Robert Moulton

Biography

Robert Moulton was only two when his father, Jonathan, died in May 1735. Jonathan's will placed the family property under Elizabeth Moulton's management while the children were young, and reserved twelve pounds for Robert, to be paid by his eldest brother. The arrangement provided for a child who would grow up without his father.

Robert's early adult life also included bereavement. A compiled family account records his marriage to Elizabeth Philbrick in July 1754 and her death that November. He subsequently married Sarah Philbrick, with whom he raised a large family. Their children included Elizabeth, Lucy, Joses, Robert, Jonathan and Daniel.

During the 1770s Robert moved from Rye on the New Hampshire coast to Gilmanton, in the state’s inland Lakes Region. Lancaster's town history places him among the settlers of 1773, although its family section says 1775. His name appears among the town's signers of the 1776 Association Test, pledging opposition to the British fleets and armies.

His home also became a landmark in the town's arrangements for schooling. In March 1778 the town voted to maintain school at six locations, one of them near Robert Moulton's.

Robert lived until March 4, 1817. Sarah survived him into the following decade. The records connect his life with an inherited coastal estate, the establishment of a new household inland, and the practical organization of a growing town.

The family chronology gives Robert’s birth at Rye as May 20, 1733 and places his death at Gilmanton.