USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Shrewsbury > History of the town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1717 to 1829, with other matter relating thereto not before published, including an extensive family register > Part 1
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الف
Bufford's Lith.
MAJ GEN. ARTEMAS WARD.
State of Massachusetts Bav. Council Chamber July 23. 1777.
Antenas Ward Prefe
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF SHREWSBURY,
MASSACHUSETTS,
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT IN 1717 TO 1829,
WITH OTHER MATTER RELATING THERETO NOT BEFORE PUBLISHED,
INCLUDING AN EXTENSIVE
FAMILY REGISTER.
BY ANDREW H. WARD, Member of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society.
4. He, who forgets not the place of his birth, and the trees whose fruit he plucked, and under whose shade he gamboled the days of his youth, is not a stranger to the sweetest impressions of the human heart."
ATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL G. DRAKE, 56 CORNHILL .. J. HOWE, PRINTER(3) MERCHANTS ROW. 1847.
68
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERIC
8
ELEASED
CORRECHON OF ERRORS.
Page 13, 11th line from top, for Southard, read Southeast.
14, 6th line from bottom, for in June, read is June.
23, in the last line, for Abial, read Abiel.
57, 12th line from bottom, for 1824, read 1821.
" 251, 5th line from bottom, for Deering, read Dewing.
" 251, 6th line from bottom, for 1802, read 1824.
16 302, 15th line from bottom, for David Fay, read Adam Fay.
" 306, in the note, 6th line from top, for his children saw, read his children's children saw.
" 436, 8th line from top, for sister of the Rev. Job Cushing, read sister of the wife of the Rev. Job Cushing.
" 463, 10th line from bottom, for July 2, 1814, read July 22. 1814.
" 468, 10th line from top, for Whedlocr, read Wheelock.
The reader is desired to make the above corrections with his pen on the pages designated.
Alexander W. Bellows is not the son of John Bellows, Jun., as stated on p. 245.
The number of copies of this work ordered from the press was so limited, that before it was finished, it was thought the demand for them would exceed the supply. A few copies, consisting only of the Family Register, have therefore been stricken off to supply those, who naturally would feel more interested in that portion of the work.
.
BALANCED ROCK, SHREWSBURY, MASS.
....
HEEEE
SUMNER HOMESTEAD, SHREWSBURY, MASS.
The farm on which this house stands was deeded by Moses Hastings (whose wife was daughter of William Taylor, one of the original proprietors of the town) to Nahum Ward in 1750, and by him conveyed to his son Artemas Ward [afterwards Major General], "in consideration of the love, good will and affection for his well beloved son," and by General Ward sold to Rev. Joseph Sumner in 1762. The present house was built by Doctor Sumner in 1797, and is now in the possession of George Sumner and is occupied by the fourth generation of the family.
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THE WARD HOUSE, SHREWSBURY MASS.
YA WARD
ARE
CAP
NAHUM AAR
MARTHA
. WARD MONUMENT, SHREWSBURY, MASS.
.
1
INTRODUCTION.
This work is entitled a History of the Town, but is rather a History of its PEOPLE, with some particulars relating to its set- tlement and progress, to 1829, and other matters from sundry re- cords, desirable to be known in connection with the families and individuals of whom some account will be found in the Family Register.
Very little, if any thing contained in a sketch of the town, which I furnished and was published in the Worcester Magazine in 1826, will be found here ; that sketch was hastily prepared, and was imperfect, if nothing more, inasmuch as it was destitute of genealogical information.
To furnish a Family Register of the inhabitants of the town, from its settlement to a recent period, was the chief, if not the sole, cause of this undertaking ; in preparing which it became de- sirable to learn the ancestry of the early settlers ; that I have been enabled to do (of many families, and to an early period in the settlement of the country, and more diffusely than will appear here) by means of copies of records of the towns embraced in Middlesex County ; some of these records extend back to 1630, and others, to remote periods as the settlements progressed. They are voluminous, and have been procurred at great expense ; in addition to them some were obtained of other towns, whereby the field for research was enlarged, and the labor of searching out ancestry not a little increased ; for that labor I have been com- pensated in obtaining to a considerable extent, the information desired, and in acquiring a knowledge of the fact, that much can be gathered from them to gratify those, who are seeking a knowl- edge of their ancestry, whether in the line through which they descended, or of the collateral branches of the respective genera- tions. Some information of the ancestry of the early settlers will
4
INTRODUCTION.
be found in notes under the respective family heads, and in which all will feel an interest, more particularly their descendants, and those, who have become connected with them. In tracing them before their settlement here, I have, for the most part, confined my account of them to their line direct to the remotest ancestor in this country of whom I could obtain a knowledge in the little time devoted to it, without speaking of the collateral branches of the different generations to the extent I could have done, as the object of this work did not require it, and its limits would not ad- mit of so wide a range.
