Genealogical and Family History
of the
STATE OF MAINE

Compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D.

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
New York
1909.

[Please see Index page for full citation.]

[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]

[Many families included in these genealogical records had their beginnings in Massachusetts.]

EMERSON The Emerson family originated in England, and the first to use the name there was Johannes Emeryson, of Brancepeth parish, county Durham, England, who was born before 1300. From him the various braches of the English family are descended, though the line cannot be traced perfectly. (I) Thomas Emerson, the English ancestor, was born before 1540 and was a resident of Great Dunmow, county Essex, where his three children are registered. He was probably son of Ralf of Foxton, who received arms in 1535. Children: 1. Robert, baptized Oct. 25, 1561. 2. Joan, baptized 1562. 3. John, baptized 1565. (II) Robert, son of Thomas Emerson, was born in Great Dunmow and baptized there Oct. 25, 1561. He may be identical with Robert Emerson of Bishops Stortford who married there Nov. 24, 1578, Susan Crabb, who was buried there Nov. 20, 1626, aged seventy years. Robert was buried at Bishops Stortford, Jan. 6, 1620. Children: 1. Alice, baptized Nov. 22, 1579. 2. Margaret, baptized Feb. 21, 1581-82. 3. Thomas, mentioned below. 4. Anne. 5. Robert, baptized April 12, 1696. 6. John. (III) Thomas (2), son of Robert Emerson, was baptized at Bishops Stortford, July 26, 1584, and died at Ipswich, Mass., May 1, 1666. In the church warden's book of St. Michaels he is recorded as a collector for the poor in 1636. He was the immigrant ancestor and according to family tradition came to New England in the ship "Elizabeth Ann," in 1635. He settled in Ipswich and had a grant of land there in 1638. He married July 1, 1611, at Bishops Stortford, Elizabeth Brewster. The genealogist of the English Emersons suggests that she was the daughter of the postmaster of Scrooby and the elder of the colony at Plymouth. Children: (recorded at the baptismal registry of St. Michaels, Bishops Stortford, England: 1. Robert, bap. May 24, 1612. 2. Benjamin, bap. Oct. 2, 1614. 3. Ralfe, bap. Oct. 19, 1615, killed by the falling of a tree in June, 1626. 4. James, bap. Feb. 16, 1617. 5. Joseph, bap. June 25, 1620, mentioned below. 6. Elizabeth, bap. June 14, 1623. 7. John, bap. Feb. 26, 1625, settled in Gloucester, Mass. 8. Thomas. 9. Nathaniel, bap. July 18, 1630, settled at Ipswich. 10. Susan, bap March 17, 1633, may have died on the voyage. 11. Sarah, bap. Aug. 12, 1640. (IV) Joseph, son of Thomas (2) Emerson, was born in England and baptized at Bishops Stortford, June 25, 1620. He died at Concord, Mass., Jan. 3, 1680. Through his son Joseph he was the ancestor of that most illustrious American, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The line is: Ralph Waldo (8), William (7), Joseph (6), Edward (5), Joseph (4). He married, in 1646, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert and Margaret Woodmansey, schoolmaster of Boston. They resided at Ipswich, Mass.; York, Maine; and Milton, Mass. Joseph Emerson was a Puritan minister said to have been educated in England. He may have studied at Harvard. He was at Ipswich as early as 1638; was admitted a freeman there Dec. 19, 1648; preached at York, Maine, the same year. In 1653 he was a resident of Wells and took the freemen's oath there July 4, 1653. He signed a petition to Cromwell, while of Wells, asking the protector to confirm the jurisdiction of Mass. over the inhabitants of Wells. About 1664 he left Wells, where he seemed to have a turbulent lot of parishoners, and where the church, after he left, had to disband. About 1664 he became minister at Milton, Mass. Dec. 1, 1660, he settled in Mendon, Mass., where he remained until the town was destroyed by the Indians, when he retired to Concord, where he died. He married (second) Dec. 7, 1665, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley, of Concord, granddaughter of Rev. Peter Bulkeley, first minister of Concord. She was born in 1638 and died Sept. 4, 1693, having married Captain John Brown, of Reading. Children of 1st wife: 1. Joseph. 2. Mary. Children of 2d wife: 3. Lucian, born Oct. 2, 1667, married May 15, 1683, Thomas Damon. 4. Edward, born April 26, 1670, married Rebecca Waldo. 5. Peter, mentioned below. 6. Ebenezer. 7. Daniel, married May 19, 1709, Jane Armitage. (V) Peter, son of Rev. Joseph Emerson, was born in Mendon in 1673, died in 1749. He married Nov. 11, 1696, Anna, born in Reading in 1678, daughter of Capt. John and Anna (Fiske) Brown. Capt. John Brown had married Peter Emerson's mother. They resided in the first parish of Reading, now South Reading, on the farm inherited from Capt. Brown. Children: 1. Anna, born July 6, 1697, died Aug. 11, 1697. 2. Elizabeth, born Feb. 20, 1699. 3. Anna, born March 9, 1701. 4. Brown, born April 16, 1704. 5. Lucy, born 1706. 6. Sarah, born Nov. 8, 1708. 7. Jane, born March 11, 1711. 8. Mary, born Dec. 20, 1713. 9. Daniel, born May 20, 1716, mentioned below. 10. Catherine, born Dec. 2, 1718. (VI) Rev. Daniel, son of Peter Emerson, was born at Reading, May 20, 1716, died at Hollis, N. H., Sept. 39, 1801. He married Nov. 7, 1744, Hannah, born at Malden, Dec. 3, 1722, died at Hollis, Feb. 28, 1812, daughter of Rev. Joseph and Mary (Moody) Emerson, of Malden. They resided at Hollis. Daniel Emerson was graduated at Harvard College in 1739 and immediately prepared himself for work in the ministry. In 1741 he was called to be the first minister of Hollis, N. H., then the west precinct of Dunstable, Mass. He continued minister until Nov. 27, 1793, when Rev. Eli Smith, who married his granddaughter, was elected as his colleague. In 1755, during the old French war, he was chaplain to the famous rangers of which Robert Rogers and John Stark were the officers. He was considered the ranking officer because of his family arms, bearing three lions. He kept a journal during his service and it has been preserved. He was chaplain again in 1758 in Colonel Hart's regiment. One of his letters to his wife, dated at Crown Point in 1755, was brought to Hollis by his dog, which he had trained for the purpose. He taught school and fitted his students for college. He gave the land on which the meeting house was built. He was one of the ablest advocates of the New Light doctrine and for many years was the leading and most influential minister in his section of the country. Professor Churchill said of him: "He was a kind of Congregational Bishop in his region." His dwelling house, built and occupied while he was a minister at Hollis, is in good repair and habitable. Children: 1. Hannah, born Sept. 30, 1745, married Manasseh Smith. 2. Daniel, born Dec. 15, 1746. 3. Mary, born Sept. 19, 1748. 4. Peter, born Nov. 19, 1749. 5. Lucy, born Oct. 29, 1751. 6. Mary, born Nov. 14, 1753. 7. Elizabeth, born May 5, 1755. 8. Ebenezer, born Aug. 14, 1757. 9. Joseph, born Sept. 28, 1759, graduate of Harvard 1779. 10. Ralph, born March 4, 1761. 11. Rebecca, born July 8, 1762. 12. Samuel, born Sept. 6, 1764. 13. William, born Dec. 11, 1765.