Early Life on
Campobello
The Families of
Edmund Mahar, Robert
Wilson, Luke Kelley and others
** Thanks to Ronald Townsend ( [email protected] ) who donated
this detailed information.
Edmund Mahar is the patriarch of most Washington County, Maine Mahar’s. Edmund appeared at a time when the area was blanketed with timber and game adding to the civility of the area with his unique intelligence and horse sense. Much of the knowledge of Edmund Is folklore and stories handed down in the family. Whatever the true narrative of Edmund, his early lot was not blessed with great wealth. He was an Irishman, of unknown religious faith, and with his cunnery so tempered by life, managed to become one of the first prominent settlers of Pembroke, Maine. The success of his life’s venture established in his many descendents surnamed Mahar and not named Mahar.
Edmund was born in 1738 in probably Ireland. Since Edmund was 92 at the time of his demise before May 5, 1830, his birthday must be between January and May. Two different versions of his exploits in life give Warrington, England and Belfast, Ireland as his place of birth. I have seen no evidence of either place but favor the Belfast birthplace.
Two early historians, namely, Martin Hersey and Mary Gallagher on Campobello Island, cover the exploits of Edmund Mahar, partially. Some knowledge has passed down through lore in the family. Martin Hersey’s account has been perpetuated by the work of Sidney and Gerald Wilder and Donald Sprague. Mary Gallagher’s account is somewhat backed up by Theodore C. Holmes. The narrative seems to come together after 1782. The conflicting period is before 1782, and for that reason, I will cover both narratives separately.
1) Narrative of Mary Gallagher
Actually this narrative not only takes in the work of Mary Gallagher and her unpublished work “A History of Campobello” but Theodore C. Holmes who’s correspondence and generosity supplied me with information on many topics. Mr. Holmes brought up in Eastport, Maine, a former teacher in Dennysville and living in Portland, wrote an excellent book “Loyalist to Canada” which covers the Pennfield Quakers and many other topics.
The manuscript “ A history of Campobello” by Mary Gallagher is a work without references as far as I can tell. Unfortunately I have never seen the complete work but Patricia McCurdy Townsend, Theodore Holmes and many others have seen the manuscript and the original is in the Welshpool Public Library on Campobello, Island. Mr. Holmes kindly sent me copies of the manuscript that deal with Edmund Mahar. I will list the pertinent points in the manuscript:
A)
“ Edmund Mahar married Mary
Jones, and in a year or so, moved over to Cobscook shortly followed by Green
and Bates, who also settled in the mainland, and the names of Molineaux and
Gregson quickly passed out of the Island records.”
(About 1773)
B)
Talking of the group led by Capt.
Robert Wilson: “The bulk of the Colony now consisted of seven New
Englanders- Wilson- Clarke- and Rikor- Thomas Naylor- William Crow and John
Barker (the last three might have come up in answer to the Boston
advertisement) and Aaron Bunker who had been established on a farm of his own
up the harbour. The three families on the Peninsula to the westward were Hunt
and Flag and Kelley though strictly speaking the only abode on Hunt’s neck was
that of Hunt himself. Flag and Kelley were at Friar’s bay.”
C)
“Although William Clarke
removed to Cobscook, during the early part of the war, Wilson still continued
his friendship with him and frequently went over to Cobscook to fish. In 1782,
he and Clarke were knocked over board by a skull oar and drowned while shooting
the rapids in Cobscook Falls. Shortly before he was drowned, while waiting for
the tide to turn, Wilson stopped in at Edmund Mahar’s house. Mary Mahar asked
him why he had attached Owen’s land in Campobello, that she “considered it a
wrong attachment” and that to her knowledge he owed the company and the company
did not owe him. She also admonished him for “hoisting the American Flag on
Flagg- Staff hill when it was presumably English property.
The Mahar’s claimed that his answer to that was that he expected the Island to be taken by the Americans and that he did it to save all he could for the company. However when they made this report Wilson was at the bottom of the Cobscook and his version of the Conversation was not recorded. “
D)
“ Mary Reilly married Ed Mahar
a descendent of the first
Edmund
Mahar and their daughter married George Tinker. “
The former dialogue is out of context remarks that Mary Gallagher made about Edmund Mahar and the situation on Campobello Island. I don’t want to judge her narrative at this point, but item “D” is incorrect. Charlotte Vance Mahar Tinker was the daughter of Jane Holland and Joseph Mahar. I will deal further with this assertion in its proper place.
Figure 2 is purportedly a document that Mary Gallagher included in her narrative:
Figure 2
It is important to note that Edmund Mahar is listed as one of the thirty- eight indentured servants. This information, purportedly, came from the diary of Capt. William Owen. Since I have not seen Mary’s original document I cannot say that the document was in the form above in her manuscript. Nonetheless, I obtained this document on the Internet and it is purported as taken from the Gallagher document.
Theodore Holmes, in a letter, suggested I should read Capt. William Owen’s Journal. The Journal was published in 1942 by the New York Public Library and entitled “ Narrative of American Voyages and Travels of Capt. William Owen, R.N. and Settlement of the Island of Campobello in The Bay of Fundy, 1766-1771”. Victor Hugo Paltsits edited the Book with support from one Dr. William F. Ganong who published articles on the settling of Campobello in 1897 and 1899 and appeared in the Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society, Vol. 1 & 2(St. John’s, NB). After some effort I obtained the Paltsits version of the journal. I assume the Ganong version is similar since he worked with Paltsits on the latter’s narrative of Campobello Island. Mr. Holmes suggestion was fruitful. Figure 2 is not a document from the Owen journal and is incorrect. This document in fig. 2, is totally wrong being a juxtaposition of an indentured servant list, in Capt. Owen’s journal, and the notarized section of a court document, a deposition, swearing in open court, of the improvements Capt. William Owen had made on his land grant. Figure 3 shows the list as Capt. William Owen presented it in his journal:
Narrative of American Voyages and Travels of Captain William Owen, R.N.
and Settlement of the Island of Campobello in the Bay of Fundy
1766-1771
Edited by Victor
Hugo Paltsits
1942
Page 121
June 1, 1770
List of My
Indentured Servants at Campo Bello
No. Names Quality or
Trades Wages
1 Wm. Isherwood Esq. Clerk and Assistant ¦ 60 increased to
¦ 100 p
ann.
2 John
Montgomery My
Servant
3 Sarah
Haslam Housekeeper
4 Jane Johnson House-Maid 1ś
6p per week
5 Rich Atwood Armourer & Blacksmith 7” 0------d°
6 Will Rylands Fisherman
& Net-Weave r 6” 0------ d°
7 Evan Williams d° 6” 0------ d°
8 William Drinkwater Husbandman and
Laborer 6” 0------ d°
9 John Drinkwater d°---- d° 6” 0------ d°
10 Benjamin Mather Butcher 6” 0------ d°
11 Cha. Whitnell Brickmolder, Burner & Lab, also Shoemaker 6” 0------ d°
12 Lewis Jones Mariner & Fisherman 6” 0------ d°
13 John Holliday Shipwright,
Caulker & Seaman 3¦ p Mon.
14 Joseph Caldwell Taylor 6s p week
15 John Lawless Barber & Gardiner 6” 0------ d°
16 Catherine
Lawless
|
|
|
|
17 Mary Lawless Cooks,
Housewives
18 Elizabeth Whittal ,
Washerwomen 2s
& 1p 6ea
19 Eleanor Newell & Spruce
Beer Brewers
20 Mary Jones p
week
21 James Gregson Labourer 6s
22 John Clark Husbandman & Labourer 6” 0------ d°
23 Rich Clayton d°---- d° 4” 0------ d°
24 John Unsworth Carp., Joiner &
Boat-Builder 8” 0------ d°
25 John Clotton d°---- d°---- d°---- 8” 0------ d°
26 John Lockitt Ploughman
& Labourer 6”
0------ d°
27 W. Mollineaux Pot-Ash
Burner 6”
0------ d°
28 Will Douglas Miller
& Husbandman 6”
0------ d°
29 Thomas Green Cooper
& Labourer 6”
