This is a condensation of a tape recording of the October 21, 1980 meeting of the Alexander-Crawford Historical Society. Alexander and Crawford are neighboring towns in Washington County, Maine - very close to the New Brunswick border. People who took part in this meeting are Jane Dudley, president of the society, and Ellen Fenlason. As in previous submissions, any names or other words that I couldn't understand well enough to be sure of my transcription are in italics. Comments, explanations, and additional names are in parentheses. Direct quotes from the tape are in quotation marks. I am going to break this tape into two parts because of it's length. Jane Dudley opened the meeting. "This is October 21, 1980 at Pocomoonshine Lake. We are in the Dudley's cabin and this is Jane Dudley speaking. We are gathered here at the Alexander-Crawford Historical Society board members, and also regular members and we have with us Ellen Fenlason of Danforth, wife of Harold Fenlason. Harold's family goes back very far in our Alexander-Crawford community." Ellen Fenlason gave the following account of the early settlement of the area. There were 16 original settlers of Machias. One family was Samuel Scott and Susan Perry and their children: Nathaniel, Sarah, Rosemond, Samuel, Wallace, Jesse, William, Mark, John, Pamela, and Perry. (There is a problem here about whether Ellen Fenlason gave the wrong name, "Samuel Scott," or if she meant that the husband's full name was "Samuel Scott Fenlason," because she names his grandson as Mark Fenlason.) These children were born in Machias. Wallace was in the battle of the Margaretta. (For an account of the battle see the last paragraph at <http://www.surfpac.navy.mil/shipsnav/Obrien/obhist.htm>.) One of Wallace's sons, Mark Fenlason, married Sally Elsmore, daughter of Moses Elsmore and Lydia Andrews, daughter of Ephraim and Anna Andrews. Their marriage intentions were probably published October 20, 1812. Ellen Fenlason continued by saying, "But, there seems to be some confusion between the date that they were married and their intentions, and I have found quite a few mistakes in that so don't start counting because I'm not sure exactly when Sally and Mark were married but they were married." Mark Fenlason and Sally Elsmore's first child was Sally who was born in Machias and married Rowland Cushing Dudley who came from Winslow, Maine. They had nine children. The microfilm of the Alexander town records starts with the first child born in Alexander, Freeman Putnam Fenlason, son of Mark and Sally, born June 14, or 15, 1814. Other children of Mark and Sally Fenlason were Mary Ann, Daniel Alan, Lydia, Nancy, Mark Harris, Ruth Ellen, Hannah, and Moses Cilla Fenlason. Mark Harris Fenlason was born in 1825 and "he married a Getchell girl and they moved out to Minnesota, and I have all of their history from a lady out there, Alice Fenlason who is related to Freeman's brother." Sally Fenlason was evidently already married when her father, Mark Fenlason, died in May 1838, because the family is listed on page 66 of the microfilmed Alexander town records but Sally was not included. Sally (Elsmore) Fenlason was left with the rest of the children, the youngest being Moses who was six. "Sally must have been very poor because she didn't put Mark's will into probate until 1844, and I have - I got down to the courthouse the records of this probate. I don't have the will, but I have the people that were appointed to take an inventory of the goods that were left, and I have the actual inventory. This would give you an idea of this poor little family. They had three hardwood bedsteads worth three dollars; a writing desk worth a dollar; a timepiece, three dollars; a half dozen chairs, fifty cents; a dining room table, a dollar fifty; a light stand, looks like 37 and ½ cents; a cupboard, a dollar fifty; two wooden chests, fifty cents; a small looking glass, seventeen cents; two feather beds, eight dollars; two quilts, two dollars, two comforters, fifty cents; quantity of cooking ware, a dollar; a big kettle, fifty cents; and this is one tea something and that was fifty cents. Then we had six pair of sheets for a dollar; a loom, eight dollars; a small wheel, two dollars; a brass kettle, one dollar; a pair of shovels and tongs, seventy five cents. And, the grand total of Sally's worldly goods according to the inventory was $45.09 and a half cents." Freeman Putnam Fenlason was married to Harriet Newell Dunne November 2, 1837 by the Reverend George Childs, in Alexander. Their children included Myra Adelaide, born November 4, 1839 and called Maria in the 1850 census; Elvira Evelyn, "but on the 1850 census that was listed as Alvin E., so I don't know whether it was male or female. I didn't check the ‘m' or the ‘f'"; Charles Weston, some of whose relatives moved to the Boston area; Harris Freeman who moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1852. Alice Fenlason of Minneapolis, told Ellen Fenlason that "for years and years her family thought that Mark must have had a quarrel with his family because they had never heard anything about his relatives."