PITTS, Seth 1790 US Census Winthrop (Readfield) 2-0-4-0-0

Seth Pitts was born 1733 in Taunton, MA the eldest son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Hanover) Pitts.[i] He married Abigail Wade in Raynham, MA in 1754[ii] and all ten of their children were born in Taunton 1756-1772. When Seth and Abigail Pitts were about 45 and 50 years old they gathered up their family and made their way from Taunton to Hallowell, ME on the Kennebec River[iii] where they are recorded as living 1781-1784.[iv] Two of his sons served in the Revolutionary War – one enlisted when they were still living in Taunton.[v] It was not long before Pitts was lured by the available lands in the back country and moved his family yet again (those who were still living at home) on to Winthrop (Readfield) before 1787.[vi] There, Seth Pitts and family are listed on the 1790 US Census – living in the northern parish of Winthrop which one year later became Readfield. At that time the Pitts household consisted of two males over 16yrs – no doubt included was their youngest son Oliver Cromwell Pitts who did not marry until 1795. Their other three sons – Seth, Jr., Shubael and Ichabod were in their 20’s and 30’s by then and had stayed behind / settled in Augusta and Sidney. The Pitts daughters Sally, Esther and Polly were not married yet in 1790 and still living at home also.

I do not know exactly where Seth Pitts built a home but it was on Lot #213[vii] on Church Road – most likely at the top of the hill north of Readfield Corner Cemetery. Church Road runs the rangeway between lots #212 and #213 so the best estimate of where his house was located would be on the east side of the road where a stone house presently sits. The original house that once sat there burned many years ago. Bearing in mind the distance of neighbors in those times – the Pitts family lived near Benjamin Savage; Daniel and Paul Wing; and the Norton’s – Constant, Stephen and Peter.[viii] In 1799 - four years after Seth Pitt’s son Cromwell married there was an exchange of property from Seth to Cromwell.[ix] With the knowledge of this transaction one would assume father and son were living near each other. Also, the US 1800 Census lists their names adjacent to each other.  

The old section of Readfield Corner Cemetery where Seth Pitts is buried. Though he does not have a gravestone we know from the deed (mentioned) below that he is buried here.

 

Seth Pitts does not appear on the rolls as having served his community as a civil servant. He died at 74years on June 23, 1807.[x] Surely he knew death was eminent for on the same day he signed over property “on Lot #213” to his youngest son Cromwell Pitts.[xi]  One year after his father’s death Cromwell Pitt deeded the first of two pieces of land to the Town of Readfield for the Readfield Corner Cemetery.[xii] Again I speculate – did Seth Pitts chose his own burial place? Cromwell Pitts deeded a second parcel of land to the Town of Readfield in 1821 to annex the cemetery. The deed reads in part “Beginning about seven feet west of head of the grave where Seth Pitts in buried…”[xiii] From this I speculate that Seth Pitts may have been the first person to be buried in Readfield Corner Cemetery. I have not found his grave marker at Readfield Corner Cemetery but this deed proves he is buried there without any doubt.[xiv] It must have been comforting to both Seth Pitts and for his family to know his final resting place would be near the Pitts homestead.

 Children of Seth and Abigail (Wade) Pitts born in Taunton, MA:

