Biddeford had a population of 1,018 in 1790, according to the first federal census of the United States as required by the 1789 Constitution. The town was incorporated in 1728, but its twin city Saco, originally named Pepperellborough, is one of the oldest European settlements in Maine; the first Europeans landed in the area in 1616 and it was settled by 1631.
There being no other Dunham household in Biddeford in 1790, we can reconstruct Joseph’s family according to various records. Thus we can identify the family members corresponding to the census numbers (documentation provided in the register section below).
Census Classification | Number | Name | Age | Born |
---|---|---|---|---|
Males 16 and over | 1 | Joseph | at least 35* | bef 1756 |
Males under 16 | 3 | Joseph Jeremiah John |
abt 13 abt12 abt 8 |
bef 1777 1778 1782 |
Females | 4 | Miriam Hephzibah Mary Nancy |
say 34* abt 10 abt 6 abt 4 |
say 1756 1780 abt 1784 abt 1786 |
* The estimated ages/birthdates of Joseph and Miriam are based on the age groupings of their 1800 census records.
Those unfamiliar with pre-1850 U. S. censuses may be surprised to learn that only the names of the heads of households — virtually always men — were recorded. Women, children and slaves were merely numbers. Maine residents were not slaveholders, so I have omitted the slave tally because it was in all cases empty.
The compiled family register follows.
First Generation
Second Generation
Family of Joseph Dunham (1) & Hephzibah Whitney
Third Generation
Family of John Dunham (2) & Hannah Emery
Some considerations concerning James Dunham Jr. of Orland
Could James Dunham Jr. have been a member of this family? It’s unlikely.
First of all, we can presume that the 1790 census record for this family would be accurate because Humphrey Pike, whose nephews Humphrey and Israel would marry Joseph’s daughters Mary and Hephzibah, was a census marshall for York County.44 So it does appear these families were close. Humphrey Pike would probably have noticed if any detail about the Dunhams was omitted. That would have included missing a young son named James.
If there were an omission in the 1790 census, one might assume we could find it correct it in the subsequent census of 1800. But the only additional family member listed there is a young boy, whose name we do not know.
Census Classification | Number | Name | Age | Born |
---|---|---|---|---|
Males under 10 | 1 | ? | ? | ? |
Males 10-15 | 1 | John? | abt. 18 | 1782 |
Males 16-25 | 1 | Jeremiah | abt. 22 | 1778 |
Males 26-44 | 0 | |||
Males 45 and over | 2 | Joseph ? |
at least 45 ? |
bef 1756 |
Females under 10 | 0 | |||
Females 10-15 | 2 | Mary Nancy |
abt 16 abt 14 |
abt 1784 abt 1786 |
Females 16-25 | 0 | |||
Females 26-44 | 1 | Miriam | say 44 | say 1756 |
Females 45 and over | 0 |
Hephzibah, then aged 18, was not listed among the family because she had married Israel Pike two years before the census enumeration. Joseph Jr., of course, had died four years prior. John should be 17 or 18 at this time (depending on the date of the enumerator’s visit); he would likely not have left the family until he married Hannah Emery in 1809. So did the enumerator make an error, putting the number in the wrong column? Who was the boy under 10? Was the male over 45 Joseph’s father, or a relative with his own son under 10 years of age?
These are all interesting questions, but none of them suggest that a 12- to13-year-old James Dunham Jr. was a member of this household, who would move alone 140 miles to Orland, a place where he had no family.
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Update
Gratia Dunham Mahony, the erstwhile genealogist of Dunham-Singletary Family Connections, has some further information on Joseph Dunham of Biddeford:
Please refer to www.dunham-singletary.org and follow the line of Deacon John1 Dunham, Joseph2, Nathaniel3, Ichabod4 Dunham and note the children listed include Jeremiah5 Dunham born before 21 January 1727/8 when his parents Ichabod and Mary Dunnam were received to full communion by the Church at Wells, Maine. The record states “also Jeremiah, son of Ichabod and Mary Dunnam”. Maine Marriages, 1771-1907 database from Family Search.org give the marriage of Jeremiah Dunham to Anna Frost 4 Feb. 1749 in Wells, York County, Maine. While there is no Vital Record to prove the birth of Joseph Dunham about 1750, the circumstantial evidence is very strong that Jeremiah and Anna (Frost) Dunham were the parents of Joseph6 Dunham, the subject of the above article.
