USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 115
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"Perhaps the finest tribute to the dead that can be found in English literature is that which Tennyson paid to his bosom-friend, and is known under the name of "In Memoriam." There is a line in it, which I think is specially appropriate to this occasion, and certainly in accord with God's Word. The line is this : 'God's finger touched him. and he slept.'
"'God's finger touched him, -no enemy. but his best Friend. his heavenly Father. 'God's finger touched him,' and bade him go up higher, to larger opportunities under better conditions. God's finger touched him'-the last touch of the Divine Sculptor upon his soul here on earth -the touch that perfects, and makes one fitted for the inheritance of the saints in light.
"'God's finger touched him, and he slept.' He sleeps. He is not annihilated, nor gone into a state of unconsciousness of soul. He has entered into the peaceful rest of God. He sleeps. He is obtaining refreshment and re- invigoration. He will be ready to greet us in the morning-the same man, only the stronger and brighter because of the sleep of death.
"And so, my dear friend, we follow you today, not with the word 'good-bye!' upon our
lips, as though we might never see you more, but rather with the word 'good-night,' for we shall greet you again in the morning."
(For first generation see preceding sketch). ( II) Jonathan Whitcombe,*
WHITCOMBE son of John Whitcombe, re- moved from Scituate to
Lancaster with his father in 1654. Hewith others signed a petition for aid after the Indian raid of 1675-76, and he lived nearly all the remain- der of his life in Lancaster. With his brother Robert and his brother-in-law, Rodolphus Ellmes, he served on the jury of inquest upon the death of Richard Mann, of Scituate, Feb- ruary 18, 1655. The family property at Lan- caster became his by inheritance and he added to it. He died February, 1690, and the inven- tory of the estate was taken February 25, 1691, by his brother-in-law, John Moor, Samuel Sum- ner and Cyprian Stevens, and was returned under oath by his widow, April 7, 1691. The amount of the inventory was about eighty- eight pounds. His widow was killed by the Indians July 18, 1692, at the house of Peter Joslin in Lancaster. He married, November
25, 1667, Hannah Children: 1. Han- nah, born September 17, 1668, died December 9, 1668. 2. Jonathan, February 26, 1669, men- tioned below. 3. Hannah, August 28, 1671, married Joseph Blood, of Groton. 4. Abigail, May 5, 1674, married William Kelsey, of Windsor, 1694. 5. Elizabeth, 1676. 6. Kath- erine, 1678. 7. Ruth, 1680. 8. Mary, 1682. 9. John, May 12, 1684.
(III) Jonathan (2), son of Jonathan (1) Whitcombe, was born February 26, 1669. He married (first) between 1680 and 1689, Mary (Blood) Joslin, of Lancaster, daughter of Abraham and Mary Blood, of Lancaster. (Samuel Smith, of Littleton, recorded he was married first to Mary Joslin and second to Mary Blood, daughter of Joseph Blood, of Groton). He married (second) at Concord, September 4, 1710, Deborah Scripture, of Gro- ton. He died April 10, 1715, and she prob- ably died sometime before him, as about that time he paid Samuel Barrows for a coffin. The children were named in settling the estate, but the correct order of birth is uncertain. Chil- dren : I. Jonathan, mentioned below. 2. Joseph. 3. Nathaniel. 4. Hannah, married Joseph Powers; nine children. 5. Martha, died March 18, 1721. 6. Ephraim, born April,
*The family name was spelled in various forms by different descendants of the immigrant ancestor. The line with which this narrative deals, preserves the form of Whitcombe.
.
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1702. 7. Mary, born 1704, married John Cob- leigh, Jr. 8. Benjamin, born December II, I7II, in Groton. 9. Lydia.
(IV) Jonathan (3), son of Jonathan (2) Whitcombe, was born about 1690. He "had lime kilns, was a tanner, currier, blacksmith, shoemaker, and made coffins." By a deed, October 20, 1710, he was a cordwainer. The old dam still remains and places can be seen where he got his lime rock. He married, May 15, 1716, Deliverance Nutting, daughter of James Nutting, at Groton. He died about 1767 or 1770. His wife was living as late as 1774 in Lancaster. Children: I. Jonathan, born December 23, 1717. 2. William, Septem- ber 10, 1719. 3. Oliver, August 21, 1721. 4. Elizabeth, January 17, 1723-24. 5. Tamar, March 20, 1726, married Isaac Heald, June 7. 1745. 7. Job, April 16 or 26, 1730. 8. Martha, December 26, 1732, unmarried in 1767. 9. Abner, February 12, 1734, mentioned below. IO. Jotham, August 8, 1737.
