Nota Bene: The Wakefield
family information herein was freely lifted from a genealogical work in
progress by Chuckie Blaney. I have her permission to do so; she has my lifelong
gratitude. That work was motivated by Chuckie’s desire to leave her
granddaughter Caitlin a document describing Caitlin’s origins. We share
interest in this; since, I am Caitlin’s paternal grandfather. Moreover, my own
origins, and those of my progeny and many nieces and nephews, involve the
confluence of the Wakefield and Burdick lines. That confluence was the marriage
of Seth
Burdick and Sarah Rachel Wakefield, my g-grandparents.
We begin with a citation in
Chuckie’s words: “Unless otherwise referenced, the first five generations of
Caitlin’s Wakefield line are taken directly from Homer Wakefield’s Wakefield
Memorial.” Other citations, in what I borrowed from Chuckie, were kept if
they appeared within the text. Footnotes were not kept. It was not my aim to be
thorough; rather, to provide a brief lineage to the previously mentioned
confluence. I kept what I considered would be interesting history on the first
Wakefields and a few others. This is not to say other Wakefields are
uninteresting. It means you need to wait for Chuckie Blaney’s completed work.
Please also visit the gallery of Wakefield Gravesites.
GB
(1) JOHN1 WAKEFIELD,
died 15 February 1674, and is buried in Biddeford, Maine John Wakefield married
ELIZABETH LITTLEFIELD of Wells, Maine, daughter of Edmund Littlefield
and Annie (---).
John Wakefield, the
progenitor of the Maine family of Wakefields, was born in England. The first American record we have of him is
of date January 1, 1637, when at a town meeting held at Salem he was assessed
fifteen shillings as an inhabitant of Marblehead, colony of Massachusetts Bay.
(Town Records of Salem, 1634-59).
This leads us to the
decision, that as he probably did not come over in winter he must have come at
least as long before as the summer or fall of 1636. At a town meeting held at Salem December 26, 1838, among the
several portions of land laid out at Marblehead, on the 14th of the
same month, John Wakefield received his first American land grant of four acres
“on the Neck,” John Endicott and others signing the grant. (Original Book of
Grants of Salem, Essex County Inst., vol. ii. p 74.)
Owing to the unfortunate
incompleteness of the early town records of Salem, Marblehead, Wells, Scarboro,
and Saco (Biddeford), we are forever deprived of any record of the date of his
birth, the marriage to his wife, Elizabeth Littlefield, the place where it was
solemnized, and the same of the birth of their children. In 1657 the house of Joseph Bowles, then
town clerk of Wells, Me., was destroyed by fire, and with it the first volume
of the town records. Prior to that, as
will be seen, we have practically nothing, and even after that time, while the
marriages are quite complete, the births and deaths are very meager. Prior to 1641, John Wakefield lived in
Salem. (Marblehead was set off as a
separate town from Salem in 1648.)
Our first record of John
Wakefield, in Maine, is of date 1841, when he, with his brother-in-law, John
Littlefield, was granted, under the authority of the Ligonia patent, what is
now known as the “Great Will farm.” The
hill at that time extended much farther into the sea that it now does and with
the projecting land at the eastern end, was called “The Great Neck.” Neither of the mentioned grantees took
possession of this grant, perhaps owing to uncertainty as to its being located
within the bounds of the said grant.
John Wakefield settled in the
town of Wells, where he attained considerable prominence. We have records of his services as
commissioner and selectman in 1648, 1654, and 1657. The name of his father-in-law, Edmund Littlefield, occurs in the
same capacity with his in each instance.
John Wakefield purchased
Drake’s Island, of Stephen Batson in 1652, where he removed in that year and
resided there for two or three years.
He then removed to Scarboro where he purchased land and resided for
several years. From Scarboro he removed
to that part of Biddeford, which is now Saco, where he continued until his
death. He was in Wells July 2, 1657,
when he witnessed a grant to John Barretts.
On the 3d day of April 1661, John Wakefield, then of Scarboro, but
previously of Wells, sold to Mr. John Gooch, of his estate in Wells, one track
of marsh land lying on the north side of the harbor, and butting upon the sea
southeast, upon the Mussell Ridge west, and joining to a tract of upland on the
north side, which he also sold to Mr. Gooch, with the marsh lying on the west
side of John Cross’s upland, and is bounded by an old fence. The marsh was by estimation about ten acres
and the upland about two acres and a half.
(York Deeds, book 1, folio 107.)
On September 2, 1661, John
Wakefield witnessed a deed by John Smyth, of Dunsta, to Jas. Gibbins, of
Saco. May 31, 1664, John Wakefield and
his daughter Mary witnessed a deed by Mogg Hegone, of Sacoe River, to Maj. Wm.