1. Roshanna b.1756 d.unknown
2. Seth, Jr. b.1754 d.8/22/1846 Augusta, ME Revolutionary War Veteran[xv] m. Elizabeth Lewis she b.1756 Canton, MA d.1845 Augusta, ME
3. Ichabod b.1762 d.1830 Sidney, ME m.1817 Betsey Trask She b.1797 in Sidney
4. Elizabeth b.1764 m.1787 Daniel Holman of Livermorestown (Livermore, ME). Lived in Dixfield, ME
5. Shubael b.1766 d.1849 Augusta Revolutionary War Veteran[xvi] m1. Parthenia Barton She b.1772 Vassalboro, ME d/o Dr. Stephen and Dorothy (Moore) Barton and niece and assistant of Martha (Moore) Ballard the 18^th century midwife in Hallowell whose diary has been published and made into a movie.[xvii] She d.9/4/1794 Hallowell with Martha Ballard in attendance.[xviii] Shubael m2. 7/28/1796 Sally Cox (Cocks) – another of Martha Ballards assistants. Sally b.1770 Chelsea, ME Sally and Shubael are buried in Kling Cemetery, Augusta, ME. Parthenia in Mt. Vernon Cemetery (old section of Mt. Hope) in Augusta. Shubael was a blacksmith in Augusta and had a shop on the east side of Water Street.[xix] His second wife Sally operated a boarding home for debtors in the same area.[xx]
6. Esther Celia b.1768 m.1798 John Basford of Hampden, Hancock, ME
7. Polly b.1772 m.1799 Robert Philbrook of Clinton, ME
8.  Abigail b.1774
9. Sally b.1779 d.1851 Readfield m.1806 Phineas “Pheney” Randall He b.1772 Easton, MA s/o Robert and Amey Randall He d.1847 Readfield
10. Oliver Cromwell b.1772 d.1840 Readfield m.1795 Thankful Norcross. She b.1774 d/o Samuel and Mary (Wiswell) Norcross. In the first half of the 19th century he kept a hotel where a Mrs. Lord was living in 1892. [xxi] Served as Town Treasurer in 1821. [xxii]. In 1808 he deeded land to the Town of Readfield for Readfield Corner Cemetery. [xxiv] Oliver lived near his father in Readfield on Lot#213, Church Road.Children: i. Betsey b.9/24/1795 ii. Harriet b.7/29/1798 iii. Celia b.3/25/1802 She married James Brown in 1827, who was the grandson of one of Winthrop's earliest settlers - Unight Brown. [xxv]

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[i] http://www.ancestry.com, Database online. Accessed 7/27/2013

[ii] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 (Provo, UT, USA http://www.Ancestry.com; accessed 7/25/2013

[iii] History of Winthrop by Everett Stackpole; pub. 1925 Merrill & Webber, Auburn, ME; page 551

[iv] History of Winthrop by Everett Stackpole; pub. 1925 Merrill & Webber, Auburn, ME; page 551

[v] Soldiers, Sailors and Patriots of the Revolutionary War Maine by Carleton and Sue Fisher; pub. 1982 National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, Louisville, KY; Page 626

[vi]  Maine Early Census 1787 Winthrop, ME page 15 www.ancestry.com accessed 7/30/2013

[vii] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds 8/23/1808 Book 15 Page292

[viii] 1790 US Census Winthrop, ME

[ix] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds 9/5/1799 Book 11 Page 556

[x] http://www.ancestry.com, Database online. Accessed 7/27/2013

[xi] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds 6/23/1807 Book 13 Page 44

[xii] ibid

[xiii] Ibid Book 39 Page 344

[xiv] www.findagrave.com Find A Grave Memorial# 114645200 accessed 7/30/2013

[xv] Soldiers, Sailors and Patriots of the Revolutionary War Maine by Carleton and Sue Fisher; pub. 1982 National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, Louisville, KY; Page 626

[xvi] Ibid

[xvii] A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary 1785-1812 by Laurel Ulrich; pub. 1990 Alfred A. Knopf NY, NY; various pages

[xviii] ibid

[xix] History of Augusta, ME by North, James W; pub 1870 Augusta, ME, Clapp & North (reprinted by The New England Press, Somersworth, NH 1981)

[xx] A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich; pub. 1990 Alfred A. Knopf NY, NY

[xxi] History of Kennebec County by Kingsbury; pub. 1892; page 896
[xxii] ibid page 907
[xxiii] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds August 23, 1808
[xxiv] Church Road is the boundary line between Lots #212 and #213; interview by phone with Dan Harriman 7/29/2013, whose 50year lifetime career has been in land surveying in Readfield and the surrounding area.
[xxv] To Those Who Led the Way: Readfield VR's 1768-1913; pub.2009 Dale Potter Clark; pg. 37 www.readfieldmaine.blogspot.com

PIERCE, Thomas, Captain 1820 US Census Readfield 1-1-2-1

Section of the 1856 map of Readfield that shows Church Rd.
and the location of the Thomas Pierce property. In 1839 the
Church Road was referred to as "the road that leads
to the Captain Thomas Pierce house" on an old deed.

Thomas Pierce was born 1785 in Falmouth, ME s/o Thomas and Elizabeth (Storer) Pierce. He came to Readfield [i] about 1810 where he was listed as serving in the Readfield Regiment during the War of 1812 as a Musician.[ii]  In 1813 he married Betsey Pitts of Readfield.[iii] She was born 1796 d/o Cromwell and Thankful (Norcross) Pitts[iv] and granddaughter of Seth Pitts of Readfield. The same year Thomas Pierce and Betsey Pitts were married Thomas was deeded property in Readfield by David Hunton.[v] The Pierces’ lived on Church Road[vi] - which was referred to in an old 1839

Overlooking the property that was settled by
Captain Thomas Pierce. Here his purebred
Shorthorn Cattle once grazed. The house
burned in the 1940s and a new one was
built by Fred Piper.

