymen, of Rochester, New Hampshire,” written by Rev. Samuel Norris for the dedication of a new church in 1868.

We note the Wentworth Family, 

Thomas and Richard, Pioneers,

They loved salvation full and free,

And went to rest in ripened years.

We know Richard was in Rochester by 1735 as he signed a petition for the town to elect officers. Sixty families had settled in Rochester by that time. He was admitted to the church in Rochester in October 1737, and his first child, Daniel, was born a few months later. By age 30, in 1738, he was already becoming involved in the town’s administration when chosen commissioner to examine the Selectman accounts.

Richard held the offices of town assessor for the  years 1743, ’48, ’54, and ’57 and selectman in 1740, ’46,’51,’ and ’62. 

 In 1744, Ricard built a garrison on the main road, “made of thick planks dove-tailed together at the corners like a chest, without any frame except a few braces.” Although the Indian wars had receded and the Abenaki and Pennacook were close to extinction in New Hampshire, the new settlement of Rochester continued to live in fear. Hatchets were found embedded in garrison doors. In 1746, four men were murdered in sight of a garrison.

Richard had extensive land holdings in Rochester, some of which were along the Cocheco River. In the early years, Rochester was heavily engaged in the lumber business and Richard’s land on the Cocheco suggests he was probably in the lumber as well as agricultural business.

 In 1748, Richard received a nice gift of 20 pounds from his childless, but wealthy, Uncle Paul Wentworth (above).

Richard and other Rochester Wentworth’s, including sons Josiah, John and Isaac, signed the Rochester Association Test in 1776, affirming their loyalty and support to the Revolution. The only Wentworth who refused to sign the Oath was Stephen who owned the tavern in town.

Records show Richard purchased a pew on the floor level at the new Meetinghouse in December 1780.

Children of Richard Wentworth and Rebecca Nock, all born in Rochester

Thomas, bpt. 1745, drowned as a boy. 

Daniel, bpt. 1738, unmarried, died before father’s death from drinking cold water to excess.

Mercy, b. abt. 1740, m. Peter Horne of Rochester, d. in Rochester, date unknown.

Sarah, b. abt. 1742, m. Richard Walker of Milton, d. 1811 in Milton.

John, b. 1744, m. 1) Hannah Hodgdon, and 2) Ann Blazo, d. 1806 in Parsonsfield, ME

Josiah, b. 1745, m. Abiah Cook d. 1800 in Falmouth, Maine.

Isaac, b. 1752, m. Abigail Nutter, d. 1807, signed Rochester Association Test; Revolutionary war soldier as a private with New Hampshire Minute Men militia in 1775 and with the Continental Army, 2nd New Hampshire. Isaac inherited the homestead at Rochester.

At the time of Richard’s will, signed in June 1796, wife Rebecca and sons Josiah, Isaac, and John and daughters Mercy and Sarah were still living. Richard died at the old age of 88; Rebecca survived him, but there is no record of her death.

Josiah Wentworth (1745-after 1808), 5th GGF

Our 5th GGF Josiah Wentworth was one of six sons born to Richard and Rebecca in Rochester. Josiah married 5th GGM Abiah Cook, daughter of Abraham Cook and Jean Richards, before 1772 when their first child was born. No marriage record has been located.

Abiah’s 2nd GGF, Thomas Cook, was our immigrant through Boston, probably in the mid-1600’s with the wave of Quakers that was beginning to come to the colonies. The family was in Dover by about 1660 when her GGF, John Cooke, was born. He married 8th GGM Mary Downes, and their son, 7th GGF Peter Downs Cook (1694-1762), had a 1/3 proprietor share in Rochester. As with most proprietors who purchased the 1722 shares, Peter did not move to Rochester, but left this task/privilege to his son, Abraham, Abiah’s father. His son, Abiah’s brother Daniel, was a solider in the Revolution, serving in Captain John Drew’s company at Ticonderoga in 1776, and continuing to serve through 1779.

Josiah, along with this father, brother Isaac, and father-in-law Abraham Cook, signed the 1776 Rochester Loyalty Oath.

Josiah was a blacksmith with a shop in Rochester from 1780 to 1800 “where now is the Dodge’s building on Central Square. He lived in a small house opposite.” (History of Rochester, McDuffee). 

