Thomas Rogers of the Mayflower

Mayflower passengers Thomas Rogers (1571-1621) and his son Joseph Rogers (1603-1677) are my 11th and 10th great grandfathers, respectively.

Thomas and his family were Leiden separatists originally from Watford England, who had moved to Holland in protest of the Anglican Church.

While Thomas died that first winter in Plymouth (as did over half the passengers), his son Joseph lived on and was a founding member of Eastham and Barnstable, Massachusetts.

The Mayflower Families Through Five Generations volumes show that a Patience Phinney, fifth generation descendant of Thomas Rogers, married an Ebenezer Holmes.  This Ebenezer Holmes is accepted by the Mayflower Society to be the same that lived in Plymouth and who fathered Jeremiah Holmes (1729-1790).  Jeremiah's son, Jeremiah Holmes, Jr., moved north to Winterport Maine (then part of Frankfort) with wife Nancy Robinson, and were early settlers of Hancock County Maine.  Their granddaughter, Harriet Holmes-Morgan, was my 3rd great grandmother and her family can be read about in more detail here.

The Holmes Family of Winterport Maine

My Holmes family originates from the town of Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire, England, as far back as the 16th Century.  It is believed that prior to that the name was found in Lancashire prior to the Norman Conquest in the 11th Century.

The immigrant Holmes ancestor from my family was my 10th great grandfather John Holmes (1612-1667), who arrived with his wife Sarah on the ship Paul in April of 1635.   He and his successive four generations settled in Plymouth and Cambridge Massachusetts.  My 7th great grandfather, Ebenezer Holmes (1696-1761) married Patience Phinney, who at one time was accepted by the Mayflower Society to have been a Mayflower descendant of Thomas Rogers.  It was later realized that the Patience Phinney that was a true descendant of Rogers had married James Coleman, and this has been verified by the Mayflower Society.

Anyhow, my ancestors, Ebenezer & Patience had 13 children in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Their second oldest son, Jeremiah Holmes the First, married Phebe Crymble, his first cousin.  (Phebe's mother was Elizabeth Holmes, sister to Ebenezer).

Jeremiah & Phebe had Jeremiah, Jr. (1752-1799), who was my 5th great grandfather.  Jeremiah was the first to leave Massachusetts for Maine.  Around 1791, he and his wife Nancy Robinson (1760-1797), migrated north to Orrington Maine, in Hancock County, where they both died a few years later.  Their five children, Nancy, Thomas, Jeremiah III, William and Lander (the latter two having been born in Orrington), were left orphans at a young age.  Guardianship of the children was given to John Bishop, Gentleman and Rofrater Cotton, Esq., both of Plymouth.  The children stayed in Maine, however, and eventually migrated across the Penobscot River to Winterport (which until 1860 was part of Frankfort), in Waldo County. 

While the youngest child Lander died by the age of 4, the remaining four children (Nancy, Thomas, Jeremiah & William) each started their own large families in Winterport.  They lived off of the southern end of Main Street, down near the waterfront, and they ultimately had their road named after themselves.  "Holmes Street" is still the name for this small road, which contains ten old houses.  Across the entrance to Holmes Street, on a hill on Main Street, is the main homestead, ultimately owned by Thomas & Jeremiah, and where they raised their families, including my 3rd great grandmother, Harriet Holmes-Morgan (1816-1856), whose son, William Sanford Morgan, was a Civil War hero.

HOLMES HOMESTEAD
CORNER OF MAIN AND HOLMES STREET
WINTERPORT, MAINE
(2011)

The Holmes family was very wealthy (I believe they were involved in shipping), and they maintained a large presence in the harbor town of Winterport throughout the entire 19th Century.  While many parts of this family appear to have vanished just after the turn of the century, and some others moved to Portland and Presque Isle Maine, only a few specific Holmes families remained into the 20th Century (some of which I'm unsure of the exact connection to my Holmes families):

1.  Jeremiah Holmes (Harriet's brother, Thomas Jr's - son) (1844-1931) married Helen Staples and raised a family in Winterport.  His daughter, Buford, married Charles Curtis and had a large family in Winterport.  Jeremiah was drafted into the Civil War at age 18. 

