Page:Sketches of representative women of New England.djvu/43

30 Alexander Park, who died January 26, 1760, and "Margrat" Park, who died May 11, 1752. William Smiley lived to the age of ninety-seven years, his death being caused by an accident. He had a sister who reached the age of one hundred and two, well known as "Aunt Sally Webber." Sarah Moore Smiley> the wife of William, died several years before her husband; and her funeral was att<*nded by their fourteen children. Seven of these children lived to be nearly eighty years old, and one, a daughter, died at the age of ninety-six.

The Smiley annorial ensign was conferred upon the ancestors of one John Smylie, barrister, resident of Dublin, Ireland, probably hi the seventeenth century.

Description: "Azure a chevron, ermine, be- tween three pheons, argent; for crest, on a wieath of the colors, an armed arm embowed proper, the hand holding a pheon by the point thereof, gules; and for motto, Virilms virtus."

Explanation: The chevron, or saddle bow, denotes military valor. The crest, above the wreath, is a mark of special honor. The armed arm signifies courage or might, and was probably awarded for great bravery. The wreath is symbolic of a victor. The pheons, or iron dart-heads, indicate royalty or dejfence of crown property. Azure (blue) denotes innocence; ermine (argent tufted with black), dignity; argent (white), purity; gules (red), courage. The motto means Valor in arms, or Virtue with power.

Mrs. Lydia H. Smiley, Mrs. Partingtons mother, was the daughter of Lil)erty and Susannah Woodcock. Born in Winthrop, Me., March 2, 1804, she died March 25, 1865. Mrs. Partington says of her: "She was a perfect housekeeper and a devoted mother. She believed that children should obey their parents, and not parents obey their children. When I was three years old, she sent me to the infant Sabbath-school. I was given a little card with one verse on it for my lesson. Monday morning I wanted to go out and play with my little playmates, but mother said I must get one line of my lesson first. I began to think that Sabbath-school was a nuisance, and I replied, 'I'm not going any more.' Mother said, *Yes, you will go'; and I knew that I'd have to go. She taught me one line of my verse every day, and then had me repeat the whole verse till I could say it perfectly. Of my mother's ancestry I know but little. They were of Scotch descent, and many of them in the Revolutionarv War."

While living in Gardiner, Me., Reuben M. Smiley was warden of the Episcopal church and leader of the choir. lie was one of the organizers of the Sons of Temperance in Maine. His daughter Lura attended the Gardiner public schools until she was twelve years old, then was sent to a private school or academy in Gardiner called the "Lyceum." W^hen only six years old, she signed the pledge at a temperance meeting in the Methodist P]piscopal church in Gardiner, Me., and two years later she joined the "Cold Water Army," which was then popular throughout the country. In 1846, the family having removed that year to Lowell, Mass., where her father was engaged in putting turbine wheels into the mills, she there joined the Daughters of Temperance, and, although so very young, was chosen chaplain of the Union. This society was afterward merged in the Sons of Temperance. She has held an unbroken membership for fifty-six years, and is now (1903) Grand Worthy Patriarch of the Grand Division of Maine. In 1849 she joined the Baptist church in Lowell, of which the Rev. Daniel C. Eddy was pastor. In 1851 her parents moved to Port- land, Me. This city she has ever since called her home, although temporarily residing in New York and other cities.

On March 7, 1853, she married Joseph Partington, a native of Islington Parish, London. Born August 9, 1831, he came to this country when seven years old, and settled in New York, but moved to Portland in 1851.

Mr. Partington was a thorough American, and when the Civil War broke out he enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Maine Regiment, commanded by Colonel Francis Fessenden. This regiment having completed the nine months' service for which it enlisted, Mr. Partington again joined the army, this time with a three years' regiment, the Thirtieth Maine, which was commanded by the same colonel, who afterward became a prominent general. Mr.