James Dodge

James Dodge Sketch

Added by nbdodge on 21 Mar 2007

JAMES7 DODGE (Benjamin6, John5, Thomas4, Josiah3, ‘Lt.’ John2, Richard1) Yeoman, born in 1807, Strong, Kennebec (later Franklin) County, Maine. He married Rachel Curtis on 22 Nov 1827. She was born 5 May 1806, Bristol, Lincoln County, Maine. She is the daughter of Daniel Curtis. James and Rachel both died on 6 Aug 1877, Turner, Androscoggin County, Maine. They are both buried at Twin Bridges Cemetery in Livermore.

At the time of their marriage, James Dodge was living in North Salem, Somerset (later Franklin) County and Rachel was living in Bristol, Lincoln County. They are listed in North Salem in the 1830 Census. According to the census, There were 1 FWM (Free White Male) between 20 and 30 years of age; 2 FWF (Free White Females) between 20 and 30 years of age and 2 FWM under the age of five. On Oct. 5, 1832 (recorded Mar. 18, 1867), James Dodge and Daniel Dodge, both of North Salem in Somerset County, bought from John Rangeley of Township numbered three in the second range of lots in Oxford (later Franklin) County ‘a certain lot of land, being lot numbered twenty according to a plan of said township…containing 200 acres,’ (Franklin County Records vol. 60 pg. 106) for $300. They agreed to pay $60 a year, with interest, for five years to Mr. Rangeley for the land (Oxford County Records vol. 39 pg. 15 – recorded Oct. 11, 1832).

James and his family are listed in Township Three, Second Range (later Rangeley) in the 1840 Census. By this time, their township was part of Franklin County, which had been created in 1838. According to the census, there were 1 FWM between ages 30 and 40 (James), 1 FWM between ages 10 and 15 (his oldest son Wilson), 2 FWM between ages 5 and 10 (his sons James Harvey and Asa), 2 FWM under age 5 (his sons Albert and Stephen Curtis), 1 FWF between ages 30 and 40 (his wife Rachel) and 1 FWF between ages 5 and 10 (his daughter Emily). On Sep. 12, 1849 (recorded Mar. 27, 1850), James Dodge, now of the town of Carthage in Franklin County, sold to Moses Sherbunce ‘the lot of land numbered twenty in the Township numbered Three in the Second range of townships…the lot of land now occupied by Jesse Roso, [containing] 200 acres,’ for $1 (Franklin County Records vol. 17 pg. 566). This was the same lot of land he had purchased in 1832.

By 1850, the eastern part of the town of Carthage had been annexed and named 4th Plantation (later Perkins Plantation). In the census that year, James Dodge and his family were living in 4th Plantation. James was listed as a farmer. His real estate was valued at $150. His three oldest sons, Wilson, James Harvey and Asa, were also listed as farmers. On Apr 1, 1859 (recorded Mar. 5, 1881), he bought from his son Wilson, who was living in the town of Weld, ‘Real estate…in Perkins Plantation, formerly a part of Carthage…[the] undivided half of lot numbered five in the fourth range of lots, the whole lot containing…160 acres…with the house on said lot and an undivided half of the other buildings on said lot,’ (F.C. Records vol. 90, pg 61).

In the 1860 Census, James Dodge was listed in Perkins Plantation with his family. His real estate was valued at $1,500. His personal estate was valued at $759. This census lists the birthplaces of James and his family. James was born in Strong, his wife Rachel was born in Bristol and their children still living at home (Stephen Curtis, Mary Ann, Sarah Jane and Nathaniel) were born in Rangeley. James was a Farmer, Rachel was a Mistress, Stephen Curtis was a Farm Laborer and Mary Ann and Sarah Jane were Domestics. Mary Ann, Sarah Jane and Nathaniel had attended school within the past year. On Mar. 10, 1862 (recorded Apr. 28, 1862), Rachel, of Perkins Plantation, bought from her son Asa S. Dodge, who had moved to East Livermore in Androscoggin County from Perkins Plantation, ‘the North half of lot numbered three in the second range of lots [in Perkins Plantation] containing 80 acres,’ for $100 (F.C. Records vol. 41 pg. 349).

On Mar. 25, 1863 (recorded Mar. 5, 1881), James bought from Lafayette Perkins of the town of Farmington in Franklin County ‘A lot of land in Plantation #4 [Perkins Plantation] (set off from Carthage)…lot…numbered six in the fourth range of lots containing…80 acres,’ for $50. On Oct. 12, 1865 (recorded Apr. 3, 1866), James, with his son Stephen Curtis, sold to their in-law William O. Parlin ‘the lot of land numbered five in the fourth range of lots…also the lot numbered six in the fourth range of lots in [Perkins] Plantation with the buildings standing thereon,’ for $1,500. The amount of land for both these lots was 320 acres, each lot of land containing 160 acres.

By 1870, James Rachel had moved to Livermore in Androscoggin County. In the 1870 Census, James is a Farmer and Rachel is Keeping House. Living with them are their daughter Mary Ann (Dodge) Bray and son-in-law Ezekiel B. Bray. Ezekiel is a Farm Laborer and Mary Ann is a Domestic Servant. Also in 1870, Rachel sold the land she had bought from her son Asa to William Wilkins for $100 (recorded Oct. 7, 1870 – F.C. Records vol. 68 pg. 328).

On Oct. 21, 1875 (recorded Nov. 4, 1875), James, living in Livermore, bought an 85-acre parcel of land from his son James Harvey Dodge for $1,500 (Androscoggin County Records vol. 83 pg. 20). James soon sold this land to William Jones of Kennebec County, Maine for $1,500 (recorded Nov. 4, 1875 – A.C. Records vol. 82 pg. 57). On Mar. 2, 1876 (recorded Nov. 6, 1876), Rachel bought from her son Wilson Dodge a 4-1/2 acre parcel of land ‘with the buildings thereon’ in the town of Turner for $400 (A.C. Records vol. 86 pg. 20).

James Rachel both died on Aug. 6, 1877 in Turner, Maine. They had both been living at a boarding house in Turner for the past 14 weeks prior to their deaths. James had been ‘in his last sickness’ for the past 59 days and Rachel ‘in her last sickness’ for the past four days. When they died, Wilson Dodge, their oldest son, was appointed administrator of their estate with Curtis and Nathaniel T. Dodge as sureties.

Their personal estate was valued at $1,084.27 with $997.02 in rights credits and $87.25 in goods and chattels. The real estate that their son Wilson had sold to them was sold back to Wilson by their other children for $900 ($120 for each son and $100 for each daughter) (recorded Jan. 15, 1878 – A.C. Records vol. 86 pg. 178 vol. 90 pg. 547). After funeral expenses and debts were paid off, including $394.68 for ‘attendance and goods purchased to James Rachel Dodge in last sickness,’ the cost of living at the boarding home the final weeks leading up to their deaths, each of their children received $56 for their share of James’ personal estate.

Additional information about this story

Description Biographical Sketch of James Dodge based on Census, Land and Vital and Probate Records.