2012 marks the 200th anniversary of America's "Forgotten War," the War of 1812 that took place over three years, 1812 to 1815.
Lt.Col. Martin Nichols' Regiment, militia.
MUSTER ROLL OF CAPT. A.W. ATHERTON'S COMPANY
April 16, 1814, Service at Portland
RANK AND NAME
Abel W. Atherton, Captain
Henry Smith, Lieutenant
John Watson, Ensign
Also: 4 sergeants, 12 corporals, 1 musician and 43 privates.
--Brock-Perry
From the same source as Captain Atherton's 1813 service.
Lieut. Col. M. Nichols' Regiment
Martin Nichols, Lieutenant. Lieutenant Colonel, Portland
John Pratt, Major, Portland
John Storer, Major, Portland
John Sampson, Adjutant, Portland
Edward Barneywell, Adjutant, Portland
Christopher Wright, Quartermaster, Portland
William Swan, Paymaster, Portland
Nathaniel Coffin, Surgeon (Personally, I might have a problem seeking his help with that name.)
John Merrill, Surgeon's Mate, Portland
George Hall, Chaplain
--Brock-Perry
Abel Willard Atherton again commanded a company in the 1814 call out.
--Brock-Perry
We Relate.org has Abel Willard Atherton:
BIRTH: Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
MARRIAGE: 3 July 1809 to Margaret Weeks
DEATH: 15 August 1821 Prospect, Waldo, Maine
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Atherton-2018.one-name.net said he had a brother"
CHARLES ATHERTON: BORN: 16 March 1787, Lancaster, Middlesex, Massachusetts DIED: 3 October 1852, Hancock, Maine. Age 65.
Abel Willard Atherton had a father:
ISRAEL ATHERTON BORN: 20 November 1741, Harvard, Worcester, Massahusetts, DIED: Date unknown.
His mother was R. Prentice.
Little Old Genealogy Me. --Brock-Perry
From the July 2, 2021, Vita Brevis site "July 4 and My Family" by Scott C. Steward.
He was looking around for something to write about things happening to his family on or around July 4.
"On my father's side, my great-great-great-great grandfather Abel Willard Atherton was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts on the first anniversary of Independence Day: July 4, 1777.
"Willard Atherton was in Portland, Maine to marry the widowed Margaret Duncan in 1809, and he died in Castine, Maine in 1821. His daughter, my ancestor Eliza Robinson Atherton, married Samuel Henry Foster of Boston in Portland in 1830; they later lived in New York...."
Footnote: Colonel Abel Willard Atherton (1777-1821) married Margaret (Weeks) Duncan in 1809.
--Brock-Perry
From Wikitree.
Was he the one that was stationed temporarily at Fort Burrows in Portland, Maine?
BORN: 4 July 1777 in Lancaster, Worchester, Massachusetts.
HUSBAND of Margaret (Weeks) Atherton. Married 3 July 1809 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine.
DIED: 16 August 1821 in Castine, Hancock, Maine
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There is a gravestone in Castine Cemetery in Castine, Maine, for Abel Willard Atherton.
He is listed as Colonel Abel Willard Atherton.
He is listed as Col. Abel W. Atherton on Find-A-Grave. The gravestone is in very bad shape.
So, did he get as high as a colonel in the Maine militia?
--Brock-Perry
I did come across Willard Atherton Nichols in a book titled "The Constitution and Register of the Membership of the General Society of the War of 1812" from 1908.
WILLARD ATHERTON NICHOLS was living at Redlands, California, at P.O. Box 536.
He was the grandson of Abel Willard Atherton (1777-1821), in United States service as Captain, Third Regiment (Nichols) Massachusetts Militia, September 16, 1813.
Detached on special service at Fort Burrows, Maine.
Also as Captain, Portland Rifle Company, same regiment, September 7-9, 1814, in defense of Portland, Maine, and as Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Major General Alford Richardson; September 10-November 9, 1814, for the defense of Portland.
--Brock-Perry
