The Portland daily press., 1882-03-01

PELEa WADswoRTH.
ALDEN BRADFORD, ESQ.
The birth of son there in Sept. 1881,
shows that General Wadsworth took his
family to Plymouth on leaving his command IN
Maine A daughter was also born there IN
1888. 1t is known that he came to Falmouth
in 1884. In December of that year he pur-
chased of John Ingersoll of Boston, ship
wright for 100 pounds lawful money, the lot
of land in Falmouth on which he erected his
buildings for a home. In the deed he is
named of that town. The purchase is de-
scrbed as slying northeast of lot now pos
sessed by Captain Arthur Mcclellan, being
four rods in front and running towards Back
Cove and containing one and one half acres.
Being part of three acres originally granted
to Daniel Ingersoll as appears on the records
of the town of Falmouth, Book No. l,
page 49," This is the Congress street lot on
which he erected his house and store
DIR. Deane, in his diary says his store and
barn were built in 1884. While he was build
| ing his house. he with his family lived in
building at the south corner of Franklin and
| Congress streets, belonging to Captain Jona-
| than Paine. 1t was built for a barn but
| probably had been occupied before as a dwell
| ing, as it escaped Mowatt's burning ten years
| before, which compelled well-to-do people to
| occupy very humble quarters. This building
| was long afterwards finished for q dwelling
| house by Elijah Adams, and burned in 1866.
In the spring 1885, General Wadsworth made
preparation to erect his house. There had
then besn no attempt in the town to construct
all the walls of building of brick indeed
| there had been no suitable brick for walls
made here. At that time brick buildings were
| expected to have projecting base of several
| courses-the top one to be of brick fashioned
| klo ~ II of xrhich nod
| a regular moulding when laid on edge and
endwise, and the walls receded several inches
| to the perpendicular face. Several houses be-
| sides General Wadsworth's were commenced
| in this way. In the spring of 1885 the General
| obtained brick for his house in Philadelphia,
including those for the base and belt above
the first story. John Nichols was the master
mason.
| Although the house was to be only two
stories, the walls wese built sixteen inches
thick strong enough for a church tower. This
swallowed up the bricks more rapidly
than had been expected. At the
close of the season they were
! all laid and the walls were not completed.
| There was no alternative but to secure the
| masonry from the weather, and wait for
another spring. When that came more bricks
were imported and "the house that jack
| (Nichols) built was finished 1t is yet
standing and shows good work in the artistic
window caps of brick. There was no other
| brick house built in town until three years
after. The Wadswerth house when originally
finished, had high pitched roof of two equal
sides, and four chimneys. The store ad-
/ joined the house at the southeast, with an ems
| trance door from the house, and was of two
stories. Here the General sold all kinds of
| goods needed in the town and country trade.
| His name appears in the records with some
| forty others, as licensed retailers of the
| town in 1885. What time he gave up the
store is uncertain. The late Edward Howe
occupied it in 1905, who described it to me.
Gen. Wadsworth was elected to the Massa-
| chutts Senate in 1892, and the same year he
| was elected representative to Congress- being
| the first fromIC mICumberland district, and was sue
cessively elected to that office until 1906, when
| he declined reelection. In 1898, the citizens
| of Portland gave him public dinner in ap-
| probation of his official conduct. Capt. Will
liam Merrill related to me the circumstance
that when the seat of government was re-
moved from Philadelphia to Washington in
| 1901, Gen. Wadsworth took passage in his
| vessel for Baltimore, that being the most
| speedy and comfortable way to reach Wash
| ington.
In 1890 General Wadsworth purchased from
the State of Massachusetts $500 acres of
| wild land, in the township which is now
Hiram on the Saco river. The price paid was
| twelve and a half cents per acre. He imme-
| diately commenced to clear farm on large
scale, as is shown by paragraph in the East
| ern Herald of September TO- 1892 published
in Portland. 1t says, "General Wadsworth
| thinks he has raised more than 1000 bushels
| of corn this season on burnt land, that is now
out of danger of the frost; at a place called
1 u Al. r.
| this town. This is but the third year of his
| Improvements In 1870 the township con-
tanned population of 1885,
| In 1895 General Wadsworth settled his son
| Charles Lee on his tract and in 1900 he began
/ to prepare to prepare to remove his own family
| there. In that year he commenced to build a
| large house on his land purchase which is yet
! standing, one mile from Hiram village. The
( clay for the bricks of the chimneys was
brought down Saco river three miles in boat.
! This house was of two stories with rallied
outlook on the ridge between the two CHM
neys. There was a very large one story
kitchen adjoining with an immense chimney
| and fire place. Years after its building, the
| Generals youngest son Peleg said that at the
| time of the erection of the house, he was
seven years old, and was left by his father to
| watch the fires in the eleven fire places, which
were kindled to dry the new masonry, while
| he rode to the post road for his mail, and that
| he had not felt such weight of responsible
| ty since.
| The General took his family and household
| goods to his new home in the first of the win
| ter, and commenced housekeeping in the new
house January l, 1907. He with his son
| Charles Lee engaged in numbering and farm
| ing. General Wadsworth was a skilful land
| surveyor and craftsman, and was much en-
| ployed in the new township. He was chosen
| selectman in 1872, and re- elected annually
| until 1918, and was twelve years town treas
| urer. He was magistrate and was looked
upon as the patriarch of the town. He was
patron of education, and his home was the
central point Of the region, for hospitality and
| culture. He was long communicant of the
| Congregational church, and so continued until
| his death in 1929, at the age of eighty one
| Mrs. Wadsworth died in 1925. Their graves
| are in private enclosure on the home farm.
| The original modest headstones have given
| place to a more conspicuous monument of
| marble. The son Peleg who was thirteen years
| old when the family moved to Hiram, spent
| the remainder of his lite in that town, and
died in 1875, at the age of eighty one. 1t is
| remarkable fact that General Wadsworth and
his sons Charles Lee and Peleg, who all lived
| and died at Hiram, each reared eleven chill
| dren. For the facts relating to General Wads-
worth's life at Hiram, am indebted to his
| great grandson, L. w. Wadsworth, who has
in preparation history of that town.
Two of the sons of General Wadsworth
were officers in the United States navy.
| Henry became lieutenant at the age of nine
teen, and was attached to the schooner
| Scourge in Commodore Preble's squadron
before Tripoh in 1904. The last entry in his
| journal before the attack in which he lost his
| life, was this, "We are in daily expectation of
| the commadores arrival from Syracuse with
the gun boats and bomb vessels, and then,
Tripoli, be on thy guard" The story of his
sad death is told in the inscription on a marble
cenotaph erected by his father to his memory,
in the eastern cemetery in Portland, near the
graves of the captains of the Enterprise and
| Boxer.
| rs. ". tdce.] rs. b. Jace1
In memory of Determined at ouce
HENRY WADswoRTH, they prefer death and
| son Of the destruction of
| PELIa WADSwORTH, the Enemy
Lieut.. U. s. Navy, 10 captivity and tortur-
who fell ing Slavery.
| Before the walls of Tri- Com. Preble's
| poll on the eve Of 4th Sept. letter.
-ls04-
| in the 20th year of his age