(V) Abner, son of Jonathan (3) Whit- combe, was born February 12. 1734, died Feb- ruary 13, 1821. He lived first in Littleton, and then in Groton, Massachusetts. He twice en- listed as a minute-man from Groton. He was in Captain Henry Haskell's company, Colonel Prescott's regiment, in the revolution. In 1783 he became one of the founders of Hancock, New Hampshire, and settled first in a level place midway between Bald Hill and Norway Pond, but died in a house on Main street built by him in his old age. He was a man of re- markable physical vigor and outlived three wives and married a fourth when he was seventy-three years old. He married ( first) March 27. 1759. Sarah Jefts, born July 12, 1734; (second) - -: (third) September 8, 1795, Susannah Meads; ( fourth) February 21. 1806. Abigail Boynton, who died October, 1823. daughter of Thomas and Alice Boynton, of Hancock. Children, eight born in Groton, four in Hancock: I. Abner, February 13 or 18, 1760. 2. Samuel, January 30 or 31, 1763. 3. John, AAugust 30 or 31, 1764. 4. Ebenezer, July 30. 1766-67. 5. Oliver, June 18, 1768, mentioned below. 6. Eli, February 18, 1770. 7. Sarah, February 2, 1772, married (first) October 23. 1792, James Grayham: (second) Gilson. 8. Ira, February 13, 1774, died young. 9. Lucy, died August 5, 1823; mar- ried, December 19, 1822, Samuel Dennis. 10. lra Meads, 1795. II. Eunice, died when a young girl from excessive nose bleed. 12. David, May 30, 1808.
(VI) Oliver, son of Abner Whitcombe, was
born in Groton, June 18, 1768. He went to Ipswich, New York, where he lived for a time, but returned to Hancock, where he died Janu- ary 13, 1843. He was a blacksmith. For the last fourteen years of his life he was an invalid, during which time he read the Bible through fourteen times. He married, December 18, 1794, Hannah Hosley, born August 1I, 1776, died in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, January 6, 1855. Children: I. Elizabeth (Betsey), born October 23, 1795, married, December 26, 1815, Joel Gates. 2. Oliver, October 7, 1797, men- tioned below. 3. Joel, October 18, 1799. 4. Stillman, August 7, 1801, died January 1, 1824. 5. Hannah, January 23, 1804, married, Febru- ary 17, 1828, Edward Taylor. 6. James Hos- ley. October 7, 1806. 7. John, May 6, 1809. 8. Harriet, October 13, 1811, married, March 8. 1832, John Miller. 9. Sarah Hosley, Janu- ary 6, 1816, married, September 4, 1834, Charles G. Hinman. 10. George, March 10, 1820.
(VII) Oliver (2), son of Oliver (I) Whit- combe, was born October 7, 1797, died in Lon- donderry, New Hampshire, April 1, 1870. He was engaged in lumbering, storekeeping, black- smithing, etc., and was postmaster for a time. He lived in Hancock, New Hampshire ; Union, Broome county, New York ; Townsend, Massa- chusetts, and Londonderry, New Hampshire. He married, March 23. 1824, Nancy Clark, born April 2, 1801, died in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, October 13, 1881. Children : I. Peter Cochran Clark, born January 14, 1825. mentioned below. 2. Oliver Reed, April II, 1830.