In pursuing the inquiry, my information has been extended, and my curiosity gratified.
By the records of olden time, I have been introduced not only to the ancient dead, whose works live in history, and whose deeds are related in story, but made acquainted with numerous family lines of subsequent generations and their wide spread connections.
In this compilation I introduce them to the reader, with an ac- count of some of their descendants, their families, &c., and of others, whose remote ancestry I could not, or had not time to trace. What reflections have not arisen in my mind, while pre- paring it ! What will not be produced in his, who reads it ! The aged will meditate upon it, and recall to mind many things they had forgotten, if they ever knew them; while the young, with more buoyant feelings, perusing it for information, will find it an instructive compendium of genealogy, and some of the historical matter entertaining, when drawn around the evening fireside, where more frequently occur an interchange of thoughts and a participation in feelings, that give a zest to amusement.
Such is the subject matter of it, and drawn from records to minuteness of detail, that as time passes the interest taken in it will increase and extend to distant parts, where relatives and de- scendants, having left the place of their birth, have taken up their abode with little knowledge of their ancestry, and destitute of the means of acquiring it ; to such particularly, and their children, and their children's children, the Family Register will be a valu- able source of information, while all will find in it some things they never knew before.
5
INTRODUCTION.
Who has not a desire to know something of the people of a 'town, as well as of its location, its ponds, hills and natural advan- tages? Who they were, and who their ancestors, that were here ·before us, and have long since departed ? Who they were, that laid the foundations, religious, political and social, on which we are raising superstructures ? Who they were, that commenced, under great privations and dangers, what we are now enjoying in abundance and without molestation ? Is there not a spirit in man "that yearns, as the babe for the mother's breast, to know who, and what his family, that lived of old on the place he himself now oc- cupies ? who subdued the forests, ploughed the fields and sowed where he himself now reaps? whence he came, with whom he was connected in the tenderest ties of family relation, when he died, ·and whom he left to uphold his name ? perhaps his ancestor !
There is such a spirit in man, and we rejoice in the belief, that it is waking out of sleep and seeking a knowledge of them that have passed away. Under the influence of feelings, that natur- ally give rise to such inquiries, I copied from the records of the town before I removed, but merely for my own curiosity, without expecting or intending to make the use of them I now have, all the marriages, births and deaths, from its settlement to 1829, that could be found thereon, including some other matter, and a list of the town officers as exhibited herein, from 1727 to 1829, both years inclusive. Since which time, and recently, to aid in mak- ing the Register more full and complete, I have copied the records of the church from its organization in 1723 to 1824, which con- tain the admissions to, and dismissions from it, and the baptisms in it during that period, with other ecclesiastical matter on record. There I found the names and a record of the baptisms of many children, whose births had not been put on the town record ; lience I have been able to preserve the names and give an account of some children, that otherwise must have been omitted in the Reg- ister, and of whom, in little time, all knowledge would be lost, and consequently their origin unknown. They will be found under the parental head, with the time of baptism, which in early times was the next Sabbath after birth-and in several instances, as ap- pears of record, both happened on the same day. More children
6
INTRODUCTION.
were baptized formerly than of late years, and earlier in life. Herein will be found an account of all the families that have lived in town previous to 1829, so far as a knowledge of them can be had by a record of a birth or death in any one of them, including those whose children were baptized, but had not their births re- corded. While omitting none, I have gone into a detail with all, so far as records would enable me to do ; nothing short of a detail of particulars will or ought to satisfy the reader in tracing his an- cestry and family connection. Where dates are given, they are taken from the records, but the records themselves are not always correct. Errors must be expected in a work like this ; some have been discovered and noted in an errata ; others no doubt will be found, some of them arising on my part, and some from erroneous information. The belief that such would be the case, and that errors innumerable would creep in, came near discouraging me, and more than once, when this work was half completed, I thought to abandon it altogether; but considering that, if every one should fold up his arms and attempt nothing, because he might make mis- takes, not any thing would be done, and that he who labors for good, and aims to be correct, will, even if he fails in it, have the credit of trying, I persevered, and the result is before the public.
Two years have elapsed since it was commenced ; other avo- cations have occupied most of my time by day, and prevented its earlier appearance ; it has been prepared at intervals, and much of it when others were asleep. Of the Family Register, it is not known, that one on this plan, so full and minute, in family detail, has before been attempted. In some instances it is brought down later than to 1829 of those who were there before that time ; of those who have moved into town since that period, I know so lit- tle, I could say nothing that would be satisfactory to them or my- self. In most of what I have read of genealogy I have found the females to have been neglected ; they have not received that attention to which they were and are entitled, they have often been not so much as named ; it will not be found so here. What are the lords of creation without the beauty of it !
West Newton, Sept. 1847.
PROPRIETORS, HOUSE LOTS, &c.
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We have been told, that this town was settled by people mostly from Marlboro'-that the tract of land, which afterwards comprised the township, was granted by the General Court to sundry persons, who had petitioned the Court therefor. To most of those now on the stage but little more is known of the incipient steps towards its settlement, than the above brief and traditionary account.
From a desire to know more particularly how that was, and to learn who were the petitioners, their names, &c., and to learn their reasons and motives, as expressed in their own language for requesting the grant, I examined the records in the Secretary's office, hoping to find the original petition or a copy of it, but could find neither of them-It was probably destroyed in 1760, when the State House with numerous files of valuable papers were burnt, whereby much interesting information relating to the early settlements in Massachusetts has been lost.
Nothing more appears on the records there, than the proceed- ings of the General Court upon their petition-there is some evidence to show the petition bore date of 1716. Upon the re- ception and hearing of the petition, the Court ordered a viewing Committee-their report (noted on the margin of the record, " Report on the petition of Marlboro' men,") was as follows :
" Pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly at their session in May last, we, the subscribers, have been upon the land petitioned to be a township by John Brigham and thirty others ; have viewed the situation and the quality of the same, and informed ourselves of the circumstances of the petitioners, that
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PROPRIETORS, HOUSE LOTS, &c.
desire the grant of the land for a township, and are of opinion, that they, and such as join with them, are a competent number, and such as are likely by themselves or their Dependants to make a good and speedy settlement thereon. And that, if this Hon- ourable Court allow to the Westerly part of Marlboro' a line to be continued from the Westerly line of Lt. Rice's farm, until it meets with Fay's farm, and then to bound by said Fay's farm according to the line thereof, until it meet with Sutton line on the Southward and from the North West corner of said Rice's land to run upon a strait line to a heap of stones, called Warner's corner, which is the most Easterly corner of Haynes' farm by the Country Road, and from thence by a line running North 20 degrees East by the needle, till it meet with Lancaster line on the North, it will not so disadvantage the land petitioned for a township, but that it may be very accommodable and entertain a suitable number of persons to make a good town.
SAMUEL THAXTER, JOHN CHANDLER, JONATHAN REMINGTON.
Marlboro', June 19, 1717."
It also appears from the Records of the Court appointing the viewing Committee on the petition of John Brigham and thirty others, that the petitioners prayed for a grant of the land to be given or sold to them lying between Marlboro' and Worcester, Lancaster, Sutton and Hassanamisco, now Grafton. Westboro' and Northboro' were then a part of Marlboro'; and in 1717 the Inhabitants living in the Westerly part of Marlboro' petitioned to be set off from Marlboro' and made a township by themselves, this petition and that of John Brigham and others were both pending at the same time, after both were reported upon by viewing Committees, the Westerly part of Marlboro' was set off and incorporated as a town, by the name of Westboro' and ex- tending farther West than the original Westerly line of Marlboro', included a strip of that tract prayed for by John Brigham and others. In both cases before the grants were made, surveys and plans of each township were ordered to be made and returned for the
0
IN SHREWSBURY.
better understanding of the Court; the persons composing the viewing Committee were, if I mistake not, the same in both cases.
