David Learned (1767 - 1811)

Born 14 Feb 1767 in Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Hurd) Learned — married 16 Mar 1788 in Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 1811 at about age 43 in at sea

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Biography

Birth

David Learned was born at Oxford, Massachusetts, on 14 Feb 1767, the son of Ebenezer Learned and Jerusha (Baker) Learned.^[1]

Marriage

David Learned married Mary Hurd at Oxford, Massachusetts, on 16 Mar 1788.^[2]

Residences and Career

David and Mary Learned came to Livermore, Maine (then in Massachusetts) shortly after their 1788 marriage. David is not listed among the heads of families residing in the town in 1789, but he was elected as a selectman in the first town meeting after incorporation of the town in 1795,^[3] and David and Mary recorded children there starting in 1792.^[4] The 2010 history of Livermore says he was there by 1790 and that he later opened the first store in town in 1791,^[5] and he built a sawmill at the outlet of Bartlett's Pond on the Androscoggin River,^[6] he represented Livermore in the Massachusetts Legislature.^[7]

In 1805, David Learned was instrumental in forming the new counrty of Oxford, which incorporated his home town of Livermore. Supposedly it was named at his suggestion after his home town of Oxford in Worcester County. He served at the first sheriff of the new county.^[8]

David Learned was a brigadier general in the Massachusetts militia.^[9]

"An article in the The East Livermore and Livermore Register, 1903-04 says that upon formation of Oxford County in 1805 and his selection as sheriff, General David Learned had "seen service in the war which had recently closed."^[7] It is unclear as to which war the article refers to; the Revolution had been over for more than 20 years (and David Learned was only 14 at the end of active hostilities in 1781).

Death

David Learned died in 1811 on a voage from New Orleans to Boston.Cite error 2; Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no content must have a name

Research Note

The following is from the FindAGrave memorial of his son, David Hurd Learned:

According to the History of Livermore, by Ira T. Monroe, 1928: "LEARNED, DAVID, GEN. D. 1811, aged 44; m. Mary Hurd, d. 1863, aged 97. He came from Oxford, Mass., in 1790, and settled on Lot 50, which included the farms of Israel Washburn and Otis Pray. He was the first trader in town and his store stood south of the Norlands Church, near the site of Otis Pray's buildings. In 1800 he sold goods to the amount of $500, and also built a sawmill at the outlet of Bartlett's Pond. He sold the south half of his lot to Bartholomew Woodbury of Sutton, Mass., which included the Pray farm, and the remainder to Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, which is the Israel Washburn homestead, and built, just over the line, on Lot 51, a new house, now known as the W. P. Washburn place or "Oxford House." When the County of Oxford was formed in 1805, Gen. Learned christened it in honor of his native town. He was the first Sheriff of the County and as such according to the old law, collected the County tax, and absconded. Returning home from New Orleans in 1844, he died on shipboard and was buried at sea. The ship's captain wrote a letter to Mrs. learned, giving the circumstances of Learned's death and enclosed a lock of his hair and his gold band ring. The Masons, of Oriental Star Lodge, to which Leaned belonged, assisted the widow Learned in many ways, and Capt. Otis Pray, a near neighbor, and also a member of the Lodge, preserved this letter, and it was at the home of Pray that I saw the lock of hair and ring and read the letter."^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Oxford, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester, 1905), page 68
2. ↑ Vital Records of Oxford, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester, 1905), page 195
3. ↑ Israel Washburn, Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore, in Androscoggin (Formerly in Oxford) County, Maine (Portland, Me., 1874), page 9
4. ↑ Vital Records of Livermore, Maine; Vital and town records, 1797-1910; "Livermore Vital Records, 1786-1840," page 54; FHL Microfilm 11332, Image 58 of 718
5. ↑ Reginald H. Sturtevant, A History of Livermore, Maine, Second Edition (Trafford Publishing, n.p., 2010), page 90 for 1790, page 97 for first store
6. ↑ Israel Washburn, Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore, in Androscoggin (Formerly in Oxford) County, Maine (Portland, Me., 1874), page 44
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} The East Livermore and Livermore Register, 1903-04 (1903 - East Livermore, Me., 1903), page 66
8. ↑ Charles W. Watermnan, "Joseph Robinson Parrott," Sprague's Journal of Maine History, 4:29 (1916)
9. ↑ Israel Washburn, Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore, in Androscoggin (Formerly in Oxford) County, Maine (Portland, Me., 1874), page 24
10. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #63026895 of David Hurd Learned (1792-1802)