USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Epitaphs from the old burying ground in Groton, Massachusetts > Part 8
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[ Willow Tree and Urn.] ELIZABETH, wife of Timothy Blood, Jr. died July 31, 1848, Æt. 40 ys. 7 ms. Behold and see as you pass by, As you are now so once was I ; As I am now so you must be, Prepare for death and follow me.
209
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1849
[Willow Tree and Urn.] ABNER SHEPLEY DIED Mar. 20, 1849, Aged 63.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] OLIVER BLOOD died June 5, 1849, Æt. 74.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.]
MARY HAZEN, died June 20, 1849 ; Æt. 23.
Friends nor physicians could not save My mortal body from the grave ; Nor can the grave confine me here, When Christ the light doth appear.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] MR. AARON LEWIS DIED Oct. 9, 1849, Æt. 63.
The son of JAMES and LUCY (CROSBY) LEWIS, born December II, 1786, at Billerica ; he married, December 28, 1814, SARAH SPAULDING.
210
GROTON EPITAPHS.
[Willow Tree and Urn.]
CHARLOTTE wife of Charles Gilson. (Formerly wife of David Nutting.) DIED Nov. 8, 1849, Æt. 61.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] JAMES BENNETT, died Nov. 20, 1849, Æt. 70 yrs.
1850
[Willow Tree and Urn.]
EDETH, Wife of Jonathan Nutting, died July 28, 1850, Æt. 78.
[ Willow Tree.]
WILLIAM Son of Fames R. & Nancy A. McDaniel died Sept. 2, 1850, Æt. 2 ys. 2 ms.
2II
GROTON EPITAPHS.
[Willow Tree and Urn.] MARY JANE Moncrieff DIED Sept. 27, 1850, Aged 49.
[Monument. Willow Tree and Urn. Monument.]
1851
NATHAN AMES DIED Mar. 22, 1851, Æt. 87.
[Willow Tree and Urn.] MR. SAMUEL ROCKWOOD DIED May 10, 1851, Æt. 69.
The son of SAMUEL and LUCY (HUBBARD) ROCKWOOD, born November 19, 1781 ; he married, November 19, 1818, for his first wife, ANNA HOUGHTON, and March 12, 1840, for his second wife, LUCY WESTON, of Townsend.
BETSEY WYMAN, DIED June 21, 1851, Aged 20 yrs. 8 mo. Farewell dear child Thy days on earth are over When the toiles of life are past May we meet with you at last.
212
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1852
[Book and Index Hand.] MARTHA B. SMITH, died April 20, 1852, aged 65 y'rs.
I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live.
[Willow Tree.] MARET BURGESS DIED Sept. 9, 1852, Æt. 56 y'rs. & 6 m's.
In memory of REV. WILLIAM GRAGG who died Nov. 19, 1852, Æt. 66. Also his wife MARY P. GRAGG who died Nov. 29, 1852 Æt. 65.
No terror on their brows was seen, Their minds were peaceful and serene, Their Saviour's smile dispelled the gloom, And smoothed their passage to the tomb.
The son of THOMAS and EUNICE (LAKIN) GRAGG, born September 22, 1786, at Groton ; he married, January 29, 1833, MARY POLLARD, of Bedford, and at one time was settled as a minister at Windham, Maine. He was a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1820.
213
-
GROTON EPITAPHS.
[Willow Tree and Urn.] MRS. LUCY, wife of Mr. Joseph Sawtell DIED Nov. 23, 1852, Æt. 78.
Friends nor physicians could not save This mortal body from the grave; Nor can the grave confine it here When Christ doth call it to appear.
1853
[Willow Tree and Urn.] MISS MARY CROUCH died June 10, 1853, Aged 60 yrs.
[Willow Tree and Urn.] NANCY A. wife of James R. McDaniel died Nov. 18, 1853, Æt. 30 ys. 7 ms.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] JOHN BOIT died Nov. 23, 1853 Aged 86 y'rs. JOHN BOIT JR. died June 16, 1871, Aged 66 y'rs. God is love.