0------ d°
30 Thomas Gregory Carp., Joiner &
Wheelwright 8” 0------ d°
31 John Hurst Ploughman & Gardiner 6” 0------ d°
32 James Bate
Gardiner, Claymaster
& Delver 6” 0------ d°
33 Joseph Henshaw Bricklayer, Maker & Burner 9” 0------ d°
34 John Robotham Potter & Labourer 6” 0------ d°
35 Adam Kingsley Mason, Slaighter & Plaisterer 25¦ p Ann.
36 Nicholas Rollin Fisherman
& Labourer 13s 6p
per Month
37 Edmund Mahar Labourer ¦1 11d 6------ d°
38 John Pendergrass Fisherman ¦1 “0”0------ d°
Footnote at bottom of page either written by Victor Hugo Paltsits or Dr. William F. Ganong
Of the thirty
family names in the list many have disappeared from Campobello and the
neighboring parts of New Brunswick and Maine. It is likely that some of the
settlers are those lost with the Owen the next year en route back to England as
stated later (no. 613) in the narrative. The names in the list are obviously
not Welch, but English, and are said on good authority to be typical
Warwickshire, and in the naming of the settlement New Warrington would indicate
that they came mostly from that place. However, Mollineaux, Green, Bate (later
Bates), Maher and a Gregson or Grayson , are believed to have remained at
Campobello, leaving descendants in the region; and very likely the same may be
true of a few others in the list bearing names now so common in the vicinity as
to make them indistinguishable by that test. John Montgomery, by the way, as
shown in the narrative (under Dec. 6, 1761) was an East Indian. The most
interesting name on the list, however, is Lawless, for Mary married Andrew
Lloyd and became the grandmother of William Lloyd Garrison, the great
abolitionist. In the two-volume biography of Garrison (William Lloyd Garrison,
1885), we find in v.I, p. 14, as follows: “ He (Andrew Lloyd) came out to the
province of Nova Scotia in 1771, as a Prentice bound to
the Captain (Plato Dana) of the ship which also brought over John Lawless, an
Englishman, who had been a Sergeant under Wolfe at Quebec; his wife Catherine ,
said to have been a native of Limerick, Ireland, and their only daughter, Mary,
who was certainly born there….He (Lloyd) married Mary Lawless on March 30, 1771
the day after they had landed on the Island of Campobello. Andrew Lloyd and
Mary Lawless had a daughter, Fanny, who married Abijah Garrison a descendant of
one of the New England Settlers of Maugerville on the St. John River, and their
son was William Lloyd Garrison.
Very likely the
date of the marriage of Andrew Lloyd and Mary Lawless is here correctly given,
and was recorded on a missing leaf of Owen’s manuscript later mentioned (at the
end of Nov. 29, 1770) ; but the statement they were married , the day after
they landed, carrying an incorrect date for the arrival of the Owen, is no
doubt one of the little vagaries of tradition.
Figure 3- Indentured Servants list in
the Log of Capt. William Owen with comments by editors
The list is incorrect in Figure 2 and the correct list is given in Figure 3. What this list was is a chart, which listed his indentured servants, 38 in number, and the wages he paid each one and the frequency of payment. The important point is that Edmund Mahar was indentured to Capt. William Owen.
Figure 4 is the legal deposition given by Capt. William Owen on June 25, 1771:
From:
Narrative of
American Voyages and Travels of Captain William Owen R.N. and the Settlement of
the Island of Campobello in the Bay of Fundy
1766-1771
Pages: 153-156
County of Sunbury) At
a Justices Meeting or Special Sessions of the Peace
) SS. Holden
at Warrington in the Island of Campobello and
Nova Scotia ) County aforesaid on
the Fourth Day of June 1771, and
In the Eleventh Year in the reign of our sovereign Lord George the
third, of Great
Britain, France and Ireland King, defender of the faith, and so forth,
Before William Owen, Plato Denny and William Isherwood Esq. Justice of the
Peace of our Sovereign
Lord aforesaid, assigned to keep the peace in the said County, and also
to hear and determine divers trespasses, felonies and other misdemeanors in the
said County
Committed, and the first named of the Quorum, and so forth.
We the under
written jurors of our said Sovereign Lord the King, having viewed and inspected
into the Work and Improvements made on the said Island of Campobello under the
directions of William Owen Esq., do testify the same upon Oath to the best of our judgments as follows, viz.
1)
A point of Wood-land lying between Port Owen
commonly called Harbour De L’outre and Cross-Eddy Cove, fronting the main
Street of Warrington, containing about 80 acres, Wood felled and burnt, the
whole completely fenced with a Virginia Log-Fence and a major part of it sowed
with Wheat, Oats, Barley, Rye, Peas, Clover, Hemp, Flax and Lancashire
Potatoes; of the latter sufficient quantity to yield a crop of a 1000
bushels----
2)
A field in the occupation of William Clark, fenced
and set with Potatoes, Peas and Turnips containing about 8 Acres.----
3)
A tract of land, subdivided into ten fence inclosures,
most of it now sowed with sundry sorts of grain and potatoes, extending from
said Clark’s Eastward to Pollack Cove, in
the occupation of Robert Wilson and Wm. Ricker, containing about 50 acres.-----
4)
Two Kitchen Gardens at Warrington aforesaid, in a
forward state of cultivation and improvement, completely fenced and set with a
great variety of European and American
Plants, Shrubs and Roots, containing one Acre.---
5)
Eastward of the largest Garden, a tract intended for
an Orchard with 200 Apple Trees and some Plumb Trees already planted,
completely Virginia- Fenced containing 8 Acres.-----
6)
Adjoining to the two Last Numbers, a Salt Marsh
effectually damned from the Highest Tides, Trenched and Drained; the dead Wood
cleared and burnt off it, and completely fenced all around containing about 8
Acres.------
7)
Eastward of said Marsh, a Park partly stocked with
Deer, fence with a Virginia Fence 10 & 11 logs high; containing about 25
Acres.----
8)
A Tract of Woodland lying to the Southward and
Eastward of the said Marsh; the Wood felled, a great part of it totally
cleared, hough’d and intended for a Crop of Winter Turnips; containing about 7
or 8 Acres.---
9)
A Tract of Woodland extending from the last lot
Southward to Brick-Cove and round the Brick-yard;
entirely cleared containing about 8 Acres.-----
10)
A Tract in the Rear of the Houses at Warrington,
Tree felled, Brush burnt, and the wood reserved for Feul [sic] containing 10
Acres.----
11)
A Fresh Marsh lying to the North Eastward of
Warrington Flagstaff, about a mile, cleared and fenced for Hay; containing
about 15 Acres.------
12)
A Fresh Marsh lying to the S°Wd, and about ¼
of a mile from the head of Port Owen commonly called Harbour De L’outre; the
Beaver Dams cut down, drained and wood cleared off it for Hay; containing about
20 Acres.---
13)
A Fresh Marsh lying about S b W from d° and about a mile
from the head of Port- Owen, Beaver Dams cut, Wood cleared and otherwise
improved for Hay; ----containing about 50 Acres.------
14)
A Salt Marsh lying about a mile Eastward of
Warrington aforesaid, cleared, Fenced and improved for Hay; containing about 40
Acres.------
15)
A Salt Marsh lying in the South Part of the Island,
in a place called Herring- Cove; improved and Hay cut on it; containing 12
Acres.----
16)
A Piece of Salt Marsh lying on Friar’s Bay in said
Island, improved and Hay cut; containing 2 Acres.------
17)
A Salt Marsh lying in the West Part of the Island,
cleared, improved and Hay cut on it; containing about 8 Acres.
18)
Fifteen Houses built of various Dimensions, but
three of the less than 20 Feet by 16, others going to be built, with a Wind
Grist-Mill, and a Chapel of 30 Feet by 24, to be called George Chapel, in honor
of his Majesty and in commemoration of the Proprietor’s arrival on the Island
last Year on his Majesty’s Birth-day: ----beside Out-houses, Potash House,
Smithy, Fish Stages & C.
19)
Thirty-Six people from England—Indentured Servants;
four couple of them married and on the Island; others, their wives and families
in England, but intend sending for them and settling after the expiration of
their term of Servitude.
20)
Three families settled on the Peninsula Westward of
the Harbour and have cleared land about 4 Acres.
21)
Seven New-England families settled
22)
Twenty-Nine Head of Neat Cattle on the Island
23)
Numbers of Souls on the Island. Males 51. Females
22. In all 73
24)
Six Thousand Brick burnt last Summer
25)
Clay Cast for making, and 100 Cord of Wood Cut &
Hauled for burning, 100 Thousand Brick this
Summer.----
26)
Sent home last summer by the Snow Owen, 110 Tons of
Timber, and 700 Tons engaged for this summer.
