In the 1860s, Samuel Badger Neal of Kittery, York county, Maine began to conduct interviews with some of the older members of his community, thinking to record some oral history of the area before it was lost. He recorded their stories on stationery, some bound, some not, and kept them bundled together with a string thinking, perhaps, he might someday publish them. He did not. He passed away and they were handed down to a niece or nephew who slapped a note on the pile which read, “Most of these are Uncle Sam’s gossipy notes on early Kittery.” They were indeed, and while some of the recorded stories are of limited historical significance, there are nuggets of information buried within them that would likely be of keen interest to historians of the area and particularly Kittery—the oldest settlement in Maine.

Samuel (“Sam”) Badger Neal (1842-1901) was the son of John Robert and Anna Maria (Badger ) Neal. He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 29 April 1842 and fitted for college at Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated from Harvard College in 1864 and the following year entered the NH National Bank of Portsmouth as a cashier. He then went to New York as a salesman in the coal business, to Boston as a bookkeeper, and then as a coal salesman. He suffered from ill health and lived with his parents in Kittery for a while, managing his father’s coal business. He lived until 1901. He was found dead in his stable, having been knocked down and trampled by his horse.

1863 Interview of Lydia Fernald Remick (1776-1866)

Lydia was the daughter of William and Mary (Staples) Fernald. She was married to Josiah Remick (177-1825) in 1801 and died in November 1866 at the age of 90. Lydia’s father was a Lieutenant in Capt. Samuel Leighton’s Co. from Kittery in the American Revolution.

“Here lyes Buried the Body of the Revd Mr. John Eveleth who Departed this Life August 1st, Anno Dom: 1734: Aged 65 Years” copied September 10, 1863

I found 10 graves round his which I at first supposed were those of his family, but an old lady, Mrs. [Lydia Fernald] Remick, who is now 87 years old, told me that the graves had all been made since she remembered. She said that old Mr. John Fernald, who 20 years ago had died at the age of 80 or more, had told her that when he was a child, he had played with some of the “rounds” which they had on their seats. ¹

She assured me that no person about the place had any knowledge of or any tradition about the church or its pastor. ²

There is a footstone of small size to Mr. Eveleth’s grave which has simply upon it “John Evelith.” All I now know of him is his birth place, time of birth, class in Harvard, time of death, &c. “See college graduates” [in] the book which Mr. Dennett owns and the meagre statements of individuals. So completely has the memory of the good man passed away that many of the town do not know the name of the hill upon which his church stood and very few have any knowledge whatever of his very existence and were it not for the labors of men in time past even that would be forgotten. September 10, 1863.

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¹ I don’t have a clue what Sam is referring to when he speaks of the “rounds” on the seats.

² One source on Kittery history says of John Eveleth: “There is said to have been a meeting house in which he preached, and which, not being used after his decease, fell rapidly into decay. It does not seen likely that he had any established parish. It has been said that he was an Episcopalian.” [Early History of the Wilson Family of Kittery, Maine, page 60] Another source claims that the meeting house was built on Gowel’s Hill, so called (now Cole’s) near the residence of the late Captain Mark Fernald, some time previous to the year 1729 and was occupied by the Rev. John Eveleth, Episcopal clergyman, about five years. He died August 1, 1734, and was buried in the neighborhood of his ministerial labors, aged sixty-five years. The grave is on the estate of the late Samuel Fernald, half way from the highway to Spinney’s Creek and is marked by a slab of slate with a sculptured cherub. The meeting house was near the line of the present town of Eliot and must have been the most convenient place of worship for the people at South Eliot.” [Old Eliot: A monthly Magazine of the History and Biography…] Another source claims that this church served from 1729 to 1834 by the Rev. John Eveleth, the son of Joseph Eveleth of Gloucester, Mass., and was born there 18 Feb 1769-70. He graduated from Harvard College in 1689 and was ordained at Manchester, Mass., 1 October 1693. “His tombstone may still be seen in a pasture, about half way from where the church stood to Great Cove.” {See Old Kittery]