214
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1854
REBECCA SARAH, wife of Henry Archibald Died June 13, 1854 Æt. 35 yrs. MARGARET AGNES Died Aug. 12, 1852, Æt. 6 yrs. HENRY ADAMS, Died Mar. 20, Æt. 3 mos. Children of Henry & Rebecca S. Archibald.
RICHARD BLOOD DIED Oct. 24, 1854, Æt. 58.
Parted below
united above
SUSAN M. wife of John A. Hunt, died Nov. 22, 1854, aged 29 y'rs.
" Still her memory sweetly lingers, Still we listen for her song; But no more that form shall greet us, Seated with the fireside throng. Weep not that the link is severed, Soon the chain will perfect be, And the hearts once more united, When the fettered soul is free."
215
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1855
[West Side.] [A MONUMENT.]
JONATHAN LORING DIED July 12, 1855, Æt. 82 yrs. MARY T. his wife died Oct. 23, 1865, Æt. 89 yrs.
[South Side.]
NEHEMIAH TROWBRIDGE Son of Rev. Caleb Trowbridge died Jan. 11, 1796, Æt. 73 yrs.
[East Side.]
ABIGAIL TROWBRIDGE wife of Nehemiah Trowbridge died Oct. 14, 1811, Æt. 78 yrs.
Thrice happy shades, now freed from cares, Thy mortal frame at rest ; Secure from pain, from grief and fears, With kindred souls thou'rt blest.
The date of Mrs. TROWBRIDGE's death, as given on the east side of the monument, is wrong ; she died in the year 1814. See page 144.
*
216
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1856
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] MRS. MARTHA, wife of Asa Lewis, died Feb. 4, 1856, Æt. 70.
The saints, who now in Jesus sleep, His own almighty power shall keep, Till dawns the bright illustrious day, When death itself shall die away. My soul, my body I will trust, With him who numbers every dust ; My Saviour faithfully will keep His own - their death, is but a sleep.
FREDERICK ADAMS died Apr. 13, 1856, Aged 49. ELIZA, his wife died 1839, Aged 27. Farewell dear parents thou art gone to rest.
1857
AARON COREY DIED Mar. 15, 1857, Æt. 73.
The son of NATHAN and MARY (GREEN) COREY ; he married ELIZABETH BENNETT. During many years he was the driver of a stage-coach running between Boston and Groton.
217
GROTON EPITAPHS.
MERRIC LEWIS Born July 25, 1795, Died April 23, 1857, A. 61 ys. 9 ms. Under neath this sod, rests, " An honest man, The noblest work of God."
The son of JAMES and LUCY (CROSBY) LEWIS, and a native of Billerica.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] MR. BENJAMIN BANCROFT died Sept. 16, 1857, Æt. 69.
The son of WILLIAM and AGNES (EDES) BANCROFT.
1858
FLORA M. dau. of H. L. & Martha Stebbins, died Fan. 24, 1858, Æt. 6 y'rs. 2 Mos.
Rest lovely child early blest, God called thee home he thought it best
NOAH SHATTUCK DIED 1858. Aged 86 y'rs.
218
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1859
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] ABIJAH NUTTING DIED July 16, 1859, Æt. 93.
[Monument. Willow Tree and Urn. Monument.]
LUCY, Wife of
THOMAS DODGE, DIED Oct. 4, 1859, Æt. 82.
F
T
DR. AARON ANDREW, Died Dec. 12, 1859, Aged 68 yrs. MARY His Wife Died Nov. 18, 1871, Aged 75 yrs. Also their Dau. MARY, Died Feb. 15, 1845, Aged 13 yrs.
We have loved thee on Earth. May we meet thee in Heaven.
219
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1860
[West Side.]
[A MONUMENT.]
DICKSON
WALTER DICKSON died Jan. 21, 1860, Æt. 61. A Missionary in Palestine for five years.
[North Side.]
