George Leighton, my fifth great grand uncle, was born on this date in 1727 in Dover, New Hampshire, the fifth of eleven children born to Thomas Leighton and Susannah Chesley, and their third son.elat
George married Dorothy Hall, also of Dover, on August 22, 1753. She was the daughter of Hatevil Hall and Sarah Furbish. Like the Halls, George was a Quaker.
Sometime before 1760, with possibly three young children in tow, George and Dorothy settled in Falmouth, Maine, where George became a successful landowner. Land records from Cumberland County show dozens of George's land transactions. He often purchased the rights to common and undivided land from proprietors or their heirs. Often Dorothy would co-sign, waiving her dower rights. Most holdings were described as north of the Presumpscot River, but some were in Cape Elizabeth.
George is listed in Soldiers, Sailors and Patriots of the Revolutionary War / Maine as George Laten, not as soldier, but as a provider and hauler of timber.
Together, George and Dorothy had eight children, the oldest five born in Falmouth:
Pelatiah, b. c1753
Jedediah, b. 1757
Sarah, b. 1758
Hatevil, b. 1760
Abigail, b. 1762
David, b. 1767
Paul, b. 1770
Silas, b. 1771
It was commonly believed that many members of this particular branch of the Leighton family were laid to rest in a granite tomb off the Hardy Road, near the Blackstrap Road, in what is now West Cumberland, Maine. However, there is also a Jedediah Leighton's Family Cemetery in the area, where this photo was taken. Further research will confirm or deny that this is George Leighton's headstone.
Sources:
Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Births and Christenings Index, 1714-1904 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Deaths [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.
Fisher, Carleton Edward and Sue G. Fisher, Soldiers, sailors and patriots of the Revolutionary War / Maine (National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1982, p.457)
Hall, David Brainerd, The Halls of New England (Albany: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1883), p.165.
Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Births and Christenings Index, 1714-1904 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
"Public Member
Trees," database, Ancestry.com, "Bennet-1," for George
Leighton (b. 18 Nov 1727), with linked images.
Fisher, Carleton Edward and Sue G. Fisher, Soldiers, sailors and patriots of the Revolutionary War / Maine (National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1982, p.457)
Hall, David Brainerd, The Halls of New England (Albany: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1883), p.165.
Leighton, Perley M. A Leighton genealogy: descendants of Thomas Leighton of Dover, New Hampshire. Compiled by Perley M. Leighton based in part on data collected by Julia Leighton Cornman. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1989.) pp. 55-56.
***
This is the 41st in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at
You might also enjoy:
No comments:
Post a Comment