Lincolnville's Levensellers

January 28, 1989

By Isabel Morse Maresh

The conditions under which the early German settlers came to Waldoboro were very harsh. They were lied to and promised conditions that never materialized. These families sold all their belongings and left their families and friends. They were promised a common house to live in until their land could be cleared and houses built. They were allowed to bring meager essentials in a small trunk. One delay after another kept them at a European port until late in the season, and then they were loaded onto ships in very crude conditions. The trip was rough, and many were seasick. The only water was barrels of rainwater which became insect infected. It was said that if there was no chance of a pregnant mother and her unborn child surviving because of complications at birth, the woman was put through the porthole to a watery grave, sometimes before her last breath had been drawn.

The settlers arrived on the shores of Old Broadway Waldoboro in October, only to find that neither living quarters nor provisions had been made. It was a hard winter for the group and only the hearty survived.

One of the descendants of the early German settlers was Frank Levenseller born in 1837, the son of Hezekiah and Margaret (Dean) Levenseller, married first Jennie Luce. they settled at the foot of the mountain and by the lake in Lincolnville which now bears their name. The area had first been settled by the Thomas family, and the pond was originally Thomas pond. But down through the years Thomas Pond eventually became Levenseller Pond.

Frank and Jennie Levenseller had one son, John Wesley, who was a Millman in Searsmont. Jennie died young, and Frank married her cousin, Cynthia Luce, and they had three children, Edgar Frank who went to Washington State, Addie P., who married Howard Elms, and Jennie Marie who married John Wilbur Morse of Belmont and had eight children. (Jennie died at age 30 in childbirth, having her eighth child).

Frank Levenseller was a town selectman and town clerk of the town of Lincolnville, and he served as superintendent of schools. He taught 50 terms as a schoolmaster. A few years ago a descendant found a small leather notebook in which he had kept the names and ages of every student in his district from 1894 to 1896.

There is a story told that he was quick-witted and that he and his daughter Jennie would play mind games to see who could figure columns of numbers in their heads. The day that Jennie beat him, was the last time he played the game.

Frank Levenseller died in 1911, just one year after his wife Cynthia passed away, in their home overlooking the pond which bore his name.