Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow

GEDCOM Note

The Maine Society of the Sons of the American Revolution

Accepted by the State Board of Management Jan. 2, 1897

I, ALEXANDER WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, being of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, to wit, of the age of [blank], hereby apply for membership in the Society by right of lineal descent in the following line from Gen. Peleg Wadsworth who was born in Duxbury, Mass., on the sixth day of May 1748 and died in Hiram, Maine, on the twenty ninth day of Sept. 1829 and who assisted in establishing American Independence.

I was born in Portland, County of Cumberland, State of Maine on the 20th day of May 1814.

I am the son of Stephen Longfellow born March 23, 1776, and Zilpah (Wadsworth) Longfellow, his wife,

and grandson of Gen. Peleg Wadsworth born May 6, 1748 and Elizabeth (Bartlett) Wadsworth, his wife,

and great-grandson of Deacon Peleg Wadsworth born Aug. 29, 1715 and Lusanna (Sampson) Wadsworth, his wife,

and great-great-grandson of John Wadsworth born March 12, 1671 and Mercy (Wiswell) Wadsworth, his wife,

and great-great-great-grandson of John Wadsworth and Abigail (Andrews) Wadsworth, his wife,

and great-great-great-great-grandson of Christopher Wadsworth, the Emigrant, and Grace Wadsworth, his wife,

and he, the said Gen. Peleg Wadsworth is the ancestor who assisted in establishing American Independence, while acting in the capacity of an officer in the Revolutionary army.

ANCESTOR'S SERVICE.

Gen. Peleg Wadsworth graduated from Harvard College in 1769, and taught school until the war of the Revolution. He was commissioned a captain in Sept. 1775 and served in Cotton's and Bailey's regiments. Previous to this he was in command of a company of militia. He was an engineer with Gen. Thomas at Dorchester Heights in March 1776, taking an active part in the seige of Boston. He was then Aid-du-Camp to Gen. Artemas Ward and remained with him until he retired from the service. In 1778, Gen. Wadsworth was appointed Adjt. Genl. of Mass. and in 1779 was placed second in command of the land forces in the disastrous Bagaduce Expedition and was commended for his services during that unfortunate affair. In 1780, he was placed in command of the Eastern Dept. of Maine with headquarters at Thomaston where he lived with his wife and child until he was surprised and captured in Feb. 1781, being badly wounded in the arm. He was carried to Castine and confined in Fort George but escaped June 18th and returned home. In 1784, he came to Portland and the following year commenced the erection of the "Longfellow House." He was selectman of Portland four years, state senator in 1792; was the first representative, in his district, to Congress in 1792, serving until 1806 when he declined re-election. In the winter of 1806-7 he moved to HIram, and [was] a selectman there six years, where he and his wife are buried. His son Henry was with Com. Preble at Tripoli and perished there by the explosion of a fire ship. Another son, Alexander Scammel, was second lieutenant in the Constitution when she fought the Guerriere in 1812.

Gen. Peleg Wadsworth's father, Deacon Peleg Wadsworth, took an active part as a Committee of Safety at Duxbury, Mass. in the Revolutionary War, the particulars of which can be found in the History of Duxbury, Mass.

The following are references to the authorities for the above statements:

Mass. Archives, Williamson's History of Maine, Dwight's Travels written 1797, History of Portland, Portland in the Past, &c. ___________________________________

Boston, MA: The Boston Daily Globe, issue of Friday, 15 February 1901, p. 3, col. 5

A.W. LONGFELLOW DEAD.

Brother of the Great Poet Dies at His Home in Portland.

PORTLAND, Me., Feb. 14--Mr. Alexander W. Longfellow, a brother of the poet, died today, aged 86. He had been in feeble health for some time.

He was a man of genial parts and was very much liked by his associates.

He was a good companion and had a fund of stories of the men of the past, when Portland was only a town.

ALEXANDER W. LONGFELLOW.

Sketch of the Career of the Poet's Brother, Whose Funeral Will be Held in Portland Today.

PORTLAND, Me., Feb. 15--The funeral of the late Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow will be held at his late residence tomorrow at 2. Rev. John Carroll Perkins, pastor of the First Parish (Unitarian) church will officiate.

Mr. Longfellow was born May 20, 1814, in the Longfellow house on Congress st., in which his sister, Mrs. Annie Longfellow Pierce, recently died. He was a son of Hon. Stephen Longfellow, who represented this district in congress in 1823-25.

He married in 1851 Elizabeth Clapp Porter, a daughter of Richard King and Mary (Clapp) Porter of Portland. They were the parents of five children, four of whom survive him. Mary King and Lucia Wadsworth Longfellow live at home, and Alexander W. Longfellow and Richard K. Longfellow are residents of Boston. He was a younger brother of the poet Longfellow and the only surviving member of his father's family is Mrs. Mary Greenleaf of Cambridge, Mass., a younger sister.

By profession Mr. Longfellow was a civil engineer. In 1833 he was a private secretary to his uncle, Commodore Alexander T. Wadsworth, and went with him on the USS Vincennes when he took command of the Pacific squadron, returning in the Fairfield in 1835.

He was engaged in the building of the Boston & Maine railroad, and in 1841-2 was engaged in surveying the north-eastern boundary after the so-called Madawaska war.

He was in the U.S. coast survey service for at least a quarter of a century, and the results of his work on our coast are well appreciated by those who have to do with ships.

After his marriage the couple resided at "Highfield," in Deering, where their children were born. The house was burned some months ago. In the latter years of his life, Mr. Longfellow resided in the city.

Mr. Longfellow was a very quiet man, and took no part in public affairs. He was a gentleman of the old school, modest and retiring, but ready to do his best to make those around him happy. He greatly disliked anything savoring of public notice, and following out his well-known and often expressed wishes, his funeral will be quietly conducted.

He loved Portland. He knew the history of the old city as few men knew it. He had fine literary tastes, and was a charming companion. Old age did not take from him his keen interest in passing events, and to the last his enjoyment of life was great.

He will be long remembered by those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. His death removed another of the links connecting the Portland of today with the historic past. ___________________________________

Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, Cumberland Co. ME Findagrave memorial 118639662

LONGFELLOW

IN MEMORY OF ALEXANDER WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW BORN MAY 20 1814 DIED FEB 14 1901 HIS WIFE ELIZABETH PORTER LONGFELLOW BORN AUG 17 1822 DIED DEC 11 1904 AND THEIR CHILDREN MARY KING BORN OCTOBER 6 1852 DIED SEPTEMBER 15 1945 ALEXANDER WADSWORTH BORN AUG 18 1854 DIED FEBRUARY 16 1934 ELIZABETH PORTER BORN JULY 24 1856 DIED NOVEMBER 17 1891 LUCIA WADSWORTH BORN DECEMBER 4 1859 DIED DECEMBER 17 1940 RICHARD KING BORN MARCH 1 1864 DIED MARCH 14 1914 ___________________________________