(VIII) Peter Cochran Clark, son of Oliver (2) Whitcombe. was born January 14. 1825, in Hancock, New Hampshire, died at his home, 2 Clinton street, 'Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 26, 1900. He was educated in the district schools and began life as a clerk in a country store in New Hampshire. He came to Boston in 1855 where he found employment with the firm of Adams & Adams, publishers of city and town directories. He held responsible positions for many years with this firm and continued with its successor, Mr. Murdock, and later with the firm of Sampson & Mur- dock, the present proprietors of this business. .Mr. Whitcombe was a faithful and capable . representative of his firm. In the course of his career he became acquainted with more business men of Boston than is the lot of many me11. He held the respect and confidence of all with whom he had dealings and was trusted implicitly by his employers. In politics he was
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a Republican, and in religion he and his wife were prominent in the Congregational church. He was interested in genealogy and contributed a sketch of the family to the history of Han- cock. New Hampshire. He resided at Cam- bridgeport many years. He married, in Bos- ton. August 6, 1850, Harriet Maria Harris, of Middletown Upper Houses, Connecticut, and through her mother was a direct descendant of Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island. Children: 1. Walter Clark, born April 20, 1852, in Townsend, educated in the Boston public schools and Pinkerton academy : taught music for a time ; now associated with Mur- dock & Sampson, directory publishers ; resides at the family home, 2 Clinton street, Cam- bridge. 2. Charles Reed, November 6, 1853, mentioned below.
(IX) Dr. Charles Reed, son of Peter Coch- ran Clark Whitcombe, was born in Oxford street. Boston, then a residential section of the city. November 6, 1853. He attended the public schools of Boston and Cambridge and gradu- ated from the Cambridge high school in the class of 1872, and from Williams College in 18-6. He determined to secure a medical edu- cation and spent a year and a half in Harvard Medical School: when his funds gave out he turned his attention to teaching and continued for the next five years. He was principal of the Houghton school of Bolton, Massachusetts, one year, at Marlboro high school two years, an 1 of the West Boylston high school about two years. He then resumed the study of medicine in the Long Island Medical College of Brooklyn and graduated in 1883 with the degree of M. D. He has practiced since 1884 in Roslindale in the city of Boston, except for a short time when he was in Chicago. Although a general practitioner he has acquired a notable reputation as a surgeon and has assisted in many capital operations and is often called to distant points on surgical cases and in con- sultation. He has a large practice and is very pontlar not only with his patients but with his fellow-practitioners. He is a thorough, pains- taking, conscientious physician, keeping abreast of the advance in medical science. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Asso- ciation, and of the American Medical Asso- ciation. He is a prominent Free Mason, a member of Jseph Webb Lodge, and St. Paul Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. In politics he is independent. He married (first) in Sep- tember, 1875. Nellie Louise Ames, of Will- iamstown, Massachusetts. He married (sec- ond at Kenosha, Wisconsin, January 21, 1898,
Isabelle Hay, born November 12, 1871, in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, daughter of Thomas and Maria (Case) Hay, both natives of New Brunswick and of English and Scotch ancestry. Her father lives in St. John, at an advanced age. He was formerly a dealer in wool. Her mother died in St. John at the age of seventy-six years, January 27, 1908. Her parents were for many years active members of the Baptist church. Of their eight children, five are living (1909) and four reside in the United States. Mrs. Whitcombe was carefully trained and educated in her native town, served in New York City hospitals as a nurse, and since she has resided in Roslindale has become a leader in social life. Children of Dr. Whit- combe by his first wife: 1. Frank Harris, born in Cambridge, July 12, 1876, is married, re- sides in Colorado. 2. Harriet Maria, March 18, 1882, died February 15, 1884. 3. Martha Ames, November 17, 1886, in Roslindale, mar- ried, June 24, 1908, Irving M. Atwood, a wholesale dealer in fish, "T" wharf, Boston ; they reside in Dorchester.
