Benjamin Spurling of the Cranberry Isles
Benjamin Spurling (1752–1836) was a New Hampshire-born sea captain and Revolutionary War militia corporal. He is described as the first permanent settler of Great Cranberry Island, Maine, founded a long line of Spurlings there, and is buried in the family's Revolutionary War cemetery above Spurling Cove.
Sourcing: mixed 6 genealogy · 3 reference · 1 government
Early life and settlement
WikiTree says Benjamin Spurling was born on 19 September 1752 in Madbury, New Hampshire, and died on 30 December 1836 on Cranberry Island, Maine[1]. Local histories say he came from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1768 as a shipbuilder and sea captain. They describe him as probably the first permanent settler of Great Cranberry Island and the founder of a family that did well there for four generations[2]. He was for years the leading man on Great Cranberry, both as a ship owner and as a captain[2].
Revolutionary War
Benjamin Spurling served as a corporal in the 5th Regiment of the Lincoln County Militia, a Massachusetts unit; Maine was then part of Massachusetts[1]. The DAR and the SAR both recognize him as a Patriot ancestor[1]. In 1779 he married Fanny Guptill, the daughter of John Guptill and Abigail Goodwin, probably in Gouldsborough, Maine[1].
A War of 1812 story
The biography on his Find a Grave memorial tells a War of 1812 story. British forces captured him at Norwood's Cove, and while held in one of their boats he is said to have shouted to his son Rob to keep firing regardless of him. The biography says this made him "one of Maine's heroes."[3]
Death and burial
Benjamin Spurling is buried in the Spurling Revolutionary War Cemetery on Great Cranberry Island. His Find a Grave memorial gives his age at death as 84, which agrees with the 1752 and 1836 dates above.[3][4][1] According to the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society, the cemetery stands on the bluff at the northeast end of the island, overlooking Spurling Cove and the town dock. It was begun in 1785, when Benjamin Spurling Sr. and Fanny (Guptill) Spurling buried an infant daughter, and its last known burial was in 1848.[5] Find a Grave lists 26 memorials there.[4] The society has run a preservation project on the cemetery[6][5].
Descendants
Enoch Spurling sat on the first Board of Selectmen of the Cranberry Isles[2]. Spurlings kept a central place in island life through the 19th century. For example, Abigail Hadlock Spurling married William Pitt Preble in 1839, and the Preble House was a centre of Hadlock, Preble and Spurling family life[7]. Andrew Barclay Spurling was born on the island in 1833 to Captain Samuel L. Spurling and Abigail Hadlock, and later received the Medal of Honor[8].
Place names
The family name survives on the map around Great Cranberry Island. The federal gazetteer lists Spurling Cove, Spurling Point and Spurling Rock in Hancock County, and records a Board on Geographic Names decision on the name Spurling Cove dated 1910.[9] A Cruising Club of America harbor guide places Great Cranberry's town dock on the north side of the island "in an area known as Spurling Cove".[10] See Spurling place names.
See also
- Andrew Barclay Spurling (Spurling variant) · People mixed
Andrew Barclay Spurling (1833–1906) was a Union cavalry officer from the Cranberry Isles, Maine, and a brevet brigadier general. He received the Medal of Honor for capturing Confederate soldiers near Evergreen, Alabama, in 1865, and is buried in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago. - Spurling place names (related spelling) · Places strong
Several U.S. places carry the closely related name Spurling rather than Spurlin: a populated place in Montana, a stream in Tennessee, and a cove, point and rock around Great Cranberry Island, Maine. Spurlington, Kentucky, is also named for a Spurling family, and Tasmania has a Mount Spurling named for a photographer's 1908 discovery. - Spurlin Family History in America · History mixed
An overview of Spurlin and Spurling families in America, from colonial Virginia and New England through southern and western migration, Civil War service, and published genealogies. - Spurlin cemeteries · Places weak
A roundup of burial grounds named for the Spurlin family on Find a Grave: eight Spurlin cemeteries in Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina, plus Spurlington- and Spurling-named cemeteries and the graves of notable Spurlins. - Spurlin family lines by state · Genealogy weak
A state-by-state guide to the main Spurlin and Spurling family lines in the United States, from colonial Virginia and North Carolina to Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas and Indiana, with the sources behind each link. - Spurlins of New Hampshire · Genealogy mixed
A New England Spurlin family lived in Madbury, Dover, Pittsfield and Epsom, New Hampshire, from the 18th century. Several members served in the Civil War, among them Charles Spurlin of Pittsfield in the 7th New Hampshire Volunteers and Charles F. Spurlin of Dover in the 11th New Hampshire Infantry.
References
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Benjamin Spurling (1752-1836) — WikiTree Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ ↑ Cranberry Isles — RootsWeb freepages (Mount Desert genealogy) Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ Benjamin Spurling (1752–1836) — Find a Grave Memorial — Æ 84 yrs; War of 1812 anecdote Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ Spurling Revolutionary War Cemetery in Cranberry Isles, Maine — Find a Grave — 26 memorials Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ Cemetery Preservation Projects — Great Cranberry Island Historical Society — Read via Internet Archive snapshot of 2026-09-16 (https://web.archive.org/web/20260916031056/https://www.gcihs.org/archives-research/cemetery-preservation-project/) Genealogy
- ↑ Blogs from Spurling and Stanley Cemetery Projects — Great Cranberry Island Historical Society Genealogy
- ↑ Great Cranberry Island's Preble House — Maine Memory Network Reference
- ↑ Andrew Barclay Spurling — Wikipedia Reference
- ↑ Spurling Cove (Feature ID 578899) — USGS Geographic Names Information System — Bay, Hancock County, Maine; Board on Geographic Names decision, 1910 Government
- ↑ Cranberry Islands — Cruising Club of America harbor guide Reference
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.