The Home of Capt. Samuel Leighton

This historical marker is set in stone on the front lawn on the property now located at #310 Goodwin Road, Eliot, Maine.

This home belonged to Capt. Samuel Leighton, Capt. of the 30th Foot Regiment of the United Colonies, and his son, Capt. Samuel Leighton, the first representative of Eliot to the Court of Massachusetts.

One of the activities the old Capt. of the Colonies accomplished was that he and a group of soldiers approached the British Soldiers at Fort Williams, 1775 (Now Fort Constitution), took their arms, ammunition and gunpowder and transported it to the Eliot shores at Frank’s Fort.  All this was shipped to Charlestown, Massachusetts for use in the Battle at Bunker Hill.

The son, Capt. Samuel Leighton, born July 9, 1765, was an orphan at a young age. His uncle sent him to school and at Harvard College where upon graduation, he became the librarian and spent his life’s work there.  When he died, April 17, 1800, he left his home and property to the “Eliot library”. At one time while in Eliot, he and others petitioned the legislature to build a bridge from Eliot to Portsmouth, N.H.

The house has since belonged to Nathaniel Hanscom, the son of Nathaniel Hanscom and Sarah Fernald Hanscom, who married Abigail (daughter of Gen. Andrew Pepperell Fernald).  They lived on the farm of the late Gen. Samuel Leighton, located on the North Road.

It has been known as the (1) Leighton House, (2) Fernald House, (3) Hanscom House, and (4) Howell House.