Ebenezer HODSDON (18 Feb 1792-13 May 1838) +
Ruth Goodwin BLAKE (14 Oct 1791-25 Jun 1849)

Margaret Augusta (2 Jun 1813-2 Jul 1876) — m. Joseph W. Strange about 1830

Mercy Susan (26 Apr 1815-7 Aug 1887) — m. Alfred W. Webb on 15 Apr 1834

Horatio Edwin (24 Mar 1817-Aug 1875) — m. Sarah W. Wardwell on 21 Sep 1845; m. Mary Ann Sullivan Condon on 10 Feb 1855; m. Hannah Sullivan about 1865; m. Abbie Foster on 20 Feb 1871

Ebenezer Augustus (3 Dec 1820-16 Oct 1907) — m. Jane L. Wardwell on 6 Oct 1845

Mary Ann (8 Feb 1823-11 Jan 1879) — m. Isaac McKenny on 2 Sep 1844

Polly (11 Feb 1824-????)

Ebenezer was born to Moses Hodsdon III from Berwick, York County, Maine and Mercy Young from York Village, Maine. His place of birth is variously recorded as Berwick, Maine; Ossipee, Penobscot County, Maine; or Temple, New Hampshire. However, he was christened in Levant, Penobscot County, Maine, northwest of Bangor.

Ruth was the daughter of mariner and shipwright Captain Andrew Webster Blake and Susannah Bakeman of Georgetown, Sagadahoc County, Maine. The family settled in Majabigwaduce, now Castine, Maine, where Ruth was born.

Ebenezer and Ruth married on 13 Aug 1812 in Castine. It’s unclear from the records of their children’s births whether during the 1820s they were living in Castine, Hancock County or in Levant, Penobscot County.

Ebenezer seems to have been one of several people from the area of Castine who brought a lawsuit or a petition to do with the occupation of Castine by the British during the War of 1812.

The 1830 census listed the family in Castine. They had one girl age 15-20, one boy age 10-15, and one boy and one girl between 5 and 10. Those would have to be Mercy, Horatio, Ebenezer, and Mary Ann. I’m guessing Polly (born 1824) died young, as there is no further record of her.

The family seem to have moved after 1830, since Ebenezer died in Kenduskeag, Penobscot County (a bit further north of Levant) in 1838. He is buried in the Kenduskeag Village Cemetery.

The 1840 census for Levant, Penobscot County showed Ruth as head of household, with a son between 20 and 30 and another son between 15 and 20. Those would be Horatio and Ebenezer, Jr. The two eldest girls were married. But where was Mary Ann? She didn’t marry until four years later.

Ruth died in 1849 in Augusta, Maine. She is buried with Ebenezer in Kenduskeag.

Children

Margaret Augusta Hodsdon (1813-1876)

Margaret married Joseph W. Strange (1812-6 Feb 1895) probably about 1830. They lived in Bangor. Children were:

Joseph (9 Aug 1836-6 May 1855)

Ebenezer Horatio (11 Jun 1838-4 Nov 1856)

Frederick (1846-????)

Clarence Angelo (14 Mar 1853-13 Dec 1877)

Margaret Isabel (19 Dec 1841-15 Mar 1894)

Their daughter Margaret, born in Massachusetts, was a foster child. Clarence probably was too, since he was also born in Massachusetts. Margaret Sr. died in 1876, and is buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery on State Street in Bangor. Joseph is buried there as well.

Mercy Susan Hodsdon (1815-1887)

Mercy married Alfred Whitney Webb (3 Jul 1813-????) on 15 Apr 1834 in Castine. They lived initially in Levant, and later in Bangor. Their children:

Amelia A. (8 Jan 1835-????) — m. ??? Conner in 185x

Margaret V. (4 Apr 1837-????)

Frances H. “Francett” (19 Nov 1840-1930) — m. William K. Laveridge

Lucian (10 Jan 1843-????)

Henry (15 Nov 1846-????)

Fannie W. (Mar 1851-6 Apr 1925) — m. Samuel A. Sanderson in 1874; m. William L. Day; m. James A. Harrison in 19xx

Arthur (~1853-7 Dec 1930) — m. Sarah in 187x

others?

Grace Romenia (7 Oct 1860-29 Apr 1928) — m. Frank Eugene Foss

In 1870, Alfred, alone, was in San Francisco, California, and I can’t find Mercy – maybe she was traveling to join him. By 1880, Mercy and their daughter Gracie (19) had in fact joined him there. Voter registration records show Alfred still in San Francisco through 1890, but Mercy died in 1887. She is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery, San Mateo County, California. I can’t find any trace of Alfred after 1890.

The 1900 census showed Grace, unmarried but apparently with a daughter, living in Berkeley, California with sister Fannie.

Arthur also moved to California, became a policeman, and died there in 1930. Frances moved to California too. And Amelia. Maybe they all did. The youngest, Grace, seems to have spent time in China, as she had a daughter named Violet G. Foss born there about 1904.

Horatio Edwin Hodsdon (1817-1875)

Horatio has his own entry in the family tree.

Ebenezer Augustus Hodsdon (1820-1907)

Ebenezer was a sailor, including time in the US Navy. On 6 Oct 1845 in Castine, he married Jane Littlefield Wardwell (1824-1916), the cousin of his brother Horatio’s first wife. The same year, he became a Universalist clergyman. He and Jane moved to Minnesota near Minneapolis in 1852, where he was a chaplain of the territorial legislature and a farmer. They had many children. Ebenezer, Jr. died in 1907 at his homestead at Lake Amelia, Pope County, Minnesota, and is buried with Jane at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. The story of this family is told in The Restless Ones, published in 1963 by their grand-daughter Beatrice Morosco.

Mary Ann Hodsdon (1823-1879)

Mary Ann married Isaac McKenney/McKinney in 1844 in Corinth, or maybe Bangor. I can’t track her after that, because Isaac McKenney was a surprisingly common name in the region. There were Isaac and Mary Ann McKenney (about the right age) in Somerset County, and Isaac and Mary J. (Davis) McKenney (also the right age) in Bangor. Neither of these was our Mary Ann, who died in 1879 and is buried in Kenduskeag Cemetery.

Polly Hodsdon (1824-????)

Polly probably died young. There is no information about her beyond her birth.

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