Mary Gorham (Phinney) Irish (1736 - 1825)

Born 13 Aug 1736 in Gorham, York, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Wife of James Irish Jr. — married 10 Mar 1756 in Maine

Descendants

Died 13 May 1825 at age 88 in Gorham, Cumberland, Maine, USA

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Biography

Mary Gorham Phinney was born to John and Martha (Coleman) Phinney August 13, 1736, in Gorham, Maine.^[1] She was the first white child born in Gorham, Maine.^[2]

Mary married James Irish, May, 1756, at Falmouth, Maine.^[3]

Mary and James had nine children.^[2]

Mary died May 13, 1825, at age 89,^[2] in Gorham, Maine.^[4]

In 1777, when their youngest child was but one year old, the husband, James Irish, Jr., was called into service in the war of the Revolution, leaving the care and support of this large family of children entirely to his wife. Ancestors and Descendants of Asa Irish, 1620-1932; Jennie J. Wight Howes; Dingley Press 1932 " Early in the war of the Revolution her husband was summond to the service of his country. During his absence she supported her family by spinning and weaving by hand and selling the products of her toil at Portland, fourteen miles distant from her home, whither she carried them over frightful roads on horseback, returning with a fresh supply of raw material for the wheel and loom. While Mrs. Irish was a woman of the heroic type, she possessed the kindlier instincts of her sex. In a year of unusual scarcity of food (1780), although her own larder was not overstocked, she put her children on allowance, that she might relieve the hunger of her neighbors' children." The Sketches of Gen James Irish of Gorham, Maine, 1776-1863 Lyndon Oak.

Sources

1. ↑ Maine Vital Records, 1670-1907, database with images, FamilySearch : accessed 19 February 2016, Mary Gorham Phinney, 1736.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} McLellan, Hugh Davis History of Gorham, Maine, published 1902. Reference page 584, 78.
3. ↑ Maine Vital Records, 1670-1907, database with images, FamilySearch : accessed 19 February 2016, James Irish and Mary Gorham Phinney, 1756.
4. ↑ Maine Vital Records, 1670-1907, database with images, FamilySearch : accessed 19 February 2016, Mary Gorham Irish, 1825.

See also:

• WikiTree profile Phinney-69 created through the import of oldweymouth families072011.GED on Jul 5, 2011 by Alyson X.