PACKARD, Joshua 1790 US Census Winthrop 1-0-2-0-0 UPDATED 9/25/2015

Packard house on Kents Hill c1790. This picture was taken
before 1909. Is still standing and occupied

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 were married in 1755. They moved 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 Bridgewater, Barnstable, Mass. and died in 1796 in Kents Hill (Readfield), ME. Joshua’s second marriage was to Miss Esther Gibson of Readfield in 1796.

Joshua Packard, Jr. gravestone at Kents Hill Cemetery.

It is not known where his parents are buried but there are

several graves marked by non-inscribed fieldstones in this

cemetery and most likely theirs are some of them.

 

Joshua is buried in the Kents Hill Cemetery, which was established before 1808. Many other 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.  Counted on the 1790 US Census as 1-0-1-0-0 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. Counted on the 1790 US Census as head of household and only member living in the home 1-0-0-0-0. Joshua, Jr. d.4-1-1835 and Phebe d.7-1825 both are buried in Kents Hill cemetery, Readfield.
3. Ralph b.9-13-1761 Bridgewater, Mass. Was married in 1790 when the census was taken. His household was counted as 1-0-2-0-0. His wife Nancy Ann Vose was born 10/27/1762 in Milton, Norfolk, MA a daughter. of Joseph and Sarah Vose. Ralph d.4-18-1809 There are at least two houses built by Ralph Packard on Kents Hill and still standing to this day. He 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. Four children born in Readfield: 1) Susan "Sukey" b.1789 2) Ralph b.1791 3) Stephen b.1801 4) Otis b.1804
4. Lebbeus Alden b.5-19-1764 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Mass. Counted on the 1790 US Census as head of household 1-0-1-0-0 d.1831 Died 1836 in Troy, Waldo, ME.
5. Mehitable b.9-6-1765 Bridgewater, Mass. d.2-14-1839. We assume she was the second female living in the household when 1790 census was taken.