FRYE
1. JOHN-
b.c.Basing, Hants
m. ANNE ______ (d. 22 Oct. 1680
d. 9 Nov. 1693
John came to
John received £5 a head from the government for wolves he had killed in
On 3 May 1662 John signed a petition to the General Court to put an embargo on the export of corn.(3)
After Anne died in 1680 he went to live with his son Deacon John Frye.
Issue-
· I. John- b.c.1633, m. 4 Oct. 1660 Eunice Potter, d. 17 Sept. 1696. Eunice was tried for witchcraft in 1692 but, the charge was dismissed in 1693.
· II. Benjamin- b.c.1635, m. 23 May 1678 Mary
Parker (d. 17 Mar. 1725
· III.
· IV. Susan (Sarah)- b.c.1642, d.s.p. 5 Mar. 1661/2
· 2V. SAMUEL- b.c.1650, m. 20 Nov. 1671 MARY ASLETT, d. 9 May 1725
· VI. James- b. 5 Jan. 1652/3
Ref:
(1) MA Archives- Vol.30, p.35
(2) Ibid- Vol.11, p.15
(3) Ibid- Vol.60, p.136
NEHGR- Vol.8, pp.226-7, 1854
Frye Genealogy- Ellen Frye Barker, 1920, p. 47
b.c.1650
m. 20 Nov. 1671
d. 9 May 1725
Samuel was a corporal in the militia in 1692, an ensign in 1697, lieutenant in 1698 and Captain in 1708. He was a selectman from 1692 until 1711 and a town proprietor before 1681. He signed two petitions concerning the building of the new meeting house in 1708.(1)
On 17 Apr. 1733 Mary Frie of
In her will 21 Apr. 1733- 7 Sept. 1747 Ipswich, Mary gave to her son Nathan 30/, Samuel 20/ and a bible, Benjamin 30/, to deceased son Ebenezer's children 5/ each, to her granddaughters, daughters of her daughter Hannah Chandler £40, to granddaughter Lydia Chandler a brass kettle, to her three daughters Mary, Phebe and Deborah the remaining cash, clothing and household goods, to son John five acres at the southeasterly end of Woodchuck Plain. Her son John was the executor and the will was witnessed by Joshua Frie, Joshua Shackford and Mehitable Frie. On 7 Sept. 1747 administration was granted to Robert Andrews "who had intermarried with one of the daughters", as John had died 7 Apr. 1737(3).
Issue- all born in Andover (V.R.)
· 3I. JOHN-
b. 16 Sept. 1672, m. 1 Nov. 1694 TABITHA FARNAM, d.
7 Apr. 1737
· II. Samuel- b. 1 May 1675, d.s.p. 20 Aug. 1689
· III. Mary- b. 22 Feb. 1677, m. 12 Dec. 1696
Joshua Stevens (drowed in
· IV. Phebe- b. 28 May 1680, m. 15 Dec. 1696
· V. Hannah- b. 12 Apr. 1683, m. 4 June 1701
· VI. Ebenezer- b. 16 Feb. 1685, m. 23 Dec.
1708
· VII. Nathan- b. 15 June 1688, m. 8 July 1715
Newbury, Sarah Bridges (b. 25 Feb. 1692/3
· VIII. Deborah- b. 26 Feb. 1690/1, m. 10 Mar.
1719/0
· IX. Samuel- b. 26 Apr. 1694, m. 26 Mar.
1719/0
· X. Benjamin- b. 8 Oct. 1698, d. Dec. 1755
Ref:
(1) MA Archives- Vol.11, pp.251,269a,270
(2) Essex Co. Deeds- Vol.67, p.31
(3) Essex
TAG- Vol. 41, pp. 77-8
NEHGR- Vol. 8, pp. 226-7, 1854
Frye Genealogy- Ellen Frye Barker, 1920, p. 48
b. 16 Sept. 1672
m. 1 Nov. 1694
d. 7 Apr. 1737
John was admitted to the church in
On 28 Oct. 1702 Martha Farnum, late of
John was listed as one of the
On 14 Nov. 1729 Nathan and Samuel Frye sold to John land in Andover "given to John, Samuel and Nathan by the will of our uncle John Aslebee, late of Andover, deceased".(3)
John was treasurer for the Andover Proprietors from 1716 until his death in 1737.
John was a farmer and inherited the homestead from his uncle John Frye.
After his death Isaac and Abiel administered their father's estate. The inventory showed a value of £4087 almost all of which was land. The division of his estate was made 2 June 1740 with his sons receiving the land and his daughters sums of money. Joseph received almost one-third of the land but, it was of less value.(4)
Issue- All born in Andover (V.R.)
· II. Isaac- b. 11 Mar. 1699, m.1. 20 July 1725 Naomi _____, 2. Hannah Haskell, d. 13 May 1741
· III. Joshua- b. 10 Apr. 1701, m.1. 14 July 1724 Mary Dane (b.c.1695, d. 24 Dec. 1729), 2. 4 Nov. 1731 Sarah Frye, d. 2 Oct. 1768
· IV. Abiel- b. 5 July 1703, m. 10 Feb. 1731/2 Abigail Emery (b. Nov. 1705), d. 22 Mar. 1757
· V. Samuel- b. 18 Feb. 1705, d.s.p. 6 Mar. 1728
· VI. Mehitable- b. 18 Feb. 1705, m. 2 Feb. 1737 Samuel Austin
· VII. Pheobe- b. 1709, m. 21 Mar. 1738 Benjamin Kimball
· VIII. Anne- b. 1709, d.s.p. 30 July 1717
· 4IX.
JOSEPH- b. 19 Mar. 1712, m. 20 Mar. 1732 MEHITABLE POOR
(b. 4 Apr. 1714
· X. Hannah- b. 15 Sept. 1714, m. 5 May 1737 Jonathan Parker, d. 15 Dec. 1794
· XI. Anne- b. 29 June 1718, m. 8 Dec. 1741
Jones
· XII. John- b. 28 July 1720, d.s.p. 16 July 1738
· XIII. Tabitha- b. 13 July 1722, d. 12 July 1738
Ref:
(1) Essex Co. Deeds- Vol.18, p.75; Vol. 32, p.119
(2) MA Archives- Vol.11, p.264
(3) Essex Co. Deeds- Vol.53, p.249
(4) Essex Co. Probate- No.10303
Frye Genealogy- p.50
4IX. JOSEPH (JOHN 1, SAMUEL 2, JOHN 3)
b. 19 Mar. 1712
m. 20 Mar. 1732 MEHITABLE POOR (b. 4 Apr. 1714
d. 25 July 1794 Fryeburg,
bur. Pine Grove Cemetery
Most of the information on Joseph is from the thesis "Major General
Joseph Frye of
As a younger member of a large family Joseph did
not inherit a large portion of his father's estate and consequently he became a
surveyor. He built his house on part of his father's land and praticed his
trade in
In 1738 the Great Throat Distemper struck the Frye family killing all of their children. Over the course of this epidemic of diptheria or scarlet fever 5,000 children and young adults died in New England with 1,400 deaths in Essex Co. alone.(1)
In 1744 the War of the Austrian Succession
finally dragged
"To His Excellency Govenour Shirley~~~
The Memorial of Joseph Frye Humbly Sheweth That he Employed one Robert
Rogers of Merrimack in, the the goverment of New HampSheire (who Informed him
he Could Inlist twenty men or more for the present Service) to Inlist them for
him, who went and Inlisted twenty four men accordingly; and gave them two
Dollers Each 30 of which was Delivered him by your said Rogers memorialist for
that Purpose. Since which he is credibly informed said was then under Bonds to
appear at the next Superior Court in that Government, at the Tryal of some
Persons for Counterfeiting their Bills of Credit. and That he is Strongly
Suspected of being Concearnd in th[page torn]
affair, of which your Memorialist was Intirely Ignorant when he [page torn]
Employd him. And that he ye said Rogers being thus Intangled, [page torn]
men faulted for Inlisting ^ in that Government, to go out of This, He is [page
torn]
Intimidated that he is gon to Portsmouth with a Design to Secure [page torn]
men he has Inlisted as aforesd, to serve His Majesty as Policers of the[page
torn]
Government: thereby to Ingratiate himself to be admitted as an Evi [page torn]
for the King, in order to Clear himself of further Trouble, By whic[page torn]
Memorialist is greatly Disapointed of Compleating his Company, [page torn]
like to Sustain the loss of money also. Whefore your memorialist h[page torn]
Prays Your Excellencys Iinterposision in the Case, and as in Duty[page torn]
bound will ever Pray ~~~
Joseph Frye" (128)
The soldiers were put on board the transports in
The ships arrived at Canso, NS during the first eleven days of April with Commodore Warren arriving from the West Indies on the 23rd.(7) The expedition sailed from Canso on the 29th and arrived at Gabarus Bay near Louisbourg the next day.(8)
Louisbourg,
The troops landed and met only minor resistence
from the French. Hale's regiment set up camp at Green Hill to protect several
artillery batteries set up in the area before finally moving to the fifth
battery known as Titcomb's battery. The French had not finished the land
defenses as they did not expect a siege from this direction due to the terrain.
Besides this error the French garrison had mutineed the previous fall and was
too small to withstand a prolonged siege. On 1 May the French foolishly
abandoned the Grand Battery after trying to destroy the cannon which the
provincials easily repaired and turned towards the city. The next battery was
constructed on Green Hill, 1500 yards from the city but, this was too far for
their artillery and another battery was constructed 900 yards from the fort on
Further warships arrived and a combined land/sea assault was planned for the 16th but, the French seeing the hopeless situation surrendered on the 15th. On the 17th: "our Army Marcht To ye Citty the Colours were flying the Drums Beating Trumpets Sounding Flutes & Vials Playing Colo Bradstreet att ye Head of the Army The Genl Lt Genl and Gentry in ye Rear."(10)
During the first of July the French were placed on transports and sent home as were many of the Provincials.
On 7 Aug. Lieut.
On 14 June 1746 Joseph was commissioned a lieut.
in Maj. Titcomb's company in Brigadier Gen. Waldo's new regiment.(13)
Many men were sent to Crown Point, NY to capture the French Fort there. Joseph
remained in
Frye's
During his time at the
At the
At the town meeting in May, Joseph was again elected representative. Joseph was again Tax Collector for Essex Co. for Tea, Coffee, etc. before adjourning on 22 June. Joseph was on several committees at the next session which began on 2 Oct. and ended the 11th. At the last session beginning on 27 Dec. Joseph was on the committee to consider the Nantucket Indian's petition concerning the encroachments on their land.(21) On 22 Jan. 1752 the House directed that the Act of Parliament of 1751 be incorporated into the laws of the Province. This act corrected the errors in the calendar which was by this time 11 days out of line, as well as put the beginning of the year at 1 Jan. instead of 25 Mar. During this session Joseph was again appointed to prepare the attendance and expenses list.(22)
Joseph became a land speculator at this time
receiving a grant of five square miles on the
Joseph was elected to another term as
representative and went to
During the early 1750's Joseph changed the spelling of his name from Frie to Frye, a change which most of the family adopted.
Joseph returned to the House for another term on
30 May 1753. On 5 Sept. Joseph was on a committee to discuss publishing
Cornelius Douglas' map of
Problems with the French and Indians increased
and an invasion from the north was feared. Because of all the enemy activity at
the headwaters of the
Everyone was waiting for Joseph to arrive with
the additional troops and supplies. Gen. Winslow wrote to Capt. Lithgow at
Richmond Fort: "By Delay of Maj. Frye's Comeing, we are in Camp quite out
of Rum, if you have any in the Truck House, supply us with Two Hnds or if
scarce one, will Replease what we have when Stores arrive."(26)
Joseph left
Joseph took his seat in the House on 18 Oct. and was involved in the discussion concerning the Albany Plan of Union of the colonies which was defeated due to fears that such a union might be a means of extending British control over the colonies. Joseph was on several committees during this term.