27)
A Quantity of Pot-Ash made for the English
Market.---
28)
A Quantity of Shingles and Cord-Wood exported to
Boston.----
Sworn in Court before us:
John
Preble- Foreman
Robert
Wilson
Will: Owen (LS) Samuel
Black
Samuel
Giles
Arch
Brown
Plato Denny (LS) Thomas
Naylor
William
Clark
John
Lawless
William
Molyneux
Wm. Isherwood (LS) Joh n Barker
Adam
(X) Kingsley
Mark
Nova Scotia)
) Registered the 25th Day
of June 1771
Halifax, SS)
Arthur
Gould Reg.
A true copy, the original lodged in the Secretary’s Office at Halifax
this 26th June 1771
Rich Bulkeley
(Copy of the Copy)
Figure 4: Legal Deposition of Capt. William Owen siting his improvements to the Campobello Colony
One other point relevant to this account is the origins of Capt.
Robert Wilson. Theodore C. Holmes in his book “Loyalist to Canada” and on Page
130 gives his research on Capt. Robert Wilson :
“ WILSON, ROBERT, He was one of the first settlers at Campobello Island, New Brunswick. He was born in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland and he may have emigrated to America and settled in Boston, Massachusetts, around 1751. In 1759, during the French and Indian War, he served as an officer under Colonel Bragley, in a corp of provincial troops at the Battle of Quebec. After the war, he acquired land on the Island of Campobello, New Brunswick. Accounts vary as to how he obtained the property on the Island. One story reports, that in 1766, he and a friend, William Clark,
bought about two acres of land,
buildings, and fish flakes (wood racks for air-drying fish) from a John Brown
of Boston, who had been living on the island. In testimony at the boundary
commission hearings, 1796-98, fisherman and trader James Nickels testified that
he made voyages to the area with his father around 1764-65, and their were no
settlements in the area other than Prebble [sic]…at Pleasant Point, Chaffee on
Indian Island and Wilson on Campobello.
After
their land purchase, Wilson and Clark settled on adjacent beaches on Campobello
Island, which became known as Wilson’s Beach and Clark’s Beach. These were
probably the earliest settlements on the Island. Robert Wilson may have claimed
additional land on Campobello, because of his war service, and the King’s
proclamation that an Officer was entitled to 500 acres of land on the Island.
It appears that, if there was such a grant, it was not recorded. He may have
claimed the property by occupation.
William Clark had served with Robert Wilson in the French and Indian War, and married Sussanna Woodard or Woodward, Robert Wilson’s wife’s younger sister. Wilson and Clark became lifelong friends, companions, and business associates. Robert Wilson entered the fish and lumber business on Campobello.
On Sept. 30, 1767, Captain William
Owen an officer in the Royal Navy, and his three nephews were granted the
entire Island of Campobello. Three years later, in 1770, Owen met with friends
at a coffee-house , in Warrington, near Liverpool, England to “consider about a
plan of settling, cultivating and improving the outer or great Island of
Passamaquoddy…” In the same year Captain Owen sailed from Liverpool to
Campobello in a ship named the Owen, with Plato Deny as master. On March 16,
1770, prior to his embarkation, the following advertisement appeared in the
Liverpool General Advertiser:
“ For Halifax, and the
Island of Passamaquoddy, in Nova Scotia. The Snow Owen, Plato Denny, Master.
Burthen 180 tons, will sail about the 27 inst. March. For freight or passage
apply to said Master on board the vessel in the South Dock; to Mr. Roger
Rogerson, in Warrington; and to Mr. Rowland Hunter, Liverpool, who has to lett
a commodious house, with an orchard and Garden, & C., adjoining situate in
Kirkdale.”
A March 30, 1770 entry in Capt. Owens
journal reads:
“ The 30th the
indentured servants and artificers were marched from Warrington and most of
them embarked [sic] on board the Owen. The gentlemen of the concern and many
very respectable friends of the town and country dined with me at the Golden
Talbot.”
With
Captain Owen on the Sailing Vessel were 38 indentured servants.
The
Owen arrived at Campobello on June 4, 1770. and anchored in the northeast cove
of Havre de L’outre (now known as Harbour de lute). In his journal Captain Owen
wrote:
“…I soon after
went on shore and found three New England families settled here without legal
authority, who cheerfully acquiesced in coming under my jurisdiction.”
The families were probably those of
Robert Wilson, Hibbard Hunt and William Clark. Other sources state that one of
the three families may have been that of Luke Kelley (a friend of Wilson’s), a
William Ricker, or a Flagg family. In June of 1770, Susanna, wife of William
Clark, gave birth to the first child born on the Island. On Sunday July 1,
1770, Captain Owen wrote: “ Performed divine service morning and evening &
baptized a son of William & Susanna Clark, by the name of William Owen
Denny, myself and Catherine Lawless being sponsor.”
In
1771, one of the indentured servants, Mary Lawless, daughter of John Lawless,
married Andrew Lloyd. Years later, their daughter, Fanny, married Abijah
Garrison, a descendent of Maugerville, New Brunswick settlers. Fanny and Abijah
Garrison had a son William Lloyd Garrison, who later became the famous
Massachusetts journalist and abolitionist of the 1830’s. Edmund Mahar, another
of the indentured servants, from Warrington, England, moved to township #
2 (Pembroke & Dennysville), where
he lived for many years and raised a large family.
A
report of a meeting held on Campobello in June 1771, indicated there were 36
indentured servants and seven New England families living on the Island at that
time. In the same year, some of the colonists returned to England. Others
stayed, and their descendents still live in the area.
Early in the 1770s, legal disputes
arose between Robert Wilson and the Owen family, in part because it was said
that Wilson had no recorded title to his land. In a court case around 1778,
Robert Wilson was awarded several hundred acres of land and several buildings.
In 1772, William Clark, with his family, moved to a farm at the present site of
Pembroke, Maine. The children of William Clark and Susanna (Woodard) Clark
were: William Owen Denny b. June 1770; Elizabeth b. 1772;John b. 1776; and
Hannah b. 1780. Later William Clark, Robert Wilson, and Hataville or Hateville
Leighton began the construction of a sawmill at what is now known as Wilson’ s
stream, between Pembroke and Dennysville, Maine. In 1782, before the building
had been completed, Robert Wilson and William Clark were drowned while bringing
a scow loaded with hay through Cobscook Falls, near Edmunds, Maine. Robert
Wilson’s heirs were his young sons Robert and James. The fathers land on
Campobello was sold at auction in Halifax, Nova Scotia to Charles Morris a
surveyor and land speculator. Wilson’s widow Mary received 500 pounds.
Other
Wilson’s emigrated to Charlotte County, New Brunswick after the revolutionary
war. Thomas Wilson was a 1784 grantee at St. Andrews and St. Stephens, New
Brunswick. He was a commander of the transport Neptune, and remained in the
government service. A David and Ezekiel Wilson may have settled at Beaver
Harbour, New Brunswick. A Robert Wilson, merchant from New York, was a passenger
on the Elizabeth, which arrived at St. John in 1783. On Jan. 19, 1776, of
Queen’s County, New York was one of several hundred inhabitants of the county
who signed a pledge:
“…That we will, hereafter, in all cases, implicitly obey all orders and
instructions enjoined on us by our Provincial and Continental Congresses, that
we will act in conjunction with the inhabitants of this and the neighboring
Provinces, in the defense of American Liberty, that we will never take up arms
against the Americans…”
A
William Wilson was a resident at Pennfield Parish, New Brunswick in 1820, and a
William Wilson was named in the 1790 Census for Washington County, Maine, as a
resident of Township # 2 (Dennysville & Pembroke).”
Like with Mr. Hayes, who I dealt with earlier,
I wanted to state what Theodore Holmes said exactly and avoid paraphrasing what
he said. Most of the account is supported by Capt. William Owen’s journal where
much of the information came from. The above constitutes hard evidence on Capt.
Robert Wilson, which is important.
Capt. William Owen
The diary of Capt. William Owen is interesting. At an earlier time, before Campobello, Capt. Owen visited New York, Rhode Island, Boston, etc. and he tells of his adventures in these places. Capt. Owen lost an arm in Battle action and an eye in a political fight. Capt. Owen liked the ladies and wrote of them in his journal. He didn’t seem overly religious although his brother was a minister in Warrington, England and he conducted services, nuptials, baptisms etc. at New Warrington out of necessity. Capt. Owen only mentioned Edmund Mahar once and that was in the list of 38 indentured servants and their wages.