Phillips, of Saco, and in July 1666, he was on a “jury of trials,” at Wells,
from Saco. (See York Deeds, book
1, folio 123, and book 2, folio 46.) (Maine Historical Society Collection,
vol. i.)
On September 10, 1670,
Elizabeth, wife and attorney of John Wakefield, “late of Marblehead but now of
Saco,” “alias Winter Harbor,” planter, and being by him constituted his
lawful attorney, and empowered by one instrument or letter bearing date August
9, 1670, sold for a consideration of ten pounds, to John Meager, of Boston, in
New England, merchant, a piece or parcel of land, “situate, lying, and being in
the township of Marblehead, in New England, upon ye neck of land that lyeth on
the south side of the great harbor, containing four acres, or more or less, as
it was laid out to my said husband by the select townsmen of Marblehead, and
allotted by a grant of the town of Salem.”
Acknowledged September 10, 1670; recorded October 17, 1749. (Essex County Registry of Deeds, vol.
xciv, p 18.)
On September 22, 1666, at a
general town meeting at Biddeford, the order of seating in the meeting house
was voted on, and “Goodwife Wakefield” was assigned section six. The tax list of Biddeford for June 25, 1672,
mentions John Wakefield five shillings, perhaps a church rate.
John Wakefield married
Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund and Annie Littlefield, of Wells, whose death is
not recorded. He died February 15,
1674, and is buried at Biddeford, Me.[]
Edmund Littlefield, said to
have been born in Exeter, N.E., 1501; not improbably came to Boston with
Wheelwright’s friends in July 1637, accompanied by his son Anthony. His wife Anne or Annis, and six of their
other children did not accompany them, but sailed later and reached Boston in
the ship Bevis in May, 1638. Littlefield
was a warm partisan of John Wheelwright, and probably was early at Exeter, N.H. He had assigned to him in the early division
of land twenty-one acres of “upland,” and was a subscriber to the
combination. Littlefield accompanied
Rev. Wheelwright to Wells in or before 1645, and was there a man of
distinction, serving as selectman and commissioner, serving as such with John
Wheelwright, John Wakefield, and others.
He died December --, 1681. His
will of December 11, made good provision to his wife, Anne, and among other
children to his daughter, Elizabeth Wakefield.
The inventory gave the value of his estate at œ588, 13s., 4d. His wife, Annis, died December, 1677, and
her will of December 12, makes among others, bequest to her daughter, Elizabeth
Wakefield and grand-daughter, “Katterine Wakefield.” (Maine Wills, and York Deeds, book iv, part 1, folio 25.)
Six children, of whom the second
was:
(2) SECOND
GEN: JAMES2 WAKEFIELD (John1 Wakefield),
born (---), probably in Salem or Wells; drowned 25 October 1707.
James Wakefield married
before 1700 REBECCA GIBBONS, daughter of James Gibbons and Judith Lewis
of Saco.
(3) SAMUEL3
WAKEFIELD (James2, John1 Wakefield), “assumed
to be son of James and Rebecca (Gibbons) Wakefield.”
Samuel Wakefield married
about 1736 RUTH GODFREY.
(4) BENJAMIN4
WAKEFIELD (Samuel3, James2, John1
Wakefield), born in Kennebunk, Maine; died in Coxhall, Maine. Benjamin
Wakefield married 5 November 1767 ELINOR LITTLEFIELD, died 14 April
1822, aged 83 years.
(5) DOMINICUS5
WAKEFIELD (Benjamin4, Samuel3, James2,
John1 Wakefield), born about 1768, probably in Coxhall or
Kennebunk, Maine; died of “old Age” in Gardiner 16 November 1853, aged 87.
Dominicus Wakefield married
in Pittsfield, Kennebunk Co., Maine, 17 April 1778 PATTY
[MARTHA] DOOR, born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in 1768, died in
Gardiner, Maine, 6 July 1884. There is
a gravestone for Martha Wakefield near that of her son Ananias in Highland
Street Cemetery, Gardiner.
Sleep on dear Mother and take thy rest.
Sleep on till death itself shall rise,
Then burst the fetters of the tomb:
And on seraphiel pinions fly,
Where life and love immortal bloom.
Children
(WAKEFIELD) of Dominicus5 Wakefield and Martha Door:
1. JAMES, b. in Pittston, Maine,
8 Sept 1788.
2
JEREMIAH, b. in Pittston 3 May 1791; d. 9 Sept 1838, aged
47; m. in Gardiner 27 Dec 1815 JOANNA B. YOUNG.