In 1755 the French were on the move in
Joseph was in the process of recruiting men when
he was approached by Robert Rogers who offered to enlist
On 14 Apr. 1755 the troops were mustered into
service but, they did not leave until 19 May. They arrived at
The Acadians had refused to sign an unqualified
oath of allegiance to
Col. Winslow issued an order for all male inhabitants to meet at the church at Grand Pre on 5 Sept. when he would deliver his order: "The duty I am now upon, though necessary, is very disagreeable to my natural make and temper... and therefore without hesitation I shall deliver to you His Majesty's instructions and commands, which are that your lands and tenements and cattle and livestock of all kinds are forfeited to the Crown, with all your other effects, except money and household goods, and that you yourselves are to be removed from this province."(32) The men were put on board ship were they waited weeks before being sent off with their families. This incident was the focal point of Longfellow's poem Evangeline.
"THIS is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.
This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it
Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman?
Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers --
Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands,
Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of heaven?
Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers forever departed!
Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty blasts of October
Seize them, and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them far o'er the ocean.
Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful
Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient,
Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion,
List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest;
List to a Tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy." (Prelude from
the 1893 Cambridge Edition)
On 10 Sept. the first of the French men were put
on board the transports to stay until final arrangements for their deportation
could be made.(33) On 13 Oct. about 1,100 of the Acadians finally
left
Duty in the fort could not have been too tiresome for on 18 Sept. Capt. Willard writes in his journal: "I stayed all Night in the tents with Maj Frye and past the time with pleasure with him and Never Slept one wink this night."(34)
Most of the time was spent cutting wood, garding
the fort, and picking up the straggling Acadians. On 28 Sept. Joseph along with
Capt. Stephens and 200 men went to
On 10 Nov. Joseph and 106 men were sent to
Col. Monckton was not very satisfied with some of
the provincial officers for in his journal he wrote: "As to the New
On 2 Jan. 1756 Capt. Willard left
Disciplinary problems occupied much of Joseph's time at Fort Monckton and these problems had tragic results: "Whereas (notwithstanding the care, caution & Order of Major Frye to restrain the Soldiers belonging to the Garrison from going out of the Command of the Fort) many of them have been so obstinate as repeatedly to do it during the time he has been confined (by sickness) to his Quarters till the 27th January, on which day the Indian Enemy finds a number of them without their arms so far from the Fort they could not have immediate relief, falls upon them and kills and scalps 5 of their number and captivates ye 6th which was what Maj. Frye was apprehensive would be the consequence of such unadvised straggling, and therefore not only ordered and cautioned against it but set an example of carefulness by ordering a Covering Party of 1 Officer, 1 Sargt. and 20 Private men at all times when he sent any Party for woodcutting or upon any business beyond the Command of the Fort, and really thought by so doing he had sufficiently guarded against any danger of that nature nor ever did he know any belonging to the Garrison had violated his orders or set so light by his example, till the news was brought him (on that unhappy day) the Indians had attacked some of the Soldiers in the woods, which news was matter of greatest surprise, as he knew not that there was a man belonging to the Fort absent. Now seeing the Soldiers conduct shows such an unaccountable carelessness of their own lives therefore Majr. Frye orders that no one belonging to the garrison presume on any pretense whatsoever to go farther from the Fort than to the wells without leave of the Commanding officer."(38)
On 22 Feb. Joseph issued more orders concerning soldiers exchanging duties, directing the sargents to make a list of men for guard duty with no substitutions allowed.
On 1 Apr. Joseph and his men were relieved of
garrison duty at
The enlistments were to expire in April but, not relief troops were available. General Winslow wrote to Joseph on 10 May from Boston: "I now have the pleasure to acquaint you that transports are taken up and will follow this to bring off your Battalion, am this day setting out for Crown Point Expedition... Am sorry to hear that your people are so uneasy hope all things will be set right, as I am certain Col Scott will do all the justice to the men that lays in his power."(39)
The men, however, did not begin to leave until
June with the first group arriving in
The next objective in the war against the French
in North America was to take place in
The next year Thomas Hutchinson, a leader of the Council, wrote to Lord Loudoun on 7 Mar. 1757 that: "I perceive that one Fry who was a Lt Colonel of the forces that went last to Nova Scotia is intended to be the first Officer and I suppose will have a Commission as Colonel."(42) On 25 Mar. Hutchinson again wrote to Loudoun: "The person that I mentioned before to your Lordship, Col Frye has a Commission to command the whole, & from the little acquaintance I have with him he appears to be a sensible well behaved man, & not likely to give your Lordship any trouble."(43)
Sir William Pepperrell
Lieut. Gov. Phips died suddenly and the
government fell to the Council. Preparations were being made for another attack
on the French in
Joseph deposed 9 Apr. 1757 to having helped a neighbor, John Wright, buy two parcels of land (200 acres) at Tuisset, Maine in 1749 and recalled the conversation in which Wright agreed to pay the owner Daniel Eames £500.(45)
While preparing for this campaign in New York
Joseph was given a silver tankard by the officers who served under him in
"To Joseph Frye, Esq.
Colonel and Commander in Chief of the Forces in the Service of the Province of Mass. Bay, and late Major of the 2d Battalion of General Shirley's Provincial Regiment
THIS TANKARD
From a Just Sence of his Care
& Conduct of the Troops while under his Command at Nova Scotia and a proper
Resentment of his Paternal Regard for them since their Return to New England
Is presented by
The Officers of sd Battalion"
Frye Tankard at the Maine Historical Society Web Site
The MHS is also in possession of a whale oil lantern which was owned by Joseph as well as a small wine glass.
Joseph continued to petition the Court for
assistance in sending supplies and in purchasing the supplies. The first troops
left
This campaign was the basis of James Fenimore Cooper's book: The Last of the Mohicans. A Narrative of 1757.
Joseph was still having problems with supplies
and wrote again to the General Court on 2 June requesting additional armorers,
armorers' tools, clothing and shoes.(46) He then proceeded to
Scocook and then the force went to
On 26 July Joseph wrote that: "We keep our
On 23 July 300 Indians attacked some carpenters killing several. A force was sent out of the garrison to attack the Indians: "in Sight of the whole Incampment for about the Space of 5 Minutes; when the Enemy set up their hideous Yells, and retreated into the Woods; our People following them engaged the second Time; and a continual Fire lasted on both sides about 15 Minutes."(48) "Our Men were scalped and mangled in a most barbarous Manner; some of their Throats cut & c. one of Captain Arbuthnot's Company had his Head cut off and carried 30 yards off behind a Tree in order to scalp it, but being pushed on so hard, they were obliged to leave both Head and Scalp, which our People took up and put in a Handkerchief, and buried it with the Body."(49)
On 1 Aug. General Webb ordered the
To receive a letter of this sort was bad enough but, to have it delivered by the enemy was completely demoralizing.
Fort William Henry
The enemy fire continued and they finished construction of another battery only 150 yards from the fort and camp. The Massachusetts regiment told Joseph: "that they were quite wore out, & would stay no longer; and that they would rather be knock'd in the head by the Enemy, than stay to Perish behind the Breast Work..."(51) A Council of War was called and the officers recommended that Col. Monro surrender. Montcalm was to allow the men to march out of the fort with their arms and were to be able to retain one cannon in token of respect for their honorable defense. The sick were to be cared for by the French physicians until they were able to travel.
Fort William Henry
After the soldiers marched out of the fort the Indians
rushed in and scalped the wounded and sick who were left behind in full:
"view of the French officers who did not attempt to hinder or prevent
it."(52) As the soldiers were preparing to leave the
encampment on the 10th Dr. Miles Whitworth saw the Indians: "drag the said
seventeen Men out of their Hutts, murder them with their Tomehawks & scalp
them, That the French Troops posted round the Lines were not further than forty
feet from the Hutts where the said Wounded then lay, that several Canadian Officers
particularly one Laccorne were present, and that none either Officer or Soldier
protected the said wounded Men."(53) The Indians then
carried off all the Indians and Blacks belonging to the provincial units and
plundered the heavy baggage of the troops. The Indians then seized the
soldier's packs and Col. Monro ordered the men to throw down their packs in
hopes that they would be satisfied. The French troops were of no assistance and
the officers advised that they give everything to the savages. The Indians then
took the arms, accoutrements and clothes. They then began killing and taking
captives. Joseph described the scene: "the Savages were let loose upon us,
Strips Kills & Scalps our people, drove them into Disorder, Render'd it
impossible to Rally. The French Guards we were promised should Escort us to
Fort Edward Could or would not protect us so that there Open'd the most horrid
Scene of Barbarity immaginable. I was strip'd myself of my Arms & Cloathing
that I had nothing left but Briches Stockings Shoes & Shirt, the Indians
round me with their Tomehawks Spears & c threatening Death. I flew to the
Officers of the French Guard for Protection but they would afford me none
therefore was Oblig'd to fly and was in the woods till the 12th in the Morning
of which I arriv'd at
After being stripped Joseph: "took a course to the right, out of the way, to avoid the savages and strike Hudson's River, westerly, and from thence go to Fort Edward. Accordingly, he executed the plan, but in the course and progress of his run, another Englishman found him and helped him up a hill. Then being too weary to trace the hill they ventured alongside some brook or most passable place, and the Colonel being foremost saw Indians coming right towards them. Then the case was ticklish, but Colonel steped aside and they both dropped, the Colonel expecting a tomahawk in his skull every moment, but the enemy not seeing them passed them by. Then Colonel and his fellow traveler rubbed dirt on his white shirt that it might look like ground. Then they walked for the Fort and recovered it in about two and a half days from the beginning of their tedious and dangerous run and march, tired and faint enough."(55)
Most of the garrison fled down the road or into
the woods or returned to the fort. Montcalm was able to save a few hundred
captives from the Indians but, they left for
Joseph arrived at
Joseph was back in
Joseph petitioned the Court on behalf of his regiment for extra pay due to their hardships. The House directed: "That in Consideration of the good Behaviour of the Memorialist, and those under his Command in the Defence of Fort William Henry, and of their Suffering after the Capitulation, there be allowed and paid out of the public Treasury two Months Wages to the said Officers and private Men, over and above the Allowance already made them."(58)
Joseph then petitioned the Court on his own behalf for additional money due to the extensive work he had to perform. He was therefore allowed wages until 14 Apr. 1758.
Joseph returned to
Joseph issued orders on 18 May against straggling and firing their weapons a great distance from the fort to prevent the waste of ammunition and possible capture by the French. On 25 July Joseph ordered that: "not more than 3 men of each company to go out in a day, the captains to insure that the men do not take any of the King's ammunition, that sentrys would not allow any one to pass without written tickets from Major Indicott, and that soldiers must not go beyond the protection of the fort... All shooting at game, either flying or sitting near the fort, is forbidden." (60)
During haying season the soldiers hired themselves out to the settlers to mow hay. This reached a point where it became difficult to find men to mow hay for the garrison. An order was issued that all soldiers would be confined to the fort until a: "sufficient number of men are secured for getting hay for his Majesty's Use."(61)
Besides these problems the: "soldiers have accustomed themselves to gameing at cards in ye Barracks which keeps them up late in the night. Which of course unfits them for duty and is likely may be the means of leaving their fires in such a careless manner as to endanger burning their barracks... by reason of the obstinacy of the privates, the orderly sergeants are put to great difficulty in getting their respective quota of men for fatigue."(62)
Gov. Charles Lawrence
Gov. Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia was granting land to prospective settlers and on 8 Oct. a grant was made: "by His Excellency Governor Lawrence with the Advice and Consent of His Majesty's Council for this Province to Joseph Frye, John Indicott, Thomas Cheever and a Number of other persons... giving, granting, and confirming unto them in the proportions hereafter specified Ninety-five Shares or Rights of Two Hundred Shares or Rights whereof a Tract of Land already erected into a Township by the Name of the Township of Cumberland doth consist..."(63)
Joseph never settled his lot and a new grant was made to settlers in 1763.
