David Kenniston (abt. 1759 - 1843)

Descendants

Biography

There is no conclusive evidence of who his mother was. His father John is briefly mentioned in the History of Boothbay book as having fought in the battle of Culloden Muir during the Jacobite rising of 1745. John took a French cruiser to the United States right after. There is no significant evidence of John's wife, nor children other than he had 6 sons.

From Greene's History of Boothbay, Southport and Boothday Harbor, Maine:^[1] KENNISTON1 DAVID KENNISTON came to Boothbay a few years after the Revolution closed and purchased what for almost a century was known as the Kenniston homestead at B. Ctr. His father was a Scotch refugee after the battle of Culloden Muir, 1746, coming at once to America in a French cruiser, landing at Norfolk, Va. He was John Kenniston, or as the name has variously been spelled, Kenniston, Kenerson or Canaston. He married in America and set. in N. H., in the vicinity of Nottingham, where the fam. was once, during the colonizing period, attacked by Indians and their house burned. They had six sons, in order, David, Joseph, Isaac, Joshua, Samuel, Thomas. The two former served in the Rev. War and located in Maine after it closed. David was b. in 1759. He m. (1) Sarah. dau. of Jeremiah Beath, 1789; (2) Betsey, wid. of Samuel Day and dau. of David Reed, 1797. He died May 9, 1843; Sarah, w., d. Dec. 12, 1798; Betsey, w., d. Mar. 10, 1844. David Kenniston was a leading member in the first church, particularly during the pastorate of Rev. Isaac Weston, for whom he had strong admiration and warm friendship. He has been described to the author as a tall, erect man of dark complexion, hair and eyes, with prominent features and stern, energetic manner. Children:

2 John, b. July 5, 1790; set. in Eastern Maine.

3 Asa, b. Aug. 27, 1792; lived in Exeter and Newport; d. past 80; unm.

4 Sarah, b. Feb. 11, 1793; went to Mass.; trace lost.

5 Thomas Beath, b. Dec. 2, 1798; m. Margery W. Ingraham, Ma; set. together with his wife's fam. in Levant.

6 Polly, b. Oct. 2, 1798; m. Willard Thorpe, q. v.

7 Stephen, b. June 10. 1800; m. Mrs. Mary S., wid. of Frederick Lewis and slats. of Capt. Andrew McFarland, 1822; set, in Machias and later rem. to Chelsea, Mass. He had a fans. of several chit.

8 Margaret, b. Apr. 3, 11,04; m. Robert Spinney, q. v.

9. William, b. Nov. 9, 1808, q. v.

David Kenniston was born around 1757 in New Hampshire^[2].

He married Sarah Beath on 27 August 1789 in Wiscasset, Maine^[3]. They had four children^[2]:

1. John, born 5 Jul 1790

2. Asa, born 27 Aug 1792; never married

3. Sarah, born 11 Feb 1793; went to Massachusetts

4. Thomas Beath, born 2 Dec 1796; married Margery Ingraham

After Sarah's death in 1796, he married Elizabeth (Reed) Day, a widow, on 3 December 1797 in Boothbay^[4]. They had four children^[2]:

5. Polly, born 2 Oct 1798; married Willard Thorpe

6. Stephen, born 10 Jun 1800; married Mary (McFarland) Lewis

7. Margaret, born 3 Apr 1804; married Robert Spinney

8. William, born 9 Nov 1806; married 1st Emily Dodge, 2nd Mary Huff, 3rd Mrs. Octavia Woodward

David died on 9 May 1843 in Boothbay^[5] and is buried in Kenniston Cemetery^[6].

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Patriotic Service Description: Served in 1st, 2nd and 3rd NH Regts. History of Boothbay by Green.

Sources: 28th-35th Annual Reports, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Senate documents (United States Congress, Senate). Government Printing Office: Washington, DC

Spouse:

(1) Sarah Beath m. 27 Aug 1789^[7]

(2) Elizabeth Reed m. 3 Dec 1797^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Greene, Francis Byron. 1906. History of Boothbay, Southport and Boothday Harbor, Maine. Portland [Me]: Loring, Short & Harmon.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Greene, Francis B. History of Boothbay, Southport and Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 1623 - 1905. Portland, Maine: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1906. Page 554.
3. ↑ "Maine Marriages, 1771-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4XF-9YB : 10 February 2018), David Caniston and Sarah Beath, 27 Aug 1789; citing Wiscasset, Lincoln, Maine, reference ; FHL microfilm 12,309.
4. ↑ "Maine Marriages, 1771-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F46Q-JJD : 10 February 2018), David Kenneston and Elizabeth Day, 03 Dec 1797; citing Boothbay, Maine, reference ; FHL microfilm 9,814.
5. ↑ "Maine, Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXQ8-3GM : 13 March 2018), David Kenniston, 09 May 1843; citing Death, Boothbay, Maine, United States, State Archives, Augusta; FHL microfilm 1,001,838.
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #107880480
7. ↑ "Maine Marriages, 1771-1907", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4XQ-R8N : 14 January 2020), David Caniston, 1789.
8. ↑ "Maine Marriages, 1771-1907", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F46Q-JJD : 14 January 2020), David Kenneston, 1797.

• "Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ5-H7C4 : 1 March 2021), David Kenniston, 1843; citing Boothbay Center, Lincoln, Maine, United States, Old Cemr Cemetery, Maine State Library, Augusta; FHL microfilm 1,315,434.