There is a gravestone in Highland Avenue Cemetery, Gardiner, and reading
OUR
FATHER & MOTHER
(6) ANANIAS6
WAKEFIELD (Dominicus5, Benjamin4, Samuel3,
James2, John1 Wakefield), born as Annis Wakefield in
Gardiner, Kennebec Co., Maine, 24 [?Jan] 1803; died in Gardiner 10 October
1880, aged 77y.10m. Ananias
Wakefield is buried in the Daniel H. Wakefield lot, Highland Avenue Cemetery,
Gardiner.
Ananias Wakefield married in
Gardiner, Maine, 28 January 1831 SARAH McCAUSLAND, born in Gardiner 28
August 1813, daughter of James McCausland and Rebecca Door. Sarah Wakefield likely died soon after the
birth of her second son as there were no females in her household in the 1840
census. Her two young sons were living
with other families by 1850 although Ananias Wakefield was still in Gardiner.
(7) In
the 1830 census, Ananias Wakefield lived alone in Gardiner. In 1840, this family was in Gardiner with 2
males 5-10; 1 male 30-40, and no females, and by 1850, Ananias Wakefield, 47,
lived alone in Gardiner.
Intentions were filed in
Gardiner 22 December 1856 between Ananias Wakefield and Mrs. EDITH MERRILL;
however no record of this marriage has been found (see also the censuses,
below). In July 1860, Ananias
Wakefield, 55, farmer is listed alone in West Gardiner; he had real estate
valued at $250 and personal property worth $600. Ananias Wakefield has not yet been found in the 1870 census,
while that year widow Edith Merrill, 64, lived in Gardiner with her son George,
27, daughter Mary Ann Kendall, 46, and three others. In June 1880, Ananias Wakefield, 75, blind and feeble, boarded on
Central St., Gardiner with George Morrill (40), George’s widowed mother,
Edith (72) and sister, Marian Kendall (57).
(8) Children
(WAKEFIELD) of Ananias Wakefield and Sarah McCausland:
1. LEANDER
LOTHROP, b. in Gardiner, Kennebec Co., Maine, 22 Oct 1832 [or 1833 or
1834]; d. “near” San José, Santa Clara Co., Cal., 30 July 1911; m. (1) by
30 April 1859 LOIS
STURTEVANT; m. (2) in Maine 15 April 1878, Mrs. RUTH ELDER
(BARRON) SMITH.
2. ARRINGTON
CLAY, b. in Gardiner 22 Dec 1835; d. in Springfield, Mass., 15 March
1911; m. (1) in Winchendon, Mass., 22 Dec 1865 NANCY AMELIA WOODBURY
PRIEST; m. (2) in Springfield, Mass., 28 Nov 1872, HULDAH ROGERS.
(9) Children
(WAKEFIELD) of Leander L. Wakefield and his first wife, Lois Sturtevant:
1. EDWIN
WILLIAM8, b. in Forest City, Meeker Co., Minn., 10 March 1859;
d. in Driscoll, N.D., 11 Dec 1930; m. (1) in Forest City 22 March 1883 MARY
ADDIE PETERS [div before 1900]; m. (2) in Bismarck, N.D., 26 Feb 1919 MATILDA
(---) GUSTAFSON.
2. THERON
ARRINGTON, b. in Forest City 1 Dec 1860; d. in Litchfield 31 May 1929; m.
in Forest City 3 Jan 1882 FLORA ANN TAYLOR.
3. SARAH RACHEL, b. in Forest City 22 July 1862; d. there 31 Jan 1924; m. in Forest
City 19 April 1883 SETH BURDICK.4. MARY EMMA, b.
in Forest City 10 April 1865; d. in Bell, Los Angeles Co., Cal., 25 April 1945;
m. in Forest City 27 June 1892 CHESTER EUGENE SMITH.
5. JOHN
ROLSTON, b. in Forest City 15 Sept 1867; d. there unmarried 20 Dec 1891,
aged 24. John Wakefield, “son of L.L.
and L. Wakefield,” is buried with his parents
in Lot 34, Forest City Protestant Cemetery. He was a wool carder (Interestingly, a John
Ralston is mentioned as a nearby neighbor of L.L. Wakefield in the above
article of 17 Nov 1888.)
6. LUELLA
EVELINE, b. in Forest City 8 Oct 1870; d. in Minneapolis 12 Oct 1947; m.
(1) in Litchfield 25 Feb 1889 ARTHUR BURNS HUCKINS; m. (2) in Forest
City 25 April 1900 HENRY JACOB SCHREINER.
7. LEANDER
LOTHROP JR., b. in Forest City, son of Leander and Lois, 4 June 1876; d. in
Lynwood, Los Angeles Co., Cal., 27 Sept 1943; m. in Watkins, Meeker Co.,
Minn., 11 Feb 1903 JULIA SPAULDING.
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