Joseph applied for another grant but, this was denied on 26 Oct.: "Colonel Frye, Mr. Jonathan Randall and others having made application for lands for a township situated on the Basin of Chignecto, upon searching the old records of the Province it appears that a part of the said lands had been granted away in the year 1736 to Brigadier General Richard Phillipps, Lieutenant Governor- Lawrence Armstrong and others..."(64) On 21 Oct. the garrison received the news that Quebec had surrendered on 17 Sept. On the 22nd a celebration was held to salute the victory and the King's anniversary of his coronation: "at 12 o'clock 76 great guns were fired... every officer met upon the fort parade, and drank his Majesty's good health during the firing- after which they sang God Save the King, and they, with the whole garrison, who were all assembled, save they on duty and sick, gave three cheers, at which time 20 gallons of rum was made in good toddy and given to the soldiery; at night about 6 o'clock, from the alarm posts, every man discharged his firelock three times..."(65)
The merriment did not last long as the enlistment
period was over on 1 Nov. and the troops were anxious to go home now that
Few soldiers arrived to relieve the troops and the General Court voted to give them another six months bonus to stay until spring. As noted the troops did not have much choice.
After the surrender of
The Indians also began arriving at the fort to
surrender. Joseph provisioned these people as well before sending them to
With all these people in the area fire wood became scarce and Joseph ordered that: "a list made up of the French people from Merimishe (Riteherto) and Petticodiac (Memromcook) and make a list of those that desire to return to place of abode, and another of the able bodied men and persons who are to go and incamp in the woods where they may supply themselves with fuel and the rest to be moved out of the fort and spur into the hospital and hutts."(68)
Joseph mentioned the Indians in a letter to Gov.
Lawrence on 7 Mar.: "was in hopes (which I mentioned to Mr. Manach) I had
no more treaties to make with savages; but he told me I was mistaken, for there
would be a great many more here upon the same business as soon as the spring
hunting was over; and on my enquiring how many, he gave me a list of fourteen
chiefs... all of one nation... of Mickmacks; amounting to near 3000 souls;... I
know this province, as it abounds very plentifully with furs, may reap a vast
advantage by them, provided
Articles of Submission made, and agreed to
the second day of March Anno Domini One thou-
=sand seven hundred & sixty by William Johnson
for himself, and in behalf of Charles Johnson, Claud
Sonia, & Nora Labeauve frenchmen inhabiting at
Pokomuch, on the Coast of Accadia. To Joseph
Frye Esqr Coll Commanding His Brittanick Maj=
=estys garrison of Fort Cumberland Chignecto, on
behalf of His Excellency Charles Lawrence
Esqr His said Majestys Governour & Commander
in chief of the Province of Nova Scotia ~
First, of the said William Johnson for myself
and the persons above namd DO by these presents
acknowledge our Subjection to the political government
of His Brittanick Majesty promising hereby
to follow all such orders as Coll Frye or the Commanding
officer of Fort Cumberland shall give us
Secondly, I promise for myself and in behalf
of the above namd persons to Come to Bay Vert as
early in the Spring as possible, bringing with us
all our effects of every kind. as likewise all fire arms
which are now in our possession
Thirdly, I hereby promise and engage for my
self, and the persons above mentiond upon our Arrivl
at Bay Vert aforesaid, to deliver up all our fire Arms
of every kind to Colonel Frye or the Commanding
Officer of Fort Cumberland. or to such Officer
as he shall appoint to receive the same, in order
to their being disposed off as His Excellency Govr
Lawrence shall direct
In Testimony, where I have
(for my self and the persons before mentiond) here
unto Sett my hand and Seal, the Day and year
before namd
his
Willm O Johnson
mark
Witness
John Indicott Maj
Thos Cheever Capt
Joned: Eddy Capt (126)
Article of Submission to the British- 2 Mar. 1760, Page 2
On 10 Mar. Joseph related that he did not trust the intentions of the French people: "in the articles of Submition of this Brittanick Majesty made by mr. Manack and other Prinsabel men for them selves and other french People Residing at Pette Coud Tack and memoram Cook I have Setteld a Quantaty of Provision these People are to have... which I take the utmost care in my power the quantaty Should not Exced the Real Necessety of the Indigent People att the Several Places above mentioned which I lookt upon my Indispencable Duty to Doe- not only the Colecting those People in to a body as Cheep to the government as Possible But to Prevent any Supplys going to the french att Restiqush and other places... as appears to me Remains obstinate as I can hear no News of their Inclination as a People to make their Submission as the others have Done... some had the Front to apply to me for Provisions to Carrey away I have Cause to Suspect there may be Sum scheem Laid among them to supply those obstanate People... therefore Its my Express orders that no Person or Persons What Ever Belonging to this garrison or What is or are Inhabitents Within the Command of this Place Presume Either Directly or indirectly to Send any Sort of Provision from this to any of the Places above Mentioned or to Supply those People with any Sort of Provision more than what they may want for their Subsistance while here."(70)
Besides his problems with his troops, the French, and the Indians he also had a problem with pigs running loose and digging in the earthworks of the fort. On 18 Mar. Joseph issued an order for the owners to put rings in the pig's noses. This was not complied with and on 2 May Joseph ordered the sentries: "whenever they see any swine digging in the earthworks they are directed to kill them if they can possibly."(71)
With the end of the additional enlistment time approaching, the men began to imbibe a great deal. Joseph ordered that the soldiers were not to have any liquor except between 11 AM and 3 PM. Also all trading with the French and Indians for any valuables was forbidden.
The date for the end of their enlistment came and went, and the soldiers became mutinous again. General Amherst wrote to Gov. Lawrence on 17 May: "I have this, by express, a letter from Governor Pownall, accompanying one from Colonel Frye, complaining of the perverseness of the men under his command, and that notwithstanding the Bounty granted them by their Government, they were bent on returning home, and quitting Fort Cumberland, threatening all to thirty-five, to go off by land."(72)
Again it was a long walk home and the men were persuaded to stay through the summer.
Things went on as they had the previous summer. In late July Joseph wrote to Gov. Lawrence that there were still over 300 French at the fort and that he expected 700 more.
The situation became more tense at the fort and on 26 Aug. 38 men seized the sloop Prosperous, which had brought supplies to the fort, and sailed for home. These men were never prosecuted as their enlistments had long ago expired.
On 8 Sept. an alarm was issued: "word to be
passed by the sentries every 10 minutes after tattoo beating; patrols to pass
hourly every night among and round the huts and hospital... no light, no fires
after tattoo beating are allowed either English or French... no soldiers to
sleep out of his barracks except such as are ordered so to do, nor to be out of
the fort after tattoo beating on any pretence whatever except ordered; all
officers and non-commissioned officers appointed to their alarm post shown them
yesterday to hold themselves in the utmost readiness so they may take their
post at a minutes warning... a discharge of three cannon is settled as a
garrison alarm by which all might know that an enemy is discovered."(73)
The alarm passed and, unknown to the garrison, Gov. General Vaudreuil had
surrendered
Most of the men were sent back home over the
course of the fall. Joseph remained until December when Capt. Roderick
MacKenzie arrived with his company of Regulars to replace him. After
transfering all the papers and duties to him, Joseph sailed for
Joseph returned to
On 11 Nov. 1761 Joseph petitioned the General
Court to be able to purchase land on the
At the May town meeting Joseph was elected as
During this break in the sessions of the Court,
Joseph went to his grant to survey it. He submitted this when he returned for
the next session of the Court on 8 Sept. He served on one committee during the
eleven day session. The Court reconviened on 12 Jan. 1763 and Joseph was on the
committee to examine the muster rolls for the previous year. He was on several
committees as well as one: "to project some proper Method for the
Settlement of the Line" between
"To all People to whome these Prefents shall come Joseph Frye of Andover in the County of Efsex and Province of Mafsachusetts-Bay in New England Esqr. Sendeth Greeting
Whereas the great and general Court of said Province did on the third Day of March AD 1762 Granted to me the said Joseph Frye a Township of the Contents of six miles square, with liberty to lay it out in some Place on either side of Saco River in the County of York, between the River called great Ofsape and the Mountains above Pigwacket where I should think Proper to make my []In Consequence of which I laid out the Township at the aforesaid Place called Pigwacket and Bounded it as followeth viz, at the south Corner to a spruce Tree Marked, Thence North six degr west (by the needle) 2172 Rods to a beach Tree marked, Thence North by six degr East 2172 rods to a Maple Tree marked, Thence south six degr East 2172 rods to a Pine Tree marked, thence south six degr west 2172 rods to the first Bound, which Township Includes an Extroardinary Turn of Saco River commonly called the great Turn, by means whereof it lays on both sides of said River Notwithstanding which the said the great and General Court {} on the twenty fourth Day of Feby AD 1763 Confirm the Lands contained within the said bounds to me the said Joseph Frye my Heirs and Afsigns forever, upon the Following Conditions viz. that I settle the same with sixty good Families, each of which in the Term of Five Years to have built a good Dwelling House of twenty feet by eighteen and seven feet stud and to have cleared for Pafturage or Tillage seven Acres Each and that out of the Premifes Four sixty Fourths thereof, be Appropriated for Publick Ufes VIZ. one for the first ordained Protefstant Minister, one to lay for a Parfonage forever - one for the ufe of Harvard College in Cambridge foreverand one for the ufe of a school forever (which makes sixty four Rights or Shares in the said Township) and that said Town shall within ten years have a Proteftant Minister Settled among themNow know ye that I the said Joseph Frye in Consideration of the sum of twenty Pounds Sterling Money of great Britain to me in hand Paid by Simon Frye of Andover in the County of Efsex and Province aforesaid Yeoman, and upon the Conditions in this Inftrument hereafter Mentioned, Do hereby grant, Bargain, Sell, Convey and Confirm to him the said Simon Frye his Heirs and Afsigns forever one Sixty fourth Part of the Township both for Quantity and Quallity to be laid out in such Manner as he and the other Propriators thereof or their Legal Representatives, shall at any time or times hereafter by a Legal Vote (reckoning but one vote to a sixty fourth Part of said Township Direct and Determine - To have and to Hold the said granted and Bargained Premifes with the Priviledges and Appurtenances thereto belonging to him the said Simon Frye his Heirs and Afsigns forever upon the following Conditions VIZ that he the said Simon Frye his Heirs Executors or Administrators shall within the Term of Four Years from the Date hereof, Erect upon some Part of the Premifes granted him as aforesaid a good Tenantable Houfe of twenty feet by eighteen and seven feet stud: and have cleared [fill] for Pafturage or Tillage seven acres thereof and within the same time to have a good Family Settled thereon to the acceptance of me the said Joseph Frye my Heirs Executors or Administrators or to the Acceptance of a Majority of the Propriators of said Township who shall be settled within the sameAlso that he the said Simon Frye His Heirs Executors Administrators or Afsigns shall out of the Premifes hereby granted him afford the Proper Quota thereof for Land whereon to erect a Houfe for the Publick worship of god and for a Burying Place Training-field and necefsary Roads as these Propriators shall hereafter Judge Proper and Legally Determine Upon the Seasonable fulfillment of the above conditions the sixty Fourth Part of the Township granted as aforesaid shall abide and remain a good Eftate of Inheritance in Fee simples to him the Simon Frye his Heirs and Afsigns forever-But in Default of the Performance of the Conditions to be Performed in four years his and their Efstate therein shall cease and it shall be Lawful for me the said Joseph Frye my Heirs Executors or Administrators to enter into the pofsefsion therof as though this Deed had never been made
In Witnefs of all which I the said Joseph Frye have hereunto
set my hand and Seal
the Second Day of May in the third Year of the Reign
of our Sovereign Lord George the third of great Britain
Franc [sic] and Ireland King...Anno...Domine one
thoufand seven hundred and sixty three
Joseph Frye
Signed Sealed and Delivered
in Prefence of Joseph Chafe
Joseph Frye Junre
Essex...Andover, Febr 12, 1772
Then Joseph Frye Esqr above-named personally Appeard and acknowledged: the
fore-written Instrument to be his free Act and Deed
Before me, Samuel Phillips [Just Pacif]
York.../Recd Septr 24, 1784
and Recorded with the Recorder
of Deeds for said County Lib[ro] 48
fol[io] 72.
Attn, Danl Moulton Regr
[Written on the side]
Colo Joseph Fryes Deed No. 4 one of
to Simon Frye Joseph Fryes Deeds
Rgea. Septr 24, 1784 to Simon Frye" (127)
Joseph Frye's Deed to the town of Fryeburg- Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4
Surveyor's Compass -National Museum of American History-
Catalogue
Inscriptions: "Made by Thomas : Greenough
Dimensions: length 11 inches; needle about 5 inches
This is a wooden compass with a
paper card. Thomas Greenough (1710-1785) was a mathematical instrument maker in
Joseph then began soliciting settlers for his
town. He kept eight parts for himself, one for his son Joseph Jr., one for his
nephew Simon Frye, and one for Caleb Swan of
Joseph was not re-elected to the House due to his
new project in
At the annual town meeting on 5 Mar. Joseph was chosen moderator as well as selectman. At the May meeting he was again chosen as the town's representative to the General Court.
The General Court convened on 30 May in
The Court adjourned on 15 June and Joseph went to
his township. In July Joseph dined with Rev. Timothy Walker in
During this session of the court the Sugar Act was debated and a petition was sent to the King and Parliament requesting that the colonies continue to enjoy the privilege of internal taxation. Joseph served on the committee to prepare the travel and attendance list for the members at the session before it's adjournment on 3 Nov.
Joseph then headed back to
Joseph was back in
On 13 Feb. 1765 the Kennebec Co. granted 1010
acres of land to General Winslow and 506 acres to Joseph near the Kennebec
River.(76) Joseph's connection with the company had ended in the
mid 1750's therefore the reason for this grant is unknown. Probably it was for
some past service. Joseph and the General sold the property 25 June 1772 to
William Sever of
On 16 Feb. 1765 Joseph was one of three signers of a bond for £2,000 as a guarantee for Capt. Henry Young Brown to fulfil the terms of his grant of land next to Joseph's which became Brownfield.(78)
By summer Joseph was back on his land grant. In
July Rev. Timothy Walker Jr. of
On 2 Feb. 1766 the proprietors petitioned to call a meeting of the proprietors on 23 June in the township which was granted.(79) The meeting was held at Ezekiel Walker's house at Pequawket and Joseph was chosen moderator and clerk. Prior to this first town meeting at what was to become Fryeburg, Joseph was chosen moderator of the Andover town meeting on 3 Mar.(80)
Joseph was looking for a minister for the town in 1767 and contracted with Grindall Rawson of Sutton. Rev. Rawson had been unemployed prior to going to Fryeburg and had previously resigned from one pastorate under fire and had been fired from another. He also had gone through a messy divorce. Needless to say the good Reverend returned to Sutton the next year and became a school teacher.
The next meeting of the proprietors was on 29 June 1767 at Ezekiel Walker's house and Joseph was again chosen moderator. The meeting was adjourned until 27 July when they met at Joseph's house and finished their business.
Rev. Paul Coffin of Buxton passed through the
town on 4 Oct. 1768 and had: "a pleasant and instructive chat" with
Joseph and noted that he: "saw the gentle declivity where the
On 2 Jan. 1770 Joseph and Mehitable sold several pieces of land including their house and barn to Samuel Carlton for £306.(82) He also directed his nephew Simon to sell Carlton his share of his mother's land as she had given Carlton a verbal promise to extend his lease to this land on which he had made several improvements. Joseph also told Simon that: "Lt. Col. James Frye, always pregnant with ill nature, watched for your Brother Isaac's coming to Town and a few days ago catched him before Carlton knew he was in Town and Bargained for his part in this land and yesterday I wrote a Deed of it to James so he has got it and I am sorry. And now, he seems to undervalue your part (as I am told) which I suppose he thinks he may do safely, since he has got Isaac's part and thereby pleases himself with the thoughts that no body will buy of you besides himself, so he shall get it very cheap."(83) No love lost between Joseph and his cousin!
About this time Joseph wrote his poem Calm Content:
No more the
court nor martial themes
Delight me like the verdant groves,
Whence I concert my rural schemes
'Midst singing birds and cooing doves.
These sylvan
songsters' tuneful lays
In innocence and free from fear,
So smoothly chanted on green sprays,
Both soothe my mind and charm my ear.
I would not
change these rural scenes
For what in court is to be found,
Nor quit these groves and purling streams
For highest rank on hostile ground.
But thus
retired I'll spend my days
In hymning praise to God on high,
Joining the birds' sweet warbling lays
To honor Heavenly Majesty.
And when
from hence I take my flight,
My sins, O God, through Christ forgive,
And bring me to the realms of light
In endless peace and bliss to live.(84)
Joseph was appointed a justice of the peace for York Co. by acting Gov. Hutchinson and the Council on 21 June 1770.(85) He had by this time moved his family to the township.
On 18 Oct. 1771 Joseph petitioned the General Court for a license to sell liquor, stating that he was opening a store. The petition was eventually approved and he was granted a license to sell spiritous liquors in "Fryburgh".(86)
The boundary dispute between
Joseph was also concerned with the lack of a road
to the seaport at
On 19 Sept. 1774 the proprietors held their first meeting in seven years. Joseph was chosen moderator and clerk and the meeting was held at his house. On 5 Oct. at another meeting, the proprietors voted to give Rev. William Fessenden: "a call to settle in the Ministry of the Gospel". Another meeting was held on 16 Jan. 1775 at Joseph's house to swear in several town officials and Rev. Fessenden's letter accepting his new post was read.
By this time the war had started and on 25 May Joseph
left town to try and obtain power for the town but, he: "could hear of
none in
Joseph was commissioned a Major General on 21
June 1775 by the Provincial Congress, however the Continental Congress then
absorbed the provincial forces around
Joseph remained on the staff of General Ward.
Since there was no longer a
On 26 July John Adams wrote to James Warren, speaker of the House requesting information on: "the Characters and biography of the officers in the Army. I want to be precisely informed when and where, and in what Station, General Ward has served, General Thomas, the two Fry's, Whitcomb, etc., and what Colonells we have in the Army and their Characters."(91) Joseph was asked to give an account of his service in the French wars so that his record could be presented to Congress.
On 3 Aug. Joseph sent a recommendation to the Council for commissions in the militia or the Continental Army for three men who had served during the last war.(92)
General Preble arrived from
The other Gentleman is Col Frye of Massachusetts Bay he entered into the Service as early as 1745, and rose through the different military ranks to that of Colonel, until last June, when he was appointed a Major General by the Congress of this Province; from these circumstances together with the favorable report made to me of him, I presume he sustained the Character of a good Officer, tho' I do not find it distinguished by any peculiar Service. Either of those Gentlemen or any other whom the Hon. Congress shall favor with the Appointment will be received by me with the utmost Deference and respect."(94)
The appointment of a bridgadier general was
deferred and with no provision for his remaining with the army Joseph left
Roxbury on 12 Oct. and went to
On 30 Oct. General Ward wrote to John Adams at
On 15 Nov. 1775 John Adams wrote to General Ward's aide, Samuel Osgood: "The true Cause why General Frie has not recd from me any particular Intelligence is that the Matter has been hitherto suspended, and I am under such Engagements of Secrecy that I could not in Honour acquaint him with any Thing that has pass'd in Congress.
As soon as I arrived in
Joseph stayed in
The commission was signed by James Otis Sr.,
President of the Council. Joseph settled his affairs and left
James Sullivan of Biddeford, who was temporarily in command at Falmouth, wrote to the Court on 26 Nov.: "We much rejoice at the appointment of General Frye, who arrived here yesterday, and have the highest expectation, from his acknowledged ability and integrity, provided he was in such a situation as would render him active; but I am sorry to say the General Court has commanded him to fight with his hands bound. In his appointment over the Militia, he is confined to the County of Cumberland, and all his operations are limited to that place, while the County of York are as much interested in, and anxiously concerned for the defence of Falmouth-Neck, as the County of Cumberland... In his other department, as commander of two hundred and fifty sea-coast men, whose time expires within one month, he can do nothing to the purpose... Besides this, when he calls the Militia (and if they should obey him), he has no way to find them provision, or any authority to provide one single necessary for his formidable army."(98)
In December Joseph wrote to the Council
requesting more funds stating that the price of provisions had risen because of
the shortage. Besides this the men's enlistments were going to expire.
Fortunately the Court voted to raise 400 troops to defend
Joseph's rank had never been officially established. He was refered to as "general" but not specifically what type. On 1 Jan. 1776 the Court made him officially a colonel but, he was still addressed as "general".
Joseph had command of five companies of men at
On 10 Jan. 1776 the Continental Congress elected
Joseph as Brigadier General for the army in
Joseph's election to this post created jealousy
among the rivals for this position particularly Col. Armstrong: "The New
England vacancy is filled up with a certain Mr. Frye who has not before been in
the Continental Service, at which appointment our friend Coll. Thompson is much
Chagrinned and has resigned the Service at least in that part of the country. I
am sorry for the occasion of this warmth, as the tories are ready to catch up
every occasion against
Joseph recieved a letter from
Joseph left
Joseph's brigade consisted of four regiments. The
14th Continental Regiment, commanded by Col. John Glover, was posted at
Preparations were being made to move against the
British in
The enemy's attention was to be diverted by a
heavy bombardment for three nights. During this time men and material was to be
secretly moved to
"Genl. Heath's, Sullivan's, Green's and Fry's brigades are in rotation, to march a Regiment, an hour before day, every morning into the works on Letchmores point and Cobble Hill... they are to remain in the works until sunrise."(103)
The bombardment began on 2 Mar., continued on 3
Mar. and on the 4th Thomas and his men constructed the forts on the Heights. On
the 5th the British awoke to this formidable battery on the hill which they
could not reach with their guns. They were going to storm the Heights but,
because of the weather and the fact that this action would be too costly, Gen.
Howe decided to evacuate
On 8 Mar.
During this time Joseph was suffering from rhumatism and this promted Washington to write to Joseph Reed, a member of Congress, on 7 Mar.: "The bringing Colonel Armstrong into this army as major-general, however great his merit, would introduce much confusion. Thomas, if no more, would surely quit, and I believe him a good man. If Thomas supplies the place of Lee, there will be a vacancy for either Armstrong or Thompson, for I have heard of no other valiant son of New England waiting promotion, since the advancement of Frye, who has not, and I doubt will not, do much service to the cause; at present he keeps his room, and talks learnedly of emetics, cathartics, & c. For my own part, I see nothing but a declining life that matters him."(104)
Reed replied on the 15th: "Poor Frye! Heaven and earth was moved to get him in- he was everything that was great and wonderful; now, I suppose we shall hear no more of him."(105)
The British evacuated
Realizing that his health would not allow him to continue in his position, Joseph sent his resignation to Washington on the 18th only four and a half weeks after he had arrived: "The Ministerial Troops having (yesterday) taken their departure from Boston, will, I presume, occasion the removal of the Continental Army to some distant part of the Continent. And as I find myself in such an infirm state of health as renders me unable to bear the fatiggue of such march as that manoeuvre will require, I cannot think it laudable to continue in the Army and pay of the Continent, without being able to merit the pay by my service; therefore take leave to desire I may resign the command in the Army I have been honoured with. And as I am at present unable to travel, and being one hundred and forty miles from my family, I take leave, also, to request that my resignation may take place the 11th day of April next."(106)
Washington wrote to Reed on 1 Apr.: "Nothing of importance has occurred in these parts, since my last, unless it be the resignations of Generals Ward and Frye, and the reassumption of the former, or retraction, on account as he says, of its being disagreeable to some of the officers. Who these officers are, I have not heard. I have not inquired. When the application to Congress and notice of it to me came to hand, I was disarmed of interposition, because it was put upon the footing of duty, or conscience, the General being persuaded that his health would not allow him to take that share of duty that his office required. The officers to whom the resignation is disagreeable, have been able, no doubt, to convince him of his mistake, and that his health will admit him to be alert and active. I shall leave him till he can determine yea or nay, to command in this quarter. General Frye, that wonderful man, has made a most wonderful hand of it. His appointment took place the 11th January; he desired ten days ago that his resignation might take place the 11th April. He has drawn three hundred and seventy-five dollars, never done one day's duty, scarce been three times out of his house, discovered that he was too old and infirm for a moving camp, but remembers that he has been young, active and very capable of doing what is now out of his power to accomplish; and therefore has left Congress to find out another man capable of making, if possible, a more brilliant figure than he has done; add to these the departure of Generals Lee and Thomas, taking some little acount of S and H (Spencer and Heath), and then form an opinion of the Genls of this army, their councils, & c."(107)
Poor Joseph had the misfortune to be old and sick
and thus incurred
Ward changed his mind again and decided to
resign. On 23 Apr. the Continental Congress accepted his and Joseph's
resignations: "The Congress having received your Letter of Resignation, I
am commanded to acquaint you, that they have been pleased to accept the same.
