Silas Barnard Major [Parents] was born on 16 Sep 1795 in Marlboro, MA. He died on 21 Mar 1873 in Dixfield, Oxford, ME. He married Lucy Trask on 8 May 1819 in Dixfield, Oxford, ME. Silas resided in 1870 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine.
Silas went with his family to Dixfield, ME when he was 8 years old in 1803. He served in the War of 1812. He was a Freemason. Silas was an Assistant US Marshall for Oxford Co. in 1830. He was a land surveyor whose survey of the line between Maine and Nova Scotia was accepted by the US government. He was also the Dixfield enumerator for the 1850 census with a title like Assistant US marshall or somesuch.
Silas’ granddaughter-in-law, Ellen Leach Root, kept Silas’ survey records in her barn in a bushel basket. When the Smithsonian Institute came to Dixfield to request their donations, she was dismayed to report that she had just cleaned out the barn and thrown them out. Silas also surveyed part of the city of Minneapolis where the State University is now situated. He was sent to the Maine Legislature from Dixfield. He was on the Governor’s Council. He kept a diary very methodically every day. However, he was very absent-minded. Many amusing stories are told about him.
His death on March 21, 1873 was caused by an accident when he fell backwards from a load of hay and struck the back of his neck. He was not like himself after that. He died several years later in 1873. The snow was so deep during his funeral that it reached up to the windows. Lucy died on Sept. 25, 1896. Their monument stands on the hill in Eustis Cemetery.Genealogical data of the Barnard family of Dixfield, Maine from the writings of Henry W. Park.
Silas followed his father to Dixfield in 1805 and found employment in cutting down the forests of pine trees and sawing them into material for the use of the pioneer settlers of that period – married Lucy Trask in 1819. He served several terms in the State Legislature as a representative from the Dixfield district, cast an Electoral vote for Jackson in 1832, was a State Senator in 1842 and a commissioner to Oxford Co. in 1857. He also filled many other places of public trust. His death in 1873 aged 77 ½ years was hastened by an injury received in being thrown from a load of hay.Silas Barnard was a member of the Dixfield Temperance Society. At one point in 1836 he was appointed to a committee to persuade local merchants to give up the selling of liquor. No indication that the committee actually did that. "Gentlemen of the committee H[enry] Farwell, S[ilas] Barnard, C[harles L[yman] Eustis of Dixfield, H[enry] White, P[eter] Trask of Mexico." The factoid taken from DTS minutes.
Lewiston Lewiston Journal, Illustrated, December 9 – 13, 1905, in an article entitled "Home of the Toothpick Industry," written by L. C.Bateman.
"....Major Silas Barnard was the pioneer who surveyed the town lines, and many of his descendants are scattered over the town. This gentleman was a famous civil engineer, and equally as famed for his absent-minded habits. On one occasion he had driven fifteen miles from the settlement, and, hitching his horse to a tree, proceeded to finish a day’s work. As the shades of night commenced to gather, he started home on foot, forgetful of the fact that his team was waiting for him. After making the entire fifteen miles to his home, he was reminded by his wife that the horse should be cared for instead of being left out in the woods to starve. Without saying a single word he at once started back after the animal, and it was well nigh noon of the following day when he returned with his team."Excerpt from Historical Data of Dixfield collected by Mrs. Ada Smith in 1926
Major Barnard was a conspicuous figure for many years. He cst an electoral vote for Jackson in 1832; was for several terms in the Legislature of Maine as Representative; was a State Senator in 1842; a member of the Borad of County Commissioners of Oxford Co in 1857, and filled many other offices of public trust. He surveyed land for the U.S. and for the Ste of Maine; was frequently engaged in surveying lands for lumber companies and for private individuals. He led a busy life and performed valuable services. In later years he was at home the greater part of the time, and had to a great extent outgrown a habit of "absent-mindedness" over which his neighbors as well as he had many a hearty laugh. He was heard to remark many times that he had left clothing enough in the wilds of eastern Maine, when surveying, to clothe all Dixfield Village a full year. The story was often told of him, that one evening he took his horse to his brother-in-law Carpenter's, in Mexico, hitched the horse in the shed there, remained through the evening and returned home on foot, not thinking of the horse until feeding time the next morning.From Jane Cantrell:
Silas was a Sgt in 1814 raised at Dixfield with service in Portland under Lt. Col. S. Holland. In 1810, Silas built the Clapboard and Shingle Mill in Dixfield, which later burned and was re-built at a different location. In 1827, Silas was erecting booms and slips.From Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, MA
Silas Barnard was a farmer, surveyor of lands and roads, and several times member of the State Legislature.
Lucy Trask [Parents] was born on 16 Dec 1800 in Dixfield, ME. She died on 25 Sep 1896. She married Silas Barnard Major on 8 May 1819 in Dixfield, Oxford, ME. Lucy resided in 1880 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine, United States. She resided in 1850 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1860 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1870 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine.
As a young woman, Lucy learned to spin, dye and weave. She was a remarkably talented craftswoman. She was known for her beautiful hooked rugs. She drew the designs and prepared dyes from plant materials. She dyed the wool for her own work as well as other local women. She created three rugs incorporating scenes of her childhood home that remained in the family for several generations. They were later donated to the New York Museum of Art. They have been the subjects of several articles in Antique magazines and also in a book on early American tapestries. Lucy also prepared bodies for burial in the days before undertakers were available.
