The Portland daily press., 1888-09-04
THE PAcKARDs.
Sketch of a Family That Has Many
Maine Branches.

At the recent reunion of the Packard
family in Brocton, Mass, there were present
a large number of Maine members of that fam
lily, Hon. G. A. Packard, of Blanchard. State
land agent. heading the list. Then there were:
Correll l.. Packard and Sarah f. Packard, of
Houlton: Gideon l.. and Ellen A. Packard.
of Hebron; Edwin r. Packard, of East Win
throp; 81. C. Packard, of Auburn; S. A.
Packard, 1st, and S. A. Packard. End. of
Portland; Clara E. Packard, of Bath Nellie
Packard Hayes, of Winthrop; Mrs. Sarah c.
and Misses Evvie NJ and Lizzie e. Packard,
OF Blanchard; Clearance A. and Mrs. Fl. A.
Packard, Of Rockland, and B. E. Buck, of
Auburn. B. Winslow Packard. of South
Boston, delivered the historical address,
from which the following extract is made in
regard to the ancestry of the family:
1.-THE ancestry of the Packard family in
America is we'll defined by researches that
have been made of late, and it appears from
the records that have been gathered of near
ly 1000 families that we of that family de-
scent nave common ancestor in Samuel
Packard, who, with his wife Elizabeth and
daughter bearing her mothers name-from
the ancient custom, honored at the present
day more in the breach than the observance
OF naming the first born daughter after the
mother and the first-born son after the father
came from Wy-mond- ham, a parish in the
southeastern part of England, landed in the
Plymouth Colony in 1858. Aug 10, and after
few years removed from bingham to View
mouth In the same colony, where it is prob
able that two of his sons. John and Nathaniel
were born. From thence he removed to the
West Parish in old Bridgewater, Mass,
where he made settlement and founded his
homestead, as we find in 1862 he and his sons
Samuel, Zacheus, John and Nathaniel, are
named among the eighty proprietors of the
town.
In looking over the list of proprietors of
lands in the town at that date, and compar-
ing it with the records of the family as far
as they have been arranged, / find that all
but 1--WE are closely allied by descent or inter-
marriage with our ancestor Samuel in the
md or 3rd generations of his descendants;
and even these, with one or two exceptions,
perhaps, had none of their sons with them
on the list OF proprietors at that time. There
is no doubt that the emigrant Samuel and his
wlIe spent their lives after their settlement
there IN the old West Parish, and were
buried in the first burial-place in the town of
Bridgewater, and within less than fifty rods
Of their homestead. The hand of time has
leveled the house where they resided, and
the tablets and monumental piles which
marked the burial places of that generation
have crumbled in decay and cannot be found
To-Day out the present proprietor of the
homestead plot and of the burial grounds has
generously marked with monument the
supposed centre of the old graveyard, and on
tvs an inscription for future generations to
READ as to the purpose of its erection.
since the Inauguration of the arrangements
LOT TINS anniversary occasion q Packard
Memorial Association has been formed.
having for its objects the gathering of the
history and genealogy of the family and the
erection of a monument or memorial struc
ture, properly inscribed as tribute to the
memory of the first Packard in America and
MS beloved consort The programme of to-
accepted seal Of the association under
whose auspices we have gathered. from n
design by a member of our family Nav
you bear it with you to your homes. wherein
1t may be as a memento of this occasion.
when hundreds met with tributes free. in
honor of your ancestry.
For our ancestry is indeed noble one. and
the page of the history of our family on
which is written the thoughts and deeds of
today will not, | am sure, shame us in the
future. Let us emulate the spirit and ster-
ling virtues of our fathers in our lives. that
children and children's children, to the lat
est generation, may dwell in peace and pros
perity and make the annals Of our country
bright with noble deeds"