2.  Hiram Holmes (1809-1884) and his wife, Mary Avery, had at least seven children in Winterport.  Hiram would be old enough to be the sibling of Thomas Sr., but I see no record that he is.  Ancestry family trees appear to state that his father was Ephraim Holmes of Machias, so it's rather unlikely.

3.  Cecil Holmes (1896-1955) and his wife Elizabeth lived in Winterport as well.  No clue what their relation was, if any, to my Holmes ancestors.  Cecil's WWI service records state his sister was Annie E. Holmes-Ryder

4.  Clyde Holmes (born around 1915) who married Maxine Edmonds.

5.  Herbert Holmes (1908-1965) and his wife Helen.

Gravesites for the Holmes family, in Oak Hill Cemetery, Winterport Maine.

Pedigree chart for Harriet Holmes-Morgan, who appears to be of entirely English descent:

William Sanford Morgan

William Sanford Morgan (1841-1920), also known as "Sanford Morgan" was born in Winterport Maine (then part of Frankfort) to Henry Gray Morgan and Harriet Holmes, both of Winterport.

In 1860, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, Winterport became its own town, annexed away from Frankfort.  William was 18 years old, and it's likely that he and his family were at the ceremony.

WINTERPORT, MAINE

CEREMONY CELEBRATING BIRTH OF NEW TOWN

MARCH 12, 1860

HOME OF HENRY GRAY MORGAN FAMILY

(BIRTHPLACE OF WILLIAM SANFORD MORGAN) 

1870s MAP OF WINTERPORT WATERFRONT RESIDENCES

HOME OF HENRY MORGAN SHOWING ON SOUTH SIDE OF WILLOW STREET

On 14 January, 1862, he enlisted in the Civil War and listed his occupation at the time as a mariner.

William served as Coxswain on the USS KEARSARGE, which deported from Portsmouth Naval Yard on 5 February 1862 for the coast of Spain to join in the blockade of Confederate raiders. Captain John A. Winslow took command of the KEARSARGE on April 8, 1863, while she remained in European waters searching for raiders.

The Battle of Cherbourg
Arriving in Cherbourg, France on 14 June 1864, she found the Confederate Ship ALABAMA in port. On June 19, ALABAMA stood out of Cherbourg Harbor for her last action. Careful of French neutrality, KEARSARGE'S new commanding officer, Captain Winslow, took the ship well clear of territorial waters, and then turned to meet the Confederate cruiser. ALABAMA fired first but the battle quickly turned against her and within an hour the ALABAMA had been reduced to a sinking wreck and her Captain Raphael Semmes struck his colors and surrendered. KEARSARGE rescued the majority of the ALABAMA's survivors; but Captain Semmes and 41 others were picked up by a British yacht. Captain Winslow was promoted to Commodore and the New York Chamber of Commerce honored him, the KEARSARGE, and her crew, mainly men from New Hampshire, for their victory.

According to the book "The Alabama & the Kearsarge - The Sailor's Civil War ", by William Marvel, copyright 1996 UNC Press, William, among many other sailors, was over contracted, as in, his contract had expired some time before the Battle of Cherbourg occurred. 

Coincidentally, the ALABAMA also had a shipmate named William Morgan, who was a foretop captain from Liverpool.

USS KEARSARGE

USS KEARSARGE (some crew on aft deck)

The battle in Boulogne France between the USS KEARSARGE and the ALABAMA was apparently very dramatic, causing many spectators to watch from the sidelines.  Edouard Manet was inspired by the battle and painted his classic masterpieces "Kearsarge at Boulogne":

In November of 1864, he was discharged from service.  When he returned to Maine, William settled in Portland and worked as a mechanic, a stevedore (ship unloader), a pile driver, and later a night watchman.  

In January of 1865, his future brother-in-law John Henry Brown Morrill, a prominent local barber, wrote a nice tribute towards Morgan in the Eastern Argus:

Daily Eastern Argus
Jan. 20, 1865

In October of 1865, William married John Morrill's sister, Emily N. Morrill, and they lived on Peaks Island briefly just after their marriage (but he would return to live on Peaks with his 2nd wife, Nellie, at the last 10 years of his life). 

EMILY MORRILL

(ca. 1890)

William & Emily had three daughters:

1. Hattie Emma Morgan, (1866-1927) my Grammy Clarke's mother, was born on Peaks Island in October of 1866.  She married James Downey and later married John Henry Temm.  Much more about Hattie can be read by clicking on her name here.

2. Adelaide A. Morgan (1869-1954) was married in July 1891 to George W. Simpson (1864-1912), just a few months prior to her mother's second marriage to Joseph G. Hall (who was a witness to Adelaide & George's wedding).  They had only one child, Emily Simpson-Pease (1897-1990).  About 10 years after George passed away, Adelaide married Presbury Luce Dennison (1865-1943).  Adelaide lived in Portland all her life.  She and her daughter Emily were well respected members of the Daughters of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War Union Army membership group.  Hattie named her first born daughter after her sister Adelaide.

ADELAIDE AUGUSTA MORGAN-SIMPSON-DENNISON

(ca. 1930)

ADELAIDE AND PRESBURY DENNISON

On their wedding day, 29 Apr 1922

GEORGE SIMPSON

(1864-1912)

GEORGE SIMPSON

(with unknown boy)

EMILY SIMPSON-PEASE

(Daughter to Adelaide Morgan & George Simpson)

(1897-1990)

FRED PEASE

(1897-1970)

(Husband of Emily Simpson)

3. Abigail Louise Morgan (1873-1954) never married, but lived with her sister Adelaide, then later with her niece Emily Pease, in Portland.  She was affectionately known as "Aunt Lou".  She was a member of the "Daughters of Union Veterans".  During WWII she worked as a caterer for the local induction board, while living in a boarding house on Tolman Place on Peaks Island.  She died in 1954 in her home on 144 Washburn Avenue, on the West End, about three months after her sister Adelaide had died.

ABBEY LOUISE MORGAN
(ca 1950)

During 1886, William and Emily had separated, and William had his own place on 69 Danforth Street, in one of the three apartments on the left side of this building.

69 & 67 Danforth
Portland's West End
(2022)

Emily filed divorce against William on 19 May 1886, due to "gross and confirmed habits of intoxication".  The divorce became final on 12 Jan 1887, after the then customary six month waiting period.  Emily went to Chicago about five years later to marry her longtime Portland neighbor, Joseph G. Hall.  She died in Portland in 1900 of hemiplegia.  

After the divorce, William lived with his daughter Hattie and family on 5 Vine Street, and moved to Brooklyn New York at some point after 1891.  In 1900, he remarried to Nellie Ashton Libby-Drake in Eastport Maine.  William & Nellie moved around a lot their first 10 years of marriage.  They lived on Front Street in South Portland, 9 Brattle Street, and in 1910 Nellie purchased 12 Merriam Street on Peaks Island, where William spent his final years, and died there in 1920.  Nellie stayed on at Peaks until she died in March of 1928.  She had trouble receiving continued pension payments after his death.

Also, the book "The Alabama & the Kearsarge - The Sailor's Civil War", included a photograph from 1915 of all the Kearsarge survivors of Cherbourg. I wonder why William wasn't in the photograph, he didn't die until 1920. I wonder if he was too ill, or drunk, to bother, or if they tried to contact him.  In 1915, the survivors of the Kearsarge had a reunion, and twelve of them showed up.  I wonder why William wasn't there.  Was he invited?  Was he too drunk or ill to attend?

SOURCE:  The Alabama and the Kearsarge:  The Sailor's Civil War  by William Marvel, published 1996 by UNC Press

William had stayed briefly at Togus Hospital in 1917, below is his record, on which appears he had suffered a number of ailments.

WILLIAM MORGAN HOSPITAL RECORD
TOGUS HOSPITAL 1917

William’s older brother Albert fought in the Civil War in Louisiana in 1863, as part of the 26th Maine Regiment.  After the War he moved to Chicago and worked as a typesetter.