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From our old friend Henry W. Park
Thursday, May 12, 1887 [from the Dixfield Citizen]"Next I reach the present home of that good woman, Lucy Barnard, widow of Silas Barnard. Never since my remembrance has it been out of the control of that family. I have attended school in that house. Mahala Barnard, who married Harry Wheeler and lived only a short time after her marriage, kept a private school there. She also taught many terms of the village school, and was beloved as a teacher, a girl, a woman. Pretty in form and feature, kindly in act and word, none knew her but to admire. Lucy Ann, another daughter, was a teacher, and a good one. She married George Dillingham, moved to Minnesota and died. Fred, now a frequent visitor, is her son. Delphina married a Root. Emily married Edwin R. Knight. Albion and George, the boys of the family, have found homes far from old Dixfield. Albion is a doctor in Minnesota. George I think is in California. --H. W. P."
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From a recollection by Oscar Trask,
Lucy Trask Barnard now 89 years of age is a remarkable old lady in full possession of her faculties. She walks with a firm step and is always busy and has within the past ten years made with her own hands more than 100 patchwork quilts (as she calls them) and distributed them among the poor and unfortunate. She has always been a woman of great energy and push and one little incident will give you a better idea of the person. Once while her husband was away she was taken sick and the doctor was called in and after an examination told her that she had a fever - "What! A fever and Silas away. I can't have one now" and she didn't.
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AUNT LUCY BARNARD
Lucy Barnard, widow of Silas Barnard, died at her home in Dixfield, Friday afternoon, September 25th, 1896. The funeral was held Sunday, the 27th ult., Rev. Mr. Munson officiating clergyman. Her two daughters, Mrs. Delphina Root and Mrs. Emily Knight, her grandson, Albert Root, from Boston, and her only surviving sister, Mrs. Isaac Newton Stanley, were present. Mrs. Barnard was 95 years old the 16th of last February.
Mrs. Barnard was one of a family of six children (perhaps more), one son and five daughters, who lived to marry and raise children, all living in and near Dixfield village the greater part of their lives. They were children of Amos Trask, one of the proprietors of Township No. 1 on the Androscoggin River, then including what is now Mexico and Dixfield. Amos Trask owned one “right – five hundred acres.
It has been the privilege of the writer to know personally and intimately all the children of Amos Trask, unless some died when young. Peter Trask who died in Mexico was the son. Sheriff Oscar F. Trask and John F. [sic] Trask, sons of Peter, still reside in Mexico. Lucinda, one daughter, married Joseph K. White, one of the first doctors who located in Dixfield. Dr. White was a prominent Mason, a charter member of Blazing Star Lodge. He died before reaching the age of forty years, and his was the first Masonic funeral held in Dixfield. Melissa Randall, widow of Isaac Randall, mother of Hiram A. Randall, was one of the children of Dr. White. She is now living. Other children of his were Rosella, who married George Dilllingham, Albert, Hiram A. and Augustus.
Dr. White’s widow married Philip Abbott, and from her second marriage had sons and daughters. I recall three daughters, one of whom, Mrs. Lucy Marble, so long presided over the inner work of the National House at Dixfield. Louisa Trask married Charles T. Chase, who was many years a merchant and large land owner in Dixfield. Two sons only of the Chase family are living; W. S., a prominent citizen of the village, and his brother Charles.
Ann married John M. Eustis. In this branch of relatives, those who lived to marry were two daughters and five sons. Charles W. and Col. Wm. T. are now residents of Dixfield. Others are in Minnesota, and Albert, a wealthy business man in Boston.
Susan married Isaac N. Stanley. Henry O. Stanley, fish commissioner, John F. Stanley, many years registrar of deeds in Oxford County, Frank Stanley, for a long time one of Dixfield’s prominent business men, Sophronia, widow of Major D. P. Stowell, Rosella, wife of the late Hon. E. G. Harlow, and Louise, wife of Hon. George D. Bisbee, are children of the Stanley union.
Recognizing the fact that there have been and are now so many to whom by kinship, and also the fact that by marriage and intermarriage many others are living to whom Mrs. Barnard was great-aunt, the appellation “Aunt Lucy” is not misplaced. Not only was she Aunt Lucy to relatives, numerous almost as the sand of the sea shore, but for years and years she has been Aunt Lucy to everybody.
Of her own family, the writer has known Mahala, who married Wm. Harrison Wheeler, and Lucy A. who became the second wife of George Dillingham, both dead many years, both teachers of the writer in Dixfield schools; Dr. Albion, now in Minnesota, who has twice visited the old home recently; George, who if living, is in the West; and Delphina and Emily, who have been constant and kindly in attendance with their mother during the later years of her life.
Until within two or three years Aunt Lucy retained her faculties to a remarkable degree. She was deeply interested in everything done to advance the moral or material interests of the village which had been her home from birth. She also manifested great interest in the welfare of the children of families not connected with her own by ties of relationship; sharing their sorrows, and glad to learn of their making life a success. It has been regarded by the writer as a pleasure and to quite a degree as a duty to call at her old home whenever visiting Dixfield, noting always how pleased she seemed to be to tell of the good fortune attending the lives of old villagers and their descendents.
