The Ulster-Scots of Maine – First Families
Surnames D - E
Members of the Maine Ulster Scots Project and its many friends have combined known family histories with many published sources to provide the following brief family digests.
The information comes from many sources, some accurate and some questionable, and is therefore only intended to be a guide toward further investigation.
This first families project is a work in progress and we ask for your feedback, additions and corrections by emailing: info@MaineUlsterScots.com
DAGGETT
William Daggett married Rebecca in Scotland. Their children were: Suzannah, William, Ebenezer, Samuel, and Capt. Thomas Daggett.
Thomas Daggett was born in Scotland in 1683. He died in about 1746. He married Lydia and their children were: Lydia, Rebecca, Susannah, and Hannah A.
Hannah A. Daggett was born July 22, 1725. She married Thomas Armstrong. They bought a lot of land in North Yarmouth, District of Maine.
DAUGHERTY / DOHERTY
Samuel Daugherty was born in 1747 in Ulster, Ireland. He married Mary Martin on January 30, 1778, in Leicester, Massachusetts Bay Colony. They had a son, William, who was born on November 19, 1781, in Greenwich, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He married Nancy Maxcy in 1808 in Union, District of Maine.
DECKER / DEKKER
David and Eunice (b. 1717; d. 1810). Decker settled in Cape Newagen Island and removed to Whitefield, District of Maine. Their children were: John, Thomas, William, and Abraham. John (b. 1735; m. Hannah Kean; son, Joseph, removed to Freetown [m. Sarah Davis]); William (m. Molly Decker were at Jerrymisquam in 1771. No information is available on William Decker.
We are not sure if the Deckers were from the north of Ireland.
DICKEY
John Dickey, who was in Warren, District of Maine by 1753, subsequently removed to Stirling. He was born in 1730 and died in 1800. He married Nancy Patten. Their children were: John, William, Waldo, James, Margaret, and David. The fact that he was in Warren in 1753, indicates that he may have been of Scottish ancestry as in 1753, a number of Scots came to Warren.
Elias Dickey was born in 1706 in County Antrim, Ireland. He married Rosanna McDaniel on February 7, 1743, in Londonderry, Province of New Hampshire. He died on February 7, 1755, in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Elias and Rosanna’s child was William David (b. 1744 in Londonderry, Province of New Hampshire; m. Eleanor Wilson on January 23, 1764, in Londonderry, Province of New Hampshire; they settled in Lowder’s Brook Sandy Point, District of Maine).
DILL
Daniel Dill Sr. was born in 1629 in Inverness, Scotland. He was likely one of the Scottish prisoners captured by Cromwell on September 3, 1651. His original name was perhaps McDill. He married Dorothy Moore in York, District of Maine. He died at York and she died before 17 March 1693/4. Their children: John (b1666), Daniel Jr. (b 1679 at York), William, Joseph, and Elizabeth.
Daniel Dill Jr. married Elizabeth Foot/Foss/Fost on November 8, 1698 in York, District of Maine. He died on April 2, 1711, in York. Their Children: Mary (b1699), Dorothy (b1700), John (b1703), Daniel (b1705), Dorcas (b1708), and Joseph (b1710/11).
John Dill was born in 1666 and died between 1708-1716. He married Sarah Hutchins. Their children: Mary (b1710 in York), Enoch (b 1712).
As an aside: Robert Spear, born in 1682 in Ulster, married Mary Phinney. They had a daughter, Martha, who married William Ross. Martha and Williams had a daughter named Annie Ross Dill.
Learn more about Daniel Dill and the “Scottish Prisoners” from the Battle of Dunbar: https://spows.org/battle-of-dunbar/battle-of-dunbar-prisoners-of-war/battle-of-dunbar-prisoner-profiles/daniel-dill/
DINSMORE Passenger family - 1718 ‘MacCallum’
John Dinsmore was originally from Achenmead, Scotland and then removed to Ballywatick in the North of Ireland. He emigrated to Boston, Province of Massachusetts in 1718 along with a large group of Scots-Irish. He removed to the District of Maine from Windham, Province of New Hampshire. He was a mason and was asked to help build forts in Maine. He was in St. George before 1722 where he was on the muster roll of Col. Thomas Westbrook.
Westbrook and his men were in Arrowsic to defend the fort there during a large Norridgewock raid and then they went to defend the fort at St. George. John was captured by the Penobscots and was taken to a Penobscot fort in the middle of the Penobscot River but was released three months later. It is thought the Penobscot fort was at the location of Indian Island near Old Town.
