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.]

HODGDON The progenitor of the Hodgdons of Maine was the earliest immigrant of the name in New England, and was in Massachusetts before the Pilgrims of the "Mayflower" had seen fourteen years in the wilderness of Mass. Besides the form given above, the name appears in old records as Hodsden, Hodsdin, Hodsdon, and in the "Colonial Records" as Hudson. (I) Nicholas Hodgdon was of Hingham, Mass. in 1635. The next year the selectmen granted him a home lot in the center of town, and still later he was granted meadow lands elsewhere. He was made a freeman March 9, 1637. About 1650 he, with others, bought large tracts of land in what is now Newton. About 1656 he sold his lands in both towns and moved to what is now Kittery, Maine, where he was graned land by the town Oct. 15, 1656, but he was already living there, as the grant was for a "lott of land above his house." At various subsequent times he also received grants. At this time he lived at Quamphegan; in later life he lived on a farm on the easterly side of the Piscataquis river, in the extreme southerly part of what is now South Berwick. He was a prosperious farmer. The family for several generations lived the regular life of our sturdy ancestors, but the public records give only meager facts, and the existing family reocrds throw little light on the earlier genearations of the family. Nicholas married (first) in Hingham, about 1639, Esther Wines, who died in 1647. He married (second) in 1649, Elizabeth, widow of John Needham. The dates of the birth of Nicholas and his wifes' deaths are unknown. Nicholas and Elizabeth are probably buried in the family graveyard on the farm in Kittery. Children, order & dates of birth not known: Esther, Mehitable, Jeremiah, Israel, Elizabeth, Benoni (all baptized in Hingham), Sarah (b. about 1650), Timothy, John, Joseph and Lucy. (II) Jeremiah, third child of Nicholas and Esther (Wines) Hodgdon, was baptized in Hingham, Mass., Sept. 6, 1643, moved with his father to Kittery, and there received a grant of land in 1666. In this latter year he was also taxed in Dover. He moved to Portsmouth, and finally to what is now Newcastle, N. H., where he died before 1716. He married, about 1666, Anne Thwaits, daughter of Alexander and Anne Thwaits. After the death of her husband she removed to Boston, where in 1719 she joined the Brattle Street Church. The date of her death is unknown. Children, dates unknown: Alexander, John, Elizabeth, Nathaniel and Rebecca. (III) Alexander, eldest child of Jeremiah and Anne (Thwaits) Hodgdon, was born probably in Portsmouth, N. H. He was a member of the church and evidently a man of intelligence and high standing in that organization, as he was one of a committee to obtain the services of a minister in Newington. In 1753 he sold all his lands in Newington to his son Alexander for 1,600 pounds, and we find no further record of him in that town or elsewhere. He married Jane Shackford, of Dover, N. H., and they had six or more children, dates of birth unknown. Children: Alexander, Joseph, John, Benjamin, Anna and Elizabeth. (IV) Joseph, second son of Alexander and Jane (Shackford) Hodgdon, was probably a native of Newington, N. H. He resided in Newington, where six children were baptized, and moved from there about 1737 to Scarborough, Maine. His occupation, like that of his ancestors and the great majority of American colonists, was farming. His wife Patience, whose family name is unknown, bore him six children. Children: Patience (died young), Alexander, John, Patience, Lydia and Abigail. (V) John, third child of Joseph and Patience Hodgdon, was baptized in Scarborough, July 10, 1727, and was a lifelong farmer there. He married, in Scarborough, Dec. 12, 1754, Mary McKenney, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Jimmerson) McKenney. Children: William, James, John, Jonathan, Jeremy, Hannah and Mary. (VI) John (2), third son of John (1) and Mary (McKenney) Hodgdon, was baptized April 22, 1759, in Scarborough, where he spent his life farming. He married in Scarborough April 18, 1776, Katherine Harmon, daughter of William and Esther (Hoit) Harmon. Children: William, John, Olive, Joseph, Jane, and other children. (VII) William, eldest child of John (2) and Katherine (Harmon) Hodgdon, was born in Scarborough, Nov. 12, 1777, and died in Milo, Oct., 1849. He was a farmer in Scarborough until about 1800, when he moved to Saco. He resided thre until some years after the death of his first wife, when he removed to Milo, where his last years were spent. He married (first) in Scarborough, Dec. 23, 1798, Mercy, daughter of Nathaniel and Anna (Gould) Seavey. She was born in Scarborough Aug. 10, 1777, and died in Saco. Aug. 16, 1817. Some years after the death of his first wife he married, in Milo, Mrs. Sands, of Sebec. Children, all by 1st wife: John, Thomas Seavey, Ebenezer, Abraham, Samuel and Sally. (VII) Thomas Seavey, second child of William and Mercy (Seavey) Hodgdon, was born in Saco, July 2, 1801, and died in Waterville Aug. 18, 1886. He was a farmer and shoemaker. He lived in Saco until he was twenty-seven years old, and then removed to Lisbon, 1828; to Topsham, 1829; to Clinton, 1831; and resided in the last-named place the greater part of his life. He married, in Scarborough, Feb. 17, 1821, Lydia Libby, who was born April 3, 1806, and died Aug. 7, 1864, daughter of David and Elizabeth (McKenney) Libby. Children: David, Elbridge G., Frederick, Fanny, George and Aaron (twins), Rufus, Caroline A. and Emma. (IX) Fanny, fourth child of Thomas S. and Lydia (Libby) Hodgdon, was born in Saco, July 27, 1830, and married in Clinton, Oct. 27, 1851, William (2) McNelly.