MAIN, Amos
1708 - 5 Apr 1760 due to consumption
Set As Default Person 
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Name MAIN, Amos [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Birth 8 Jan 1707/08 York, Maine, USA 
[1, 4] Gender Male _DEG 1729 New Hampshire, USA degree from Dartmouth College Physical Description Between 1737 and 1760 It is said that he traveled long distances from Rochester to provide his services as a minister, lawyer, teacher and physician. Although he carried his gun as well as his Bible, the Indians had so much regard for his character, he was never attacked. Differentiator There is a statue of Amos Main in the center of Rochester where he was the first minister Occupation 1737 Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA Amos Main became the first minister of the Congregational Church in Rochester, NH. Pastor Main was also the first moderator (advisor), physician and barrister (lawyer) in the town. _DNA Match (maternal) Death 5 Apr 1760 due to consumption Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA [1, 2, 3, 5, 6] Burial Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA [2, 3, 6] Person ID I3979 My Genealogy | Laviolette Ancestry, Laviolette Ancestry Last Modified 4 Feb 2024
Father MAIN, Josiah, b. 1678, Yarmouth, Cumberland, Maine, USA d. 3 Feb 1747, York, York, Maine, USA (Age 69 years) Relationship natural Mother TRAFTON, Dorothy, b. 1678, York, York, Maine, USA d. 1749, York, York, Maine, USA (Age 71 years) Relationship natural Marriage 1700 York, York, Maine, USA Family ID F1203 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family WHITE, Elizabeth, b. 16 Nov 1702, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, USA d. 4 Mar 1774, Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA (Age 71 years) Marriage 20 Jan 1732 New Hampshire, USA Children + 1. MAIN, Mary, b. 20 Sep 1732, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA d. 14 Jan 1774, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA (Age 41 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]2. MAIN, Elizabeth, b. 13 Feb 1733, York, Maine, USA [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]3. MAIN, Josiah, b. 27 Dec 1735, Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA d. 11 Nov 1823, Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA (Age 87 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]4. MAIN, Mercy, b. 4 Jul 1746 [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] 5. MAIN, Abigail, b. 27 Jan 1744 [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] 6. MAIN, Hannah, b. 22 Jun 1740 [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] 7. MAIN, Lydia, b. 26 Mar 1738, Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]Family ID F1112 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 4 Feb 2024
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Event Map 
Birth - 8 Jan 1707/08 - York, Maine, USA 
_DEG - degree from Dartmouth College - 1729 - New Hampshire, USA Marriage - 20 Jan 1732 - New Hampshire, USA 
Occupation - Amos Main became the first minister of the Congregational Church in Rochester, NH. Pastor Main was also the first moderator (advisor), physician and barrister (lawyer) in the town. - 1737 - Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA Death - 5 Apr 1760 due to consumption - Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA Burial - - Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA = Link to Google Earth
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Photos 
Albums Founding Families of Rochester (0) 
Religious Connections (1)
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Notes - Notes from the Rochester Historical Society
http://rochesterhistoricalnh.org/2014/07/30/rochesters-first-churches/#_edn4
By the 1720’s land for a new town north of Dover was divided up into lots of 60 acres owned by proprietors. Most of these men were investors and usually did not move here. The first attempt to get people to come here to settle failed because of conflicts with the native people and fears about moving into this wilderness.[i]
By 1730 a second attempt was made and several families came to settle the new town. One of the first acts of the proprietors was to vote to build a meetinghouse. Their vote was for a building, “forty feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and eighteen foot stud; to be well framed & Inclosed &c.” [ii]
This meeting house was built on the top of Rochester Hill. The spot was near the middle of the town as it was then laid out. Its position at the top of the highest point was good for safety. The roads all led to this spot. The building would be the center of the town government and also serve as the church. Most of the early Rochester settlers attended this meeting house which was called Congregational because the people of the congregation made the decisions.
The people gathered at the meetinghouse to make town government decisions as well as for religious activities. There was no separation of church and state. Everyone was taxed to support the Congregational meetinghouse ministry.
Many of Rochester’s first settlers were descendants of Puritan churches , and they followed the teachings of John Calvin. They subscribed to Calvin’s doctrines of predestination and the strict moral codes of their Puritan forefathers. They loved and feared their Lord, and they believed that their salvation was entirely in His hands.
At this time minsters were well -educated men, graduates of Harvard or Dartmouth and among the most educated people in the community. Rochester settlers wished to have such a person for their spiritual guidance. Ministers from Dover did visit the new town from time to time, but the people wanted someone of their own to rely on.
The land owning proprietors who mostly lived elsewhere were slow to hire a minister and the residents had to petition them for one. Their second petition in 1736/7 read in part, “Your petitioners have been settled here, some of them seven years or thereabout…we are now increased to the number of about 60 families and are as yet destitute of a settled minister.” [iii]
In May of 1737, Parson Amos Main was called to full time service. He was a Harvard graduate and his wife was also very well educated. She had attended the best schools available for women in Boston. The parson carried out his religious duties and helped with governmental responsibilities. [iv]
He acted as a lawyer and as a doctor for the people. The journals he kept show that he traveled to many area towns. He recorded charges for treating people in Berwick, Durham, Barrington, Lebanon, Somersworth, Dover and occasionally Greenland, Rye, Stratham, and Wells. While on these journeys he provided spiritual support, met with people on their deathbed, and baptized infants and adults. He dispensed medicines and set broken bones.
He also acted as a lawyer, writing wills and indentures. He was paid for his services with whatever the person could give him such as wool, flax, boards, beef, pork, or labor. Rarely, he received money. Money was scarce and people were more likely to trade goods and services than to use money. [v]
Parson Main and the early Rochester settlers lived in a time of great danger from the French and Indian Wars. During this time, some Rochester residents were captured and taken to Canada and others were killed. Parson Main is remembered as always carrying his gun wherever he went, but he never had to use it for defense. The native people had great respect for him. They frequently came to his house to visit and would tell him details that they knew about his travels like where he had been and even when they had seen him walk his horse or when he had trotted it. When asked why they had not killed him, they said it was because he was a good man, like their priests they knew in St Francis, Canada. [vi] Amos Main lived in his own private house until his death of consumption in 1760.
- Notes from the Rochester Historical Society
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Sources - [S1287] Ancestry.com, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847-2011, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011;).
- [S1295] Ancestry.com, New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011;).
- [S1259] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;).
- [S1280] Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004;), Source number: 8821.562; Source type: Family group sheet, FGSE, listed as parents; Number of Pages: 1.
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Unknown(37).jpg - [S1363] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;).
Record for Elizabeth Main
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=60525&h=21177183&indiv=try
- [S1287] Ancestry.com, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847-2011, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011;).
