By Muriel Bristol | July 26, 2026
John Bergin, Jr., was born in Rochester, NH, in 1745, son of John and Tamson H. (Hall) Bergin.
Father John Bergen died in Newmarket, NH, in 1761. Mother Tamson H. (Hall) Bergen died circa 1769.
At the time of the Milton Centennial, it was noted that the house later occupied by Dr. Stephen Drew had been built originally by John Bergin [Jr.] in 1773. Bergin was said to have built a tannery there at that time too.
Bergin would be identified as a cordwainer in a Revolutionary muster roll 0f 1775. The term cordwainer is an archaic Anglo-Norman usage denoting a shoemaker, due to the widespread use of Cordovan leather in making shoes. A cordwainer, who made shoes, would not have been confused with a cobbler, who only repaired shoes.
Among the first who settled at Three Ponds were Samuel Palmer, Levi [John] Burgen, John Fish, Paul Jewett, Pelatiah Hanscom, Robert McGeoch, and others. Daniel Door and Jonathan Door settled at the head of the Pond quite early. The old tavern-house at Three Ponds, burned a few years ago, was built by Robert McGeoch in 1786 or 1787, and was perhaps the first tavern in town (Scales, 1914).
John Bergin [Jr.] married, presumably in Rochester, NH, November 25, 1773, Abigail Berry (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records). She was born in NH, in April 1752, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Allen) Berry
(The known children of John and Abigail (Berry) Bergin were: John Bergin (1775–1861), Mary “Polly” Bergin (1778–), Rhoda Bergin (1780–1852), Stephen Berry Bergin (1783–1783), Samuel Bergin (1785–1833), Walter Briant [Bryant] Bergin (1787–1790), Levi Bergin (1790–), Abigail A. Bergin (1792–1872), Tryphena Bergin (1795–1850), Persis H. Bergin (1799–1813), and Samson Bergin (1799–)).
John Bergin, of Rochester, NH, a cordwainer, aged thirty years, appeared in a muster list of Capt. Benja Titcomb’s Strafford County Militia Company, in Col. [Enoch] Poor’s Regiment, June 13, 1775. (They would have taken part in the Siege of Boston).
Although at the time of the Revolution Milton was a part of Rochester, it is recorded that many who lived within the confines of the present town left their homes to join the Continental army. One of the first men who enlisted from Rochester was John Bergin of the Three Ponds who placed his name on the roll call June 2, 1775 (Foster’s Daily Democrat (Dover, NH), August 30, 1902).
Son John Bergen [III] was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, December 18, 1775 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
Ensign John Bergin, of Rochester, NH, appeared in a pay roll of Capt. John Brewster’s Company, in Col. Pierse Long’s Regiment, at New Castle, NH, from the date he received his commission, August 7, 1776, to December 7, 1776. (“Ensign” was the lowest rank of commissioned officer. It would be replaced by “2nd Lieutenant” in 1815).
[Ensign Bergin’s actual Commission would be submitted with his April 1, 1818 pension application, preserved in his file, and is transcribed below. (The signature of the Congressional President – there was no U.S. President as yet – was the same as the larger and more famous one he had inscribed upon the Declaration of Independence but a month before)].
In CONGRESS. The DELEGATES of the UNITED STATES of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia TO John Bergin, Gentleman. Greeting ~ WE, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism, Valour, Conduct and Fidelity, DO, by these Presents, constitute and appoint you to be Ensign of the Company in the Regiment whereof Pierse Long, Esqr, is Colonel, raised in the State of New Hampshire to Serve one Year ~ in the Army of the United States, raised for the Defence of American Liberty, and for repelling every hostile Invasion thereof. You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the Duty of an Ensign ~ by doing and performing all manner of Things thereunto belonging. And we do strictly charge and require all Officers and Soldiers under your command, to be obedient to your Orders as their Ensign ~ And you are to observe and follow such orders and directions from Time to Time, as you shall receive from this or future Congress of the United States or Committee of Congress, for that Purpose appointed, or Commander in Chief for the Time being of the Army of the United States, or any other your superior Officer, according to the Rules and Discipline of War, in pursuance of the Trust reposed in you. This Commission continues in Force until revoked by this or a future Congress. Dated at Philadelphia the [7]th Day of August Anno Domini 1776. ~ By Order of the Congress, John Hancock, PRESIDENT. ATTEST Chas Thomson, Secy.
