Kiah B. Sewall, the son of the Rev. Samuel Sewall and Abigail Trask Sewall of Edgecomb and Phippsburg, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1829 and married Lucretia Day, daughter of Ezekiel and Eunice Day in 1836.

After losing money in land speculation in the 1830s, Sewall went to Boston to study law, and moved to Mobile, Alabama, in 1839, because of his health. He set up a law practice there, escaping from Mobile during the Civil War.

The couple had 10 children. Sewall died in 1865, on his way back to Portland with his wife and children.