William’s younger brother Horace also fought for the last year of the War, as he had just turned 17. 

A look at the enlistment cards and hospital records for the Morgan brothers reveals an interesting tidbit. All the brothers were 5’6” or under in height. Young Horace was only 5’3”.

Real Estate Records in Cumberland County, Maine:

-13 Feb 1873 - For $106.00, William bought and mortgaged his home on 8 Madison Street, in the East Bayside district of Portland, from Thomas McGinnis.  He had succeeded to the prior mortgages of others on this property at the same time.  A note on the deed declares that William satisfied the mortgage by December of 1877. 

-27 Dec 1877 - For $600.00, William sold off the Madison Street property to Nicholas Anderson of Scarborough.  Nice profit!

-27 Dec 1877 - For $600.00, William then bought some property on West Beech Ridge Road in Scarborough from Nicholas Anderson and his brother.  Looks like a land swap.  The land was described as "from the Jewett Farm to the Plains".  He moved in with his wife and three adolescent daughters.  I believe this is how his daughter Hattie (age 11 when she arrived in Scarborough) ended up meeting John Henry Temm. 

-13 Feb 1878 - For $312.00, William mortgaged the Scarborough property to George Beale of Chicago.  They must have hit some hard times in that winter. 

-10 Aug 1878 - George Beale discharged the mortgage.

-12 Sep 1878 - For $200.00, William did a 2nd mortgage on the Scarborough property, from his brother-in-law, Roger Rundlett, of Cambridge.  By the 1880 Census, William was renting property on Greenleaf Street, back in the old neighborhood of East Bayside Portland.

-6 July 1880 - Roger Rundlett discharged the 2nd mortgage.

-16 July 1880 - For $300.00,William did a 3rd mortgage on the Scarborough property to Ira Farrington of Portland

-7 May 1883 - For "$1.00 and other consideration", William sold the Scarborough property to his creditor Ira Farrington.  By this time the Morgans were renting property on 26 Lowell Street in the Libbytown district of Portland.

-22 Mar 1910 - For "$1.00 and other consideration", William's 2nd wife Nellie bought the house on Peaks Island known as "Lot 5 Oceanside Terrace", and a little research shows it to be 12 Merriam Street, the house that William died in in 1920.  They lived next door to a large Danish immigrant family, the Wendts.  The Morgan property here was sold by Percy McCann to Lillian Johnstone in 1945, and Lillian Johnstone sold same to current owner, who runs a realty company from the residence.

12 Merriam Street, Peaks Island (2023)

Gravesite of William Sanford Morgan
Forest City Cemetery
South Portland, Maine

Below is a pedigree chart for William.

He has entirely English roots, but the direct Morgan line comes from Wales originally, so it's safe to surmise that he's 25% Welsh, 75% English.  While he has no Mayflower ancestors, he has some old colonial roots in Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts.

The Morgans of New England

The Morgan surname is Welsh.  Some believe the name to be derived from Celtic for "sea circle", and is derived from the Old Welsh name Morcant.  The surname Morgan traces its origin from the powerful Welsh family established c. 1330 by Morgan ap Llewelyn, (son of Llewelyn ap Ifor, Lord of St. Clere, and Angharad, daughter and heiress of Sir Morgan ap Maredudd (Meredith), Lord of Tredegar), meaning either "great kingdom" or "great hundred". It is a popular family name in Wales, as well as there being a group of Morgans from "Morgund". It is possible that the name was Celtic from the Cornovii Tribe who lived in the North of Scotland and in the Severn Valley near the Wrekin in Shropshire.

My immigrant ancestor (and 8th Great Grandfather) was Robert Morgan (1601-1672) from Tredegar, Monmouthshire Wales.  He migrated to Virginia in 1635, and soon moved north to Salem, Massachusetts.  His son, Samuel, was my direct ancestor, but his eldest son was Sir Henry Morgan, famous privateer which the rum "Captain Morgan" was named for.