The current Central Square is where Wakefield, North Main and South Main Streets intersect. The Square was the center of stagecoach travel in the early 1800’s, with the Dodge Hotel serving travelers. The hotel burned in 1908 and the Dodge block left in ruins. Where the current Citizen’s Bank now stands may be close to the location of Josiah’s little house and blacksmith business.

Children of Josiah Wentworth and Abiah Cook

Rebecca, b. abt. 1772, m. Josiah Nute of Milton, NH, d. 1828 in Woodstock, ME.

Jane, b. abt. 1774, m. Daniel Hoyt of Rochester in 1796.

Abigail, b. abt. 1776, m. Stephen Nutter of Milton, NH in 1796.

Phebe, b. abt. 1778, unmarried, d. 1825 in Rochester.

Josiah Jr., b. 1780, m. Rosannah Horne of Rochester in 1802, d. 1855 in New Durham.

Stephen, b. 1782.

Richard’s 1796 will left Josiah with land “on the northeast side of Cocheco River near Norway Plain Mills and one of right of land in the third division of lots." This third division comprised of a narrow strip of land at the head of the present towns of Milton and Farmington, the same area Samuel and Jotham Nute settled in 1784, is likely how Josiah Nute and Rebecca Wentworth hooked up. 

The last record we have for Josiah and Abiah shows a household in Rochester in 1800 with two males between 16 and 25 (Josiah, Stephen), and one female between 10 and 15 (Phebe) in addition to Josiah and Abiah. Josiah is not in the 1810 census.

An1808 court action against him in September 1808 set a future date for January 1809, but no future action or record is recorded. His death date could reasonably be assumed between these dates. A land sale by his daughter, Pheve, in 1815 referred to property she inherited from her deceased father.

Rebecca Wentworth (abt. 1772-1828), 4th GGM

Rebecca was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, in 1772, the eldest of six children, the first four of whom were girls. Her parents may have lived in or moved to that part of Rochester that was set off to Milton in 1802 and bequeathed to Josiah by his father, Richard. Several Wentworths lived in Milton in those days. Today, a gated residential development “in a most desirable area,” has been built at Wentworth Farms in Milton.

Rebecca married our 4th GGF Josiah Nute in the fall of 1792 and they likely resided on Nute Ridge in what became Milton in 1802.Their first child, our 3rd GGF Samuel Nute was born in November 1792, two months after the marriage, and was their only child. The small family moved to Falmouth, Maine, in 1805, and Rebecca was widowed in 1820 at the age of 48.

Young Samuel bought land in Poland from his father, Josiah, and married a young woman, 3rd GGM Betsey Fickett, there in 1816. Newly widowed Rebecca was living with the family in Poland in 1820 and moved with them to Woodstock in 1821. She would have been a mainstay for the family when Betsey died in 1826, leaving Samuel with four young children.

Rebecca died in Woodstock in 1828, age 56, and is buried in the Nute Stevens cemetery, the last of our Wentworth family.

The Remarkable Orsamus Edson Nute

This is the story of an extraordinary and selfless man who met tragedy and hardship with a resilience and courage that would make proud our Nute forebears. It is almost as though he called on the strength of all the Nute generations, beginning with 18 year-old James who crossed the Atlantic in 1631. At the relatively advanced age of forty-four, he took his family out of backwoods Maine and reinvented himself, a farmer who made a fortune in Boston that allowed him to comfortably care for his large family even into their adulthood. His love of learning led him to teach the children of Woodstock and send his own children to college, including our great-grandfather who graduated from M.I.T. in 1885. This is the story of Orsamus Edson Nute.

Orsamus Nute (1820-1907)

Early years

Our second great-grandfather Orsamus Nute was born in the spring of 1820 in Poland, Maine, the second child and oldest son of Samuel Nute and Betsey Fickett. Orsamus was just an infant when his parents moved the family from the Poland farm to Woodstock, Maine, bringing Samuel's mother, Rebecca Wentworth, along with them.

Before Woodstock 

Orsamus’ father, 3rd GGF Samuel Nute, bought the Poland property from his father, Josiah, for $400. The 1814 deed gives little clue to its location in Poland, 

“a certain piece of land bounded as follows, beginning at the southeasterly corner of lot No. 4 in the second division of lots in said Poland, thence running southeast to the southeast corner of said lot, thence from there two bounds on two lines each extending northwest until it shall contain fifty acres of land, including the roads that now run through said land.”