Summation of the Mary Gallagher
Account:
This account implies that Edmund Mahar came over with Capt. William Owen, on the Ship Owen, as an indentured servant. Victor Hugo Paltsits, or Dr. Ganong, implied that all the indentured Servants were from Warrington, England. Warrington was the starting point of the expedition. The Owen sailed from Liverpool, England to Campobello Island getting there around June of 1770. Mary Gallagher uses Capt. Owen’s log for her account but adds some points of her own. Mary Gallagher indicates that Edmund Mahar married Mary Jones, another indentured servant, and the date of the marriage is implied to be around 1770-1771. What is actually said is Capt. Owen married four couples of the indentured servants and it must be assumed that Mary Jones and Edmund Mahar were one of those couples. People living on Campobello Island are actually indicated by Victor Hugo Paltsits. Capt. Owen simply said people present on the Island when he came. Ms. Gallagher uses this material. Ms. Gallagher gives a version of the drowning of William Clark and Robert Wilson at Cobscook Falls in 1782. Her account says that Wilson and Clark stopped at the Mahar’s, where Mrs. Mary Mahar, chastised Wilson and Clark for taking down the British flag over at Owen’s on Campobello Island in 1782 and putting up the American Flag etc. Ms. Gallagher says Clark and Wilson were fishing, whereas, Theodore Holmes, says they were taking a load of Hay. Ms. Gallagher says that a descendent of Edmund Mahar that married George Tinker lived on the Island and her parents were Mary Reilly and Ed Mahar who I assume lived on the Island.
2) Narrative of Sydney Wilder and
Others of Consistency with his Narrative
The Wilder narrative, and others, is contained in a series of unpublished notebooks called “Wilder Genealogies”. The Wilders, evidently, base much of their work on an earlier historian, Martin Hersey. These notebooks are in the Peavey Library at Eastport, Maine and I suspect they contain the documentation I will give you supplemented by family lore just like the Gallagher account. I say suspect since my knowledge is second hand of Wilder Genealogies and have never been able to see them. I did read Sidney Wilder’s “History of Pembroke” which was published in the newspapers in 1891 and assume, possibly wrongly, the data is consistent with Wilder Genealogies. I operate on that latter assumption. Donald Sprague has written on Edmund Mahar and he had access to the Wilder narrative and Martin Hersey. Donald had access to family lore as well. For the most part, I will stick to family lore and what Sidney and Gerald Wilder said in their series of articles and speeches on the subject.
Sydney Wilder is probably a direct, or close, descendent of Theophilus Wilder, a good friend of Edmund Mahar’s, who came to the area with the Hingham Militia after the revolution. These descendents of Hingham, Mass. thought well of Edmund. Sydney says as much with his generous compliments about Edmund in his “ History of Pembroke”.
I will give an overview of the Wilder side by using a portion of a write- up, by Donald Sprague. This write-up entitled “Edmund Mahar, A Pioneer of Eastern Maine and Some of His descendants in America”. Mr. Sprague wrote this article around 1969 and donated his papers to the Pembroke Historical Society. Gail Menzel, secretary of said society, sent me the portion I document below on Jan. 18, 2001. Ms. Menzel informed me that this excerpt was taken from a mimeographed copy in her possession, which she extracted.
” EDMUND MAHAR
A
pioneer of Eastern Maine, Edmund Mahar (or Meagher) came from the vicinity of
Belfast, Northern Ireland to the eastern shores of North America. He was an
Irish “Regular” soldier in the British Army, and served with General Wolfe in
Captain Robert Wilson’s company at the siege and capture of Louisburg, Cape
Breton, Canada. In 1759, he was again with Wilson at the battle on the Plains
of Abraham and at the siege of Quebec, Canada.
After
the war, Edmund came with Captain Wilson to Kittery, Maine, then to Portsmouth,
N.H., and later to Campobello Island, N. B., Canada. In 1770, Capt. Wilson,
Hataville Laighton and William Clark began lumbering operations at Leighton’s
Point, Pembroke, Me. Edmund Mahar, Luke Kelley, and William assisted in the
cutting and preparing of pine timber for shipment.
About
1773, Edmund Mahar settled at the point west of Leighton’s homestead. This
site, close to the falls of Cobscook and opposite Falls Island, has for many
years born the name of Mahar’s Point. (Lot # 37, Map of 1810) It was here that
he and his wife, Rebecca Riley, lived and raised their nine children. Edmund
worked for Wilson, Laighton and Clark as a lumberman from 1770 to 1782. He was
a farmer and also a pilot at the falls, a most important post. The falls, now
known as “Reversing Falls,” are located just off Mahar’s Point on Leighton Neck
in Pembroke. The half- mile long falls are a notable natural phenomenon of
Washington County, Maine. Through a 300-yard wide gap passes most of the tide
flow, which alternately fill and drains both Whiting and Dennys Bay. The 25 mph
current roars for hours over jutting rocks.
Edmund was the first nonnative to
navigate the rushing, foaming waters of the falls, demonstrating the
feasibility of vessels passing through or around the falls in comparative
safety when skillfully piloted. Under his guidance, on May 17, 1786, the
Lincoln expedition from Hingham was able to navigate the treacherous waters. He
guided the settlers up the north branch of the Dennys River to what is now
Dennysville, Maine.
Edmund
Mahar first cleared the virgin forest growth from the acres at Mahar’s Point.
Amid the tangled thickets of roses and thorn bush on its outmost verge, he is
buried in the family plot. “
(There was more to this excerpt but it deals with his children)
The excerpt from Donald Sprague’s paper gives a good overview of the Wilder story. I will present excerpts from the paper “ A History of Pembroke” dealing with Edmund Mahar and his associates. It should be apparent that Mr. Sprague and Mr. Wilder were mainly in agreement.
1) Referring to Squatters on Campobello:
“ About this time, about 1768, there was
a small settlement on the Island at or near what is now “Wilson’s Beach”.
Tradition that is in many instances confirmed by history avers that this small
community consisted of several families, whose most prominent member was Capt.
Robert Wilson, a soldier, who bravely led a company in the last campaign
against Quebec, in 1759, under General Wolfe. There were three others in this
little community whose names figure prominently in the early history of our
town (Pembroke); they were William Clark, a companion to Capt. Wilson (he had
been a member of his command), Edmund Mahar, and Luke Kelley. The two last
named had served in the late war as English Regulars; they were both Irishmen.
After disbanding of the Army, Wilson
and Clark were for a time engage in shipbuilding at Kittery, but after a few
years came east with others, and settled as above stated. We are unable to give
the lineage of either Wilson or Clark; the former was married and his wife and
family accompanied him to Campobello, and his descendants yet occupy the land
that gave old *Admiral Owen such disquietude.”
2) “ Returning to Capt. Wilson and his associates, Clark and Laighton, we learn that about 1770 they formed a partnership for the purpose of cutting and preparing Pine Timber for shipment. The three were principals in the undertaking, while Mahar, Kelley and a young man known as William Wilson—nephew of the Captain—were employed to assist them. There may have been others, but we have no account of them. The northwest shores of Pennamaquan Bay, now locally known as the “ Leighton Side”, was the scene of the earliest labors, but after several years, when the homes of Laighton, Clark, Mahar and Wilson the younger, had been established here they went across the falls of Cobscook to “Wilson’s Stream”. Wilson’s Stream now forms a part of the boundary line between Dennysville and Pembroke: and as will be noticed, perpetuated the name of unfortunate Wilson, the senior member of the company.”
3) Edmund Mahar’s
Homestead - Mahar also came about
this time (1773), as did Kelley, but the latter settled on what is now Lubec
territory; he was never to our knowledge a resident of our town. Mahar chose
for the sight of his future home the point west of Laighton’s close to the
falls of Cobscook, that for many years bore his name, but as of late been known
as ”Kelley’s, “ owing to a man of that name having been a proprietor of the
place for a long time. (Benjamin Kelley was a lineal descendant of the pioneer
Luke Kelley). He with Orin S. Wilbur, a neighbor, was drowned by the upsetting
of their boat while returning from Dennysville with a raft of lumber in tow a
few years since. (Ed. Note: Parenthetical remarks added by Gerald Wilder
1932)
The farm has again come into the possession of a lineal descendant
of the first settler, and it is to be hoped, that the original name of “Mahar’s
Point” will now be resumed and retained. (Ed. Note: The site was eventually
acquired by the Town of Pembroke, and is now known as Reversing Falls Park.)
It was
Edmund Mahar’s sturdy arm’s that first cleared the virgin-forest growth from
off the acres of this point, and amidst the tangled thickets of rose and thorn
bush on its outmost verge, in the little family burial plot he and many who
came after him now sleep.