But starting from more recent history, and going back to Robert, my 3rd great grandparents were Henry Gray Morgan (1808-1883), originally from Bucksport (just across the Penobscot) & Harriet Holmes (1816-1856) of Frankfort (formerly Winterport), Maine.  Harriet was a member of the extremely large and wealthy Holmes family of Plymouth, Massachusetts who descended from colonial settler John Holmes of Milton Keynes, England.  Many thousands of Americans descend directly from John Holmes.  Harriet's father, Thomas Holmes, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, but migrated north to Winterport, Maine in Waldo County.  Harriet's brothers appear in many court records of Waldo County filing claims against many townspeople to whom they had lent money.

HOLMES HOMESTEAD (2011 PICTURE)

WINTERPORT MAINE

(CORNER OF MAIN AND HOLMES STREET)

MORGAN HOMESTEAD

WINTERPORT MAINE

(WILLOW STREET)

HENRY GRAY MORGAN HOUSE
END OF STREET ON THE RIGHT

According to the below Notice of Sheriff's Sale in 1853, certain property conveyed to Henry in 1848 was put up for auction.  It's not totally clear to me whether this was the same property on Willow Street, but I doubt it:

Republican Journal
Jun 17, 1853

According to Winterport Town Records I located on microfilm at the LDS Library, Henry was a wood surveyor and also a juror for Winterport.

Henry & Harriet had five children in Winterport:

1.  Albert H Morgan (1839-1883) fought in the Civil War in 1863, as part of the Maine 16th Regiment.  He and his wife moved to Chicago, where Albert found work as a typesetter.  He died in 1888, leaving behind a wife, Agnes, and two children (James and Nina), who also worked as typesetters.  Agnes went on to be a proprietor of The Gladstone (1888 Chicago Directory), which may have been a bar or hotel.  Her kids each had spouses, but had no children of their own, from available records.

William Sanford Morgan
(About 1910)

2.  My 2nd great grandfather, William Sanford Morgan (1841-1920), also fought in the Civil War, and settled in Portland.  He was the only child of Henry who had any descendants alive, as of 1970.

GRAVE OF LOUISE AND ROGER RUNDLETT
LOUISE'S DEATH DATE UNKNOWN

3.  Louise Maria Morgan (1843-1924) moved to Boston as a young adult, and worked as a tailoress in the home of Robert Hutchinson (a book binder) (1865 Mass. State Census).  She married Roger Sheridan Rundlett of NH in Dec 1865, and lived with Roger in Cambridge Mass. until about 1882, and then settled in the family home on Willow Street in Winterport, with Roger then owned by 1900.  No children.  Roger was a surveyor, along with his brother-in-law Seth Morgan (see below).  Roger also was a Civil War veteran and was listed as a "tuner for H&MO Company" in the 1878 Cambridge Directory.  Also in 1878, Roger lent his brother-in-law, William Sanford Morgan, $200.00 for a mortgage on William's Beech Ridge Road property in Scarborough, Maine.  William paid his brother back within two years.

Louise's obituary:

Mrs. Louise Rundlett died at her home on Willow street on Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Rundlett had been in poor health for several years, but was only confined to her bed for a few days. She was the widow of the late Roger Sherman Rundlett, who died a few years ago. They were prominent in the social affairs of the village for many years, but since his death she has gradually failed in health. She was a member of Cushing Chapter, O.E.S. She left a brother, Seth H. Morgan and a sister, Mrs. Augusta Emery. The funeral services will be held at the M.E. church at 3 PM Wednesday. The services of the Order of the Eastern Star will be used.

The Free Library will be open after the services of Mrs. Louise Rundlett on Wednesday. The hours will be from 3 to 5 PM.

