James Dudley
Birth Name | James Dudley |
Gender | male |
Age at Death | about 80 years, 3 months, 19 days |
Narrative
There are a few family trees on ancestry.com, familysearch.org, and rootsweb.com that identify James Dudley as the son of Samuel6 Dudley of Pittston, Maine. None, however, show how to make the connection between a James Dudley born in Pittston and one who died in Veazie. Since there was more than one James Dudley in Maine at the time, I thought I would lay out the reasons why we can come to that conclusion.
First of all, The History of the Dudley Family by Dean Dudley, records the first six generations in this line from Governor Thomas1 Dudley as Samuel2, Stephen3, James4, Samuel5, and Samuel6. The book informs us that Samuel6 was born in New Hampshire and settled in Pittston, Maine, having bought land there in 1771 while still “of Brentwood, N. H.”
The author then quotes a letter he received in 1888 from Mrs. Sarah Crocker of East Pittston, Maine, a granddaughter of Samuel6. In it she says “Uncle James went to Oldtown, Me., and kept a tavern there.”[1]
James Dudley and Abigail Hook filed an intention to marry in Pittston, Maine in 1803, in which Abigail is described as “of Canaan.”[2] No location for James is given in the transcription, implying that James was of Pittston, the home of Samuel6 Dudley.
Secondly, the first son of James and Abigail (Hook) Dudley was named John H Dudley. His birth is recorded in the Pittston records and in the Maine Vital Records, Copied from Old Records, as occurring on Feb 29, 1803.[3] The birth is on the Orono records as happening on February 29, 1804.[4] Ruth Gray’s transcription of the Old Town records gives the location as Pittston.[5] Either two different boys named John H Dudley were born on the same leap year day, or his parents moved from Pittston to Orono/Old Town.
Finally, The Centennial Celebration and Dedication of the Town Hall, Orono, Maine, March 3, 1874, says:
A settlement was commenced between fifty and sixty years ago about a mile west of the Bangor road, of which the late James Dudley, who migrated from Pittston, Kennebec county, was facile princeps.[6]
For the preceding reasons, I believe we are on solid ground when we identify James Dudley, husband of Abigail Hook, and living in Old Town and Veazie, Maine, as the son of Samuel Dudley of Pittston.
There is a bit more about the Dudleys in Family Trees > New England Families on the menu of this website. I hope to update it with more sources and information one of these days.
Footnotes
1. Dean Dudley, The History of the Dudley Family, with Genealogical Tables, Pedigrees, Etc. (Wakefield, Mass.: Dean Dudley, publisher, 1886), pages 430, 431.
2. Henry Sewall Webster, editor, Vital Records of Pittston, Maine, to the year 1892 (Gardiner, Maine: The Reporter-Journal Press, 1911), p. 187.
3. Vital Records of Pittston, Maine, p. 51, as: “John, s. James and Abigail, Feb. 29 [sic], 1803″. [The "sic" was the transcriber's, not mine.] Microfilm of Maine Vital Records, Copied from Old Records, at New England Historic and Genealogical Society, as: “John Dudley, Feb 29, 1803, Pittston. Father: James Dudley, mother: Abigail Dudley.”
4.Orono Town Records, 1806-1838, microfilm copy at New England Historic and Genealogical Society, as: Family of James Dudley and Wife: John H. Dudley born on 29 Feb 1804.
5. Ruth Gray, editor, Vital Records of Old Town, Maine, prior to 1892 (Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1996).
6. Centennial Celebration and Dedication of the Town Hall, Orono, Maine (Portland, Maine: Bailey and Noyes, 1874), page 137. Now digitized and at Google Books and HeritageQuestOnline.com.
Events
Event | Date | Place | Description | Sources |
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Birth | about September 1782 | East Pittston, Kennebec County, Maine, United States | 1 | |
General
The location comes from Dean Dudley, History of the Dudley Family, with Genealogical Tables, Pedigrees, Etc., (Wakefield, Mass.: Dean Dudley, publisher, 1886), pages 430 and 431. |
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Census | August 6, 1810 | Pittston, Kennebec County, Maine, United States | 1810 James Dudley household | 2 |
General
1810 Kennebec Co., Pittson, Series M252, Roll 11, page 669 [this family fits the James Dudley whose family is later recorded on the records of Orono, Maine, after 1821] |
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Census | June 1, 1830 | Orono, Penobscot County, Maine, United States | 1830 James Dudley household | |
General
1830 Penobscot, Orono, Series M19, Roll 51, Page 483 [this may be him but not everybody matches up] "United States Census, 1830," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XH55-9G5 : accessed 03 Dec 2013), James Dudley, 1830. |
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Census | June 1, 1840 | Orono, Penobscot County, Maine, United States | 1840 James Dudley household | |
General
1840 Penobscot, Orono, Series M704, Roll 149, Page 250 "United States Census, 1840," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XHYS-HTV : accessed 03 Dec 2013), James Dudley, 1840. |
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Census | Orono, Penobscot County, Maine, United States | 1850 James Dudley household | ||
Event Note
1850 Penobscot, Orono, Series M432, Roll 264, p. 257, family 379.
James Dudley, 67, Laborer, RE: $90, ME |
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Census | June 1, 1860 | Orono, Penobscot County, Maine, United States | 1860 James Dudley household | |
General
1860 Penobscot, Orono, Series M653, Roll 446, p. 913
James Dudley, 78, farmer, born in ME [They are living between the household of his son Newman and that of Abner and Priscilla Perkins. Priscilla is their granddaughter by Daniel.] "United States Census, 1860," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDCH-CP8 : accessed 17 Feb 2014), John H Dudley, 1860. |
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Death | December 20, 1862 | 3a | ||
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Burial | Fairview Cemetery, Veazie, Penobscot County, Maine, United States | |||
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Parents
Relation to main person | Name | Birth date | Death date | Relation within this family (if not by birth) |
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Father | Samuel Dudley | about 1747 | 1796 | |
Mother | Sarah Young | February 28, 1751 (Julian) | Unknown | |
James Dudley | about September 1782 | December 20, 1862 |
Families
Family of James Dudley and Abigail Hook |
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Married | Wife | Abigail Hook ( b. about 1782 d. 1870 ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Children |
Name | Birth Date | Death Date |
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John H Dudley | February 29, 1804 | December 25, 1864 |
Judith “Julia” Dudley | March 29, 1806 | after 1880 |
Daniel G. Dudley | August 17, 1808 | before 1840 |
Abigail H Dudley | November 10, 1810 | 1883 |
Gilman H. Dudley | February 13, 1813 | September 22, 1874 |
Newman H. Dudley | April 17, 1816 | October 17, 1874 |
Priscilla/Permelia Dudley | October 2, 1818 | November 26, 1896 |
Mary “Mahallath” Dudley | August 17, 1821 | December 9, 1914 |
Pedigree
Source References
- Dean Dudley: History of the Dudley Family, with Genealogical Tables, Pedigrees, Etc.
- 1810 United States Census
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Maine Old Cemetery Association: Fairview Cemetery, Veazie, transcription
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General:
Maine Old Cemetery Association, Cemetery Inscriptions, microfilm. Fairview Cemetery, Veazie, is on Series I, page 1874ff.
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General:
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Vital Records of Canaan, Maine
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General:
Vital Records of Canaan, Maine, microfilm, at NEHGS.
Vital Records of Pittston, Maine, to the year 1892, Henry Sewall
Webster, editor, (Gardiner, Maine: The Reporter-Journal Press, 1911), p. 187, records their intention to marry on 3 Aug 1803.
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General:
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