Boston Transcript – November 23, 1914

Monday, Nov. 23, 1914.

(4378.)  1. Burnham, Edgecomb.  William Burnham, said to be son of Collins Burnham of Scarboro, married Betsey Edgecomb, born 1796, daughter of Ezekiel and Alice (Lane) Edgecomb of Buxton, Me.  Can anyone give any information of Collins Burnham, his ancestry, wife and children?  Eliza Edgecomb of Saco, Me., born 1807, married Collins Burnham.  Was this Collins a brother of the above William?  William’s brothers and sisters are given as:  Priscilla, Susan, David, Henry, Collins, and Joel Burnham.    S.N.L.

Boston Transcript – September 3, 1918

(#7439) 1.  Burnham. When was Job Burnham, son of Thomas and Lydia (Pengry) of Ipswich, born?  His birth does not appear in the published Ipswich records.  But that he was the uncle of Moses Burnham, who followed him to Scarboro, Me., is shown by deposition filed with Job’s will at Alfred.  Moses was clearly the grandson of Thomas and Lydia, so Job must have been their son.

Moses Burnham of Ipswich, son of Thomas and Lydia, married Anne _______ and had Moses, born in Ipswich, March 9, 1705.   Only the birth of this Moses is found in Ipswich; he seems to have left there unmarried; and the only Moses subsequently found elsewhere that could possibly be he is the Moses of Scarboro.  In 1729 Moses Burnham is found in Scarboro, unmarried.  He married Mercy Harmon, Nov. 13, 1729, and died in 1777 (buried Dec. 16).  Hence he was probably born between 1700 and 1710.  As he was not born in Scarboro and was the nephew of Job, who is known to have come from Ipswich, he must be the one born there in 1705, son of Moses and Anne and grandson of Thomas and Lydia.

This is further indicated by the names of his children.  The four children of Moses and Anne were:  David, Mary, Moses, and Anne;  and Moses and Mercy of Scarboro gave their first four children just the same names, Mary, Moses, Anne, and David.  Another was named Lydia, evidently for the father’s grandmother, Lydia (Pengry) Burnham.  The other were Sarah (the grandmother of Mercy Harmon was named Sarah), Solomon, Nathaniel, and Jonathan.

It seems clear that Moses of Scarboro was the son of Moses and Anne of Ipswich and the grandson of Thomas and Lydia, so that Job Burnham, his uncle, must be the son of Thomas and Lydia.

Rev. William Thompson deposed that Job was about 88 when he died in 1756, therefore born 1668.  But this is hardly conclusive as Thompson would only know hearsay.

2. Burnham.  The Massachusetts Magazine for January, 1911, speaks of “two very interesting seventeenth century Burnham wills,” brought to light during the preceding summer in England.  “In which the testator refers by full name to sons living in America.”  What do these wills show, and where can copies of them be seen?

3. Littlefield.  Who was Rebecca, wife of Francis (2) Littlefield, Sr., of Wells, Me.?  A copy of Wells Town Records in the Maine Genealogical Society’s rooms, Portland, gives “Francis Littlefield, senior, was born in June, 1619; Rebecca, his wife, was born January 31, 1630.” After the name Rebecca someone has interlined in pencil “Rust.”  Is there anything to substantiate this?  Is any Rebecca Rust known born in 1630?     A.S.B.

2 Boston Transcript – July 23, 1919

Wednesday, July 23, 1919 
(*7637) Burnham.  Hollis, Me., records show that Moses and Hannah Burnham had children:  David, born May 19, 1799; Susanna, born Nov. 28, 1802; Samuel, born Aug. 31, 1804; Aaron, born July 10, 1806; Jane, born Jan. 20, 1809; Lucy, born Oct. 7, 1811.  Did Moses and Hannah have older children, including William, Olive, Royal, Henry and Hannah?  Who were the parents of Moses Burnham and his wife Hannah?  Did Moses come from the Scarboro family or the Portland family?

2. Burnham.  Who were the parents of William Burnham, who married Betsy Edgecomb of the same town, Oct 17, 1816?           S.N.L.

Boston Transcript – November 3, 1919

NOTES

Comment on Note 1964.  Whitten.  S.N.L., Oct. 8, 1919.  I wish to thank S.N.L. for his comprehensive notes on the Whitten family, as I have long been interested and searching for the ancestry of John Whitten of Arundel, who married in Newbury, Ruth Merrill of Salisbury, consequently I looked to find him in Massachusetts.  Joseph, born 1753, married 1776 Anne Burnham, daughter of James and Grace Dalzel; she was the daughter of Walter Dalzel of Londonderry and Elizabeth Forest.  Can S.N.L. or anyone interested in the Burnham family tell me the ancestry or James, born Sept. 24, 1710 in Wells, Me., said to be a descendant of Thomas of Ipswich?  The ancestry of Edward Burnham, at one time in a Biddeford bank, might help as he was a cousin of a descendant of James, born 1710. 
           E.G.P.M.

