Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 106

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 924

USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 106

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

(V) John, son of Joseph (2) Sanderson, was born in Whately, March 11, 1754. He lived on Indian Hill at Whately until 1803,

when he removed to Milton, Vermont. He married (second) October 2, 1780, Phebe Snow, of Conway. Children, born in Whately : I. Levi, June, 1782, married, January, 1806, Sally Bean. 2. John, 1784, married, 1807, Louisa Jackson. 3. Hiram, October 24, 1788, mentioned below. 4. Almeron, February 8, 1790, married, 1815, Nancy Meaker.

(VI) Hiram, son of John Sanderson, was born at Whately, October 24, 1788. He mar- ried (first ) October 4, 1811, Louisa Owens ; (second) Hettie Dorman. He was a gunmaker and lived in Whitneyville, near New Haven, Connecticut. He removed to Springfield and was employed in the United States armory there, and died September, 1873. Children : I. David. 2. Frederick. 3. Hiram Quincy, mentioned below. 4. Charles. 5. Perry. 6. Berkeley. 7. Burton. 8. George.

(VII) Hiram Quincy, son of Hiram Sand- erson, was born in Middletown, Connecticut, December 20, 1824, died May 1, 1892. He attended the Lancasterian school in New Haven, and at the age of fourteen was appren- ticed to a druggist in Fair Haven. Three years later he came to Springfield and was clerk in a grocery store. A year later he became owner of the store. In 1848 he sold the business and became corporation clerk at the American Machine Works, where cotton gins and presses were made for the south. In 1852 he went west as paymaster and bookkeeper for Phelps, Mattoon & Barnes, who were constructing the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis railroad. After its construction he became general freight and passenger agent of the new line, with headquarters at St. Louis. On the breaking out of the civil war, his sympathies were with the north, and his life was in danger there. He was sent to New York City as eastern agent of the road. Sleeping cars were then just begin- ning to be used, and Mr. Sanderson went into this business and soon had sleepers running from New York to Chicago, St. Louis, and Louisville. This enterprise he finally sold to George M. Pullman, who has since built up a great business. One year, 1857-58, he spent in Springfield and was elected to the house of representatives. He was also a member of the first city council ever chosen in Springfield. In 1871 he returned to Springfield and made it his permanent home. After a trip to Europe in 1875 he was appointed city marshal, serving for two years. He was then elected high sheriff of Hampden county and served nine years. During this time he was largely instrumental in building the new jail. He was elected chair-

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man of the water board in 1881 and held that office until his death. It was largely through his influence and work on this board that the city has such a pure and abundant supply of water. He and his family were attendants and supporters of the North Church. He married, September 10, 1845, Mary Hannis, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 17, 1826, daughter of Captain Joseph and Eliza (Glad- ing) Hannis. He was inspector of arms at the Springfield armory. Children : I. Ellen Eliza, February 24, 1847, mentioned below. 2. Charles J., January 5, 1849, died March I, 1892; was president of the common council of Springfield and a prominent Knight Temp- lar ; local freight agent for the New York & New England railroad. 3. Lilla Kate, 1864, married Frank A. Holden ; died May 10, 1888. Mary B., Frank, Mary H. and William, died young.

(VIII) Ellen Eliza, daughter of Hiram Quincy Sanderson, was born February 24, 1847. She was educated in the public and high schools of Springfield. She married Dr. Robert H. Melius, of New York City. He was a graduate of the Albany Medical College of the class of 1864 and practiced his profession in Morrisania, a suburb of New York City. He was a member of the New York Medical Society. He died Decem- ber 2, 1876. In politics he was a Democrat and in religion a Congregationalist. Their chil- dren : 1. Pauline Charlotte, born in Morrisania, New York, October 13, 1873, graduate of Springfield high school and of Smith College; now a teacher in Palmer high school. 2. Mar- ion, January 12, 1875, graduate of the Spring- field high school and Smith College, class of 1898; a writer of some prominence ; married, December 20, 1907, Maurice W. Dickey, for- merly on the editorial staff of the Worcester Spy and the Springfield Union, now news edi- tor of the Boston Globe.