While they lament the cause that obliges you to retire, they cannot but
acknowledge it to be a sufficient one. The reputation and Honour with which you
have conducted yourself on all Occasions, in the Continental Service, must
always afford you the most pleasing Satisfaction."(108)
Joseph recieved this letter from John Hancock on 4 May and went to
Washington was still seething with disgust over these two officers and wrote to General Lee: "General Ward, upon the evacuation of Boston, and finding there was a possibility of his being removed from the smoke of his own chimney, applied to me and wrote to Congress, for leave to resign. A few days afterwards, some of the officers, as he says, getting uneasy at the prospect of his leaving them, he applied for his letter of resignation, which had been carefully committed to my care; but, behold! it had been carefully forwarded to Congress, and, as I have since learned, judged so reasonable, (want of health being the plea) that it was instantly complied with. Brigadier Frye, previous to this, also conceiving there was nothing entertaining or profitable to an old man, to be marching or countermarching, desired, immediately on the evacuation of Boston, (which happened on the 17th of March) that he might resigne his commission on the 11th of April. The choice of the day became a matter of great speculation, and remained profoundly mysterious till he exhibited his account, when there appeared neither more nor less in it than the completion of three calendar months, the pay of which he received without any kind of compunction, although he had never done one tour of duty, or, I believe, had ever been out of his house from the time he entered till he quitted Cambridge. So much for two Generals."(109)
On 24 Apr. the General Court ordered the Joseph
be paid £41/7 for: "his service as Major General one month and twelve days
in the Colony Army, and also for his service as superior officer on the sea-coast
establishment at
Joseph felt as though his pay was not enough for the service he had provided and therefore he submitted a lengthy petition to the Court on 30 May outlining his service. The Court agreed with Joseph and allowed him an additional £44 for his service as a major general from 31 July until 15 Oct. and £4 for his expenses.
Joseph left
The descendants of Joseph Frye
became eligible for membership in the Massachusetts Society of the
On 22 Nov. 1776 the people of Fryeburg petitioned the General Court to incorporate into a town.(112) This petition was approved 10 Jan. 1777 with the exception of the unresolved land swap. Col. Tristram Jordan J.P., issued a warrant for the first town meeting which was held on 31 Mar. Joseph took little official part in town affairs from this point. Perhaps he felt as though enough of his relatives held office to negate any need of him holding any post. On 28 May 1777 a meeting of the Proprietors was held and Joseph was chosen moderator. At another meeting on 15 Sept. Joseph resigned as clerk. The only other office Joseph held after this time was that of moderator of the town meeting in Aug. 1779.
During this time Joseph was still trying to settle the boundaries of his town. On 25 Sept. 1778 he wrote a long letter to the General Court requesting that the matter be settled stating: "If after all the Pains I have taken and the expense that has fallen upon me in this unhappy affair, the Land must be Resurvey'd, I must beg of you it may be done this fall, for the further neglect of it (if I should live) will put me to great Trouble, and if I should be Taken out of Life before it is done, the Consequences will be very bad for my Family."(113)
On 18 Aug. 1779 Joseph was chosen moderator of the town meeting and was one five men chosen: "to draw a remonstrance and petition to the General Court showing the inability of the inhabitants to pay the heavy tax of 5975 Pounds, 15 Shillings & 9 Pence 3 Farthings and to pray abatement of so much as to bring the tax to such a sum as they are able to pay."(114)
Joseph was chosen to present the petition to the General Court which he did and the Court decided on 7 Oct. to abate £2443/12/5/3 which still left an impossible tax burden on the town.(115) Joseph was reimbursed £4 for his services two and a half years later in Apr. 1782.
In June of 1780 Joseph was appointed a Justice of the Peace and of the
Quorum for
"A genealogical account of the family
of the Fryes in Andover, in the County of Essex and Province of Massachusetts
Bay in New England, taken by the Subscriber from Captain Nathaniel Frye who
kept in remembrance the Lineage of the family down to Anno Domini 1769.
The Progenitor of the Family was named John. He came from a Town or Borough or Parish called Andover near Basingtoke, in Hampshire, in Old England, and landed at Newbury in the aforesaid county of Essex (but the time of his arrival is lost), and from Newbury he came to Andover in Its infant State. His children were: 1ly John, 2ly Benjamin, 3ly Samuel, 4ly James.
1ly John, of these children in particular was
born in old England, and after he had lived in Andover some time, and being
esteemed a good sort of a man was made a Deacon of the first church in said
Town, and lived to considerable age there but died childless.
2ly Benjamin. His children were John, Joseph,
Nathaniel, Mary, Anne, Mehitable, Esther, Hepsibah. John is dead but left
children, Joseph, Mary, Anne, Mehitable, all died young Nathaniel (from whom
this account if principally taken) has had three wives who are dead. He had no
children by them and as he is now an aged man, its likely he will die
childless. Esther and Hepsibah married but left no children.
3ly Samuel. His children were John, Ebenezer,
Nathaniel, Samuel, Benjamin, Hannah, Mary, Phebe, Deborah- all married and all
left children.
4ly James. His children were James, Lydia,
Dorothy, Sarah, Mary, Jonathan, all married and had children except Jonathan,
who, in A.D. 1725 went chaplain of a company of volunteers under the command of
Captain John Lovewell after the Indians who were then at war with New England.
This company (who consisted of but thirty-four men), met and fought three score
Indians on the bank of a pond at Pigwacket, on the 8th day of May in said year,
when the captain and the greatest part of his men were killed, and the said
chaplain received a mortal wound. He was able to get off of the place where the
battle was fought but died in the wilderness. Jonathan being dead, and his
elder and only brother James being dead sometime before, the old gentleman,
their Father, gave his estate to his Grandson James, the son of his deceased
son of that name. As this account was taken by the subscriber in order to show
his children from whence and from whom they descended, he now confines his
account to that branch of the Family he Sprang from, which was from Samuel the
3d son of the Old Gentleman, the Father of the Family as before shown. The subscriber's
father was John (the oldest son of the said Samuel) who was the 3d son of the
Progenitor of the Family, the account of whose family now follows-
John- His children: 1 John, 2 Isaac, 3 Joshua,
4 Abial, 5 Mehitable, 6 Anne, 7 Phebe, 8 Joseph, 9 Hannah, 10 Anne, 11 Samuel,
12 John, 13 Tabitha. The subscriber now proceeds to particularize concerning
this family (of which he is the 8th child in the course of Birth), all which
particulars have occurred within his memory and are as follows, viz:-
1 John died at the age of twenty-one, not
married; left no child nor children behind him.
2 Isaac. His children were 1 Naomah, 2 Martha,
3 Dorothy, 4 Dorcas, 5 Susanna, 6 Huldah, 7 Tabathy. The Father of these
children and his youngest Daughter Tabatha died within a few hours of each
other and were both buried in one grave; the other three children lived to
marry and have children. N.B. The mother of these children died about a year
before the death of their Father.
3 Joshua- His children by his first wife were
Mary, Joshua, Jonathan; the two last died young; Mary married and is the mother
of several children. His children by his second wife were Joshua and John.
4 Abiel. His children were Abigal (who died
young), Abiel, Simon, Abigail, Isaac- all married (except Abiel) and have
children.
5 Mehitable married and lived to considerable
age but died childless.
6 Anne died young, not of age to marry.
7 Phebe married and lived to considerable age
but died childless.
8 Joseph- His children were Joseph, Samuel,
Mehitable, all died young and within a few days of each other, with a terrible
distemper, called the throat distemper in A.D. 1738, which swept off a great
number of children in many parts of
9 Hannah- married, is now a widow and mother
of several children.
10 Anne married, is now a widow and mother of
several children. She was named Anne to bear up the name of her that died young
as above shown.
11 Samuel died in the thirteenth year of his
age.
12 John was so named to bear up the name of
John who died about twenty-one years of age as above shown, but he died unmarried
about nineteen years of age; left no offspring.
Joseph Frye, the son of Joseph and Mehitable
Frye, was born on the 17th of July, 1733. Samuel Frye, the son of Joseph and
Mehitable Frye, was born on the first day of January, 1735; Mehitable Frye, daughter
of Joseph and Mehitable Frye, was born on the 16th day of April, 1738;
Mehitable Frye, daughter of Joseph and Mehetable Frye, was born on the 12 day
of May, 1739, and died on the 28th of the same month; Mehitable Frye, the
daughter of Joseph and Mehetable Frye, was born on the 8th day of April, 1741.
Joseph Frye, the son of Joseph and Mehitable
Frye, was born on the 10th of July, 1743. Tabitha Frye, the daughter of Joseph
and Mehetable Frye, was born on the 11th day of October, 1744. Hannah Frye, daughter
of Joseph and Mehetable Frye, was born the 23d day of March, 1748/9. Richard
Frye, son of Capt. Joseph Frye and Mehitable Frye, was born on the 5th day of
August, 1751.
Nathaniel Frye, son of Capt. Joseph Frye and
Mehetable Frye, was born on the 22d day of April- 1753.
Samuel Frye, son of
Joseph Frye, the son of Joseph adn Mehetable
Frye, died on the 27th day of August, 1738. Mehitable Frye, the Daughter of
Joseph and Mehitable Frye, died on the 9th day of September, 1738. Samuel Frye,
the son of Joseph and Mehetable Frye, died on the 10th day of September 1738.
Dear Children:
Being sensible the foregoing genealogy neither
is or can be of any public benefit, it cannot be worthy of public notice. I
therefore have no other meaning than to hand it down to you, to the end that
you and your descendants may (if you or any of them have or may have the
curiosity) look back to the first of the family in Andover, from whom you derived
your nativity, and may continue it along to many generations, if you or any of
them think proper to do it; with that view (and no other) it is presented to
you by your
Affectionate Father
March 19, 1783.....................Joseph Frye."(116)
Joseph was evidently not satisfied with his situation as he wrote to Rev. Benjamin Parker of Haverhill on 9 June 1783: "After spending near twenty years in publick life, viz in Camp & Court, which gave me the advantage of the Company & intimate acquaintance of many of the most Sensible Gentlemen of this Country & many such from Europe,- my lot has been to retire and fix myself in this remote place, where I am destitute of such Company as I wish might have succeeded the former. Being now advanced to old age, and exercised with such Bodily maladies as has much impaired my Constitution and rendered me inevitably Liable to a disorder which subjects the mind to such a melancholy gloom as has rendered the life of many Persons, even in a time of Publick & private Prosperity, very unhappy.- And if so what must I feel when musing upon the loss of many Sensible Friends, some by death and some by the late unhappy war, and seeing that... moral rectitude & social affection which rendered mankind Blessings to each other are so Obliterated that they exist in the breasts of but few, and the amazing debt the war has brought upon us, and no prospect in view of its being paid by any means but such as will bring the greatest part of the People in this Country into the utmost distress and no understanding friend (except C. Swan) to afford a word of Consolation."(117)
Joseph still did not have his boundary settled. A committee of the House had been appointed in Mar. 1781 but they did not issue their report until Mar. 1784. They stated that Joseph's plan was unreasonable and they proposed an alternate swap. Unfortunately their alternate proposal interfered with the grant of New Suncook (Lovell). No further progress was therefore made concerning Joseph's problem.(118)
During this time the issue of separation from
Joseph sold to his sons Richard and Samuel Frye of Fryeburg, Husbandmen for £414/14: "my Farm I call my Homestead Farm on which I now dwell being two first division upland lots laid out for forty acres each... two first division intervale Lots of land laid out for twenty acres each... adjoining each other together with my Dwelling House & Barn standing on the Southernmost of said Upland Lots... except... a small piece lying on the Northerly side of and adjoining to a creek near the North side of my son Josephs Dwelling House..." 6 Aug. 1786. The deed was witnessed by William Fessenden and Jonathan Dresser.(120)
On 8 Jan. 1787 a town meeting was held during
which the townspeople voted to adopt a set of recomendations prepared by
Joseph. He wanted an equitable solution to paying off the securities that were
given to
On 10 Mar. 1787 Joseph finally had the approval of the General Court for his land swap. After sixteen years trying to settle this problem it was finally put to rest.(123)
In 1787 John Hancock was re-elected as Governor against James Bowdoin. Because of this change in command Joseph was reappointed as a Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum. He retained this appointment until his death.
