Mary M. (1 Jun 1798-14 May 1865) — m. Joseph Hall
Nathaniel (29 Jun 1800-13 Feb 1874) — m. Sarah Hoar in 1821
William (3 Jun 1802-23 Mar 1873) — m. Mary Quimby
John Jr. (20 Jun 1804-9 Oct 1882) — m. Cordelia Fairbanks; m. Adaline ???
(Rev.) Elijah Elisha (6 Jul 1806-6 Jan 1873) — m. Aurilla Blethen on 20 Apr 1827
Abigail (16 Apr/Aug 1808-8 Oct 1886) — m. Daniel Reed Quimby
Elizabeth “Betsy” (16 Feb 1811-24 Jun 1891) — m. David Hoar
(Rev.) Edward (20 May 1813-12 Feb 1879) — m. Eunice Wilbur
Abner (15 Apr 1815-21 Mar 1880) — m. Phoebe Wilbur on 26 Oct 1837
John was the youngest of nine children born to Ebenezer Toothaker (1740-1788) and Margaret Thompson (~1741-????) of Harpswell, Cumberland County, Maine.
Deborah was also from Harpswell, daughter of Paul Raymond (~1744-????) of probably Harpswell and Mollie Eastman (5 Nov 1745-????) from Chester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. She was a midwife.
John and Deborah married around 1797 in Bowdoin, Sagadahoc County, and appear to have lived in Great Island (briefly) and then Bowdoinham (more than a decade) before moving inland by 1810 to the new town of Rangeley in what later became Franklin County.
The 1840 census for Franklin County listed two John Toothakers, one in Phillips and one in Rangeley. The Phillips entry was John, Jr. and his family. John, Sr. and Deborah were the couple in their sixties in Rangeley. The same page of the Rangeley census showed four households headed by their sons Nathaniel, William, Edward, and Abner Toothaker.
John died in 1840. He’s buried in Riverside Cemetery, Phillips.
In 1850 and 1860, Deborah was living with son Abner and his family in Rangeley. She died in 1863 and is buried with John. As the name promises, Riverside Cemetery is on the southern/western bank of the Sandy River near the center of Phillips.
John traces back to Roger Toothaker and his wife Mary Allen of Billerica in 17th century Massachusetts. Roger’s parents brought him over from England as a baby in 1635 aboard the Hopewell. He grew up to be a farmer, a folk healer, and a self-proclaimed expert on how to detect and kill witches. He apparently didn’t stop to consider that his methods sounded very much like witchcraft, so his arrest in May 1692 during the Salem witch hysteria probably came as a shock. His wife Mary, their daughter Martha, and Mary’s sister Martha Allen Carrier were later arrested as well.
Roger died in Salem prison awaiting trial. Mary’s sister Martha was executed on 5 Aug 1692. One of those testifying against her was Roger’s son Allen, her nephew. Mary pleaded guilty, but was later found not guilty. She and her daughter Martha were released in 1693 after people had calmed down and maybe started to be a little ashamed. Indians had burned down their farm in Billerica while they were in prison. In a later Indian raid in 1695, Mary was killed, and her youngest child, Margaret, age 12, was kidnapped and never seen again.
There are several morals to this story, but I’ll leave it to others to unpack them.
The line of descent from John R. Toothaker’s parents back to Roger the witch-hunter’s parents:
Ebenezer TOOTHAKER (1740-1788) + Margaret THOMPSON (~1741-????)
Ebenezer TOOTHAKER (3 Jan 1717/1718-179x) + Mary Mercy HALL (~1721-????)
Andrew TOOTHAKER (4 Oct 1679-~1760) + Abigail ?WHITE? (~1680-????)
Roger TOOTHAKER, Jr. (27 Nov 1634-16 Jun 1692) + Mary ALLEN (~1644/1648-5 Aug 1695)
Roger TOOTHAKER, Sr. (????-1638) + Margaret ????
http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-toothaker-family-witches-or-witch-killers/
https://www.geni.com/people/John-Toothaker/5180379952130039579 -- John’s family
https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/john-toothaker_25720472 -- Ditto; bogus dates
https://www.myheritage.com/names/john_toothaker -- Various John Toothakers
https://www.geni.com/people/Paul-Raymond/6000000015985625776 -- Deborah’s parents
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2HKS-HWN -- 1811 birth of Betsy
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2HKS-DNL -- 1815 birth of Abner
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHY5-CSY -- 1840 census, Phillips
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHY5-HGN -- 1840 census, Rangeley
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39829156 -- John’s grave; links to others
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6JP-8YW -- 1850 census, Deborah; who was David?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDH5-LTW -- 1860 census, Deborah
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJP-THPG -- 1863, Deborah’s burial
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39829196 -- Deborah’s grave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65753068/elijah-elisha-toothaker -- 1873 grave of Elijah
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2HKS-W7S -- 1891 death of Betsy
http://www.blethenfirearms.com/Blethen/pafg09.htm -- Elijah's wife and their children; wrong year of death for Elijah
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KC6W-ZB8 -- 1894 death of a Jane Toothaker Young, daughter of Deborah