Archibald Little was born at Sligo, in the north of Ireland, of LITTLE Scotch-Irish ancestry. He and his brother James came to this country when young men. He learned the trade of mason, but settled down to farming in Warren county, New York. In 1850 he removed to Westfield, Massachusetts. He was a very active and energetic man. In religion he was a Meth- odist, and a man of high character and strict integrity. He married Eliza Fish Dudley, daughter of Joseph Dudley. Children : I. Mary, married Andrew J. Smith. 2. Thomas, mentioned below. 3. Annie, married Silas

Bucknam. 4. Child, died young. 5. Child, died young. 6. Jane, married Henry Kelsey, of Westfield, Massachusetts. 7. William, is in employ of Thomas Little, Westfield. 8. James, deceased ; married Mary Crozier. 9. Charles, died young.

(II) Thomas, son of Archibald Little, was born at Williamsburg, New York, August II, 1839. When he was about a year old his family removed to Warren county, New York, and lived there until 1850. He worked during the summer on his father's farm in his youth, and attended the public schools at Westfield until he was fifteen years old. He then began to "work out" for wages of twenty-five cents per day. Later he received ten dollars per month. For two years he worked without wages, receiving as his stipend some schooling, besides his board and clothes. He was appren- ticed at the age of eighteen to learn the mason's trade, in the employ of Colonel L. B. Walkley. His wages were fifty dollars the first year, seventy-five the second, and a hundred the third year, besides his board. He served his time and worked one year as a journeyman, then his employer left his business to go to the front with the Tenth Massachusetts Volun- teers. Mr. Little worked on his own account for nearly two years, taking small contracts. Then he enlisted for nine months in Company K, the Forty-sixth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, in September, 1862, served faith- fully with his regiment at the front, and was mustered out in July, 1863. He was ill with typhoid fever for a long time after his return from the service. When he had recovered he resumed business in Westfield and continued with much success as a mason and contractor until 1886, when he sold out and went to Florida, on account of failing health. He was in business at his old trade there for a time, but finally returned to Westfield and again engaged in business as a mason and contractor, and so continuing to the present time. Mr. Little is a thorough master of his trade, and very capable in business. He has been ex- tremely busy and quite successful in accumu- lating property. His long years of active life have not diminished his zest and activity in business. He has much force of character, and his many good qualities of heart and mind have attracted to him many friends. He has the respect and esteem of all who know him. He is possessed of public spirit, and takes part in every movement tending to benefit the town of his adoption. He is a prominent member of the Westfield Methodist Episcopal Church ; of

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Lyons Post, No. 41, Grand Army of the Re- public ; and of Mt. Moriah Lodge of Free Masons. In politics he is a Republican. He married Julia Lorette Sibley, September 12, 1865. She was born March 25, 1839, daughter of Elijah Sibley, of West Springfield, Massa- chusetts ('see Sibley). Children, born at West- field : I. Lucia A., born November, 1867; married Chester H. Abbee, of Westfield. 2. Charles J., born December, 1869, educated in public schools ; is one of the leading coal mer- chants of Westfield, a prominent and useful citizen ; he is president of the Hampden Na- tional Bank of Westfield; married Elizabeth Lamberton ; children : David Charles, Thomas Lamberton.

(The Sibley Line).

