USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dover > Founders of the First parish, Dover, Massachusetts; with descriptions of all the houses now standing which were built before the revolution > Part 2
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JOHN BATTLE was born April 30, 1718, on the John Battle homestead on Main Street (Farrington farm, owned by the late John S. Damrell.) He was the son of John and Abigail (Draper) Battle, and was descended in the fourth generation from Thomas Battle. He inherited his father's farm. When the First Parish meeting-house was built he made a determined effort to have it located near the present site of the Baptist Chapel, but failing in this he gave a loyal support to the parish, and when Mr. Caryl was ordained in 1762, entertained the council at his own expense. He mar- ried, Apr. 26, 1739, Mehitable Sherman. Children: John, Mehitable, Olive, William, Unity, Josiah, Olive. The date of his death is not recorded, but he is buried in Dover.
JOSIAH RICHARDS was born on the Rev. Dr. Burgess farm in Dedham Sept. 22, 1713. He was the son of Edward and Sarah (Wheeler) Richards, and was descended in the fourth generation from Edward Richards of Dedham. He made the original Richards settlement on Strawberry Hill, (the farm owned by the late Miss Mary Bullard) in 1737. He married, Sept. 22, 1737, Hannah, daughter of Nathaniel and Joanna (Ellis) Whiting. Children : Lemuel, Moses, Hannah, Asa, Sarah, Thaddeus, Josiah, Solomon, Mary, Lucy, Abijah, Jesse, Betsey. He died Oct. 24, 1771, and is buried in Dover.
JONATHAN WHITING was born in Dedham Nov. 8, 1696. He was a son of Jonathan and Rachel Whiting and was descended in the third generation from Nathaniel Whit- ing, who came to America in 1638 and settled in Lynn. He later took up his residence in Dedham. Jonathan Whiting set-
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
tled the homestead on Springdale Avenue (the McNamara farm) in 1725. He was a prominent man and the first pre- cinct treasurer. He married, Jan. 27, 1725-6, Anna Bullard. Children : William, Anna, Jonathan, Daniel, Elizabeth, Abi- gail, Nathan, Ithamar, Jemima, Hannah, Aaron. He died Feb. 28, 1764, and is buried in Dover.
DANIEL CHICKERING was born on the homestead on Haven Street Dec. 30, 1718. He was the son of Nathaniel and Mary (Thorp) Chickering and was descended in the third generation from Nathaniel Chickering of Dedham. Dan- iel Chickering lived on the original Chickering homestead which was settled by Nathaniel Chickering about 1690. He served on the committee appointed to prepare timber for the first meeting-house. He married, in 1745, Kezia, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Morse) Ellis of Medfield. Chil- dren: Elizabeth, Kezia, Nathaniel, Lydia, Joseph, Daniel, Simeon, Jesse. He died April II, 1790, and is buried in Dover.
JOHN GRIGGS came to the parish from Brookline. He married, May 28, 1741, Mrs. Mehitable Ellis, who died Sept. 18, 1757. He married, secondly, May 4, 1763, Sarah Wight, widow of David Wight. He sold his farm on Dedham Street to the Rev. Benjamin Caryl, and moved to Hubbardston, Mass.
ABRAHAM CHAMBERLAIN was born in Roxbury, Dec. 20, 1721. He was the son of Abraham and Mary (Whit- ney) Chamberlain and was descended in the third generation from Abraham Chamberlain of Newton who was probably a son of William, the Puritan of Woburn. Mr. Chamberlain did not long continue to live in the Springfield Parish, and his career has not been further traced.
We feel what it means to have an organization standing genera- tion after generation, for every great principle; how its very existence ennobles all who look up to it; how it has a strange power over us, over our imaginations, and over our emotions and over our loyalty. -Samuel McChord Crothers.
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OLD HOUSES NOW STANDING.
HOUSES NOW STANDING WHICH WERE BUILT BEFORE THE REVOLUTION.