The Bangor Daily News, 16 Apr 1924, Wed Edition, Page 9

GRAVE OF HORACE B. MORGAN

Togus National Cemetery, Augusta, Maine

4.  Horace B. Morgan (1845-1911), a short man like his brothers (5'3") also fought for the last year of the War, as he had just turned 17 at that point.  He and his wife Jennie moved around a lot.  They lived in Peabody Mass, Portland Maine, Boston, and Chelsea, Maine.  He also stayed at Togus hospital, like his brother William.  He had a heart valve problem, and hemiplegia.  He died of a cerebral hemorrhage.  He was survived by his wife, and two sons (Henry & Horace Edward).  His son Henry had no children, but Horace had one daughter, Jennie Carroll, born in NJ, who had no children of her own.  Interesting side note, from reviewing various census records, Jennie's husband Raymond, as well as Horace's son Henry (and his 2nd wife Ida), worked together at the Singer Sewing Machine company (Henry as a machinist and Raymond as a salesman). This might explain how Jennie met her husband (through her uncle Henry).

5. Harriet Augusta Morgan (1849-after 1924) went by her middle name "Augusta". She married twice - briefly to Alfred Rand, and then later to Charles Emery, who pre-deceased her in 1914. As a widow, she lived with her sister Louise and brother Seth on Willow Street. Augusta had no children..

Soon after little Harriet was born, Henry & Harriet divorced.  Henry kept the kids, married his 2nd wife, Abigail ("Abbie") Pratt Harding from Bucksport, and had two more boys, Seth Morgan (1858-1924), who never married, but took care of his ailing half-brother Horace, and Irving Morgan (1859-1861), who died as a baby.  Seth and his brother-in-law, Roger Rundlett, worked as surveyors, and according to the book An Old River Town by Ada Douglas Littlefield, they surveyed the icy width of the Penobscot River in 1904 and measured it to be 1/4 mile wide.  Seth worked as a plumber for his final years.

When Henry died in February of 1883, his Estate transferred the property to Abbie, who died 16 years later.  Henry was apparently a Mason, according to the funeral notice in the local paper:

Republican Journal - Belfast
Feb 15, 1883

The below obituary for Abbie Morgan declares her to have been a person of note in the community:

Obituary - Abbie Pratt Harding-Morgan
Republican Journal of Belfast
Aug 3, 1899

As for Henry Gray's ancestry, below he is included on the birth listing for Bucksport (formerly Buckstown), Maine, to William and Rachel Morgan, and he was one of 8 children:

William Morgan and Rachel (Page) Morgan were from Bucksport, Maine, and yet it appears that many family researchers conflate them William Morgan and Rachel (Sheldon) Morgan of Pittsford, Vermont.

William (1775-1852) and Rachel (1779-1848) both had settled in Winterport along with their son Henry, and are all buried there together in Oak Hill Cemetery. 

Here are the Winterport graves of this family:

MORGAN FAMILY PLOT
Oak Hill Cemetery
Winterport, Maine

Grave of two of Henry's children:
Adelaide Morgan (daughter of Henry & Harriett)
Seth Morgan (son of Henry & Abigail)

Grave of Baby Irving
Son to Henry & Abigail Morgan

Grave of William's son Henry Gray Morgan
and both wives Harriet Holmes & Abigail Harding

Grave of Elders
William Morgan & Rachel Sheldon

Graves of Parents of Harriet Holmes (and baby John)
Oak Hill Cemetery
Winterport, ME

William's parents, Israel & Sarah Jackson-Morgan, were originally from Spencer, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Herbie & Ginny Clarke

Herbert Francis Clarke, Jr. (1928-1994) was Grampy Clarke's 2nd born son.

He married Virginia Holmes (1929-1983), born to William & Ardelle Holmes of Falmouth in July of 1945, when she was only 15 years of age, and he was 17. They had seven kids, and seventeen grandchildren.

Ginny was well loved by the whole family, and her passing at only 52 years of age of kidney disease was very tragic for the family. Herbie passed 11 years later, after a long battle with cancer, and a second marriage to Hazel Pelletier of Casco.

My mom worked with Uncle Herbie out to Prout's Neck as landscapers for homes of the wealthy.

Scarborough (1956)
Herbie's House
(Brother in law Buck Brewer showing off his new Ford Fairlane)

HERBIE & GINNY AND FAMILY (1963)
SCARBOROUGH, MAINE