Six years later, Samuel bought land in Woodstock from his father-in-law, 3rd GGF Jonathan Fickett, perhaps as Jonathan was on hard times. Jonathan’s property in Poland where he had been for twenty years foreclosed in 1819 for failure to pay taxes. Jonathan and family may have remained in a cabin on the farm after sale to Samuel. 

Samuel had left behind his large extended family on Nute’s Ridge. His father died in 1820, and, as an only child, Samuel had no other extended family to help him clear and work the Woodstock farm. Samuel’s father, Josiah, may have been ill even when he sold the Poland land to young Samuel, leaving Samuel to do most of the work on that farm. Equally puzzling was why Josiah sold the land to Samuel, his only son, rather than bequeathing it to his only heir. 

One possibility is that twenty-two-year-old Samuel moved to Poland on his own while Josiah and Rebecca remained behind in Falmouth until Josiah's death in 1820. A later deed that still identifies Josiah as "of Falmouth" lends some support to that interpretation. 

Who's related 

The move to Woodstock 

Samuel married our third great-grandmother Betsey Fickett of Poland in 1816 and they had two children over the next four years. Sometime in 1820, when Orsamus was still an infant, the young family removed to the hilltop farm on Twitchell Road in Woodstock.

Samuel and Betsey had two more children in Woodstock, each spaced two years apart. Then, in 1826, Betsey died, leaving Samuel with four young children. Orsamus was only six years old. His grandmother Rebecca, who lived with the family, died two years later at the age of fifty-six. 

A step-mother, thirty-four year-old Polly Davis, entered the family in 1827. Her father, our 5th GGF Aaron Davis, and grandfather, 6th GGF Zebulon Davis, were both veterans of the American Revolution.

Like his father, Orsamus was hard-working and resourceful. Lapham’s 1882 History of Woodstock describes him this way,

Orsamus Nute, born in this town, received his education mostly in the common schools. He was naturally a good scholar, and early became an instructor of the school of his town. He was also a good farmer, and successfully cultivated the old homestead of his father for many years. He filled the office of Selectman and Superintending School Committee, but, being always a Democrat, he could not be elected to any office where party principles were involved.

Marriage to Emma, "Emmy Ann" Stevens

In 1843, Orsamus married tweinty-one year-old Emma Stevens, daughter of Joseph Stevens, a farmer, from nearby Norway, Maine.

Children of Orsamus and Emmy Ann

• Samuel Ambrose Nute, born 1844, died unmarried in Woodstock in 1864, age twenty.
• Mary Elizabeth Nute, born 1845, m. Willis Tappan Emery, a solicitor, in Boston in 1873, died 1914 of uterine cancer in Boston, buried in Sanford, Maine.
• Ellen Maria Nute, born 1849, married first George Leavitt in Boston and second the Reverend Luther Covington, a Boston clergyman, and moved to Seattle, Washington where she died in 1924.
• Ruth Anna Nute, born 1852, died unmarried in Boston in 1880, age twenty eight, of rheumatic valve heart disease.
• Emma Frances Nute, born 1856, died in Woodstock in December 1857 in Woodstock, age nineteen months.

The 1850 census shows Orsamus and Emmy Ann living on the farm with their first three children. Also in the household were Samuel, age 58, and Samuel's second wife,Polly. The farm appears still to have belonged to Samuel.

In 1854, Orsamus served as administrator of the insolvent estate of his maternal grandfather, Jonathan Fickett, acting on behalf of the widow, third great-grandmother Betsey Bryant Fickett, and her fifteen year-old daughter. Indeed, Jonathan apparently remained in debt until his death, and Betsey had to petition the court for sufficient funds on which she and her daughter could live.

Orsamus’ father, Samuel, died in 1855, leaving him the hilltop farm. The following year another daughter was born, and Orsamus was instrumental in erection of a Woodstock church conjointly built by the Methodists and Free Baptists. Orsamus was a Methodist.

Photo courtesy of Woodstock Historical Society

By 1856, life was promising for the thirty-six year-old Orsamus. He owned a nice hilltop farm, taught school, and played an active roll in the community. He and Emma had five young children. Then tragedy began to strike. Nineteen month-old Emma Frances died in December 1857, and Emma herself died in July 1860 at only thirty-eight.