"What hometeads greet us all around, That call to mind the good old ways, What spots of consecrated ground, Tell us of grand heroic days."
I T has been thought worth while to preserve the witnesses that still remain among us of the sturdy founders of this
town,1 in the houses which they built. There are still standing, in different parts of Dover, some of the staunch old dwellings from which came forth the men who a cen- tury and a half ago made the parish. Other witnesses speak to us in the roads they built, in the fields they cleared and tilled, and in the trees they planted; while the very stones in the cemetery which mark their graves and record their names are crumbling into dust. Surely the good that men do lives after them.
Hezekiah Allen of Medfield, a carpenter by trade, as well as farmer, settled the Pegan Hill farm, on Pegan Street, in 1723. This is a farm which once paid the parish tax and sent favored sons to college. It is believed, and this belief is borne out by tradition in the family, that the part of the present house east of the front door is the original house as built by Hezekiah Allen, to which additions were made in. later years. The southeast room, always known as the "front room," was a part of the original house. Its exposure and style of wainscoting indicate its age. The kitchen in the rear, which for many generations was the family living room, with its huge fireplace, brick oven, and low ceiling still remains. Here on cold winter nights, with the permis- sion of Mrs. Allen, the neighboring Indians often slept with their feet to the fire and their bodies wrapped in blankets. They always arose in the morning to be treated to a hot breakfast before taking their departure. This house was used as a smallpox hospital, during epidemics of this disease; here the young men and women of the town were inoculated for the smallpox and treated during the illness which followed. At such times bounds were established and no one was al- lowed to go beyond the bounds. From this old house three
1Dover was formerly the Springfield Parish in Dedham.
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
boys went to college, and several inmates did Revolutionary service.
James Draper built a house and settled the farm owned by the late William Slavin on Farm Street, in 1725. As his de- scendants have long since died or moved away, it is impos- sible to determine just when the present house was built. It is, however, not improbable that the house now standing on this farm is the one first built here by Joseph Draper. Its situation, arrangement, and style of architecture is that of the 18th century. The brick used for building purposes in the vicinity-the Benjamin H. Dorr and Irving Colburn houses with their brick ends-was burned on the Draper farm. In settling his father's estate in 1753 Joseph Draper received "6 rods of clay ground." The fact that the lower part of the chimney in this old house was originally built of stone indi- cates that it was erected before bricks were burned on this farm. Slaves had a suffrage existence in the colony of Mas- sachusetts Bay for many years previous to the Revolution. There can be no dispute that for more than a century before a slave set foot on the soil of Georgia, men, women, and chil- dren were bought and sold and held by leading citizens of this parish, and on the death of their owners they were mentioned in their estates as property. On this farm slaves once worked. Joseph Draper received from his father's estate a half ownership in his negro man. In this old house William Draper, who graduated at Harvard and later be- came a prominent and distinguished citizen of Michigan, was born. Here two sons of Joseph Draper, Joseph, Jr., and James, both of whom took part in the Revolution, were born.
The Draper Smith house, now owned by Robert S. Minot, on Smith Street, originally stood on the farm of David Morse at Medfield Junction. It was built somewhere between 1730 and 1740. This house was occupied during the Revolution by Lieut. David Perry, Medfield's most prominent citizen during the Revolution. When Amos Wight of Medfield married and established his home in Dover, in 1790, he pur- chased this house and moved it to the estate in the west part of the town, now owned by his great grandson, George Bat- telle. In 1812 Mr. Wight built a new house and Draper Smith bought this house and moved it to its present site on Smith Street. It was moved across the fields, at which time the tavern keeper was present and mixed grog for the company
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1
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4
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" white
1. THE DRAPER SMITH HOUSE.
3. THE JOSEPH CHICKERING HOUSE.
5. THE DANIEL CHICKERING HOUSE.
2. THE WHITING TAVERN.
4. THE JOSEPH DRAPER HOUSE.
6. THE DAVID FULLER HOUSE.
1727473
OLD HOUSES NOW STANDING.
who were engaged in the work. As originally built, this old house had a long, slanting roof in the rear, brick oven, slid- ing shutters, wainscoted rooms, cupboards, oak beams, shaved shingles, hand-split laths and clapboards, which were fastened by hand-made wrought iron nails.
