Major Ephraim HEALD^[1]

1734 - 1815  (80 years)

• Name	Ephraim HEALD
  	Ephraim was a commissioned officer in His Majesty's Royal Militia; first as a captain and then as a major. Use of the rank of Major continued, both during and after the Revolutionary War.
  Title	Major
  Prefix	Major
  Birth	29 Sep 1734	Townsend, Middlesex Co, Province of Massachusetts   [2]
  Gender	Male
  deed	24 Jul 1756	Sliptown, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   [3, 4, 5]
  	Ephraim was one of the first settlers of Sliptown (Temple), New Hampshire. He and his brother Peter held the two earliest known deeds given to settlers. Ephraim's 24 July 1756 deed to Lot 4 in Range VIII, located in the Northern part of Sliptown, shows that the property had previously belonged to his father, Ephraim Heald of Townsend. Ephraim, the elder, had apparently purchased Lots 4 and 5 in range VIII from Peter Powers, one of the original grantees of the 1750 draft of lots for Peterburrough Slip.
  RMVD	Between Sep 1759 and Dec 1761	Sliptown, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   [6]
  	He moved his family to Sliptown (Temple) after the 1759 birth of his daughter Sarah, but prior to the 2 December 1761 birth of his daughter Hannah who is regarded as the first white girl child born in Temple to live past infancy.
  anecdote	11 Apr 1768  [7]
  	Ephraim was among the signatories of two petitions to the governor of the Province of New Hampshire requesting incorporation of the town of Temple; on 11 Apr 1768 and again on 10 Jun 1768. The second petition was granted, and the town was incorporated on 26 Aug 1768.
  anecdote	10 Oct 1768	Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   [7]
  	The governor of the Province of New Hampshire authorized Ephraim to call the first town meeting for the newly incorporated town. This meeting was held on 10 Oct 1768 at the home of Zedekiah Drury. Ephraim served as the first chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Temple.
  anecdote	1774	Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   [8]
  	Temple's first recorded tax list is for the year 1774. Of the one hundred-six taxpayers, "Maj. Ephraim Heald was the largest". He was 40 years old at the time, and his wealth is believed to have been derived from the lucrative fur trade that he built and maintained during his adult life.
  OFFH	1773 - 1774	Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   [9, 10]
  	As noted above, Ephraim served as one of Temple's first three Selectmen in 1768. In 1769, he was chosen as one of the three Tythingemen. He served as town treasurer in 1773 and 1774, and as town moderator in 1774.
  REVW	19 Apr 1775  [11]
  	Ephraim journeyed to Townsend, Massachusetts to join Capt. James Hosley's company of Col. William Prescott's regiment of Minute-men. Ephraim was discharged on 21 April 1775 after five days service. The regiment marched to Lexington on the alarm of 19 April 1775 to oppose the expedition that had been sent out by General Thomas Gage. Before they arrived the British had retreated, and Prescott proceeded with his troops to Cambridge.
  OFFH	1775 - 1783	Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   [10, 12]
  	During the war, Ephraim was a member of the Committee of Correspondence and Safety for the town of Temple. In 1776, he served in the capacity of Constable.
  anecdote	1783 - 1796	Concord, Somerset Co, ME   [13]
  	According to Whitney's The Kennebec Valley: "The first settler in this town [Concord, Maine] was Major Ephraim Heald, form Temple, New Hampshire, who came to this county soon after the Revolutionary War, for the privilege of hunting the various kins of game, which was then plenty in this town, such as moose, bear, beaver, otter, sable, musk-rat, etc. He settled on lots eight and nine, and carried on a considerable trade with the Indians, supplying them with necessary articles for hunting, such as powder, shot, blankets, cloth, traps, etc. He resided in this town a number of years and then returned to Temple...". Some time after the Revolutionary War, Ephraim left Temple and took up temporary residence in the Kennebec Valley in Maine. The Temple Town Records suggest that Sarah Conant Heald and her daughters remained in Temple during the years of Ephraim's absence, as the girls' marriage record entries, ranging from 1782 to 1789, note each to be "of Temple". Sons Ephraim and Josiah may have joined their father at some point and then remained in Maine, as there is no further record of them in Temple. Son Nathan does appear in the post-1800 records of Temple.
  OFFH	1796 - 1807	Temple, Hillsborough Co, NH   [10, 14]
  	Ephraim had apparently returned from his sojourn in Concord, Maine by the Spring of 1796 when he was chosen as one of Temple's three Tythingmen. He served in this office in 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800 and for a final time in 1807. He, also, was elected as a Selectman in 1797 and 1798.
  Death	12 Sep 1815  [15]
  	Ephraim died on 12 September 1815. He was two weeks shy of his 81st birthday at the time of his death.
  Burial	Temple, Hillsborough Co, NH   [15]
  	His body was interred at the Old Burying Ground in Temple, New Hampshire.
  Person ID	I2718	mason
  Last Modified	22 Jul 2026

  
  

  Father	Lt. Ephraim HEALD,   b. 19 Feb 1710/11, Concord, Middlesex Co, Province of Massachusetts Bay d. 29 Apr 1802, Townsend, Middlesex Co, MA (Age 91 years)
  Mother	Eleanor ROBBINS,   b. 17 Dec 1707, Chelmsford, Middlesex Co, Province of Massachusetts d. 16 Dec 1791, Townsend, Middlesex Co, MA (Age 83 years)
  Notes	According to the Temple, New Hampshire town records, all five of Ephraim and Eleanor's sons left Townsend and removed to Temple, then known as Sliptown. Their properties were located within Range 8 and Range 9 of the town and appear to have first been owned by their father Ephraim.
  Family ID	F420	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Sarah CONANT,   b. 12 Sep 1737, Townsend, Middlesex Co, Province of Massachusetts d. 4 May 1825 (Age 87 years)
  Marriage	17 Nov 1757	Concord, Middlesex Co, Province of Massachusetts   [16]
  	The couple was married in Concord by Justice Whiting on 17 November 1757. Their marriage record notes that both Sarah and Ephraim were residents of Townsend at the time of their marriage in Concord.
  Children	1. Josiah HEALD,   b. 13 Aug 1758, Townsend, Middlesex Co, Province of Massachusetts d. 18 Oct 1758, Townsend, Middlesex Co, Province of Massachusetts (Age 0 years)   2. Sarah HEALD,   b. 1759   d. 1823 (Age 64 years)   3. Hannah HEALD,   b. 1760/1761, Sliptown, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire d. 27 Apr 1838 (Age 77 years)   4. Merrill HEALD,   b. 20 Nov 1764, Sliptown, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   5. Betsey HEALD,   b. 11 Jan 1767, Sliptown, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   6. Eleanor HEALD,   b. 7 Dec 1768   d. 19 Dec 1772, Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire (Age 4 years)   7. Ephraim HEALD,   b. 11 Sep 1770, Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   8. Ruth HEALD,   b. 23 Jul 1772, Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire d. 17 Jan 1833 (Age 60 years)   9. Eleanor HEALD,   b. 6 Feb 1775, Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire d. Portland, ME   10. Josiah HEALD,   b. 8 Apr 1777, Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire   11. Nathan HEALD,   b. 25 Apr 1779, Temple, Hillsborough Co, Province of New Hampshire d. 25 Jan 1841 (Age 61 years)
  Photos		Ephraim & Sarah Conant Heald house.
  Histories		Ephraim & Sarah Conant Heald house.
  Family ID	F201	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Jul 2026

  
  

• Sources

  [S1596] Historical Society of Temple, NH, corporate author, A History of Temple, New Hampshire, 1768-1976, ((Dublin, NH: William L. Bauhan, 1976)), p. 11., ISBN 0-87233-040-0. [S148] Henry C. Hallowell, transcribed & edited by; assisted by Lee K. Kugler and Caroline Lewis Kardell. , Hallowell, Vital Records of Townsend, Massachusetts: Town Records to 1850 with Marriage Intentions to 1873 and Cemetery Inscriptions., ((Boston: NEHGS, 1992)), ISBN 0-8808-2030-6. p. 206 (Births - Book 1). [S1596] Historical Society of Temple, NH, corporate author, A History of Temple, New Hampshire, 1768-1976, ((Dublin, NH: William L. Bauhan, 1976)), pp. 456 & 863., ISBN 0-87233-040-0. [S1612] Frank A. Tuttle, compiler, Tuttle Temple: the Roads, Buildings and House Sites of an Historic Town in New Hampshire., ((n.p.: The Temple Historical Society, 1942)), p. 45. [S5089] Henry Ames Blood, Blood, The History of Temple, NH, ((Boston: George C. Band & Avery, 1860)), p. 4. [S1596] Historical Society of Temple, NH, corporate author, A History of Temple, New Hampshire, 1768-1976, ((Dublin, NH: William L. Bauhan, 1976)), p. 67., ISBN 0-87233-040-0. [S1596] Historical Society of Temple, NH, corporate author, A History of Temple, New Hampshire, 1768-1976, ((Dublin, NH: William L. Bauhan, 1976)), pp. 59 - 62., ISBN 0-87233-040-0. [S5089] Henry Ames Blood, Blood, The History of Temple, NH, ((Boston: George C. Band & Avery, 1860)). p. 79: Municipal History. [S1596] Historical Society of Temple, NH, corporate author, A History of Temple, New Hampshire, 1768-1976, ((Dublin, NH: William L. Bauhan, 1976)), pp. 834 & 836., ISBN 0-87233-040-0. [S5089] Henry Ames Blood, Blood, The History of Temple, NH, ((Boston: George C. Band & Avery, 1860)). pp. 188 - 192: Town Officers. [S5123] Secretary of the Commonwealth, compiler, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, A Compilation From the Archives, ((Boston: Wright & Potter, 1896 - 1908)), Vol. 7, p. 653. [S1596] Historical Society of Temple, NH, corporate author, A History of Temple, New Hampshire, 1768-1976, ((Dublin, NH: William L. Bauhan, 1976)), p. 828., ISBN 0-87233-040-0. [S1617] S.H. Whitney, Whitney, The Kennebec Valley., ((Augusta [ME]: Sprague, Burleigh & Flynt, 1887)), Somerset County chapter. [S1596] Historical Society of Temple, NH, corporate author, A History of Temple, New Hampshire, 1768-1976, ((Dublin, NH: William L. Bauhan, 1976)), p. 834., ISBN 0-87233-040-0. [S5001] Ann Mensch, abstractor, Mensch, Old Village Burial Ground, Temple, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. [S142] Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635 - 1850., ((Boston: T. Todd, printer, 1895)). p. 192 (Concord Registers - Book ll).