The foregoing report having been made to the Court, it was at their session on the 31st of October and 2d November, 1717, " Ordered, that the tract of land protracted and described, witli the farms heretofore granted to particular persons contained in the plot be made a township, excepting so much thereof, as the report of Samuel Thaxter, John Chandler and Jonathan Reming- ton, Esqrs., dated 19th of June 1717, doth propose to be taken off and added to the Westerly part of Marlboro'; and that Jonathan Remington, Samuel Thaxter and Francis Fullam, Esqrs. be a committee fully empowered to grant and lay out the whole of said lands (except what has been heretofore granted) to such persons as they in their wisdom shall think most likely to advance the settlement of the place; they paying the said Committee for the use of the Province, not exceeding twelve pence per acre for said lands, and the charge of the Committee for laying out the same, which is to be done in as convenient and defensible a manner as the circumstances of the plan will admit of, provided they have there at least forty families settled there with an Orthodox minister within the space of three years, and that a lot and other accommodations, as large and convenient as may be to the place will admit of in the judgment of said Committee, be laid out to the first settled minister, also a lot for the ministry, and another for the use of the school. Sent up for concurrence. Read and concurred. Consented to,
SAMUEL SHUTE."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE LAYING OUT COMMITTEE.
We the Subscribers, whose names are under written, a Com- mittee appointed and fully empowered by the Great and General Court or Assembly of his Majesties Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, held at Boston, Oct. 23, 1717, to grant and lay out the whole of the lands described in a plot exhibited and prayed for by John Brigham and thirty others, agreeable to the order of said Court, passed thereon upon the report of 2
10
PROPRIETORS, HOUSE LOTS, &c.
Samuel Thaxter, John Chandler and Jonathan Remington, Esqrs. Oct. 31 and Nov. 2d, 1717, lying Eastward of and contiguous to the town of Worcester, made a township by said Court. Pursuant to the power and directions to us given in and by the order of the General Court, having due regard to the savings and exceptions therein nade,
Have granted to the several petitioners and farmers, whose names are underwritten, and on the other side, and to their heirs forever, the several House Lots in said lands, in number and quantity, as set down against each Grantees' name, respectively, upon and with the following conditions and provisos, and not otherwise.
1. That each and every person, to whom a Lot is, or shall be granted, shall by himself or other meet person, such as the Committee shall accept and approve of, effectually settle such Lot to the acceptance and satisfaction of the Committee, as 10 manner and time, and so as to conform to the order of said General Court, dated as above said ; and
2. Shall also pay to the Committee for the use of this Province the sum of £3,12,0, each person in current money or Bills of Public Credit, at or before the first day of June, Anno 1725, and do also satisfy the Committee for their time, &c.
3. That each and every petitioner named and distinguished as farmers, as set down on the other side of this leaf, to whom a House Lot is granted, shall (over and above the fulfilling all the conditions above mentioned,) effectually, and to the satisfaction of the Committee, within the space of six years from the date of the above said order of Court, settle at least one family upon each of their farms respectively, lying within said town, distinct from the settlement on the new Lot granted them, or else shall forfeit to the Country the Lots granted them.
Lot No. 3, to Joseph Buckminster, Esq., sixty-three acres, 63 No. 2, to Lt. John Houghton, seventy acres, ...... 70 No. 25, to George Brown, for his son Josiah Brown, seventy acres, 70
No. 42, to John Keyes, Sen., sixty-six acres, 66
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IN SHREWSBURY.
No. 23, to Jotham Brigham, admitted in the room of Asa Bowker, 70
No. 28, to John Wheeler, sixty acres, 60
No. 31, to James Keyes, seventy acres, 70
No. 16, to John Keyes, Jr. fifty-three acres, 53
No. 45, to Thomas Keyes, seventy acres, . 70
No. 43, to Eleazer Taylor, sixty-nine acres, 69
No. 24, to Thomas Hall, seventy acres, 70
No. 33, to Jacob Hinds, sixty acres, 60
No. 26, to Samuel Crosby admitted in the room of Jer. Holman, 73
No. 29, to John Gates, seventy acres, 70
No. 6, to John Upham, seventy-two acres, 72
No. 11, to Daniel Rand, sixty-two acres, 62
No. 37, to Richard Temple, seventy acres, 70
No. 18, to John Shattuck, fifty-eight acres, 58
No. 4, to Joseph Baker, sixty-seven acres, 67
No. 39, to John Wheeler, sixty acres, 60
No. 36, to Samuel Brigham, admitted in the room of Gershom Wheelock, 70
No. 10, to John Sherman, seventy-two acres and three quarters, 722
No. 44, to William Johnson, sixty-seven acres, 67
No. 27, to Thomas Gleazon, admitted in room of Ephraim Curtice, 70
No. 21, to Peter Smith, sixty-nine acres and an half, 69}
No. 38, to Abiah Bush, sixty-one acres, 61
No. 7, to William Ward, admitted in room of Benj. Bellows, . 69
The farmers to whom House Lots are granted by the Com- mittee upon the conditions written on the other side.