Let the scene of his labors and his final resting place bear his
name henceforth! He was truly a brave man and venturesome; among the first
{non- Natives} to brave the treacherous tides, eddys and whirlpools of
Cobscooks dread waters, and to demonstrate the feasibility of boats passing
through or around the falls in comparative safety, when skillfully piloted; and
it was under his careful guidance that the first party of settlers from
Hingham, on the 17th of May 1786, passed up the north branch of the
River to what is now Dennysville.
Captain
Wilson to whom we have previously alluded as having been instrumental in
promoting the earliest settlement of this town, was not at any time in its
history an actual settler—his wife and family always remaining at Campobello---
yet he continued to the time of his death to take a great interest in the
welfare of the little community, and bore his part of the labors and hardships
incidental to all such undertakings. Nearly all his time was spent in or near
this part of the country, either in the logging camp or with his brother-in
–law Clark, whom he assisted in clearing his farm and in other ways.
The
Captain’s foster son, William Wilson, who as a boy and man had been employed to
assist in the lumbering enterprise, as already mentioned, having married,
established himself on a place now 119321 a part of Mr. Ezra W. Leighton’s
farm. Wilson’s log house and the more modern frame building, by which it was
replaced, if we mistake not, occupied the present site of Mr. Leighton’s. “
4) “
Some unusual anecdotes are related of the veterans (Veterans of the Battle of
Quebec, 1759;RFT), Kelley (Luke) and his neighbor, Morang, who were very good
friends, unless they had been imbibing freely of the contents of the “flowing
bowl”, which they did as regularly as opportunity offered. Kelley fought on the
side of the English at Quebec, and had lost a thumb in the action of the 13th
of September, on the Plains of Abraham. This loss he was always unduly
sensitive about, and any reference to it was extremely distasteful.
Morong was
a participant in the fight--- only on the other side--- and with the shattered
forces of the French, retreated to the city where he was taken prisoner in the
subsequent surrender of the place on the 18th. He was so fortunate
as to escape bodily harm (John Francis Morong; Jean Francois Morong; RFT)
In after years Kelley and Morong were occupying neighboring farms
in what is
now Lubec Township: when they met at raisings or other neighborly gatherings
where rum was freely dispensed, as the custom in those days, then would the two
old veterans recount their varied experiences while in the army, and, waxing
mellow, would commence rallying each other. Kelley would remind Morong of the
way in which the English drove the French from Quebec. “Didn’t we make you run
like Rats”, he would say: and to which Morong’s invariable reply--- and it was
always conclusive--- was: “ Show two thumbs, Kelley, show two thumbs!” “
5) From
the work of Gerald Wilder, cousin of Sidney Wilder; rft)”In 1770, Laighton,
together with Captain Wilson and William Clark, a member of Wilson’s command
came to the part of Pennamaquan that we now call Leighton’s Point. They had as
helpers Edmund Mahar and Luke Kelley, both Irishmen and regulars in the English
Army, and a young relative of Wilson’s named William Wilson.
Laighton
immediately built a log house, which was probably occupied by the whole
company. Late in the next year, recollections of the girl he left behind him
drew Laighton back to Narraguagus where he was married to Patty Denbow. There
he remained until the Spring of 1773 when he returned to his log house with his
wife and his young son, who had been born on Christmas day, 1772.
In the
meantime, Clark, knowing that Laighton would need the whole of the house when
he returned, had made a clearing for himself and built a log house near the
site of the late Hataville J. Leighton, Srs., house. Shortly after the return
of Laighton and his family, Clark brought his own family from Campobello; Clark
had married Sussanna Woodard, a sister of Capt. Wilson’s wife, about 1767 or
1768.
At about the same time Mahar moved his family here and settled on
Mahar’s Point, which is next west of Leighton’s. Kelley settled across the
water on Lubec territory. Laighton’s father-in- law, John Denbow, also joined
this colony to be near his favorite daughter, and built on the point to the
east of Leighton’s, called for many years Denbow Point. This name was largely
abandoned because the point across the narrows in Lubec, where John Denbow’s
son Nathaniel lived, was also called Denbow. A Few years later, young William
Wilson married and settled above Denbow where Albert Leighton (1932) now
lives.”
6) “
It is to be remembered that the colony at Leighton’s Point was established for
the purpose of cutting timber, and this business was actively carried on. A
Sawmill was being erected at Wilson’s Stream, between Dennysville and Pembroke,
when the drowning of two of the principals, Wilson and Clark, in Mahar Falls,
brought the business to an end. This accident occurred in the fall of 1782, on
a beautiful moonlit evening.
The tragedy
was made keener by the presence of Wilson’s young son,
who had
accompanied them to enjoy one of those unsurpassable Pennamaquan evenings,
while his elders secured a scow load of hay from one of the low meadows on the
Edmund’s shore. In going up through the falls, one of the sweeps caught on a
rock and Wilson and Clark were thrown into the seething waters. As they were
borne up the tide, so close to Edmund Mahar’s cabin did they go that Mrs. Mahar
and their children heard their cries---Mr. Mahar was away from home at the time
Much of the work of Sydney and Gerald Wilder was dependent on an earlier historian named Martin Hersey. Mr. Hersey lived in the early 1800’s and in the area of Pembroke. Over the years the Hersey’s have married Mahar’s and vice versa. A few Hersey’s have even managed to marry Townsend’s as well. It is regrettable that Mr. Hersey’s work, as well as Wilder Genealogies has yet to be published.
In summation what do Sidney Wilder, Martin Hersey, Gerald Wilder and Donald Sprague say?
1) Luke Kelley and Edmund Mahar were both British Regulars in an Irish unit. The British did do that forming companies of exclusive Scots and Irish. Nothing was explicitly said if Luke and Edmund were in the same unit. It is implied that Luke Kelly and Edmund were in the same unit.
2) Both Luke Kelley and Edmund Mahar fought with Gen. Wolfe in his Canadian Campaign during the French and Indian War and both participating in the Battle of Quebec in 1759.
3) It is indicated by Donald Sprague that Edmund Mahar served under the command of Capt. Robert Wilson. The Wilders imply this fact, whereas, I don’t believe the Wilder’s specifically said that. What is said is Luke Kelley and Edmund Mahar followed Capt. Wilson.
4) Edmund Mahar was one of the squatters on Campobello Island and not with Capt. William Owen, on the ship Owen that sailed from Liverpool and the expedition being formed in Warrington, England. Both the Wilders and Donald Sprague espouse this fact.
5) Edmund followed Robert Wilson to Kittery, New Hampshire and then to Campobello Island. Donald Sprague made this assertion, and the Wilder’s said he followed Capt. Wilson.
6) Edmund Mahar was born in Belfast, Ireland according to Donald Sprague. No one else, that I have found, gives a birthplace.
7) Edmund Mahar moved to Leighton’s Point about 1773. The Wilder’s indicate his presence at Leighton’s Point earlier, not living there, but cutting lumber.
8) Edmund Mahar was the first white man to repeatedly, and with minimum grief, navigates Cobscook Falls.
9) Under the guidance of Edmund Mahar, the Lincoln Expedition was able to navigate Cobscook Falls, under Edmund’s guidance on May 17, 1786.
10) Gerald Wilder gives a completely different account of the drowning of Wilson and Clark which conflicts with Mary Gallagher.
Some of Donald Sprague’s information came from family stories and a large
amount came from the Wilder’s. Donald, like the Wilder’s, probably had access to information from Martin Hersey as well.
Both accounts, Mary Gallagher’s and this account, make liberal use of the log of William Owen.
