Page images
PDF
EPUB

CHILDREN OF CAPT. ENOCH AND SALLY (CROSS) PREBLE:—

1 Eben Preble, eldest son of Capt. Enoch and Sally Preble, was born at Portland, Maine, Sunday morning, October 10, 1802, and was married at Salem, Mass., on the 20th of June, 1829, by the Rev. Charles W. Upham, to Miss Agnes Deborah Taylor Archer, daughter of Samuel Archer 3d and Deborah McNutt, and the adopted daughter of General Amos Hovey, of Salem. He died of consumption at Gorham, Me., January' 17, 1845, aged 42 years, 8 months and 7 days.

Ilis widow, who is now living (1870) in Gorham, 'was married, May 15, 1849, to Joseph Barbour, Esq., of Gorham, who died June, 1854, aged 77 years.

*

Eben Preble was at one time a member of the Portland Rifle Company, and later in life held for several years, until exempted from military duty, a commission as Paymaster in the Militia of the State, with the rank of Major. He also had charge of the Post-Office at Gorham-and was the Town Clerk for four years, viz.: 1837 and 38, 1813 and '44; and held other offices of trust and honor.

Leaving school when only twelve years old he entered the shop of his relative, William Oxnard, a dry goods merchant of Portland, as a clerk, and remained in his employ about two years, when he engaged in the same capacity with Mr. Eliphalet Smith, who kept shop on Exchange St. He continued with him some time, and then went to William W. Thomas, on the same street, whom he ultimately bought out and succeeded in that business. At one time he was in partnership with Mr. James Head. He continued in the dry goods business either at Portland or in Gorham, until his death.

The eminently marked traits of Eben Preble's character, exhibited in his earlier years, and throughout his life, were truthfulness and a sterling probity in every sense in which that word is used. When he

John Barbour, Senior, the ancestor of Joseph, was of Scotch descent; he came from York to Falmouth, Me., in 1716, and was drowned in 1719. His son John, 2d, came to Falmouth a year earlier with his son Hugh. He had several children after his removal to Falmouth, viz. :-Adam, Mary, Ann and Hannah, born between 1719 and 1728. In 1736, Hugh Barbour married Mary, daughter of Joseph Bean, who was also of Scottish descent. Joseph Bean Barbour, son of Hugh and Mary (Bean) Barbour, lived on the lot granted to his grandfather John, in 1721, on Middle St., opposite to what is now the Canal bank building, Portland, and on which there was erected for several years a large brick building called "The Barbour Block," which was destroyed in the great fire of 1866. New buildings have since been erected on the site. Joseph Bean Barbour died in 1795, by falling from a building on which he was at work, aged 58, leaving four children, viz., three daughters, two of whom, Annie and Harriet, married Mark Walton; and the third, Capt. Andrew Scott, Senior; and one son, Joseph, who married Mrs. Preble, and was the last survivor of his family. He died as above, leaving a daughter by a former marriage, Lucy E. Barbour, who resides with her step-mother in Gorham.

was but six years of age, he accompanied his father from Portland to Boston in a one horse chaise. His father seeing some apple trees whose branches hung over a wall by the roadside, gathered some of the tempting fruit, and offered it to him; but little Eben would not touch one, saying the apples did not belong to him, they were God's apples.

In early life he showed an inherited taste for drawing, particularly ships, but the talent was never cultivated. He also had a great predilection for the sea, and was interested in everything that represented a boat, but his father discouraged this fancy and he became a merchant.

Eben Preble had two daughters, one of whom died young, the other survives and is living with her mother in Gorham.

2. Adeline Preble, the eldest daughter and second child of Enoch and Sally Preble, was born at Portland, Sunday morning, September 1, 1805, and was married, by the Rev. Ichabod Nichols, D.D., to John, a son of Josiah Cox,* of Portland, and Susan Greenleaf,* Nov. 4, 1835. John Cox was a widower; his first wife was Thankful Harris Gore,* of Boston, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. One of the daughters married George Henry, a brother of his second wife. By her marriage Adeline Preble has had three daughters, two of whom are living.

Mrs. Cox has been connected as pupil or teacher with the Sunday School of the First Parish (Unitarian) at Portland, since it was organized, a period of over forty years, and has received many gratifying tokens of esteem and remembrance from her pupils. She says of this connection herself: "It is so many long years since I entered the Sabbath School that I do not remember, but feel like Topsy that I spec I growed there.' I have been a teacher, with the exception of a few intervals, for over thirty years. I deserve no credit for it, for it has been one of my greatest pleasures, and my efforts have been nothing compared with the compensation I have received in the appreciativeness and affection of the dear young friends who have received instruction. My labor of love has been amply rewarded."

Her judgment, skill, tender care and cheerful nursing in the sick rooms of those she loved, have been ever ready, and will long be remembered and appreciated, and by some who owe their lives to her devoted care can never be forgotten.

*See Notes on Cox, Greenleaf, Harris and Gore families, at the end of this Memoir of Captain Enoch Preble and his descendants.

The energy and cheerfulness with which she has thus far gone through life, considering her frail organization and imperfect health, are remarkable. Delicacy forbids more.