Ensign John Bergin, of Rochester, NH, appeared in a pay roll of Capt. John Brewster’s Company, in the NH Regiment commanded by Col. Pierse Long, from December 8, 1776, to January 7, 1777. Thirty-one members of the Company received advance pay for their march to Ticonderoga.
By 1776, his [Col. Pierse Long’s] regiment had relocated to Lake Champlain where they served under General Arthur St. Clair. There he took command of Fort Independence and rose to the rank of brigadier-general. After the retreat of the Continental forces from Fort Ticonderoga, Long and his men faced a British regiment under General John Hill at Fort Ann on July 8, 1777. Forced to retreat from Fort Ann, Col. Long proceeded to Saratoga where he assisted in the capture of General John Burgoyne (American Battlefield Trust, 2026).
Ensign John Bergin appeared in a muster roll of the field officers, staff, and commissioned officers of the 1st NH Battalion, in the service of the United States, commanded by Col. Pierse Long. It was signed at Mount Independence, June 10, 1777. (He would have taken part in the Battles of Saratoga).
Daughter Mary “Polly” Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, May 28, 1778 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records). She was a namesake for her maternal grandmother, Mary (Allen) Berry.
John Burgin of Rochester, NH, served as a Sergeant in Capt. John Hill’s Company, in Col. Joshua Wingate’s Regiment, in August 1778. Col. Wingate’s Regiment of volunteers marched from New Hampshire to join the Continental Army in Rhode Island. He was paid £4 8s for twenty-four days service, and £9 9s 4d for 142 miles travel at 8d per mile, for a total of £13 17s 4d.
Daughter Rhoda [Phoebe] Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, September 25, 1780 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records; and 1781 in Hallowell, ME, Vital Records).
Son Stephen Berry Bergin [Burgin] was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, February 14, 1783. He was a namesake for his maternal grandfather, Stephen Berry. He died April 21, 1783, aged two months, seven days (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
Son Samuel Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, January 23, 1785 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
John Bergon was among the three hundred ten Rochester inhabitants that petitioned the NH legislature, August 30, 1785, seeking repeal of an act requiring milled boards to be square-edged and an inch thick (and other lumber in proportion). Those inhabitants described themselves then as being “largely Concerned in Lumber.” They sought also repeal of an act forbidding transport of lumber to the British West Indies, and seeking the issuance of a new paper money (Hammond, 1884). (See Rochester Lumber Remonstrance – August 1785).
John Bergin of Rochester was among was among the fifty Strafford County inhabitants that petitioned the NH Governor and Council, March 30, 1787, seeking appointment of Mr. Ebenezer Smith of Durham, NH, as Register of Probate.
Son Walter Briant [Bryant] Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, July 3, 1787. He died March 25, 1790, aged two years, eight months, and twenty-two days (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
John Burgan was among the sixty-two inhabitants of Middleton, NH, and its adjacent towns, i.e., Rochester, NH, that petitioned the NH Governor and Council, February 10, 1790, seeking appointment of Capt. Archelaus Woodman as a Justice-of-the-Peace.
Son Levi Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, May 17, 1790 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
John Burgan [Burgin] headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the First (1790) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 16-plus years [himself], three males aged under-16 years, and two females [Abigail (Berry) Burgin]. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Jona Pinkham and Thomas Furber. (See Northeast Parish in the First (1790) Federal Census).
