MOODY, Dudley, Esq.

Moody's Tavern as it looked in 1892 when owned by
Benjamin Harriman. this sketch appears in the
History of Kennebec County.

Dudley Moody was born 1789 in Monmouth, ME, the sixth of eleven children of Rev. Gilman and Annie (James) Moody. His father was among the first few settlers to accompany Gen. Dearborn to Monmouth, ME from Epping, NH after the Revolution, around 1782. On the earliest tax assessment records in Monmouth  Gilman Moody was listed as having 108 acres. He was ordained by Bishop Francis Asbury in 1802 and became a pioneer Methodist circuit rider. Among his assignments was the Readfield circuit in 1822.[i] So, it is not surprising that Dudley came to live near the Maine Wesleyan Seminary - incorporated only two years before he moved his family to Kents Hill. He soon became an active participant in the school's  governing board of directors. 

Dudley Moody married Mary Richardson in 1817. She was a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Carpenter) Richardson of Baldwin in Cumberland County, Maine, and said to be a markedly prim and proper lady. For the first few years after their marriage the couple lived in Monmouth near his family where they kept a store and farmed until 1826, at which time they moved to Kents Hill[ii]. Here Moody bought ¾ acre from Lory Bacon.[iii] There were buildings standing on the land – more than likely the store and post office that Bacon ran before him. Bacon was the first merchant and postmaster in Kents Hill and Moody was the second, his appointment was made on March 21, 1829.[vi]

The section of the 1860 Agricultural Census shows
Dudley Moody and several neighbors for comparison.

Dudley Moody also farmed when living on Kents Hill. He accumulated additional acreage totaling about 50 acres.[v] In 1860 he was farming 20 acres of cleared land, had one horse, two milk cows and raised some crops. His farm was valued at $1,500. See the section of the 1860 US Agricultural Census at left for a comparison to some of his neighbors.[vi]

Dudley Moody also ran the tavern on Kents Hill - which was the only one there for many years.[vii] On the US Census 1830-1850 in addition to family members there were many people boarding at Moody’s Tavern. The total number living in the household in 1830 was 20; in 1840 – 14; and in 1850 – 18. By 1860 Dudley, his wife Mary, daughter Harriet and her husband Alvan Packard[viii] were the only ones living there. One year later Dudley Moody sold his house and 24 acres to Cynthia and Benjamin Harriman (mother and son). On the same day he sold 100 rods of land to the north of this to his son-in-law Alvan.

For years Dudley Moody was officially connected with Kents Hill School – or as it was commonly called in those days, “the Seminary”. Among his duties 1827-1856 were member of the Board of Trustees; treasurer on the Board of Trustees; general agent of instruction and government; and one of four members on the superintending committee with Kents Hill School founders Luther Sampson and Elihu Robinson.    

Part of Kents Hill village as it looked in Dudley Moody's day.
The "new Methodist Meeting House" can be seen here - now
called Torsey Memorial Methodist Church.

Dudley Moody also served as agent and treasurer on the Board of Trustees at the old Methodist Meeting House on Kents Hill, along with David Sampson (son of Luther Sampson, Kents Hill School founder), John Jewett, John Hewett and John Haynes.[ix] The old meeting house was sold to Jewett after Torsey Church was built and he ran a store there – today it is the site of the Kents Hill Post Office.

Moody’s youngest daughter Harriett and her husband Alvan Packard lived and farmed on the home place with them. They had no children as far as I know. 

Another daughter, Elizabeth, married Rev. Howard Brooks Abbott, who originated in Sidney. He was a Bowdoin College graduate, class of 1836, and his residence was Lewiston at that time. He was among the Methodist Conference visitors listed in the Maine Wesleyan Seminary catalogues and, no doubt that is how he met Elizabeth Moody. Elizabeth and Rev. Abbott were married May, 1850. His residence was Portland at that time. He was 40 years old and she was 32. Throughout their marriage he served several churches in Maine – Kennebunkport in 1850; Biddeford in 1860; and by 1870 they were back in Lewiston again. They had two sons who both died young – one at 2 years and the other was 15 years old. After Rev. Abbott died in 1876 Elizabeth moved back to live on Kents Hill to be near her family. She died in 1894.