Marriage to Lovina Dunn Davis 

Life seemed to get regain it's footing when the forty-one year-old Orsamus married our second great-grandmother, Lovina Dunn Davis, age twenty-five, ten months after Emma’s death. Lovina was a Woodstock teacher, a granddaughter of 4th great-grandfather Aaron Davis, Jr. and niece of Orsamus’ stepmother, Polly Davis, who helped raise him from the age of seven.

Orsamus and Lovina soon began their own family with the birth of Henry Orsamus in 1862 and our great-grandfather Joseph Edson Nute in 1863. Tragedy returned again in June 1864 when Orsamus’ oldest son, Samuel Ambrose, died at age twenty.

Perhpas Orsamus had finally endured enough loss on that hilltop farm. His mother had died when he was six, followed by his father in 1855, his young daughter in 1857, his first wife in 1860, and his eldest son in 1864.

Twenty year-old Samuel Ambrose may have been ill for some time and his death expected.  Within months of Samuel's death, Orsamus sold the farm, gathered the family, and moved everyone, including step-mother Polly, to Boston. What a bold move for a forty-four year-old who had known only farm life in a small, rural Maine town in the mid-nineteehth century! 

The same might be said of Lovina. After Samuel's death, she was responsible for a household that included three surviving daughers from his first marriage, her own two young sons, and a third child on the way. Polly, who was also Lovina's aunt, remained with the family and died in Boston in 1873.

With the family's departure, no more members of the Josiah-Samuel-Orsamus Nute line were left in Woodstock - or as far as I have been able to determine, anywhere in Maine.

Children of Orsamus and Lovina 

• Henry Orsamus Nute, born 1862 in Woodstock; married Ella J. Ford; attended Boston University School of Law; became a drug merchant and operated an apothecary in Boston; died in Manhattan in 1924.
• JOSEPH Edson Nute, born 1863 in Woodstock; married Harriet Gove Wilkins in Boston;, graduated from M.I.T. with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1885; spent most of his career as head of Fall River Gas Works Company; died  in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts in 1949.
• Edith Rivers Nute, born 1865 in Boston; married and later divorced Clement Milton Hammond, a journalist and associate editor of the Boston Globe; lived with her half-sister Ellen Maria in Seattle and worked as a stenographer; later joined her sister Mabel in Ramapo, New York, where the sisters operated a chicken farm; died in Monsey, New York in 1934.
• Ernest Nute, born 1867; died in Boston in 1868, age eight months, of inflammation of brain.
• Frank Earnest Nute, born 1869; died in Boston in 1870, age eleven months; buried in Nute-Stevens cemetery in Woodstock
• Mabel Lavina Nute, born 1871 in Boston; earned a B.A. from Smith College in 1898 and apparently entered or planned to enter Boston University Medical School during the 1898-1899 school year. In 1900, Mabel was unmarried and living in Boston with her father. A 1908 Smith College alumnae register gives Mabel's address as Seattle, where her half-sister Ellen lived, suggesting she spent at least some time there. By 1910, she was in Ramapo, New York, still single and owner of a farm, with a servant and three hired men in her household. This was evidently the sisters' chicken farm known as "The Ramblers," and where Orsamus spent the last couple years of his life.

A second career for Orsamus

What inspired Orsamus the farmer and schoolteacher to bring his family to Boston is anyone’s guess. In the 1865 Massachusetts census, only a year after his arrival, his occupation is given as "street sprinkler."

Once in Boston, Orsamus started a street watering business whose important task was to water the unpaved and graveled streets to keep down the dust - including dried horse manure -  which would otherwise dry, turn to dust, and aerosolize, a mixture not good either for the lungs or gown hems of the Victorian ladies.

From this humble beginning with a street-watering cart, Orsamus built a lucrative and prosperous water sprinkler contracting business that would become obselete as streets were pavied and motor vehicles displaced horses. In the 1870 census, fifty year-old Orsamus lists his occupation as street contractor. His firm, Nute and Billings, had an office at East Dedham and West Albany Streets.

