PRESENT AT STATEHOOD – Parsonsfield, Maine - The Census Tells a Story

 

After the end of their service in the Revolutionary War Cutting Moulton and his brother Samuel set their sights on the District of Maine.  The following record can be found in the York County Registry of Deeds: 

On 13 May 1781 Levi Chapman of Newmarket, NH sold to Cutting and Samuel Moulton of Newbury, MA, goldsmith and cordwainer for 800 Spanish Milled dollars, two 100 acre lots in Parsons Town, lots No. 66 in the 4th range and No. 84 in the 5th range.  Cutting then deeded lot No. 66 to his brother Samuel as well as one-half the mill privilege with Samuel deeding him lot No. 84 and the other half of the mill privilege.

The map below shows the location of the homestead Cutting established on what is known as Middle Road (Wm. E. Moulton on the map).

This photo shows the house Cutting built which would house generations to come.

The first federal census of Parsonsfield in 1790 did not record much information, only that the household consisted of:

2 males 16 and over:  Cutting (born 1748) and presumably Samuel (born 1774), his son by his first wife Mary Merrill;

3 males under 16:  William Emery – born 1785 which was coincident-ally the year Parsonsfield was incorporated as a town in the District of Maine,  John – born 1786, and Cutting – born 1788; and

3 females: Judith Emery, born 1755, who married Cutting Moulton in 1784 and their daughter Polly (Molly?), born in 1789 and who was the first of their children born in Parsonsfield all the others being born in Newbury, account for 2 of the 3.  The identity of the third is unknown.

Ten years later the census showed changes to the family:  Samuel, no longer in the household, married in 1798 and died in 1800 at the age of 25 and 4 more children were added:  Joseph, born 1791; David, born 1793; Judith, born 1795; and Nathan, born 1796. 

Cutting died in 1808 and left the following provisions in his will (spelling as written in the will):

Ten years later the census showed changes to the family:  Samuel, no longer in the household, married in 1798 and died in 1800 at the age of 25 and 4 more children were added:  Joseph, born 1791; David, born 1793; Judith, born 1795; and Nathan, born 1796.

Cutting died in 1808 and left the following provisions in his will (spelling as written in the will):

"In the Name of God Amen, I Cutting Moulton of Parsonsfield in the County of York... Cordwinder... do make and publish this my last will and testament...   

First I give to my beloved wife Judith the one third of the income of my real estate and to be at her disposal for and during her natural life and at her decease to be disposed of as hereafter mentioned, I also give my Said wife three cows and eight Sheep with their use and increase to be at her disposal for and during her natural life and at her desease to be disposed of as hereafter mentioned I also give my said wife the use of the one half of my Dwelling house (to wit) the West End thereof with liberty to occupy, possess, and enjoy the same together with the chamber over and cellar under said half of said house also to use occupy possess and enjoy all the houshold furniture for and during her natural life and at her decease, said furniture is to be Equally divided Between my two daughters (to wit) Molley and Judith or their Heirs if they should survive her if not to Either of them which may Survive her but if neither of my Daughters or their Heirs Should Survive my wife then said furniture is to be equally divided among my sons or their heirs. I also give to my said wife two swine which I now have to be at her disposal forever.

Second I give to my Son William and to my Son Nathan all my real and parsonal Estate of what name or nature Soever that may be in my possession or belonging to me at the time of my decease that has not been already bequeathed to their mother and at her decease all the remainder (Excepting the houshold furniture which has been already bequeathed) to be to them and to their Heirs forever to be equally Divided between the Said William & Nathan their Heirs or Assigns- and Said William & Nathan are to provide wood and a comfortable fire for their mother while she continues to Occupy said house….

Lastly I hereby Appoint my Son William Executor of this my Last will and Testament... In witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this Tenth Day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and Eight. "

 Cutting Moulton is memorialized in the Town House Cemetery near his home.

His stone says that “he fought in the trenches at the battle of Bunker Hill”.

The Census of 1810 enumerated 9 people in the Moulton household:  The widow, Judith,  William Emery who is now head of the household,  presumably his brother Nathan, his sisters Polly and Judith and his own family which is his wife Mary Polly Pearl (born 1784 in Porter to another Revolutionary War veteran and married in 1804), his three first born children:  daughter Clarissa (born 1805), and sons Samuel (born 1807) and Cutting (born 1810). 

Which brings our census story to 1820 where we find the William Emery Moulton family present in the year of Maine statehood.  Presumably all of William’s siblings have left their childhood home by now as their ages do not match up with those enumerated:

1 Male under 10:  William Emery Jr. born 1813;

2 Males 10-15:  Samuel, age 13, and Cutting, age 10;

1 Male 26-44: William Emery, age 35, head of household;

2 Females under 10: Judith, born 1817 and unknown child;

1 Female 10-15: Clarissa, age 15;

3 Females 26-44: Mary Polly, age 36, and 2 unknown women; and

1 Female 45+: Judith, William’s widowed mother. 

The last column enumerates, within the 11 people listed, three foreigners, not naturalized which are presumed to be the 2 unknown females 26-44 and the unknown female child under 10. 

