USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Athol > Athol, Massachusetts, past and present > Part 15
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Pequoig. They were prominent in town and church af- fairs, William Oliver having been one of the first Select- men and Assessors of the town, and also the second town Treasurer. Robert, William and James, subsequently re- moved to other states, John alone remaining in Athol, and it is from him that the present Olivers of Athol and vicin- ity are descended.
JOHN OLIVER settled in that part of the town known as Lyon's Hill, and built his first house of logs on, what is now, the east side of the road, a short distance north of the house occupied by Charles H. Moulton. For many years he lived here and cleared up and cultivated the land around, and it was in this log house that most of his child- ren were born. Later he built a gambrel roofed house a few rods above the house known as the Drury house, near the Petersham road. John Oliver was a young man un- der twenty years of age when he came through the wild- erness from Hatfield, and settled here on these hills ; every account of him goes to show that he was one of nature's noblemen ; a young. man of daring energy, he de- veloped into a man of noble proportions, both physically and mentally. He is described as having been a very large man, six and one half feet tall, straight and well built, a powerful man. He was familiarly known as " Old Dap." His name appears frequently on the early records . as a town officer, and as prominently identified with church affairs, and he was also a Captain in the Revolu- tionary War. He was married about 1746, and had a family of eleven children. He lived to a very old age, and died Dec. 23, 1811, at the age of ninety-three years,
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and was buried in the cemetery known as the Street Hill burying ground. He died during the great snow storm of 1811, and his remains lay for eight days in the house, be- fore they could be taken to the grave yard.
AARON OLIVER, the oldest child of John Oliver, was born Sept. 15, 1748, in the old log house built by his father. Although his early life was full of cares and re- sponsibilities that usually fall to the lot of the oldest child of a large family, yet his leisure was improved in such a manner that he obtained a good education for those days. He was a man of prominence in town affairs, and served the town as one of its Selectmen ; was often chosen as moderator to preside at town meeting, and served on im- portant committees. He also had strong religious convic- tions, and was one of the first to espouse the Baptist doc- trines in this town. Aaron Oliver, and his near neighbor, Isaac Briggs, were the prime movers in founding the pres- ent Baptist church in town, and were the two first deacons of the church, being elected to that position Dec. 1, 1810. He married Lucy Smith, Jan. 19, 1774, and had seven children. He built a large square story and a half house, about half a mile northeast from the old homestead on the old turnpike road to Phillipston. This was one of the first carriage roads of the town, and was discontinued over eighty years ago. He lived here about thirty years, and finally sold the farm to his son James. He died Jan. 3, 1826, at the home of his son George, on the farm formerly owned by Thomas Brooks.
JAMES OLIVER, was the second son of Aaron Oliver, and was born April 19, 1778. Tradition says he was a prom-
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ising boy, full of daring and energy. He learned survey- ing, and became the surveyor for this and adjoining towns; his plans of farms and lands surveyed are now in exist- ence, and are skillfully and accurately made. He also did a large amount of business in making out deeds, contracts and all kinds of legal documents. He married Hannah Kendall, Sept. 30, 1801. Miss Kendall was the daughter of Jonathan Kendall, one of the early settlers of Chestnut Hill; they had seven children. In 1804 he built the large two story house, now standing on the old place near the Petersham road, and known as the "Drury place." He was one of the Selectmen of the town from 1807 to the time of his death in 1829, with the exception of six years, and was the Deputy Sheriff for this section for a period of twenty-one years. He was also elected Captain of the militia company, and became known as Captain Oliver. As captain, surveyor, selectman, farmer and deputy sher- iff, he was an exceedingly busy man; and, in addition to all these, he was also sent to the General Court at Boston as Representative, in 1814 and 1815. He acted as auc- tioneer for the whole town for more than twenty years, and during this time settled a large number of estates. The last few years of Capt. Oliver's life were passed in a house on " Athol Street" on the site of the residence of the late Ebenezer Brock. He died there, of erysipelas, May 7, 1829, at the age of 51 years.
JAMES OLIVER, (2,) the oldest son of Capt. James Oliver, was born July 31, 1802. His early life was spent upon the farm. Soon after he was of age he learned the blacksmith trade, and in the Fall of 1828,
DR. JAMES OLIVER.