The Great Boston Fire of 1872 must have caused a fright as it burned within blocks of his business. The fire swept across about sixty-five acres of downtown Boston, destroying 776 buildings and causing and estimated $73.5 million in losses, still ranked as one of the costliest urban fires in American history.

By 1872, Orsamus was living at the prestigious address of 335 Columbus Avenue, an impressive five-story corner townhouse.

335 Columbus Street, Boston, the corner five-story townhouse that belonged to Orsamus

An 1873 Boston Business Directory gives his middle initial as E, perhaps a clue to the origin of Edson as a middle name in the family. The Edson middle name has been passed down another four generations to Joseph Edson Nute, Raymond Edson Nute Sr., Jr., and III.

By 1873, Orsamus owned most of a block on Dorr Street. In 1889, his son Henry and son-in-law Willis Emery joined him in a project to “drive 12 piles on the northerly side of the sea wall in Charles River, at the foot of Hereford Street in the city of Boston…for the support of a water tank.”

Tragedy revisited Orsamus and Lovina with the deaths of  eight month-old Ernst in1868 and eleven month-old Frank Ernst in 1870. A little more than ten years later, in December 1880, Orsamus' twenty-eight year old daughter Ruth Anna died of rheumatic heart disease. Within two weeks, he also lost Lovina, age forty-five, to pericarditis.

A home invasion robbery

The Boston Globe reported two "notorious and successful burglars" were arraigned and pleaded guilty to breaking into the home at 335 Columbus Avenue on the night of February 15, 1894, and stealing silverware and clothing. One was sentenced to three years prison and the other six years.

Financial reversals 

All was not smooth sailing for Orsamus in Boston. He declared insolvency in 1875 and bankruptcy in 1894. 

A tenant at the 335 Columbus Avenue address had fitted the ground floor as a drug store. After he was judged insane in 1899, his family filed to restrain Orsamus and Henry O. Nute from foreclosing on the property and evicting him. The Nutes were apparently successful as Henry O. is listed in the 1902 Boston directory as running his own drug merchant business from 335 Columbus Avenue.

A third marriage

Census records show Orsamus usually had one to two servants living in the large Columbus Avenue home, along with whichever of his children needed a home. In 1890, at age sixty-nine, he married again. His third wife was forty-five year-old widow Lydia Beal Collamore Smith.

The marriage seems to have been brief. By 1892, Boston directories place seventy-two year-old Orsamus with his daughter Mary Elizabeth rather than the 335 Columbus Avenue address. The 1900 census shows Lydia living in a boardinghouse, apart from Orsamus. 

The last years

The 1900 census shows eighty year-old Orsamus living at 32 Yarmouth in Boston with Mary Elizabeth; her husband, Willis Emery, Orsamus' former business associate; his divorced daughter, Edith; and unmarried daughter, Mabel. Although Mabel was supposed to have entered Boston University Medical School in 1898, the census does not record her either as a student or employed.

Sometime between 1900 and 1905, daughters Edith and Mabel moved to Ramapo, New York, where Mabel bought a chicken farm. Mabel was living at her chicken farm in Ramapo within seven years of graduating from Smith College.

 A 1901 Boston directory lists Orsamus as “removed to Woodstock.” His son, Henry Orsamus, is using the 335 Columbus building, probably the ground floor, for his pharmacy. 

An August 1902 Fall River Daily Evening News article reported "the family of Joseph E. Nute recreating at South Paris, Maine." A reasonable assumption could be they went to visit eighty year-old Orsamus who returned to his hometown to live with family, probably his sister Mary Jane Billings and her daughter, Ladusca Wing. The relationship must have been close as Mary Jane had named one of her sons after Orsamus.

Mary Jane died in 1904. By 1905 Orsamus was living with daughters Edith and Mabel in the hamlet of Viola, part of Ramapo, New York. He died there in 1907, at age eighty-seven, of interstitial nephritis. 

The year after Orsamus died, Edith and Mabel went on holiday by steamship to Panama. Edith died in 1934, age 69, and Mabel, the baby of the family, in 1956 at age 84.

Not surprisingly, Orsamus maintained ties with Woodstock after leaving for Boston. He had a lifetime of friends in Woodstock, and was the local boy who had made good. His portrait was featured in Lapham's 1882 History of Woodstock.