Ninety-six years, almost a century, in one locality, active beyond measure in everything pertaining to a village life from girlhood, until with a short time. What a retrospect must have been hers during the later years of her life, as at the remote period of almost a century from her earliest remembrance of that, their primitive home, she peopled it with the generations she had known, and through the hazy distances of the past, recalled the building of homes, the incoming of strangers, the lack of many of the essentials to rapid improvement in any direction; the streets or roads winding in circuitous directions between the large pine stumps and trees for which the locality was noted. At last a little school house near the confluence of the Androscoggin and Webb’s rivers, the first store; the first mail, brought on horseback; the birth, growth, marriage and death of her own brothers and sisters; the many merrymakings in which she was one of the merriest; the days of care in bringing up her own children; the death of her own noble husband, Silas Barnard, a man of probity and honor, endowed with unusual intelligence, supplemented with an excellent education; the death of her own children, grandchildren and other near relatives; the grateful incense of peace as she has waited for the approach of the day of her admission within “the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem,” cared for tenderly by her daughters and visited and cheered by the visits to her home, of the very many who desired to make her last days her best days.
If, as we hope, yes, confidently believe, she has gone to God and Heaven, she has joined a vast multitude of kindred and friends, in the realm where all is joy and rest is of eternal duration.P.[From an unidentified newspaper, probably either the Rumford Falls TIMES, circa, September 30, 1896. Typed from an original news clipping on May 14, 2007 by Peter R. Stowell. Quite possibly the “P.” above is Henry W. Park, living in Mexico at the time but a Dixfield native and chronicler of its history. Most accounts of John F. Trask above give his middle initial as “R.”]
They had the following children:
F i Mahala S Barnard was born on 2 Mar 1821. She died on 24 Feb 1846. M ii Dr. Albion Keith Parris Barnard was born on 5 Nov 1822. He died on 11 Jan 1912. M iii Joel Barnard was born on 9 Jun 1825 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine. He died on 26 Nov 1826 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine. F iv Lucy Ann Barnard was born on 15 Sep 1827. She died on 26 Jan 1866. M v George M. Barnard was born on 16 Sep 1830 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine. He died on 31 Mar 1914 in Montana. George was born in 1831 in Maine. He resided in 1850 in Dixfield, Oxford, Maine. He resided in 1880 in CBACGALB, Deer Lodge, Montana, United States. He resided in 1900 in Ophir, Deer Lodge, Montana. He resided in 1910 in Ophir Twp, Powell, Montana. He died on 31 Mar 1914 in Montana.
He was single and a placer miner in Carpenter Bar and Carpenters Gulch and Little Blackfoot, Deer Lodge, Montana in 1870. In 1880 he was still a placer miner in Ophir, Deer Lodge, Montana.F vi Delphina Leonora Barnard was born on 5 Jun 1833. She died on 3 Feb 1923. F vii Emily Clark Barnard was born on 12 Sep 1838. She died on 23 Feb 1935.
William Barnard was born on 31 Jan 1759 in Marlboro, MA. He died on 1 May 1810 in the Androscoggin River, Maine. He married Hannah Wheeler on 23 Apr 1783 in Stow, MA.
He grew up in Marlboro, MA. In 1803, William and his brother, Stephen, bought lot 15 r 2; 440 acres in what is now W. Peru. This land bordered Spears Stream and the Androscoggin River. When William arrived there, he bought an additional 100 acres in Dixfield, ME. Stephen bought a lot in Mexico, ME. Williams drowned while driving logs on May 1, 1810.
Genealogical data of the Barnard family of Dixfield, Maine from the writings of Henry W. Park.
William and Stephen Barnard, brothers, came from Marlboro, Mass. to the District of Maine, the former to Dixfield in 1803, the latter to Mexico, a little earlier, I think. William found employment in connection with the saw mill erected by Dr. [Elijah] Dix at the junction of Webb’s with the Androscoggin river. He was drown in the rapids just below Canton Pt. while running a raft of lumber in 1810. The children of William, six in number, were all born in Marlboro. Their names and order of birth are as follows – Joel, Eliza, Simon, Nancy, Silas, & Harriet. Joel died at in 1815. Eliza was a school teacher in Livermore, married Doct. Samuel Small in 1805 and settled soon after in Jay. She died at that place July 1886Records in the Oxford Co Probate Records:
Barnard, William. of Dixfield 1810. Administrator is Joel Barnard. Widow Anna Barnard.
Hannah Wheeler [Parents] was born on 17 Aug 1760 in Marlborough, MA. She died on 1 May 1810 in Dixfield, Maine. She married William Barnard on 23 Apr 1783 in Stow, MA.
They had the following children:
F i Nancy Barnard was born in Oct 1785. She died on 29 Jul 1882. M ii Joel Barnard was born in 1790 in Marlboro, MA. He was christened on 20 Jun 1790 in Marlboro, MA. He died in 1815. M iii Simon Barnard was born in 1792. He died on 12 Feb 1872. M iv Silas Barnard Major was born on 16 Sep 1795. He died on 21 Mar 1873. F v Eliza Nabby Barnard was born in Oct 1795. F vi Harriet Byron Barnard was born on 13 Jan 1798. She died in Jan 1887.