Joseph Chickering built the Glassett house on Haven Street, on land which was a part of his father's farm, as early as 1747, and possibly before that date, as he married several years previous. From this old house four boys went to Har- vard College, and here Elias Haven, who was killed at the Battle of Lexington, was reared. Mr. Chickering died in 1754 and the farm soon passed out of the family name, but it has long remained a place of interest. The first school-house in Dover was built just east of this house, and the school here established is of great interest. All the children who received school training in Dedham for nearly a century after the set- tlement of the town, had to go to Dedham Centre for instruc- tion. In 1717 the difficulty of sending all the children to one school, from all parts of the extending town, called for a remedy, at which time it was voted "to have the school re- moved to several parts of the town." When, or where the first school was taught in the Springfield Parish is not a mat- ter of record. A separate school was established in what is now Dover, May II, 1726. It was founded by descendants of those, who on January 1, 1644, established in Dedham the first free school to be supported by general taxation, which the world has ever seen. Five pounds was appropriated for this school by the town, and Eleazer Ellis, Senior ,and Na- thaniel Chickering, both of whom lived on Haven Street near the first school-house, were appointed a committee to manage its affairs. In this act we find the germ of the prudential school committee-man; and the district school, both of which later became mighty factors in the educational system of Massachusetts. In this school (now the Sanger School) the first woman in Dedham taught, and here the first woman in the town taught a winter school. These are proud distinctions, when we recall how largely the work of public school educa- tion is today carried on by women. Here in the closing years of the colonial existence, many prominent men taught school and exerted a powerful influence on the community.
Elbridge L. Mann's house on Main Street was built by Ebenezer Battle, who settled this farm in 1752. The land on which he built was probably a part of his father's estate. He
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
sold this place in 1761 and moved to his father's farm at the corner of Main and Haven Streets. Mr. Battle was the cap- tain of the Springfield Parish Company of Minute Men, sixty-five of whom marched at the Lexington Alarm. This house with its southerly exposure and beautiful elm in front, is an interesting and picturesque old landmark, and was the home in 1761 of Nathaniel Battle who was the first resident of the parish to enter Harvard College. Here in the years that have passed has been illustrated the entire evolution of a New England home. "The great, eventful Present hides the Past; but through the din of its loud life hints and echoes from the life behind steal in."
Richard Bacon built in 1756 a house on that part of his father's estate, which is now the James McGill farm on Main Street. The small farm house on the east side of the street is the house built by Richard Bacon. This house was occu- pied by the owners of the farm until 1820, when William Cleveland built the house now owned by Mr. McGill. This house represents a type of a one-story house which was very common in the early settlement of the parish, although many one-story houses had a broken roof, which made larger cham- bers. When this old house was repaired, some years ago, two doors were put in which are still in use that are said to have come from the house in Cambridge where General Washing- ton made his headquarters. The farm at that time was owned by Eugene Bachelder who belonged to an old Cambridge family. This house was occupied during the Revolution by David Cleveland, who served in the last French and Indian War, also at the Battle of Lexington.
John A. Sullivan's house on Strawberry Hill, off of Wil- sondale Street, was built by David Fuller in 1755. This is the only one of the old houses under consideration which is unoccupied. This style of house was built previous to the Revolution and was continued afterwards, being very com- mon at the beginning of the 19th century. This type was followed a little later by the style of house illustrated by Irv- ing Colburn's (1804) although only two houses in town were built with brick ends. Another type of house which was very common a century ago is illustrated by the house owned by the late Daniel Richards on Dedham Street. Large families occupied these old houses, in fact, that was what they were built for. David Fuller here had nine children born to him. Mr. Fuller rendered a Revolutionary service, and
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- OLD HOUSES NOW STANDING.
represented the parish on various committees to raise men to go into the Army. His son Daniel did guard duty when seventeen years of age. The parish voted in 1791 to grant Thomas Larrabee three pounds for a cow he let Daniel Ful- ler have for going into the war in 1780; Daniel Fuller later enlisted in the Continental Army.
Col. Daniel Whiting's tavern on Dedham Street was built in 1761. It is still a spot of great interest, as the place where all public meetings during, and for many years after the Revolution, were held. Here matters pertaining to town, church, and state were discussed; here the Sons of Liberty gathered, and on the green in front of the tavern the Minute Men assembled on April 19, 1775, and on the same green for many years the annual muster was held. Here the shrewd farmers for a century traded and swapped horses. The dance hall, and store, where so many thousands have gathered in the years that have long since passed, can still be seen in connection with the old tavern. This was the post office from 1829 to 1875; here was witnessed in 1821 the pathetic scene of an adjourned town meeting, at which the poor were bid off at public auction, not to the highest bidder, but to the lowest bidder for food and clothing. Daniel Whiting took the most prominent part of any citizen of Dedham in the Revolution, having the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel. He sold this estate in 1783 and immediately loaned every dollar to the Common- wealth in her sore need without security, a sacrifice which it is well for the present generation to remember.
The late Charles Plympton's house on Centre Street was built by John Fisher in 1767. Like all the other old houses in town, it was owned by one who did service in the Revolution. Fisher Bridge, in the immediate vicinity, was named for the family of which Mr. Fisher was a member. He died in 1778 and the farm passed into other hands. The house was re- modeled by George E. Otis, Esq., in 1873, but retains the original frame and covering.
Daniel Chickering, who inherited the original Chickering homestead on Haven Street, built the house now owned by George Ellis Chickering in 1767. The house was remodeled by the present owner on the one hundredth anniversary of its erection. Daniel Chickering served in the Revolution with his three sons. Daniel, Jr., Joseph, and Nathaniel. This was the home of Jesse Chickering when he entered Harvard in 1814, also the home of Daniel Chickering, Jr., who was "a
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
student in physick" in 1784. The old well beside the house with its picturesque well-sweep is of abiding interest, as it has now satisfied the thirst of man and beast for more than two hundred years. The bricks in the chimneys of this house were burned at a time when brick-making was an industry on the Clay Brook road. These bricks through the years that have elapsed, have been set and reset, as the oc- casion has demanded in building or rebuilding on this farm.
Frederick H. Curtiss's house on Dedham Street was built by Ebenezer Richards, who came from Newton and settled in the Springfield Parish in 1769, and the same year built this house. This is a good specimen of the "simple, spacious, ra- tional" houses of our ancestors, "which any family, large or small, can adapt to its ever-varying needs without injury to their comfort." This farm once had a cider mill, an institu- tion which was originally found on almost all early settled farms. It also had a blacksmith shop, where Deacon Calvin Bigelow for many years did his own blacksmith work. Simi- lar shops were located on many other farms in town. Eben- ezer Richards took part in the Revolution and was a corporal. He died in 1784, and his death is recorded as the first to occur in the town of Dover.
Ralph Day's house on Dedham Street, foot of Strawberry Hill Street, is one of the old houses of the town, but the date of its erection cannot be fixed. This estate was early settled, and the house with its slanting roof in the rear is of the pre- revolutionary type of architecture. It is believed to be the house in which Deacon Ralph Day lived. He was a carpen- ter, and did most of the building in the vicinity. Mr. Day took part at the Lexington Alarm, and was for many years a most prominent citizen of the parish.
"Americans we are not, if we continue to let our life stories, our traditions, and early experiences as a people slip away without a most strenuous effort to save them. Should not every true American par- ticipate in the effort to record and place at their proper position these events? They form the very backbone of our nation's existence."
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1. THE EBENEZER BATTLE HOUSE.
3. THE JOHN FISHER HOUSE.
5. THE HEZEKIAH ALLEN HOUSE.
2. THE EBENEZER RICHARDS HOUSE.
4. THE RALPH DAY HOUSE.
6. THE RICHARD BACON HOUSE.
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APPENDIX.
T T is an interesting fact that in the one hundred and forty- five years of its existence, the First Parish Church has had only ten deacons.
JOSEPH HAVEN, who was associated with Ralph Day in the deacon's office in the organization of the church in 1762, was born in Framingham in 1712, and was descended in the fourth generation from Richard Haven who came to America in 1644-5 and settled in Lynn. When twelve years of age Joseph Haven went with his father to live in Hopkin- ton. There he remained until 1757. He was a deacon in the Hopkinton church, a member of the board of selectmen, an assessor and town treasurer. He was a shoemaker by occu- pation. After the death of his first wife, who bore him seven children, he married in the Springfield Parish, in 1757, Mrs. Rebecca (Newell) Chickering, widow of Joseph Chickering. At the time of his marriage he settled on his wife's farm on Haven Street with his young family. He was a prominent citizen and served the parish faithfully for many years. He had reason to remember the horrors of the Revolution from the start, as his son, Elias Haven, was killed at the Lexing- ton Alarm. In August, 1777, Joseph Haven purchased five guns for the parish. He was given a note by the parish for eighteen pounds and fifteen shillings with interest, which "was the first cost of the guns." In 1778 he spent seventy- one pounds in the purchase of clothing, which was furnished to soldiers.
The next year this sum was returned to him by the parish. He was interested "in putting his sons to learning," two of whom graduated from Harvard College, one becoming a sur- geon, and the other the much beloved, honored, and respected minister of Rochester, New Hampshire. In 1789 Deacon Haven made the school in his district a present of thirteen pounds, six shillings, and eight pence. Haven Street-on which he lived-was called for him when the streets in Dover were named. When the Christian Endeavor Society of the Evangelical Congregational Church was formed it was named in honor of this respected deacon of the First Parish Church, a name which it still bears. Dea. Haven died Feb. 22, 1801, and is buried in Dover.
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
DEACON EBENEZER NEWELL, son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Bullard) Newell, was born in Needham Oct. 18, 1736, and was descended in the fifth generation from Abraham and Frances Newell, who came from Ipswich, England, and settled in Roxbury in 1634. Ebenezer Newell lived on Wal- pole Street on the Eben Higgins farm. He took an active part in the Revolutionary contest. When the town of Ded- ham, in 1774, passed a vote, forbidding the inhabitants to drink any kind of India tea, Mr. Newell was appointed a member of a committee of three, in this parish, to see that this vote was complied with, and to post the names of any who violated the order. He was a member of a committee chosen Sept. 29, 1777, "to hire suitable men to go into the ser- vice from time to time of the United States of America." He was a lieutenant in the first Boston regiment in 1776. He served at Fort Hancock on Cape Elizabeth in Maine. He guarded Burgoyne's troops for five months in the winter of 1777-8. He taught the parish school in 1766. He kept a tavern for a time and town meetings were sometimes ad- journed to "Newell's Chambers." He was a member of the Dedham Board of Selectmen, commencing his service in 1764, and a town assessor in 1766. He took care of the meet- ing house, and was granted an order by the parish in 1771 of twelve shillings for "his care of the meeting house and sweeping it one year." When the town was organized in 1784 he was elected a member of the first board of selectmen. Mr. Newell married, April 24, 1760, Elizabeth Wheaton of Needham; married secondly, May 17, 1773, Abigail Allen ; married thirdly, July 13, 1776, Rachel Ames. Children : Jesse, Asa, Ebenezer, George, Joseph, Betsey, Polly, Sally, Calvin, Nabby, Rachel, Luther, Willard. He died Feb. 25, 1797; and is buried in Dover.
DEACON EBENEZER SMITH, son of Ebenezer and Lydia (Hartshorn) Smith, was born in Westwood Feb. 26, 1747-8, and was descended in the fifth generation from Rob- ert Smith who settled in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1639. Mr. Smith cleared the land and built the first house on the farm now owned by Michael W. Comiskey on Dedham Street in 1775. It is possible that a part of the house now standing was built by Mr. Smith. He was a cordwainer as well as a farmer. He marched at the Lexington Alarm, also took part in fortifying Dorchester Heights. He was for many years
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APPENDIX.
a prominent citizen. Mr. Smith married, Oct. 31, 1775, Catherine, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca ( Whiting) Rich- ards. Children: Lewis, Ebenezer, Olive, Catherine, Rufus, Rebecca. He died Feb. 16, 1819, and is buried in Dover.
DEACON EPHRAIM WILSON, son of Ephraim and Sybil (Allen) Wilson, was born on the Strawberry Hill farm Dec. 2, 1775, and was descended in the fifth generation from Henry Wilson, who settled there in 1640. Ephraim Wilson's father took part in the Revolution. Dea. Wilson carried on the old farm which for more than two hundred and fifty years was tilled by those of one blood and one name, and is still owned by a lineal descendant. He was a prominent citizen and served for five years on the board of selectmen. Mr. Wil- son married, Nov. 1, 1800, Sarah Richards of Dedham ; mar- ried secondly, May 22, 1825, Lucy, daughter of Nathaniel and Submit (Bullard) Capen of Dedham. Children: Sybil, Eleazer, Isaac, Lucy, Sarah, Ephraim, Edwin. He died May 16, 1847, and is buried in Dover.
DEACON JONATHAN BATTELLE,1 son of Ebenezer and Hannah (Allen) Battelle, was born on the Battelle home- stead, corner of Main and Haven Streets, Nov. 17, 1761, and was descended in the fifth generation from Thomas Bat- telle, who first appeared in Dedham in 1648. He settled on the farm on Centre Street, corner of the Clay Brook Road. He was a member of the board of selectmen and town treas- urer. He was deeply interested in the church. When the Rev. Ralph Sanger was settled over the parish in 1812, Mr. Battelle took him into his family, where he remained until his marriage in 1819. Mr. Battelle married Mercy, daugh- ter of Ralph and Mary (Leland) Day. Children: Hannah, Jonathan, Ralph, Clarissa, Leonard, Mercy, Adaline, Isaac, Mehitable. He died Jan. 8, 1840, and is buried in Dover.
DEACON RALPH BATTELLE was a son of Dea. Jonathan and Mercy (Day) Battelle, and was born on the farm at the corner of Centre Street and the Clay Brook Road. He was descended in the sixth generation from Thomas Bat- telle. Mr. Battelle bought the farm on Walpole Street now owned by George D. Hall. Here he reared his family. He was town clerk for several years, and a member of the board of selectmen. He married, Sept. 7, 1814, Martha, daughter of William Pitt and Kezia (Mason) Allen; married secondly,
1Spelled both Battelle and Battle in the earliest records.
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
Sept. 23, 1849, Rachel A., daughter of Daniel and Rachel (Allen) Mann. Children : Ralph A., Martha, Willard, Caro- line, Mary C. He died March 8, 1878, and is buried in Dover.
DEACON JOSEPH LARRABEE, son of Thomas and Bathsheba (Morse) Larrabee, was born on the Strawberry Hill farm March 31, 1788, and was descended in the fifth generation from Ephraim Larrabee who settled in Charles- town. Mr. Larrabee's grandfather was in the French and Indian War, and his father rendered an essential service in the Revolution, being a member of General Washington's Life Guard. Dea. Larrabee was a great reader of the Bible, and a strong defender of his faith with Bible texts. The almanac came in for daily reading, but neither newspaper nor magazine was tolerated in his home. He was the last survivor of the old custom of standing during the long prayer in the church service. Few possessed more deeply the spirit of worship than Joseph Larrabee ; often when too feeble to attend the church service he would go out on Sun- day, at church time, and sit in the field and meditate until it was time for the church service to close, when he would return to his home. He originally willed his farm to the First Parish church, but subsequently gave it to the town to aid the worthy poor. He was a very industrious man, and possessed a powerful physique. He married, May 7, 1835, Charlotte, daughter of Seth and Mary (Wight) Wight; married secondly, Dec. 26, 1847, Mary, daughter of Caleb and Levinia (Morse) Wight. He had no children. Mr. Larrabee died July 27, 1873, and is buried in Dover.
DEACON JOSEPH ALLEN SMITH, son of Draper and Anna (Leland) Smith, was born on his father's farm on Smith Street, April 24, 1813, and was descended in the sev- enth generation from Robert Smith of Exeter, N. H. Many of Dea. Smith's ancestors served in the Revolution ; his grand- father, Joseph Smith, took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was a prominent resident of the town, a member of the board of selectmen, a school committee man, and superintend- ent of schools, and for many years a town assessor. He also served on important committees. He commenced business life as a butcher, with carts on the road, but subsequently en- gaged in farming. He married, June 2, 1844, Louisa Bat- telle, daughter of Isaac and Betsey (Williams) Howe. Child :
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APPENDIX.
Anna Leland. Mr. Smith died July 21, 1886, and is buried in Dover.
DEACON ASA TALBOT, son of Enoch and Hannah (Dickerman) Talbot, was born in Sharon, April 15, 1816, and is descended in the sixth generation from Peter Talbot, who came to America in 1670, and settled in Dorchester. Mr. Talbot's grandfather was in the Revolution and took part in the Battle of Saratoga. His father served in the War of 1812, and his son (Levi) in the Civil War. Mr. Talbot is a farmer and lives on Farm Street, now being the oldest resident of the town. He was for many years a member of the board of selectmen, and the town sexton. He married, April 15, 1840, Elizabeth Hodges. Children: Levi A., Frederick.
The deacon occupied in the colonial meeting-house, a seat in front of the pulpit, where he received the contributions of the congregation. In addition to the offices of today he "lined the psalms" and took care of the property of the church.
THE MINISTERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
I Rev. Benjamin Caryl was born in Hopkinton, Mass., in 1732, and died in Dover, Mass., Nov. 14, 1811; graduated from Harvard in 1761; ordained Nov II, 1762, and remained minister until his death.
II Rev. Dr. Ralph Sanger was born in Duxbury, Mass., June 22, 1786, and died in Cambridge, Mass., May 6, 1860; graduated from Harvard 1808; ordained Sept. 16, 1812; remained minister until 1858, Pastor Emeri- tus until his death in 1860.
III Rev. Edward Barker, Jr., was born in England in 1823; graduated from Meadville in 1858; ordained Dec. 8, 1858; remained minister until Dec. 8, 1860. Died in Pensocola, Florida, in 1875.
IV Rev. George Proctor was born in Chelmsford. Mass., Sept. 5, 1814, and died in Somerville, Mass., Nov. 28, 1893; fitted for the Universalist ministry under the Rev. Rufus S. Frost, settled in April, 1863, and re- mained minister until April, 1868.
V Rev. Calvin S. Locke was born in Acworth, N. H., Oct. II, 1829; graduated from Amherst, 1849; Har- vard Divinity School, 1854; acting minister from 1868 to 1880.
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST PARISH.
VI Rev. Eugene De Normandie was born in Northum- berland, Pa., Jan. 3, 1832, and died in Danvers, Mass., March 4, 1904; graduated from Meadville 1851, min- ister at Sherborn, supplied the pulpit from 1880 to 1888.
VII Rev. George H. Badger was born in Charlestown, Mass., March 27, 1859; graduated from Williams 1881, Harvard Divinity School 1888, minister at South Natick, supplied the pulpit from 1888 to 1892.
VIII Rev. Obed Eldridge was born in Sandwich, Mass., Dec. 6, 1838, and died in Westwood, Dec. 14, 1895 ; he was self educated; minister at Westwood, sup- plied the pulpit from 1892 to 1895.
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IX Rev. Philip S. Thacher was born in Staffordshire, England, Aug. 9, 1852; graduated from Meadville in 1876, minister at Needham, supplied the pulpit from 1895 to 1901.
X Rev. George F. Pratt was born in Bangor, Maine, April 5, 1852 ; graduated from Bowdoin in 1876; Gen- eral Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1881 ; minister at Natick, supplied the pulpit from 1901 to 1903.
XI Rev. Robert C. Douthit was born in Shelbyville, Ill., Mar. 15, 1869, attended the University of Wisconsin (Special) graduated from Meadville in 1893, settled in 1904, remained minister until Jan. 1, 1907.
XII Rev. W. Lathrop Meaker was born in Bethlehem, Pa., Aug. 16, 1878; graduated from Lehigh Univer- sity (Chemistry) 1899; Meadville, 1907; ordained and installed June 12, 1907.
NOTE .- Clerks of the First Parish from its organization, 1748, to its incorporation as the District of Dover, July 7, 1784: Joshua Ellis, 1748-1759, John Jones. 1759-1765, 1781-1784, Ralph Day, 1765-1767, Jo- seph Haven, 1767-1769. 1776-1779, William Whiting. 1769-1773, Capt. Hezekiah Allen, Jr., 1773-1774, 1784, Ebenezer Newell, Jr., 1774-1776, Ebenezer Battle, 1779-1781.
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INDEX.
Allen, Hezekialı, Jr.
3-24
Fisher House
17
Allen House
13
Fuller House 16
Bacon House
16
Gay, Ezra
7
Bacon, John
9
Griggs, John
12
Bacon, Oliver
9
Haven, Elias 15
Badger, Rev. George H. 24
Barker, Rev. Edward, Jr. 23
Battle, Ebenezer
24
Jones, John 24
Battle House
15
Larrabee, Dea. Joseph 22
Battle, John
11
Locke, Rev. Calvin S.
23
Battle, Jonathan
4
Mason, Seth S
Battelle, Dea. Jonathan
21
Meaker, Rev. W. Lathrop 24
Merrifield, Thomas 4
Battle, Thomas
, 7
Metcalf. Samuel
Newell, Ebenezer
3-24
Caryl, Rev. Benjamin 23
Newell, Dea. Ebenezer
20
Parish Clerks
24
Chamberlain, Abraham 12
Parish Wood Lot 5
Chickering, Daniel 12
Chickering House, Daniel 17 Pratt, Rev. Geo. F. 24
Chickering, Eliplialet
8
Chickering, John
11
Chickering. Joseph
8
Richards, Thomas
S
Chickering House, Joseph 15
Chickering, Nathaniel
12
Sanger, Rev. Ralph 23
14
Day, Jonathan
6
Day House 18
Day, Ralph 4-24
De Normandie, Rev. Eugene 24
Dewing, Andrew
4
Douthit, Rev. Robert C.
24
Draper House
14
Thacher, Rev. Philip S.
24
Draper, James 9
Whiting, Jonathan 11
Draper, John 5 Whiting Tavern
Draper, Joseph
9
Whiting. William
24
Wight, David 10
Wilson, Dea. Ephraim 21
Ellis, Joshua 2-24
Ellis, Josiah
6
Ellis. Timothy
7
Wood, Jabez
First Woman Teacher
3
Post Office .
17
Proctor, Rev. George 23
Richards, Josiah 11
Richards House
18
Chickering, Samuel
5
Slaves
4,
Sons of Liberty 17
Smith, Dca. Ebenezer 20
Smith, Dea. Joseph A.
Smith House
14
Suffolk Resolutions 5
Talbot, Dea. Asa 23
17
Eldridge, Rev. Obed 24
Ellis, Benjamin
10
Wilson, Henry
6
Wilson, Nathaniel
6
9
Battelle, Dea. Ralph
21
Bullard, Jonathan
7
Cheney, John
10
Haven, Joseph 19-24
India Tea
20
4064
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