[ocr errors]

In a note written Dec. 31, 1869, she says: "This morning the weather is delightful; a pleasant change from the dull rainy season. I hope to-morrow may be as pleasant, as a bright omen for the coming year. I can hardly realize that this has passed, having arrived at that period of life when the stage horses are exchanged for the locomotive.' So it is with us-first the hand carriage pushed by others, then the one we drive ourselves, then Father Time's coachman whips us along, and then we steam faster and faster to the close of our journey." May she long live in a cheerful and contented old age, to be a continued blessing to herself and others, until, using the words of one of her own tributes to a friend

"The soul's flowers from earth are riven,
For higher culture and rich bloom in heaven,
And loving eyes who tended them while here,
Yield them for fonder care in Heaven's parterre."

3. Ellen Bangs Preble, youngest daughter and third child of Capt. Enoch Preble and Sally Cross, was born at Portland, Me., Friday morning, March 18, 1808, and died unmarried, of pneumonia and paralysis of the head, at the residence of her brother George Henry, in Charlestown, Mass., at 1.20 P.M., Thursday (Thanksgiving day), Nov. 28, 1867, aged 59 years, 8 months and 10 days. Her mortal remains were conveyed to Portland, Me., and interred in the Evergreen Cemetery, at Westbrook.

In early life she was a bright and sprightly little girl, but when about eight years old she became unfortunately quite deaf, the cause of which was never ascertained. This deafness increased with her years, and almost excluded her from the enjoyments of social intercourse. She felt the infirmity as a mortification which occasioned her to draw upon her own resources for amusement. She became an exquisite worker with her needle and at embroidery; and inheriting the family taste for drawing and painting, some of her pencilled drawings and flower paintings are exquisitely beautiful. For several years she was a successful teacher of lead pencil drawing and fruit and flower painting in Portland. She also painted in oils to a limited extent. Her sister says: "Her taste for drawing was manifested as soon as her little hands could hold the brush and pencil, and day after day was passed in this enjoyment, which afterwards became almost a passion, and gave pleasure to herself and friends. The last completed work

from her hands was a beautifully pencilled wreath of morning glories for her niece, in allusion to which, her sister writes:

"One blessing taken, many talents given,
Improved-not lost, nor from her sadly riven.
And ere she laid the brush and pallet down,

She wreathed the morning glories for her crown."

George Henry Preble, the youngest child of Captain Enoch
Preble and Sally (Cross) Preble, was born at the homestead*
on Thames St., Portland, Me., Sunday morning, Feb. 25, 1816.
He was married Nov. 18, 1845, by the Rev. Ichabod Nichols,
D.D.,t to Susan Zabiah, daughter of John Cox and Thankful
Harris (Gore) Cox, of Portland.

The early education of George Henry Preble was obtained principally at the public schools of Portland.§ Leaving school and regular instruction before he had arrived at the age of fourteen, in 1829, he was employed as a clerk by Mr. Samuel Colman, and his successors, Colman, Holden & Co., in their bookstore on Exchange St., until May, 1831, when he was required by his father to assist him in the same capacity in the retail West India goods and grocery business. His father's enterprise proving unprofitable, was abandoned in 1834, when Mr. Preble came to Boston and engaged as a clerk on a. salary of $500 per annum, with his first employer, Mr. Samuel Colman,

* See page 50 for a description of this mansion.

+ Rev. Ichabod Nichols, D.D., was pastor of the First Parish (Unitarian) of Portlandfrom 1809 to 1859. From 1809 to 1814 he was the colleague of the Rev. Samuel Deane, D.D., and the sole pastor to Jan. 31, 1855, when he retired from the active duties of the pulpit, and Rev. Horatio Stebbins, now of San Francisco, was settled as his colleague. For notices of the Rev. Dr. Nichols, see Willis's History of Portland and Deane and Smith's Journals.

Mr. John Cox married for his 2d wife, Nov. 18, 1835, Adeline Preble, by which marriage he has two daughters. See Note concerning Cox Family.

His instructors at the public schools were masters Loring; Boynton; Albert Winslow of the Primary school, near the head of India St.; Deacon Joseph Libby and James Brooks, of the Grammar and Latin school, on Congress near Pearl St.; and James Brooks, Rev. Thomas Tenny and Henry A. Jones, of the High school, on Spring near Oak St. All these school-houses have been destroyed by fire or swept away by the march of modern improvement. Deacon Libby and Mr. Jones are still living in Portland-and Mr. Brooks, who afterwards edited the Portland Advertiser, and who established in 1836 and is still the principal proprietor of the N. Y. Express, is now a member of Congress from the 8th District of New York. He was also a member of the 31st, 32d, 38th and 39th Congresses.

Mr. Tenney, March 29, 1829, reported G. H. Preble's standing in the 1st division of the 1st class, of the English High School:-"Rank in class, 2. Rank in division, 2. Application and conduct-Punctual, diligent, accurate, ingenuous, and manly in all his conduct." Mr. H.A. Jones, Sept. 30, 1829, reports him, the last quarter of his schooling-"No. 3 in the 1st class;" and his application and conduct" Attentive, punctual, ingenuous, and uniformly manly." After leaving school he received instruction in book-keeping, navigation, &c., from Capt. Francis G. Clarke, who kept a Nautical Academy in the old Mariner's Church on Fore Street.

0. Lt.cet.

[graphic][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
« PreviousContinue »