Notes
- Record of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Town of Wells, Maine, 1695-1826, FHL film 007596955, image 26. ⤣
- 1790 U. S. Federal Census, Biddeford, York, Maine: Joseph Dunham, 3 males under 16, 1 male 16 or older, 4 females. ⤣
- 1800 UNited States Census, Biddeford, York, Maine: Joseph Dunham, age 45 or over. ⤣
- Maine Marriages, 1771-1907, FamilySearch, FHL microfilm 12622. ⤣
- Lester MacKenzie Bragdon and John E. Frost, Vital Records of York, Maine, prior to 1892 (Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1992) p. 75. ⤣
- Lester MacKenzie Bragdon, A.B., LL.B, “Vital Records of York, Maine,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 112, October 1958, p. 307. ⤣
- James L. Hansen, FASG, “Probate and Miscellaneous Notices from the Eastern Herald and Gazette of Maine of Portland September 1796-December 1797,” The Maine Genealogist, (August 2005), p. 108: “Died last Wednesday in Salem of small pox, Mr. Joseph Dunham, age 20, son of Mr. Joseph Dunham of Biddeford.” (8 Oct 1796). ⤣
- Bragdon, p. 307. ⤣
- John D. Beatty, ed., Vital Records of Biddeford, Maine Prior to 1856 (Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1998), p. 144. ⤣
- Ibid., p. 121. ⤣
- 1850 United States Census, Westbrook, Cumberland, Maine: Mary Pike, age 66. ⤣
- Maine Marriages, 1771-1907,” FamilySearch, FHL film 10601, p. 334a. ⤣
- City of Saco, First Book of Records of the Town of Pepperrellborough Now The City of Saco (Saco, Maine: 1895), p. 140. ⤣
- Ibid., p. 215. ⤣
- Falmouth Gazette, Falmouth, Cumberland, Maine, 23 Aug 1802: “16 years, daughter of Joseph Dunham of Biddeford, of yellow fever,” cited in David C. Young and Elizabeth Keene Young, Vital Records from Maine Newspapers, 1785-1820, Heritage Books (Bowie, Maryland: 1993). ⤣
- Bragdon, p. 307. ⤣
- Beatty, p. 141. ⤣
- City of Saco, p. 140. ⤣
- Beatty, p. 172. ⤣
- Ibid. ⤣
- Bragdon, p. 307. ⤣
- Grave marker for John Dunham, Pine Grove Cemetery, Lot 60, Portland, Cumberland, Maine, found on findagrave.com. ⤣
- Vital Records of Biddeford, Maine Prior to 1856, p. 172. ⤣
- Grave marker for Hannah Emery, Pine Grove Cemetery, Lot 60, Portland, Cumberland, Maine, found on findagrave.com. ⤣
- Ibid. ⤣
- Beatty, p. 172. ⤣
- Ibid., p. 240. ⤣
- Ibid., p. 158. ⤣
- Ibid., p. 157. ⤣
- Ibid. ⤣
- Ibid., p. 240. ⤣
- Ibid., p. 240. ⤣
- Maine Vital Records 1670-1907, Maine State Board of Health, Augusta, Division of Vital Statistics, FamilySearch: Death Record of Rufus Dunham. ⤣
- Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980, Image 8, Maine State Library, Augusta, found on FamilySearch. ⤣
- Ibid. ⤣
- All from the Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection. ⤣
- Maine Vital Records 1670-1907, Division of Vital Statistics, Maine State Board of Health, Augusta, Maine, FamilySearch: Marriage Record of Rufus Dunham and Emma B. Sargent. ⤣
- Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection. ⤣
- Ibid. ⤣
- All from the Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection. ⤣
- Beatty, p. 240. ⤣
- 1850 United States Census, Westbrook, Cumberland, Maine. ⤣
- All from the 1850 Census. ⤣
- United States Census Bureau, Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790: Maine (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908), p. 10. ⤣