Burial in Woodstock

Orsamus’ and Lovina’s connection to Woodstock is evident in their decisions to be buried in the family cemetery on the farm rather than in Boston, and to bring their three children who died in Boston back home to Woodstock for burial.

Nute Obelisk and 12 foot stones at Nute-Stevens cemetery in Woodstock

Family member names inscribed on obelisk, many poorly legible

Sometime before his death, Orsamus arranged for an obelisk to be erected in the Woodstock Nute-Stevens cemetery. One face of the monument bears his name and those of his first two wives, Emma and Lovina, with birth and death dates. Another face bears names that are now mostly illegible, although one can still be read: the name of his grandmother, Rebecca Wentworth. 

Across the front of the monument is a row of twelve small foot stones with initials of family members buried here: 

• Samuel
• Betsey
• Polly
• Rebecca
• Orsamus
• Emma
• Lovina
• Emma F
• Samuel A
• Ernest
• Frankie E
• Ruth A

The latter three died in Boston and must have been brought back to Woodstock for interment with their family. 

Current house on Nute farm at end of Twitchell Road

We are fortunate to have the original form completed by Orsamus in his own handwriting at the request of his son, our great-grandfather Joseph Nute, while Joseph was working on the Nute Genealogy. A copy of the genealogy is held by the New Hampshire Historical Society, and I have a copy as well. 

Joseph's research papers from his work on the genealogy with Percy Nute and Orsamus' granddaughter, Amy Emery, were donated to the New England Historical and Genealogical Society in Boston.

Samuel Nute (1792-1855), Another Mystery

Samuel was born on Nute’s Ridge, the only child of Josiah Nute and Rebecca Wentworth. The 1850 census indicated he could read and write, so he had some education along the way. His occupation is listed as farmer whenever there is a written record, as was that of his father, Josiah, and his son, Orsamus.

At age 13, Samuel’s family left Nute Ridge and moved to Falmouth, Maine, where his father continued farming as an occupation. Doubtlessly, Samuel helped out on the farm until the 22 year-old purchased land from his father in 1814 about 30 miles north in Poland, Maine.

Poland was originally part of the Bakerstown Plantation with settlement beginning in 1767. The original town incorporated in 1795 included not only Poland and Poland Springs, but also Minot and Mechanic Falls. 

Samuel settled early in the Poland’s development and a couple years later married a young lady, 22 year-old 3rd GGM Betsey Fickett (1794-1826), whose father, 4th GGF Jonathan Fickett, came to Poland from Cape Elizabeth with a new bride, 4th GGM Judith Cox, in 1788. Betsey’s mother died when she was nine, and her father married another one of our GGM’s, Betsey Bryant (1769-1854), widow of 5th GGF Dr. Peter Brooks.

In the 1820 census when Samuel was 28, the household consisted of Samuel, Betsey, two children under 10, and Samuel’s mother, Josiah’s widow Rebecca Wentworth. One of the two children was 2nd GGF Orsamus Nute. The following year, Betsey’s father sold Samuel a tract of land in Woodstock, yet another 30 miles north, and the family moved there by 1822.

Woodstock is a wooded, hilly-valleyed area with the beautiful Bryant Pond, brooks and mountain streams. Some settlers began to arrive in surrounding areas after the close of the French War in 1760, more looking for land in the wilderness after the close of the Revolution as they had been paid in worthless money. A road to Woodstock was cut from Paris to Woodstock in 1795 even before her settlement, and families began to arrive. The first were the Bryant boys, including our 6th GGF Solomon Bryant, followed by numerous other grandparent ancestor families - including those of the Davis, Stephens, Swan and Brooks, and their wives from the Robbins, Curtis, Brooks, Strout, and Fickett families.

The town incorporated in 1815 and the following years were tough for the hardy inhabitants. Winters were cold, crops failed, and fires swept through the hills. The world climate was affected for years by the eruption of Mount Tamburo in April 1815. Volcanic ash and sulfur dioxide blocked sunlight, leading to widespread crop failures, food shortages, and extreme cold in North America. Cold and snow killed birds and wildlife in the early summer of 1816. Corn crops failed, hay could not be harvested, and only hardy rye succeeded in small areas. Cattle starved and drought led to catastrophic wildfires in the forests of Woodstock. The harsh winter of 1816-1817 had six to eight inches of snow through to April.

