Abraham2 Anderson is said to have moved from Marblehead, Ma. to New Marblehead, Me. (now Windham) about 1738. He was the fifth settler to Windham and located on Home Lot #36, in the first division of 10 acre lots. He was the first settler to locate himself away from the river. According to the records, Lot #36 was the original right of a Benjamin Hendley in a petition provided on 20 Nov 1734 by the Great General Court for His Majesty's Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England.
Abraham2, who probably purchased Lot #36 from Benjamin Hendley, also became the owner of Lots #37 & #38, previously owned by Samuel Lee and Benjamin James, respectively. Abraham2 went on to become a large land owner in the Town of Windham and for many years did a considerable bit of lumbering. The records also show that "he was a man of sound judgment, honest and upright in his dealings, exceedingly hospitable, good humored, and was greatly respected in his community".
An original document discovered in the Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 117, page 481, by the Rev. George M. Bodge, entitled, "An account of the settlement at New Marblehead, Me. (Windham) 26 April 1759" shows that on Lot #36 in the year 1740, Abraham2 Anderson had cleared 15 acres and had built a house. (Additional acreage had been added to each lot, by a 1735 ruling ). On Lot #37, 15 acres had been cleared and a "rotten down" house stood on the land. On Lot #38, fourteen acres were cleared and a house then standing, built by said Abraham2 Anderson.
While all this labor was in progress, the settlers, as a group, began the erection of the Old Province Fort, built on Lot #33 and originally drawn for the ministry. It was built on the east side of the main road, very near to the center of the various lots and on the most elevated point of the land in the area. The site of this ancient fort, (as of the year 1910) was on land owned by the heirs of the late Col. Edward4 Anderson, a grandson of Abraham2
In conjunction with this fort, and at a proprietor's meeting held at Marblehead, Ma., 30 July 1744, it was voted to request of the Governor of Massachusetts to give authority to raise "Snow Shoe Companies" in various parts of the Maine frontier, to consist of 50 able bodied men, and to hold themselves in readiness in the event of war, and to march at the "shortest warning" against the enemy. Each man was to provide himself with a "good pair of snow shoes, one pair of moggisons, and one hatchet." In the Mass. Archives is found a list of a "Snow Shoe Company" of 50 men under the command of Capt. Domini Jordan, in the Cty. of York, agreeable to his Excellency's Command. Included in this list, is the name of Abraham2 Anderson. These were the "Minute Men" of our about to be republic.
During the summer of 1754, when the Indian War broke out, the settlers were compelled to take refuge in their fort and leave the various farms they had worked so hard to prepare. Any land cultivation had to be done under the protection of armed guards. One of the encounters of that period has been recorded by the Rev. Thomas Smith in a daily journal, dated 14 May 1756, as well as in the Maine Historical & Genealogical Recorder, by the Rev. George M. Bodge of East Boston, Ma. as follows:
"Ezra Brown and Ephraim Winship started out on that morning (14 May 1756) to work upon a portion of Brown's farm, about a mile northeast from the fort. A detail of the guards for that day were appointed to accompany them, for it was the custom for all able bodied men of the plantation to take turns in the guarding. The guard detailed on this morning consisted of Abraham2 Anderson, probably in command, Stephen Manchester, Joseph Sterling, John Farrow, and four boys, viz.: Timothy Colin Cloutman, Gershom Winship, Stephen Tripp and Thomas Manchester. Brown and Winship, impatient to get started to their work, left out ahead of their guard group, some sixty rods, following a winding wood road, to the back range of lots. They had passed beyond sight of their guards into a hollow, where the woods were dense, and near where a brook ran across the road. A party of Indians were lying in wait and suddenly shot a volley from their ambush near at hand, killing Ezra Brown upon the spot, and shooting Ephraim Winship in the arm and one eye, so that he fell as if dead. The Indians rushed forward to scalp their victims, and were still engaged when the guards, alarmed by the shots, came down upon them. The guards had divided however, upon the alarm, so that Sterling and Farrow, with the two boys, Tripp & Manchester, hastened back to the fort for additional help. Meanwhile, Mr Anderson, calling out in a voice of command, "follow on my lads" as though he had a whole company along, and followed by Stephen Manchester and the other two boys, Cloutman and Winship, pressed forward towards the enemy. The Indians hastily fled and concealed themselves upon the sight of our little band, evidently thinking it to be a much larger force. As the little party seems to have spread out somewhat, Manchester passed to the right of Mr. Anderson, by thus stood concealed and watching for an advantage, Mr. Anderson, by some incautious movement, drew fire from one of the Indians, whose shot however was without effect. The "savage" in his haste to reload, and watching for a return shot from Anderson, became exposed to Manchester's deliberate aim, and was by him shot and killed. Upon his fall the Indians set up a great yelling and rushed together about his body, while the rest of our little company's muskets were emptied into their midst, either killing or mortally wounding two more Indians. The enemy then hastily gathered up their fallen comrades and fled for their lives, leaving behind everything but their arms and such articles of clothing as they had on at the time. The unexpected sharp attack of Mr. Anderson's little company evidently threw them in disorder, and then the shot of Stephen Manchester, by which, as was found afterwards, their leader fell, completed their demoralization, and when the last volley was poured into their midst as they gathered about their fallen chief, they became panic stricken. Seizing their dead and wounded, they vanished without stopping to go back to their wigwams or trying to recover any of their property. So our "little army" of two men and two boys, all unconscious of their victory reloaded their muskets and waited for some further movement of the foe. But they also were awaiting for the expected reinforcements from the garrison, which did come after a while, much to their relief".
At length, the war closed down in 1756 and the men were able to return to their long unattended farms, only to find the roughly hewn log houses "rotted down" and badly in need of repair.
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