Digging Down East: Pig Knoll

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

52 Ancestors: #20 Edward Skillings (1711-1779)

Edward Skillings, my sixth great grandfather, was born on this date in 1711, in either Scarborough or Kittery, Maine, the second of five children born to Josiah Skillings and Elizabeth Lydston, and their second son. His older brother John had died at age 10, and his youngest two siblings both died so young there is no record of their names. His sister Elizabeth lived to adulthood, married twice, and had a large family.

Edward married Sarah Mills (some sources say Miller) in Scarborough or Kittery, Maine, on March 23, 1731/2. It is recorded in the records of Scarborough's Congregational Church. Sarah was born December 25, 1712, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the daughter of Benjamin Mills and Lydia Fernald.

Edward and Sarah lived in Scarborough and attended the First Congregational Church there.

In December of his marriage year, Edward was given a deed of land by his mother's second husband, Roger Deering, consisting of 100 acres of land in Scarborough, 1/6 of 1/2 of a sawmill on the Nonesuch River, and 1/6 of 1/2 of the stream.

Photo credit: Doug Kerr / Creative Commons

Edward and Sarah had 13 children, three of whom they named Josiah:

Elizabeth, b. 1733

Josiah, b. 1734; d. 1745

Lydia, b. 1736

Sarah, b.1738

John, b.1740

Catherine, b.1743

Josiah, b.1745; d. 1747

Simeon, b. 1747

Mark, b. 1750

Josiah (twin), b. 1752

Benjamin (twin), b. 1752

Rebecca, b. 1754

Edward, Jr., b.1756

Edward died in Scarborough on November 3, 1779 of smallpox, at 68 years of age. Although it is unknown when Sarah passed away, both Edward and Sarah were buried in what is known as a "lost cemetery," on Pig Knoll, on a crest alongside Running Hill Road.

Photo credit:

U.S. History Images

(http://ushistoryimages.com/colonial-times.shtm)

Scarborough, Maine

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/8184832579/);

[CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

Davis Walter Goodwin, Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis, 3 volumes. (Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996), 2:605-606.

Descendants of Thomas and Deborah (?) Skillings of Cumberland Co, Maine (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arlene/Skillings/sources.htm#f418b)

Find-a-Grave memorials for Edward and Sarah (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=2368981)

Libby, Charles Thornton. The Libby Family in America, 1602-1881 (Portland, B. Thurston and Co., 1881), p. 97.

Sargent, William M., Esq, "Records of the First Congregational Church in Scarborough, Maine," Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder multiple (Baptisms: 2:162; 3:8-12; Marriages: 2:83-90; 144-150; 238-243).

***

This is the 20th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

Mappy Monday ~ The Lost Cemetery on Pig Knoll in Scarborough, Maine

My 6th great grandparents, Edward and Sarah (Mills) Skillings are buried in a "lost cemetery." Pig Knoll lies along the present Running Hill Road in Scarborough, Maine, a two-lane route located near the present Maine Mall and the Portland International Jetport. It is 167 feet above sea level, is entirely overgrown and dwarfed by the commercial development surrounding it. There is no evidence that it was ever used as a burial ground.

Edward Skillings had acquired about 110 acres in this part of Scarborough in the 1730's. This land included plots located near the crest of Running Hill. He was at times both a farmer and a fisherman. He had married Sarah Mills in Kittery, Maine in the early 1730's. She was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the daughter of Benjamin Mills and Lydia Fernald. They attended the Scarborough Congregational Church. Edward and Sarah had 13 children, all born in Scarborough.

Edward died in Scarborough on November 3, 1779, possibly of smallpox. There is no record of when his wife Sarah died. Both were buried on Pig Knoll.

Pig Knoll (43.6301 N - 70.3589 W)

Sources:

Descendants of Thomas and Deborah (?) Skillings of Cumberland Co, Maine (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arlene/Skillings/sources.htm#f418b

Find-a-Grave memorials for Edward and Sarah (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=2368981

Henley, Thomas Shaw, Descendants of Thomas Skillin of Falmouth (Now Portland), Maine and Allied Familes. (Tavares, Florida, March 2010).

Libby, Charles Thornton. The Libby Family in America, 1602-1881 (Portland, B. Thurston and Co., 1881), p. 83.

Map:

http://www.mountainzone.com/mountains/detail.asp?fid=7758856