Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts, Part 62

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 768

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(II) John Eaton, son of William and Mar- tha (Jenkins) Eaton, was born in England, December 20, 1635. He lived in Reading, where he died May 25, 1691. He married, in 1658, Elizabeth Kendall, born 1642, daugh- ter of Deacon Thomas Kendall, who bore him several children.

(III) William Eaton, son of John and Eliz- beth (Kendall) Eaton, was born in Reading, Massachusetts, December 1, 1670. He mar- ried, April 29, 1695, Mary Swan. They lived in Lynnfield, where he died in 1734.

and Mary (Swan) Eaton, was born March 2, 1705, died in Dunstable, New Hampshire, about 1772. He was a Baptist preacher, lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, Candia, New Hamp- shire, and probably in Hampstead. He mar- ried, May 21, 1730, Anna Rand, daughter of Zechariah and Ann (Ivory) Rand. Children : William, Benjamin, died young : James, David, Jonathan, Ebenezer, Jesse and Benjamin.

(V) Major Jesse Eaton, son of Rev. Benja- min and Anna (Rand) Eaton, was born in Candia, New Hampshire. He was an early settler and lived on No. 61, second part, sec- ond division, in Chester. He was a farmer by occupation. He was a minuteman at Bun- ker Hill, and afterwards was with General Stark at Bennington and with General Gates at Saratoga. His death occurred in Candia, December 23. 1808. He married Sarah Worthen, who died June 3. 1801. Children : Nancy, Mary, Sarah, Hannah, Jesse, Susan, Eleanor, Ebenezer, Love and Asa.

(VI) Ebenezer Eaton, son of Major Jesse and Sarah (Worthen) Eaton, was born in Candia, New Hampshire, October 16, 1792, died September II, 1847. He was reared in Candia, educated in its common school, and there spent the active years of his life. He was a skillful mechanic, one of the first men to temper steel; he made tools and cooper draw-shaves, and by the superiority of his workmanship his tools became well known and

famous. He possessed marked military in- stinct, and was captain of the Light Infantry military company, which had charge of the burial of General Stark. He drilled his men with precision, and the volley which was fired over the grave of General Stark was as one shot. He married, October 17, 1815, Sarah Shirley, either of Londonderry or Goffstown, who was born September 4, 1795, died Sep- tember, 1866, whose father participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and who, after the re- treat began, came across man mortally

wounded and offered to carry him off the field ; the man made answer "you can do me no good, save yourself." Children of Ebenezer and Sarah Shirley Eaton: I. Adaline, married J. Pike Hubbard; children: Rev. Charles L., . John H., Sarah C., George E., and Alice. 2. George ; died young. 3. Alamanza, married, first, Henry S. Eaton ; second, Stevens Chan-

dler : no children. 4. Catherine, died at the age of seventeen. 5. Sarah, died young. 6. Elizabeth S., died young. 7. Martha Jane, married George W. Wilson ; children: John,

(IV) Rev. Benjamin Eaton, son of William . Charles, Jason and Jane. 8. George Eben,

married Lucinda French; children: George True, died young : Nellie C. (Flanders). 9. James Henry ; see forward. 10. Lucretia L., married D. Addison Bean ; children: Catha- rine L. and Emma. II. Charles E., married Julia F. Wilson: children: Metcalf and Charles. 12. William F., married Sarah J. Young; child, Alice M., married Albert I. Couch.

(VII) James Henry Eaton, son of Ebe- nezer and Sarah Shirley Eaton, was born in Candia, New Hampshire, February 3, 1833, and died in Lawrence, Massachusetts, March 22, 1901. He received his early education in Candia, and worked in his father's blacksmith shop mornings and nights, Saturdays and holi- days. Often he spoke of swinging the large hammer while his father swung the smaller one as the iron was being shaped on the anvil. But when he was twelve years old, his father died, which closed the blacksmith shop, and he and his older brother had to adopt some other method besides the small farm by which to aid in the support of the large family, three of whom were younger than himself, where- upon he turned his attention to shoe-making, which, aside from farming, was the principal business of the town. But being desirous of acquiring a more liberal education than his limited time in school thus far had afforded him, he had his open book upon his bench and studied while he worked, with such marked

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success that at the age of sixteen, he was able to accept the offered position of school teacher in his home town, carefully saving every pos- sible dollar that was not elsewhere needed until three years later when he saw the long coveted way at last open to enter Pembroke Academy, where he prepared himself for col- lege, but decided, instead of pursuing his pre- vious intention, to become a student for a year at the Bridgewater Normal School, the better to prepare himself for the profession of teach- ing in Massachusetts. He graduated from there in 1856 and immediately obtained a posi- tion in Lawrence, Massachusetts, as sub- master in the Oliver grammar school, also teaching the singing, and, on the resignation of Mr. Walton, five years later, became its prin- cipal. Soon after taking up his residence in Lawrence, he began reading law in the office of Nathaniel G. White, then intending to fit himself for its practice in later years, but just as he was ready to be admitted to the bar, he was induced to enter the Essex Savings Bank, at first in the capacity of teller, but upon the death of Nathaniel White the following year, succeeded him as treasurer, which position he held until his death, with the pleasant satisfac- tion during that time of watching its growth from two hundred and fifty thousand to eight and a half million dollars. It seemed at first that all his law study had been useless, but in- stead, it proved of the greatest advantage, not only in his bank work, but in the many and various other enterprises in which he was from time to time, enlisted, and added much to his success. He was also possessed to a remarkable degree of the ability to grasp the meat of a subject quickly and correctly. He often said that he could derive as much rest and enjoyment by a change from one form of exertion or line of thought to another as from a vacation spent among new and strange surroundings. Thus it was, that in addition to the constantly growing demand upon his time and ability by the bank of which he was the head, he was able to serve as one of the trus- tees and take active charge of the White Fund, conducting its course of lectures as well as managing its financial affairs; as trustee of various city sinking funds ; as director of other banks than his own ; as a trustee of the Massa- chusetts Homoeopathic Hospital ; and as chair- man of the advisory board of the Lawrence General Hospital; for many years as treas- urer of the street railway of his city; as a member of the city council during the earlier days of his residence in Lawrence, and as its

mayor during the years 1898 and 1899, being among the most notable.

There were two important factors associated with his boyhood life, to which he often re- ferred, that gave shape and encouragement to his early aspirations and ambition. One was a weekly lyceum, maintained during the win- ter with debates on popular subjects in which old and young participated, and where many a Candia boy received his first lessons in oratory and came to Pembroke with his confidence on the floor well established: and of them Mr. Eaton easily ranked among the first. The other was a choice public library containing only about two hundred volumes, but all of a solid and instructive character, which he read and reread until they were thoroughly en- grafted into his memory with an inspiring in- fluence through all his life.

Being a Congregationalist in his religious faith, he immediately upon coming to Law- rence allied himself with the Lawrence Street Church, soon becoming identified with all its various interests. He at once entered heart- ily into its Sabbath school work, both in the home and mission departments, being upon the (leath of a long-loved and honored superin- tendent, chosen to fill his place, which he held for twenty-five years, but which the accumu- lation of other requirements finally obliged him to relinquish, though still remaining as a teacher. He was also early elected as one of its deacons to fill the first vacancy that oc- curred, which position he held for the re- mainder of his life, being the "senior" for many years and always in close conference and companionship with each of the three pastors that occupied the position while he was living. It was, therefore, eminently fitting that the last sad rites occasioned by his sudden and alto- gether unexpected death after a day of cus- tomary health and business activity, should, by public request, have been rendered from the church home he had loved so long and served so faithfully which was filled to overflowing by a grieved and tearful throng.

Mr. Eaton married. November 14. 1860, Elizabeth Frances Jenness, born April 16, 1837, at Epsom, New Hampshire, daughter of William T. and Mary Jane (Sanders) Jenness. William T. Jenness was born April 5, 1802, in Deerfield, died in Lawrence, July 14, 1870. Mary J. (Sanders) Jenness, daughter of Job Sanders, was born January 10, 1818, in Epsom, died in Lawrence, March 25, 1900. Jonathan Jenness, father of William T. Jen- ness, died March 4, 1840. Mrs. Eaton was a

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graduate of Pembroke Academy, class of 1854, and while a student there met her future hus- band. In 1855 her parents removed to Law- rence, Massachusetts, and there she taught in the public schools five years, until her mar- riage. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Eaton : I. George Herbert, born August 29, 1861, died January 15, 1893 ; he received his education in the public schools at Lawrence and Harvard College, graduating with honors from the latter institution with the class of 1882, and from Harvard Law School in 1884. He was an attorney-at-law in Lawrence, acquiring a large and lucrative practice. He married Grace Laura Truell, daughter of Hon. Byron Truell and Mary Elizabeth ( Armstrong) Truell ; no children. 2. Fred Henry, born Sep- tember 6, 1874, attended the public schools of Lawrence and Phillips Academy at Andover ; graduated from the Boston Law School in 1897, and practiced his profession in Law- rence since that time. He is vice-president and trustee of the Essex Savings Bank, direc- tor of the Bay State National Bank, and direc- tor of the Lawrence Co-operative Bank. He married, August 24, 1897, Abbie Maude Sher- man, of Lawrence, daughter of Judge Edgar Jay and Abbie Louise (Simmons) Sherman ; the former coming from Brownsville, Ver- mont, and the latter from Cape Cod, Massa- chusetts. Children : I. James Henry. born November 29, 1898. 2. Alma Sherman, Octo- ber 29, 1904. 3. Elizabeth Frances, December I, 1907. Fred H. Eaton is a Republican in politics, and served as alderman of second ward.

The following article was prepared by Hon. Robert H. Tewksbury, of Lawrence, who was a close friend for many years of James Henry Eaton, deceased :

"Mr. Eaton spent forty-five years of his intensely active and eminently useful life in the city of Lawrence. His employment during all this time required of him steady and per- sistent intellectual labor, and he entered with indomitable energy upon the important bus- iness that came to him as the years and decades passed. He was physically vigorous, mentally alert and constantly on the watch for opportunities to use his rare physical endur- ance and mental equipment for the material and spiritual enrichment of his neighbors, and every citizen of Lawrence, whatever his or her race, nationality or creed, claimed him as a neighbor and counsellor. He was of figure not large but well knit and active. There was nothing lethargic, timid or vacillating in his

action. He could think while upon his feet, in active motion among the crowd; hence, although he acted promptly and impulsively, he rarely acted injudiciously.

"In boyhood, while hard at work on the shoemaker's bench and at the blacksmith's forge, studying meanwhile to equip his mind for larger work and influence, he grasped the significance of this life of probation, caught a glimpse of the possibility of an eternal life beyond these measurable years, hence the best thing that can be said of any man can be said of him, that, at the very beginning of his career he became a Christian and it can also be said that he never denied the faith. He constantly squared his life, in the school room, in the bank, and in official position, with the unimpeachable and enduring Word he had so humbly and fully accepted.

"Mr. Eaton had a many sided and rare per- sonality. He had the patience and the thor- cughness to attend to every detail of compli- cated business without being absorbed and exhausted by them or losing sight of the great principles to which all important and success- ful work must conform.

"In the model savings institution, that he virtually established, he always insisted that the small depositor should have the same rights and the same attention as the larger, and, in making loans, the small borrower re- ceived the same courtesy and regard as the largest patron. Although he was notably alert and efficient in the despatch of business he was so careful to acknowledge the rights of all that he seldom had occasion to apologize for his action. He had few intervals of quiet. Labor was his pastime and in the change from one line of arduous work to another he found his rest. It is a sure sign of largeness of heart and breadth of mind when a man can, as he did. attend to duties the most diverse without becoming brusque or neglectful of other's rights, or without being confused by the blend- ing of many cares and neglectful of matters of vital importance.

"Mr. Eaton was always in earnest yet he always dispensed cheer fulness along his path- way and was never downcast or morose; he saw the sunny side of life and a silver lining to the darkest cloud. He was gifted with a command of expressive language and had a breezy, emphatic and magnetic delivery that made him a welcome guest and speaker at any convention, gathering or banquet where just causes were championed or where noble lead- ers were honored. His wit, his directness, and

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his magnetism were infectious. His oration delivered at the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Lawrence, in 1895, will be long remembered by the hearers.

"Mr. Eaton loved men and he loved to re- ceive the praise and applause of his fellow men, but he never practiced the arts of the demagogue to secure popular favor, and he constantly defended the right, as he under- stood it, whatever the public verdict might be. He was a lover of animals : his horse and his dog were his companions; they loved him and understood him.

"For many years a trustee of the sinking funds of the city, his reports were always promptly made and concluded thus, 'No losses, 10 expenses.' As one of the trustees, and the active manager for years of the free lec- ture and library fund, bequeathed by Judge White and others for the benefit of the indus- trial classes of Lawrence and vicinity, he was efficient and judicious and he rendered val- uable service in caring for the erection and equipment of the public library building, the completion of which was made possible by the generous donation of Mrs. Nathaniel G. White and daughter. As mayor, Mr. Eaton's admin- istration for two years-1898 and 1899- showed a most careful and tireless supervision of public affairs in every detail. He insisted upon the best obtainable service in all the de- partments, and required all heads of depart- ments to confine expenditures within the appropriations made therefor. Many import- ant improvements were carried out under his supervision. The location, erection and equip- ment of the stately and commodious new high school building was under the charge of a building commission of which he was chair- man.

"Unassuming in manner. simple and eco- nomical in personal expenditure, yet generous of habit, industrious by training and natural inclination, honest and loyal from principle, his name will stand prominent among those who have left the impress of their personality upon the community in which he won the love and respect of his associates, and where he constantly helped and generously aided every public-spirited enterprise and every laudable cause. The personal appearance and lifelike expression of Mr. Eaton is well preserved in a fine oil portrait, by Churchill, the skilled artist, secured by his life associates, and held for presentation to the city of Lawrence when a suitable place for the work shall have been secured."

Tay is perhaps another form of the TAY old English or Anglo-Saxon Tey.

Tey is the name of three places in county Essex. England, considered by one authority (Edmunds) to be possibly a corrup- tion from an old British word "ty," signify- ing a house. Thus in Burke are found men- tion of the family names of Tay (in Essex ), Tey, (London. 1595, and Northumberland ) , Teye, Teys (Essex). Hence there appears to be some ground for the theory that the sur- name derived its origin from the name of some place (as above, presumably in Essex, Old England ). In the region about Boston in former times the provincial pronunciation was Toy, which may be due to the English way of pronouncing "a" like "o" in certain words. Thus in early times there was one Henry Tay, or Toy, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who died about 1655, of whom no more is known. Wil- liam was of Boston (of whom more beyond ), who had sons Isaiah and Jeremiah, both of Boston : Nathaniel, of Billerica-all prominent men. There was also a John Tey, of Boston, evidently a transient, who in his will refers to a son Allen in England, who probably never came to this country. There were undoubtedly others of this name in this country at that early period, and the name is used in America to-day under the two forms of Tay and Toy, being evidently descendants in one form or another of this stock.

(I) William Tay, died 1683, married Sep- tember 14. 1644. Grace Newell, who died at Roxbury, April 11. 1712, in her ninety-first ycar, daughter of Abraham and Frances New- ell, of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was evi- dently a man of some property and position in the older country, and his name is found among those who had land granted to them very early in Taunton, Massachusetts, and also a little later in Billerica. In 1643 he gave one Leonard Buttles two acres on Long Island, in Boston Harbor, in exchange for twenty acres at Muddy River, now in Brookline. Massachusetts. It is said of him that he was in middle life a distiller, which would account to some extent for his previous property. In 1659 he had accredited to him an estate in Billerica where he had lived a few years, per- haps from 1656. He was for one year town clerk of Billerica. The last will and testa- ment of William Tay, aged seventy-two years, contains the following provisions: "Concern- ing the ground that my house was burnt on I give to my son Jeremiah and my daughter Elizabeth only that my son Jere-

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miah and my daughter Elizabeth pay to my grandchild Elizabeth Tay ten pounds-that is my eldest son's daughter I give unto my son Nathaniel all my housings at Bill- erica, with forty acres of upland about the housing, and that piece of meadow called Nut- ting meadow, and a piece of meadow called Shawshin the hither side . . . son Nathaniel to pay unto my wife as long as she lives forty shillings a year in corn at money's price son Isaiah, that piece of land that is bounded on one side by Mrs. Thacher and on the other by Major Skinner's bakehouse and so bounded by Major Shrimpton's lane and by Major Wilson's narrow lane

he to pay my wife, etc. I further give to my son Isaiah ten acres upland at Billerica, called by the name of Willows Pangs; to daughter Grace all my upland and meadow that is un- disposed of at Billerica, she to pay my wife. I give to my beloved wife the land at Muddy River that is unsold to help furnish the frame that I have bought to be set on my land, and after the house is finished my wife to live in part of it after my wife's de- cease my son Jeremiah and my daughter Eliza- beth are to have it. As for my land that I have by my wife at Roxbury I leave it all to her," etc. Wife sole executrix. Dated April 28, 1680, probated April 12, 1683. The in- ventory of the estate, apprized 7 April, 1683, discloses following real estate: The dwelling- house and land, £150. In Roxbury, old house and barn, orchard, pastureland and woodland, and fence belonging hereinto, f80; in Billerica, parcel of upland and meadow, £28 at place called Strong water brook ; one hundred acres meadow, Shawshin river, £7 ; forty acres lying upon Willows Pangs; eight acres upland to- wards the common field. Children: I. Grace, born 23d, 6 month, 1645, died January 23, 1716: married January, 1662-3, Thomas Willis ; resided at Medford, Massachusetts. 2. John, baptized 21 day, 9 month, 1647; mar- ried, had daughter Elizabeth. 3. Isaiah, bap- tized 10 day, I month, 1650; married Mary Watkins, of Charlestown. He was deputy to the general court, and a soldier in King Philip's war, as private, sergeant, and lieu- tenant. 4. Abiel, born 21 January, 1652, died young : not mentioned in father's will. 5. Nathaniel, born February 23, 1654: see for- ward. 6. Jeremiah, born 18th July, 1657, mar- ried March 14, 1683, Mercy Woodward, of Boston : she married second, April 4, 1715, John Eustin, of Boston. 7. Elizabeth, born Tune 25, 1660, died at Roxbury, about 1741 ;

married first, Samuel Very ; second, February 14, 1700, John Ruggles.

(II) Nathaniel Tay, son of William Tay (1), born at Boston, February 23, 1654, died at Woburn, April 18, 1724; married May 30, 1677, Bathsheba Wyman, born October 6, 1658, died July 9, 1730, daughter of Lieuten- ant John and Sarah (Nutt) Wyman, of Wo- burn, Massachusetts. He was a soldier in Captain Isaac Johnson's company in the Nar- ragansett campaign of 1675, where his name appears as Nathaniel Toy, credited with twelve shillings for wages under date of September 3. 1675. His wife distinguished herself in the same war in connection with Lieutenant John Wyman's ( her father ) difficulty with Constable John Sears, in Woburn, in 1676, published in "Woburn Men in the Indian and other Wars," pp. 11-14. He was a mariner, and after dwell- ing for a time in Billerica, where he inherited lands from his father, appears to have re- moved with his family to Woburn, where sev- eral of his children were born. He evidently was of Woburn before December 17, 1701, when he sold to John Lillie certain land next adjoining to his ( Tay's) garden and his own land before his house, the edifice occupied later by his descendant Major Samuel Tay, and now still standing, No. 907 Main street, North Woburn. This land was sold with the intent of enlarging said Lillie's garden ; Lillie's house is also still standing in good condition. Children: 1. Nathaniel, born June 17, 1678. 2. Sarah, born April 15, 1680; married July 18, 1706, Thomas Jones ; she was a widow, and residing in Boston in 1733. 3. Bathsheba, born March 30, 1682, married James Haywood, of Woburn, Massachusetts. 4. Elizabeth, born March 15, 1683, died young. 5. Grace, born April 20, 1686, died young. 6. Mary, born March 16, 1688; married January 13, 1708, James Barnes, of Boston. 7. Isabel, birth un- recorded : married August 20, 1718, George Skinner, of Boston. 8. Elizabeth, birth un- recorded : married November 13, 1719, Joseph Chamberlain, of Hull, Massachusetts. 9. Wil- liam, born October 25, 1700, see forward. 10. Grace, born May 18, 1704; married December 24. 1724, Benjamin Walker, of Woburn.

( III) William Tay; son of Nathaniel Tay (2), born at Woburn, Massachusetts, Octo- ber 25, 1700. died there, December 8, 1780; married first, January 2. 1724, Abigail Jones, born June 6, 1708, died September 26. 1778, daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Snow) Jones, of Woburn : married second, May 16, 1780. Bethia, daughter of Nathaniel and Eliz-

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abeth Parker, of Reading, Massachusetts, and widow of Hezekiah Winn, of Wilmington, Massachusetts. Lieutenant William Tay, gen- erally described as Lieutenant William Tay, senior, to distinguish him from others of the same name and title, was an old man at the time of the revolutionary war, and was styled gentleman in will dated February 19, 1772, probated March 7, 1781. He lived on the east side of the Main street, North Woburn. In the tax lists he is called lieutenant from 1746 to 1780. He was commissioned lieutenant by Governor Phipps, October 18, 1745 ; was select- man of Woburn many times between 1744 and 1780, unless the latter part of this record refers to his son Lieutenant William Tay. Children, all by first wife: I. Nathaniel, born July 15. 1724, died April 2, 1758; married August 3, 1748, Rebecca Holden, who married second, October 21, 1766, Nathan Pearson, of Wil- mington, Massachusetts. 2. William, born July 11, 1726, died March 17, 1795 : married Susanna Jones. 3. Abigail, born January 16, 1728, married first (intention dated January 26, 1749) Abijah Chandler, of Andover, Mass- achusetts ; married second, October 26, 1758, Robert Gray, of Andover, Massachusetts. 4. Isaiah, born April 2, 1730; married May 29, 1753, Abigail Simonds, of Lexington, Massa- chusetts. 5. John, born March 29, 1732, died 1782; married March 11, 1755, Susanna Pierce, of Woburn. 6. Elizabeth, born March 30, 1734; married June 18, 1761, William Ab- bott, Jr., of Andover, Massachusetts. 7. Ruth, born August 20, 1736, died January 15. 1747. 8. Samuel, born December 4, 1738; see for- ward. 9. Joshua, born April 3. 1741, died De- cember 29, 1801 ; married December 3. 1762, Susanna Richardson. 10. Sarah, born June 27, 1743, married (intention dated December 8. 1764) Joshua Eames, of Woburn. II. Mary, born July 6, 1745, died May 5, 1747. 12. Benjamin, born about 1747, died in Wil- mington, Massachusetts, about 1796: married September 11, 1770, Sybil Marion, of Woburn. 13. Aaron, born about 1749, died December 15. 1794, aged forty-five years ; married Octo- ber 4, 1770, Phebe Locke.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts, Part 62

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 768

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 768