On a cool day in October 2013, some visitors to the Windham Historical Society were examining an elaborately decorated “certificate” given to Frederick Augustus Motley, who so far as anyone could determine, never lived in Windham.
The much-decorated proclamation was in honor of his service in the Civil War. Motley may not have been a Windham resident, but he had well-known relatives here. His aunt Hannah was married to Moses Little, a longtime lawyer and leading citizen who lived at Windham Hill. No doubt some of Motley’s property was kept in the home of his aunt and eventually came to the local historical society.
Motley’s grandfather Rufus Horton enlisted in the Revolutionary War when he was 16 and after the war he settled in Portland and was a leading businessman, with two brick buildings on Congress Street.
Motley had 11 brothers and sisters. His parents, Nathaniel and Rachel, lived for a time in Gardiner and moved to Portland. In 1848, his father died. Frederick was a year old. By the time of the Civil War, Frederick was 15 and he enlisted in Company A of the 25th Maine Volunteer Infantry; after serving his nine-month enlistment, he re-enlisted in Co. I of the 30th Maine and eventually was under the command of General Sheridan, taking part in Sheridan’s raid. He was discharged in Savannah in 1865 as a sergeant. He was now 18 years old.
He returned to Portland, worked as a clerk in a produce business and eventually owned the company. In 1897, he was treasurer of the Jordan Manufacturing Company and often visited his relatives in Windham. During one of those visits, he no doubt shared some of his memorabilia from the days of the Civil War.
Frederick Motley often visited his aunt Hannah and uncle Moses Little in this Windham Hill home.
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