USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Boxborough > Boxborough: a New England town and its people > Part 8
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Charles H. Burroughs.
country they felled the trees, cleared up the forests, and in due time made for themselves and families, comfortable homes. They both reared large families of children, who in their turn married and had large families, whose numerous descendants are now scattered far and wide throughout the land. John and Josiah traced their lineage back to John Brown, who came over to this country a few years after his brother Peter, of the May Flower, and settled in Duxbury Mass. Old John Brown, the martyr. . whose soul is passing on ", was probably a descendant of Peter, of the May Flower. Josiah Brown married Sarah Wright, and they raised a family of twelve children, who lived to adult age, married and reared large families, several of whom settled in Whitingham in this county. It is somewhat singular that the birth of these twelve children followed each other in the following order, -- three sons and a daughter, three sons and a daughter, three sons and a daughter. Two of each of the families of John and Josiah intermarried. Reuben, son of John, married his cousin Sarah, daughter of Josiah ; and Aaron, son of Josiah, married his cousin Hannah, daughter of John. The last couple lived with the parents of Hannah, took care of them during their declining years, and resided on the same farm during their own life-time. They had six children, one, a daughter, was killed by the kiek of a horse, when about eight years of age; the next, a son. died in infancy ; the fifth, a daughter, was married to W. C. Billings, of Northfield, Mass., and died in 1836. Three sons are still living, Addison, of Brattleboro, Hermon, of Boxborough, Mass .. and John S., of Lawrence, Kansas. Last week, these three brothers with their wives, Mrs. Eliza J. Page, wife of Wm. M. Page, St. Louis, Mo., an adopted daughter of Aaron and Hannah Brown, and Charles Burroughs and wife, daughter of Hermon, with two young children, met at New Ipswich, visited the graves of their ancestors and relatives that had gone to the better land, and went to take a view of the old farm on Flat Mountain, where the three sons were born and passed their early years. There they had a picnic on a high rocky ridge, and called to mind days and events gone
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by. They were accompanied on this excursion by an old friend, Benjamin Davis, aged 86 years, who entered into the spirit of the occasion with the enthusiam of a young man, walking up steep places and over rough rocks, with a firm, quick step. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Davis received and entertained the party at their house, where everything was done for the comfort and enjoyment of the guests. The enter- tainment was planned and directed by Mrs. Page, to whom much credit is due for the very pleasant gathering of friends and relatives. One evening there was a large tea-party of neighbors and friends who came in to greet and welcome those who had come from a distance to this family gathering. Here
were the extremes of age met together. The oldest was Joseph Davis, brother of Benjamin, who lacks but about four months of 90 years of age, and is yet bright and active, showing still, evidences of former vigor and energy. The youngest was George W. Burroughs. Josiah Brown. mentioned above, was a man of great strength and power of endurance. He took part in the Revolutionary struggle, fought at the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was Lieutenant under Capt. Towne. of a volunteer company from New Ipswich, and when more than four-score years of age. at the mention of Bunker Hill, he would brighten up with new life, and describe incidents of the battle as vividly as though it had just taken place. It was a great pleasure and gratification to be present at this family gathering, to see friends who had been long separated, to talk over the past, and to thank God together for his innumerable blessings." Mrs. Burroughs has in her possession an old family Bible containing the ancestral records as far back as 1743. Dr. Samuel Prescott who was associated with Paul Revere in his famous " midnight ride," was a great-uncle of Mrs. Burroughs' mother. He was born Aug. 19, 1751. Wm. Prescott, M. D., says of him in his " Prescott Memorial," "On his return from Lexington. in the night preceding the 19th of April, 1775,- where he had spent the evening in paying his addresses to the daughter of a Mr. Mulliken, he soon overtook Paul Revere and Mr. Dawes on their way to Concord. When
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Charles H. Burroughs.
the three had arrived near Hartwell's tavern in the lower bounds of Lincoln, they were attacked by four British soldiers of a scouting party sent out the preceding evening. Revere and Dawes were taken prisoners. Prescott was also attacked, and had the reins of his horse's bridle ent, but he succeeded in making his escape by jumping his horse over the wall : and taking a circuitous way through Lincoln, he pushed on with the utmost speed to Concord, and gave the alarm of the approach of the British. . He was subsequently taken prisoner on board of a privateer, and carried into Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died in prison." William H. Prescott, the historian, is also connected with this family. The name Prescott is taken from two words meaning priest and cottage. John Prescott, the first one of the family who came to this country, settled in what is now Lancaster, and the town was named in his honor from Lancastershire Co., England, from which he came. He was a powerful, athletic man, brave and energetic, and followed the occupation of a blacksmith. He brought with him to this country, a coat of mail, armor and habiliments all complete, and it is therefore supposed that some of his people might have been warriors. This armor was of great service to him in his dealings with the Indians, whose superstitious fears were easily excited by means of its wonderful impenetrability. On one occasion, having many times, in astonishment and terror, seen their bullets glance from his armor without any apparent injury to himself, they drew near and asked him with regard to it. Mr. Prescott showed the armor to the chief, and at his desire, placed the helmet upon the Indian's head. It did not seem to fit the Indian cranium as well as it did the Saxon, for it is recorded that it slipped down nearly to the chief's ears. and in one place scraped off the skin. An interesting anecdote is related of Jonas, the son of John Prescott. He had sought and obtained the affections of a beautiful girl whose name was Mary Loker. But the lady's parents, who were in high social position, looked down on the blacksmith's son, and decided that their daughter must marry a certain lawyer who had shown her some attention, but whose suit she in no wise
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favored. The son of the blacksmith was forbidden the house, but, encouraged by the fair Mary, he came against her parents' wishes. Then her window was grated, and whenever her forbidden suitor called, she was locked into her room. Young Prescott continued his suit, but paid his addresses to his fair one under her window. Learning of this state of affairs, the parents sent the girl secretly to Chocksett, - now Sterling,- for a prolonged stay with friends. The young man sought un- successfully for his affianeed for a time, but finally he happened upon the town where she was visiting. Falling in with some young men with whom he was acquainted, he asked them if there were any pretty girls in town. Without immediately satisfying his curiosity, they told him that there was to be a quilting party that evening in the village, and gave him an invitation to be present and decide for himself. He went, found his lady among the fair ones gathered there, managed to become her partner in a dance at the close of the evening, arranged a plan for future meetings, and continued his attentions as before. Her parents were soon apprised of the new state of affairs, and recalling her home, told her peremp- torily that she must marry the lawyer, or, if she still persisted in the way she had chosen, they would cut her off without a penny. This did not shake the resolves of the lovers, but hastened their marriage. They had no property, and when Mary began house-keeping, she had only a two quart kettle, and half the shell of a pumpkin for a wash tub, as utensils. Yet she lived and prospered, reared a family of twelve children, and died, leaving 175 descendants, at the age of 82 years. Of this beginning sprang all the warriors, doctors, jurors, lawyers, historians and civilians of the Prescott family. Benjamin, the youngest son, was sent Representative to the General Court from Groton, at the age of 27 years, and held this position for seven or eight years in succession.
Humphrey Prescott, of Carlisle, is a brother of Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Burroughs' mother, they two being the only surviving members of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs have four children living, Minnie L., George W., Charles H. and
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The Chester Family.
Marian E. The great sorrow of their lives was the death from scarlet fever, May 21, 1880, in Fitchburg, where she was attending school, of their second daughter, Lizzie, when only sixteen years of age. Minnie L. is a graduate of the Worcester Normal School, and has been engaged in teaching for several years, most of the time in South Braintree. At present she is teaching in her own home district, No. 4. George W. and Charles H. are at home with their father, and Marian E. is attending school at Ashburnham. Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs are highly esteemed by all who know them. Mrs. Burrroughs was a teacher in one of our schools before her marriage. and is quite literary in her tastes.
Apr. 26, 1891, Rev. John S. Brown, a Unitarian minister, son of Josiah Brown, and an uncle of Mrs. Burroughs, who has reached the advanced age of 85 years, walked one mile to church, preached an interesting sermon of forty minutes duration, and then walked back to his home. He is a resident of Lawrence, Kansas.
The house where Mr. Burroughs lives, bears evidence of being one of the oldest in town, and there is quite an interest- ing history connected with it. We have already referred to the Taylor family who resided here in former days. In Ephraim Taylor's time, it was used as a hotel, and the ancient sign-board was, until very recently, in existence. One portion of the second story of the building,-now divided into chambers,- was, in the days of the hotel, used as a dance hall. The old muster-field was formerly situated near this old homestead, where Mr. A. A. Richardson now cultivates a large corn-field, and Mr. Burroughs, a field of asparagus.
