Posted By:	Betty Fredericks
	Email:
	Subject:	Joseph WILKINS, 1870 Lawrence, MA, to Whitefield, NH
	Post Date:	March 31, 2009 at 06:30:28
	Message URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/wilkins/messages/3337.html
	Forum:	Wilkins Family Genealogy Forum
	Forum URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/wilkins/

Hello. I've been interested in the WILKINS men who moved to "Maine" * from 1775 to 1820 for over 6 years. The first one I know of is a couple, William and Sarah (BANCROFT) WILKINS, from Middleton, MA, who moved to "Maine" 1775-1780. His brother moved to "Maine" a few years later and settled in Lewiston, ME, and his sons settled nearby in Greene, ME. Then a few men who fought in the Revolutionary War moved up there after the War. One was Edward WILKINS who moved to "the back woods north of Bangor." He settled in Charleston, ME. I don't know what happened to the 2 other men. Now I can mention my ancestor, Samuel WILKINS, who was reportedly born in "Maine" 1775-1780. He is my "concrete-block wall" as no one knows who his parents were. But, My "educated guess" is that they were the William and Sarah mentioned above. Samuel married ~1800 "somewhere" to Electra "Leeta" _____, and they and their children were in Unity, ME, in the 1810, 1820, and 1830 census. ~1835 they moved much north to Amity, ME, and were there in 1837 special census. They and their 2 older sons remained in the North Amity, ME, area. * I believe some of the grandsons moved north to Monticello and Presque Isle, ME. A few weeks ago I sent a "letter to the Editor" to a newspaper in Presque Isle. Last week someone responded, and he told me that there was a "Wilkins Store" in the town for a long time. He told me to contact the Town Historian, which I did. He sent me a picture of the store and information about who owned the store: E. P. WILKINS. But, an old phone book said there was another G. E. WILKINS in the town. I spent a good part of the weekend trying to find out who these men were and were they related. It turns out they were not. George E. WILKINS arrived in Aroostook Co. ~1870 and settled in Presque Isle shortly after. He was a blacksmith and it seems that he was an important citizen. He had 2 sons, G. Edward WILKINS, who settled in Houlton, ME, and was part owner of a hardware store. Charles WILKINS remained in Presque Isle and had a large family. As it turned out, George had come up from southern Maine, and his "family line" goes back to Isaac WILKINS "of Billerica and Carlisle, MA" and back to Bray WILKINS. There is a long paragraph on George in the book, "New England Families." I'm having more trouble trying to track down the ancestors of Edward P. WILKINS. He was born in MA, and his father, Joseph A. WILKINS, first had his family in Lawrence, MA. Joseph then moved the family to Whitefield, NH, which is north of the White Mountains. The 1880 and 1900 censuses say that Joseph was born in MA ~1831, but his father (unknown) was born in VT. And his mother was born in NY. There were 6 to 10 WILKINS families in VT in the 1790 and 1800 censuses, but one of them must have moved to MA. I'm just curious if anyone is researching the above families. Betty (near Lowell, MA) * Maine did not become a State until 1820. Before that, the area was the "Northern Territory of MA." ** Samuel and Leeta had 2 daughters, but one did not move to Amity with them. Mary Jane married in Amity ~1834 to my ancestor, J. Calvin KIDDER (1799-1891). They lived in Amity and then Calais, ME. The youngest son was George Freeman WILKINS who married Mary Ann NEAL / O'NEAL from New Brunswick. They lived in Amity, but were in New Brunswick for the 1861 census. After Mary's death, George and some children moved back to Maine. "Calvin" and Mary had 6 children who lived to at least teen years. One of their sons was Joseph KIDDER. When he returned from fighting in the Civil War, he married his cousin, Clarissa WILKINS. She was one of 10 children of George and Mary WILKINS. So, I am descended from Samuel WILKINS twice. (I will have to learn more about Monticello, ME, to see if any of Samuel's grandsons remained there.) ... My main reason for writing is to find out if anyone knows the "family line" for Joseph A. WILKINS, b1831 in MA.