USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Brief account of some of the early settlers of Groton, massachusetts > Part 3
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" There are lately come from Canada some Persons that were taken by the Indians from Groton above thirty Years ago, who (its believed) may be induced to return into this Province, on your giving them some proper Encouragement : If this Matter might be effected, I should think it would be not only an Act of Compassion in order to release them from the Errors and Delusions of the Romish Faith ; but their living among us might, in Time to come, be of great Advantage to the Province."
The matter was referred to a committee, but no definite result was reached. Nearly forty years after their capture, Governor Hutchinson met them in New York State, and refers to them thus : -
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EARLY SETTLERS OF GROTON.
" I saw at Albany two or three men, in the year 1744, who came in with the Indians to trade, and who had been taken at Groton in this, that is called Queen Ann's war. One of them - Tarbell, was said to be one of the wealthiest of the Cagnawaga tribe. Ile made a visit in his Indian dress and with his Indian complexion (for by means of grease and paints but little differ- ence could be discerned) to his relations at Groton, but had no inclination to remain there." - Hutchinson's "History of Massachusetts," ii. 139.
Some years after this time, these two boys - now grown up to manhood, and occupying the position of chiefs - moved up the St. Lawrence River, accompanied by several others, all with their families, and established the little village of St. Regis.
In the month of July last, I visited the place, and was interested to learn from the parish priest that the descendants of these two boys were among the prominent families of the settlement, where there are perhaps forty persons who bear the name. They keep up in a great measure the same given names that are common among their collateral kindred in this town. While in Montreal, I procured, through the kindness of the Mother Superior at the Con- gregation of Notre Dame, the record of, Sarah's baptism, of which the following is a translation : -
"On Monday, July 23, 1708, the ceremony of baptism was performed on Sarah Tarbell, who was born at Groton in New England, October 9, 1693. Her parents were Thomas Tarbell and Elizabeth Wood, both Protestants, and she was baptized by the minister shortly after her birth. Having been taken by the savages on Monday, June 20, 1707, she was brought to Canada ; she has since been sold and has lived with the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, established at Lachine, where she abjured her religion on May 1. Iler god- father was M. Jacques Urbain Robert de Lamorandière, Secretary of M. l'Intendant ; and her godmother was Madame Marguerite Bonat, wife of M. Étienne Pascaud, the deputy treasurer of the King, in this country.
Her name Sarah has been changed to Marguerite.
[Signed] MGTE BONAT, PASCAUD, LAMORANDIÈRE, MERIEL, PRÊTRE."
Thomas Tarbell, the father of these children, made his will Sep- tember 26, 1715, which was admitted to probate six weeks later. After making certain bequests to different members of his family, he says : -
" all the rest & residue of my Reall Estate I give to be Equally divided be- tween my three children, John, Zachary, & Sarah Tarbell, upon their return from Captivity, or In Proportion unto any of them that shall return, & the rest, or the parts belonging to them that do not return, shall be Equally divided among the rest of my children."
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EARLY SETTLERS OF GROTON.
In the printed "Journal " of the House of Representatives, for April 22, 1746, there is found " A Petition of William Tarbell of Groton, a Soldier wounded in the Service of the Province, pray- ing a Consideration therefor." This petitioner was a nephew of the captives.
Tinker. John Tinker, one of the original selectmen appointed by the General Court, was living as early as the year 1643, at Windsor, Connecticut, and afterward at Boston. He was among the first settlers of Lancaster, where he was a selectman and town clerk. At one time he bought of the Government the right to trade in furs at Nashaway [Lancaster] and Groton. He subsequently removed to New London, Connecticut, and died suddenly, in Octo- ber, 1662, at Hartford.
aWinthrop. Deane Winthrop, whose name stands at the head of the earliest list of selectmen appointed by the General Court, was a son of Governor John Winthrop, of Massachusetts, and a native of Groton, England. It was in compliment to him that the name of his birthplace was given to this town. The fol- lowing letter, written by a distinguished representative of his family, will be read with interest : -
BOSTON, 27 February, 1878.
MY DEAR DR. GREEN, - It would give me real pleasure to aid you in estab- lishing the relations of Deane Winthrop to the town of Groton in Massachu- setts. But there are only three or four letters of Deane's among the family papers in my possession, and not one of them is dated Groton. Nor can I find in any of the family papers a distinct reference to his residence there.
There are, however, two brief notes of his, both dated " the 16 of Decem- ber, 1662," which I cannot help thinking may have been written at Groton. One of them is addressed to his brother John, the Governor of Connecticut, who was then in London, on business connected with the Charter of Connecticut. In this note, Deane says as follows : -
" I have some thoughts of removing from the place that I now live in, into your Colony, if I could lit of a convenient place. The place that I now live in is too little for me, my children now growing up."
We know that Deane Winthrop was at the head of the first Board of Select- men of Groton a few years earlier, and that he went to reside at Pullen Point, now called Winthrop, not many years after.
I am strongly inclined to think with you that this note of December, 1662, was written at Groton.
Yours very truly,
ROBT. C. WINTHROP.
SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D.
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EARLY SETTLERS OF GROTON.
Talitt. John Witt was one of the petitioners for the plantation of Groton ; but he probably never was an inhabitant of the town. As early as the year 1650 he was a resident of Lynn, where he died December 2, 1675.
TUloods. Samuel Woods was an original proprietor of Groton, and owned an eleven-acre right. He is the ancestor of most of the families in this neighborhood, bearing the name. Two of his grandchildren, Thomas Woods and Daniel Woods, were with Cap- tain John Lovewell, in his famous fight with the Indians, May 8, 1725, and both were killed. Henry Woods, a great-grandson, was in an expedition up the Kennebec River, in the summer of 1755. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, he was a Major under Colonel William Prescott, and subsequently promoted to a colonelcy ; after the war he was a general of the militia.
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EARLY SETTLERS OF GROTON.
SOME INSTANCES OF LARGE FAMILIES AND OF LONG-LIVED PERSONS IN GROTON.
THE following are some instances of large families, reared in Groton, between the years 1700 and 1800. The maiden names of the mothers, so far as they are known, are given within paren- theses : -
Robert and Deborah Parker had sixteen children. Ebenezer and Abigail Blood, Joseph and Abigail (Sawtell) Parker, Jonathan and Ruth Farnsworth, and Oliver and Sarah (Tarbell) Farnsworth were blessed, each couple, with families of fourteen children.
Mrs. Joseph Parker, named above, "left two Hundred or up- wards of Children & Grandchildren," according to the inscription on her grave-stone. She died February 19, 1787, in the goth year of her age.
Jonas and Jemima (Holden) Green were the happy parents of ten children, all born within a period of less than eleven years, and among them were twins and triplets. By a second marriage, Jonas became the father of nine more children.
Elisha and Elizabeth (Adams) Rockwood were favored with thirteen children. Isaac and Priscilla (Dodge) Bowers, John and Ruth Frost, Jonathan and Esther (Shedd) Lawrence, Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Page) Nutting, John and Elizabeth (Nutting) Nut- ting, Joseph and Mary (Prescott) Stone, Captain John and Molly (Everett) Williams, and Nathaniel and Alice Woods were each the parents of twelve children.
Some remarkable cases of longevity and of regular succession of deaths, in this town, during one year, are given in the Groton "Spirit of the Times," for July 26, 1848. The list was furnished by Mr. Butler, and is as follows : -
Molly, widow of Amos Stone, died May 13, 1847, aged 94 years and I month.
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EARLY SETTLERS OF GROTON.
Abigail, widow of John Lawrence, died July 10, 1847, aged 93 years and 9 months.
Mary, widow of John Capell, died September 6, 1847, aged 93 years, 4 months and 25 days.
Major Amos Farnsworth died October 19, 1847, aged 93 years, 6 months and I day.
Elizabeth, his widow, died December 11, 1847, aged 90 years, 7 months and 24 days.
Lucy, widow of Deacon Samuel Rockwood, died May 12, 1848, aged 90 years, 8 months and 23 days.
All the above-named persons, with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Capell, were natives of Groton, and each one of the six de- cedents was, at the date of death, the oldest person in town.
It is interesting to note the changes that have occurred in bap- tismal names within a few generations. In the early days of New England, certain names that now sound uncouth to the ear were in common use in every community. They were taken largely from the Bible, which was, perhaps, the only book universally read at that time. Zerubbabel Kemp was living in Groton at the be- ginning of the last century, and he gave the name to one of his sons, who lived to grow up, notwithstanding the infliction. Me- phibosheth Adams was a resident of the west parish of Groton a hundred and fifty years ago, but he spared his own boys. A class of names, common in the last century, and representing abstract qualities, such as Faith, Hope, Charity, Temperance, Prudence, and Virtue, have now entirely disappeared. The good old names of Molly, Polly, Dolly, and Sally are never seen in their original spelling ; Susie is considered a better form than Sukey, and Bessie is preferred to Betty.
The name of Gabriel Lakin, of Groton, was kept up through several generations, and the name of Sibyl was in common use in the same family. John Frost, perhaps a kinsman of the well-known " Jack Frost," had, among his twelve children, a son called Scripture. His eldest daughter was Jemima, and his three youngest were named respectively Tryphena, Patience, and Submit.
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EARLY SETTLERS OF GROTON.
Mr. Butler, in the genealogical Appendix to his "History " (page 394), mentions the family of "John Darby and Mary," and in the next page gives that of "John Derbyshire and Mary," as if they were different families. They were, however, undoubt- edly one and the same. This view is confirmed by the name of the wife, the dates of the birth of the children, and the tendency in former times to cut words short. Before coming to Groton, John lived at Dunstable, where other children were born. I have seen his signature, and he wrote it Darbyshire.
Cambridge : Press of John Wilson & Son.
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