When Abby W. Fernald was born on 30 August 1838, in Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States, her father, Alfred B Fernald, was 32 and her mother, Naomi Ann Curtis, was 25. She married Herbert Reading Sargent on 12 November 1860, in Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. She lived in Maine, United States in 1838. She died on 4 June 1868, in Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States, at the age of 29, and was buried in Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States.
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The Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed on August 9, 1842 and resolved the border issues between the United States and British North American colonies which had caused the Aroostook War. The treaty contained several agreements and concessions. It called for an end on the overseas slave trade and proposed that both parties share the Great Lakes. It also reaffirmed the location of the westward frontier border (near the Rocky Mountains) as well as the border between Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods. The treaty was signed by Daniel Webster (United States Secretary of State) and Alexander Baring (British Diplomat, 1st Baron Ashburton).
U.S. acquires vast tracts of Mexican territory in wake of Mexican War including California and New Mexico.
In 1851, Maine outlawed the sale of alcohol, allowing exceptions only for "medicinal, mechanical, and manufacturing purposes". This made Maine the first state to experiment with prohibition. Neal Dow, mayor of Portland, believed that alcohol was linked to slavery and was also convinced by the Christian temperance movement. Dow ran into problems later for his anti-immigration rhetoric against the Irish, and also for breaking his own prohibition laws; although not a designated "purchaser", Dow personally purchased alcohol to distribute to local doctors, violating a technicality. As the citizens turned against him, Dow eventually ordered soldiers to fire on protesters. This marked a sharp decline in Dow's political career, and the Maine Law was repealed by 1856. Aspects of the law would remain in tact, however, and ultimately paved the way for the 18th Amendment, which prohibited alcohol on the national level.
Altered form of French Fernel, itself a shortened form of a derivative of Old French ferron ‘blacksmith, ironmonger’.
History: This surname was brought to North America from England. It is listed along with its original form Fernel in the (US) National Huguenot Society's register of qualified Huguenot ancestors.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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