Major Amos Trask was born on 1 Aug 1769 in Sutton, Worcester, MA. He died on 14 Nov 1821 in Dixfield, ME. He married Lucy Parke on 19 Apr 1795 in Sutton, Worcester, MA.
One of the first settlers of Dixfield, ME When they were first married, they moved at once to Holman Town Plantation ME which is now Dixfield. Major Trask died of Lung Fever [pneumonia] on Nov 14, 1821 having by his sagacity, industry and frugality accumulated a handsome property left for his widdow and children of about $10,000. He was ever considered as one of the good Fathers of the town and neighborhood, a Friend of his Race. Wherever known he was respected and beloved and his death deeply lamented.
Amos Trask was the first settler in Dixfield and cut the first tree here. Susan said “The indians would migrate up the Androscoggin River in birch canoes, and almost always stopped at Dixfield and usually had a drunk. Amos was an original proprietor of Dixfield, originally called Holmantown.
Docket for Probate Court for Oxford County of Amos Trask, in a letter, dated 15 JUL 1998, from Theodore Tracy of the Probate court
Registry of Deeds – Eastern District, South Paris, Marine, Book 14 pg 133-5 (ref deed of granted land from Commonwealth of Mass
Grantee/grantor list of transfers
Proof of transfer of property from Dr. Dix to Amos Trask
1803-4 – Voted to accept Major Trask Asst - $3.33 / Voted to allow Major Trask the sum of $10.00
Early meetings – Voted Amos Trask Tything Man / Chose Amos Trask ____ of Weights and Measures (Waits & measures)
5 AUG 1805 – Amos Trask as Treasurer
3 MAY 1806 – Capt Amos Trask, Treasurer
6 APR 1807 – Amos Trask, Moderator
1 JAN 1809 – Chosen as Moderator
1 JAN 1809 – “William Barnard, Amos Trask, John Holland, Soloman Leland & Charles Moss to draw petition
4 MAR 1811 – “Chose Amos Trask as Treasurer” “Chose Amos Trask as Narrator” “Major Amos Trask”
Sep 1821 – Amos Trask,
9 SEP 1821 – Amos Trask, Selectman
10 SEP 1821 – Amos Trask, Selectman of Dixfield
7 APR 1823 – Amos Trask, ModeratorExcerpts from: Part of a Paper Read at Advance Club By Isabel Russell
This paper was presented in 1959 to the Advance Club of Dixfield and was reprinted as part of the town of Dixfield’s 2003 bicentennial calendar.Major Amos Trask, son of Samuel Trask, one of the first settlers of Sutton, came with the first settlers. He was engaged to marry Lucy Parks of Sutton. After he had been there a short time she joined him, making the journey alone over spotted trails. They married and lived in a house near the Common. In 1820 Amos Trask bought the Doctor Dix house, which at that time was unfinished, and moved into this part of the town. Major Trask had had two shares in the original township. Later, he bought two more. He lived only a few years after moving here. He was a self made man, industrious, frugal, a generous neighbor and a faithful friend. During the year that there was no summer he had a large stock of corn which would have commanded a good price. He would not sell, but supplied poor people who had none. When he died he was a rich man for those times, have estate worth $10,000.
His children were among the first settlers of this village. Peter, the only son, was the father of John, Oscar, and Louisa Trask. Lucina, the oldest daughter was Lelia Foster’s great grandmother. Lucy, the second daughter, was a true pioneer mother, going far and near in cases of sickness and trouble. She was the mother of Delphine Root and Emily Knight. Louisa, the third daughter, was Walter Chase’s grandmother. Her husband kept a store. Liquor was then sold as freely as molasses. When Mr. Chase sold liquor to men with poor families, Aunt Cina, as she was called, stopped them on their way home and gave them supplies from her own store. When Mr. Chase remonstrated, she said, “Mr. Chase, just as long as you dispense liquor to these men, just so long shall I dispense provisions.”
The fourth daughter of Major Trask was Ann, the mother of William Eustis and Mary Greenleaf – Mason, Wallace, Albert, Humphrey Eustis and Sarah Mitchell.
Susan was the youngest daughter, and my great grandmother. Susan was quite a handful in her youthful days. I have heard them tell of the time that her sisters and their beaux went for a horseback ride on the Mexico road, leaving Susan at home. Two young for a swain and with no mount except an old work horse, which after their departure she mounted bare back, urged to it’s utmost speed and overtook them. Needless to say that she somewhat marred the pleasure of their ride, as passing them ever and anon riding back she reminded each one of instances of their past, better left unmentioned.
