Person:John Burnham (18)

Came to Falmouth, Maine in 1760 and is said to have built the first wharf in the town, on the site where now stands Burnham's wharf. The old wharf was burned by Mowatt in 1775, but it was rebuilt by John Burnham, who also is said to have erected the first house in the town after the destruction of the settlement by the British, in 1775. By the burning of Falmouth he lost five hundred and fifty-three pounds, representing the value of his property which was then destroyed. In 1780 he was a member of the first constitutional convention of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Jan. 23, 1786, he was one of the signers of the petiton for the incorporation of Portland, and also was one of the founders of St. Stephen's Church. He was one of the foremost men of his time in the town, a cooper by trade and a curer and packer of fish by principal occupation. He died of yellow fever. (Caroline Chamberlin crbcc-@-aol.com

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1910, 1919).