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OLD ATHOL FAMILIES.
moved to Orange, and bought the old Putnam shop on the north side of the river, where he did blacksmithing with water power. He lived there four years, when on account of his health he was obliged to sell, and moved to South Athol, then called Podunk, and opened a store. He remained in South Athol about four years, and then moved to Athol street and engaged iu blacksmithing and house building. In September, 1843, he moved to the Upper Village and continued the blacksmith business, and in 1845, built a house upon the Common, which was his home for nearly thirty-five years. About 1850, he com- menced the manufacture of steel garden rakes, potato dig- gers, etc., which he continued with varying success for ten or fifteen years, and in 1860, engaged in getting out house finish, which business he followed for twelve years or more. He married Minerva Fay, Sept. 18, 1827. She died Aug. 16, 1879, and Mr. Oliver April 20, 1887, They had seven children, two of whom died in infancy.
DR. JAMES OLIVER, (3, ) the only son of James Oliver, ( 2,) was born June 28, 1836, on Athol Street. His school days commenced at the early age of three years, when he went to school with an older sister. When about seven- teen years of age he taught his first school in the New Sherborn district, where his wages were fourteen dollars per month, and he paid one dollar per week for his board. He taught other schools at North Orange and Phillipston, and during the intervals between his teaching attended the High school. He was the teacher of the Athol Cen- tre Grammar school for several terms, and was one of the first assistant teachers of the High school.
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In 1860, he first commenced the study of medicine as a student, with the late Dr. J. P. Lynde, and attended med- ical lectures at Boston for several terms, graduating July 16, 1862. During the last year of his studies the Civil war was raging, and several times he almost decided to leave his studies and enter the army; fearing the war might close before his graduation. As soon as he grad- uated from the Medical College, he was commissioned as- sistant surgeon in the 21st Mass. Regiment, and joined his regiment at Falmouth, Va. At the second Bull Run battle, which was his first engagement, Dr. Oliver was left in charge of the sick and wounded, and was taken pris- oner, but soon managed to escape. He rejoined his regi- ment at Alexandria, and participated in the battles at South Mountain and Antietam. He was promoted as sur- geon of the 21st Regt. May 26, 1864, and passed through the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Bethesda Church and Coal Harbor. His term of service having expired, he was mustered out Aug. 30, 1864, and in Sep- tember of the same year was commissioned assistant sur- geon of the 61st Mass. Regt., Oct. 18, surgeon of the same, and June 2d, 1865, brigade surgeon. He partici- pated in the great battles of April 1865, which resulted in the fall of Richmond, and was mustered out with his regi- ment July 30, 1865.
After the war Dr. Oliver was for a number of years engaged in cotton raising in South Carolina, but returned to Athol upwards of twenty years ago, and has continued to practice his profession to the present time. He has been actively interested in town affairs and politics, suc-
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ceeded the late Dr. J. P. Lynde as the Medical Examiner of this district, is prominent in Grand Army circles, and . has been a member of the school committee for several years, being a member of the present board. He married Miss Kate Johnson, daughter of the late Geo. T. Johnson, Jan. 25, 1876. They have two children, Annie J. and James.
The other children of James Oliver, (2,) are, Harriett K., who married S. B. Pitts, Jane T., married Foster J. Benjamin, Rosella A., married Ransom Ward, and Min- erva, married Delevan Richardson.
GEORGE OLIVER, a son of Aaron Oliver, was born in Athol in 1776. He lived for many years on the farm known as the Brooks farm on the North Orange road. He removed to Vermont, where he lived a few years, and then came back to Massachusetts and resided in Roy- alston. until his death in 1841. He was married three times. His first wife was Rhoda Young, by whom he had four children, Hepzibah, Samuel, George and Na- thaniel. His second wife was Deborah White, and by her he had four children, Catherine, Cynthia, Moses and Caleb. Cynthia Goddard, the third wife, bore him five children, Charles, James, Aaron, Mary and Lucy. A sketch of James Oliver is given in the Grand Army chap- ter. Chas. Oliver was born April 5, 1831, and married Ellen Davis, a sister of A. S. Davis, April 5, 1854. He resides in Fitchburg. Moses is a civil engineer, and lives in Lawrence, where he has been prominent in building the mills of the city.
Franklin Oliver, a son of James (1,) was born March
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24, 1810, and lived and died in the vicinity of his native place. He had a saw mill near South Athol, and manu- factured lumber, in which he was an extensive dealer. He married Emily, a daughter of Bartholomew. Wood- ward, and had eleven children: Ozi, Sylvenus E., Otis, Franklin, Jr., Sally E., Franklin 2d, Solon J., Orville, Orrin, Edd O. and Lilia E ..
