“No mansion in town was more noted for its hospitality and politeness.”

 —  Hugh D. McLellan, History of Gorham, ME,   Smith & Sale, Printers, 1903

The Tyng Manor is now the home of Schultz Family Law, LLC, which fled the City of Portland, Maine to spare its clients the battle of trying to find a parking space.

The manor’s original inhabitants also retreated to this beautiful refuge from Portland, Maine (then Falmouth and part of Massachusetts) to escape battles.   When the Revolutionary War broke out, Elizabeth Ross, the widow of Captain Alexander Ross, built an elegant country mansion on their Gorham land, and moved there with her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth (Ross) Tyng.  Elizabeth Tyng’s husband, Colonel William Tyng, who was also the Cumberland County Sheriff, was a British loyalist who spent the war in New York.

Though a confirmed Tory, he was nevertheless kind and benevolent toward the American prisoners confined in the prisons and prison ships.  He often visited them and administered to their wants by lending them money and giving them food and clothing.  He looked more particularly after those from Portland, Gorham and the vicinity.  Many a Gorham man received his bounty with grateful heart, and never forgot him; and by them at least, he was kindly received and respected when he returned to Gorham.

* * *

Col. Tyng spent the remainder of his days, after his return, on his farm, in easy circumstances, neither seeking or having any offices; a benevolent and kind-hearted gentleman, much beloved and respected by a large circle of friends and neighbors.

The original mansion was completed  in 1781.  Mrs. Elizabeth Ross died in the home on March 1, 1798.  Col. Tyng died in Gorham on December 10, 1807  at age 70.

In June, 1808, the house was destroyed by fire and Elizabeth Tyng rebuilt the home in a style similar to the original on the old foundation.  Elizabeth died in Gorham on October 25, 1831, age 81.

Source:  History of Gorham, ME. by Hugh D. McLellan, Compiled and Edited by his Daughter, Katharine B. Lewis, Portland: Smith & Sale, Printers, 1903, Pages 750-751.