Dudley Moody Tavern as it looked in 1960. The current
(2014) owner tells me there was a fire here in 1875.

Another daughter, Mary Ann, married George Washington Jewett. I figured he was a member of the Kents Hill Jewett family, but as it turned out he was born in 1815 in Sidney and raised there. He came to Kents Hill School as a student in 1839[x] and surely met Mary Ann while attending school here. Perhaps he was one of the boarders at Moody’s Tavern. At any rate they were married in 1841 and he became a teacher. They lived in Augusta for a while, and then moved to North Carolina where they were living in 1870 and he was still teaching. By 1880 they had moved back to Kents Hill where they had their own home. Their daughter Ella (Mrs.) Crosley and husband were living with them. George Jewett’s occupation was listed as retired school teacher on the 1880 US Census.[xi]  

Their only son, Joseph, married Ella Simpson of New York City in 1870 [xii].

The Moody family is buried in Kents Hill Cemetery
among members of the Packard, Kent, Jewett, Lane,
Sampson, Robinson and other families who were
their neighbors and friends for decades.

Dudley Moody died October 2, 1865 age 76 years and his wife Mary on May 16, 1862 age 67years. They are buried in Kents Hill Cemetery, near the Packard, Sampson, Kent, Robinson, Lane, Jewett and other families who touched their lives so intimately during their years living in the little hamlet called Kents Hill. Beside or near them are their son Joseph, daughter Harriett and her husband Alvan, daughter Elizabeth and her husband Rev. Abbott, and daughter Mary Ann and her husband George Jewett. Buried there also are some third generation Moody family members.[xiii]

Children of Dudley and Mary (Richardson) Moody:

1) Elizabeth Carpenter b.12/6/1818
2) Mary Ann James b.2/16/1820
3) Joseph Gilman b.12/7/1829
4) Harriet Amelia b.4/10/1832

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[i] Cochrane, Harry; History of Monmouth and Wales; pub.1894, reprint 1988 by Monmouth HS; page 95, 99-100, 125

[ii] History of Kennebec County; pub. 1892; pages 897, 893, 915, 922-923 reference Dudley Moore

[iii] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds 1/17/1829 Book 70 Page 267

[vi] National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-Sept. 30, 1971; Roll #: 53; Archive Publication #: M841. Accessed 5/23/2014

[v] Ibid Book 232 Page262; Book 109 Page 215;  Book 122 Page 328

[vi] Census Year: 1860; Census Place: Readfield, Kennebec, Maine; Archive Collection Number: 5-135; Roll: 5; Page: 3; Line: 08; Schedule Type: Agriculture. Accessed 5/23/2014

[vii] History of Kennebec County; pub. 1892; pages 897, 893, 915, 922-923 reference Dudley Moore.

[viii] Packards were many on Kents Hill. The Kents Hill Cemetery was on Packard land and deeded to the church for a burial ground; P Ridge Road was Packard Road in the early days; the corner of P Ridge and Main Street was called Packard's Corner in the early days. The Packard men were carpenters and built several of the houses on Kents Hill and in other parts of town as well. I have often wondered why “the hill” was not named Packard Hill instead of Kents Hill. The earliest deeds, when referring to the road from Readfield Corner describe Main Street as “the road from Readfield Corners to Kents Hill, so called” so it was that from very early on – but so were the Packards here early on. It’s a mystery!

[ix] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds 4/4/1840 178 Page 552. Trustees sold land to John Jewett that belonged to the old Meetinghouse. The deed mentions the “new meeting house” which would be Torsey Church.

[x] Ancestry.com. U.S., High School Student Lists, 1821-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012.

Original data: School Student Lists. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society. Accessed 5/23/2014

[xi] U.S. Census 1850 through 1880
[xii] Cochrane, Harry; History of Monmouth and Wales; pub.1894, reprint 1988 by Monmouth HS; page 118 Volume II

[xiii] Potter-Clark, Dale; To Those Who Rest in Peace in Readfield Maine; personal library of Dale Potter Clark, pub. pending 2014