John Sibley, immigrant ancestor, born in England, came to New England on the ship "Fleet," in 1629, with the Higginson fleet. Richard Sibley. believed to be his brother, was with him. He settled at Salem, and was ad- mitted a freeman there May 6, 1635. He may be the son of John Sibley, of Charlestown, who with his wife Sarah was admitted to the church there February 21, 1634-5, and who was ad- mitted a freeman there September 3, 1634; he was a proprietor of Charlestown, and may have been selectman of Salem in 1636, instead of the John Sibley first mentioned. There are reasons for believing that John Sibley (I) was too young to have held such an important office at that date. John Sibley. of Charlestown, died November 30, 1649. But for this death record, all the references to John Sibley in both towns could refer to one and the same man. It may be that this death was of an infant son. John Sibley was a proprietor of Salem, served on the jury in 1636, was constable, and member of the church. He resided at Manchester then called Jeffreys Creek, in 1637. He died in 1661. He married Rachel, daughter of John Pickworth. Children : 1. Sarah, born in Salem, baptized September 18, 1642. 2. Mary, bap- tized September 8. 1644; married Jonathan Walcott. 3. Rachel, baptized May 3, 1646; married - - Bishop. 4. John, baptized May 4, 1648. 5. Hannah, baptized June 22, 1657 : married Stephen Small. 6. Samuel, baptized April 12. 1657. 7. Abigail. baptized July 3. 1659. 8. Joseph, mentioned below.

(11) Joseph, son of John Sibley, was born probably in 1655. in Salem. He was a fisher- man. On his return from a fishing voyage he was impressed on a British frigate and put to hard service for seven weeks, then released and sent home. His five sons settled in Sutton,

and were ancestors of a numerous family there. Joseph, John and Jonathan were among the thirty original settlers there. He married, February 4, 1684, Susanna, daughter of Will- iam Follett, of Dover, New Hampshire. Chil- dren: 1. Joseph, born November 9, 1684. 2. John, September 18, 1687. 3. Jonathan, May I, 1690. 4. Hannah, baptized May 9, 1695; married, August 10, 1722, Ebenezer Daggett. 5. Samuel, born 1697. 6. William, September 7, 1700 ; died October 18, 1763; married, July 4. 1726, Sarah Dike. 7. Benjamin, mentioned below.

(III) Benjamin, son of Joseph Sibley, was born in Salem, September 19, 1703. He re- moved with his brothers to Sutton, Massachu- setts, and settled there. About 1729 he re- moved to the adjacent town of Oxford, Wor- cester county, where the daughter Zeruiah was born August 31, 1729. He went with his family soon afterward to Union, Connecticut, lived also at Ashford and Ellington, Connecticut, and died at Ashford or Union. Children, born at Sutton : 1. Priscilla. 2. Benjamin, Jr. Child born at Oxford: 3. Zeruiah, August 31, 1729. Children born at Union : 4. Joseph. 5. Ezekiel ; mentioned below. 6. Samuel. 7. Jonathan.

(IV) Ezekiel, son of Benjamin Sibley, was born in Union, Connecticut, about 1735. He settled in Ellington, Connecticut, with others of the family.

(V) Ezekiel (2), son of Ezekiel (I) Sibley, was born probably in Ellington, Connecticut, about 1770-80. He was a farmer. He removed to West Springfield, Massachusetts. He mar- ried Mehitable Hurlburt. Children: 1-2. Ste- phen and Benjamin, twins. 3. Ezekiel, removed to Ohio and Michigan. 4. Priscilla. 5. Allen. 6. Elijah, mentioned below.

(VI) Elijah, son of Ezekiel (2) Sibley, was born at Ellington, Connecticut, June 29, 1800, and died October 22, 1874, at West Springfield, Massachusetts. Early in life he began to work on his father's farm. He was educated in the district schools and learned the trade of mason. He and his father operated a quarry at West Springfield, and he and his brother Allen had the contract to build the piers of the old bridge across the Westfield river, also the piers for the old canal viaduct over Westfield. His farm at one time comprised five hundred acres of land, all in West Springfield. He was a Democrat in politics, and a Methodist in relig- ion. He married, December 4. 1833, Lucy Lee, born 1807, died August 22, 1863, at West Springfield, daughter of Captain Charles Lee. Children, born at West Springfield: 1. Henry

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A .. March 9. 1835; married Amanda Cooley ; child. Fred H. 2. Laura L., January 3, 1838; died February 23, 1838. 3. Julia Lorette, born March 25, 1839; married September 12, 1865, Thomas Little (see Little). 4. Augusta A., born July 16, 1842, a school teacher for many years, now living with Mrs. Thomas Little.

SESSIONS The somewhat widely scatter- ed, but not numerous family of Sessions, are descended, it

seems, from Alexander Sessions, the only head of a family of that name, as far as the records show, who settled in New England in early times.

( I) Alexander Sessions, said to have been a native of Wantage, Berkshire. England, born in 1645, in a deposition recorded in the office of the clerk of the courts of Essex county, Massachusetts, in the case of Simon Brad- street against John Gage, stated that he was twenty-four years of age; and that he was in Andover in 1666. Alexander and wife Eliza- beth were members of the church in Andover in 1686, and from that time till their decease. He was a witness to the will of John Aslet, of Andover, Essex county, Massachusetts, May 15, 1671. and was at the court when it was proved "27 4 mo 1671," as appears from the papers in the office of the clerk of the probate court. An inventory of the estate of Alexander Sutchins (the name being spelled in the origi- nal "Elexsander Seshins") who died February 26, 1687, mentions eighty acres of land and other property, valued at f119. Elizabeth Sutchins, widow of Alexander Sutchins, pre- sented the inventory of the estate to which she made oath in Ipswich "25 I mo. 1690," and letters of administration were granted her after she had given bond for £200, with John Spof- ford, of Rowley, and Thomas Patch, of Wen- ham, as sureties. Later Elizabeth Sutchins, alias Low. Admx. presented an account of her administration to the court. As she was the "Alies Low," it seems she had married again. March 8. 1697, the widow makes final settle- ment, receives her portion, and the balance is divided among the children of Alexander Sutchins, to wit: Elizabeth, John, Alexander, Timothy, Samuel, Nathaniel, Josiah, Joseph and Abel. The oldest is given as about twenty- four years old, and the youngest about eight years old. The town records give the marriage of Alexander Sessions with Elizabeth. daugh- ter of John Spofford, of Rowley, April 24, 1672. Alexander Sessions died February 26, 1689. Children : John, born October 4, 1674;

Alexander, October 3, 1676; Timothy, April 14, 1678; Samuel, March 8, 1680; Nathaniel, Au- gust 8, 1681; Josiah, May 2, 1684; Joseph, March 28, 1686.

(II) Nathaniel, fifth son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Spofford) Sessions, was born Au- gust 8, 1681, in Andover ; settled in Pomfret, Connecticut, as early as 1704, and was one of the first white settlers there. He died there March, 1771. His wife Hannah died the same year. They had eight children: John, Na- thaniel, Abner, Abijah, Alexander, Amasa, Davies and Simon.

(III) Captain Amasa, son of Nathaniel and Hannah Sessions, was born in 1715 and died in 1799. He lived and died in Pomfret. He was a captain of a company with Putnam in the old French war. In his prime he was a very strong man ; in his advanced age he was very corpulent. His wife's name was Hannah, and she died in 1804. They had eleven chil- ‹ren : John, Samuel, Amasa, Nathaniel, Rob- ert, Hannah, Susannah, Squire, Mary, Abner (died young) and Abner.

(IV) Robert, fifth son of Amasa and Han- nah Sessions, was born in Pomfret, March 4, 1752. He served in the revolutionary army, attaining the rank of lieutenant, and was on the Lexington alarm. "He was one of the memorable Boston Tea Party." He removed from Pomfret, Connecticut, to Wilbraham, Massachusetts, about 1779, and lived there till his death, September 27, 1836, at which time he was in his eighty-fifth year. He was a farmer, and bought a farm in 1781, on which he made improvements, and among other things raised and enlarged his house. He was a prom- inent citizen of the town, serving as moderator. town clerk, treasurer and selectman many times, and also as a representative in the legislature three times. He was appointed justice of the peace soon after he became a citizen, and held that office till his death. He married Anna Ruggles, of Pomfret, April 16, 1778, and they had children : Betsey, Charles, Robert, George, Nancy, Celina, Francis, Horace, Martha Phipps. Hannah Miller, Sumner, Nabby, William Vyne, next mentioned.

(V) William Vyne, youngest child of Rob- ert and Anna (Ruggles) Sessions, was born in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, September 14, 1801, and died April 9, 1897. He spent his early life on the homestead and was prominent in town and church affairs, often serving as selectman and assessor, and was for many years deacon of the Congregational church. He represented the town in the legislature one

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term, and was county commissioner three years, and for many years was justice of the peace. He helped to start the first factory in the town for the manufacture of woolen goods, and thus was an important factor in the growth of the town. He married Lydia Ames, who was born December, 1799, died July 3, 1893, daughter of Cyrus and Rhoda (Osborn) Ames, of Cen- tral New York. Rhoda Ames' father, Samuel Osborn, was captain in the revolution. They had four children : Nancy Ruggles (died young ) ; Lydia Ames, born December 28, 1833 ; William R., mentioned below; Helen Victoria (died young). Lydia Ames was the first prin- cipal of the Lake Erie Seminary at Plainesville, Ohio, now Lake Erie College. She married Rev. W. W. Woodworth, who died in Berlin, Connecticut.

(VI) William Robert, only son of William Vync and Lydia (Ames) Sessions, was born in South Wilbraham (now Hampden), Decem- ber 3, 1835. He was educated in the common and select schools of South Wilbraham. He married at twenty years of age and started to conduet his father's farm on shares, but at the end of a year had to relinquish that kind of work on account of physical disability, his left leg having been weakened by a fever sore in his childhood, not being able to perform the labor required of it. He then removed to Columbus, Ohio, became partner in one of the finest dry goods stores in Columbus, the firm being Metcalf & Sessions. The financial crash of 1857 came in October following, and after struggling a year the firm collapsed, and Mr. Sessions lost all he had put into the venture. In the spring of 1859 he returned to Massa- chusetts, and became foreman in the weave room of the South Wilbraham Manufacturing Company, where he worked a year. His father then became agent, and Mr. Sessions took his father's place on the farm. There he remained till the fall of 1862, and then enlisted in Com- pany I, Forty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, was made sergeant, and served until July, 1863. This regiment was brigaded with the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-fifth, Third and Fifth Massachusetts regiments, and was sta- tioned in North Carolina, and participated in engagements at Kinston, Whitehall and Golds- boro ; and in several skirmishes, in one of which at Bachelor's Creek, Mr. Sessions was captured and sent to Libby prison, where he was kept ten days and then paroled and sent home with the regiment. From that time till 1899 the old homestead was his home, and he carried on the farm. During all this time he was en-

gaged in dairying and raising short horn cattle, keeping about fifty head all the time, and sell- ing animals that were sent all over New Eng- land and to other states. The next spring after his return from the war Mr. Sessions began what has proved to be a long term of public service in various capacities. He was then elected moderator, and was re-elected to that place nearly every year till the division of the town and the erection of Hampden town in 1878; and for several years longer he was moderator in Hampden. In 1864 he was elect- ed selectman, and continued to fill that office, with the exception of two years, till the divi- sion of the town, and was chairman of the first board of selectmen of Hampden, and filled that place most of the time till 1888. Occasionally during those years he served as assessor and school committee in Hampden. In 1867 he was elected to the Massachusetts house of representatives and served one term. In 1883 he was elected to the senate and served on the committees on towns, agriculture and taxa- tion. He was re-elected the next year and served on the committees on towns, agricul- ture, and roads and bridges. From 1856 he had been a member of the Hampden County Agricultural Society, holding the offices of director and vice-president. In 1879 he was elected by the society as its delegate to the state board of agriculture. He filled that place till 1887, and was then elected by the members of the board as its secretary, and discharged the duties of that office until his resignation in 1899, a period of twelve years. Although Mr. Sessions maintained his residence in Hampden, his official duties required his pres- ence in Boston, and he spent almost all his time except Sundays in that city. During his tenure of office the dairy bureau was created, and the secretary of the board of agriculture was made its executive officer. In 1890 the task of dealing with the gypsy moth pest was also committed to the board of agriculture, to be managed by a committee of the board, of whom the secretary would be one, and Mr. Sessions filled the place of chairman or secretary of this board during his tenure of office. During this time over a million of dollars of state appropriations were expended by this board, and every voucher for money paid out had to go through Mr. Sessions's hands, and although the bills for expenditures were frequently ex- amined by opponents of the work, not even a cent of the funds was ever reported misspent. The work was prosecuted with such success that at the time it was stopped in 1900, the

Non. R. Sessions.

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investigating committee reported that there was no place where the moth was doing dam- age. From 1885, when he was appointed by Governor Robinson, till his resignation in 1905, he served as a member of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. He served as justice of the peace in Hampden one term. In 1899 Mr. Sessions removed to Springfield, where he has since lived retired. Since becoming a citizen of Springfield he has served one term of two years as alderman, declining re-election. Mr. Sessions has always been a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln. He has been a Mason since 1862, and a member of Newton Lodge of Wil- braham. Soon after the establishment of Wil- cox Post, Grand Army of the Republic, he be- came a member, and still retains his member- ship there. He has also been a member of Hampden Harvest Club since 1869, and of the Franklin Harvest Club for fifteen years. Each club's membership is limited to twenty-two. He is also a member of George Washington Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, of Springfield.

He married (first ) Elsie W. Cunningham, March II, 1856. She was born September 2, 1838, died July 29, 1869, daughter of Joseph B. and Elsie (Walker) Cunningham, of South Wilbraham. He married (second) Lucy E. Cunningham, sister of his first wife, October 26, 1870. She died January 10, 1887. He married (third) August 22, 1888, Clara Mark- ham, who died February 13, 1900. He mar- ried (fourth) April 11, 1901, Lydia Ellen Toombs, born March 26, 1852, daughter of William and Sophia J. (Barney) Toombs, of North Bennington, Vermont. The children of William R. and Elsie W. Sessions were: I. Elsie Mary, born September 7, 1857, mar- ried Jonas Coolidge Mills, of Hartford, Con- necticut, April 23, 1896. 2. William Joseph, December 18, 1859. 3. Helen Lydia, Septem- ber 2, 1861, died May 21, 1883. 4. Lucy Maria, August 4, 1865, married Silas Ives Wallace, of Clinton, Massachusetts, September 1, 1886; children : Earle Sessions, born in Clinton, July 29, 1887; Sylvia Perry, September 24, 1896. 5. Mortimer Walker, December 2, 1867, died May 17, 1872. All were born in South Wilbraham.

(VII) William Joseph, son of William Rob- ert and Elsie W. . (Cunningham) Sessions, was born December 18, 1859. He went to South Dakota when he was twenty-one years old, and settled at Benedict in Sanborn county, which county he represented in the legislature. He

returned to his native town in 1896, and was soon called to serve as selectman, and has held that office much of the time since. Governor Crane appointed him justice of the peace in 1902. He owns and occupies the ancestral acres. He married, February 8, 1887, in Mc- Henry county, Illinois, Mary E. Anderson. Their children were: I. Helen Lydia, born in Benedict, South Dakota, October 22, 1888, died March 29, 1889. '2. Mina Anderson Bene- dict, born March II, 1890. 3. William Vyne Benedict, April 29, 1892, died May 28, 1892. 4. William Vyne (second), Hampden, Massachu- setts, born November 19, 1896. 5. Robert Lee, Hampden, June 3, 1899, died February 16, 1900.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 106

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 924