John Gould, immigrant ancestor,
GOULD was born in England, in 1610, and died in Charlestown End,
Massachusetts, March 21, 1690-1. He came to this country in the ship "Defence" in 1635, from Towcester, Northamptonshire. He was a carpenter by trade. He was admitted a free- man May 2, 1638. His first wife Grace died in 1636, leaving one or two children. She was born in England, in 1611. He married (sec- ond) Mary , who was admitted to the church January 8, 1636-7, and died at Ten Hills farm, September 28, 1642. He married (third) Joanna born about 1608, died August 27, 1697, called one hundred years old, but it is probable she was about ninety, judging from the age of her husband, and that she was aged fifty in 1658. Gould lived in the section of Charlestown that became Stoneham. He had a double lot, granted July 1, 1636. In 1682 he was excused from training in the militia. He fought in King Philip's war, and remained in the militia until over seventy-two years of age. He was admitted to the church March 25, 1638-9. His house was at the west end of what is now Gould street, Wakefield. He and wife Joanna sold land at Malden in 1658. His will, dated January 3. 1688. proved June 19, 1691, bequeathed to sons Daniel, John, and John Burben, and grandson Thomas Gould. Children: 1. Thomas. 2. Mary, baptized Feb- ruary 29, 1636-7. 3. Sarah, baptized December
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15, 1637 ; married, 1660, John Burben (or Bur- been ). 4. Elizabeth, born 1640, baptized Feb- ruary 17, 1639-40. 5. Abigail, born February 26, 1641-2; married, 1669, William Rogers ; ( second) John Rogers. 6. Hannah, born Octo- ber 26, 1644. 7. John, born January 21, 1646, died October, 1647. 8. John, mentioned below. 9. Daniel, born 1654.
(II) John (2), son of John ( 1) Gould, was born August 5, 1648, at Charlestown, and lived at Stoneham, where he died January 24, 1711-2. He married (first ) Abigail Belcher, died De- cember 20, 1687, daughter of Jeremiah Belcher, of Ipswich; ( second) Martha Redington, born April 7, 1655, granddaughter of Zaccheus Gould, another Gould immigrant. Children of first wife. born at Stoneham: 1. John, March 28, 1671 ; married Sarah 2. Abigail, De- cember 30, 1672 ; married, May 15, 1693, Cap- tain Benjamin Geary. 3. Jeremiah, 1678; men- tioned below. 4. Thomas, 1680; married Mary Hay, and Priscilla Bateman. 5. Daniel, De- cember 11, 1681 ; married Sarah Grover, and Abigail (Johnson) Richardson. 6. Mehitable, married Jonas Eaton; (second) Nathan Brig- ham, of Sudbury. 7. Mary, May 8, 1687 ; mar- ried Ebenezer Knight, of Stoneham and Marl- borough. Children of second wife : 8. Samuel, born 1691 ; married Ruth Dunton. 9. Abra- ham. 1693 ; married Mary - -; died 1776. 10. Isaac, 1696; resided at Westford and Attle- borough, Massachusetts.
(III) Jeremiah, son of John (2) Gould, was born in Stoneham, in 1678, and died at South Dedham. Massachusetts, according to the church records, July 25, 1752, "aged about seventy-four." He married, in 1701, Mary Brown, of Walpole, born 1678, died October 5, 1770. They lived at Stoneham, at Dorches- ter after 1715, at Dedham in 1728, and at Walpole in 1742. Children: 1. Mary, born 1703. 2. Abigail, 1706. 3. Jeremiah, 1709; married, October 15, 1740, Keziah Morse; he died April 16, 1779. 4. Sarah, born 1710. 5. John, 1714 ; married, January 25, 1738, Naomi Pettee. 6. Daniel, born about 1716 ; mentioned below. 7. Samuel, 1719; married, June 12, 1744, Mary Pettee. 8. Anna, baptized with other children, March 25, 1739. Daniel, Sam- uel and Anna, children of Jeremiah, owned the covenant in the church at South Dedham, March 25, 1739.
(IV) Daniel, son of Jeremialı Gould, was born 1716-7, and died April 20, 1754, aged thirty-seven years. He married, at Dedham, Jannary 7, 1741-2, Abigail Pettee. He and his brother Samuel and sister Anna owned the
covenant in the South Church of Dedham, March 25, 1739. He and his wife joined the church in full communion March 4, 1753. Their children were all baptized in the South Church of Dedham. He lived at Sharon, formerly Stoughtenham, adjoining Dedham. Children with dates of baptism: 1. Abigail, January 23, 1742-3. 2. Lois, December 30, 1744. 3. Dan- iel, August 7, 1748. 4. David, July 29, 1750; mentioned below. 5. Ebenezer, baptized after father's death, July 25, 1754.
