Joseph Clark Atkins Sr. (abt. 1766 - 1830)

Husband of Jane Todd Blair — married 20 Nov 1785 in Woolwich, Sagahadoc Co., ME.

Descendants

Died 1 May 1830 at about age 64 in South Gardiner, Kennebec Co., ME.

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Biography

JOSEPH CLARK ATKINS was born about 1766, birthplace unknown. As early as 1785 he resided in and around South Gardiner, Kennebec Co., Me. He built his home on Capen Road in South Gardiner and lived there for the rest of his life. He died in South Gardiner on 1 May 1830. According to Family tradition, in addition to being a farmer he was a mill worker, and a raftsman, handling logs on the Kennebec river for the mill and lumber yard.

On 20 Nov 1785, at the age of 19, he married JANE TODD BLAIR of Woolwich, Sagadahoc Co., Me. She was the daughter of James and Jane (Todd) Blair of Woolwich. At this time he was noted in the records as being "of Gardiner". Nothing has yet been found concerning him prior to his marriage. His wife Jane died in South Gardiner, her birth and death dates are not known.

As to where Joseph C. Atkins originated nothing has been discovered. There were Atkins familys in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. If he wasn't from Maine then he was one of the multitude of New Englanders and foreign emigrants who arrived in Maine immediately after the Revoultionary War.

George T. Little, in his "Genealogy And Family History Of The State Of Maine", 1909, seemed at first reading to shed some light on Joseph's origins, he stated that Joseph was English and the first of his family to settle in this country. This may well be correct, however, the credibility and/or motives of Little's unknown source become suspect after considering another bit of information presented, that "he (Joseph) died when his children were young and no family history was handed down". In fact Joseph died at the age of 64 when his eldest child, Mary Atkins Mooers, was 42 years old, and he had at least twenty grandchildren at the time of his death.

In the late 1960's and 1970's in Maine, the eldest of his descendants questioned on the subject of his origins had no idea where he came from. There seemed to be no family tradition at all that would place his nativity or parents. Several made vague refrences to England but it appeared upon further examiation that Little's biography in "Genealogy And Family History Of The State Of Maine" was the source. Its quite obvious that Joseph had ample opportunity to pass on his family history to his children, and, despite what George T. Little had to say on the subject, due to the fact that most of the material in Little's book seems to have been provided by descendants and not his own research, you can't believe eveything you read. Whoever provided Little with the Atkins material for his "Mug Book" gave him incorrect information. This was either unintentional, in the belief that it was true, or intentional for any number of reasons. It could be that Joseph himself didn't have anything to say on the subject, or maybe he did and his children felt they didn't care to pass it along. Whatever the reason may have been - the end result is that the question of where Joseph C. Atkins originated is still unanswered. CHILDREN: