by Jonathan Tucker

This is the 20th in a series of articles about the life and descendants of Micum McIntire, a Scottish prisoner of war who settled in York, Maine, and about MacIntyres in general. This article is about the descendants of Micum McIntire who participated in the War of 1812. This article may be revised as new information becomes available.

The most definitive and comprehensive current source for information on MacIntyres in general is the “Clan MacIntyre: A Journey Into the Past,” Martin L. MacIntyre, Regent Press, Berkeley, CA, 2018, second edition.  Copies may be purchased by contacting the author at martin.macintyre@juno.com .

The definitive genealogy is “Descendants of Micum McIntire,” Robert Harry McIntire, revised edition, 1983, Bookcrafters, Chelsea, MI.  This is often referred to as the “Red Book” among Micum descendants because of its bright red cover.  New copies may be obtained through the Gift Shop on this website:  https://micummcintireclanassociation.org/shop/?product-page=2.  Used copies can still be obtained from time to time through online booksellers. There is an earlier version published in 1940–it is less complete but still useful.

Those interested in pursuing their own genealogical connections to Micum McIntire may submit question through this website at:  https://micummcintireclanassociation.org/micum-mcintire-genealogy-questions/

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McINTIRES IN THE WAR OF 1812

The Revolutionary War was an all-encompassing conflict fought at sea, on the coasts, and in most of the colonies along the eastern seaboard. The War was fought between Patriot and Loyalist militia, as well as between Continental and British troops. Native American tribal groups were enlisted by both sides, and pursued their own interests in the conflict. There was no escaping the War. Most colonists participated or were affected by it, including the descendants of Micum McIntire. See articles 18 and 19.

Yet the outcome of the Revolutionary War did not convince Britain that it had lost its North American colony, and sporadic conflicts continued, especially at sea. It took the War of 1812, which lasted from a Congressional declaration of war on June 4, 1812 to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, to convince Great Britain to give up the effort to recover its former colony.

Fewer descendants of Micum McIntire are documented as participants in the War of 1812 than participated in the Revolutionary War. This may be because the War of 1812 for the most part took place along the coasts and along the U.S./Canadian border, and involved much less ‘land war.’ By the fall of 1814, the British had attacked, invaded, and controlled most of the frontier coastal settlements with harbors (Castine, Belfast, Bangor, Hampden, Eastport) in the northern “Downeast” section of the Maine coast closer to the British forts in Nova Scotia, some until or even after the end of the war. Eastport was not returned to the United States until 1818.

The better-established mid-coast and communities in southern coastal Maine defended themselves more sturdily, and for the most part their militias fended off any lasting British occupation and control. Because of their dependence on British trade and exacerbated by political differences between North and South (yes, it began that early), politicians in Massachusetts—of which Maine was still a part—opposed the war and did little or nothing to help defend Maine communities. Which is why a Constitutional Convention was held in Portland in 1819 and led to the establishment of Maine in 1820 as a separate state with its own constitution.

This article reviews the descendants of Micum McIntire who participated as combatants. As with our review of the Revolutionary War, the McIntire descendants reviewed are all men. No documentation of women participating as combatants has yet been identified.

COASTAL CONFLICTS

Charles Mcintire

Charles McIntire was born after 1780 in York, the 8th of 11 children of Joseph McIntire and Lucy Kingsbury. Charles’ line went back through his father Joseph Mcintire to his grandfather John Mcintire Jr. to John McIntire to the original Micum. Soon after March 7, 1812 (when their marriage intentions were published), Charles married Eunice Stover in York. Charles and Eunice had two daughters, Evaline and Clarissa.

Charles McIntire served as a private in Sergeant John S. Thompson’s Detached Guard, as part of Captain Isaac Lyman’s Company, the “Sea Fencibles.” A “fencible” was a militia soldier who served on the coast near their home for the purpose of deterring invasion. Charles was stationed at Fort Edward in York Harbor from July 26 to September 23, 1814.

The exact date of Charles’ death is not known, but it was after 1830, when he appears in the 1830 U.S. census in York as the single male (40-50 years old) in a household that included two women between about 15-20 (daughters Evaline (17)) and Clarissa (15)), a woman 50-60 years old (Charles’ wife Eunice had died around 1788, of smallpox, so this was possibly Charles’ older sister Lucy, a spinster), and a girl child under the age of 5. The identity of the child is unknown. There was no third daughter of Charles and Eunice, nor any known record of a child born 1825-1830 to either Evaline or Clarissa.

James McIntire

James McIntire was born in April 1771 in York, the second child of Samuel McIntire and Dorothy Rogers (Dorothy died the same month, possibly from complications of childbirth). James’ line went back through his father Samuel McIntire to his grandfather John McIntire Jr. to John Mcintire to the original Micum. After James’ birth, his father Samuel and uncles Theodore and Phineas McIntire and their families moved to Biddeford, Maine. On January 15, 1792, James Mcintire married Eunice Haley, in Kittery. They returned to and settled in Biddeford and eventually had nine children there. In the 1810 U.S. census, in James’s household in Biddeford, there were five males 15 or under, 2 females 15 or under, James (26-44), and Eunice (16-24). James’ and Eunice’s last child, a daughter, Lucy, was born May 25, 1812.

It is a durable story in the family that James McIntire was killed during the War of 1812. A James McIntire born in York, Maine, age 44, enlisted on May 3, 1813, probably for the Maine militia, but was considered to be under the 33rd U.S. Infantry Regiment. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, with “light” eyes and hair, and light complected. That’s strongly suggestive—the age and origin are very close—but not definitive. He does not appear in other Maine military records of the time.