Daughter Abigail A. Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, September 20, 1792 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
Daughter Tryphena “Phenia” Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, August 23, 1795 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
Daughter Persis H. Bergin was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, in 1799; and son Samson Bergin, presumably a twin, was born in the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, August 11, 1799 (Lancaster, NH, Vital Records).
John Bergin left the Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, and moved to Lancaster, NH, around 1800. (Milton would be described later, in June 1823, as being on “the great main road leading from Portsmouth to Lancaster”).
After the close of the war he [John Bergin, Jr.] resided in Milton until about 1800 and then removed to Lancaster where he died (Foster’s Daily Democrat (Dover, NH), August 30, 1902).
John Burgen headed a Lebanon, ME, household at the time of the Second (1800) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 45-plus years [himself], [and] one female aged 45-plus years, one male aged 16-25 years, and one female aged 16-25 years. [The tick marks of the younger pair were stricken out in the original]. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Samuel Nock [Knox] and James Nock [Knox].
Our subject’s grandfather [John Burgin, Jr.] was one of the early pioneers of Lancaster, N.H., where he entered upon the clearing of a large tract of rich timber land; he made many permanent improvements on his farm, erecting substantial buildings, and in other ways demonstrating his progressive and wide-awake nature, ever alive to the real needs of the hour. He was a veteran of the Revolution, and after his death at an advanced age his wife drew a pension from the government. Their family consisted of the following children: John, Samuel, Abigail, and Tryphena. Mr. Burgin and his wife were both popular members of the Methodist Episcopal Church (Bio. Pub. Co., 1897).
John Burgon, Jr., was one of eight inhabitants of Lancaster, NH, that petitioned the NH legislature, May 30, 1810, seeking incorporation as the Coös Musical Society.
… They are about forming themselves into a Society for the purpose of cultivating and improving the art of Music in said town and its vicinity, but finding it difficult and inconvenient conducting the affairs of said institution without an act of incorporation for the well ordering and regulating [of] said Society ~ Therefore we pray your honors to pass an act, whereby we, and all those who may hereafter associate with us, may be incorporated into a body corporate by the name and stile [style] of the Coos Musical Society with all the privileges and immunities incident to corporation[s] of a similar nature ~ And as in duty bound will ever pray ~
John Burgin headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Third (1810) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 45-plus years [himself], one female aged 45-plus years [Abigail (Berry) Burgin], and one male aged 10-15 years. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of John Savage and Ebenezer Twombly.
Daughter Rhoda Bergin married in Hallowell, ME, June 24, 1812, Capt. Thomas Hinckley, 2nd, both of Hallowell, ME. He was born in Topsham, ME, April 3, 1773, son of James and Mary Hinkley.
Thomas Hinkley, son of James Hinkley, and Mary, his wife, was born in Topsham, April 3, 1773, married Rhoda Bergin, of Rochester, N.H., daughter of John Bergin, and his wife, Abigail, of that place, who was born September 25, 1781.
Daughter Persis H. Bergin died in Lancaster, NH, April 4, 1813.
Son Samuel Bergin married, circa 1817, Anna Dunlap. She was born in Topsham, ME, circa 1786-90.
Samuel Burgin bought a farm and located in East Lancaster where he engaged in agricultural work and carpentry; the farm was located in the bottom lands of the river, and was interval of the best quality. He was a Republican and a regular attendant of the M.E. Church. He lived to be sixty-five years old; his wife was called home at the age of sixty-three. Following is the list of their children, fourteen in number: Rhoda, Samuel S., William, Mary Ann, Levi, John, Persis, David, Louise, Emily Louisa, Abigail, Rebecca, and W. Bryant (Bio. Pub. Co., 1897).
Daughters Abigail A. Bergin and Tryphena Bergin, both of Lancaster, N.H., attended the Saugus Female Seminary, in Saugus, MA, in 1818. Some claim it to have been the nation’s first school for girls. They were members of its Class of 1820.