(V) David, son of Daniel Gould, was born in Stoughtenham, in 1750, baptized in the church at South Dedham, July 29, 1750; died at Ware, Massachusetts, August 22, 1817, aged sixty-seven, according to Ware town records. He removed with his brothers Ebenezer and Daniel from Sharon to Ware, Daniel going thither in 1770, according to the Breckenridge Genealogy, but the others probably later than 1776, as he was in Stoughtenham in the revolu- tion. With Daniel came Oliver Coney and Philip Morse, of Stoughtenham (Sharon ). David was a soldier in Captain Edward Bridge Savell's company (First Stoughtenham company ), Col- onel Robinson's regiment, on the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775 ; again in Captain Edward Bridge Savell's company, Colonel Gill's regi- ment, 1776. His brother Ebenezer Gould was in the same company. David Gould lived on the farm now or lately owned by Joseph A. Cum- mings. He married, in 1780, Lovisa, daughter of John Downing. Her father came from Spring- field, and bought a farm of Timothy Brown at Ware in 1752 ; kept a tavern on the old road on the west side of Muddy Brook, on land lately owned by Wallace Sheldon. Another daughter of Downing married Isaac Magoon. Children : 1. David. 2. George. 3. Samuel. 4. Downing. 5. John, mentioned below. 6. Lovisa. 7. Mar- garet. 8. Minerva.
(VI) John (3), son of David Gould, was born in Ware, in 1789; died there at the age of seventy-one. He married, September 21, 1819, Annie Allen Brigham, born in Brookfield, De- cember 8, 1798, daughter of Michael and Polly (Tyler ) Brigham. (See Brigham). He was a farmer in Ware all his life. Children: 1. Maria, born May 25, 1820, died November 12, 1855. 2. William Bowdoin, born January 12, 1822. 3. David, February 4, 1824; resided in Ware. 4. Minerva, March 13, 1826. 5. Min- erva, July 5, 1827. 6. Jolin Brigham, June 12, 1829: mentioned below. 7. Daniel, June 19, 1831 : resided at Springfield. 8. Mary Ann, June 13, 1833: married Erskine Pease, of Indian Orchard. 9. James H., May 27, 1835.
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IO. Eliza, March S, 1838. 11. Joseph B., Sep- tember 2, 1841.
(VII) John Brigham, son of John (3) Gould, was born at Ware, June 12, 1829. He was educated in the public schools of his native town. During his boyhood and youth he work- ed on his father's farm, and later succeeded to it. Since he has owned the homestead he has greatly improved it, building the new house, which is beautifully situated on a hill overlook- ing the town. He had a large milk route until he disposed of it a few years ago, and he still maintains an excellent dairy. Mr. Gould has made a success of farming, and is one of the substantial citizens of the town. He is a Re- publican in politics, a Congregationalist in relig- ion. December 23, 1867, he married Julia Ar- delia Caryl, born at Barnet, Vermont, in 1838, daughter of Rodney Clark Caryl. (See Caryl). Children, born at Ware: 1. Edwin Caryl, born 1872 ; married Ellen Connor ; children : i. Stead- man : ii. Robert. 2. Helen E., born 1873. 3. John A., born 1875. 4. Anna Brigham, born 1881.
BRIGHAM The name Brigham is from the Saxon brigg (bridge ) and ham (house). There is a manor of the name in. county Cumberland, ad- joining Scotland, of which it was in ancient days a part. The barony from which the family name is derived is now generally called by another name, Cockermouth. The old castle was one of the strongest in its day. It was built largely of material taken from an old Roman castle in the vicinity. As late as 1648 it was garrisoned and stood siege for a month. After it was captured it was nearly destroyed, but at last accounts a small part was still habit- able. From this manor the English and Amer- ican Brighams get their names, and all prob- ably are descended from the early Brighams of this place.