Susan was 15 years old when her father died. She went to a private school, met [Isaac] Newton Stanley and became engaged to him. Susan was named for her aunt, the second wife of Col. Holman. She went to Sutton to visit this aunt to buy her trousseau, one of the articles of which was a leghorn flat with a crown 9” high worn with a clouded blue pelisse.
sacrifice. To them we owe many of the privileges and many of the blessings we enjoy.The first homes which the early settlers built were small and crude log cabins. A few years sufficed for the clearing away of a large portion of forests and fencing of fields for cultivation. Orchards were planted. Soon nearly everything was produced at home that was needed for convenience and rough comfort. Every farmer kept a few sheep for wool and raised flax to make clothing for summer wear. Not a small part of the house industry was the spinning of the wool which had been carded into rolls by hand. The weaving was all done at home on hand looms. From 3 to 5 yards was all that could be woven in a day. A shoe maker came to the home once a year and made shoes for the family for winter. They went barefoot during the summer.
Huge fireplaces supplied heat for warmth and contained cranes for cooking. Brick ovens were heated once a month when they baked pies, beans, indian puddings, pound, fruit, and seed cakes. I have heard my grandmother tell of how her mother stored her pies well covered on the spare chamber floor and how at one time being sent on an errand there in the evening she forgot the pies and stepped in every one. They made their own soap from scraps of fat. Tallow candles served for illumination.
In the earliest days of the settlers they made a trip to Augusta in ox teams once a year, preferably in winter, for supplies which consisted for the most part of a hogs head of molasses and barrel of codfish. There was little money used in those days. Of $75.00 worth of trade only $3.00 to $5.00 was given in exchange, the rest barter. Mrs. William Waite’s father owned Siberia and made shingles, and took them to Augusta once a year for barter.
In cases of sickness there was no doctor. The experienced mothers of the communities served as nurses and dispensed simple remedies. Mrs. Waite tells of one midwife who attended over 300 cases of child birth, traveling on horse back with saddle backs, or ox teams during the deep snow of the winter.
Neighborhood visitations served to supply amusements. There were also barn raisings, husking bees, quiltings, and occasional dances in the homes when the guests went in the afternoon, and danced till sunrise the following day. A fiddler furnished the music and the host served supper, a midnight meal, and breakfast of generous fare.
The daughters of that day were trained in the way they should go. They were taught to cook, spin, knit, weave and sew, to speak in low tones and to walk demurely. I have heard my grandmother tell of being called back many a time to walk again across the floor.
The sons were sent to school when they could be spared, usually a few weeks in the winter. The young married early in those days, but youthful cares, hard labor, homely fare and outdoor life seemed conducive to physical, mental and spiritual growth. Though they could not be called educated, they had good common sense, sound judgment, and strong purpose. They have handed down to us a legacy that no money could buy.
Lucy Parke was born on 27 Aug 1771 in Millbury, MA. She died on 7 Jul 1862 in Dixfield, ME. She married Major Amos Trask on 19 Apr 1795 in Sutton, Worcester, MA.
They had the following children:
F i Lucina Trask was born on 2 May 1796. She died on 24 Jan 1841. F ii Lucy Trask was born on 16 Dec 1800. She died on 25 Sep 1896. M iii Peter Trask was born on 13 Nov 1803. He died on 11 Sep 1868. F iv Anna Trask was born on 18 Oct 1805. She died on 20 Apr 1880. F v Louisa Trask was born on 1 May 1808. She died on 9 Apr 1845. F vi Susan Trask was born on 11 Nov 1809. She died on 20 Apr 1901.
He had the following children:
F i Hannah Wheeler was born on 17 Aug 1760. She died on 1 May 1810.
She had the following children:
F i Susanna Trask was born on 11 Oct 1759. She died on 25 Feb 1843. M ii Major Amos Trask was born on 1 Aug 1769. He died on 14 Nov 1821.
Caleb Park was born on 20 Mar 1758 in Sutton, Worcester, MA. He died on 18 Aug 1823 in Dixfield, Oxford, ME. He married Ruth Woodward on 27 Feb 1784 in Sutton, Worcester, MA.
Ruth Woodward was born on 2 May 1763 in MA. She married Caleb Park on 27 Feb 1784 in Sutton, Worcester, MA.
They had the following children:
F i Nelly Park was born on 23 Dec 1791. She died on 1 May 1879. M ii Isaac Park was born in 1798. He died on 23 Apr 1855.
Oscar F Trask [Parents] was born on 23 Jul 1836 in Mexico, ME. He died on 17 Mar 1914 in Dixfield, Maine. He married Jane Elizabeth Edmunds on 5 Dec 1868 in Mexico, ME. Oscar resided in 1850 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. He resided in 1870 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. He resided in 1880 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine, United States. He resided in 1900 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. He resided in 1910 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine.
Aug 4 1919 Oscar's buildings burned on Leavitt St in Mexico (Just across the line from Dixfield).
Jane Elizabeth Edmunds [Parents] was born on 16 Jul 1840 in Mexico, ME. She died on 23 Oct 1916 in Dixfield, Maine. She married Oscar F Trask on 5 Dec 1868 in Mexico, ME. Jane was born in 1831 in Maine. She was born in 1840 in Maine. She was born in 1840 in Maine. She resided in 1870 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1880 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine, United States. She resided in 1900 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1910 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine.