Joseph sold to his sons: "In Consideration of the Paternal Love and affection I have for my two sons namely Richard and Samuel Frye of Fryeburg... a second Division Upland lot on the Southerly side of Saco River N. thirty three... containing Forty three acres one Quarter & thirty Seven rods- Secondly a first Division Upland Lot N. Forty seven... containing thirty five acres and three Quarters and Twenty six Rods both of which Lots are bounded on the Road leading out of the Main Road on the Southerly side of the River in Fryeburg aforesaid to Simon Frye, Esq. Thirdly a Second Division Intervale lot on the Southerly side of Saco River N. fifteen containing twenty nine acres of Qualified land adjoining and laying up River of a Second Division Intervale lot now owned by one W.W. Keen who purchased the same of Mr. Samuel Walker junr... Fourthly a hundred acre Upland Lot laid out as third Division land on the Southerly side of Saco River aforesd Bounded Northerly on Land belonging to the Rev. Mr. Wm. Fessenden Southerly on Land belonging to Mr. Ezekiel Walker Eastwardly on land belonging to the abovesaid Joseph Frye, Esqr and westwardly on Common or undivided land..." 12 Mar. 1790. This deed was witnessed by William Fessenden and Joseph Frye Jr.(124)
"I Joseph Frye of Fryeburg... make this
my Last Will and Testament... hertofore I have imparted to each of my Sons and
to my Eldest Daughter Estate in Lands by Deeds of gift- So that the Land which
by this Instrument I shall give to my Children is the remainder of the Lands I
have left in the Town aforesaid and in a Tract of Land adjoining the Northerly
part thereof, commonly called Fryeburg Addition...
1ly I give to my Eldest Son Joseph Frye an upland lot of Land, laid out for forty acres be the same more or less laying on a Hill called Walker's Hill and adjoining to a forty acre Lot of upland belonging to Benjamin Wiley and one of my Silver Table Spoons.
2ly I give to my Son Nathaniel Frye an upland
Lot of Land laid out for forty acres be the same more or less laying near Mr.
McKeens, and my Intervale Lot of Land (called the broad point Lot) laid out for
thirty acres be the same more or less, laying below Mr. William Wiley's and one
of Silver Table Spoon.
3ly I give to my Sons Richard Frye and Samuel
Frye all the remainder of my Household goods & Furniture of every
denomination (except what thereof, I have above and shall herunder otherwise
dispose of) to be equally divided between them,- Each of them to have, in his
dividend thereof, one of my Silver Table Spoons.
4ly I give to my Eldest Daughter Mehitabel who
is the wife of Doctr Josiah Chase thirty acres of Land to be taken out of my
uplands not above nor any otherwise disposed of, and one of my Silver Table
Spoons, which, with what I gave her at her marriage, what She has lately had of
her Deceased Mother's wearing Apparrel, and the Land I have heretofore given
her by Deed of gift makes up what I think She ought to have of my Estate. But
by a certain consideration one thereunto moving, I give to her Husband the said
Josiah Chase a Silver Instrument (which one of my bodily maladies obliges me to
keep constantly by me) called a cathetor.
5ly I give to my Daughter Tabitha the wife of
Majr. Joseph Pettingill one of my Silver Table Spoons, Six pewter Plates, a
note of hand Dated July 3d 1773 whereby he the said Joseph Pettingill stands
indebted to me the sum of seventeen Pounds two Shillings principal and the
Interest thereof from the Date of said Note, and One hundred acres of Land to
be taken out of my uplands that are not above nor otherwise disposed of, and as
she lives in the State of New York, which is at such a distance from this
place, that it is impossible any Improvent of it can be made to her advantage I
would have due care taken that said Land be such with respect ( ) which makes up
what I think she ought to have of my Estate.
6ly I give to my Grand- Children the Children
of my deceased Daughter Hannah who was the wife of Mr. William Sargeant, Sixty
acres of Land, to be taken out of my uplands, that are not above, nor otherwise
disposed of, and as this Land must be divided among them it cannot be improved
so much to their advantage as I wish it might, I therefore think it would be
best for them that it might be sold and the proceeds of the sale be divided
among them, and for that Reason, I would have the same care taken with regard
to its quality and Situation, as above directed with regard to the Land I have
given to my above named Daughter Tabitha Also that there be paid them out of my
Estate in money, the value of one of my Silver Table Spoons, which with the
Lands hereby given them and what I gave their Mother at her Marriage makes up
what I think she ought to have of my Estate might she have lived to receive it
herself.
7ly I give to my Son Joseph my best Hat- To my
Son Richard my scarlet cloak & my Silver Stock Buckle- To my Son Samuel my
Silver Shoe Buckles and Silver Knee Buckles- And my wearing Apparrel (except my
Hat & Cloak above mentioned) I give to my Sons Joseph, Richard, Nathaniel
and Samuel, to be equally divided among them Also I give to them my above named
Sons my Books and Pamphlets to be divided equally between them but with this
caution, that my Largest Bible, shall be in the Dividends of my Sons Richard
and Samuel
8ly I give to my Sons Joseph Frye, Richard
Frye, Nathaniel Frye, Samuel Frye all the residue of my Lands in the Town of
Fryeburg aforesaid and in that Tract of Land that lays adjoining to the
northerly part of said Town commonly called Fryeburg Addition (that is all that
is my due in said Town & said Addition not above nor otherwise disposed of)
viz all of it that is already laid out in said Town & Addition (except as
above excepted) and what is my due in the Common & undivided Lands in both
places, which shall be divided among them in shares of as near equal value as
possible, Saving that the Lots of Land above given to my Sons Joseph &
Nathaniel shall be reckoned to them as part of their Dividends thereof.
Now be it Known that in Consideration of what
Estates in Land and other Means I have heretofore given them my said Sons
Joseph, Richard, Nathaniel and Samuel, with what I have given them in this
Instrument, I think it Just, and accordingly lay them under the following
Injunctions viz
1ly That they pay all my just Debts (if any
such shall be left unpaid at my decease) in the payment whereof each one of
them shall pay one fourth part thereof.
2ly That Each one of my said Sons Shall bear
one fourth part of the Expence of the Interrment of my Body, which I would have
done in a Decent Christian like manner, without any Military Parade (as has
been proposed to me) on account of the long time and many offices I Sustaind in
the Service of my Country in their former and latter Wars, the Saving the
expence whereof, I think will be better for the Families of my Children than
the Honr of it can be of Service to them or me.
3ly That my said Sons shall be at Equal
Expence for decent grave stones to be set up at my own and their Mother's
grave- And as the place where their Mother is Interred is a peice of land that
was my own (but now belongs to my Sons Richard & Samuel) and is now Fenced
with a Rail Fence and Designed by my self, and them the said Richard &
Samuel for a buring place of my Self and Family and the Families of my Children
that may die in this place I think it just that my Sons the said Joseph,
Richard, Nathaniel & Samuel be at Equal Expence to fence it in with a
Substantial Stone wall and take Equal care to keep said wall in good repair and
the ground a clean piece of grass ground.
Lastly I Do hereby constitute and appoint my
Sons Joseph Frye, Nathaniel Frye and the Revd. William Fessenden jointly and
severally Executors of this my Last Will and Testament and the Reason of my
appointing them in manner as aforesaid is to the End that in case of the
removal of any one or two them by Death or otherwise before the busness may be
finished that the Survivors or Survivor may be able to finish the business of
the trust hereby committed to them, and Save the Expence of Administration ( ).
And I do now declare this to be my Last Will and Testament allowing it and no
other to be so. In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal the
Seventh day of July Anno Domini one thousand Seven hundred and ninety three and
in the Sixteenth year of American
Joseph Frye
Signed, Sealed and Declared by
the said Joseph Frye to be his
Last Will and Testament in
presence of us
Jonathan Dresser
Jonathan Dresser Junr.
Levi Dresser."
Joseph Frye's
Will, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5
"An Inventory of the Estate of Joseph Frye late of Fryeburg in
the
Personal Estate
A Beaver Hat 30/ two Brushes 9/. a black Handkf 3/
.
£ 2..2..-
Two full trimmed skirts 24/. two shirts 9/. three Stocks
3/.................................................................... 1..16..-
A Velvet Coat 24/. a Broadcloth Coat 18/. a strait Coat
10/................................................................ 2..12..-
A Nankin Waistcoat 5/ a Waistcoat 2/ a loose Coat 5/
.12..-
A pair of Leather Breeches 3/. a pair Leather Gloves 1/. pair Linen gloves
1/....................................... .. 5..-
A pair worsted Hose 5/, a pair of linen Hose
6/......................................................................................
..11..-
A pair of Cotton Hose 3/, a pair of linen Hose 3/
.. ..
6..-
A pair of linen Hose 1/6, two pair of Hose 2/........................................................................................
.. 3..6
A broadcloth Cloak 60/. a pair of Silver Shoe Buckles
9/.......................................................................
3..9..-
A pair of Silver Knee Buckles 5/. a Silver Stock Buckle
4/.......................................................................
..9..-
Table Linen 12/. 6 Pewter Plates 9/. two large Pewter dishes
15/........................................................ 1..16..-
Seven Pewter dishes 35/ twenty two pewter plates 15/
..2..10..-
A Pewter Can 1/ 6 Ten Milk pans 9/ six Tin Tart pans
4/......................................................................
..14..-
Six Silver Table Spoons 42/. four Silver Tea Spoons 8/.......................................................................
2..10..-
Tea Cups & Saucers 1/6 six Earthen plates 6/ a Tea Pot
1/6................................................................. ..9..-
Two brass Candlestickes 2/ Flat Irons 9/ a Tin Candlestick 1/..............................................................
..6..-
A Glass Canister 1/ a Glass Decanter 2/ six Wine Glasses
3/................................................................ ..6..-
A brass skimmer 1/ a pair of Steel yards 3/...........................................................................................
..4..-
A Feather Bed under Bed Bedstead & bedding, bolster & pillows
60/................................................. 3..-..-
A Feather Bed under Bed Bedstead & bedding, bolster & pillows with
Curtains & Valance 48/....... 2..8..-
A Field Bed under Bed Bedstead Pillow & Blanket with the headcloth and
Valance 30/.................. 1..10..-
A Warming pan 9/ a Desk 36/ four Chests 40/ a small Chest
3/.......................................................... 4..8..-
Two Tables 15/ three Chairs 6/ a Linen Wheel 9/ a Hascomb
12/....................................................... 2..2..-
An Iron Kittle 15/ a Brass Kittle 6/ a Copper Tea Kittle
3/................................................................. 1..4..-
Andirons 3/ two pair of Tongs 8/ a fireslice 3/
...
-..14..
