Joshua was a mariner. As a result of his testimony given September 19, 1746, steps were taken to protect the colonies better. At the time that he was master of the schooner "Happy Return," he reported the presence of a French fleet off the coast of New England, On Wednesday, September 10th, he was on the Cape Sable shore near Margarets Bay when at about four o'clock in the afternoon he discovered about thirty of what he calls "top-sail" ships some six or seven miles away "standing in to the land close hal'd by the wind which was east northeast. Two of the ships were the largest he had ever seen." One of them chased his boat until sunset. The next Tuesday he saw a ship of 40 to 50 guns with a flag at her main mast, to the eastward of Cape Ann.Reference
Chronicles of the Haskell Family
Ira J. Haskell
Ellis Printing Company, Lynn, Massachusetts, 1943
Page 236
John Haskell was a mariner.
Captain Mark Haskell, Jr. emigrated to Deer Isle with his family in 1778 from Newburyport, Massachusetts. Upon his arrival, he commenced business with his two sons, Ignatius and Solomon, and the land they occupied was purchased by them about (1772) six years before settling here, from Ezekiel Marshall, another of Deer Isles pioneers. This purchase included what has since become the most valuable land at Northwest Harbor, known as Haskell's Point; and it is now the property and lots upon which are located the stores and business centers of the present town of Deer Isle.Captain Haskell took his two eldest sons, Ignatius and Solomon, into partnership, and the firm was known as Messrs. Mark Haskell and Sons. They profited well by their saw mill as logs were then in abundance and the demand for lumber was good. The saw and grist mills stood until about the year 1858, and were then the property of John P. Johnson, Esq.
They were also the principal promoters of the ship-building industry here, constructing brigs, schooners and other craft, one of which was a ship of about four hundred tons burthen, a large one for those days. Considering the era in which they lived, it can be justly stated they were a very flourishing firm and extensive property owners, controlling at one time more than a thousand acres of land. Solomon, the junior partner, removed to Newburyport and extended the business there in which his father and brother had an interest. Captain Haskell died in 1810 and the partnership was then dissolved. Solomon remained in Newburyport, but continued, with zealous interest, his business and real estate affairs at Deer Isle in connection with his brother until his death, which took place in the former town, in the year 1828. The control of the Deer Isle property then fell to the care of Ignatius Haskell, the surviving member of the firm.
Reference
Ancestral History of the Pioneers of Deer Isle and their Descendants
Series 2, Volume 15, Haskell
By Benjamin Lake Noyes, 1899.
The following biographical notes provided by David Dunham:
Amos was the first male child born in Sutton, Massachusetts. He and his wife were members of the First Congregational Church. In 1743, a meeting was held in Richard Singletary's home to start the 2nd Congregational Church in the north part of Sutton, which became Millbury, Massachusetts, in 1813. This Church then became the First Church of Millbury. Amos was born on his father's mill lot, which is a tract of land of 116 acres lying along the shores of Singletary Lake of 600 acres. He was a representative and was in the Senate. He was a Justice of the Peace and Quorums. He was a Christian and true patriot; during the struggle for American independence, equipping a Company of men and spent a fortune in this cause. He and Mary are buried at Millbury, Massachusetts.Reference
Genealogy of the Singletary-Curtis Family
By Loy Singletary-Bedford
New York, 1907
Peter removed to New Hampshire in 1771 or earlier, settling in that part known as Mount Vernon, and there his house remains today, over the hilI towards Francistown. He was selectman of Amherst for several years, and in 1776, representative to the General Court. He joined in the convention which framed the first constitution for New Hampshire.
When the War of the Revolution became imminent, a declaration of association was sent through the province of New Hampshire to obtain signers, and also a list of those who refused to sign. It was promulgated April 10, 1776. "We the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleet and armies against the United American Colonies."
In Amherst, Peter was the fifth signer, and it is worthy of comment that only four persons refused to sign.
Reference
Genealogical sketches of the Woodbury family: its intermarriages and connections
By Charles Levi Woodbury
Printed by the J.B. Clarke Co., Manchester, New Hampshire, 1904
The Revolutionary records of New Hampshire show that Levi enlisted July 12, 1779, for the expedition to Rhode Island, and was discharged on January 10, 1780.
On Levi's return from the army he went into the study of navigation with all the ardor of young ambition. I have before me two log books, long preserved in the family, one of which he wrote as a school log, covering an imaginary voyage. The method and writing indicate that he began with a good education as a foundation. He must have returned to Beverley to follow the sea as a profession.
In 1780, he went from Newburyport to St. Eustatia in the West Indies, in the ship "Montgomery," Nicholas Jonson, commander. In January, 1781, he was master of the ship "Nancy" from Cape Ann to Guadeloupe. He was then only twenty. He appears to have been prize master of the ship "Amherst." The names which he gives can be traced among the privateers and prizes of that time. .
The" Montgomery" was the name of a privateer of some note at one time. The privateer" Essex," Captain John Cathcart of Salem, one hundred and ten men, twenty guns, was very successful for a season, capturing four valuable prizes; arrived in Salem, August 20, 1780.
Levi Woodbury sailed in the "Essex" on her last cruise, April, 1781. Pattee's "History of Braintree" gives the following item, page 425: "They sailed for the coast of England and Ireland in the hopes of securing or capturing rich prizes. After having been fortunate in taking one valuable prize, they soon were unfortunate enough in having their high hopes blasted by being taken by the British ship Queen Charlotte, of thirty guns, on the east coast of Ireland, June 4. They were put in irons and transported to Portsmouth, Eng., where they went through the hardships of prison life until released in 1782." Unfortunately, Levi died of smallpox, August 29, 1781.
Genealogical sketches of the Woodbury family: its intermarriages and connections
By Charles Levi Woodbury
Printed by the J.B. Clarke Co., Manchester, New Hampshire, 1904