Moses father Joseph Greeley was a mill operator in Haverhill,
MA and his children numbered ten. Moses was born in Haverhill, MA in 1711.
He married to Mehitable Page and they were parents to eight children – three of
them sons. Moses - the middle son - was accidentally shot by his brother Seth
at a young age. The other two migrated to Maine with their father. With them came their sisters 29 yo Mary
(married Joseph Brown), 26 yo Mehitable (married Nathaniel Davis), 13 yo
Susanna (m1 Joseph Davenport m2. Capt. Perkins Allen) and 20 yo Judith (married
John Huston).
In 1761 Moses, 24 year old Seth and 11 year old Joseph, came
to Fort Western (now Augusta.) By the spring of 1762 they had built a cabin on
the east- side of the Kennebec River, and in 1765 Moses received a grant for
the 250 acre Lot#24, adjoining the Fort. Sometime before 1770 they removed to
Winthrop (then called Pondtown) where Moses and Joseph signed the petition to
incorporate in December of that year. Seth purchased
Lot#10 on the west shore
of Cobbossee. Joseph and Moses settled on Lot #135 on the east shore of
Maranacook, (in the part of Winthrop that later became Readfield - refer to the 1791 map of Readfield on this web site.)
This country was so newly settled there were no churches
here at that time and according to the Greeley family history Moses was a religious
man. He often could be found preaching a sermon when people assembled. He also
liked to entertain folks with his singing, reading and performances on the bass
violin.
In 1783 Moses moved
on again – this time to Sandy River where he married his second wife at age 85.
Moses lived in Phillips until his death at 95 years of age. It is said he was
well cared for by his son who lived nearby. His daughters Mary,
Mehitable, Judith and Susanna all moved with their husbands and children to
Sandy River also. Son Seth went west to Ohio in 1818 where he died. Joseph
returned to this area and died in Belgrade in 1824. I can think of no truer
pioneer spirit than this family must have had.
Sources:- Greeley Genealogy, Maine State Library
- History of Kennebec County
- Readfield, Maine Vital Records
- ME Families 1790, ME Genealogical Society, Vols. 5 & 6
- Marriage Notices from Maine Farmer 1833-1852 by Young
- History of Winthrop by Everett Stackpole, 1923
- 1790 Maine Census
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