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| View of Old Road from Fogg pasture 1910 |
Readers may remember my post about the Hammonds of Old Road from three years ago. In the last three years a number of things have changed. The most exciting was that the York County Register of Deeds has made all of the deeds of York County, Maine available for viewing. They can be accessed here: https://www.searchiqs.com/meyor/. I can't thank the York County Registrar, Nancy Hammond, enough for leading this effort.
I was able to continue my research into the lands along the eastern end of Old Road which if you remember started out as Hammond lands as part of the original Bay Lands purchase of 1699. I mentioned that the 1772 will of Joseph Hammond (b. 1700 d. 1779) divided the Hammond parcel along Old Road in half to his two surviving sons. This division went along a line from the southwest to the northeast and even divided their father's house in half. The western half belonged to Thomas Hammond (b. 1737 d. 1803), and the eastern half belonged to Christopher Hammond (b. 1740 d. 1813). My previous investigation mentioned that Christopher sold off his half and moved north to Berwick in 1790. In this post I will explore what happened with Christopher's half and how the Fogg family came to own so much of his previous lands along Old Road.
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| Hammond Lands 1772 |
Before 1790 the lands along the eastern end of Old Road belonged to the Hammonds. The map at the left shows the boundaries of Joseph Hammond's property before he divided it in half after he died in 1779. Notice that the property that is now the William Fogg Library as well as the William Fogg House, and even the homestead of Dr. Willis are all part of these lands. Notice the small triangle opposite what is today Pine Avenue. This was a 1.5 acre parcel that Joseph Hammond sold to Daniel Fogg in 1722 (Book 11 Page 86).
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| Division of lands 1779 |
I mentioned that Christopher Hammond eventually sells all his land along Old Road and moves north to Berwick in 1790. But this occurred after he was married to Sarah Kennard in 1761 and had nine daughters and one son with her. Four of his daughters were already adults by the time the family moved to Berwick. One of those daughters, Sarah married a Revolutionary War veteran named James Hill in 1787.
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| James Hill Revolutionary War Veteran |
In 1789 Christopher deeds to James Hill a quarter acre lot on Old Road where James has apparently built a house for his new bride. This quarter acre lot with a new house on it will eventually become the possession of John Fogg in 1802 (Book 69 Page 168). The reason for this is James Hill becomes very ill not long into his marriage to Sarah and dies in 1791 leaving Sarah a widow with two young children. Sarah fairly quickly remarries William Staple of Berwick and moves there with her children to be his wife.
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| Lands sold to John Fogg 1790 |
Christopher Hammond deeds 50 acres of the northeastern part of his property to John Fogg in 1790 (Book 52 Page 206). That parcel is outlined in green in the map to the left. Notice that it is this deed that provides the lands that will eventually become the location of the William Fogg Library as well as the William Fogg House.
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| Lands sold to Samuel Dixon 1791 |
In 1791 Christopher Hammond deeds the rest of his lands that span across Old Road to Samuel Dixon. (Book 110 Page 103). This Dixon parcel is shown outlined in purple on the map to the right. This deed again mentions the quarter acre lot previously deeded to James Hill. We can be fairly certain that this parcel which was sold to Samuel Dixon included the dwelling house where Christopher Hammond lived and raised his family before moving to Berwick. I believe this is the house that currently exists at 136 Old Road.
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| 136 Old Road |
Eventually Samuel Dixon succumbs to illness and dies in 1796. His widow, Margaret Dixon, in order to pay his outstanding debts after probate, is forced to sell the portion of her husband's lands that are on the southern side of Old Road to John Fogg and Joseph Hammond Jr. (Book 63 Page 147). John Fogg and Joseph Hammond Jr. then agree to an equitable division of this land on the southern side of Old Road. (also Book 63 Page 147).
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| Hammond/Fogg from Dixon 1799 |
Margaret Dixon, the widow of Samuel Dixon, marries a Wood and in 1817 is buried in the family cemetery that existed behind the William Fogg Library in the Pine Avenue development. Samuel and Margaret Dixon's daughter Sarah called "Sally" and her husband Edmund Fry come into possession of the remainder of her father's property. Edmund dies leaving Sally Fry a widow and in possession of the property until she dies in 1840. Other Fry family continue to live in the house and then it is deeded to William Fry, son of Edmund and Sally Fry in 1851 from all the other heirs of Samuel Dixon and Edmund and Sally Fry. (Book 222 Pages 274-276).
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| Old Fry Family Cemetery |
By the 1850s Horace Parker has become the owner of the homestead which will become known as the Dr. Willis homestead on Old Road and over the next decade he purchases more of the Dixon/Fry land from the heirs of Samuel Dixon to expand the property from its original quarter acre to a much larger property.
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| 1856 map |
The map to the left shows the families along Old Road in 1856. Notice that the Foggs have already given a parcel of land for the District #5 Schoolhouse. This was done about 1803.
Starting in 1889 and continuing into the early 1900's, Dr. Willis, who was a descendant of John Fogg, purchases much of the remaining property around his homestead including the original Joseph Hammond house and the Fry house and inherits the original homestead from Horace Parker. Most of this land is still in possession of his descendants today.