Lot No. 14, to John Brigham, seventy acres, 70
No. 1, to Peter Hains, sixty-eight acres, 68
No. 40, to Capt Joshua Hains, sixty-six acres, 66
No. 34, to Lt. David Haines, seventy acres, 70
No. 17, to Moses Newton, fifty-one acres and an half, 51} No. 13, to John Crosby, admitted in room of Daniel How, 62
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PROPRIETORS, HOUSE LOTS, &c.
Lot No. 5, to Jonathan Witt, sixty-one acres, 61 No. 15, to Thomas Hapgood, sixty-two and an halfacres, 62} No. 32, to James Gleazon, in room of William Taylor, 70 No. 41, to Caleb Rice, in room of Samuel Wheelock, Sen., sixty acres, . 60
No. 19, to Elias Keyes, sixty-five acres, 65
No. 12, to Jonathan Loring, sixty-seven acres, 67
No. S, to Nahum Ward, fifty-eight acres, 53
No. 9, to Capt. Edward Goddard, sixty-nine acres, . 69 No. 35, to Gershom Keyes, admitted in room of Capt. Brown, . 52
And the true intent and meaning of the Committee is, that every Grantee before mentioned, (as also the Public Lots,) that shall fulfill the conditions before expressed, shall be entitled to all after divisions of land in said township, and that all the land now lying in common and undivided be shared among them, part and part alike, or otherwise remain in common, as they shall agree, and the Grantees have liberty to divide the same in whole or in part, when they see good. And that every of the before named Grantees shall be and is hereby obliged to pay the said sum of three pounds and twelve shillings before mentioned, at six equal payments-twelve shillings each for the use of the Province, the first at or before the first day of June, 1720, and so yearly and every year, until each particular Grantee have fully paid to the Committee or such other as the Court appoints to receive the same, the full sum of £3,12,0 each, which will amount in the whole to the sum of one hundred fifty-one pounds and four shillings.
JONATHAN REMINGTON, SAMUEL THAXTER, FRANCIS FULLAM.
Committee.
Dec. 18, 1718."
Some years after, the Proprietors, with a view to know to whom the several house lots were granted, Dec. 30, 1718, and the quantity of meadow ground alloted to each and where situated, and how bounded, &c., and the respective names of the persons in possession of the several lots, required an account
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IN SHREWSBURY.
of the same to be made out and entered on their Book, of which the following is a copy.
The grants, so far as the Courts' Committee were concerned, were made on the 1Sth Dec. 1718-perhaps the grants on the 30th were made merely to show the Proprietors' acceptance of the doings of the Committee.
" Lot No. 1, Granted to Peter Haines, Dec. 30, 1718.
This first Lot in Shrewsbury, contains in it 68 acres, and is situate at the South East corner of said town, and is bounded Easterly and Southerly by the town line-Westerly by the 2d Lot, and otherways by common land-the Southard angle is a white oak, &c.
It hath, for a division of meadow in said town, the 2d Lot in Wild Cat meadow, six acres ; and is bounded Southerly by the meadow lot of Col. Joseph Buckminster, which is No. 1 ; and partly by the great Island in said meadow-Westerly by upland, Northerly by the meadow Lot of John Houghton, which is No. 3. This Lot (68 acres) hath a 50 acre right belonging to it, in the common or undivided land, and is, 24 Dec. 1728, in the possession of Eleazer Pratt.
Lot No. 2, Granted to John Houghton, Dec. 30, 1718.
This second Lot in Shrewsbury, contains in it seventy acres, and hath a 50 acre right belonging to it, in the undivided land in Shrewsbury, and lyeth near the South East angle of the town, bounded Southerly by the town line, Easterly by the first Lot, Westerly by the third Lot, Northerly by common land-and hath for a division of meadow six acres, the 3d Lot in Wild Cat meadow, bounded Southerly by the meadow Lot of Peter Hains which is No. 29, Northerly by the meadow Lot of William Ward, which is No. 4, Easterly partly by the meadow of John Sherman; this Lot (70 acres,) is, Jan. 11, 1728, in the possession of David Goodnow.
Lot No. 3 was Granted to Col. Joseph Buckminster, Dec. 30, 1718.
This third Lot in Shrewsbury, contains in it 63} acres, and hath a 50 acre right belonging to it in the common and undivid- ed land in Shrewsbury, and is situated near the South East corner
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