USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Franklin County, Massachusetts .. > Part 65
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ing. but neither union was blessed with chil- dren. Seth Smead Newton, who was born February II. 1844, was married on December 7. 1865, to Henrietta, daughter of George and Julia Ann Frary, who was born in Whately, December 10, 1849. They have two children : Mary Jane, born June 27, 1866, and Abbie Frary, born December 7, 1868. The former, who was for several years a successful teacher in Worcester, Mass .. was married June 27, 1892. to Charles H. Perry, of that city; and they have a son, Roger Newton, born March 12. 1894. Abbie Frary Newton is now a teacher in Worcester. Persis Newton, young- est child of John and Elizabeth (Arms) Newton, was born March 19, 1798, and died, unmarried, February 7, 1842.
OBERT E. BLODGETT, a successful farmer and breeder of fine horses in Charlemont, Mass., was born in this town, March 31, 1830, son of Samuel and Deborah (Legate) Blodgett. The Blodgett family, of which Robert E. represents the eighth generation in this country, trace their descent from Thomas Blodgett, who came to America from London in the "Increase" in 1635, with his wife, Susanna, and two sons, Daniel and Samuel, aged respectively four years and one year and a half. At the time of their emigration Thomas Blodgett was thirty years old, and his wife thirty- seven. They settled in Cambridge, Mass., where two children were born -a daughter Susanna and a son Thomas. The latter died in 1639.
Thomas Blodgett, Sr., was evidently a man of means, owning a house and land on Garden Street and other property in the town. He died before he attained his fortieth year. A copy of his will, made August 10, 1641, and
proved in 1642, is to be found in the Newe England Genealogical Register for April, 1848, vol. ii. p. 185. His widow married James Thompson, Sr., of Woburn; and his daughter Susanna married Jonathan, son of the same James Thompson by a former wife. From them in the fifth generation was Ben- jamin, of world-wide renown as Sir Benja- min Thompson, or Count Rumford. Samuel Blodgett, son of Thomas and Susanna, went to Woburn to live, and on December 13, 1655, married Ruth, daughter of Stephen Iggleden, of Boston. Their son Samuel married Hul- dah, daughter of William Simonds. The records speak of each Samuel as serving as delegate to the General Court, as Selectman, and as member of important commissions ; and in some cases it is hard to distinguish be- tween them.
Thomas Blodgett, son of Samuel and Ruth, born February 26, 1661 (or, as given in His- tory of Lexington in 1660), was the ancestor of most of the Lexington Blodgetts. He was married November 11, 1685, to Rebecca, daughter of John and Rebecca (Wood) Tidd, the former a prominent man in Lexington, who dealt extensively in land. In the history Thomas Blodgett is mentioned as a subscriber to the meeting-house in 1692, but does not appear to have been a taxable inhabitant till 1694. He and his wife were added to the church in Lexington in 1699 by a letter from the Woburn church. Captain Blodgett, as he was generally called, was a leading man in the town, filling almost every local office of trust after its incorporation, and also repre- senting the town in the General Court. His home was on Adams Street, near North Street. He died September 29, 1740. He had five children: Thomas, Rebecca, Ruth, Abigail, and Samuel.
Samuel Blodgett, the youngest son, was
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born June 17, 1702, was a farmer in Lexing- ton, and died January 23, 1773. His wife, to whom he was married June 26, 1726, was Mary Russell, probably the daughter of Jona- than and Elizabeth, and the grand-daughter of John and Elizabeth (Fiske) Russell. Of the Russells there were quite a number in Cambridge, most of them prominent business men, and some of them wealthy land-owners. The following is a brief record of children of Samuel and Mary (Russell) Blodgett: Sam- uel, born April 30, 1727, was a physician, first in Sunderland and later in Boston; Sim- eon, born June 5, 1730, married Susan Skel- ton ; Joseph, born February 10, 1732, died January 7, 1735; Mary, born June 20, 1733, married Jonathan Perry; Ruth, born August 29, 1735, married October 25, 1759, Henry Harrington ; Josiah, born December 28, 1737, married Jane Thoren, April 24, 1760; Tim- othy, born April 10, 1740, married Millicent Perry; Isaac, born February 1, 1742, married April 20, 1769, Mary Locke.