( I) Thomas Brigham, immigrant ancestor, was born in England, in 1603. He embarked at London for New England, April 18, 1653, in the ship "Susan and Ellen," Edward Pyne, . master. He settled at Watertown. In 1637 he had a fourteen acre lot there, bought of John Doggett. situated in a part later annexed to Cambridge. He built his house in Cambridge on a lot containing three acres and a half. His neighbors were Joseph, Simon and Isaac Crosby. His home was about two-thirds of a mile from Harvard College, and at one point abutted on the Charles river. He resided there until 1648. He was admitted a freeman April 18, 1637.
and was a leading citizen. He was selectman in 1640-42-47, and constable in 1639-42. He made a specialty on his farm of raising hogs, and in 1647 owned a third of all the swine in the town. He was fined for letting his hogs get away and run at large. He owned a wind- mill for grinding corn. He died December 8, 1653. His will was dated December 7, 1653, and proved October 3, 1654. He married Marcy Hurd, who is said to have come with her sister alone from England, owing to relig- ious difference from which they suffered annoy- ance and persecution at home. After the death of Mr. Brigham she married ( second) March I, 1655, Edmund Rice, of Sudbury and Marl- borough, by whom she had two daughters; she married (third ) William Hunt, of Marl- borough, who died 1667. She died December 23. 1693, after being in her third widowhood twenty-six years. Children of Thomas and Mercy: I. Mary, born probably at Water- town. 2. Thomas, born 1640-1; mentioned below. 3. John, born March 9, 1644, died Sep- tember 16, 1728. 4. Hannah, born March 9, 1649 ; married Samuel Wells. 5. Samuel, born January 12, 1652-3.
(II) Thomas (2), sonof Thomas ( I ) Brigham, was born probably in Cambridge, about 1640, and died in Marlborough, November 25, 1716. When his mother married Edmund Rice. Thomas went with her to Sudbury and Marlborough. On attaining his majority he bought of his stepfather for thirty pounds a town right in Marlborough of "twenty-four acres, with the frame of a dwelling-house thereon." This land, situated near Williams pond, in the southwest part of the town, was the beginning of his large farm. He was also one of the purchasers of the old plantation "Ockoocangansett" which had been reserved for the Indians out of the ancient boundaries of Marlborough. On the old Thomas Brigham homestead on the south side of the present Forest street, something like a score of rods from the highway, at the foct of Crane Hill, is a slightly raised rec- tangular spot, about thirty by seventy-five feet, in the centre of which is a large apple tree. Here rest the last of the Marlborough Indians, including their last chief and about thirty of his followers. This spot is sacredly cherished by the family of Brighams. The place is or was lately owned by George F. Nichols, whose wife was a Brigham. The last male Brigham owner of the place is said to have strikingly resembled his paternal ancestry, "having thick, wavy black hair, black eyes and red cheeks ; a fine looking man." The house stood a few
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rods above the brook, which flowed through the farm to Williams Pond. The first dwelling, a log hut built by Thomas Brigham (2), was burned during his absence by flax catching fire. In 1706 he built a frame house, which was left for an ell by his son Gershom, who built a two story house about 1724. The old house was used as a garrison during Queen Anne's war. This ell was finally taken down in 1791 by Warren Brigham, and the house was inhabited until 1859. After it had stood empty for some time it was finally razed. The Gershom Brigham house "was clapboarded but never painted outside : only two rooms were finished ; the sitting room and the principal bedroom were plastered and painted." About 1825 the present house was built on the oppo- site side of the road by Barnabas Brigham. The old well still exists. Thomas Brigham was one of the leading citizens of the town but owing to the loss of records, nothing is known of the offices he held. He made his will April 21. 1716, and died November 25 of the same year, in his chair, which is now in the possession of Miss Martha L. Ames. His will was proved January 2, 1717. He married (first ) December 27. 1665, Mary, daughter of Henry and Eliza- beth (Moore) Rice, and granddaughter of Edmund Rice, the immigrant. He married ( second) July 3, 1695, Susanna, daughter of William Shattuck, of Watertown, and widow first of Joseph Morse and second of John Fay, whose first wife was Mary, sister of Thomas Brigham. Children: 1. Thomas, born Febru- ary 24, 1667, probably dicd before his father. 2. Nathan, born June 17. 1671. 3. David, Au- gust 11, 1673, died young. 4. Jonathan, Feb- ruary 22, 1675. 5. David, April 12, 1678; mentioned below. 6. Gershom, February 23. 1680, died January 3. 1748-9; married, May 18. 1703. Mehitable Warren. 7. Elnathan, March 7. 1683. 8. Mary, October 26, 1687; married, July 30, 1710, Captain Jonas Hough- ton. of Lancaster : seven children.
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