DUDLEY, Samuel II c1794 Readfield

Samuel Dudley II was born 1747 in Kingston, New Hampshire to Samuel and Mary (Ladd) Dudley. He came with his father and siblings to Hallowell, ME sometime before 1774. He married Sarah Young about 1780 and they had four children: i.Samuel b.1780 ii.Aaron b.1782 iii.Sarah iv.James

There is little known about Samuel II, except what I stumbled on to in “Methodism in Maine” by Allen & Pillsbury, which gives the following account of a visit by Rev Jesse Lee to this area. “On December 12, 1794 Lee was in Readfield where he served eight people with the first celebration of the Lord’s Supper by Methodists in Maine. On Tuesday December 16, he rode with Samuel Dudley to “the Hook” (Hallowell) and crossed the Kennebec River on unsafe ice. The horses broke through 10 or 15 feet from the east shore but got out safely. Lee and Samuel Dudley then rode to Pittston Meeting House and called on Major Colburn, then went on to Eastern River and dined. At this point Rev. Lee went on alone to Alna.” It is recorded in the family history that Samuel Dudley drowned in the Sheepscot River in 1795. One must assume that this Samuel Dudley never made it home to Readfield after guiding Rev Lee to the Eastern River. [i]

 

[i] History of Methodism in Maine 1793-1886 by Allen and Pillsbury; pub. Charles Nash, Augusta, ME 1887

 

Bibliography:
Heritage Consulting, Millennium File (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003), www.ancestry.com, Database online.
1790 U.S. Census Hallowell, ME