Three Glass Bottles 1/ a Trammel 6/ Frying pan 5/ a spit
6/............................................................. -..18..-
A pair of Snuffers 1/ Meat Tubs & dry Casks- Sixteen
20/................................................................. 1..1..-
A Lamp 1/ a Coat Brush 1/ a Mortar & Pestle 12/
......
-..14..-
A Catheter 18/...................................................................................................................................
-..18..-
A large Bible 10/ thirty five pamphlets 11/8 a Book of maps
48/...................................................... 3..9..8
Baileys Dictionary 10/ a military orderly Book in Manuscript
10/..................................................... 1..-..-
An old small Bible 1/6 a French Dictionary
10/...............................................................................
11..6..-
Bland's Exercise 3/ The true born English man 3/ Bacon's Essays
6/............................................... -..12..-
Paradise regained 4/ a Psalm Book 1/6 a Military Book
/4............................................................. -..5..10
A French Book 2/ British Remembrances 1/6 a Book on cookery
1/6................................................ -..5..-
Notes of hand to the amount of £28..11..1..2
..
28..11..1..2
A curious French Pipe 6/ an Ink stand 1/ a Wafer box & seal 12/....................................................
-..19..-
Two sand
One Yard & almost an half of Gold Lace 12/..................................................................................
-..12..-
A Razor & case 2/ a Hone
1/6...........................................................................................................
-..3..6
_________
76..11.1.2
Real Estate
Eight common & undivided Rights in the
Four hundred & fifty acres of third division Lands laying in Fryeburg
Addition @ 9/ pr
acre..........................................................................
202..10..-
A first Division Upland Lot No 39 containing forty five acres of qualified
Land, laying south of
A first Division Upland Lot No. 50 containing forty acres of qualified Land
laying south of Saco River @ 12/ pr acre.....................................
42..12..-
A Second Division Upland Lot No. 15 containing Sixty four acres of qualified
Land, laying south of Saco River @ 12/ pr acre.........................
38..8..-
A first Division Intervale Lot No.38 containing twenty one Acres of qualified
Land, laying south of Saco River @ 18/ pr acre........................
18..18..-
A Second Division Intervale Lot No.14 containing forty eight acres of qualified
Land, laying south of Saco River @ 22/ pr acre.................... 52..16..-
Part of a third Division laying south of Saco River Eighty one acres @ 12/ pr
acre...........................................................................................
48..12..-
Part of a third Division of Upland laying South of Saco River- forty eight
acres @ 12/ pr acre.........................................................................
28..16..-
__________
Total
632..3..1..2
Fryeburg Novr 18th 1794
Simon Frye
Jonathan Dresser Junr. Appraisers
Benjamin Wiley"
Inventory of Joseph Frye's Estate, Page
2
"The following is an Assignment by the
Executors of Joseph Frye Esqr. deceased, of the several parcels of Land
bequeathed by the said deceased to his Daughters & their Heirs, in
compliance to his last Will & Testament...
Bounds of the Land assigned to Mehitabel Chase
Daughter of said deceased... being the southwardly part of third Division No.
21 & contains thirty acres
Bounds of the Land Assigned to the Heirs of
Hannah Sargent, Daughter of said deceased... being the whole of first Division
Upland Lot No.50 & the Northwardly part of third Division No.21 and
contains sixty acres.
Bounds of the Land Assigned to Tabitha
Pettingill Daughter of said deceased...being the whole of third Division No.20
and a tract of Land laid to complete the eight Rights late the property of
Joseph Frye Esqr. third & fourth Divisions & in lieu of Land taken off
for Roads And contains one hundred acres.
Fryeburg June 9th, 1796
William Fessenden
Nathaniel Frye, Executors"
"The undersigned, three of us Sons &
Legatees and the other an attorney or agent for Joseph Frye an absent Son &
Legatee, of Joseph Frye Esqr. deceased, do hereby mutually agree upon a
division of such part of said deceaseds real Estate as is devised to us in his,
the said deceaseds last Will & Testament, in the following Manner, viz.-
Joseph Frye to have the following pieces or parcels of Land as his part
of what was devised to him.
Second division Upland Lot No.15 laying south of Saco River, reckoned
at........................................ 80..0..0
One hundred & thirty six acres of third division Land, to lay from the
state line the length of said 3d division line, on the line between Bradley
& Eastman & Fryeburg Addition, & such a width as that a parallel
line with the line last mentiond will complete the one hundred & thirty six
acres reckoned
at..........................................................................................................................................................
204..0..0
One hundred & Ninety four Acres three Rood & sixteen perch of Fourth
division Land, to be taken off the southwardly part of a tract of Land laid out
to the original Rights of Joseph Frye Esqr. as fourth
__________
344..-..-
Richard Frye & Samuel Frye, to have the following peices or parcels
of Land, as their part of what was devised to them-
Second division Upland Lot No.14 laying south of Saco River, reckoned
at........................................ 128..0..0
they paying their Brother Nathaniel Frye thirty one Dollars Two hundred &
Ninety acres & thrity two perch of third division Land, bounded Westwardly
by the line of a piece of Land herein after assigned to Nathaniel Frye, and
from the southeastwardly corner of said Nathaniels Land, upon Mr. Isaac Abbots
Land to... Joseph Fryes one hundred & thirty six acres... reckoned
at.................................... 471..0..0
Two hundred acres of fourth division Land, bounded by Bradley & Eastman's
line Northerly by great Keezer Pond Eastwardly, by Col. Pages Land Southerly,
& by their own & Joseph Fryes third division Land Westerly- Two hundred
& thirteen acres, two roods & three perch of fourth division Land
laying on the state line, and is the Northerly part of the fourth division
Land, laid to the original Rights of Joseph Frye Esqr. & adjoins to the one
hundred & ninety four acres, three Roods & sixteen perch, above
assigned to Joseph Frye, & four common & undivided Rights Reckoned
at..........................................................................................................................................................
120..0..0
_________
719..0..0
Nathaniel Frye to have the following pieces or parcels of land as his
part of what was devised to him
First division Upland Lot No. 39 laying south of
First division Intervale Lot No. 38 laying south of
Second division Intervale Lot No. 16 laying south of
Twenty three acres three Roods & eight perch of third division Land,
bounded Westwardly by the state line, then from the state line Eastwardly by
Joseph Frye's Land for as may be necessary to give twenty three Acres, three
Roods & eight perch by a line running parallel with the state line from
Joseph Frye's line to Isaac Abbots line-
One hundred & seventy one acres & eight perch of fourth division Land
laying in McNeal turn (so called) and two common & undivided Rights, and to
Receive thirty one Dollars from his Brothers Richard & Samuel, Reckoned
at
..... 91.
________
344..0.0
Fryeburg December 24 1796
Benjamin Wiley for & in behalf of Joseph Frye
Richard Frye
Nathaniel Frye
Attest John Farington, Samuel Frye
Robert Wiley"(125)
Division of
Joseph Frye's Estate, Page 2, Page
3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6
The Eastern Herald of Portland published Joseph's obituary on 2 Aug. 1794: "On Friday, the 25th inst. departed this life, and on the Lords day afternoon following, was decently and honourablly interred General JOSEPH FRYE, in the 83d year of his age.- In early life he was called upon to engage in the defence of his country, passed through several military grades, in all which he discovered a genius commanding applause. In his last sickness, which consisted of a complication of disorders, he endured great bodily pains, which he bore with true Christian fortitude. He gave the fullest testimony of his firm and unshaken belief to the truth of the Christian religion; and his dying request, to his children, was, to live in Christian Love and Friendship, and yield a strict obedience to the precepts of the gospel."(126)
Issue- all children born in Andover, MA (see Andover & Fryeburg V.R.)
· II. Samuel- b. 1 Jan. 1736, d.s.p. 10 Sept. 1738
· III. Mehitable- b. 16 Apr. 1738, d. 10 Sept. 1738
· IV. Mehitable- b. 8 Apr. 1741, m. 22 Aug.
1765 Josiah Chase (drowed in
· V. Joseph- b. 10 July 1743, m. Mary Robinson
(b. 3 Sept. 1744
· VI. Tabitha- b. 11 Oct. 1746, m. Maj. Joseph Pettengill, d. 10 Aug. 1795
· VII. Hannah- b. 23 Mar. 1749, m. 22 Aug. 1771 William Sargent, d. 24 Mar. 1782
· 5VIII. RICHARD- b. 5 Aug. 1751, m. 5 May 1788 SARAH GORDON (b. 8 Aug. 1756
· IX. Nathaniel-b. 4 Apr. 1753, m.c.1773 Dorothy Swan (d. 27 Apr. 1840), d. 17 Apr. 1833 Fryeburg
· X. Samuel- b. 5 July 1758, m. May 1784 Mary Gordon (b. 30 Aug. 1758, d. 14 Aug. 1811), d. 27 May 1827 Fryeburg
Ref:
(1) True History of the Terrible Epidemic Vulgarly
Called the Throat Distemper- Ernest Caulfield, Yale Journal of Biology
& Medicine, Vol.XI, pp.67,103
(2) Louisbourg Soldiers- Charles Hudson, NEHGR,
XXIV, pp.368-78
(3) Benjamin Cleaves' Journal of the Expedition to
Louisbourg, 1745- NEHGR, LXVI, p.114
(4) Journal Kept by Lieutenant Daniel Giddings-
Essex Institute Collections, LXVIII, p.294
(5) The Journals and Papers of Seth Pomeroy- Louis
E. de Forest, p.15
(6) Ibid
(7) Ibid-pp.8,16,19
(8) Ibid- p.20
(9) Benjamin Cleaves' Journal of the Expedition to
Louisbourg, 1745- NEHGR, LXVI, p.121
(10) Diary Kept by Lieut. Dudley Bradstreet- Samuel
A. Green, p.21
(11) Pepperrell Papers- Mass. Hist. Soc., Vol.I,
p.295
(12) letter from Eveleth to Pepperrell, Belknap Collection, MSS
at Mass. Hist. Soc., B, p.167
(13) MA-LXXII, p.731
(14) Sebago Lake Land- Herbert G. Jones, p.13
(15) MA- LXXIII, p.737
(16) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1750-1751, XXVII, p.14
(17) Ibid- p.27
(18) Ibid- p.41
(19) Ibid- pp.108,115-6,120
(20) Ibid- p.158
(21) Ibid- p.74
(22) Ibid- p.129
(23) MHS- Vol.I, p.123
(24) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1751-1752, XXIX, p.15
(25) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1753-1754, XXX, p.87
(26) letter from Winslow to Lithgow, 14 July 1754, John Winslow
Journal, MSS at Mass. Hist. Soc.
(27) MA- XCIII, pp.107,118-9,127,131-45
(28) Provincial Papers of New Hampshire- Vol.VI,
p.364, original in Fogg Autograph Collection, MHS
(29) Selections from the Public Documents of the Province
of Nova Scotia- T. B. Akins, p.267
(30) The Forts of Chignecto- J.C. Webster, Lt. Col.
Monckton's Journal, 3 Sept. 1755
(31) London Magazine for 1755, p.627; Supplement
to the Boston Gazette, 6 Oct. 1755
(32) Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society-
Vol.III, pp.94-5
(33) The Forts of Chignecto- J.C. Webster, Lt. Col.
Monckton's Journal, 10 Sept. 1755
(34) Journal of Abijah Willard- NB Hist. Soc. Coll.,
18 Sept. 1755
(35) Diary of John Thomas- NEHGR, XXXIII, 384
(36) The Forts of Chignecto- J.C. Webster, Lt. Col.
