(pp. 122-125, 127, 129 and 369 of "History of the old towns,
Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan
and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849 : including
a sketch of the Abnakis Indians" by J. W. Hanson. Boston, Mass.,
author, 1849)
Joseph Weston, of Concord, Mass., (that part known as Lincoln in 1859),
was born March 7, 1732; Eunice, his wife was born in 1735. He and
Peter Heywood were among the first settlers north of Winslow, Maine.
Joseph's sister married Peter Heywood and is said to have lived to be between
90 and 100 years old when she died in Palmyra, Maine. Joseph Weston
kept a diary. Several of the early settlers in Canaan volunteered
for the Revolutionary War, but Joseph Weston was the only one who actually
went. Joseph died October 16, 1775 of a violent cold and fever
which he contracted while accompanying Benedict Arnold's expedition up
the Kennebec River. Joseph went to aid Arnold in transporting his
baggage across the Great Carrying Place, and becoming ill on his return
home, he died a few days later. He was only 43 years old when he
died. (See his probate records at Canaan
people mentioned in Lincoln County Probate Records, 1760-1800.)
His widow, Eunice, married Col. John Moor in 1779; she died in Bloomfield
on November 8, 1822, age 87.
The children of Joseph and Eunice Weston :
Samuel, twin, born January 17, 1757; died June 7, 1802, aged 45
Joseph, twin, born January 17, 1757; died March 22, 1838, aged 81
John, born July 19, 1758; died November 12, 1842, aged 84
Eli, born July 4, 1760; died October 14, 1846, aged 86
William, born November 11, 1763; died December 29, 1840, aged 77
Benjamin, born February 3, 1765, still living in Madison in 1849, aged
84
Eunice, born August 25, 1766; died August 12, 1779, aged 13
Hannah, born February 23, 1768; married N. PARKMAN;
died February 11, 1800, aged 32
Stephen, born September 15, 1770; died May 31, 1847, aged 77
On page 586 of Louise Coburn's book, "Skowhegan on the Kennebec", Chapter
32 under title "Military History" the story is told of how Joseph Weston
accompanied the Arnold Expedition to aid in transporting the baggage beyond
Skowhegan and Norridgewock Falls, and died of a fever "a few days after
his return home"; although Joseph Weston did not enlist in the War, he
has been accepted by the D. A. R. as a Revolutionary ancestor because his
service on this important Expedition for the country resulted in the loss
of his life.
Notes on the Arnold Expedition in 1775 from
Fort Western to the Great Carrying Place
by Abby Balderama
The "Great Carrying Place" is the land between the Kennebec
and the Dead River across which the party had to carry the heavy bardeaux
(flat-bottomed boats capable of carrying 6 or 7 men and their supplies)
they were using to travel up the river. More specifically, the bog
area around Carry Ponds (northwest of Wyman Lake, near Moscow). The
going went slower than Arnold had expected. They left Fort Western
in Augusta September 25th and arrived at Skowhegan Falls (the "second carrying
place") on September 29th. On the morning of October 2, the men awoke
to find their clothes frozen solid; they reached Norridgewock Falls that
day. Along the way, food and supplies got lost and the men were starting
to suffer from exposure and illness. When they arrived at the Great
Carrying Place, Arnold built a field hospital for the members of the Expedition
who were sick.
Sources
"The Spirit of 'Seventy-Six; the story of the American Revolution
as told by participants". Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York, Harper & Row, 1967, p. 194-196.
"The Bicentennial Guide to the American Revolution" vol. 1: The War in the North by Sol Stember, New York, Saturday Review Press, 1974, p. 258, 265-274.
"Benedict Arnold, the Dark Eagle" by Brian Richard Boylan, New York,
W. W. Norton & Co., 1973, p. 49-59.
Where to Find More Information
For more information on this Trail the Arnold Expedition followed,
you may want to take a look at:
Arnold's March Through
Maine on the Arnold Expedition Historical Society's web site (click on "the March to Quebec")
There may be more information in "Old Canaan during the revolution"
by Lillian Clayton Smith, Published in Skowhegan, Me. by the Press
of the Independent Reporter, 1910. (Cover title: Old Skowhegan; Alt.
Author: Coburn, Louise Helen)
Copyright © 1999-2003 by Abby Balderama
Coordinator of the Canaan, Somerset County, MEGenWeb Project site
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This page was created on September 6, 1999.
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