Kennebec County deed as "the road leading to the farm of Captain Thomas Pierce".[vii] Interestingly his land abutted that of Robert Cornforth.[viii] Both men introduced high quality Shorthorn Cattle to Readfield in 1829-1830 and became the foremost cattle breeders in western Kennebec County.[ix] Pierce’s bulls were named Uranus and Gold-Finder.[x] Pierce and Cornforth both contributed significantly to the improvement of the herds in our area. In 1841 Capt. Thomas Pierce served as a selectman in the town of Readfield[xi] and in 1848 in the Maine State Legislature.[xii] He was a farmer, a cattle breeder and contributed to local and state politics. He must have been a very energetic and ambitious person for at age 71yrs his occupation was listed as mason on the US Census.[xiii]

Gravestone of Capt. Thomas Pierce, his wives and

some of his children at Readfield Corner Cemetery.

 

Thomas Pierce's brother Charles married Betsey's sister Harriet Pitts and they also lived in Readfield. Thomas and Betsey Pierce raised their six children in Readfield. She died 12/15/1862 and seven months later Captain Thomas married a woman thirty-one years younger – Mrs. Aurella Caldwell of Readfield.[xiv]  By 1870 Thomas was listed as “retired farmer”. His property value had doubled from $1,500 to $3,000 in those ten years. Aurilla also had property valued at $2,800. He died 12/31/1871 and Aurilla continued to live at the Pierce homestead. She died in 1886 and her estate was signed over to Abner T. and George Rollins in 1889.[xv] Thomas, Betsey and Aurilla Pierce are all buried at Readfield Corner Cemetery.[xvi]

 Children of Thomas and Betsey (Pitts) Pierce born in Readfield:[xvii]

1. Thankful Pitts b.2/18/1814 d.4/6/1859 m. William Caldwell
2. Lewis b.2/5/1816 d.6/8/1837 New Orleans, LA
3. Almira b.9/29/1818 d.2/12/1842 m. Miles Williams
4. Betsey Jane b.11/16/1821 d.unknown m. Simeon Ryder
5. Thomas S. b.9/12/1827 d.7/28/1832
6. Miriam Webster b.1/9/1830 d.8/21/1919
   

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[i] 1800 US Census Falmouth, ME; 1820 US Census Readfield, ME

[ii] History of Kennebec County by Kingsbury; published 1892; chapter on military history page 117

[iii] To Those Who Led the Way: Readfield VR’s 1768-1913; self-pub Dale Potter Clark; pg 108; wwwreadfieldmaine.blogspot.com

[iv] Stackpole’s History of Winthrop, Me with Genealogical notes by Keene and Young; pub. 1992 by Heritage Books Inc. Bowie, MD; pages 799-800

[v] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds; Book 23 Page 536; 12/24/1813

[vi] 1856 and 1879 maps of Readfield, ME

[vii] http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mecreadf/thomascraig.htm accessed 7/1/2013. The Pierce farm was located on the land owned in the 20^th century by Charles Brisbin then Fred Piper then Gordon Poole then Paul Picard. It burned when owned by Brisbin and Piper built another on that site around 1948.

[viii] Lot #211 on 1791 map of Readfield.

[ix] History of Kennebec County by Kingsbury; published 1892; chapter of agricultural history page 205

[x] Annual Report of the Secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture, Issue 19

[xi] History of Kennebec County by Kingsbury; published 1892; page 906

[xii] ibid page 89

[xiii] 1860 US Census Readfield; 1870 US Census Readfield

[xiv] To Those Who Led the Way: Readfield VR’s 1768-1913; self-pub Dale Potter Clark; pg 178; wwwreadfieldmaine.blogspot.com

[xv] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds

[xvi] Readfield, ME Cemetery Inscriptions 1771-1981; in possession of Dale Potter Clark 2013

[xvii] To Those Who Led the Way: Readfield VR’s 1768-1913; self-pub Dale Potter Clark; pg 37; wwwreadfieldmaine.blogspot.com