52 Ancestors 52 Weeks: 13th Week Abraham Littlehale, My 5th Great Grandfather

Once again this post is in response to the challenge of posting about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks by Amy Johnson Crow.

Abraham Littlehale birth record

My 5th great grandfather Abraham Littlehale was born on April 27, 1725 in Dracut, MA as the fifth of seven children born to John and Hannah (Colburn) Littlehale. He settled on land given to him by his father in Dunstable, MA (now part of Tyngsborough).  Abraham married Mary Stearnes (or Starns) on Jun 7, 1744 in Dracut where she then lived. They had ten children; seven daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah, Sybil, Rachael, Sarah and Esther; and three sons, Abraham, Isaac and Roger Langdon. Their son Isaac died as an infant but it appears the rest of the children reached adulthood. The fist few children were born in Dracut (probably at her parents’ home) but most were born in Dunstable.

Abraham was a farmer and probably was able to provide a reasonable life for his family. I don’t have any information on the types of crops he grew or anything about his farm. His father had title to hundreds of acres of land around the Dracut area (and up into what is now southern New Hampshire near Pelham).  Besides land, Abraham’s father gave him a few other items, notably his gun, which in later years would be well used.

Abraham fought in the French and Indian War. He was at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and served under General James Wolfe at the capture of Quebec in 1759. His older brothers Isaac and Ezra also fought in the French and Indian War and Ezra was killed by Indians in Canada in 1758.

After the end of the war it appears that Abraham returned to Dunstable and his family. During this time period he saw several of his children marry and establish their own lives. His daughter Hannah married William Walton (my 4th great grandfather and son of Samuel and Rebecca) in 1765 and soon after they moved to Maine. One or more of Abraham’s other children also moved to Maine, as did his brother John.

In the Revolutionary War, Abraham was part of Capt. John Ford’s company which marched from Chelmsford on July 25, 1776 and was discharged at Albany, NY on January 1, 1777. He appears on company receipts for mileage and wages dated Ticonderoga on August 28, 1776 and October 1, 1776.(source #4) According to F. H. Littlehale, Abraham’s name appears on the pay roll of Captain Joseph Boynton’s company in Colonel Wade’s regiment of Massachusetts troops as he was engaged in the service of the army at Rhode Island, October 21, 1778, for twelve months.(source #3) On July 9, 1781 Abraham enlisted in the service of the army for six months and is shown as engaged for the town of Dunstable. (source #4)

Abraham Littlehale Revolutionary War Soldier

Abraham could have been the model for the “frontiersman” or pioneer of that time. A “descriptive list of men raised in Middlesex Co. agreeable to resolve of Dec. 2, 1780” (source #4, page 884) describes Abraham as “age, 50 yrs (he was really 55).; stature, 5 ft. 6 in.; complexion, dark; hair, dark; eyes, dark; occupation, farmer…”. The history of Wayne, ME (source #5) on pages 31 & 32, describes a visit, on foot, by Abraham to his daughter Hannah and son in law William Walton. He stayed for a season to help construct some drains on their farmland. Hannah died in 1783 so Abraham would probably have been in his late 50s at the time of the visit. F. H. Littlehale (source #3) states that one of Abraham’s brothers had moved to Maine and one of his sons recalls walking between Tyngsborough, MA and Bethel, ME with Abraham when he was very old.

Abraham died on January 7, 1811 in Tyngsborough, MA at the age of 85. He is buried in the Sherburne Cemetery, Tyngsborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Sources:

1.  Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: With some noted exceptions all marriage records in this collection can be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and may be available through Family History Centers throughout the United States. See table below for information listed.

2.  Heninger, Hattie E. Walton; “A Brief Historical and Genealogical Account of the Walton Family in the New England States, the Western States, and Canada with Notes on some of the Allied Families”; Salt Lake City, Utah.

3.  Littlehale, Frederick H.;”A Complete History and Genealogy of the Littlehale Family in America from 1633 to 1889″; Published by A. W. & F. H. Littlehale; Boston, MA; 1889.

4.  “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, vol. 9; A Compilation from the Archives, Prepared and Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth”; Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers; Boston, MA; 1896.

5.   “History of the Town of Wayne, Kennebec County, Maine, from it’s Settlement to 1898”; Maine Farmer Publishing Company, Augusta, ME; 1898.

6.  Source Citation: Volume: 184; SAR Membership Number: 36683.Source Information:Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-           1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls.7.  Source Information:New England Historic Genealogical Society. Massachusetts, Town Birth Records, 1620-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.