Many-branched Wharff family in Maine goes back to 1662

As a graduate of Piscataquis Community High School in Guilford, I had a great time watching the Pirates score the runner-up plaque in the Eastern Maine Class C Boys Tournament.

I’m guessing that my numerous cousins in that neck of the woods include young Mike Wharff – though he seems to have gotten the gene for swishing 3-pointers, and I didn’t.

Wharff is an old surname in Maine that goes way back – at least as far back as 1662, when Nathaniel Wharfe witnessed a deed in Falmouth, which is now Portland. Wharfe’s wife was Rebecca Macworth, whose father, Arthur, received a land grant from Sir Ferdinand Gorges.

The Wharffs, like the Bennetts, lived for more than a century in Gloucester, Mass., where many of them were fishermen.

My connection to the Wharffs is Dorcas, daughter of Thomas and Dorcas (Lane) Wharfe, who was born in Gloucester and married Isaac Bennett, who served in the Revolutionary War.

Three of Isaac and Dorcas (Wharfe) Bennett’s sons, Isaac, John and Nathaniel, moved to New Gloucester, Maine, where their mother died in 1810 and is buried. The Bennett brothers were three of the first seven settlers of Guilford. I’m twice descended from the younger Isaac.

No doubt many of the Wharffs in Maine are descended from Joseph Wharff, who came to New Gloucester with his family, including Susanna (Bennett), who was a sister to the three Bennett brothers and thus a Wharff descendant herself.

Joseph and Susanna’s children included William Wharff, who married Rachel Penney in New Gloucester. William died at sea and Rachel married Guilford settler Robert Low.

Another son of Joseph and Susanna, Isaac B. Wharff, married Sarah Penney of New Gloucester and later was Surveyor of Highways in Guilford.

Joseph and Susanna Wharff’s children also included Susanna, married Moses Stevens; Sally, married Amos Stevens; Lydia, married Joseph Lunt; Joseph, married Phoebe Webber; Betsey, married William Robinson Jr.; Abigail, died young; and Dorcas, married David McIntyre and later Wilkes Richardson. (This information from “Maine Families in 1790,” Vol. 4.)

Back to the Bennett brothers. Isaac married Margaret Noble in Gloucester, Nathaniel married Rachel Stevens and John Bennett married Sarah or Sally Wharff.

Really.

You’ll notice at the end of the column Dean Scribner’s query on Bennetts. The David Harrison Bennett he finds in Bangor was a grandson of Isaac and Margaret Bennett of Guilford.

Did you know that by 1850, the city of Bangor was almost 20 percent Irish?

Consider marking St. Patrick’s Day by hearing John Frawley speak on “The Irish – What Brought Them Here,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, in the Lecture Hall at Bangor Public Library. This is a meeting of the Penobscot County Genealogical Society.

The Irish were very proud of where they came from. A number of monuments in Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Ohio Street, Bangor, list the county of origin of the immigrant.

3395. BENNETT-STAPLES. Seeking info on Ira, Hannah and William Bennett, found in 1870 census of Bangor, west side of Penobscot Stream, Page 1381/2, Dwelling No. 1301, Family No. 1458. Ira Bennett, 50, male, white, house carpenter, real estate valued at $800, born in Maine; Hannah Bennett, 52, female, white, keeping house, born Maine; William Bennett, 38, male, white, mariner, born Maine; William Staples, 22, male, white, grocer, born Maine; Hattie Staples, 19, female, white, born Maine; Joseph Bennett, 12, male, white, born Maine, attended school within year; Augusta Bennett, 10, female, white, born Maine, attended school within year. William Staples, Hattie Staples, Joseph Bennett and Augusta Bennett were all children of David Harrison Bennett and second wife Huldah H. (Bunker) (Staples) Bennett. Can’t find David H. and Huldah in 1870, and I have no idea who this Ira, Hannah and William Bennett may be. Any suggestions? Dean Scribner, 110 S. Bruce St. No. 125, Las Vegas, NV 89101-5115; dean.scribner@juno.com

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or familyti@bangordailynews.net.