| Notes |
- The following is copied from the book, History of Gorham, ME, by Hugh D. McLelland, compiled and edited by His Daughter, Katharine B. Lewis, Portland, Smith & Sale, Printers, 1903. This source can be found on .com
From Page 532:
Jacob Hamblen was one of the early settlers. He was here certainly as early as 1743, and was here during the Indian war of 1745. He and his family, with the other settlers, were confined to the fort nearly seven years, where they suffered great privation and hardship. They had not only the Indians, and at times nearly a famine, to contend with, but a dreadful disease broker out in the fort, said to have been brought on in consequence of lack of food; many of the children died, and every dweller in the fort was affected by it. We should judge that Mr. Hamblen was a good business man and a useful citizen, one in whom his fellow settlers had confidence. His name is prominent on the old Proprietors' records; he was always at their meetings, often on the important committees for surveying the lands, running lines, fixing boundaries, making roads, getting ministers, and the general business of the proprietary. His homestead consisted of the two thirty acre lots, 16 and 25. By the old plan of the thirty acre lots, they were bounded northerly by Hamblen street and easterly by King street (now High and School streets), extending southerly from the corner now occupied by Joseph Ridlon's store, to the line of the railroad, and westerly to Harding's Hill, so called. His dwelling house was on 16, where the store of R.G. Harding lately stood. Here he kept a "house of entertainment" from 1757 to the time of his death. The meetings of the old Proprietors were often held at his house. A part of this old tavern house was moved, and with some additions, used by Maj. Simeon Farnham as a dwelling house. The old house of late years was known as the old Gammon house, and stood near where the late Mrs. Stephen Hinckley's house now stands.
Mr. Hamblen, in the year 1770, made a present to the town of the burial ground at Gorham village, which has since become the quiet resting place of so many of the worthy old proprietors. Near the northeasterly corner of this lot stands a time-worn and broken monument of slate stone, bearing the following inscription:
In Memory of Mr JACOB HAMBLEN, Who Died June 3d 1774, Aged 72 Years.
Mrs. Hamblen in her day was a famous comber of wool for the purpose of making worsted. In an old account book we find Mrs. Hamblen has credit for combing worsted, five shillings, and for one hundred cabbage plants, two shillings … She made it strictly the rule of her house, for herself and every member of her family, to attend all the meetings on the Sabbath day, or keep close within doors. Fast and feast days were rigidly observed according to law and the ordinances of the church. No person within her house was allowed to eat a morsel of food on fast days between early morning and evening, if she could prevent it. ven the cattle within her barns had to come under the rule; they were fed the night before, and allowed no more till the day had passed, and consequently were allowed an abundance of feed on Thanksgiving day.
Whether the old lady was one of those who believed that all dumb animals would be found on their knees at twelve o'clock on Christmas eve, in thanksgiving for the birth of the Savior, we cannot say; nevertheless it was once the current belief of the day, and some there be at this time who are unwilling to give it up.
Of the children of Jacob and Content Hamblen, there is no record. They had two sons, Joseph and Daniel. Tabitha, who married Samuel Crockett, Jr., of Gorham (pub. Feb. 2, 1771), is believed to have been their daughter. Mrs. Content Hamblen, the widow of Jacob, married, Mar. 1, 1780, Mr. James Miller, from Cape Elizabeth. She lived with her husband, Miller, in a house which stood in the Alexander McLellan garden, directly back of what is now the Joseph Ridlon store. In an old record, kept by the Rev. Caleb Jewett, we find that "Mr. Miller died May 16, 1787."
After his death Mrs. Miller lived alone in her house for several years, and was held as a fortune teller. She was often visited by the young people to learn their future destiny.
Of her decease there is no record, but we conclude that she died about the year 1790, certainly before 1800. Soon after Mrs. Miller's death, the old house was torn down, leaving the cellar open. Old Mr. Trundy, who lived in Boston, came to meeting one Sunday, making his horse fast to a post near by. The old horse became frightened, and in his struggles broke his fastening and went over backwards into the cellar, where he remained till meeting was over, and he was found by his owner. As Trundy was a quaint, queer old character, his talk to his horse and efforts to get him out afforded much amusement to the boys. When he came out of the meeting-house, and discovered his animal looking out over the cellar wall, a similarity between his situation and that of the Rev. Minister looking out over his pulpit, seemed to strike the old man. He walked up to his head and addressed him: "Faith, and old horse, you have got a pulpit of y'r own, but to my mind it's not half so fine as Parson Jewett's and yer can't preach half the sermon he can, and yer had better get out of that before the tithing-man gets after yer." After procuring ropes, and throwing in a part of the wall, by the aid of the men and the pulling back of the boys, the horse was extricated from his pulpit, much to the satisfaction of his owner.
Note: Stories continue from this source about of children of Jacob and Content and other Hamblen relatives.
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Old Dead Relatives
1702 - 1774 (72 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