They had the following children:
M i Henry Burton Trask was born on 30 May 1870 in Mexico, ME. He died on 13 Sep 1881. Henry resided in 1880 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine, United States. F ii Harriett Edna Trask was born on 17 Jul 1871. She died on 15 Aug 1938. M iii Wade Chase Trask was born on 26 Jan 1873. M iv Edmund Post Trask was born on 21 Jan 1875 in Mexico, ME. He died in 1897. Edmund resided in 1880 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine, United States. F v Betsey Mae Trask was born on 31 Oct 1876. She died on 9 Jan 1962. M vi Albert Stanley Trask was born on 28 Mar 1880. He died on 18 Dec 1921.
Peter Trask [Parents] was born on 13 Nov 1803 in Dixfield, ME. He died on 11 Sep 1868 in Mexico, Oxford, ME. He was buried in Eustis Cemetery on the Hall Hill Road in Dixfield. He married Betsey R Pitts on 1 Feb 1826 in Winthrop, Kennebec, ME. Peter resided in 1850 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. He resided on 1 Jun 1840 in Oxford, Maine, USA. He resided in 1860 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine.
Other marriages:Rolfe, Betsey Carlton
Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore in Androscoggin, formerly in Oxford County, Maine
To the Legislature of Maine: 1856 Peter Trask , of Mexico.Publication of Marriage between Betsey Pitts of Winthrop and Peter Trask of Dixfield, dated 25 DEC 1825
1840 census says that Peter had one male child under 5; I male child between 8-10; 2 male children between 10-15; 1 male adult between 30 and 40; 1 female between 30 and 40.
Peter is listed as age 46 in 1850 census with value of real estate as $3,000. He is also listed as farmer
Listed as age 57 in 1860 census His real estate in 1860 was valued at $3,000 and his personal estate valued at $870.
Peter held a Capt’s commission in State Militia and was one of the selectmen of Mexico for over twenty years.1840 Census: Peter Trask,
1 child under 5,
1 child 5-10;
2 children 10-15;
1 male between 30-40;
1 female 30-40 (DOC#30)1870 Census Betsy Trask, age 57, female, white, real estate $1,500, personal $750
Louisa, age 23, female, white, at home
John R., age 16, male, white, farm laborer
Listed in 1860 census as age 46
Listed in 1850 census as age 37Intention of marriage filed with the Town clerk of Mexico on 14 MAY 1844, 14 days prior to the date of marriage.
Peter was born 13 NOV 1803. He lived in Dixfield and Mexico. Peter was a farmer and held a Captain’s commission in the State militia. He was one of the selectmen of Mexico, Maine for over 20 years. His first wife, Betsey Pitts died 16 MAY 1843 at the age of 38 years 9 mos. Betsey Rolfe, his second wife, was born 22 AUG 1813 and married Peter on 28 MAY 1844.
1840 Census: Peter Trask, 1 child under 5, one child 5-10; 2 children 10-15; 1 male between 30-40; 1 female 30-40 (DOC#30)
They had two childrenHISTORIC EVENTS
18261826 M.Taveau in France invents mercury amalgam fillings
1827Hallum, the first historian to write a history using original documents.
1829Louis Braille invents a system of finger-reading.
1830Lawn mower invented by Edwin Budding and John Farrabee, UK. Soft drinks introduced into America.
1830 Britain imports 18,956 chests of opium to China. Opium becomes the largest commodity in world trade.
1831Darwin sails on HMS Beagle to survey coral formations.
1832Electric telegraph invented.
1834Slavery abolished in British possessions.
1836Irish potato famine.
1837Dickens Pickwick Papers are published.
1838Trail of Tears; in the United States, thousands of eastern Native Americans are forced to move west, many dying on the way
1839 First time a disease is traced to a parasitic organism. (Schoenlein, fungal infection of scalp).
1839Opium War between Britain and China. Bicycle invented. The vulcanization process that creates rubber is discovered by Charles Goodyear, US
1842End of Opium War and Britain takes Hong Kong.
1846Anesthetic used for the first time in England. US war against Mexico; California and New Mexico ceded to United States
1846 Nucleus of physicians in New York form the American Medical Association.
1848California gold rush.
1850Jeans are invented in California.
1851Photography becomes popularized. Gold discovered in Austrialia. Singer produces first sewing machine.
1852Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement. Passenger elevators now viable, after Elisha G. Otis invents a safety device for carrying passengers.
1853Smallpox vaccination compulsory in England.
1853 Dr. Isaac Brown, a prominent British surgeon and president of the Medical Society of London,creates a surgical procedure to remove the clitoris from women on the grounds that “masturbation caused epilepsy and convulsive diseases.”
1853 Smallpox epidemic in England
1853 Chloroform first used as anesthetic in England.
1853 First use of hypodermic needle for subcutaneous injection.
1855 New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal sports an editorial which declares that “masturbation is the destroying element of civilized society.”
1855London sewers are modernized after continual cholera outbreaks. Florence Nightinggale introduces hygiene into military hospitals in Crimea. Synthetic plastic invented.
1856Anti-slavery party (Republican Party) is formed.
1857Transatlantic cable starts to be laid.
1859Darwin publishes Origin of Species. First oil well drilled in Pennsylvania. John Brown captures Harper’s Ferry, VA. Later hanged. John Brown attempt to start slave revolt alarms whites in southern United States
1860 Introduction of antibiotics and immunization into the US.
1860Modern cigarette is developed by William and Henry Charlesworth and TH Dumbar, UK. Pasteurization technique is explored throughout this decade by Louis Pasteur, who initially begins work to save France’s wine and beer supply from spoilage.