After his release by the Penobscots, Dinsmore sailed to Boston and around 1723, went to Windham, Province of New Hampshire, which is now Londonderry, New Hampshire. For his efforts as a scout, he was granted 100 acres of land there. His son, Robert, followed him in 1730. They were both masons and for the lack of bricks built several stone houses and stone chimneys there. They may have also built stone houses in St. George as well.
John was the great-grandfather of Robert Dinsmore, the "Rustic Bard."
View PDF about Robert Dinsmoor
DOUGLAS
John Douglas was born in Scotland about 1695. He was kidnapped and brought to Boston.
Elijah Douglas Sr., son of the above-named John, was born in Middleborough in 1720. He married Phebe Taylor1 on April 27, 1742. She died about 1749. He then married Elizabeth Estes2, daughter of Edward and Patience Estes of Harpswell. Soon after the death of his first wife, Phebe in 1750, Elijah Sr., with two sons, moved to the District of Maine, and purchased (with Benjamin Winslow) one half of New Damariscove Island in Casco Bay. Later, he purchased a part of North Yarmouth, but now belongs to the town of Harpswell. The deed bears the date Jan. 30, 1750-1. He subsequently bought a farm of Mary Hais, on Merriconeag, and built a log-house near what is known as Hais Brook. The farm is now owned by Henry Merryman. Elijah Sr. engaged in shipping wood from Birch Island to Boston. He is said to have been the first of the surnames to join the Society of Friends, having united with them at Falmouth on June 29, 1754. In 1775, he removed to Royalsborough (now Durham).
He died in 1814, at age 94. Children by Phebe Taylor1 were: Daniel (b. 1747) and Cornelius (b. Middleborough, Massachusetts Bay Colony on September 12, 1749). Children by Elizabeth Estes2 were: Joseph (b. in Harpswell, April 8, 1753, an eminent minister of the Friends, d. in Durham, December 22, 1821); Job (b. October 9, 1754); Israel (b. July 17, 1756); Sarah (b. June 13, 1759, m. Benjamin Doughty of Brunswick); Patience (b. March 24, 1761); Mary (b. July 10, 1763, m. David Booker of Harpswell); Elijah Jr. (b. June 23, 1768); and, John b. Nov. 8, 1774.
DRUMMOND
Alexander Drummond was born in Scotland in 1670. He emigrated to Ireland and resided there some time. In 1729, he came to America with his family to settled in the District of Maine at what is known as The Chopps on the Kennebec River, not far from Day's Ferry. He hired a farm from Job Lewis. He was killed by a falling tree the following winter in 1730. He was a widower when he came to this country with his sister and brother. The name of his wife is not known. His descendants lived in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, Georgia, Wisconsin, California, Canada and elsewhere. He had four children: Patrick, James, Frances, and Mary.
Alexander’s son, Patrick Drummond, was born June 11, 1694, in Cappagh, Ireland. He settled in Phippsburg, District of Maine in 1729. He married Margaret (unknown surname)1 and then Susannah Rutherford2, the daughter of Rev. Robert Rutherford. Patrick and Margaret’s1 children were: Ann (McClenachan), Margaret (Williams), Mary, and Elijah. Patrick and Susannah’s2 children were: Jane, John, Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth, Letitia, and Mary Ann.
Alexander’s son James was born in Cappagh, Ireland in about 1700. He came to Georgetown, District of Maine in 1729 with his siblings. His children were: Margaret, Marjorie, Alexander, and James Jr. Capt. Alexander Drummond Sr. was born November 11, 1737. He settled in Georgetown. His son, Alexander Jr., was born March 31, 1767, in Arrowsic.
DUNBAR
Col. David Dunbar was a leader in an attempt to establish a colony named “Georgia” named after King George III. The colony later was known as Pemaquid. He married Mary Parker, daughter of the Archbishop of Dublin. Governor John Belcher referred to Dunbar as “a bullfrog from the Hibernian fens.”
Solomon Dunbar married Priscilla Glidden. Their children were: Susannah (b. 1774), Polly (b. 1778), Ann (b. 1781), and Nancy.
DUNCAN
Dr. Sam Duncan Sr. was born in 1745. He married Hannah Donnell on April 20, 1770, in Brunswick, District of Maine. He died on June 30, 1784, in Brunswick. Sam and Hannah’s children were Philena, Hannah (Crooker), Samuel Eaton (middle name?) Jr., and Lydia (Waldron).
