Colonel Eben Webster of Orono, Maine

Today's focus is a fourth great grand uncle as his name surfaces in an 1882 book History of Penobscot County, Maine, With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. One has to be cautious of material presented in these types of volumes, as biographical information submitted by individuals or their descendants may be a bit exaggerated.  That said, it can provide some great leads and insights.

Eben[ezer] Webster was a son of Andrew and Martha (Crane) Webster, born 3 October 1780 in Bangor.  The family lived in the waterfront neighborhood near the intersection of Maine and Water Streets, moving to Orono about 1795.  Eben married Lucy Dudley, a daughter of Paul and Martha (Foster) Dudley, on 5 September 1805. Together they had 9 children.

According to the History, Colonel Webster was "a man of great enterprise and public spirit, and for more than half a century was one of the most active business men in the county. He spotted and cut the military road from Mattawamkeag to Haynesville, through a vast forest for thirty miles. Judge T. H. Allen was accustomed to say that he was by nature the most perfect gentlemen he had ever known.  In an obituary notice of him published in one of the Bangor papers it was said: 'He will long be remembered by the community in which he lived for his enterprise and perseverance as a business man, but longer and better for the rare and generous qualities developed in his social and family relations, and which formed so prominent a part of his character and stamped him one of nature's noblemen.'" His lumber business was located in the City of Old Town, Maine, where he first settled.  E. & E. Webster purchased the double saw mill of William Dale of that town, expanding his operation in 1817 by building another mill. He operated these mills until 1823 when he sold out and moved to Orono.

Webster Lake and Webster Brook, located primarily in Baxter State Park, Piscataquis County, Maine, were named for him.

The family of Eben and Lucy (Dudley) Webster were:

1. Martha, b. 17 Aug 1806, m. Joseph Treat of Orono.
2. Alexander, b. 5 Jun 1808, d. 22 Oct 1809.
3. Lucy, b. abt 1810, m. Josiah Bennoch of Orono.
4. Ebenezer, b. 21 May 1812, m. 1st. Martha A. Trafton of Bangor, 2nd Polly S. Crowell of Orono.
5. Paul Dudley, b. 3 Sep 1814, m. Lucina M. Crowell of Orono.
6. Ann B., b. 17 Jul 1816, m. William H. Allen of Orono.
7. Susan H., b. 1 Jan 1819, m. William Averill of Orono.
8. Catherine B., b. 7 Mar 1821, m. Nathan Weston Jr. of Orono.
9. Mary Maud, b. 24 Jul 1824, m. Israel Washburn Jr. of Orono (Governor of Maine 1861-1863).

Eben died 16 August 1855 in Orono and Lucy died 28 Mary 1859.  They are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine.

Ebenezer Webster Plot at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor, Maine

Our nearest common ancestors are Andrew and Martha (Crane) Webster, with Eben being a younger brother of my fourth great-grandmother Prudence (Webster) Hasey.  My line of descent is: [1] Andrew Webster, [2] Prudence (Webster) Hasey, [3] Martha (Hasey) Gibbs, [4] Betsey (Gibbs) Vickery, [5] Stephen Thayer Vickery, [6] Edward William Vickery, [7] Harriet Elizabeth (Vickery) Mower, [8] Frank Edward Mower, [9] Dale Walter Mower.

Selected Sources:

• History of Penobscot County, Maine, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches (Cleveland, Ohio: Williams, Chase & Co., 1882), p. 835, digital images, Google Books (http://books.Google.com: accessed 27 July 2018)
• Gray, Ruth, editor. Maine Families in 1790, vol. 1 (Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1988), p. 284.
• Porter, Joseph W., editor. The Bangor Historical Society later The Maine Historical Magazine 1885-1894, vol. 4-6 (Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1993), pp. 847-8