3) Edmund Mahar’s Will & Inventory
in 1830
Strong evidence in the life of Edmund Mahar is the information from the Probate of his Will, which he made in 1820, perishing 10 years later in 1830 at age 92. Rebecca Reilly Mahar was Executrix of his estate and mentioned in the court litigation. Rebecca Mahar died sometime between 1830 and 1840 but was living in January of 1831 and in poor health. The record comes from Machias, and possibly, further litigation would be under the estate of Rebecca Mahar (Maha). It is interesting that the Surrogate Court spelled Edmund’s surname Maha. It is further interesting that both James & Joseph were illiterate and Rebecca and Edmund were literate. The following court data was taken from a copy on Microfilm at the Machias Records center and probably these records are at the University of Maine. Below is the actual Will and Inventory of Edmund Mahar’s Estate:
Edmund Maha’s Will
Recorded
by A L Raymonds- Register
Edmund Maha Will
In the name of God Amen, I Edmund Maha
of Dennysville, in the County of Washington,
State of Maine, Yeoman, being weak in body but of sound and perfect mind and
memory, blessed be god almighty for the same, do make and Publish this my Last
Will and Testament, to Wit:
First: I
give and bequeath to my beloved wife Rebecca Maha the use and Improvements of
my homestead and the Fall Island, in Plantation Number Nine, so long as she
shall continue my widow-
2nd:
I give and bequeath to my beloved wife the 25 acres of land, which I purchased
From Joseph Dudley as her sole property forever-
3rd:
I give and bequeath to my beloved wife all my personal estate forever, she
paying To my children, hereafter named, in three months after my decease as
follows to wit, To James Maha one Dollar, To John Maha one Dollar, To Sally
Leighton one Dollar,
To Martha
Phelps one Dollar, To William Maha one Dollar, To Joseph Maha one Dollar, To
Ann Kelley one Dollar, to Martha McPhail one Dollar
4th:
It is also my will that at the marriage of decease of my beloved wife, the
above Homestead and Falls Island should be equally divided between my son
James, John, William and Joseph or their heirs, they each one paying to my
daughters or their heirs As follows, to wit, the first year after her decease
or marriage to Sally Leighton each Twenty Five Dollars, the second year to Mary
Leighton each Twenty Five Dollars, the Third year to Martha Phelps each Twenty
Five Dollars, the Fourth year to Ann Kelley Each Twenty Five Dollars, the Fifth
year to Martha McPhail each Twenty-Five Dollars, amounting in the whole to give
Five Hundred Dollars-----------
And
lastly I do constitute ordain and appoint my beloved wife Rebecca sole
executrix to This my Last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former Wills
made by me.
In
Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hands and seal this second day of
October One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty
Edmund
Maha SEAL
166 Signed,
Sealed, Published and Declared by the above named Edmund Maha to be his Last
Will and Testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our Names
as witness in the presence of the Testator.
John
Crane, William Bell, John Crane jr.,
Recorded
by A L Raymonds Register
Inventory of the Estate of Edmund Maha
385
An Inventory of the Estate of Edmund
Maha late of Dennysville in the County of
Washington declared, appraised upon
oath by us, the subscribers duly appointed
To that service by the Hon. John
Dickinson Esquire Judge of the Probate of Wills
For Said County
Real
Estate
The Homestead of said deceased
situated in said Dennysville containing
100 Acres with the buildings thereon $
900.00
25 Acres of Land formerly owned by
Joseph Dudley in Dennysville $ 50.00
Fall Island in the town of Trescott
containing 120 Acres $
250.00
Total Value of Real Estate $1200.00
Personal Estate
Sundry articles of household
Furniture…..viz.
1 birch table 7/6, 3 old pine do 8/1,
red chest 9/2, 2 old chests 7/6 $ 5.33
1 hardwood bedstead 9/16,1
Spruce…do1/6, 12 old chairs 9/, old trunk $ 3.37
1 feather bed/ 6.67, 1 straw do , 2
cove lid/ 8 , 2 old do 3/ 1 do of 6 $16.42
3 blankets (old) , 4 new do, 9.00, 2
partly worn do 12/ $12.50
1 feather bed 7.50, 1 straw do 6/, 3
cotton sheets 1.20, 7 pillows 2.10 $11.80
5 old pillow cases 30, 2 table cloths
4/16, 1 quilt 7/16, window curtains 1/16 $
2.56
1 feather bed 6.25, bed curtains 6/…
, old books 1/6 looking slafe 10c $ 7.60
2 fire crane hooks 15/, shovel and
tongs 6/, sod irons 3/, and irons 9/ $
5.50
5 old teaspoons 1 of 6, Crocking
& Knives & Forks 1of 6, bellows 1/6 $
3.75
Iron ware 4.00, 2 milk pales 3/, 10
milk pans 9/, 1 churn 6/ $
7.00
Sundry Tools and Farming Utensils
1 grindstone 4/6, 3 chains (?),
Pitchfork & Rakes 4/6, 2 old sickles 1/6 $
5.75
1 auger 1/6, Crowbar 3/, Handsaw 3/,
shovel 4/6, Harrow 1 of 6 $
3.75
1 old cart 12.00, Yoke & Clevie 1
of 6, 2 broken plows 225 $ 15.75
The deceased Wearing Apparel
1 pea jacket 18/, 1 do 3/, 1 coat 9/,
1 do 1/6, 3 old vests 3/ $
5.75
2 pr. Pantaloons 45c, 2 pr. Drawers
75c, 2 pr. Stockings 40c $ 1.60
3 cotton shirts 4/6, Old Hat 4, 1 pr.
Old shoes $
1.01
Sundry Articles of Stock and other
property
1 yoke of Oxen $55.00, 7 cows 112.00,
1 bull 11.00, 1 heifer 7, 2 calves $ 93.00
1 sow 7.00, 1 pig 2.00, 24 sheep 112,
lambs c91 54.00 $ 63.00
1 old Gondola 8.00, Cash 18.00 $ 26.00
Total Amount of Personal Estate $ 391.44
Dated at Dennysville 2nd
August AD 1830
Theodore Lincoln jr.
Benjamin
R. Jones Appraisers
Ebenezer
C. Wilder
Recorded by
A
L Raymond Regn.
In the surrogate proceedings Sally Leighton briefly contested the Will but her objection was not supported by evidence. Sally’s claim was rejected.
4) My Thoughts
Luke Kelley
It is regrettable that hard evidence of Edmund Mahar is a scarcity. I have included, in the former discussion, paragraphs on Luke Kelley whose descendents were joined in marriage, and vice versa, to the Mahar family. Although Luke is mentioned in stories and strong circumstantial evidence exist for his existence, I can find no hard evidence of his being in the area. What the record shows is a Luke Kelley, born 1762 in Lubec, and died 1832 in Lubec probably of a massive heart attack. This latter Luke was married to a Susannah (?), lived in Lubec, and had 8 known children. The Luke Kelley mentioned in both the Gallagher and Wilder account is much older and must be the father of this Luke Kelley. Nonetheless, no hard facts are known about him and his existence is the province of storytellers. Luke, the younger could not possibly have been born in Lubec in 1762 since Lubec was non-existent at that point. The account of Edmund Mahar is opposite of Luke, whereas, two stories emerge about his existence and in contradiction to one another.
Mary Jones:
It is possible that Edmund married earlier one Mary Jones who was a fellow indentured servant for William Owen. I further notice another indentured servant Lewis Jones who may, or may not, be related to Mary. Nonetheless, from the Census of 1790 the Jones family is prevalent in the area. Edmund Mahar’s grandson, Edmund (b. 1806) married a Deborah Jones and lived in Dennysville. Although the record doesn’t show it, I suspect Deborah was a child, or close relative, of Mehitable Lewis Hersey and Benjamin Richard Jones. This couple that resided in Robbiston, then Dennysville, had 10 children and a space was available for Deborah since they had their children on two-year intervals. An earlier Deborah Jones lived in that area as well who might have been the parent. When married, Edmund Mahar, the younger, lived near Benjamin in Dennysville.
This Jones family was from Massachusetts and probably came up with the Lincoln expedition. This same Benjamin R. Jones was one of the people that inventoried Edmund Mahar’s estate. Capt. William Owen married four (4) couples of the indentured servants in 1770-1771. Captain Owen’s log doesn’t record all of the names but probably Mary Jones and Edmund Mahar was one of them, and with some doubt due to lack of hard evidence, I will concede that Mary Jones was his spouse. The oldest child of Edmund Mahar’s was Sarah Mahar Leighton born May 28, 1776. A period of five year past before Edmund’s children were born and this marriage in 1770-1771. Edmund was at Leighton’s Point by 1773.Edmund does not feel a need to refer to Mary Jones in his Will. Both James and Joseph Mahar were officers of the Estate of Edmund Mahar. Presumably there was no antipathy for their alleged step-mom. Sarah (Sally) Leighton did dispute the will earlier but didn’t make a big thing out of it.
