Readfield, Maine Old Family Series ~ Packard

Readfield, Maine Old Family Series ~ Packard ~ Readfield, Maine Old Family Series ~
Packard
Readfield (Winthrop) 1790 U.S. Census included
Joshua Sr. 1-0-2-0-0
Ralph 1-0-2-0-0
Caleb 1-0-1-0-0
Joshua Jr. 1-0-0-0-0
Lebbeus 1-0-1-0-0

This photo, taken before 1909, is one the Packard houses on Kents Hill.
It is located on route Route 17, just west of Palmeter Ridge Road intersection. and referred to as Dick Wilson's house in the text below.

    Joshua, Sr. was the fourth generation in America (Abiel, Zaccheus, Samuel) His G-Grandfather, Samuel, migrated to Massachusetts in 1638. Ninety four years later, in July 1730, Joshua was born in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Mass. In January of 1755 Joshua married to Mehitable Alden, a direct Mayflower descendent of John Alden. Joshua and Mehitable moved north to Maine before 1790, and settled in Kents Hill, which was still part of Winthrop at that time. Their four sons, though all grown and three married by that time, all came with them. The Packard men were carpenters, and according to Reflections of Readfield, at least four houses on Kents Hill are thought to have been built by them including the Ed Wills, Lee Gorden, Dick Wilson and Wheelock houses.
    Mehitable (Alden) Packard was born 4-27-1732 in Titcut, Barnstable, Mass. Though we do not know her exact date of death, we can estimate between 1790-1796 between her inclusion on the 1790 census, and Joshua’s second marriage   to Miss Esther Gibson. We do not know where Joshua, Mehitable or Esther are buried, though the Kents Hill Cemetery which was established before 1808, and many members of the Packard family are buried there. Several fieldstones mark graves, in the old section of this cemetery, which is located across the road from the Torsey Memorial Methodist Church.
Children of Joshua and Mehitable Packard were:
1. Caleb b.3-5-1758 Bridgewater, Mass. m. Lydia Ford, daughter of Nathaniel Ford, Sr. and Eunice (Rogers) Ford.   d.12-30-1833 ae70 yrs. and buried in Kents Hill cemetery.
2. Joshua, Jr. b.8-27-1759 Bridgewater, Plymouth, Mass. m.between 1790-1793 Phebe Ford, daughter of Nathaniel Ford, Sr. & Eunice (Rogers) Ford. Joshua, Jr. d.4-1-1835 and Phebe d.7-1825 both are buried in Kents Hill cemetery, Readfield.
3. Ralph b.9-13-1861 Brockton, Mass. Was married when 1790 census taken, though do not know name of wife at this time. Ralph d.4-18-1809 Deeded land for the Kents Hill Cemetery to the town of Readfield in 1808 only 16 months before his own death. There is no gravestone bearing his name in the cemetery, but there are many fieldstones marking graves in the old section.
4. Lebbeus b.5-19-1754 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Mass. d.1831 No further information at this time.
5. Mehitable b.9-6-1768 Brockton, Mass. d.2-14-1839. We assume she was the second female living in the household when 1790 census was taken.

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