Paula (my daughter in Maine who loves to dig too) and I were researching in the Camden Library and came across a book called "The West Rockport We Love" by Earl M. Tolman. We were shocked when we came across "our Abraham Norwood". We had been searching for him for quite a while.

This is what Earl Tolman wrote:

Abraham Norwood Family of West Camden (Overlook Farm on Norwood's Hill)

Abraham Norwood (believed to have come from Marshfield, Mass.) purchased some land, first around the St. George area. Later he came to East Thomaston (now Rockland) and met and married Frances Fanny Tolman (daughter of Isaiah 2nd and Elizabeth Gregory Tolman). Both the Tolmans and the Gregorys were the first settlers of the shore village and the Clam Cove areas.

Abraham Norwood is believed to be from the same family as Capt. William Norwood (1760-1824) who settled first at North Haven. William married Deborah Winslow January 8, 1804 in Marshfield.

During the war of 1812, Capt. William Norwood moved from North Haven to Camden and enetered into the mercantile business and became one of Camden's most prominent citizens.

Soon after Abraham and Frances married, they purchased a large tract of land from The Twenty Associates on Madambette Mountain (sometimes called the Burnt Lands) in the County of Lincoln and the Commonwealth of Mass. Abraham and Frances Norwood built a large stand of farm buildings, one of the show places of the area at the time. This was known for many years as the Overlook Farm on Norwood Hill. Here Abraham and Frances established a milk business throughout the towns of Camden, Rockland and Thomaston under the name of Overlook Dairy Farm.

Abraham and Frances Norwood raised their family at Norwood's Hill .. Their children were:

1...John.......born June 13, 1797
2...William....born April 10, 1800
3...Elizabeth..born April 22, 1802...married John M. Tolman
4...Joshua.....born Feb. 28, 1804....married Margaret
5...Calvin.....born September 6, 1806
6...Sally......born January 3, 1809
7...George.....born November 3, 1811

In the book, there is also a picture of Norwood Hill. Paula and I drove up to where we thought Norwood Hill was and stopped on the top where there were but two houses. The owner of one of the houses came out (kinda suspiciously, I might add) and we told her our story. I think what saved us was this 70 year old, little white-haired lady along with my very pretty daughter. We looked out over the mountain seeing what our ancestors had seen..........sort of like enjoying it with them.

It was very inspiring.

Jackie

Return to The Norwood Family Page

Go to Abraham Norwood Genealogy

E-mail Jackie