In 1782, and the drowning of Wilson and Clark at Cobscook Falls, Mary Gallagher refers to Mrs. Mary Mahar, home all alone, and a discussion which nobody in god’s creation can prove or disprove. Even Mary Gallagher agrees with me on that. This drowning was an important event since both William Clark and Robert Wilson, the single employer at Leighton’s point, were drowned and the livelihood of the Leighton Point populace was lost. The impact of this drowning had to reverberate on Campobello Island where Robert Wilson’s holdings were situated. The Wilder’s say that William Wilson, foster son of Robert Wilson was with them but not in the boat, that Clark and Wilson transporting a scow load of Hay from the Edmund’s shore were swept overboard, drowned, but before drowning, passed by the Mahar residence where Mrs. Mahar was their with her children observing the yelling of Wilson and Clark and incapable of helping them. Mary Gallagher says they stopped by the Mahar’s where Mary Mahar chastised them for taking down the British flag at Captain Owen’s place. After this event they were swept over and drowned.
From hard evidence the only ones that observed this drowning was Mrs. Mahar (whatever her first name), Sarah (Sally) about 6 yrs old, James about 5 yrs old, and John about 3 yrs old. We can discount John since he probably didn’t remember the incident. Mrs. Mahar, Sarah and James had to perpetuate the story. On the United States side you get the Wilder account and on the Canadian side you get the pro-loyalist account of Mary Gallagher. I can’t answer which is correct and wouldn’t attempt to since Irish Story tellers on both sides of the 49th parallel have perpetuated the story. Believe what you want. Now we get to the important point, namely, in 1782 was Edmund Mahar’s spouse Mary Jones Mahar. Mary Gallagher referred to my Aunt Charlotte Vance Mahar, born May 9, 1824, married George Tinker, and spent her life in the Campobello area. Mary referred to one Mary Reilly and Ed Mahar as her parents.
The only Edward Mahar was born Aug. 13, 1857 being the son of John Preble Mahar (cousin to Charlotte) and Susan Dow. This Edward Mahar married Ruth Ann Stewart and in no way could be confused as the parent of Charlotte Vance Mahar Tinker. If such a parent existed, it would have to be a son, or early grandson, of the patriarch Edmund. I have examined the census for Charlotte County, New Brunswick, and so have others. No individual of that name has, heretofore, been found. That brings up an interesting point. Could Mary Gallagher, due to his 92 year long life, have thought that Ed Mahar was not the same as the earlier Edmund Mahar.
It is conceivable that Edmund Mahar spent quite a bit of time on Campobello and may have been confused for a resident. Edmund would bring his wife, who Mary Gallagher called Mary Reilly instead of Rebecca, and that might be where the confusion lays. In Edmund Mahar’s Will he would have acknowledged the existence of earlier children even if he left them nothing. In that way he would let his intentions be known, in their regard, so that they would not contest the Will during probate. Due to the gap of 5 yrs from the Marriage of Mary Jones and his first child Sarah, and the errors Mary Gallagher made with other Mahar’s, I believe that Rebecca Reilly was the mother of all his children. I don’t discount he married Mary Jones but wish Capt. Owen’s log acknowledged that.
Edmund Mahar, Indentured Servant,
Warrington:
Either Mary Gallagher or people who have read Mary Gallagher came up with the document of Fig. 2, which is distorted and incorrect. The indentured servants list was simply a list of servants indentured to Capt. William Owen and numbered 38 individuals. There wage compensation, and frequency of payment, is meticulously entered in the log. I do not dispute, in any way, that Edmund Mahar was indentured to Capt. William Owen. My dispute is with people who mistake that list for a ship’s manifest of the Owen, which it is not. In the legal deposition that Capt. William Owen filed on June 25, 1771, and in article 19 of said deposition, Captain William Owen specifically said that 36 indenture servants came from England.
What does that mean? Possibly he was not counting his housekeeper and body servant Sarah Haslam and John Montgomery. Of course these latter individuals were indentured to him so that might not be the case. I don’t know if Edmund Mahar came over with Capt. William Owen or not and nobody else does since no Ship’s Manifest of the Owen have I found that was filed in Liverpool at the start of the journey. The names of the individuals, on Campobello Island with Captain Wilson, are not known with certainty. Capt. Owen would not have been averse to employing a local individual and he would do so with indenture-ship.
Some people have suggested that Edmund Mahar was born in Warrington, England and the other indentured servants were probably from there. Victor Hugo Paltsits suggested just that. I don’t agree and for one basic reason. Liverpool, which is very close to Warrington, has been the major exit and entry point for the British Isles for countless centuries. Many of my Irish and English relatives came through Liverpool to North America. Warrington, economically and philosophically, would ape Liverpool in its orientation due to its dependence on Liverpool. You could have all sorts of diverse ethnicities in Warrington, England. I contacted Warrington and no record of a birth or baptism of Edmund (Eamon) Mahar, Maher, Meagher or Meachair could be found for 1738 or in that generation.
To sum up, Edmund could have been on Campobello Island and indentured by Capt. William Owen. Conversely, he may have come over on the Owen as an indentured servant. Without, the aforementioned manifest, it is impossible to tell. Consequently, the Wilder account and the Gallagher account cannot be proven at this time.
Edmund Mahar and Luke Kelley as British Regulars:
Martin Hersey, the Wilders and John Sprague indicate that Edmund Mahar and Luke Kelley were British Regulars. It is implied that their commander was Capt. Robert Wilson. If Edmund and Luke were British regulars Robert Wilson could not have commanded them. I refer you to the excerpt from Theodore Holmes on Robert Wilson. Mr. Holmes work comes partly from Victor Hugo Paltsits who says the same thing about Robert Wilson. Capt. Wilson was born in Ireland and was a Provincial Commander for the Colony of Massachusetts.
All of Wilson’ s Company came from Massachusetts and possibly Maine. All you need do is find out who fought under the command of Gen. Wolfe, and his second in command Gen. George Townsend. The problem is that information is not known or didn’t survive. You could not prove that Robert Wilson was at the Battle of Quebec from military data. Once a Soldier ceased to be Cannon Fodder records seem to disappear. There is no indication that Robert Wilson commanded a company of Irish either. Capt. Wilson may have commanded a provincial Irish unit but can find no record. If Luke and Edmund were British regulars they were not in his unit but nothing would stop them from going with him after the conflict.
I once wrote the Ranger at the Battle of Saratoga looking for information on British and Patriots that fought at that Battle in the fall of 1777. All of my ancestors, in my mother’s family were in New York Militia Units and I wished to trace them. I further, wrote and in another e-mail, ask about the Hingham Militia and Capt. Theophilus Wilder. At the time, I was not sure if the Hingham Militia was a patriot or loyalist Militia. The Ranger, Eric Schnitzer wrote back:
1) Dear Mr. Townsend,
Thank you for your query concerning your ancestor. Unfortunately,
there is no single list of soldiers that fought here (or were
Simply here) during the Battles
of Saratoga. We have a few lists,
mostly of officers from both sides, and some soldiers, but not too
much.
There was a Joseph Dunn that served in the 1st New York regiment of
the Continental Line. According
to records, this regiment was
raised from Albany, Tryon, Charlotte, and Cumberland Counties, and
therefore not from the New Paltz area.
The First NY regiment was
not present here during the Battles of Saratoga.
The New Paltz area was
historically in Ulster County. There
was a
detachment of Dutchess and Ulster county militia under a Colonel
Graham. Detachment means that
the 8 militia regiments from
Dutchess county and the 4 militia regiments from Ulster county
supplied volunteers (or drafts) to form 1 unit the size of 1
regiment (a few 100 men), and marched north to be placed under the
command of General Gates of the American forces.
There were
a few Dunns (George and William) in the 2nd Regiment of
Ulster County Militia. There was
a Jerimiah, John, Thomas Jr., and
another William Dunn in the 3rd Regiment of Ulster County Militia
Unfortunately, from this list (from a book titled "New York in the
Revolution", printed in Albany, 1898) there is no way to tell if
any of the Dunns were part of Colonel Graham's Detachment, or even
if they were in their regiments in 1777. This source covers all of
the Revolution from 1775-1783.
Maybe some of the Dunns listed came
of age after the battles, or "retired" before the battles
happened.
Even more unfortunately, the New York State archives, containing
the original records from which these names were taken, caught fire
in 1911 and much was lost. We
are very lucky that the state
printed this book before 1911, but we can't go back to the
originals to further research the rather vague lists that they
printed.
Still, there is clear evidence that there were Dunns in the Ulster
county militia regiments of the 18th century. They may have been
here, but it is also possible they weren't.
Hope this information helps. If
you have any further questions
about anything that I wrote, or didn't write, please feel free to
e-mail us here at the park.
Yours,
Eric Schnitzer, Park Ranger
2) Dear Mr. Townsend,
Thank you for your recent request regarding your ancestor from
"Hingham Company." I have to admit that there are no
references we
have on hand regarding this unit during here at the events of 1777.