Amid this, 6th GGF Jonathan Fickett, Betsey's father bought the land in 1818 that was later to become the hilltop Nute farm, and sold the lot to Samuel in 1821.

A February 1821 letter from the town clerk to the Woodstock proprietors looking for taxes and payment on notes held on the inhabitants illustrates the dire straits of the town,

Dear Sir:  We are very sorry that we are not able to forward to you any money in this letter, and extremely sorry to state the little prospect we have of any large payments this season. Money with us is the most scarce it has ever been since the town has settled…. Mr. Jonathan Fickett has sold his lot to a son-in-law by the name of Samuel Nute, who says he can pay the money down, but wishes to have the deed when he pays the money. Mr. Fickett’s lot is number 44….

The Ficketts lived in Poland before moving to Woodstock in 1818. Betsey's dad, Jonathan, already had his land in Poland foreclosed in 1819 for failure to pay taxes. He was, likewise, probably having trouble with payment on his Woodstock land when he sold that beautiful hilltop farm to Samuel. What a chore it must have been for Jonathan to clear the property for planting and grazing!

Samuel and Betsey had four children, all spaced 2 years apart. In 1826, two years after the last child, Betsey died at age 32, leaving 34 year-old Samuel with four children under the age of ten.

Children of Samuel and Betsey:

Harriet Nute, b. 1818 in Poland, m. Charles Brooks Davis (son of our 4th GGPs Aaron Davis and and Lucinda Oraing Brooks as well as brother to our 3rd GGF Joseph Davis), d. age 80 in Lancaster, Massachusetts

ORSAMUS Nute, b. 1820 in Poland, m. 1) Emmy Amy Stevens and 2) Lovina Dunn Davis, granddaughter of our 4th GGF Aaron Davis, Jr. and 5th GGF Dr. Peter Brooks. Lovina is a Mayflower descendant of passenger Richard Warren.

Phebe Wentworth Nute b. 1822 in Woodstock, m. Asa Smith, d. 1875 in Malden, Massachusetts

Mary Jane Nute b. 1824 in Woodstock, m. Eleazer Cole Billings, died in Woodstock in 1904, breast cancer

The year after Betsey’s death, Samuel married Polly Davis, daughter of Revolution soldier 5th GGF Aaron Davis and granddaughter of Revolution privateer, 6th GGF Zebulon Davis. They had no children together. She became a widow in 1855 with the death of Samuel, but continued to live with Orsamus and his family, even moving to Boston when the family migrated out of Woodstock.

Samuel died in 1855, age 62, in Woodstock. His 1846 will left Polly the new part of his house, one third of the income from his real estate, and use of the principal of the estate if needed “to make her comfortable.” He left Harriet $5.00 and “if she becomes of sound mind and capable of taking care of the same for her comfort and support $60 more, and if she does not, then said sixty dollars is to be divided equally among said Harriet’s children." To daughters Phebe and Mary Jane, Samuel left $65.00. Orsamus inherited the residence and farm.

The will indicates the eldest child, Harriet, may have had some mental difficulties. She was mid-twenties, married with children. The problems may have been transient as she raised six children, two of whom went on to become dentists.

The beautiful hilltop location must have reminded Samuel of his childhood home on Nute’s Ridge. The original farmstead is no longer standing, but a local historian believes it to be a short distance behind a stately home built on the hilltop. 

Samuel Nute's hilltop farm with mountains in the distance

The Nute kids visited the Nute farm in 2018. 

Nute Kids at the Nute farmstead, June 2018

Samuel, Betsey, Polly, and Samuel’s mother Rebecca, are buried just down the hill in the Nute-Stevens cemetery, an idyllic setting

Nute/Stevens cemetery

The Nute plot has the obelisk erected by Orsamus, and has a row of small headstones for each Nute known to be buried there. When I visited in 2016, Samuel’s small headstone had flowers, a flag, and a War of 1812 star marker.

Samuel Nute's headstone with War of 1812 marker

We have no family records that indicate Samuel fought in the War of 1812, and none can be located online. On the other hand, he would have been about the right age in 1812, he was on coastal Maine in those years, and the 160 acres mentioned in Joseph Nute’s notes as being granted to Josiah may have been for Samuel’s service. Another mystery waiting to be tracked down.