1861American Civil War begins. Russian serfs are emancipated.
1862Lincoln issues first legal paper money. Gatling machine gun is patented. Speed of light is measured.
1864Red Cross established.
1865End of the American Civil War – slavery abolished. Britain builds first concrete roads. Rockefeller forms Standard Oil. U.S. President Lincoln assassinated. 13th Amendment to the Constitution outlaws slavery.
1866Atlantic cable first used. Northern US Republicans force through radical reconstruction of southern states
1867US buys Alaska from Russia. Typewriter invented. Nobel produces dynamite.
1867 Joseph Lister introduces sanitation into surgery,over the objections of leading English surgeons.
1868Impressionist art movement begins. First traffic signal is built by JP Knight, UK
Betsey R Pitts was born on 12 Aug 1804 in Clinton, Kennebec, ME,. She died on 16 May 1843 in Mexico, Oxford, ME. She was buried in Eustis Cemetery on the Hall Hill Road in Dixfield. She married Peter Trask on 1 Feb 1826 in Winthrop, Kennebec, ME.
Headstone: Mrs. Betsey – Wife of Capt. Peter Trask died May 16, 1843 aged 35 years 9 mo
They had the following children:
F i Elizabeth Trask was born in 1826 in Kennebec, ME. M ii Amos Trask was born on 14 Feb 1827. He died on 1 Dec 1899. M iii Albert Stowell Trask was born on 15 Jan 1829. He died on 13 Apr 1904. M iv Thadeus Henry Trask was born on 31 Mar 1833. M v Oscar F Trask was born on 23 Jul 1836. He died on 17 Mar 1914. M vi Hiram Pitts Trask was born on 5 Mar 1841 in Mexico, ME. He died on 8 Jun 1843 in Mexico, Maine.
Headstone: “Hiram P., son of Capt. Peter and Betsy Trask died June 8, 1843
Peter Trask [Parents] was born on 13 Nov 1803 in Dixfield, ME. He died on 11 Sep 1868 in Mexico, Oxford, ME. He was buried in Eustis Cemetery on the Hall Hill Road in Dixfield. He married Betsey Carlton Rolfe on 25 May 1844 in Rumford, ME. Peter resided in 1850 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. He resided on 1 Jun 1840 in Oxford, Maine, USA. He resided in 1860 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine.
Other marriages:Pitts, Betsey R
Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore in Androscoggin, formerly in Oxford County, Maine
To the Legislature of Maine: 1856 Peter Trask , of Mexico.Publication of Marriage between Betsey Pitts of Winthrop and Peter Trask of Dixfield, dated 25 DEC 1825
1840 census says that Peter had one male child under 5; I male child between 8-10; 2 male children between 10-15; 1 male adult between 30 and 40; 1 female between 30 and 40.
Peter is listed as age 46 in 1850 census with value of real estate as $3,000. He is also listed as farmer
Listed as age 57 in 1860 census His real estate in 1860 was valued at $3,000 and his personal estate valued at $870.
Peter held a Capt’s commission in State Militia and was one of the selectmen of Mexico for over twenty years.1840 Census: Peter Trask,
1 child under 5,
1 child 5-10;
2 children 10-15;
1 male between 30-40;
1 female 30-40 (DOC#30)1870 Census Betsy Trask, age 57, female, white, real estate $1,500, personal $750
Louisa, age 23, female, white, at home
John R., age 16, male, white, farm laborer
Listed in 1860 census as age 46
Listed in 1850 census as age 37Intention of marriage filed with the Town clerk of Mexico on 14 MAY 1844, 14 days prior to the date of marriage.
Peter was born 13 NOV 1803. He lived in Dixfield and Mexico. Peter was a farmer and held a Captain’s commission in the State militia. He was one of the selectmen of Mexico, Maine for over 20 years. His first wife, Betsey Pitts died 16 MAY 1843 at the age of 38 years 9 mos. Betsey Rolfe, his second wife, was born 22 AUG 1813 and married Peter on 28 MAY 1844.
1840 Census: Peter Trask, 1 child under 5, one child 5-10; 2 children 10-15; 1 male between 30-40; 1 female 30-40 (DOC#30)
They had two childrenHISTORIC EVENTS
18261826 M.Taveau in France invents mercury amalgam fillings
1827Hallum, the first historian to write a history using original documents.
1829Louis Braille invents a system of finger-reading.
1830Lawn mower invented by Edwin Budding and John Farrabee, UK. Soft drinks introduced into America.
1830 Britain imports 18,956 chests of opium to China. Opium becomes the largest commodity in world trade.
1831Darwin sails on HMS Beagle to survey coral formations.
1832Electric telegraph invented.
1834Slavery abolished in British possessions.
1836Irish potato famine.
1837Dickens Pickwick Papers are published.
1838Trail of Tears; in the United States, thousands of eastern Native Americans are forced to move west, many dying on the way
1839 First time a disease is traced to a parasitic organism. (Schoenlein, fungal infection of scalp).
1839Opium War between Britain and China. Bicycle invented. The vulcanization process that creates rubber is discovered by Charles Goodyear, US
1842End of Opium War and Britain takes Hong Kong.
