Revolutionary Soldiers of Piscataquis County By Edgar C. Smith. printed in John Sprague's Journal of Maine History (1913) Vol 1 #2, 77-80 Courtesy of Androscoggin Historical (c) 1998 [For a number of years Judge Smith has been collecting material regarding the Revolutionary Soldiers, who became early settlers of Piscata- quis County. Biographical sketches of seventeen of these pioneers appear in Vol. 1 of the Collections of the Piscataquis County Historical Society. It is his intention to complete the list if it is possible to obtain the data. - Editor. ] STEVENS SPOONER. SANGERVILLE. Stevens Spooner was the fifth in descent from William Spooner, the immigrant. William came to Plymouth in New Eng- land about 1637. In 1660 he removed to Dartmouth, Massa- chusetts, and died there in 1684. His oldest son was Samuel, born January 14, 1655, probably in Plymouth; died at Dartmouth in 1739. Daniel was the third son of Samuel, born February 28, 1694, at Dartmouth, died at Petersham, Massachusetts, in 1797. Wing, the fourth son of Daniel, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Petersham, December 29, 1738, and died there December 7, 1810. During the French and Indian war Wing Spooner enlisted, when about nineteen years of age, in the company of Captain Stone. In 1758 he was transferred to the company of Captain Alexander Dalrymple, where he had a long service. He was a pioneer advo- cate of American independence, and at the breaking out of the Revolution he enlisted in Captain John Wheeler's company, but was soon promoted to a captaincy. Captain Spooner was very active in recruiting for the army, and so great was his devotion to the cause that he secured the en- listment of his two sons, Stevens and Ruggles, at tender ages, before they were actually, physically able to carry a musket. He married Eunice, daughter of Joseph Stevens, January 27, 1763, and was the father of twelve children, the eldest of whom was Stevens. Stevens Spooner was born at Petersbam, Massachusetts, August 17, 1763. On the 5th of September, 1777, at the age of fourteen years, he enlisted in his father's company, Colonel Cush- ing's regiment, and served three months and five days, receiving his discharge November 9.9. The family tradition in regard to this enlistment is that be was a servant or orderly to his father, the captain. The Spooner genealogy says he was at the battle of Bennington, but as that occurred on August 16, 1777, and his first recorded enlistment was September 5, following, it is obvious that he was not present as an enlisted soldier, although he may have been with his father in camp. He undoubtedly took part in the battle of Saratoga and was present at Burgoyne's surrender, the last named fact being recorded in the genealogy. After his service in his father's company he next enlisted, the following summer, in the company of Captain Peter Woodbury, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment; this service was from July 13, 1778, to November 9, 1778, during a part of which time Captain REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS PISCATAQUIS CO. 79 Woodbury's company was with the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Tyler's guards. During the campaign Captain Woodbury was succeeded by Lieutenant Jewett. The day follow- ing his discharge from Captain Woodbury's company, November 10, 1778, he enlisted in Captain David Jewett's company, Colonel Gerrish's regiment, of guards; he was discharged December 12, 1778. The boy then took a well deserved rest for nearly a year. On October 5, 1779, he again enlisted, this time in Captain William Henry's company, and was discharged November 10, after a service of one month and ten days at Castle and Governor's Islands. The summer of 1780, when he was barely seventeen years old, on July 10, he entered upon his fifth enlistment. This was in Captain Ephraim Stearns' company, Colonel John Rand's regiment. Colonel Rand's regiment was stationed at West Point and was a part of the command received by General Benedict Arnold in August, 1780, which he so traitorously planned to surrender to the British in the following September. Stevens Spooner received his discharge from this service October 10, 1780. This was his last service of which I have found any record; certainly an honorable one for a lad. He was just past fourteen years at his first enlistment and only a little over seventeen at the end of his fifth and final one. After his Revolutionary service he returned to Petersharn and on July 2, 1787, be married Sarah, daughter of John and Rebecca (Rice) Hodgkins. The Spooner genealogy says that he removed to Sangerville, Maine, soon after his marriage; but this is evidently an error, for on March 9, 1814, we find him conveying land in the deeds of which he recites his residence to be Eddington. (See Penobscot Records of Deeds, Vol. 1, page 326; also Hancock Deeds, Vol. 33, page 337, where on July 2, 1813, he also recites his residence as Eddington.) He probably settled in Maine soon after his mar- riage, but in the town of Eddington for a number of years, instead of going directly to Sangerville. From the town records of Sangerville we find that at a meet- ng of the legal voters of the town held on the first Monday in April, 1815, Stevens Spooner was chosen moderator; so we may 80 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY safely infer that sometime between March 1814 and April 1815 he became a settler of the town. On July 1, 1815, lie received a deed from Calvin Sanger, the proprietor, of lot fifteen, range fifteen in Sangerville, containing one hundred and six acres, according to the Isaac Coolidge map of 1807. From 1815 to 1820 he held various town offices in Sanger- ville, including school committee and surveyor of lumber. Stevens and Sarah Spooner had eight children: Lois, born December 3, 1791 ; Lewis, born August 23, 1793; Clarrissa, born October 26, 1795; she married Isaiah Knowlton, Esq. ; Leonard, born September 10, 1798; Paul, born December 1800; Eunice, born January 2, 1802; Lucretia, born February, 1805; Daniel, born December 26, 1808. There are three different dates given for the death of Stevens Spooner. The Spooner genealogy and the Maine genealogy, edited by Professor Little, give the date August 17, 1827. The tombstone, August 17, 1828; and the town records of Sangerville, July 17, 1827. Which is correct I am unable to determine; but the probabilities seem to me to favor that given in the town records, as that appears to have been made contemporaneously with the event. His remains rest in the cemetery at Knowlton's Mills, East Sangerville, and as above mentioned, the spot is marked by an ap- propriate tablet. His wife, Sarah, survived him twelve years. She died July 4, 1840, and is buried at his side. -------------------- To Bookbuyers and Others Are you in want of any out of print book or publication ? If so, I should be pleased to assist you. I am in communication with many of the largest dealers in second-hand and out-of-print books in all sec- tions of the United States, England, France and Germany, and receive their catalogues regularly. I will assist you in looking up any genea- logical or historical data you desire. Charges moderate. Any current publication which you do not find at your book store I will ob- tain for you at short notice. EDGAR C. 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