The course of study in the Seminary embraced two terms of twelve weeks each. separated by a vacation of a fortnight. The terms were $6, “payable in advance, common price of board from $1 to $1.75 per week, without fuel, lights, or washing.” Attached to the Seminary was a preparatory school taught by Mrs. Emerson and Miss Z.B. Cheever at 50 cents a week (Atherton, 1916; Lynn Daily Item (Lynn, MA), August 15, 2019).
The Seminary lasted about a decade. Among its other early students was Sara Willis (1811-1872), who became a notable columnist and author (Wikipedia, 2026).
John Bergin of Lancaster, NH, filed his application for a Revolutionary War Pension, April 1, 1818.
I, John Bergin, formerly of Rochester in the County of Strafford and State of Newhampshire, & now resident of Lancaster in the County of Coos and State aforesaid on oath do testify and declare, that sometime in the month of June, A.D. 1775, I enlisted as an orderly Sergeant in the Company Commanded by Capt. Benjamin Titcomb, attached to Colo Enoch Poor’s Regiment of the Newhampshire line, on the Continental establishment, and served in said Company faithfully as I fully believe as an orderly sergeant for the term of about six months. […] my time in the winter of 1776 I served as a sergeant in the Company commanded by Capt. John Drew attached to Colo John Waldron’s Regiment of the Newhampshire line on the Continental establishment [for two months,] soon after which I received an appointment of Ensign of the Company Commanded by Capt. John Brewster attached to the Regiment Commanded by Colo Pierse Long and received my Commission as Ensign of said Company, signed by John Hancock Prest of Congress & Charles Thomson Secy and dated the 7th day of August 1776 ~ That I served as I believe faithfully in the capacity of an Ensign for one year in the aforesaid Company and Regiment and was honourably discharged ~ I further testify and declare that I am now an old man more than sixty eight years of age and that my circumstances in life, as to property are now indigent and reduced and that I am not the owner of any real estate whatever, nor any personal property to the value of thirty dollars, that I am really in need of assistance from my Country during my infirmities of old age ~ That I wish therefore [to be] placed on the Pension list of the United States as an Officer of the Revolutionary War agreeably to the provisions of a Law of Congress entitled “An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the Land and Naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary War” ~ Lancaster N.H. April 1st 1818. John Bergin. Signed in the presence of […] Pearson.
John Bergin of Coös County, NH, was entered on the Revolutionary Pension Roll, November 23, 1818, at the rate of $240 per annum. He received an initial retroactive payment back to his application date of April 1, 1818. He had been an Ensign of the NH Continental Line. His age on the pension roll was said to be seventy-four years.
John Bergin was one of fifty-one Coös County inhabitants that petitioned the NH Governor and Council, June 7, 1820, seeking appointment of Maj. John W. Weeks of Lancaster, NH, to replace Samuel Adams as Coös County Sheriff. Weeks had served as County Treasurer for three or four years and had risen to the rank of Major before the “last war,” i.e., the War of 1812, had closed. Former Milton residents Jonathan Twombly, and Saml S. Wentworth, also signed the petition.
John Burgin headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Fourth (1820) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 45-plus years [himself], and one female aged 45-plus years [Abigail (Berry) Burgin]. One member of his household was engaged in Agriculture. Their household appeared in the enumeration between Charles Page and John Burgin, Jr.
John Burgin, Jr, headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Fourth (1820) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 26-44 years [himself], and one female aged 26-44 years, and one male aged 45-plus years. One member of his household was engaged in Agriculture. Their household appeared in the enumeration between John Burgin and Peter G. Freeman.
Thomas Hinkley, 2d, headed a Hallowell, ME, household at the time of the Fourth (1820) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 45-plus years [himself], one female aged 26-44 years [Rhoda (Bergin) Hinkley], one male aged 16-25 years, one female aged 16-25 years, and four females aged under-10 years [Hester A. Hinkley, Tryphena B. Hinkley, Mary C. Hinkley, and Josephine R. Hinkley]. One member of his household was engaged in Commerce.
Samuel Burgin headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Fourth (1820) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 26-44 years [himself], and one female aged 26-44 years [Anna (Dunlap) Burgin], one male aged 10-15 years, two females aged 10-15 years, four males aged under-10 years, and one female aged under-10 years. Two members of his household were engaged in Agriculture. Their household appeared in the enumeration between Adino N. Brackett and William Standley.
Daughter Tryphena Bergin married in Lancaster, August 14, 1823, Deacon William Farrar, both of Lancaster, NH. Rev. Joseph Willard performed the ceremony. Farrar was born in Lincoln, MA, October 23, 1780, son of Humphrey and Lucy Farrar. He was a widower, whose previous wife, Margaret (Kibbe) Farrar, had died in Lancaster, October 2, 1822.
John Bergin was one of nineteen inhabitants of Lancaster, NH, that petitioned the NH Governor and Council, in June 1825, seeking reappointment of Maj. John W. Weeks of Lancaster, NH, as Coös County Sheriff.
Abigail (Berry) Bergin died in Lancaster, NH, August 31, 1826, ae. seventy-four years.
Many husbands and wives hoped to spend eternity side by side in their final resting place. But things did not always work out quite as planned. Take, for example, the twin headstones at the Wilder Cemetery in Lancaster, situated on a hillside overlooking Main Street. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Coös County, with the earliest marker dating from 1819. Here are buried early settlers John and Abigail Bergin. Little could John and Abigail have known when they left this earth in 1828 and 1826, respectively, that a seedling would take hold in the three feet of earth between their headstones and grow to the point that today it is swallowing up their headstones. The markers, which contain weeping willows carved into their design, have both been vertically cracked in two by the power of the tree. A third marker, to the left of Abigail’s, indicates that the couple had a daughter, Persis, who died in 1813, at the age of fourteen.
The simple inscription on John Bergin’s headstone indicates that he was seventy-six at the time of his death and had been an officer in the Revolutionary War. Abigail, apparently a pious woman, received a much more poetic inscription, which reads:
Laurels may flourish round the conqu’ror’s tomb,
But happier they who win the world to come.
Believers have a silent field to fight,
And their exploits are veil’d from human sight.
They in some nook where little known they dwell,
Kneel, pray in faith, and rout the hosts of hell.
Eternal triumphs crown their toils divine,
These, sainted soil, these triumphs now are thine.
As Kilmer wrote in “Trees,” “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.” Conquerors get laurels, John and Abigail got a tree (Jordan, 2003).
Woodn’t It Be Nice to Be Together? John and Abigail Bergin’s family tree is a bit more literal than most. If you’d like to have a look at it, you wouldn’t have to call up the Bergin family historian or go digging through old records in the dusty basement of Lancaster’s historical society. In fact, all you need do is visit Wilder Cemetery in downtown Lancaster. The family tree is there, in the back corner of the cemetery, a great big eastern white pine that’s grown up between the couple’s early nineteenth-century gravestones.
The Bergins were some of the early settlers to the area: Abigail died in 1826 and John, an officer in the Revolutionary War, died in 1828. That’s given the tree plenty of time to take root, take to the sky, and take over the couple’s entire cemetery plot. The tree’s gotten so big, in fact, that it’s engulfed both stones – John’s on the left and Abigail’s on the right – and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down soon. The stones have been cracked and broken, but they’re still in one piece (thanks to repairs), two slate saddlebags at the tree’s base.
While the Bergins used to sleep in wedded bliss (we can be optimistic about these things, can’t we?), now they rest for all eternity in wooded bliss. To see their arboreally-conjoined gravestones, just head to the Wilder Cemetery – the cemetery overlooking Main Street in downtown Lancaster – and look for the tree snuggling gravestones in its trunk (Jones, 2011).
John Bergin [Jr.] died in Lancaster, NH, April 28, 1828, aged seventy-six years.
DEATHS. In Lancaster, Mr. John Burgin, a Revolutionary officer, aged 78 (Strafford Enquirer, May 20, 1828).
His gravestone inscription also identified him as “… an officer of the Revolution.” (The Revolutionary Pension Roll of 1835 would report later that the death of Ensign John Bergin had taken place on April 28, 1828).
John Burgin [III] headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years [himself], one female aged 50-59 years, one female aged 15-19 years, and one female aged 5-9 years.
Thos Hinkley headed a Hallowell, ME, household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years [himself], one female aged 40-49 years [Rhoda (Bergin) Hinkley], two females aged 10-14 years [Hester A. Hinkley and Tryphena B. Hinkley], two females aged 5-9 years [Mary C. Hinkley and Josephine R. Hinkley], one male aged 5-9 years [Thomas B. Hinkley], and one male aged under-5 years [Eugene B. Hinkley].
Samuel Burgin headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years [himself], one female aged 50-59 years [Anna (Dunlap) Burgin], one female aged 15-19 years, and one female aged 5-9 years. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Adino N. Brackett and Josiah Bellows.
William Farrar headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 40-49 years [himself], two females aged 30-39 years [Tryphena (Bergin) Farrar and Abigail A. Bergin], one male aged 20-29 years, one female aged 15-19 years, one male aged 5-9 years [William H. Farrar], and one male aged under-5 years [George Farrar].
Executive Appointments. William Farrar, Lancaster, a Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum for the county of Coos (Dover Enquirer, October 5, 1830).
Son Samuel Bergin died in Lancaster, NH, March 26, 1833, aet. forty-eight years.
Cleaning Chimnies [Chimneys]. Many of our chimnies [chimneys] are so narrow that a sweep cannot enter them. Indeed out of our principal cities such thing as a professional sweep is hardly known. It is a common practice to burn out chimnies [chimneys], but this besides being attended with more or less danger, does not do the work effectually. It leaves the chimney filled with cinders which speedily collect the soot again and make a rough surface. Mr. Edward M. Page of Hallowell has a machine which was invented by Capt. Thomas Hinkley, which does the work most completely. It is let into the top of the chimney, and scrapes it out thoroughly. He operated upon ours yesterday, and took out of the kitchen flue at least two bushels of soot, although it was burnt out last spring. Unless the flues are very crooked, he can scrape them out very clean. Those who wish any further information can apply to him in Hallowell or to Benj. Davis Esq. in this town (Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), December 18, 1833).
John Bergin headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 60-69 years [himself], one female aged 60-69 years, and one female aged 10-14 years. One member of his household was engaged in Manufacture and Trade.
Thomas Hinkley headed a Hallowell, ME, at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included 50-59 years [himself], one females aged 50-59 years [Rhoda (Bergin) Hinkley], five females aged 20-29 years [Hester A. Hinkley, Tryphena B. Hinkley, Mary C. Hinkley, and Josephine R. Hinkley], one male aged 15-19 years [Thomas B. Hinkley], and one male aged 10-14 years [Eugene B. Hinkley].
Annah (Dunlap) Bergin headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. Her household included one female aged 40-49 years [herself], two female aged 10-14 years [Emily W. Bergin and Louisa M. Bergin], and one male aged 5-9 years [Walter B. Bergin]. Four members of her household were engaged in Agriculture. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Clark McFarland and John Chapman.
William Farrar headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years [himself], two females aged 40-49 years [Tryphena (Bergin) Farrar and Abigail A. Bergin], one female aged 20-29 years, one male aged 15-19 years, one male aged 10-14 years, and one male aged 5-9 years. One member of his household was engaged in a Learned Profession or an Engineer. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Benjamin Stephenson and William Gross.
Granddaughter Tryphena B. Hinckley came to Topsham, ME, in 1842, where she became a notable private school teacher and private school headmistress for many years.
Department of Schools. … Miss Tryphena B. Hinckley, a notable private school teacher, came first to Topsham in 1842 to assist in Mrs. Fields’ school. Two years later Mrs. Fields resigned and Miss Hinckley took her place for one year after which she was persuaded to unite her school with Principal Swallow’s Brunswick seminary. About a years later Miss Hinckley left this school and taught a day school in the Pleasant Street seminary. A year later she leased the house on the corner of Pleasant and Union streets, afterwards owned and occupied by Samuel R. Jackson, and here she kept a boarding school for young ladies. From here she moved to the O’Brien house where she taught for seven years, having a large and prosperous school. Finally she bought a house opposite the college, of John S.C. Abbott, and to this she made additions and improvements. In all schools she had been assisted by her sister, Miss Josephine Hinckley, who excelled in drawing. Miss Fannie White, Madam Zimmerman, a German lady and fine music teacher, Miss Frances Adams, afterwards the wife of President Chamberlain, Miss Lizzie McKeen, Miss Fannie Stowe, Miss Sarah Newman, Miss Emily Poole, and Miss Sophia W. Wheeler were all assistants to Miss Hinckley. For men assistants she depended upon the college (Brunswick Record (Brunswick, ME), December 27, 1928).
Granddaughter Tryphena B. Hinckley, of Topsham, ME, subscribed (or donated) $2.00 to the National Anti-Slavery Standard, in July 1844 (National Anti-Slavery Standard (New York, NY), August 1, 1844).
NOTICE. THE Seminary for young ladies, at Topsham, will, after the second Monday in November, be continued under the superintendence of Miss Hinkley, who for the last two years, has been preceptress of the school. Miss Hinkley has been allowed to refer to Hon. John Ruggles, Thomaston; Gen. A.B. Thompson, Brunswick; S. Wells, Esq., Portland; Rev. A.D. Wheeler, Topsham (Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), November 24, 1844).
Son-in-law William Farrar died of lung fever in Lancaster, NH, March 3, 1850, aged sixty-nine years. He was a lawyer.
Nancy Stanley, aged sixty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. Her household included Sally Stanley, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH), John Burgin, aged seventy-four years (b. NH), Armas [?] Burgin, aged seventy-five years (b. NH), and Dennis Stanley, aged twenty-three years (b. NH).
Thomas Hinkley, a sailor, aged seventy-six years (b. ME), headed a Hallowell, ME, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Rhoda B. [(Bergin)] Hinkley, aged sixty-nine years (b. NH), and Mary C. Hinkley, aged thirty-three years (b. ME).
Anna [(Dunlap)] Burgin, aged sixty years (b. ME), headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. Her household included John Burgin, a laborer, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), Emily Wait Burgin, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), Louisa M. Burgin, aged twenty years (b. NH), Walter B. Burgin, aged eighteen years (b. NH), and Berniece Richardson, a physician, aged sixty-five years (b. Unknown). Anna Burgin had real estate valued at $300.
Triphena [(Bergin)] Farrior [Farrar], aged fifty-four years (b. NH), headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. Her household included Henry Farrior, a student, aged eighteen years (b. NH). They shared a two-family residence with the household of Stephen A. Barnard, a Cong. clergymen, aged forty-seven years (b. MA).
Tryphena B. Hinkley, a teacher, aged thirty-four years (b. ME), headed a Brunswick, ME, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. Her household included Josephine Hinkley, aged twenty-nine years (b. ME), and Margaret McCarty, aged nineteen years (b. Ireland).
Daughter Tryphena (Bergin) Farrar died October 26, 1850, aged fifty-five years, two months, and three days.
DEATHS. In Lancaster, N.H., on the 26th ult., of typhus fever, Tryphena Bergin, relict of the late Wm. Farrar, Esq., aged 55 years, 2 months, and 3 days (Aurora of the Valley (Newbury, VT), November 14, 1850).
Daughter Rhoda (Bergin) Hinckley died in Hallowell, ME, January 6, 1852, aged seventy years, three months, and eleven days.
LIST OF PATENTS issued from the United States Patent Office, for the week ending October 18th, 1853, to residents in the New England States: … Thomas Hinkley, of Hallowell, Maine, for improvement in instruments for plotting. Dated October 18th, 1853. (Boston Evening Transcript, October 20, 1853).
Son-in-law Thomas Hinckley died in Brunswick, ME, July 14, 1854, aged eighty-one years.
DIED. In Brunswick, … 14th inst., Capt. Thomas Hinkley, formerly of Hallowell, aged 81 years (Portland Free Press, July 17, 1854).
Daughter-in-law Anna (Dunlap) Bergin died of lung fever in Lancaster, NH, March 7, 1859, aet. seventy-three years.
MAINE. The late residence of Rev. J.S.C. Abbot, now occupied as a boarding school by Miss Triphene Hinckley, was partially burnt at Brunswick a few days since; insured (Springfield Dail Republican (Springfield, MA), July 19, 1859).
Albion Gray, town farm, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), headed a Lancaster, NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Lucina [(Holmes)] Gray, aged thirty years (b. NH), Eliza Holmes, aged sixteen years (b. NH), Danl Grey, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), John Bergin, a pauper, aged eighty-five years (b. NH), Lewis Buckman, a pauper, aged twenty years (b. NH), Philip Coon, a pauper, aged seventy-two years (b. NH), Olive Coon, a pauper, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), and William Ellis, a pauper, aged eighty years (b. Ireland). Albion Gray had real estate valued at $3,500 and personal estate valued at $500.
Tryphena B. Hinkly, a teacher, aged forty-four years (b. NH), headed a Brunswick, ME, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. Her household included Joseph [Josephine] R. Hinkly, aged forty-one years, Abby A. Bergin, aged sixty [-eight] years (b. NH), and Henry Farrar, aged twenty-five years (b. NH). Tryphena B. Hinkly had real estate valued at $2,300 and personal estate valued at $1,000.
[Granddaughters Tryphena B. Hinkley and Josephine R. Hinkley were daughters of Thomas and Rhoda (Bergin) Hinkley, and grandson Henry Farrar was a son of William and Tryphena “Phenia” (Bergin) Farrar].
Son John Bergen [III] died of old age in Lancaster, NH, in the year ending March 31, 1861, aged eighty-three years. He was a married farmer.
Tryphena B. Hinkley, a school teacher, aged fifty-five years (b. ME), headed a Brunswick, ME, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. Her household, which was labeled a “Private School,” included Josephine Hinkley, a school teacher, aged five [fifty-one] years (b. ME), Theresa A. Dewey, at school [a school teacher?], aged twenty-four years (b. VT), Cora B. Knowlton, at school, aged fourteen years (b. MA), Hattie K. Knowlton, at school, aged twelve years (b. MA), Abigail A. Bergen, at home, aged seventy-eight years (b. NH), Catherine Mcgee, a domestic servant, aged fifty years (b. Ireland), and Catherine Mcgee, a domestic servant, aged thirteen years (b. ME).
Daughter Abigail A. Bergin died in Brunswick, ME, May 13, 1872, aged seventy-nine years.
DIED. In Brunswick, May 13, Abigail A. Bergin, aged 79 years (Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), June 10, 1872).
Tryphena Hinkley, keeping house, aged sixty-five years (b. ME), headed a Brunswick, ME, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. Her household included her sisters, [Josephine] Rhoda Hinkley, keeping house, aged sixty-one years (b. ME), and Hester [(Hinkley)] Partridge, no occupation, aged sixty-seven years (b. ME).
Granddaughter Tryphena B. Hinckley died of soft [softening] of brain in the Hotel Lafayette in Boston, MA, February 13, 1881, aged sixty-five years.
DIED. HINKLEY. – In this city, 13th inst., Tryphena B. Hinkley, 65 years (Boston Globe, February 18, 1881).
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Milton Observer 