If you remember my shock pruning of John Haskell & Hannah Parsons of New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine from my family tree last month, you’ll remember that I promised to piece together details of the lives of Judith’s correct parents, Nathan Haskell and Judith Witham.

Like Judith Haskell’s parents, the now deleted John and Hannah (Parsons) Haskell, Nathan and Judith also hailed from Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts.

Nathan Haskell was born 21 September 1749, the son of Hubbard Haskell and Anne Millet. Judith Witham was born 28 June, [record missing -after 1750 and] probably in 1751, the daughter of Daniel Witham and Judith Sanders.

Nathan and Judith married, a bit younger than aged 25 & 21 that was typical for couples of the time, on 27 October 1771. Their wedding may have been precipitated because of the impending birth of their first child in early 1772.

Their births and marriage all took place in Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts and are recorded in town records.

Nathan died on 4 December 1838; Judith died on 29 January 1846. Both deaths are recorded in New Gloucester town records, which are digitized, but not indexed on FamilySearch.

New Gloucester town records state that their first three children were born in Gloucester and that is substantiated in Gloucester records.

The young family of Nathan Haskell removed from Gloucester to New Gloucester sometime between the birth of their third child, who was baptized on 27 November 1774, and 30 November 1778, when Nathan sold some land in New Gloucester. No record has been found in Cumberland County, Maine or Essex County, Massachusetts to indicate how he came to own that piece of real estate.

The Gloucester, Massachusetts Archives includes a document compiled by John J. Somes, City Clerk, Cape Ann’s Contribution to Army and Navy in the Revolutionary War Under Washington American Independence.

Cape Ann was the early name given to the Gloucester and Rockport area of Massachusetts.

The list includes Nathan Haskell, the only man of the name in Gloucester who was of an age to serve, who enlisted 13 July 1775 in Pvt. Joseph Whipple’s Company and served 6 months.

This military service narrows the window of the family’s move to Maine to between January 1776 and sometime in 1777, when their first child born in New Gloucester joined the family.

They wouldn’t have been moving to Maine in the middle of a New England winter, so it is likely they moved in the summer of 1776 or possibly early in 1777. That time frame would also fit Nathan’s land sale in late 1778.

Children:

1. Nathan, born 1 February 1772, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts; died 24 December 1849, Minot, Androscoggin, Maine; married Phebe Hobbs, both of Poland, Androscoggin, Maine when they married in Minot, 31 May 1800. They were the parents of ten children.

2. Sally, baptized February 1773, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts; died after the 1850 census, when she lived with family in new Gloucester; married Gideon Dawes, 6 April 1793, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine. Gideon may be a son of Gideon Dawes of Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts who died in war service in 1776. If so, he was born c1772; died between the 1840 census of New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine and the 1850 census, when Sally was apparently a widow. They were the parents of 11 children.

3. Samuel Hubbard, baptized 27 November 1774, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts; died 12 September 1864, Danville, Androscoggin, Maine; married Lydia Chase, 1 October 1801, Pejepscot (later Danville), Cumberland, Maine. They were the parents of about ten children.

4. William, born c1777, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; married Sally Bradbury, 11 February 1802, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine. Both died after the 1830 census. They were the parents of seven children.

5. John, born c1779, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; died 2 March 1870, Garland, Penobscot, Maine; married Sarah (MNU). They were the parents of at least six children.

6. Judith, born c1781; died 6 July 1861; married William Tarbox, 25 November 1802, all in New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine. They were the parents of 11 children.

7. Hannah, born c1783, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; no further record

8. Isaiah, born September 1784, per his gravestone, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; died 18 May 1870, Auburn, Androscoggin, Maine; married (1) Margaret Wyre Tarbox, 18 November 1811, Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts (2) Sarah Chandler, 9 April 1835, Danville, Cumberland, Maine. He had at least one son with Sarah, Joseph.

9. Anna, born c1786, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; no further record

10. David, born 29 July 1788, per his gravestone, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; died 12 September 1866; married Lucy (MNU) Crockett, 28 April 1839 or early May 1839, in Piscataquis or Penobscot Counties, Maine. They were the parents of two children.

11. Jemima, born 29 April 1790, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; reportedly died 8 July 1869, probably New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine where she lived in 1860; married Joel Nevens, 23 January 1808, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine. They were the parents of about 13 children.

12. Eliza, born 29 February 1792, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; died 31 August 1862 of cholera, West Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts; unmarried

13. Jonathan, born c1799, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; died 28 February 1865, Oxford County, Maine; married Mary Haskell, about 14 October 1815, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine. They were the parents of at least four children.

14. Mary, born 17 August 1797, per her gravestone, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; died 24 March 1864, probably Penobscot County, Maine where the couple lived in 1860; married George Washington Waite, 24 March 1817, New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine. NOTE: Their gravestones are modern. They were the parents of at least four children.

This ends the account of the family of Nathan Haskell and Judith Witham. If you are descended from this couple and can add more documented information, please leave a comment.