BEAN, Joshua, Jr. ~ 1790 U.S. Census Winthrop 6-2-5

First let me give some background on Joshua Bean (1741-1814) and what we believe led him from Gilmanton, NH to Readfield, Maine. My Readfield Corner research partner, Bill Adams, discovered AARON Bean when digging into old Readfield deeds on Church Road properties. He unearthed Aaron Bean's name on some early 19th century mortgages, and asked me (Dale Potter-Clark) to figure out who Aaron was as he never lived in this area as far as either of us knew. The discovery process was well worth my effort.

Aaron Bean was born 1779 in Brentwood, NH, the youngest of 21 Bean children – his half brother Joshua Bean was the second oldest of this clan. Aaron grew up in Gilmanton and attended local schools, was a good student and set off for Dartmouth College where other members of this family had attended. He and a nephew graduated the same year and an uncle was on faculty. His older brother Stephen had also attended Dartmouth and went to Boston where he became well connected to illustrious Boston businessmen as did Aaron who in time was asked to manage properties for wealthy Boston businessmen and merchants. Some owned land in the back-country of Maine, within the Kennebec Purchase. It is likely that Bean and Dartmouth connections such as these, in Boston, were responsible for Joshua Bean's acquisitions of VERY large and valuable tracts of land in Readfield, Hallowell, Farmingdale and other towns within the Kennebec Purchase. By the way, Aaron Bean did very well but was stricken by a sudden illness at age 41 and died young. He and his wife Sarah Gooch are buried in the Old Granary Burial Yard in Boston. 

JOSHUA BEAN, Jr. ~ 1741-1814

Born to Joshua Bean, Sr. and Hannah (Robinson) in Brentwood, NH., the second of 21 children born to Joshua and his two wives. Joshua Jr.'s mother died when he was 16 and his father remarried to Aaron's (above) mother Lydia (Brown) in 1758. 

Joshua, Jr. married his first cousin Mary Bean in 1762. She was a daughter of Sinkler and Shuah (Fifield) Bean. They followed Joshua's older sister Hannah and her husband Benjamin Mudgett to Gilmanton, NH who had been among the first to settle in Gilmanton in 1761 - Hannah was the first white woman to live there. Joshua and Mary Bean's eldest child, Elisha, was born in Gilmanton in 1764. The rest of the Bean family had followed the two couples there by 1780.

The Beans were Quakers so did not pick up arms during the Revolutionary War. The Association Test Act of April 12, 1776 read as follows:  "We the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British Fleet, and the Armies against The United States." By then Joshua Bean was living in Gilmanton, NH where he, his father and brothers, Simeon and Gideon, dissented from this affirmation and sent to the government a respectful letter, in which they declared that they cordially approved of the Declaration of Independence, made on the 4th of July preceding, and that they consented to be taxed for the support of the American cause, but that they had conscientious scruples against defending their country with arms. Thirty-five from Gilmanton signed the letter. Joshua Bean, Jr. is listed among those Maine Patriots who were given credit for Patriotic  Service as a RW veteran. He died in 1814 before a RW pension was approved.

As mentioned earlier, Joshua Bean acquired thousands of acres of land within the Kennebec Purchase, among which was about 1,200 acres in what later became the town of Farmingdale. That tract stretched from the Kennebec River west to Lake Cobbosseeconte and it is believed he, Mary and their children may have lived there from about 1780 to 1784 before moving to the northern part of Winthrop, which was incorporated as Readfield in 1791. Their two youngest children, Hannah and Manley, were born in Readfield. Joshua was a town father who hosted several town meetings at his home and he also served in various town offices. His home was located near the north end of Lake Maranacook - then called Chandler's Mill Pond - where he owned about 400 acres. He owned another 400 acres in the eastern part of town that were soon sold and settled into what became parts of Readfield Depot and East Readfield. He and his son Joel bought other parcels of land in Readfield as well, including the waterpower at the outlet / stream from Torsey Pond (then called Bean Pond) where Joel established a sawmill, grist mill and fulling mill about 1800. When Joshua died in 1814 his eldest son Elisha (1764-1820) took over the family homestead. After Elisha it was owned by a grandson, Charles (son of Sheppard 1784-1847) and his wife Ruth Ann (Fogg). The original Bean homestead remained in the Bean family until about 1864. The house still stands but has been enlarged and changed considerably since Joshua's day.
There is much early and industrial history that we can trace back to Joshua and Mary Bean. They had 13 children. Several remained in Readfield, others left for other communities in Maine. According to the Bean family history there was a rift in the family at which time some of their children packed up and moved to Jay, Maine where they settled in the part of town that became known as "Bean's Corner". They even dug up their dead, according to family history, and transported the bodies by oxcart to the cemetery there.
This chart demonstrates the names of their children and their spouses. Those who remained in Readfield are in red ink and those who did not are in black. The slide after that includes a photo of the Joshua Bean homestead before significant changes were made to it in the 1980s. The barn was restored and remains on the premises. The three slides on this page are from Dale Potter-Clark's 37 slide presentation "The Beans of Readfield, Maine".