THE KENDALLS.
Among the names in the "List of men admitted by the Great and General Court's Committee, to draw House Lotts in the Township of Pequoig, on Millers River, on the 26 of June, 1734, at Concord, as settlers of said Pe- quoig," we find the name of Samuel Kendall. This Sam- uel Kendall was from Woburn, where he was born, Oct. 29, 1682, a son of Thomas and Ruth Kendall. He was a man of great activity and enterprise, well known as Lieutenant Kendall, having received a Lieutenant's com- mission from Governor Belcher, Oct. 5, 1732. He was an extensive land-owner in his native town, and was also an original proprietor of Northtown, or Townsend. He was one of the principal men among the early settlers of Pequoig, and here he and several of his sons suffered from flood and from depredations of the Indians in the French war between the years 1744 and 1760. He was a car- penter by trade, and did good service in the settlement of the town. He died at Woburn, Dec. 13, 1764.
It was either this Mr. Samuel Kendall, or his son Sam- uel, that the proprietors made an agreement with for building a mill, for at a meeting of the proprietors, held by adjournment on the 18th day of October, 1738, a grant
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of sixty acres of land was made "to Mr. Samuel Kendall for building a corn mill and keeping it in Repair for ye space of ten years, so as to Grind for ye Above said Pro- prietors." Jesse Kendall, a son of Samuel, was a promi- nent man in the early days of Athol, especially in building mills and developing the water power, and was one of the deacons of the old first church, being chosen to that position Nov. 10, 1774. Mrs. Anstis Kendall Miles, a granddaughter, in the Kendall genealogy which she ar- ranged in rhyme, has the following in regard to him :
.. Now Jesse. eleventh of Samuel, I'll show, Whose wife was Elizabeth Evans, I know, He moved to " Pequoage " and lived near the river, Now Athol, for the Kendalls are millers forever.
He dug a canal, took the water away. Which moves much mechanical business to-day. And built the first mill to grind eorn and wheat, Rye, barley and oats. for the people to eat.
He owned a good farm. which he cleared up with care, And contended for erops with the flood and the bear,
And the men of the forest, being loth to depart,
shot their arrows of vengeance, but ne'er reached his heart.
He was honest in toil, was constant to meeting, And the brethren united and made him a Deacon,
Yet at this distant day, it seems rather odd, That they carried their guns to the house of their God.
The scripture injunction they fully obeyed, And some watched without while the minister prayed. 'Twas the war with the French that kindled their ire, To murder and steal, and burn up with fire.
How little we think what our fathers went through, As we till the green fields that they strove to subdue, E'en my father, when young, eaught a cub by the way, When going to meeting one fine Sabbath day.
This Jesse a patriarch was in his day, Had twelve sons and daughters, all handsome and gay."
Joel Kendall of this family, owned a saw and grist mill, where the factory of the Millers River Manufacturing Co. is now located, and also owned a large tract of land be- tween the villages. He was succeeded in business by his sons, Lyman Kendall and Joel Kendall, Jr., the former's
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residence being the house now occupied by M. L. Lee, while the latter lived where the S. E. Fay house now is, and had a mill where the Goddard and Manning piano shop is now located.
Another family bearing the name of Kendall, which has been prominently identified with the town all through its history down to the present day and generation settled on Chestnut Hill. Six Kendall brothers came from Scot- land and settled in Massachusetts. Jonathan Kendall, one of the six, came to Athol and settled on Chestnut Hill. He built a log house and cleared up about half an acre of land, where the old Kendall house now stands. In 1765, he married Anna Oliver. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and participated in the capture of Ticonderoga; his grandson, John Kendall, now has the old powder horn that he carried in the war. His wife, Anna, was a woman of uncommon strength and endur- ance, and is said to have been a great marksman. She did much of the farm work while her husband was in the war, and is said to have dug forty bushels of potatoes in a day. He kept a store, and people came from Warwick to get codfish, salt, rum and molasses, which they carried to their homes through the wilderness on foot. The old store stood until seven or eight years ago on the farm. Jonathan Kendall also owned the up-town common, which he sold to Samuel Sweetzer. He had six children, five girls and one boy. He died in 1817, and his wife Anna, died in 1824.
JOHN KENDALL, the only son of Jonathan Kendall, mar- ried Susan Smith in 1796. He was prominent in mili-
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JOAB KENDALL.
OZI KENDALL.
THỊ
JOHN KENDALL.
GOODELL GODDARD.
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tary affairs of those days, and was a captain in the militia. He had ten children, six boys and four girls: Jonathan, Stephen, Wyman, Annie, Joab, Lydia, Ozi, John, Maria and Susan. Stephen and Susan died young. Annie mar- ried Joshua Young, and died in a few years, Lydia mar- ried Gardner Davis, and was the mother of Azor S. Davis, and Maria married Russell Smith, who was one of Athol's prominent manufacturers. Jonathan settled in Orange, and was the father of Aral Kendall. Wyman went South, and was engaged in peddling saddles and other articles. He returned to Athol and worked at shoe making, and subsequently went to Vermont, where he re- mained for some time.
JOAB KENDALL was born Dec. 22, 1805. He lived at home on the farm, and his education was received in the district school. When twenty-one years of age he went to Worcester, and lived for a year, after which he re- turned to Athol and purchased a farm on Chestnut Hill, near the old homestead. He was married Sept. 26, 1830, to Louisa Young of Orwell, Vt. He carried on his farm for nearly forty-five years, until October, 1871, when he removed to the Village and retired from active business. He was a prominent and active member of the Congrega- tional church, and was one of its deacons for fifteen years. He had one son. Ira Y. Kendall. He died Dec. 14, 1884.
OZI KENDALL was born Sept. 13, 1810. He received the common school education afforded in those times, and when a young man of seventeen, entered a Worcester leather store, and later went to Templeton, where he
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learned the shoemakers trade of Jonathan Bowker. He returned to Athol, and in 1834, began business for him- self in a small way, in the shop on Main street, which for- merly adjoined the house in which he lived and where he died. His business grew slowly, but steadily, until it out- grew the Main Street shop, and the large brick factory on Exchange Street was erected in 1874. In 1855, he admitted his son George N., into partnership with him, which was continued until 1875, the firm name being O. Kendall & Son. In 1870, his nephew, Ira Y. Kendall and Geo. S. Pond, were admitted to the firm, and the name was changed to O. Kendall & Co., which it re- mained until the business was given up in 1887. In 1884, which completed half a century of his business, he sold out his interest to Ira Y. Kendall and Geo. S. Pond. He married Miss Fanny A. Ainsworth, a sister of the wife of Jonathan Bowker, his early employer in Temple- ton. They had two children, George N. and Helen F., who married Rev. Alonzo Sanderson, a Methodist min- ister, now of Worcester. Mr. Kendall was a trustee of the Athol Savings Bank for many years, and in 1871, represented this district in the Legislature. He was one of nature's noblemen, quiet and retiring, with a tender heart and generous impulses, while the most solid virtues were ingrained in his character, and when he passed away on Nov. 16, 1884, the whole community mourned the loss of a good man.
JOHN KENDALL was born Oct. 26, 1812, and has always lived on the old homestead settled by his grandfather Jonathan. In addition to carrying on his farm he en-
IRA Y. KENDALL.
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gaged quite extensively for many years in the lumbering business. He has served his fellow citizens in positions of responsibility, having been for six years a member of the board of Selectmen, two of the years being the first years of the late war. and was for forty years one of the sextons. For many years he was a prominent member of the old First Unitarian church, was a teacher in its Sun- day school, and one of the committee of arrangements for the Centennial celebration of the church in 1850. He is now a member of the Second Unitarian church. The divining rod works well in his hands, and his reputation in this direction has been such that his services have been in demand in all of the towns of this vicinity, and he has also been called to a distance. He has discovered more than one hundred and fifty springs in Athol alone. He married Cynthia Garfield, in November, 1836. She died Mar. 13. 1877, and he was married to Almira Goodell. Feb. 22, 1878. He had two children by his first wife, Henry and Susan who married Simeon B. Newton.
IRA Y KENDALL. son of Joab, was born Dec. 25, 1831. He attended the common schools of the town, and in the fall of 1853, went to Brandon Seminary, in Brandon, Vt., where he became acquainted with Miss Ettie Thomas of that town, whom he married Sept. 6, 1855. He learned the shoemakers trade and the bottoming of boots, and settled down at home on the farm, where he was engaged in farming and lumbering, until he moved to the Village, April 1, 1870. He went into company with his uncle, Ozi Kendall, in the manufacture of boots, the firm name being O. Kendall & Co. In 1884, with Mr. Geo, S.