THE CHESTER FAMILY.
Phineas Taylor once kept a negro maid-servant on the Burroughs farm, whose descendants are living in town, and own property here at the present time. Mr. Taylor obtained the child when a babe, in Boston, making payment therefor with a box of butter. "Either the child could not have been worth much, or the box of butter must have been very large, as
.
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Boxborough : a New England Town and its People.
the best butter was not more than twelve cents a pound in those days," remarked a descendant as the incident was related. But so the story has been handed down from one generation to another, until the present time. Having journeyed to Boston on horseback after his purchase, Mr. Taylor brought her home on a pillion behind him. They named her Cate Taylor, and she served the family thirty years, when she was given her liberty. Mrs. Willis, a grand-daughter of Cate Taylor, has the freedom papers in her possession. The following is a copy :
" Know all men by these Presents that I, Phineas Taylor of Stow, in the County of Middlesex in the Provence of the Massa- chusetts bay in new England, Gentlemen, have given and granted, and by these Presents Confirm unto my negro maid Servant named Cate her freedom from me and my heirs and assigns forever, the above said Cate's freedom is to commence or begin on Tuesday the seventh day of April A. D. 1772, and at the end of the thirtieth year of her age and for the true per- formance of what is above written, I. the Said Phineas Taylor have hereunto Set to my hand and seal this sixth day of April A. D. 1772, and in the Twelfth year of his majestie's Reign George the third King & C. Signed Sealed and Delivered in Presents of us
Silas Taylor
Ephraim Taylor
Phineas Taylor."
Abigail Brown
Some one has said, "Nothing seemed to prosper on that farm until the maid servant was liberated," yet they were always good to Cate. At the time of the advent of the little stranger babe, there was an infant girl of the family of about the same age, called Dolly, and these two were daily play- mates. The little table at which they ate their supper is also in possession of Mrs. Willis.
Prince Chester and Cate (Taylor) Chester, were the parents of seven children, Ruth, Eunice. Lucy, Mary, Prince James, Paul and Silas, all of whom lived and died in Boxborough. Mr. Taylor gave Cate, for her wedding portion, the farm where the Talbot family formerly resided in the south-western part of
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Tower Hazzard.
the town, and Prince James Chester, her son, formerly lived on land in the same section now owned by Mr. Peter Whitcomb, - from which he removed to the place now owned by Mrs. Willis. Cate (Taylor) Chester, having returned to her early home to nurse Mr. Taylor in an attack of spotted fever of which he died. contracted the disease and died also, leaving her twin babes, Paul and Silas, but a few months old. Prince James Chester (1781-1863) married Mrs. Irene Cooley, (1785-1861) of Pepperell, and they were the parents of nine children, of whom only three are now living, Mary Ann, born May 17, 1815, James Sydney, born July 30, 1820, and Irene, born June 11, 1822. Mary Ann,- Mrs. Willis, before mentioned,- owns the small farm where her father formerly resided, but is at present settled in Groton. Her adopted daughter, Miss Annie Willis, graduated from Lawrence Academy, two or three years ago, and was recently married. James Sydney Chester married Rachel Payne, and settled near his father's home. Mrs. Chester has been dead a number of years. They have eight children living, of whom one son, Newell, is married and living on the Willis place. They have two daughters. Irene Chester married Alvin Parker, and resides on a portion of the ancient Phinehas Wetherbee home- stead. Prince James Chester was a respected citizen, both he and his wife having been members of the Congregational church in Boxborough. Mrs. Willis, and also Mrs. Parker have the well-earned reputation of being very skilful nurses. and are women of decided Christian character.
TOWER HAZZARD.
Tower Hazzard, now of Harvard, Mass., is the son of Tower and Lucy ( Whitney ) Hazzard, formerly of Boxborough, and a great-grand-son of Cate (Taylor) Chester, the maid-servant of Phinehas Taylor, who resided on the Burroughs place more than a century ago. Tower Hazzard, Sr., lived in the south part of the town in a dwelling which was subsequently burned. Here three children were born to them: Lucy Elizabeth, who married Henry G. Lewis : Tower, Jr., born Aug. 6, 1820. who
C
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Boxborough : a New England Town and its People.
married Catherine Freeman of Gardner, Mass. ; and Martha Ann, who married Barzillai Williams.
Tower, and Catherine ( Freeman) Hazzard, are settled in Harvard. They have three children, Warren T., Roswell B. and Martha Ann. Warren T. married Lucy Galbreth, of Georgia, and they with their two daughters, Cora and Stella, are living in Barr City, Colorado. Roswell B. married Julia Seott, of Worcester. They have one son. Martha Ann married Allen H. Hazzard, of Woodstock, Vt., and they have four children living, Lucy W., James T., Alva E., and Charles S.
Tower Hazzard, Sr., was a Methodist in religious belief, and was highly esteemed as a Christian man by his brethren in the church. He was very fond of children, and the aged ones among us - the children of his day,- hold him in loving remembrance even now, and often recall his kindly words and ways.
His mother, Lucy Chester, (1774-1849) was a woman of more than ordinary physical strength and endurance.
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CHAPTER IX.
THE COBLEIGH FAMILY - FRANCIS CONANT - STUART P. DODGE - DRAPER FAMILY - JOHN FLETCHER.
THE COBLEIGH FAMILY.
JOHN COBLEIGH came from Scotland at an early period, and purchased land here about 1707. He was the ancestor of a large family, whose descendants are still with us in the persons of Ruel T., Daniel W., and Ephraim B. Cobleigh, sons of Daniel, born Aug. 10, 1801, and Hannah ( Whitcomb) Cob- leigh, born July 18, 1804, and Ephraim, son of John and Caroline (Hayward ) Cobleigh. The grand-parents of these were John and Rachael Cobleigh. From the first one of the family who came from Scotland down to Ephraim Cobleigh, one son has always borne the name of John. The little trunk covered with hair and studded with brass nails, in which the first John Cobleigh kept his money, and his sword belonging to the uniform which he wore on state occasions, are in posses- sion of a cousin of Ephraim B. Cobleigh, who received them from his mother at her death three years ago. They had been handed down from one generation to another until she obtained possession of them. Daniel Cobleigh married Ann Perkins of Biddeford, Me., for his second wife. The later years of her life were spent in the family of Mr. Ruel T. Cobleigh, where she died May 6. 1891, aged 80 years, 2 months. Daniel Cobleigh died Aug. 14, 1857. Hannah (Whitcomb) Cobleigh died July 25, 1849. They are buried in the cemetery on the hill.
The old Cobleigh homestead formerly stood opposite Mr. Wright's present residence.
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Boxborough : a New England Town and its People.
Ruel T. Cobleigh married Elizabeth H. Perkins of Bidde- ford, Me., Feb. 28. 1856. They had three children. Frank, who died young ; John R., who married Sarah Withington, of Princeton, May 9, 1887, and lives on the home-place,- their only child, Olive May, died May 28, 1890, aged 1 year, 10 months, 23 days,- and Mida E., who married Willard Burns, in 1884, and resides in Fitchburg. They have two children living, Frances May, and Lizzie Mabel.
Ruel T. Cobleigh has been active in town affairs, having been selectman, assessor, constable and collector, auditor, high- way surveyor, etc., for a number of years.
Daniel W. Cobleigh married Caroline Smith of Charlestown for his first wife, and they had two daughters, Hannah Maria, and Carrie Etta. Hannah Maria Cobleigh married Mr. Chas. H. Veasie and settled in Boxborough. They have four sons, Alfred A., Henry B., Charles Elmar, and Ira. Carrie Etta Cobleigh is teaching in Harvard. She is a fine musician. Daniel W. Cobleigh married Mrs. Antoinette Barnard, daughter of Mr. Varnum Taylor, for his second wife.
Mr. Cobleigh has held the position of town treasurer for the past twenty-eight years, was town clerk for six years, selectman for seven years continuously - eleven years in all - and has been elected to various other town offices.
EPHRAIM B. COBLEIGH.
Ephraim Brown Cobleigh, whose parentage has been already given, was born in the old Cobleigh homestead, June 1, 1833. His mother died when he was only sixteen, and left an orphan thus early in life, bereft of the mother's influence and the home care,- to use his own expression in speaking of this period of his life. "One who loses a mother loses every- thing,"- Feb. 15, '51, he went out from beneath the old ances- tral roof-tree to make a way for himself. With some of his young companions, he first went to Bolton, Mass., where he sought and obtained employment in a shoe-shop. Here he remained several months, but the following July, without returning to take leave of the home friends, he directed his
EB bobleigh 1
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Ephraim B. Cobleigh.
steps to Charlston, S. C., where he immediately engaged him- self at his trade. After a stay of a few months, the roving disposition returned in full force, and he set out once more on a tour westward through the Southern states. Passing through Georgia, Florida, Alabama, up the Cumberland to Nashville, Tennessee ; from Tennessee down the Mississippi to New Orleans, he improved his time in studying Southern life as it was presented to him in its various forms in those days of slavery before the war. Leaving New Orleans, he sailed up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, Ohio, and thence across the river to Covington, Kentucky. Here, his funds exhausted, and without friends, he enlisted for five years in the regular army, Co. B. 2d Regiment artillery, doing cavalry duty. The Navajo war in New Mexico being in prog- ress at that time, the company was ordered to Fort Defiance. In this forced march of Sept. '52, from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Fort Defiance, New Mexico, a distance of 1300 miles, through a country at that time wild and desolate in the extreme, the young volunteer began to experience for the first time the privations incident to the life of a soldier. The raw recruits, unused to such hardship, dropped off continually along the route until over one hundred were left in their lonely graves upon the plains. Sometimes, for three days at a time, the soldiers went without water, until the parched tongues,
black and swollen, attested their sufferings. In this wilderness where no white man had ever reared his dwelling, surrounded by the Navajo Indians,- a tribe on a parallel with the Apaches for cunning and treachery,- Mr. Cobleigh, as a soldier, remained for five years, never off duty, but doing duty every day, though often lame and foot-sore : this life being varied by occasional expeditions with scouting parties under the guidance of Mexican Jack and Kit Carson. Mr. Cobleigh gives us the following incident taken from his experience at that time :-
" Many an old soldier of the Regular Army out in that Indian country in my time, endured harships and encountered danger equal to any of the terrible sufferings of the Civil War,
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only of another sort. One adventure of my own has left an impress on my memory that time has not effaced. I take from my diary,-kept through those years, and still preserved,- the following facts : Sept. 15. 1854, a detachment of twenty- five soldiers was made up to go out in search of grazing grounds. My duties as sergeant-major were rather monotonous just then, so I volunteered to go with this detachment. The Navajos about us at that time were supposed to be " friendlies." After a day's march, we camped for the night. Next morning, three of us, Myers, Ryan, and myself rode about a mile away from camp to the southward, and came suddenly upon a small band of Indians. They made every motion of friendliness, and when we told them we were in search of grazing grounds, they said, .Good water, good grazing a little way round the mountain and we show you the way.' We started, the Indians first taking the lead, but a few fell behind before we entered the narrow defile, a trail worn in the rocks, with a steep ledge on one side, and a precipice on the other. I began to have fears, but it was impossible to turn about and retreat, so we were forced to go on, and I tried to hide my suspicions of danger. We soon came abruptly into a beautiful valley. These fertile basins are a wonderful natural feature to be found here and there among the most rocky parts of New Mexico and Arizona. The valleys are hemmed in by great sandstone walls, and this particular valley of which I speak, seemingly had no other outlet than the one by which we entered. Here were camped hundreds of Indians, women and children. I said to the boys, " We're in for it." We were invited to dismount, our horses were turned loose, and our rifles taken from us. I felt that my time had come as I saw them drive stakes into the ground, and prepare to give us a scorching. Comrade Ryan, having red hair,- the Indians have a supreme affection for red heads, and covet such scalps above all others,-claimed their first attention, and although the savages bound us all to stakes with strips of cedar bark, they proceeded to bestow their closest attention upon poor Ryan who howled at them all sorts of Irish lingo, as the savage horde danced and yelled around
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Ephraim B. Cobleigh.
him. It would have looked funny on the stage of a theatre, but on the stage of life it was horrible. Finding that atten- tion was drawn from me, I wriggled my hands from the cedar strips that bound them, unfastened my limbs, and seized my horse which strayed near me, frightened at the tumult. With a bound I was on his back, naked as I was, and speeding out of the valley away over the narrow defile by which we had entered. My horse was accustomed to mountainous travel, but any false step on his part would have sent us rolling down, down, seemingly to the bowels of the earth. I reached my comrades unpursued, but we were too small a band to go to the rescue of Ryan and Myers, and we never saw them again. My escape seems fabulous, and as I wrote it in my diary after we returned to Fort Defiance, I said to myself, "Perhaps I shall live to see old Boxborough again, for I certainly shall not allow myself to be entrapped by another lot of ' friendlies.' "
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