Boston Transcript – December 17, 1919

Comment on Note 1964.  Whitten.  E.G.P.M., Now. 3, 1919.  Many thanks for the additional Whitten notes, especially the record of John Whitten’s marriage to Olive Taylor.  I have nothing further on the parentage of James Burnham of Wells, who married Grace Dalzell, and do not believe the late E.P. Burnham of Saco could trace his ancestry back of this couple, as everything I have seen in connection with Mr. Burnham’s line stopped with James.
           S.N.L.

Boston Transcript – April 30, 1923

(684.) 2.  BURNHAM, FOSS.  Moses and Hannah Burnham of Hollis, Me., had the following children born between 1799 and 1811:  David, Susanna, Samuel, Aaron Jane and Lucy.  It is believed there were five more children in this family:  William born by 1796, married Betsey Edgecomb; Henry; Hannah, who married a Greene;  Olive, who married a Files; and Royal.  The parentage of Moses and Hannah Burnham, with data concerning their children, is sought by a descendant of William Burnham.  Moses is supposed to have belonged to the Scarboro family, and his wife Hannah is called a Foss, also a Scarboro name, although one correspondent has stated that Moses was born in 1774, son of John and Abigail (Stickney) Burnham of Portland.          S.N.L.

 3 Boston Transcript – September 30, 1925

3236. 5. BURNHAM.   Y.W.B.H., Aug. 26, 1925.  Moses Burnham and Mercy Harmon were married in Scarboro, Nov. 13, 1729.  Church records there show nine children, the first five baptized in the First Church, the others in the Second Church.  These children, with dates of baptism, were:  Mary, Oct. 25, 1730; Moses, July 1, 1733; Anne, Oct. 3, 1736; David, Feb. 3, 1739-40; David, Jan. 31, 1741-2; Sarah, Nov. 17, 1745; Solomon, Jan. 22, 1748-49; Jonathan, Dec 15, 1751; Nathaniel, June 22, 1755.  Another Burnham child, Lydia, daughter of Moses, was baptized in the Second Church, Sept. 3, 1758, and I suppose she also was daughter of Moses and Mercy, although the mother was not named, as was the case with the other nine children.

The David Burnham of Scarboro with wife Olive I have assumed was the David above, baptized Jan. 31, 1741-2.  Can Y.W.B.H. state positively if this was a fact, and if his wife Olive was a Berry?

The only record of David and Olive Burnham’s children I have ever found is in a scrapbook in the Maine Historical Society library in Portland, a collection of articles from the Deering News.  The children are there named as:  Eunice, born Dec. 17, 1771; Olive, born April 24, 1773; Moses, born Feb. 8, 1775; David, born April 4, 1777; Rebeckah, born April 3, 1779; Joel, born Jan. 18, 1781; Benjamin, born Oct. 18, 1782 (another record says 1785); Jane, born Oct. 25, 1786; Amos, born Aug. 27, 1789.

Moses, above, born Feb. 7, 1775, is supposed to have been the one who married Hannah _______ .  A great-granddaughter of this couple has told me she was Hannah Foss, and that their children were named:  William Foss, Samuel, Henry, David, Susan, Hannah, Olive, Lucy, Jane, Royal and Aaron.  Can anyone tell when and where Moses and Hannah were married and supply the dates of births of their children?  William Foss Burnham’s birth is especially needed.

Joel Burnham and Anna Foss were married in Scarboro, Nov. 27, 1799, but Hollis records name six children of Joel Burnham and Nancy, his wife, as follows:  John, born April 28, 1800; Benjamin, born June 3, 1802; Hannah, born Dec. 30, 1804; Amos, born June 7, 1806; Stickney, born Sept. 28, 1808; Foster, born July 25, 1810.

Second Church records in Scarboro show that William and Lydia Foss had a daughter Hannah, baptized Sept. 5 1779, and a daughter Anna, baptized Jan. 29. 1784.  Did the daughter Hannah die young, or did she live to marry—possibly Moses Burnham, about 1795?  And was it the sister Anna who married Joel Burnham?

One David Burnham of Scarboro is credited with service in the Revolution.  Can it be shown what David earned this record?            S.N.L.

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