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Pond, he bought out the business, and continued it under the old firm name, until the spring of 1887. when they retired from business. Since then he has been engaged in the lumber business most of the time. Mr. Kendall has always taken an active interest in town and public affairs, represented this district in the Legislature of 1881, served the town as Selectman, Overseer of the Poor and Road Commissioner in 1888 and 1889, and was for a number of years one of the Republican town committee. During the war of the Rebellion, he was one of the committee for raising money for the volunteers. He is also prominently identified with the Congregational church, was Superin- tendent of its Sunday School for three years, and was chosen Deacon in 1879, which position he holds at the present time. He had one son, Warren, a young man of much promise, who died in 1890, at the age of eighteen, while a student at Cushing Academy.
THE MORTONS.
Among the first five settlers of Athol were two brothers, Richard Morton and Samuel Morton, while a third brother, Noah, came a few years after. They came from Hatfield, and were the sons of Abraham Morton, who was born in May, 1676, and married Sarah Kellogg, May 8, 1701. The first ancestor of the family in America was George Morton, one of the Pilgrims, who was their finan- cial agent in England, and the one who chartered the "Mayflower," which brought over the first colony that landed at Plymouth in 1620, coming himself in 1623. Richard Morton married Mary Waite, a granddaughter of Sergeant Benjamin Waite, the " Hero of the Connecticut
A
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Valley," Feb. 25, 1731. He came to Athol in Septem- ber. 1735, and built the first dwelling in town, which was a log hut near the house formerly occupied by Mr. Lynde Smith. He was actively engaged in the organization of the first church of Athol, and was one of the first to affix his signature to the solemn covenant. He had seven children : Martin, Jeremiah. Abraham, Margery, Ben- jamin, Mary and Submit.
(1) Martin Morton, the oldest, was born in Hatfield, Feb. 7, 1732. He had fifteen children, born in Athol between 1754 and 1782. This family probably removed from town.
(2) Jeremiah Morton. the second son, was born in Hatfield, Nov. 20, 1733, and married Alice Ford, Nov. 30, 1766. They had seven children, Daniel, the oldest son, married Electa Fairbanks, and had five children, all of whom died within six months of each other, with the exception of Electa, who married John W. Kelton, and died in 1892, at the age of ninety-five years. She was the mother of John and Cornelius W. Kelton.
Lieutenant Joel Morton, the second son of Jeremiah Morton, was born Dec. 17, 1770. He married Annie Kendall of Athol, and was a man of wealth and influence in the town, holding the position of town treasurer for many years. He had several daughters, of whom, Alice married Bela Putnam, and Fanny married Lyndes Smith.
Jeremiah Morton, the youngest son of Jeremiah and Alice ( Ford ) Morton, was born Nov. 30, 1781, and mar- ried Olive Morse, March 30, 1809. He was engaged in the saddlery and hatter business, and built the house now
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occupied by Dr. James Oliver, which was his home until his death Feb. 1, 1854.
JOHN DWIGHT MORTON, his son, was born Oct. 3, 1830. His education was obtained in the public schools of Athol, and he served his first apprenticeship in business when fifteen years old in a store in Royalston kept by Austin & Work. He remained there three years, after which he returned home and spent another year in school, when he started business on his own account, in what is now the town of Putnam, Conn., where he remained three or four years, and went to Boston in 1853. He first obtained a situation in the store of Stimson & Valentine, wholesale dealers in paints, oils and varnishes. In 1859 he entered the employ of the house of Banker & Carpenter, who were engaged in the same business, and became a partner in 1864. In 1868, the firm name was changed to Car- penter, Woodward & Morton, and remained the same un- til Jan. 1, 1893, when the business was incorporated, un- der the name of the Carpenter-Morton Company, of which Mr. Morton is the treasurer and general manager. This company does the largest business of any in New Eng- land in its special line of goods, and is one of the largest in the United States. He has had much to do in mould- ing and influencing the business and social organizations of Boston. He was one of the founders of the " Paint and Oil Club of New England," serving as its President in 1886 and 1887, was also one of the organizers of the " National Paint, Oil and Varnish Association," which was organized at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888, and served as its President in 1893 and 1894. He first suggested the for-
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