According to tradition Timothy Blodgett, the fifth son, was in Captain Parker's com- pany on Lexington Common, April 19, 1775; and, when they dispersed, he lost his gun getting over a board fence. He probably lived on the main road taken by the regulars on their return from Concord, for they took his wife's new baking of bread. It scems that he removed from Wendell to Hadley in 1789, and settled in Deerfield the following year. In the latter town he resided forty years, dying January 13, 1831, when nearly ninety-one years of age. His wife was a daughter of Joseph or Jonathan and Mary (Lockc) Perry. Of the Perry family the town histories give no connected account. The Lockes were descended from William Locke, of London, England, who settled in Woburn, became a large land-owner, and was
Deacon in the local church for many years. He married Mary Clark, of Woburn; and their son William, Jr., was a Deacon of the church in 1709. He married for his first wife Sarah Whitmore. His son William resided on the old homestead, a part of which, includ- ing the house on Lowell Street, was included in the town of Lexington in 1799. This estate was afterward called the Hammond Locke place. William Locke (third) married Jemima, daughter of Philip Russell; and their daughter Mary was married in 1746 to Joseph Perry.
Mrs. Millicent Perry Blodgett died May 7, 1827, at the age of seventy-nine. She and her husband reared a large family, briefly mentioned below: Timothy, born September 24, 1766, died November 29, 1855. He mar- ried Elizabeth Stiles, of Wendell, April 26, 1789. She died in 1850, aged eighty-five. Thaddeus, born June 2, 1768, married Sally Tuttle, and settled near Lake Chautauqua, New York, where he died at an advanced age. Levi, born July 28, 1770, married Kezia Puffer, and died in April, 1848. His wife, who was born in January, 1770, died in Janu- ary, 1841. Lucy, born January 23, 1773, married Asaph Mitchell, and died at Fredonia, N. Y., when over ninety years of age. Sam- uel, grandfather of our subject, was born Sep- tember 29, 1774. Joseph, born January 19, 1777, married Thankful Hawks, of Deerfield. He died in Fitzwilliam, N.H., about 1826. Mary, born April 15, 1779, married Silas Hawks, of Deerfield. Millicent, born De- cember 23, 1781, married Waitstil Hawks, of Deerfield. Sally, born November 22, 1783, married John Legate, and died at Halifax, Vt., October 5, 1861. Lucretia Billings, born June 1, 1786, died March 30, 1789. Simeon, born April 20, 1788, married Lydia Graves, of Deerfield, and died September 2,
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1842. Edmund, born in 1790, married Nancy Brown, and died about 1833.
Samuel Blodgett, grandfather of Robert E., married Susanna Whipple, and resided at different times at Hadley. Deerfield, Conway, Heath, Rowe. and Charlemont, Mass., and at Antwerp, N. Y. He died at Hadley, Saratoga County, N. Y., July 4, 1849. His wife was born March 17, 1774, and died at Antwerp, N. Y., February 23, 1840. They had a large family, several of whom are still living.
Samuel Blodgett, son of Samuel and Su- sanna, was born June 14, 1796. The church records show that he was baptized in Wendell, June 22, 1799. He learned the trade of a carpenter, but devoted the greater part of his life to agriculture, in early manhood purchas- ing a farm in Jefferson County, New York, which he tilled for several years. This he finally sold, and, removing to Franklin County, Massachusetts, purchased the farm in Charlemont on which his son Robert E. now resides. It is one hundred years since this farm, which contained one hundred and eighty acres, was reclaimed from the wilderness by Mr. S. Potter, who erected the present house. Here Mr. Samuel Blodgett spent the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-one. In politics he was a Whig until the formation of the Republican party, of which he then be- came an adherent. He was liberal in religious views. His wife, Deborah Legate Blodgett, lived to be seventy-seven years old. They were the parents of the following children : Samuel, Joseph, Ephraim, Robert E., Sarah, Daniel W., Adeline M., and William H.
Robert E. Blodgett, whose date of birth is given above, remained at home until twenty- two years of age, when, joining the westward exodus, he went to California, and spent four years in the mining camps. He then re- turned to Massachusetts, and, purchasing a
farm of one hundred and eighty acres in Cole- rain, spent fifteen years there, successfully engaged in farming. At the end of that time he bought the home farm, where he has since resided, engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Besides raising cattle and sheep, he has devoted his attention to fine horses, his specialty being a cross between the Hambletonian and Morgan breeds. He is said to have produced some of the finest horses in the vicinity, and for some he has realized handsome prices. Mr. Blodgett is an excellent judge of the equine race and a thorough horseman.
On November 6, 1856, he was married to Jane E., daughter of Robert and Eleanor (White) Burrington, who died at the age of twenty-five. He married for his second wife Miss Leafa A. Jones, whose parents were Franklin and Annis (Burrington) Jones. She has since died, and he is now a widower. No children were born of either marriage. In politics Robert E. Blodgett is a Democrat, and he is liberal in religion. His farm is pleasantly located on Legate Hill, overlook- ing the Deerfield valley and commanding one of the finest views in Franklin County.
T HOMAS WOMERSLEY, M.D., of Greenfield, a well-known medical prac- titioner, was born in 1817 in York- shire, England, which county was also the birthplace of his parents, John and Hannah (Wilkinson) Womersley. The Doctor's father was a wool dealer, or stapler. In 1852 he emigrated to the United States with his wife and children - six sons and two daughters -- performing the tedious voyage in a sailing- packet, the "Pacific," and being thirty-two days on the water. John Womersley was not the first of the family in this country, his
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father, Joseph Womersley, having settled in Dutchess County, New York, some twenty years earlier, becoming the proprietor of a large and valuable farm. His wife was Rachel Archer; and they reared three chil- dren - one son and two daughters.
Dr. Womersley has been a student from his childhood, and in medical science still keeps abreast of the times. He began attending school at an early age, received his diploma at Dartmouth College; and he also studied at the University of the City of New York. He began the practice of his profession at Low- ell, Mass., where he remained four years; and the succeeding five years he spent travelling through the United States and Canada, lect- uring on physiology. He subsequently became interested in the study of theology, was grad- uated in 1855 from the theological seminary at Newton, Mass., and for seven years there- after supplied the pulpits of the Baptist churches of Beverly and Wenham. His next pastorate was at Three Rivers, Hampden County, from which he went to West Deer- field, where for six years he did good work in his Master's vineyard. In 1873 Dr. Womcrs- ley came to Greenfield, and resumed the prac- tice of medicine, in which he has since been continuously engaged, his residence being at 27 Chapman Street. He is quite prominent and popular in medical circles, being the old- est member of the Massachusetts Medical So- ciety residing in Franklin County, and also belonging to the Franklin County Medical Society.
On January 1, 1856, Dr. Womcrsley was united in marriage with Miss Mary F. Tag- gard, of Boston, a daughter of John and Eliza (Welch) Taggard, the former a native of New Hampshire and the latter of Boston. Mr. Taggard was a prominent business man of that city, being an extensive operator in bar
iron and steel, in which he accumulated quite a fortune. He and his wife reared three chil- dren, of whom Eliza, the eldest, was for many years an esteemed teacher in the public schools of Somerville, Mass. She died at Woburn, Mass., in 1893, aged sixty-six years. Anna M., the second daughter, is the widow of William A. Blodgett, of Woburn. Mr. Taggard lived to the ripe old age of fourscore and four years, dying at Watertown, Mass., in 1879; and his widow survived him many years, dying in 1891, at the remarkable age of ninety-six years, being then laid beside her husband in that beautiful resting-place of the dead, Mount Auburn Cemetery. Ebenezer Welch, father of Mrs. Taggard, was a mid- shipman on board the first revenue cutter of the United States, and died while in service, in 1800, at the age of thirty-three years, leav- ing a widow and three children. An uncle of Mrs. Womersley, the Rev. Bartholomew T. Welch, was pastor of the Pearl Street Baptist Church of Albany for thirty years, and sub- sequently had charge of a church in Brooklyn, but spent his last years in Albany. He was quite noted in the denomination to which he belonged, and was President for several years of the Bible Society.
Of the children born to Dr. and Mrs. Wom- crsley two died in infancy; and one son, Thomas Archer, passed away at the tender age of two years. They have two daughters and one son living, namely: Helen Mary, who married William C. Norcross, of Welles- ley Hills, has one son and three daughters ; Eliza T., who was graduated from Wellesley College in 1887, is a teacher of French and Latin in the school of the Misses Gilmore in Boston; and Thomas M., a graduate of Yale College in 1894, is in business with his brother-in-law in Boston, dealing in builders' materials.
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ENRY F. BURNETT, a prosperous blacksmith and dealer in hardware, tinware, and plumbers' supplies, residing at Erving, Mass., was born in Bel- chertown, Hampshire County, June 9, 1838, son of Bela and Elvira (Burnham) Burnett, the former of whom was a native of South Hadley. The paternal grandfather of Henry F. Burnett also bore the name of Bela and was a native of South Hadley, where he followed farming for an occupation. He died there at the advanced age of ninety years.