The company was never here, but possibly one of the many
"extras"
that arrived to assist in the surrender of the British forces after
the battles.
This company would have been on the side of the Americans, and
since it is termed "Hingham Company," that usually refers to
their
place of origin. Since they were commanded by a captain, they would
be referred to as a company. It appears that they would have come
from the area of the Maine wilderness, at the time a legal part of
Massachusetts. The officer was not listed in the list of
Continental officers during the war. The list is very incomplete
when it comes to listing militia officers, however, which is what
this unit would have been.
From here, I would contact the
National Archives:
The National Archives and Records Administration
Washington, D.C. 20408
or their New England regional office at:
Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02452
(781) 647-8100
It is possible that pension records for your ancestor or the
captain exist.
A very good published source is :
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War.
Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 1896-1908.
This is a 17-volume work, that is alphabetized. I am not sure that
the book covers those from Maine, however.
More sources:
Massachusetts Archives
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA., 02125
(617) 727-2816
Massachusetts State Library
24 Beacon St.
Boston, MA.
(617) 727-2121
If all else fails, I would check the internet using a search engine
(like metacrawler or yahoo), and search for "Maine State
Archives"
or the like. They may have some additional information for you.
I hope this information helps in your search. Sorry I couldn't be
more specific in regards to their service here at the surrender of
Burgoyne. Our information regarding the thousands of militia troops
assisting Gates to the North and East is very limited (mostly
because they kept poor records). I hope your search for your
ancestor is fruitful.
Sincerely,
Eric Schnitzer
Park Ranger
The information that Mr. Schnitzer provided I already had from Ulster County Records. All you Hingham Militia descendents don’t get mad at me. All Eric Schnitzer is saying is no record exists they were there, but probably were. In a nutshell, units without individual names were the only thing remembered. The same was true of the Battle of Quebec. Brigadier General Jedidiah Preble was rumored to have fought at Quebec and wounded and standing near Gen. Wolfe when he was killed. It seems Capt. Preble (his rank at the time) was wearing a heavy coat, which absorbed the bullet impact. The Coat was saved and talked about in family lore. His grandson, Admiral George Henry Preble, could find no evidence that happened and treated it, in his book “The First Three Generations of Preble’s in America” with skepticism though he knew the family story.
Lore has passed down that Edmund and Luke fought during the French and Indian War and I have no doubt they were British Regulars although proof is scarce. Their Commander would not have been Capt. Robert Wilson since he was an officer for the Colony of Massachusetts. Since Wilson, Clark, Edmund and Luke were all Irish, camaraderie may have developed during this time and the group bound together in entrepreneurial endeavors.
One
thing that supports Robert Wilson was a provincial is he didn’t receive a royal
Land Grant as far as anyone knows. Furthermore, you would think if Edmund and
Luke were British regulars, they would have been eligible for Land Grants after
the French and Indian War. Why that didn’t happen is a mystery. Robert Wilson
did receive a grant of several hundred acres on Campobello Island upon winning
a court dispute. Edmund and Luke may have received a Royal Land Grant and
escheated on them. A good record exists of Loyalists land Grants but not of the
Land Grants to Soldiers after the French and Indian War. If one were of Irish descent
and a non-commissioned rank, what kind of a land grant would they get from the
British?
Another scenario, though not backed up by proof, is that Luke Kelley and Edmund Mahar were not British Regulars but Provincial Soldiers fighting under Capt. Robert Wilson. Historical information says the Kelley’s were in Maine long before the French and Indian War and so were the Mahar’s.
A Record of a Luke Kelley during the Revolution exists.
1) Luke Kelley- Private- Capt. Briant Morone’s Company- service from March 1, 1776 to May 31, 1776- 3 months- company stationed at encampment on Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough.
2) Luke Kelley- Private- Capt. Briant Morone’s Company- Col. Mitchell’s Regiment- Service from Sept. 1, 1776 to date of discharge Nov. 25, 1776- 2 months, 25 days- Company stationed at Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough.
I don’t know if this is the Luke Kelley we have been talking about, Luke’s son who was 14, or another Luke Kelley.
When Edmund moved to Leighton’s Point:
It is indicated that Edmund Mahar, Luke Kelley, Robert Wilson, William Wilson, Hatavell Laighton and William Clark were working at Leighton’s point at the time Edmund was supposed to be living in New Warrington, Campobello. That assertion, by the Wilders, is probably accurate. The log of Capt. William Owen indicates that he had tertiary control of all enterprises on Campobello Island and the mainland. Captain Owens was called upon to settle disputes and administer actions on the main land. Capt. Owen was actually royal Gov. William Campbell’s emissary to the area and his log is peppered with his actions in settling disputes. Capt. Owen had a say in the lumbering enterprise at Leighton’s Point and he could easily have delegated people to support this operation. The Wilder’s never mention Owen’s participation, but nonetheless, he had to participate since he was the administrator for the area and had some control over all entrepreneurial endeavors. Much of the timber shipped from the colony of New Warrington in the deposition probably came from Leighton’s Point. Edmund Mahar finally moved to Leighton’s Point in 1773 and all parties agree on that. In that same year 1773, Luke Kelley started a homestead in Lubec. The Wilder’s point out Luke never lived at the point but he did harvest timber in the area.
Capt. Owen not Admiral Owen:
Sidney Wilder always referred to Capt. William Owen as Admiral William Owen. William Owen never obtained that rank and Sidney Wilder is mistaken.
Edmund Mahar’s Birth in Belfast,
Ireland
Donald Sprague’s assertion that Edmund Mahar was born in Belfast, Ireland has a 50% probability to me, though admittedly, I don’t know his source for this assertion. The other 50% probability would be Dublin, Ireland. The reason for these high probabilities is because those two areas would afford the best means of survival in Ireland where a non-landowner would find some sort of way to get through the next day. Edmund was an Irish regular in the British Army. The most common reason for an Irishman to join the British Army would be survival. One fact that disputes Edmund’s poor roots is the fact both Edmund and Rebecca could read and write. Possibly, they acquired that talent during their long lives.
4) Rev. Ephriam Abbott
Rev. Abbott was a Congregationalist minister who kept a diary of his travels in the Pembroke area in the early 19th century. Gerald Wilder covered what is said below in his 1932 resurrection of his cousin Sidney’s article “ A history of Pembroke”. I obtained this information from a book by William Kilby entitled “Eastport and Passamaquoddy”. This excerpt from Rev. Abbot’s diary talks about his visit to the home of James Mahar, eldest son of Edmund Mahar in 1811 and the perils he had in getting there:
Lords day August 11th 1811-
preached at Mr. Gardiner’s two sermons. The assembly as last LORDSS day was
composed of Baptists and Congregationalists. The morning was rainy and the tide
not favorable for people coming by water so that not so many attended as did
attend at Dennys River. Collection taken for the society $ 5.45. After meeting
I went to Mr. Bela Wilder to pass the night.
Mr. Theophilus Wilder accompanied me to West Cove. I preached a lecture
at the house of Mr. James Mahar. About 35 persons were present. The meeting was
very solemn. Among my hearers were Sabbath breakers, swearers, &c. Many
seemed to be affected and every one seemed to be looking at himself. I was
enabled to speak and to pray with much freedom and tenderness.
Congregationalists, Baptists and Catholics thanked me, and appeared very
grateful to the society for affording them the opportunity to hear a discourse.
Most of the families of this settlement are very poor; they have never had a
school among them, and very seldom any preaching. They live four or five miles
from the places where the private meetings are usually held at Penamaquan, and
much farther from the meetings at Dennys River. After lecture I returned to
Judge Lincolns, but could not get there without returning a distance of about 6
miles to Mr. Wilder’s whence it was more than 6 miles to Judge L*, and the road
was so bad I did not arrive until 9 o’clock in the evening…
Footnote: My great- grandmother, Her
husband, Captain Theophilus Wilder, was one of the pioneers of the town, being
a passenger on the sloop “Sally,” the “Mayflower” of the Hingham Dennys River
emigration, arriving May 18, 1786. He served in the Revolutionary War, and
commanded the Hingham Company at Saratoga at the time of Burgoyne’s surrender.
W.
H. Kilby (William Henry Kilby- writer of
“ Eastport and Passamaquoddy, Maine”; published 1888)
You can bet that Edmund Mahar was one of the people at his son James Mahar’s house. You might say he was one of the Sabbath Breaker’s and Swearers.
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Coded and Mounted September 15, 2004