Pride Farm Decade by Decade

The Executioner's son Joseph appears numerous times in the very earliest Falmouth Town Records. His first appearance in town records is an Animal Brand registration on 1/20/1726, two years before his new Land Registrations "Granted and Laid out" on 12/27/1727, 4/1/1728, and 5/1/1728 on Falmouth Neck, todays Portland. The three Lots "Granted and Laid out" do not include Pride Farm. This was the heyday of the Great Puritan Landgrab, as many Falmouth residents of this period show up in the records 'grabbing' multiple land grants as the town suddenly shifted from the banks of the Presumpscot to the new harbor. They literally divided up the harborside area with stakes in the ground, and proceeded to grant the parcels among themselves. The brand registration indicates he was obviously living somewhere nearby with animals throughout 1726 and 1727 before any land gets registered. Land approximating Pride Farm is credited to Joseph Pride the grandson in 1753 in News Articles as is Prides Bridge across the presumscott at 302 (circa 1740's). A Proprietors Grant of 104 acres to Joseph Pride is referenced in a 1795 deed (Page 2 Line 11), but the grant itself is elusive so far. The deed history (linked below) is a maze of many Pride owners of areas encompassing todays Pride Farm and a large surrounding area until 1939. Sample Deed

Every single census lists Prides occupying Pride Farm from the start. The 1790 census lists one Lord, two Puringtons, one Huston and Seven Prides all within a few lines of each other. In the 1810 census there are 9 Prides listed in Falmouth, but by 1820 all but two moved to nearby towns primarily Cumberland and Westbrook, x leaving William and Francis who continue on. The 1850 census lists Six Prides in dwelling "338" and Nine Purintons in dwelling "339". The Pride home (dwelling 338) may have burned sometime in the 1850's. The 1860 Census only lists Joseph Pride living in the Lord House on Mast Road with the elderly Abigail and her daughter Eunice, and he is buried with them in the Lord-Lowell Cemetary (boat launch). The 1880 Census lists the Prides rehoused in dwelling 330, between the Purintons in dwelling 329, and Hustons in dwelling 331, with the Purintons still in residence more than two decades after the purported but so far unverifiable 1867 "sale". All 1900 census records were destroyed.

Falmouth Historical Society research "found" that the fugitive family left no land registrations before an 1867 purchase from the Purintons. Thats truely a surprise, given the 17 pages of entries for the Pride family in the deed index between 1760 and 1870. [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10]. The deeds name multiple Pride owners of an area that encompassed all of Pride Farm and a lot more. Sample Deed However to date no deed has been uncovered between Pride and Purinton in 1867 in Falmouth. It is fraudulents as is most of the article.

Given the societies inability to find even one of the hundreds of deeds involved, the supposed detailed knowledge of the families economics a century ago are highly suspect without any supporting documentation offered whatsoever.

The "Society" fraudulently claimed Pride farm was purchased from the Purinton family, its original builders in 1867, 209 years after the executioner arrived,... by the executioners great great grandson, Alexander (Executioner 1637, Joseph 1686, Capt Joseph 1726, Henry 1757, Alexander 1802). Alexander grew up there but never purchased any land in Falmouth. Its an easy search on the new County Records system. (Advanced button for Falmouth and enter name).

Henry's tombstone ( Alexander's father who died 1836) is in the Gowen Cemetary next-door, as are the tombstones of his brother Henry (1852) and sister Nancy (1848). 11 Prides in all. Go a short distance in any other direction from Pride Farm Road and you will also find additional Pride burials, and 39 nearby burials are pre-1870 !! The Names of Lord (Thomas), the Executioner (Joseph), and the Executioner's wife (Jane) are all there as well as all the other family names of Lord Pride.

Pride Farm Deed History

Purinton Deed History

Narraaanset Sun - History of Westbrook 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Misc Pride in Falmouth Town recs: p37, p42, p76

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