Monckton's Journal, at end of journal
(37) Journal of Abijah Willard- NB Hist. Soc. Coll.,
5 Jan. 1756
(38) Orderly Book of Major Frye- Newberry Library, 6
Feb. 1756
(39) John Winslow Journal- Mass. Hist. Soc., F, 40
(40) MA- LV, p.384
(41) Loudoun Papers- Huntington Library, San Marino, Cal., LO
2070
(42) Ibid- LO 2983
(43) Ibid- LO 3174
(44) Ibid- LO 4662
(45) MA-LVI, p.116
(46) Ibid-p.174
(47) Boston Evening Post- 8 Aug. 1757
(48) Ibid
(49) Loudoun Papers- Huntington Library, San Marino, Cal., LO
4050
(50) Ibid- LO 4479
(51) Ibid- LO 4660A
(52) Ibid
(53) Parkman Transcripts- Mass. Hist. Soc., XLII,
p.154
(54) Journal of the Rev. Paul Coffin- MHS Coll.,
Vol.IV, p.284
(55) MA- LVI, p.220
(56) Loudoun Papers- Huntington Library, San Marino, Cal., LO
5309
(57) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1757-1758, XXXVI, part 2, p.293
(58) Captain John Knox's Historical Journal of the
Campaigns in North America, 1757-1760- Arthur G. Doughty, Vol.III, p.306
(59) The Forts of Chignecto- J.C. Webster, 25 July
1759
(60) Ibid- 7 Aug. 1759
(61) Fragment and Orderly Book by Captain Jonathan Eddy-
Clara A. Avery, 30 Sept. & 1 Oct. 1759
(62) Land Grants- NS Provincial Archives, Reel 98, Book 2, p.174
(63) Council Minutes, 1757-1760- NS Archives, CCXI,
p.90
(64) Fragment and Orderly Book by Captain Jonathan Eddy-
Clara A. Avery, 22 Oct. 1759
(65) Selections from the Public Documents of the Province
of Nova Scotia- T. B. Akins, pp.311-2
(66) Orderly Book of Sergeant Josiah Perry- 15 Jan. 1760, MSS at
American Antiquarian Soc.
(67) Ibid- 4 Feb. 1760
(68) A History of Nova Scotia- Beamish Murdoch,
Vol.II, p.396
(69) Orderly Book of Sergeant Josiah Perry- 10 Mar. 1760, MSS at
American Antiquarian Soc.
(70) Ibid- 2 May 1760
(71) Selections from the Public Documents of the Province
of Nova Scotia- T. B. Akins, p.479
(72) Orderly Book of Sergeant Josiah Perry- 9 Sept. 1760, MSS at
American Antiquarian Soc.
(73) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1761-1762, XXXVIII, part 2, p.286
(74) The Massachusetts Civil List for the Colonial and
Provincial Periods, 1630-1774- p.135
(75) Lincoln Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol.II, pp.133-4
(76) Ibid- Vol.VI, pp.147-9
(77) MA- CXVIII, pp.87-8
(78) Fryeburg, An Historical Sketch- John S. Barrows,
pp.71-3; Oxford Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol.I, p.11
(79) Andover TR, Andover Library, frame 5205
(80) Ride to Piggwacket- Rev. Paul Coffin, MHS
Coll., Vol.IV, pp.284-6
(81) Essex Co. Registry of Deeds- CXXX, p.230
(82) letter from Joseph Frye to Simon Frye, 26 Apr. 1770,
Fryeburg Hist. Soc.
(83) The Poets of Maine- George B. Griffith, p.2
(84) The Massachusetts Civil List- Whitmore, p.148
(85) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1770-1771, XLVII, pp.102,123
(86) Ibid-1771-1772, XLVIII, p.12
(87) MA- CLXXXI, p.53
(88) Ibid
(89) Ibid
(90) Warren Adams Letters- Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll.,
LXXII, p.90
(91) Etting Coll., Hist. Soc. of Penn., Vol.III, p.33
(92) Jedidiah Preble Diary- 5 Aug. 1775, MSS at NEHGS
(93) The Writings of George Washington- John C.
Fitzpatrick, Vol.III, p.461
(94) letter from Ward to Adams, 30 Oct. 1775, Proc. of Mass.
Hist. Soc., XLIII, p.95
(95) Letters of Members of the Continental Congress-
Edmund C. Burnett, Vol.I, p.255
(96) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1775-1776, LI, part 1, p.233
(97) Naval Documents of the American Revolution-
William B. Clark, Vol.II, pp.1139-42
(98) letter from Frye to Freeman, 6 Jan. 1776, Willis Coll., MHS
(99) Armstrong to his wife, 6 Feb. 1776, Dreer Coll., Hist. Soc.
of Penn.
(100) Ward to Hancock, 3 Feb. 1776, Papers of the Continental
Congress, National Archives
(101) The Writings of George Washington- John C.
Fitzpatrick, Vol.IV, p.334
(102) Ibid-p.362
(103) Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed- William
B. Reed, Vol.I, p.170
(104) Ibid- p.173
(105) Frye to Washington, 18 Mar. 1776, Papers of the Continental
Congress, National Archives
(106) Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed-
William B. Reed, Vol.I, p.179
(107) American Archives, fourth series, Vol.V,
p.1048
(108) The Writings of George Washington- John C.
Fitzpatrick, Vol.V, p.3
(109) The Life of Artemas Ward- Charles Martyn,
p.217
(110) Journal of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts- 1775-1776, LI, part 3, pp.171-2
(111) Fryeburg, An Historical Sketch- John S.
Barrows, pp.102-3
(112) Frye to Noyes, 28 Sept. 1778, Dept. of Rare Books and MSS,
Boston Pub. Lib.
(113) Fryeburg TR- 18 Aug. 1779, p.45
(114) Documentary History of the State of Maine-
XVII, pp.368-9
(115) MSS at MHS
(116) Frye to Parker, 9 June 1783, copy at MHS
(117) Acts and Resolves of FMassachusetts, 1782-1783,
pp.510-1,882-3
(118) Maine Becomes a State, Ronald F. Banks,
pp.209-11
(119) York Deeds- Vol.53, p.184
(120) Fryeburg TR- 8 Jan. 1787, pp.193-9
(121) Ibid
(122) Acts and Resolves of FMassachusetts, 1782-1783,
pp.510-1
(123) York Deeds- Vol.53, p.185
(124) York Co. Probate- No. 6386
(125) The Eastern Herald- 2 Aug. 1794
(125) Silvio A. Bedini, Early American Scientific Instruments and
Their Makers (Washington, D.C., 1964), pp. 85-92. See listing for the NMAH at:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/surveying/object.cfm?recordnumber=745856
(126) Article of Submission- William King Papers- Coll. 165, Box
1/1- MHS
(127) Joseph Frye's Land Deed for Fryeburg- 1763- Fryeburg
Historical Society
(128) Joseph Frye Letter to Gov. Shirley- John Samuel Hill Fogg
Autograph Collection- MHS
Frye Genealogy- Ellen Frye Barker, NY, 1920- pp.55-6
Major General Joseph Frye of Maine- The Life and Times of a Colonial
Officer- Kenneth E. Thompson Jr., Univ. of S. Maine, Aug. 1981
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5VIII. RICHARD (JOHN 1, SAMUEL 2, JOHN 3, JOSEPH 4)
b. 5 Aug. 1751
m. 5 May 1788 (int. 20 Apr.) SARAH GORDON (b. 8
Aug. 1756
d. 2 Feb. 1836 Fryeburg
bur. Toll Bridge Cemetery
Richard was supposedly in the Revolutionary War in Major's
Richard sold 10 acres of land 12 May 1823 to John Webster of Fryeburg for $30.00 on the road from Robert Page's to John H. Frye's land next to Benjamin Fiffield, Jeremiah Hutchins and Joseph Fessenden. The deed was witnessed by Richard Fyre Jr. and J. H. Eastman.(1)
Richard Frye and Richard Frye Jr. of Fryeburg sold to Justus Charles of Fryeburg for $50.00 7 Nov. 1830: "land layed to the original right of Joseph Frye, Esq. and assigned to the rights of Richard Frye being Sixth division lots lying on the easterly Side of the old Bean Pond Now the new River in said Fryeburg near what is called the Center of the Town... No. 16 & 15."(2)
Issue- see Fryeburg V.R.
· 6I. JOSEPH- b. 10 Mar. 1791, m. 23 Mar. 1817 Fryeburg, EUNICE FARRINGTON KNIGHT (b. 15 Apr. 1796, d. 20 Jan. 1874), d. 9 Feb. 1867
· II. Richard- b. 5 Sept. 1793, m. Hannah
______ (b. Aug. 1800, d. 24 Jan. 1874), d. 10 Aug. 1876 Fryeburg, bur.
· III. William- b. 12 May 1796, m. 28 Sept. 1828 Lois Twichell. William was a lawyer and State Senator for several years.(3)
Ref:
(1) Oxford Co. Deeds, Fryeburg- Vol.14, p.496
(2) Ibid- Vol.15, p.642
(3) Frye Genealogy- Ellen Frye Barker, NY, 1920-
pp.87
6I. JOSEPH (JOHN 1, SAMUEL 2, JOHN 3, JOSEPH 4, RICHARD 5)
b. 10 Mar. 1791 Fryeburg?
m. 23 Mar. 1817 Fryeburg, EUNICE FARRINGTON KNIGHT
(b. 15 Apr 1796, d. 20 Jan 1874, bur. Toll Bridge
Cemetery, Fryeburg)
d. 9 Feb. 1867 Fryeburg, ME
bur. Toll Bridge Cemetery, Fryeburg
On 6 Apr. 1812 Richard Frye and Samuel Frye of Fryeburg sold to Joseph Frye for $400.00 the intervale land consisting of 18 1/2 acres next to William Russell, Esq. and Ebenezer Fessenden Jr., Esq. The deed was witnessed by William Russell and William Frye.(1) Joseph then sold this land 16 Aug. 1816 to Nathaniel and Luther Dana, traders of Fryeburg for $200.00.(2)
On 2 June 1822 Joseph and Eunice Frye of Fryeburg sold to Stephen Farington of Fryeburg, Esq. for $50.00: "land set out to Eunice as her right to a legacy bequeathed to her in the last will and testament of her late grand father Stephen Farington of Fryeburg." The deed was witnessed by Richard Frye Jr. and Joseph Colly.(3)
Joseph and Eunice were listed in the 1850 census with their children Stephen, Ann, Hannah, Joseph, Richard and William H.H. They were living next to his brother Richard and his family and their mother Sarah, age 93, was living with Richard and Hannah.(5)
Joseph purchased lots in the grave yard on the Saco River below the old Toll Bridge 3 Mar. 1852 from James Hobbs Jr. of Fryeburg for $5.00 along with Vere R. Farington, Joseph W. Barker, James Hobbs, James W. R. Farington, Southwell Farington, Charles Pray Jr., James Walker 3rd, Richard Barker, Daniel Hall, Richard Frye, Henry Gordon, P.F. Barker, Hosea Eastman, David Eastman, L.C. Hobbs, S.F. Hobbs, William W. Hobbs, and William Gordon.(4)
Joseph and Eunice were listed in the 1860 census for Fryeburg living next door to their son Stephen and his family and his son William H.H.(6)
Issue-
· II. Apphia- b. 5 Oct. 1821
· III. Stephen F.- b. 24 Feb. 1824, m. 4 Jan.
1857 Pamela A. Wildes (d. 28 Nov. 1864, bur.
· IV. Ann- b. 28 Mar. 1826
· 7V. HANNAH- b. 28 Apr. 1829, m. 25 Nov. 1852 LOREN WILDES, d. 28 Apr. or 31 July 1895?
· VI. Joseph- b. 28 Jan. 1832, m.
· VII. Richard- b. 27 Mar. 1834
· VIII. Judith Lois- b. 26 Jan. 1837, d. 5 Sept. 1840
· IX. William Henry Harrison- b. 24 June 1840,
m.
Ref:
(1) Oxford Co. Deeds, Fryeburg- Vol.6, p.553
(2) Ibid- p.552
(3) Ibid- Vol.10, p.397
(4) Ibid- Vol.33, p.259
(5) 1850 census for Fryeburg, Oxford Co.- p. 213
(6) 1860 census for Fryeburg- p.105
The Wildes Genealogy- N.P. Apr. 1984, p.24
Fryeburg V.R.
1850 Census for Fryeburg- p.213, house 91
M.I.- Toll Bridge Cemetery, Hemlock Bridge Rd., Fryeburg
Frye Genealogy- Ellen Frye Barker, NY, 1920- pp.66,86
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