By the census of 1830 this household of 11 had decreased to just 5 despite the addition of another child to William Emery and Mary Polly Pearl Moulton when a daughter, Catherine, was born in December 1820, just after the previous census.  Enumerated were 1 Male 40-49 (William Emery), 1 Female 40-49 (Mary Polly), 1 Female 10-14 (Catherine) and 2 Males 20-29 (Presumably William Emery Jr. at 17 and either Cutting (20) or Samuel 23).

In the application for National Registry of Historic Places written in 2002 we learn that:

          “In April of 1832 the process of selecting a location for the new town    house began. As the town was sixty-four square miles in size, there        was concern about minimizing the distance that any resident would        have to travel to the governmental center.” 

The document goes on to say that:

          “It was then "Voted that the town house be built on land of Cutting        Moulton on the East side of the road leading from the Middle Road by   the dwelling house of Pelatiah Ricker South to the burying yard and           nearly opposite the Congressional (sic) Meeting House." (January 28,         1833).  The town purchased 6 1/3 x 6 1/3 rod square lot south of the     cemetery and William Moulton, Jr., a local carpenter, was chosen to building the structure.” 

From this we learn that William E. Moulton Jr., at the age of just 20, was the builder of a structure which would become a major part of Parsonsfield’s history.  The Old Town House and its location (T.H. on the map indicated by red arrow) relative to the Moulton home is shown below:

This view of the Old Parsonsfield Town House was taken in 1908, long before it was placed on the National Register and probably looking much like when it was originally built.

The 1840 Census record for the family has not been found but the 1850 census which is the first which identifies the names of all the family members, not just head of household, shows William Emery and Mary living with their youngest yet unmarried daughter, Catherine.

 Mary Polly Pearl Moulton would not live to be counted in another census.  She died in April of 1856 and was laid to rest in a family cemetery near her home. 

In 1860 the census showed the family home full again.  William Emery Moulton Jr.  (usually referred to as William E.) is listed as head of household.  Also listed are his wife, Priscilla Towle Moulton, born 1815 and married 1837, their children and his father William Emery, now 74 years old.

Of note is the fact captured that the oldest daughter Lucy, age 21, gives her occupation as school teacher.  Education was greatly valued in the Moulton family and most, if not all, of this generation would teach at some point in their life.  

The William E. household grew smaller as his offspring found mates and started their own families:

          - Lucy married James Perry in 1861;

          - Mary married David Hill in 1865;

          - Ada married Albion K.P. Towle in 1866; and

          - Alonzo married Mary Ellen Towle in 1868.

This left the three youngest daughters still at home with their parents and grandfather (whom they referred to in letters as grandsire) at the time of the 1870 census. 

The family lost Grandsire, William Emery Moulton, in May of 1875 at the age of nearly 90 years old. He was laid to rest next to his deceased wife Mary in the family cemetery.

The next year, July of 1876, William E.’s wife died at the age of 61 and, record keeper that he was, William E. recorded the event.

In 1873 the third youngest daughter, Eva, married Henry Colcord so now only the 2 youngest daughters were still unmarried and living with their father, Clara at age 25 and Hattie at just 20.  When Clara married John B. Lord two years later in 1878 Hattie, the youngest, was the one to remain behind caring for her father.  This was reflected in the 1880 census enumerating only William E., age 67, and Hattie, age 21. 

 William E. died in 1892 and was buried in the family cemetery.  He summarized himself in a write-up in the History of Parsonsfield written in 1888 after the town of Parsonsfield’s Centennial celebration.

 Hattie, age 35 and unmarried, has spent most of the past 20 years as caregiver to her father.  Care giving would occupy the rest of her life.  The 1900 Census shows Hattie’s brother-in-law John B. Lord, as head of household, along with wife Clara and daughter Katherine P. (born 1879), both of whom are listed as teachers, living  with Hattie in the family home:

This undated photo shows John B., Katherine “Katie” Lord and Clara at the home:

Thanks to the family habit of letter writing, letters which were saved for years then found and donated to our historical society (over 500 of them), much is known about Hattie’s comings and goings amongst her family members as they needed her.  More of the story of this and subsequent generations was published in two issues of our newsletter in 2014.  If you are interested in reading them, contact PPHS. 

Their story includes the destruction of the Moulton home, probably by fire, in 1904.  This is all that remains today of the home built by Cutting Moulton, the pioneer who brought this branch of the Moulton family to Parsonsfield: