BODWELL, John

Built c.1830 on (currently called) Old Kents Hill Road.
Within our memories this has been the home of the
Henderson and Vallee families.

In 1836 John Craig - son of Thomas and grandson of James Craig - sold Craig’s sawmill to David Sampson and Dudley Fogg.[i]  The property was sold by them in 1846 to Solomon Jenness and by him to Anson P. Morrill in 1853. This transaction / deed included the house and land “on which John Bodwell lives.” [ii] In November of 1856 – three years later - Anson P. Morrill[iii] sold “the house and land thereon and presently occupied by John Bodwell” to Mary Bodwell,[iv] wife of John. With this information and what I have gathered regarding the Bodwell family (below) I would estimate the house was built c.1830.

John Bodwell of Augusta and Mary Turner of Readfield were married 1831 in Readfield.[v] He was a son of Nathaniel and Dorothy (Morrison) Bodwell. She was a daughter of Christopher and Mary (White) Turner and granddaughter of Capt. Christopher Turner. An interesting side note – Capt. Turner is said to have built the first frame building in Readfield – a barn located on Winthrop Road near Dead Stream.  

John Bodwell was a blacksmith and first appears as head of household in Readfield in 1840. He may have been the 20-29 year old male living with his mother in Augusta in 1830[vi] but I quicker think he was living in a boarding home situation at Factory Square and working in the mills as a blacksmith in 1830. I say that because he was married to Mary Turner in 1831 and started a family at that time. This is speculation but it seems likely that his skills were respected and needed enough that when he married and started a family the mill owners provided a home for them. If he was important enough to be provided a home he had surely become a full time employee – probably “lead millwright” of the mills at Factory Square. The mill operations would have needed a toolmaker; repairs to mill equipment and wagon wheels; and horse shoes for the teams that transported their wares. Perhaps they even made and supplied hardware - such as door hinges and latches - for people who were building homes. An early day version of our lumber and hardware stores today. That would have certainly kept more than one man busy.
John and Mary Bodwell had five children that I know of: 1) Francis b.1830 2) George b.1838 d.1843 (bur. Readfield Corner Cemetery 3) John b. 1841 4) George b.1844 5) Alice b.1848

John disappears – presumably died about 1860.[vii]  A.P. Morrill sold the house and land to Mary in 1856 for $100 and not to John. The deed says “on which John Bodwell lives” however[viii] – so again I speculate that John may have been ill or hurt in the mill and Morrill sold her the property for their security at a reasonable price as compensation for an injury. By 1870 Mary and her children were living together in Auburn where her sons were working in the mills there and her daughter as a store clerk. Thus the end of the Bodwell family in Readfield.

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[i] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds Book 101 Page 405 7/13/1836

[ii] Ibid Book 205 Page 42 10/6/1853

[iii] Anson P. Morrill was Governor of Maine 1/3/1855 – 1/2/1856

[iv] Ibid Book 209 Page 2 11/26/1856

[v] Clark, Dale Potter; to Those Who Led the Way: Readfield VR’s 1768-1913; self published 2009; page127

[vi] US Census 1830 Augusta Dorothy Bodwell

[vii] US Census 1860 Readfield is the last record I have found on him thus far.

[viii] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds Book 209 Page 2 11/26/1856