1846Anesthetic used for the first time in England. US war against Mexico; California and New Mexico ceded to United States
1846 Nucleus of physicians in New York form the American Medical Association.
1848California gold rush.
1850Jeans are invented in California.
1851Photography becomes popularized. Gold discovered in Austrialia. Singer produces first sewing machine.
1852Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement. Passenger elevators now viable, after Elisha G. Otis invents a safety device for carrying passengers.
1853Smallpox vaccination compulsory in England.
1853 Dr. Isaac Brown, a prominent British surgeon and president of the Medical Society of London,creates a surgical procedure to remove the clitoris from women on the grounds that “masturbation caused epilepsy and convulsive diseases.”
1853 Smallpox epidemic in England
1853 Chloroform first used as anesthetic in England.
1853 First use of hypodermic needle for subcutaneous injection.
1855 New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal sports an editorial which declares that “masturbation is the destroying element of civilized society.”
1855London sewers are modernized after continual cholera outbreaks. Florence Nightinggale introduces hygiene into military hospitals in Crimea. Synthetic plastic invented.
1856Anti-slavery party (Republican Party) is formed.
1857Transatlantic cable starts to be laid.
1859Darwin publishes Origin of Species. First oil well drilled in Pennsylvania. John Brown captures Harper’s Ferry, VA. Later hanged. John Brown attempt to start slave revolt alarms whites in southern United States
1860 Introduction of antibiotics and immunization into the US.
1860Modern cigarette is developed by William and Henry Charlesworth and TH Dumbar, UK. Pasteurization technique is explored throughout this decade by Louis Pasteur, who initially begins work to save France’s wine and beer supply from spoilage.
1861American Civil War begins. Russian serfs are emancipated.
1862Lincoln issues first legal paper money. Gatling machine gun is patented. Speed of light is measured.
1864Red Cross established.
1865End of the American Civil War – slavery abolished. Britain builds first concrete roads. Rockefeller forms Standard Oil. U.S. President Lincoln assassinated. 13th Amendment to the Constitution outlaws slavery.
1866Atlantic cable first used. Northern US Republicans force through radical reconstruction of southern states
1867US buys Alaska from Russia. Typewriter invented. Nobel produces dynamite.
1867 Joseph Lister introduces sanitation into surgery,over the objections of leading English surgeons.
1868Impressionist art movement begins. First traffic signal is built by JP Knight, UK
Betsey Carlton Rolfe was born on 22 Aug 1813 in Rumford, ME. She died on 13 Jun 1891 in Dixfield, ME. She married Peter Trask on 25 May 1844 in Rumford, ME. Betsey resided in 1850 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1860 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1880 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine, United States.
TRASK.—Passed to the higher life, In Dixfield, June 13, Mrs. Betsey Rolfe Trask, aged 78 years. In the death of Mrs. Trask there passed away from the pleasant little village of Dixfleld, one that was well known and one that will be greatly missed. Nearly half a century ago Mrs. Trask came with her husband [Peter] into the house where she died, and that has been her home and the home of her children during all these years. Twenty-two years ago her husband died, but her son and daughter remaining with her, the years came and went, and the old home life ran on as of old, without change or break. The mother and her two children, living together in the old home while the years passed, came to be all in all to each other. Mrs. Trask was a woman of strong and vigorous mind, united to a warm and tender heart. She was strong to meet all the care of life with clear thought and a firm faith; and most nobly was her life work crowned with a broad measure of useful and loving service. Though more than the three score and ten years had touched her form, yet to her children she was the same strong loving mother, to whom they came in early childhood, with all their little care and sorrow. To all in want or any kind of trouble, her heart went out in truest sympathy and help, an influence of love to help and to heal. So all came to respect and love Aunt Betsey, as she was called, because her soul was always full of sunshine and good cheer. In her last days as death drew near, it was for her no dark and glowing form of terror; for her faith made death beautiful, believing as she did that out from death would come the higher life of freedom and joy in the home of her Heavenly Father. She was a true good woman and her life remains a blessed memory to those who knew and loved her best. In her home it was a sad bereavement to have her pass from earthly sight; may the kind sympathy of friends, and the love of a good Heavenly Father bring comfort and strength to those for whom her life was so much In the earthly home, and shall still be so much in the heavenly home.
[Circa June 15, 1891, probably the Rumford Falls Times. Transcribed on April 22, 2007 by Peter R. Stowell.]
They had the following children:
Josiah R Hall [Parents] was born on 12 Apr 1789 in Keene, Cheshire, NH. He died on 30 Jan 1869 in Mexico, Oxford, ME. He married Nelly Park on 25 Nov 1811 in Dixfield, Oxford, ME.
Nelly Park [Parents] was born on 23 Dec 1791 in Worcester, Worcester, MA. She died on 1 May 1879 in Mexico, Oxford, ME. She married Josiah R Hall on 25 Nov 1811 in Dixfield, Oxford, ME. Nelly resided in 1850 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1860 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. She resided in 1870 in Mexico, Oxford, Maine.
They had the following children: