My 5th great-grandfather, Stephen Lowell was born in 1728 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, to Stephen and Miriam (Collins) Lowell. He married Agnes Bolton in 1753 in Falmouth, Cumberland County, Maine, and ultimately settled in Buckfield, Maine (formerly in Cumberland County, now in Oxford County).
There are a couple of Cumberland County deeds in 1758 and 1759, showing that he purchased different pieces of land in Falmouth, Maine, and at least one from his father-in-law, Thomas Bolton. One of the deeds identifies Agnes Lowell as the daughter of Thomas Bolton. (It looks like there were at least two men by the name of Stephen Lowell in this area of Maine at this time.) When Stephen is mentioned in these deeds, he is identified as a cordwainer (a shoe maker), probably to distinguish him from a man of the same name (and about the same age) who was a mariner.
He was presumably living a quiet life in Maine as the conflict with Great Britain came to a head in the 1770s when he was in his 40s.
The DAR Genealogical Research Database indicates that Stephen (DAR Ancestor# A072118) served as a private under Captain Benjamin Hooper.
Service: Massachusetts Rank(s): Private
Birth: 10-6-1728 Amesbury Essex Co Massachusetts
Death: 6-15-1801 Buckfield Cumberland Co Maine Dist Massachusetts
Service Source: MA Sols & Sails, Vol 9, p 1042
Service Description: 1) Capt Benjamin Hooper
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War is a multi-volume compiled service record published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts between 1896 and 1908. It was created to document the military participation of Massachusetts men who served in the American Revolutionary War, drawing primarily from original muster rolls, pay rolls, enlistment papers, and other contemporaneous military records held by the state.
For genealogists, the series serves as a foundational reference rather than definitive proof. It confirms Revolutionary War–era service attributed to Massachusetts and often points researchers toward original records or additional pension and land records. However, because spellings vary and abstracts may omit context, entries should be corroborated with original documents whenever possible.
Remember that at this time, Maine was part of Massachusetts, so this is now known as Falmouth, Cumberland County, Maine. The Wikipedia page for Falmouth, Maine provides some history of the town, noting that the majority of the first permanent European inhabitants to the town came after 1740, quickly growing to "62 families." They formed their own parish in 1753 (currently the Falmouth Congregational Church), the year that Stephen Lowell married Agnes Bolton. The population of Falmouth would hover between 1,000 and 2,000 residents for the next two centuries. These residents engaged in farming, fishing, and harvesting masts.
It looks like I need to do additional research because there are two entries for Stephen Lowell. Are they for the same man?
The entries for Stephen Lowell read:
LOWELL, STEPHEN. Private, Capt. Benjamin Hooper's co.; marched Aug. 15, 1776; service to Nov. 24, 1776, 3 mos. 10 days; company stationed at Falmouth, Cumberland Co., for Defence of seacoast.
LOWELL, STEPHEN. Private, Capt. Alexander McLellan's co., Col. Jonathan Mitchel's regt.; enlisted July 7, 1779; discharged Sept. 25, 1779; service, 2 mos. 18 days, on Penobscot expedition. Roll dated Gorham.
It is likely that Stephen helped to protect the Maine seacoast. The Penobscot expedition has a brief entry at Wikipedia, which suggests he may have served aboard a ship and participated in battle.
Stephen and Agnes had six children, none of whom I have researched other than my 4th great-grandfather, Thomas:
1. Miriam (1755-1823)
2. Mary/Molly (1758-1810?)
3. Thomas Lowell (1761-1810)
4. Anne Lowell (1763-????)
5. Stephen Lowell (1765-????)
6. William Lowell (1768-1840) (The DAR members' lines go through William.)
Stephen Lowell died in Buckfield, Maine, on 15 June 1801, two days after his wife, Agnes. The gravestone at his FindAGrave memorial reads:
STEPHEN
LOWELL
Pvt.
Mitchell's Regt.
Mass. Troops
Rev. War
June 15, 1804
It is the discrepancy between the DAR Genealogical Research database and the gravestone that make me question if the two entries for Stephen Lowell might be the same man. It is possible that he served in one company for three months in 1776 and then another two months in 1779.
I descend from Stephen Lowell as follows:
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