Abraham SOMES^[1]

1732 - 1819  (87 years)

• Name	Abraham SOMES
  Born	14 Mar 1732	Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	Cooper
  DAR#	A107063
  Military Event	American Revolution - 7 Co, 6 Lincoln Co, Reg of MA Mil, 1st Lt  [2]
  Served American Revolution?	Y
  Military Flag	Y
  Died	7 Sep 1819	Mt Desert, Hancock, Maine
  Buried	Brookside Cemetery, Mt Desert, Hancock, Maine   [3]
  Person ID	I44038	Main
  Last Modified	8 Nov 2023

  
  

  Father	Abraham SOMES,   b. 21 Aug 1707, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts ,   d. 22 Nov 1775, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts  (Age 68 years)
  Mother	Martha EMERSON,   b. 25 Dec 1715, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts ,   d. 11 Nov 1823, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts  (Age 107 years)
  Married	3 Dec 1730	Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts
  Family ID	F32276	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Hannah HERRICK,   b. 6 Oct 1735, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts ,   d. 16 Mar 1790, Somesville, Mt Desert, Hancock, Maine  (Age 54 years)
  Married	29 Dec 1753	Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts
  Children	+ 1. Capt Abraham SOMES,   b. 19 Dec 1763, Mt Desert, Hancock, Maine ,   d. 12 Jul 1845, Mt Desert, Hancock, Maine  (Age 81 years) + 2. Prudence SOMES,   b. 23 Jun 1761, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts ,   d. 1841, Sedgwick, Hancock, Maine  (Age 79 years)
  Last Modified	11 May 2021
  Family ID	F30966	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 14 Mar 1732 - Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts Married - 29 Dec 1753 - Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts Buried - - Brookside Cemetery, Mt Desert, Hancock, Maine  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Headstones

  Abraham Somes Headstone

  
  

• Notes

  m2 Joanna BEAL —— Abraham Somes (March 14, 1732-December 17, 1831) was the primary founder of English settlements on the scenic Mount Desert Island, which is now part of Acadia National Park in present-day Maine. In 1761, Somes, a cooper by trade, brought his wife and family from Gloucester, Massachusetts to the island, along with James Richardson and Richardson's family. Somes obtained the land for development on grants from Francis Bernard, the governor of Massachusetts; who, in 1761, still maintained an interest in securing the property for Great Britain. Somes chose to establish a village at the North end of the fjord which cuts through the center of the island. It would later be named after him as Somes Sound, and it is the only natural fjord on the east coast of the United States. Abraham named his settlement Somesville and it would develop into an important trading location that largely allowed for the rest of the island to be permanently colonized in the years following the American Revolutionary War. —— Abraham was a 1st. Lieutenant during the Revolutionary War, he appears listed with Ezra Young's 7 Co., 6 Lincoln Co., regiment of MA Militia; commissioned July 11, 1776; also with Capt. Daniel Sullivan's Co. of Volunteers from July 28, 1779-September 28, 1779 — "2 months expedition against Major Bagaduce." Enlisted 11 Jul 1776. Discharged 28 Sep 1779. —— Abraham Somes, wife Hannah (Herrick), and their then four children (daughters Hannah, Patty, Lucy, and Prudence) were the first settlers of European descent on Mount Desert Island. Virginia Somes Sanderson, in her 1982 book The Living Past, quoted from a letter written by Abraham Somes that described his arrival on Mount Desert Island. He said that he "came down immediately after the War was over and peace ratified between Great Britain and the French and Indians—so that I could be safe in moving into the Wilderness; I came to this place which was in the autumn of the year 1761 and made a pitch on this Lot [where] I now live and in June, the year following, I moved my family and settled on the same lot and have occupied the same ever since". Nearly 30 years later, in 1790, the year of the first decennial census, Abraham Somes's family (then composed of 4 free white males 16 and upwards, 3 free white males under 16, and 2 free white females) was the only Somes family reported for the island. This is not surprising, though, given that Abraham was only 29 years old in 1761, and that his four oldest children were female and would not carry the family name upon marriage. [4]

  
  

• Sources

  [S176] Mount Desert Island Families, Mount Desert Island Historical Society, http://mdihistory.org/Cultural_History_Project/htdocs/MDIgenealogy/Somes.htm. [S24] Daughters of the American Revolution, A107063. [S96] Find a Grave, database and images, 42939581. [S151] WikiTree, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Somes-58.