FRED. W. STEINBECK killed by Arabs in Jaffa, Palestine Jan. 12, 1858, Æt. 36. MARY E. his wife, daut, of Walter & Sarah Dickson, died Dec. 10, 1867, Æt. 34.
WALTER DICKSON was the son of WALTER and ANNA (TUFTS) DICKSON, and was born March 15, 1799, at Groton. His father removed to this town from Menotomy, since West Cambridge, and now Arlington. WALTER, the son, was a farmer until October, 1853, when he left Groton to work as an independent missionary in Palestine. In January, 1858, Mr. DICKSON'S house at Jaffa was attacked by Arabs, and he himself severely wounded ; his son-in-law, STEINBECK, was killed at the same time. He came back to this country in the following September.
ABIGAIL P. WOODS. Widow of JOSEPH WOODS. died May 8, 1860. aged 67, yrs. 5, mos.
220
GROTON EPITAPHS.
SOPHIA, wife of PHINEAS NUTTING, DIED July 15, 1860, Aged 77.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] LOVINA P. wife of Robert M. Cooper, and daughter of Capt. Thomas and Lovina Farnsworth died Aug. 18, 1860, Æt. 35.
ELIZABETH, Wife of AARON COREY, DIED Sept. 11, 1860, Æt. 77.
186I
EBEN'R. C. ARCHIBALD DIED Oct. 20. 1861. Æt. 22 yrs.
1863
[Willow Tree and Urn.] NABBY STANLEY DIED Feb. 22, 1863, Æt. 83 ys. 8 ms.
22I
GROTON EPITAPHS.
THOMAS DODGE DIED March 1, 1863, Æt. 81 y's 6 mo.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] SARAH PIERCE, wife of Aaron Brown, died June 13, 1863, Æt. 77. A Mother in Israel.
The daughter of STEPHEN and ABIGAIL (PRESCOTT) PIERCE, born May 25, 1786.
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] JOSIAH EDWIN, Son of John & Martha Smith, died Aug. 3, 1863 ; Æt. 19 ys. " So fades the lovely blooming flower."
[Urn. Willow Tree and Urn. Urn.] MARY HEMENWAY died Oct. 9, 1863, Æt. 75.
Farewell, ye friends, whose tender care Has long engaged my love ; Your fond embrace I now exchange For better friends above.
222
GROTON EPITAPHS.
ANNA SHATTUCK DIED 1863. Aged 85 y'rs.
1865
[Willow Tree and Urn.] LYDIA wife of Ephraim Heald and Daugh. of Jacob and Mary Patch, Died March 27, 1865, Aged 83 ys. 2 ms.
1867
[Willow Tree and Urn.] POLLY, wife of Capt. Thomas Blood, DIED Feb. 3, 1867, Æt. 82.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
[Willow Tree and Urn.] AGNESS S. BANCROFT DIED Oct. 10, 1867, Æt. 84.
The daughter of WILLIAM and AGNES (EDES) BANCROFT.
LUTHER HARTWELL DIED Oct. 15, 1867, Aged 76 yrs. & 9 ms.
223
GROTON EPITAPHS.
MARY, wife of John Searles, formerly wife of Ebenezer L. Blood, DIED Nov. 9, 1867, , Aged 83 yrs. 8 ms.
FANNIE, wife of John M. E. Gilson Died Dec. 1, 1867, Æt. 55 yrs. 6 ms. FRANCIS, their son Died Oct. 29, 1849, Æt. 1 yr. 6 ms & 18 ds.
1869
DIADAMA, Wife of Aaron Corey Fr. DIED Feb. 13, 1869, Aged 62 yrs.
WILLIAM KEMP POLLY KEMP his wife died March 1, 1869, Aged 80. " Live, so as to meet me in Heaven."
POLLY was the daughter of CALEB and ELIZABETH (FARNS- WORTH) BLOOD ; her husband, aged 88, is still alive.
224
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1870
ISAAC BULLARD DIED IN ACTON MASS. July 28, 1870, . AGED 79 YRS. 9 MOS.
He was for many years - say from 1817 to 1830 - the driver of one of the stage-coaches running between Boston and Groton.
CLARISSA, wife of John Fletcher, DIED Aug. 8, 1870, Aged 60 y'rs. 4 ms. Gone to rest.
1872
SUSANNAH T. GEORGE
DIED Nov. 10, 1872, Æt. 65 yrs. 3 weeks. My feet are wearied and my hands are tired - My soul oppressed ; And with desire have I long desired Rest - only Rest.
1873
LYDIA YOUNG DIED Jan. 23, 1873, Aged 72 y'rs, & 10 mo's. " Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."
225
GROTON EPITAPHS.
1874
[ Willow Tree and Urn.] MIRANDA wife of MARET BURGESS, Died Jan. 26, 1874, Æt. 74 yrs. 8 ms.
1875
LYDIA W. wife of RICHARD BLOOD, died March 26, 1875, Æt. 77.
JAMES H. BURGESS Died May 10, 1875, Æt. 69.
Stop, stop, young friends as you pass by, As you are now so once was I; As I am now so you must be, Prepare for Death and follow me.
1877
NANCY LAWTON, widow of LUTHER DAVIS, died May 2, 1877, Aged 82 yrs. 2 mos. & 17 ds.
TOMBS.
T 'HE earliest reference in the town records to any tombs is found in the warrant for the meeting held April 6, 1807, and is as follows : - +
" ARTICLE 3.
"3. To grant license if the town see cause, unto Hon. James Prescott Esq. Oliver Prescott James Brazer Samuel Lawrence and Thomas Gardner Esq" and Rev. Daniel Chaplin to erect and build tombs, family Vaults, or depositories of such dimensions, and of such construction, and in such manner as they, or either of them shall determine, with the priviledges sacred to the sanctuary of the Dead, at the Southeasterly corner of the common burial ground, or grave yard in Groton, where former graves, vaults, or depositories will not be disturbed."
The subject was duly considered at the meeting, when it was
" Voted to grant the license prayed for, by Hon. James Prescott Esq. & others, in the third Article, provided, that not more than ten feet square in the clear, be improved by any one of the petitioners, for the purposes mentioned in this Article."
In the warrant for the town meeting, held May 4, 1807, the third article is
"To see if they will grant license to Walter Dickson, to erect & build a tomb, under similar restrictions & with like priviledges as they voted at April meeting in favor of the Hon. James Prescott Esq. & others."
The meeting was duly held, when it was
"Voted that be granted Walter Dickson to erect & build a tomb &c. as requested."
228
GROTON EPITAPHS.
A few years later - May 4, 1812 - the town
" Voted that Ezra & Abel Farnsworth have leave to build a tomb in the public burying ground for their family use, provided they do not interfere with appropriated ground, under the inspection of the Selectmen."
These tombs, however, do not appear to have been built till the year 1818, which date they all bear. They have recently been filled up, and hereafter are to be discontinued as places of burial. The representatives of the original owners, for the most part, have lots in the new cemetery. The following is a list of the names, cut in the granite facings of the tombs : -
JAMES PRESCOTT 1818.
LUTHER LAWRENCE. 1818. [This stone within a few years has been taken away.]
REV. DANIEL CHAPLIN 1818.
WALTER DICKSON 1818
STUART J. PARK 1818
EZRA AND ABEL FARNSWORTH 1818
229
GROTON EPITAPHS.
JAMES BRAZER AND CALEB BUTLER 1818
In the year 1822, ten or twelve tombs were built on the north side of the Burying Ground, although no mention is made in the town records of any vote on the subject. During a few subse- quent years, other tombs were built, most of them by Joseph Blood, a stone mason, although no special permission - except in a very few instances - was given by the town. At the meet- ing held in March, 1832, the whole subject relating to tombs was placed under the control of the selectmen. It has remained in their hands ever since, although no new tomb has been con- structed for a long time. When the wall around the ground was relaid in the year 1872, these tombs, with a few exceptions, were filled up, and no further interments are to be made in them. Such as were not filled up, are indicated by an asterisk [*] in the margin.
Beginning at the north-west corner, near the Baptist Church, the following is a list, in regular order, of the names cut in the stone facings : -
J. POLLARD. WD. S. LAWRENCE. 1841.
N. MUNROE. 1822.
ISAIAH HALL &. DAVID FLETCHER. 1822,
230
GROTON EPITAPHS.
J. F. HALL AND B. MOORS.
W. LIVERMORE & B. AMES. 1822.
J. L. & I. PARKER. 1822.
JAMES FARNSWORTH. 1822.
ZECHARIAH FITCH. 1822.
A. LEWIS, 1822.
J. BLOOD & CAPELL, 1822.
G. BRIGHAM, & J. PEABODY, 1822.
S. O. ROW, 1822.
GROTON EPITAPHS.
23I
D. & W. CHILD 1825.
SAMUEL HARTWELL & JEREMIAH KILBURN, 1825.
SAMSON WOODS, 1825.
N. TARBELL, 1825.
P. GRAVES, 1826.
JESSE PARKER, 1826.
JACOB WILLIAMS, 1828.
JONAS & JOSHUA EATON, 1828.
232
GROTON EPITAPHS.
C. CHILD & K. DANFORTH. 1828.
JOSIAH CLARK 1828.
E. NUTTING. I828.
DANIEL SHATTUCK. 1830
J. &. L & J. GILLSON 1831
ASA LAWRENCE 1832
OLIVER GRAGG, 1832.
J. H. & J. LORING, 1832.
LEVI. STONE. 1832
233
GROTON EPITAPHS.
ABEL TARBELL'S TOMB. ABEL TARBELL Died Oct. 19, 1860, Æt. 86 ys. I mo. 24 ds. Pamela Tarbell, wife of ABEL TARBELL Died Aug. 27, 1849. Æt. 66 Abel Harkness Tarbell Died June 18, 1835, At. 19.
CALVIN. HUBBARD ABEL. HARTWELL 1832.
Samuel Dana's Tomb.
SAMUEL DANA, died Nov. 20, 1835 ; ZE. 68. REBECCA, his wife, died May 11, 1834 ; ZE. 54. CHARLES, their Son, was drowned July 31, 1819 ; Z. 20 ys. GEORGE, their Son, died April 12. 1804 ; A. I yr. & 6 ms.
-
N. SAWTELL. & A. STONE. 1836.
J. FITCH & L. PARKER'S TOMB 1836.
.
J. BROWN, & A. H. WILDER 1837
-
SAMUEL PIERCE.
1837
234
GROTON EPITAPHS.
J. A. BLOOD. J. MªGILSON.
The Family Tomb of WILLIAM PARKER. WILLIAM PARKER, died Jan. 9, 1833, aged 71. HENRY PARKER, died May 1824, aged 36. JANE PARKER, drowned Sept. 13, 1826, aged 26. LOUISA GAGE, died Sept. 12, 1838, aged 34. ADDISON PARKER, died March 4, 1839, aged 29. DR. AARON ANDREW, died Dec. 12, 1859, aged 68. DAVID A. PATCH, died Sept. 25, 1839, aged 57. SUSANNAH, his wife, died June 9, 1865, aged 80 y. 9 m.
J. HOAR. 1839.
EDMUND TARBELL.
J. A. FULLICK. D. BROOKS.
F. A. BLOOD
SILVESTER JACOBS TOMB 1839.
ASA TARBELL. B. RUSSELL.
T. BLOOD. J. SAWTELL.
7
APPENDIX.
D URING many years Groton was a frontier town, situated relatively a long distance from Boston. At that period there were but few settlements in the colony, and the younger generations were wont to live near the home of their childhood. The popula- tion of the town, through the first century of its existence, was made up largely of the descendants of its founders and early set- tlers. In this Appendix, I purpose to give a short account of some of the families living here during that time, including a brief notice of the petitioners for the plantation of Groton, and of a few other persons connected with the history of the town. It will be seen that a considerable number of them came from Watertown and Lynn.
Bancroft. Benjamin Bancroft, the son of Thomas, of Read- ing, is the ancestor of the families of this name, living in Groton and its vicinity. He married Anna, daughter of John and Anna (Tarbell) Lawrence, of Lexington, and had nine children. He lived for a while at Charlestown, but afterward, about the year 1728, removed to Groton, where he died July 21, 1787, aged 86 years, and his widow also, April 3, 1790, aged 87 years. He was a tanner by trade, and lived a short distance south of the Uni- tarian Church, on the east side of the Great Road. His tannery was on the opposite side of the way. The stone powder magazine, used by the State during the Revolution, was situated on his land.
Benjamin, the eldest child, followed the occupation of his father, and lived on the old homestead. He was town treasurer and a dea- con of the church, besides holding other positions of trust. He
236
GROTON EPITAPHS.
married Alice, daughter of William and Mary (Farnsworth) Tar- bell, and had eight children. His wife died November 29, 1781, aged 51 years, and he died October 27, 1804, aged 80 years.
Edmund, the second child, removed to that part of Groton, now Pepperell, where he carried on farming. He was town treasurer of Pepperell for twenty years, and a representative in the General Court. He married, December 30, 1747, for his first wife, Elizabeth Atherton, of Harvard, who died October 6, 1755, and he married, in the year 1758, for his second wife, Mrs. Rachel (Howard) Bar- ron, widow of Jonathan Barron and daughter of Samuel Howard, of Chelmsford. She died June 3, 1784, aged 54 years, and he mar- ried, for the third time, Mrs. Phebe (Lawrence) Bancroft, widow of Jonathan Bancroft, of Salem, and daughter of Colonel William and Susanna (Prescott) Lawrence, of Groton. Edmund died October 25, 1806, aged 79 years, and his widow, November 21, 1808, aged 74 years. He had four children by his first marriage, and eight by his second. Dr. Amos Bancroft, a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1791, and for many years a distinguished physician of Groton, was a son of the second wife.
Deacon Benjamin and Edmund were the only sons of Benjamin Bancroft who grew up to manhood.
Barron. Two brothers of this name, sons of Ellis and [Grace ?] Barron, of Watertown, were original proprietors of Gro- ton ; Ellis, the elder brother, owning a fifteen-acre right, and John, the other, a seven-acre right. Ellis married Hannah, widow of Timothy Hawkins, of Watertown, and had several children, before coming to Groton, where others were born. John also had a family, but now for a long time there has been no representative of the name in the town. Elias Barron, of Groton, was in Captain Lovewell's fight, May 8, 1725, at Pigwacket, where he was wounded and afterward lost. The sum of £30 was allowed his family, by the General Court, June 17, 1725; and according to the record in the printed " Journal," of December 21, 1726, it appears that his widow's name was Priscilla.
Samuel Barron left a small bequest to the town, which still keeps his name in grateful remembrance. The following is an extract from his will, dated February 5, 1753 : -
" My Will and plesuer is that the first Church of Christ in Groton should have sum thing oute of my Estate for the poore of saied Church and I do hereby
237
APPENDIX.
Give fo the saied Church the sum of thirteen pounds five shillings and four pence Lawfull money to be paied to the saied Church oute of my Estate by my Executer within one year next after my decease to be Lett oute to Interest by the saied Church and the Interest to be approprated for the Bennefit of the poore of saied Church as the Church shall order but the princaple never to be demineshed."
Blood. Three of the petitioners for the plantation of Groton, viz., Richard, John, and Robert, bore this name, and all three were sons of James and Ellen Blood, of Concord. Another brother, James, was an early proprietor of the town. Richard was the only one of these brothers that lived in Groton, and he is the ancestor of most of the name in this neighborhood. He was the largest proprietor in the town, owning a sixty-acre right, and was one of the first board of selectmen chosen by the inhabitants, and also town clerk in the year 1668. He married Isabel -, and had Mary, who died April 19, 1662 ; James, who was killed by the Indians, September 13, 1692; Nathaniel, who married, June 13, 1670, Hannah, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Long) Parker ; Elizabeth, who married, December 1, 1686, Thomas Tarbell, the third of the name in Groton; and Joseph, who was an original proprietor of the town. Richard, the father, lived in the district called "Nod," and died December 7, 1683.
Bridge. The name of London Bridge will have more interest for the inhabitants of Groton, when it is known that he was a resi- dent of the town, and that he remembered it in his will. This instrument, bearing date May 23, 1775, is on file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge, and was presented for probate, January 25, 1776. The following are extracts from it: -
" I do hereby give and Bequeath the sd sum of Thirteen pounds six shil- lings and eight pence to the Church of Christ in Groton aforesd the Interest of which Sum is to be annually given to the poor of sd Chh. at the Discretion of their Comte. . " . . .
He then makes provision for the payment of his debts and a small bequest to Captain Henry Farwell, and adds : -
"and if that should not be sufficient for those purposes my will is that my Executor take so much out of the above given to the Chh. as to Defray the Charges Abovesd and the Remainder be applyed by the Chh. in manner as Aboves.ª for their poor."
238
GROTON EPITAPHS.
Cooper. Timothy Cooper was one of the original petitioners for the plantation of Groton, and his name appears in the first list of selectmen, appointed by the General Court. He married Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Hester (Pierce) Morse, of Water- town, and had four children. In the inventory of his estate, on file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge, it is recorded that he was "Sleaine by the Indeins the Second day of march 1675-6." This is the date of the first attack on the town in King Philip's War.
Davis. Dolor Davis was a petitioner for the plantation of Groton, and one of the first board of selectmen appointed by the General Court. He came to this country from England, about the year 1640, and lived for a while at Barnstable. He is the ancestor of many of the name now living in Middlesex and Worcester coun- ties. He married Margery, sister of Major Simon Willard, and at one time was a resident of Concord. He probably lived here but a short time ; he died at Barnstable in the year 1673.
Farnsworth. Matthias Farnsworth, the progenitor of the numerous families in Groton bearing this name, came from Lynn. He was an original proprietor of the town, and owned a twenty-acre right. His farm was situated on both sides of the road leading to Harvard, a little south of James's brook, more than a mile from the village. He was living at Lynn in the year 1657, and at Groton in 1664, though he may have been a resident of each place earlier than these respective dates. He died in the latter part of the year 1689, aged 77 years. The following is a copy of his will, on file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge : -
Groton Jenewarey 15th : 1688-9 and in the 4 yere of the Rain of King Jams the sacond I mathyas farnworth sen of groton in the county of midlsix in new ingland aged about 77 yers being wall considrat and of sound and parfit Judg- ment and understanding thanks be to god for it I being sensabl of my many frailtyes & unsartanty of my natueral lif and knowing what disaduantag many times hapens for want of a Right sating the hous in order being desiras to ackt and satl things that consarns me doe mak conshans and doe daclare this prasant instrement to be my last will & tastement in manar and form as foloweth making uoyd all formar wills ather by word or dead but first I Commit my soul to all myty god my Creater hoping I shal Rasaue full pardon of all my sins throw Jasus Christ and I commit my bodey to the earth from whans it was taken to be beured in such deasant manar as my exsecters shall see meet and
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APPENDIX.
I. first to the distrebiting my eastat I doe giue to my beloued wif so long as she liues a widow won third of my whol astat and the moueabls within the hous I
2. doe laue to hur to daspose as shee pleases and sacondly I doe giue to my son mathyas farnworth for his full porshan that fiue akker Right which his deed spasefyes and a peese of madow called by the name of half moon madow and twanty akekers of land lying neer a plase called by the nam of Prascots olde mill and this to be counted to be his full porshan unlass he meets with malistation by any ralations of his and if so then I will and giue to my son mathyas my hom stall that I now dwall upon with hous & barn and that hom stall that my son mathyas now liues on to Raturn in seed thare of
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