Hannah Knight Libby was born on Monday, 9 Oct 1786[1]
in Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine to Zebulon Libby and Lydia Andrews. Hannah descended from several generations of
ancestors who had been among the earliest settlers of what would become the
United States of America.
Capt. Zebulon Libby, as her father was known, was born in
Scarborough, 1 Feb 1757[2]
; and married in Scarborough, 19 Oct. 1780[3],
to Lydia Andrews, daughter of Deacon Amos and Anne (Seavey) Andrews of
Scarborough. A year or two after his marriage, he settled on a portion of his
father's large purchase which was then in Scarborough, but is now in Saco.
There he always lived. It appears that
Zebulon and Lydia were buried on their farm property – in the Libby Plot
Cemetery on Watson Mill Road in Saco.[4] Watson Mill Road is the first road to the
west of Broadturn Road in Scarborough were the Carter family resided. In fact, John Carter just prior to his
marriage to Hannah had purchased a piece of land that straddled the
Saco/Scarborough boundary and probably was adjacent or quite near to the Libby
homestead.
 |
| Location of Libby and Carter farms in rural Scarborough, Maine |
Zebulon was a patriot
having served three years in the Revolution, and was afterward a captain in the
militia. His Revolutionary war record is summarized as follows: “Private, Capt. Abraham Tyler's Co., Col. Edmund
Phinney's (31st) regt.; billeting allowed from date of enlistment, May 9, 1775,
to date of marching to headquarters, July 6, 1775; credited with 57 days
allowance; also, order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Cambridge,
Oct. 26, 1775; also, Private, Capt. Abraham Tyler's co., Col. Edmund Phinney's
regt.; muster roll dated Garrison at fort George, Dec. 8, 1776; also, Corporal,
Capt. Benjamin Parker's Co;., Col. Nathan (Nathaniel) Wade's regt.; enlisted
June 25 [1778]; company stationed at Rhode Island for 6 months.”[5] He died 6 Dec. 1835 and his widow died
9 Dec. 1838.[6]
Hannah was the fourth of
eleven children born to Zebulon and Lydia Andrews Libby. Ten of the eleven children lived to marry and
have families of their own, so the descent of this family quite numerous. Hannah had two older brothers (Amos born 29
Jan 1781 and John born 20 Dec 1784) and one sister (Mary Ingersol Libby born 11
Mar 1783). The children continued to
come after Hannah in a regular pattern of every two or three years: Eunice, born 6 July 1788; Anna, born 24 Feb
1791; Thimothy, born 9 Oct 1793; Lydia, born 23 Sep 1795; David, born 15 Sep
1798; Josiah, born 10 May 1800; and finally Clarissa Milliken Libby, born 25
Feb 1802. Josiah was the one child that
didn’t live to adulthood, dying three days short of nine months on 7 Feb
1801. Hannah was 14 years of age and
must have been deeply touched by this event.
This large family was essential in running a large farming
operation. Without the heavy machinery
we have today, the family was the main source of labor for the many farm
duties.
No real details of
Hannah’s early life are known. The best
we can do is reconstruct what her life was probably like. Scarborough was one of the earliest
settlements along the northern New England coast. “In about 1630, John Stratton opened a
trading post on Stratton Island in Saco Bay off Scarborough's shore. In 1631, the Plymouth Council for New England
granted the "Black Point Patent" to Captain Thomas Cammock, nephew of
the Earl of Warwick. Cammock built a house and began residence in 1635 on the
1,500-acre (6.1 km2) tract of land, which extended from the Spurwink River to
Black Point - today this area is known as Prouts Neck. However, he then sold his holdings and moved
to the West Indies. Nevertheless, settlements developed at Black Point, Blue
Point (i.e., Pine Point), Dunstan (i.e., West Scarborough) and Stratton Island.
By 1650, there were fifty homes. The town offered excellent fishing and
farming. On July 14, 1658, the Massachusetts General Court incorporated them
all as Scarborough, named for Scarborough in Yorkshire, England.”[7] It was north of the Dunstan (West
Scarborough) settlement that the Libby and Carter families would buy land in
later years and begin their farming endeavors.
But before that Scarborough was laid to waste by Indian attacks in the
King Philip’s War of 1675-1676. The true
resettlement of this area didn’t occur until 1702 when a fort was built on
Prout’s Neck and commanded by Captain John Libby (Hannah’s second great
uncle). Despite occasional subsequent
harassment, the second settlement succeeded. By 1749, it was economically
prosperous. Cattle and timber were important local products for export, with
Scarborough's many water power sites operating a dozen sawmills.[8]
The area known as
Dunstan in Scarborough, Maine, has a rich history. Settled by Europeans in
1651, it was named for Dunster, the English hometown of early settlers Andrew
and Arthur Alger. Early settlers quickly established farms, businesses and
schools in this beautiful area, still famous today for its pristine beaches and
protected salt marshes.
Dunstan immediately
became an important hub for goods and services. In Colonial times, Dunstan
Landing became a key access point to the Atlantic Ocean for lucrative timber
exports. In particular, tall Dunstan timber was highly sought after for masts
for the King's navy. From the early 1700s to the mid-1800s, ship building was
big business in coastal Maine, and many ships were built in Dunstan shipyards.
While connected to far-away ports through industry, Dunstan retained its
village charm.[9] John Carter’s grandfather, Benjamin Carter,
who first owned the land John was raised on, earned much money selling timber
for masts to the King’s navy prior to the Revolutionary War. So though Zebulon Libby was described as a
farmer, his economic endeavors probably spread out to timber cutting. One biographer of Zebulon stated that he was
also a blacksmith and a manufacturer of hay rakes.[10]
Hannah thus grew up in a
prosperous community on a probably well to do farm. Whether Hannah received any formal education
is questionable. By 1800, although 161
towns had been incorporated within the territorial limits of Maine, only seven
had grammar schools.[11]
From this it may be assumed that no more than seven had over one hundred
families and that the population was relatively sparse. Since the Libby family lived in a rural area
of farms, Hannah most likely received what education she did receive at the
feet of her mother.
It was in this relative
prosperous environment that Hannah spent her early, formative years.
[1] Black,
Susan Easton, compiler. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848.50 vols. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University
Religious Studies Center, 1989. Private Donor.
[2] Scarborough (Maine). Town Clerk (Main
Author) LDS Microfilm - FHL US/CAN Film [12221], Vol 1, Page 266.
[3] Second
Church of Scarborough Marriages, 1744-1800 in the Maine Historical and
Genealogical Recorder [Ancestry.com], vol. 4 (Portland, Me.: S.M. Watson, 1887)
- "Oct. 19, [1780.] Zebulon Libby and Lidia Andrews."
[4] "Maine,
Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980," database with images,
FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVJP-R6D8 : 30 October
2014), Zebulon Libby, 1835; citing Saco, York, Maine, United States, Libby Plot
Cemetery, Maine State Library, Augusta; FHL microfilm 1,316,077.
[5] Massachusetts
Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, Vol 9, p. 784 (images online at
Ancestry.com).
[6] Maine,
Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, op. cit.
[7]
Wikipedia, Scarborough, Maine
[8]
Ibid.
[9] http://www.dunstancrossing.com/history.html
[10] Betty
Andrews Storey "The Descendants of Lieut. John Andrews of
Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts,", 2009.
[11] William J. Corthell, Twenty-Third Annual Report of the State
Superintendent of Common Schools, 1876, p.20.
No comments:
Post a Comment