ASA HOWARD
Asa, the third son and third child of Deacon Samuel and Elizabeth (Barrett) Howard was born in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA, on February 16, 1767. In 1769 the family moved to Temple, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, USA. In 1793, at the age of 26, Asa married Lydia (Spofford), born in 1770, the daughter of Eldad and Lucy (Spaulding) Spofford. Early in 1794 he and his brother Phineas, Sr. moved their families to that part of Sudbury Canada, now Bethel, Oxford, Maine, USA, where they resided for about two years, before moving on to their new homes in Howard Gore which is in Hanover, Oxford, Maine. Research would indicate that Asa purchased a parcel of land from his brother, although there is no record of such a transfer in the Registry of Deeds Office in South Paris, Oxford, Maine. Deeds in the earlier days were quite often not recorded as travel was difficult and the mails uncertain. Asa built his new home about four-tenths of a mile southerly from his brother's home on a sightly location on the easterly slope of Howard Mountain, overlooking the scenic Androscoggin River Valley. He cleared and cultivated the land and together with his livestock, managed a fair living. The cellar hole is plainly visible today, surrounded mostly by soft wood growth, map location No. 148.
Asa, like his brother Phineas, Sr., was interested and active in schools and plantation affairs. When Howard Gore was being organized into a plantation, the first meeting was held at his house on March 23, 1812 and for quite a few years, all regular and special plantation meetings were held here. Asa served the plantation well, as clerk for five years from 1812 through 1816, first assessor for two years in 1816 and 1817, second assessor in 1818, third assessor for three years in 1813 through 1815, treasurer for one year in 1817 and tax collector for two years in 1812 and 1815. In 1806 he joined the Congregational Church at Rumford Point, Oxford, Maine.
About 1821 at the age of 54, Asa purchased a parcel of land at Rumford Point, Oxford, Maine, from Phineas Frost of Howard Gore which is in Hanover, Oxford, Maine, USA. He built a house, a barn and a blacksmith shop after which he moved his family from Howard Gore to the new location. The house is still in existence, but the barn and blacksmith shop have long been erased from the face of the earth. The house is located just outside the village on the north side of Route U.S. 2 a few hundred feet from the parsonage ofthe Congregational Church.
Lydia passed away at her home on October 9, 1840 at the age of 70 and about two months later, Asa passed away on November 9, 1840 at the age of 73 (at cemetery 72). Both are buried in the cemetery at Rumford Point along with two of their children, Dollie and Eldad S. They had eleven children, nine girls and two boys, the first one born in Temple, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, USA, the second and third in Sudbury Canada, now Bethel, Oxford, Maine, USA, and the remaining eight in Howard Gore, now a part of Hanover, Oxford, Maine.
Children
(Reference to Cemetery is at Rumford Pt.)
1. Lydia: b. Nov. 10, 1792, d. Mar. 3, 1793, age 4 mos.
2. Lydia: b. Mar. 4, 1794, d. in Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. (See details under Joseph H. Wardwell, group "B" people.)
3. Lucy: b. Feb. 18, 1795, m. Thomas Prince, 4 chn.
4. Phebe: b. Dec. 5, 1797, d. Feb. 17, 1800, age 2.
5. Elizabeth: b. June 24, 1800, m. Allan Segar, 1819.
6. Sally: b. July 30, 1802, m. Oliver Wakefield.
7. Milla: b. May 30, 1804, m. John Morgan.
8. Asa Spofford: b. Dec. 6, 1806, d. Aug. 22, 1891, age 84. (See details under separate heading.)
9. Dollie (at Cemetery Dolly): b. June 3,1809, d. Feb. 15, 1836, age 26 (at Cemetery 27).
10. Eldad Spofford: b. Nov. 14, 1810, d. Nov. 2,1841 (at Cemetery Nov. 3), age almost 31.
11. Virtue: b. Aug. 9, 1812, d. Feb. 13, 1876, age 63 (at Cemetery Feb. 19, 1876, age 61), unm. Bur. in Rumford Pt. Cemetery She was an efficient, well-liked and well-known school teacher who taught in Rumford, Hanover and How. Gore.
(derived from A History of Hanover, Maine, USA1774-1980 by Alfred F. Howard.)
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