DUNLOP Passenger family - 1718 ‘MacCallum’
Robert Dunlop was born on August 21, 1691, in Haddington, East Lothian, Ayrshire, Scotland. He emigrated to Lurgan, Lough Swilly, County Donegal, Ireland (Ulster Plantation) in the early 1700s. He married Mary Wilson in 1718. Mary Wilson was born in 1694, in Clogher (Old Kinard), County Antrim, Ireland. Robert and Mary emigrated in 1718, on the ship, MacCallum, from Port Coleraine, Ireland to Merrymeeting Bay. They bought 220 acres of land on the Topsham Settlement (Kennebec River Valley Plantation), District of Maine. Robert purportedly owned and operated a paint shop along the banks of the Androscoggin River which burned to the ground in 1738 (Old Bath Times). Robert died on April 29, 1771, in Topsham. Mary Wilson died December 8, 1785, in Topsham but may be buried in Pownalborough. Their daughter, Margaret Dunlop, married James Potter of Topsham on December 14, 1741.
Julie A. Potter-Dunlop of MUSP is a direct descendant of the Robert Dunlop and Mary Wilson lineage.
DUNLAP
Rev. Robert Dunlap, nephew to Robert Dunlop (above), was born in Ulster in 1715. He was a zealous Presbyterian preacher who survived a shipwreck in 1736. He graduated from seminary school at the University of Edinburgh. He preached at Dracut, Massachusetts Bay Colony and then later at Nobleboro, Townsend, Newcastle, and Brunswick, District of Maine. He died in Brunswick at age 61. His grandson was Governor Robert Pinckney Dunlap, 11th Governor of the State of Maine.
DUNNING Passenger family - 1718 ‘MacCallum’
Andrew Dunning Sr. was born about 1664 in Ulster, Ireland, He came to America in 1717 from Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland in 1717. He settled in Georgetown, District of Maine for a while and then bought land in Brunswick. He owned Lots 31 and 32 in Maquoit, His family followed him in 1718. They came on the ship, MacCallum from Londonderry, Ireland and dropped anchor in Boston Harbor on September 1, 1718. The same ship then sailed to Merrymeeting Bay on September 8, 1718. He married Susan Bond. Their children were: James, Robert, Andrew Jr., David, and William. He died in Brunswick in January 1736.
James Dunning was born about 1691 in Ulster, Ireland. He married Martha Lithgow on February 12, 1725, in Brunswick. Their children were: Robert, Mary Reed, Susannah (Patten), James, Margaret (Campbell), William, David, and John.
Robert was born in Ireland. He settled in Mauquoit.
Andrew Jr. was born about 1702 in Ireland.
David Dunning was born in 1705 in Ireland. He came with his family in 1717. He was killed in a battle with the Norridgwocks in 1722. He married Mary Farren1 and then Mary Lithgow2 who was the widow of Adam Hunter. She was 80 years old at the time of the marriage.
William Dunning settled in York, but his sons settled in Harpswell.
ELDER Passenger family - 1718 ‘Robert’
Robert Elder came to Cape Elizabeth, District of Maine from Admore, County Antrim, Ireland.
Samuel Elder was also from Ardmore, County Antrim, Ireland. He settled Gorham, District of Maine. He married a woman with the surname Huston. Their children were: Margaret, William, Isaac, Elizabeth, Eunice, Samuel, and Jane.
ELLIOT
Simon Elliot came to the St. George area, (now Warren, Maine) from Londonderry, Province of New Hampshire. He originally came from the north of Ireland, perhaps Londonderry.
ERSKINE
Alexander Erskine, who was born in 1720 in Londonderry, Ireland, came to America from Ulster in the north of Ireland to Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1746. He married Elizabeth Butters about 1743. Their children were: Margaret, Sarah, Alexander, William, John, Agnes, George, David, and Robert. He removed to Bristol, District of Maine with Shem Drowne to conduct surveys for the Pemaquid Proprietors. He decided to settle in Bristol after acquiring a tract of 1000 acres of land. His land was on both sides of the Pemaquid River. His house was located just west of Biscay Pond, near the outlet. His six sons and three daughters settled in the immediate area. He had an older brother, Ninon, who came to Bristol soon after. Alexander died about 1784 in Bristol.
Ninon Erskine was born in 1705 in Londonderry, Ireland. He married Ann Hamilton. He died in 1795 in Bristol, District of Maine. Their children were: John, William, Alexander, James, Jane, Henry, and Ann.
Christopher Erskine Sr. was born in 1701 in Londonderry, Ireland. He married Rebecca Waters. Their children were: Christopher Jr., George, and Sarah.
Christopher Erskine Jr. was born on May 12, 1734, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He died on February 26, 1825, in Whitefield, Maine.
EWING
Deacon Joseph Ewing Sr. was born in Ireland in 1716. He married Elizabeth Merryman in 1737. He died on October 4, 1790, in Harpswell. Their children were: Catherine, Anna, Alexander, Elizabeth, Margaret, James, and Joseph Jr.