So it is not clear that our James McIntire actually served as a soldier or sailor in the War of 1812. There was a James McIntire from the Boston area serving, and one who served at Fort Milflin in Philadelphia, PA. However, no James McIntire is listed as serving specifically from Biddeford, Maine. 

It is worth noting that in 1814, the village of Biddeford Pool at the mouth of the Saco River was bombarded and sacked by the British, and its shipyard was set afire. So it is possible that James McIntire may have been a civilian casualty of the War of 1812, rather than a fallen soldier.

Isaiah Warren

Isaiah Warren was born July 3, 1795 in York, the second child of Jane McIntire and Lieutenant Ichabod Warren Jr. of Berwick, Maine. Isaiah’s McIntire line goes back through his mother Jane McIntire to his grandfather John McIntire (married Esther Nowell) to Ebenezer McIntire (married Mercy Randel) to John McIntire to Micum.

Isaiah was part of a group of militia men raised at Fryeburg in September 1814 and made a part of Captain Philip Eastman’s Company of Artillery (militia), attached to Major Steele’s Battalion, in which they served from September 11 through September 24, 1814. It is probably during that period that the men were marched from Fryeburg to the defense of Portland, Maine. Leaving at 4 a.m. in the morning, they stopped at Stickney’s Tavern in Brownfield, Maine for rest and refreshment along the way. Upon their arrival, they were transferred to Captain L. Richmond’s Company of Artillery (Second Company) under Lieutenant Colonel W. Ryerson’s Regiment, and stationed at Fort Burroughs (a temporary name for Fort Allen). Isaiah served as a private there from September 25 through November 7, 1814.

On September 7, 1825, Isaiah married Ann Walker at Fryeburg. They had seven children. According to Robert Harry McIntire’s Red Book, Isaiah was an industrious soul. “He owned and managed an iron foundry and manufactured castings, fittings for stoves and over, fence palings, [and] frames for mirrors and plows. He owned a steam sawmill which was later converted into a tannery. With his son Otis, he conducted a leathermaking business.”

Isaiah Warren died April 4, 1875 in Fryeburg, Maine, age 79 years, 9 months, and is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Fryeburg, Maine.

NEW YORK STATE/CANADIAN BORDER

James Junkins (Jenkins)

James Junkins (Jenkins) was born June 1783 in York, the fifth of seven children of Robert Junkins, and the first child Robert had with his second wife Esther Rogers of Berwick (herself previously married to Samuel Pickernell). James’ line went back through his father Robert Junkins to his grandmother Hannah Mcintire (who married Alexander Junkins Jr.) to John McIntire to Micum. Like James Mcintire above, James Junkins is another example of how the post-Revolutionary War generations migrated outward from York, and settled elsewhere. 

James had married Susan Marshall of Massachusetts by 1806 when their first child Esther was born in Massachusetts. The family moved to Orange County, Vermont, by 1808 where their second and remaining four children were born.

James enlisted on November 4, 1812, and served as a private in Captain Elisha Smith’s Company (militia). Although the record is not definitive, a James Junkins served in the 1st New Hampshire Regiment of Volunteers (militia) under General Aquilla Davis of Warner, NH. Captain Elisha Smith’s Company was raised out of Epping, New Hampshire. Epping is located two towns due west of Portsmouth, NH, and is quite close to James Junkins’ home grounds in York. Many citizen soldiers “went home” to the area of their birth to volunteer or enlist.

In early 1813, the First New Hampshire Volunteers were mostly transferred to and formed the Forty-Fifth Regiment of the United States Infantry, for which Lieutenant Colonel Davis was commissioned as its commander. James Junkins re-enlisted on April 1, 1813 after his first tour of duty ended. The Forty-Fifth Regiment was involved in conflicts on Lake Champlain, and was stationed for a time on an island in the lake, operating a battery of artillery.

In Vermont, James and his family seem to have adopted (or at least acquiesced to) the surname of “Jenkins,” a surname that was common among the founding settlers of the Orange County area. Some of James’s children show up in the records for the abutting towns of Fairlee and Bradford, Vermont. 

Robert Harry McIntire’s Red Book indicates that James Junkins died in Orange County, Vermont about 1835, but this may be a confusion with James and Esther’s son James Jenkins Jr., a jeweler who died in Montpelier, Vermont on June 5, 1835.

Rufus McIntire

Rufus McIntire was born on December 19, 1784 in York, to Micum McIntire and Rhoda Allen. Rufus’ line went back through his father Micum McIntire to his grandfather Alexander McIntire to Micum McIntire Jr. to Micum. See article 5.

At the beginning of the War of 1812, Rufus was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Third Artillery. He raised a company of over 100 men and served throughout the war on the northern New York State frontier and in attempts to invade Canada. The Third Artillery was involved in battles at Sacket’s Harbor and Crysler’s Farm. Rufus served for 18 months. His letters from the front to friend and mentor Attorney John Holmes back in York are held by the New York State Library. Those letters, related materials, and a photograph of Rufus in his later years can be accessed via this link:

http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssc/rufusmcintire/.

After the war, Rufus settled in Parsonsfield, Maine and married Nancy Rolfe Hannford, with whom he had eight children, three of whom died in infancy. Nancy died in 1830. In 1832, Rufus married Mary B. Hannaford (Nancy’s sister), with whom he had another two children.

Rufus died in Parsonsfield, Maine on November 18, 1838. A review of his life and his involvement in the “Aroostock War” can be found in article 5 of this series.

NYSL.NYSED.GOV- Rufus McIntire and the War of 1812: Manuscripts and Special Collections: New York State Library– Information about the NYS Library’s collection, Rufus McIntire letters,…