Bela Burnett, Jr., who had a younger brother, Stoughton Burnett, early learned the mason's trade, which he followed in Franklin County, where he spent his life, making his home at Montague City. He had a good repu- tation for industry and skill at his calling, and also gained considerable local fame as a pedes- trian. It is said of him that while living in Montague City he used to walk to Belcher- town to work, a distance of twenty miles, and return on foot at night, and that he frequently walked one hundred miles without fatigue. He seems, however, not to have had a strong constitution, as he died in his thirty-seventh year. His wife, Elvira Burnham, was a daughter of Daniel Burnham, of Montague City, who lived to be above eighty years of age. She was one of eight children, of whom the only one now living is Mrs. Sarah L. Grout, of Bernardston. Mr. and Mrs. Bela Burnett, Jr., reared six children, of whom but two survive: Jennie, widow of Edmund Ed- munds, and now living in Springfield; and Henry F. The mother died at South Hadley in her fifty-second year. Both parents were attendants of the Congregational church.
Henry F. Burnett was but eighteen months old when his parents removed to Montague City, where much of his childhood was spent. From there he went at length to South Had-
ley, and thence to Granby, Hampshire County. At fifteen years of age he went to work in a piano factory, later was employed in a saw- mill, and was next engaged in blacksmithing. After that he went to Hartford, Conn., where he first had a position in a pipe shop, and sub- sequently in the railroad shop. From Hart- ford he went to Amherst, Mass., where for a year he was employed as a blacksmith, and at the expiration of that time removed to North- field and opened a blacksmith shop for him- self, remaining there until February 18, 1860, when he came to Erving and hired a shop for three years, after which he erected his present shop and conducted a general blacksmithing business until 1886. In that year he put in the hardware department, which he has since continued in connection with the former, and with excellent results, his being the only hard- ware store in the town. In addition to all this, from 1863 to 1868 he was engaged in the livery and grain business.
On October 18, 1860, Mr. Burnett was mar- ried to Maria Trim, a native of Warwick and daughter of Washington Trim, a farmer and carpenter, who died in Orange. Mrs. Maria T. Burnett reared two children : a son, Will- iam L., and a daughter Julia. William L. Burnett, who is associated with his father in business, married Minnie M. Lillie, and has one child, Ruby. Julia Burnett married Elden G. Howe, of Springfield, and died at the age of twenty-three years, her one child having also passed away. Mr. Burnett's second wife, Sarah A. Clark, of Lynn, who bore him one child (deceased), died October 10, 1887, after a brief illness of but five days. His present wife was before marriage Jennie S. Holden. Her father was a resident of Erving.
Mr. Burnett is a Republican in political affiliation, and has served on the School Com- mittee several years and as Town Treasurer for
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six years. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Orange and was formerly a member of the Temple of Honor of that place. Mr. Burnett, though not a communicant of any church, is an attendant of the Congregational church, toward whose support he contributes freely, and of which his wife is a member.
EREZ M. WELLS, a leading citizen of Whately, was born at Hatfield, March 28, 1829, son of Luther and Elizabeth (Smith) Wells, the former a native of Whately, the latter of Greenfield. Mr. Wells's paternal grandfather, who also was named Perez, was a farmer of Colerain. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and took part in the siege of Ticonderoga. At the end of his term of service he returned to his plough, and his last years were passed in Whately.
Luther Wells was both a farmer and a wagon-maker, following these occupations dur- ing his entire active life. He died at Hat- field at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, who was the daughter of Joel Smith, a prosperous farmer of Greenfield, passed to her rest at the age of sixty-one years. Mr. Luther Wells was a Republican in politics, and active in town affairs, serving as Town Treasurer for some time. He attended the Congregational church, of which his wife was a member. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are still living; namely, Charles, Luther, Percz, and Augusta.
Perez M. Wells passed his early boyhood in Hatfield, attending school in that town and at Easthampton. When twenty-two years of age he left home, and for some time he was a resident of New York State, where he was en- gaged in farming and in school-teaching. He subsequently taught for a while in the State of
Ohio, where he resided one year. Returning to Massachusetts in 1856, he purchased a mill near his present residence, which he operated very successfully for a period of thirty years. In 1886 he turned his attention to gardening, in which he is now profitably engaged, his time being wholly devoted to that pursuit.
Mr. Wells and Lucretia Whitman, daughter of Noble and Ruth Whitman, of Windsor, Mass., were united in marriage in 1861, and are the parents of five children, as follows : George W., who married Harriet Parsons and has two children - Lena and Margaret ; Car- rie, who married Arthur Clapp, and has one child, Charles; Kate, who taught school for some years and is now the wife of Albert Dyer ; Edward L., a book-keeper at Holyoke ; and Bessie. The children were all well edu- cated, attending the public schools and Deer- field Academy.
Mr. Wells is a Republican in politics. He has rendered valuable service to the town in a public capacity, having been Collector and Town Treasurer for many years and a member of the School Board for fifteen years. He has for the past twenty years been a Director of the National Bank at Northampton. He is a gentleman of considerable musical talent, pos- sessing a fine voice, and has acted as chorister at the Congregational church of Whately for a score of years. Mrs. Wells is also a member of that church.
RANK S. EWING, President of the Co-operative Bank of Orange, a popular man in business and social circles, has won for himself an assured position among the foremost citizens of the county. He was born March 25, 1855, in Westfield, Mass., being the only child of his parents, Thomas and Mary (Gridley) Ewing.
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Thomas Ewing was born and educated at Ashford, Conn., and there began life as a farmer; but being disinclined to agricultural labors he moved to Westfield, where he first secured work in a whip factory. That em- ployment also proving uncongenial, he next established himself in a mercantile business, opening a tinware store, which he conducted profitably for eight years. Retiring then from active pursuits, he came with his family to Orange, where he is surrounded by all the needed comforts of life, and lightly bears the weight of sixty-nine years. His wife, a most estimable woman, much beloved and respected, is the daughter of Sidney Gridley.
Frank S. Ewing was the recipient of excel- lent educational advantages in his boyhood ; and after leaving school he accepted a position as clerk in the First National Bank of West- field, where he remained four years, being book-keeper and teller. Then buying an in- terest in the Steam Heating, or Laflin Manufacturing, Company, he acted as their book-keeper for some time, after which he filled a similar position in the John C. Schmidt & Co. whip establishment of Westfield. Com- ing to Orange in 1881, Mr. Ewing entered the office of the New Home Sewing Machine Company, and in a short time was appointed Assistant Treasurer, an office which he has filled with ability and fidelity. He is a man of more than ordinary capability and enter- prise, and of sound business principles. He is financially interested in the Minute Tapioca Manufacturing Company of Orange, holding the position of Treasurer, and is also Treas- urer of the Orange Board of Trade.
On the 4th of July, 1876, the centen- nial anniversary of the declaration of our national independence, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ewing and Miss Hattie E. Sibley, a daughter of Alvin Sibley, of West
Springfield. Of this pleasant union two chil- dren were born - May and Florence - from whom in early years the parents were called to part.
Politically, Mr. Ewing is a worthy represent- ative of the best element of the Republican party, and for several years has been Town Auditor. He is public-spirited, taking a gen- uine interest in forwarding local improve- ments. He is a prominent and active Mason, being a member of Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Westfield; of Crescent Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Orange; of the Orange Commandery, Knights Templars ; and of Aleppo Temple, A. A. O. M. S., hav- ing taken in all thirty-two degrees of Masonry. He also belongs to Orange Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ewing are valued members of the order of the Eastern Star, the latter being a Past Matron of the Chapter in Orange, a Past Grand Matron of the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts, and the present R. W. A. Grand Matron of the General Grand Chapter of the United States. She is a graduate of the Westfield Normal School, pleasing in her address and enthusias- tically interested in her work. She is an es- teemed member of the Congregational church, being one of the most active workers of that parish, delighting in that charity that inclines the heart to sympathy and the hand to deeds of tender ministration.
R UFUS H. FITTS, a prominent farmer and lumberman of Shutesbury, was born in Leverett, Mass., October 7, 1852, son of James and Sarah (Ball) Fitts. Mr. Fitts's father was a native of Oxford, Mass., and, when a young man, settled in Lev- erett, where he engaged in farming and in operating a saw and grist mill. He was in-
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dustrious and successful in both pursuits. His latter years were passed in Saratoga Springs, N. Y., where he died at the age of eighty-three years. He belonged to the Epis- copal church. His wife, Sarah Ball Fitts, who was born in Leverett, became the mother of seven children, four of whom are still liv- ing, namely : Martha, who married Benjamin McClellan, a civil engineer, and resides in the West; Sarah, who married John Henry, and resides in New York City; Carrie, a trained nurse in New York City; and Rufus H., the subject of this sketch. The other three were : Emily, Gertrude, and Oris. The mother died in young womanhood.
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