Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 32

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 32

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).

Robert Smith, immigrant ances- SMITH tor of this family, was born in England. He was among the early settlers at Exeter, New Hampshire, and signed the famous Exeter combination in 1639. He removed to the adjacent town of Hamp- ton, New Hampshire, and was living there as early as 1657. He was a tailor by trade. His home was on the site of the residence of the late Joseph Johnson, of Hampton. He died Angust 30, 1706. Hs wife Susanna was killed

by lightning, June 12, 1680. Children : I. John, married, May 14, 1675, Rebecca Adams ; (second) August 23, 1676, Rebecca Marston. 2. Meribah, married Francis Page. 3. Asahel. 4. Jonathan, mentioned below. 5. Joseph, col- onel; judge of the superior court, 1694-99; judge of the probate court, 1703-08; provincial treasurer ; selectman; deputy to the general court; married Dorothy Cotton; (second) Mary Moore; (third) Elizabeth Marshall; he died November 15, 1717.

(II) Jonathan, son of Robert Smith, was born 1645-50, probably at Exeter, New Hamp- shire. He was a brickmaker by trade and lived at Exeter. He married, January 15, 1670, Mehitable Holdred. He was living in 1698. Children, born at Exeter: I. Israel, January 16, 1671. 2. Jacob, August 10, 1673. 3. Ithiel, mentioned below. 4. Abigail, Hampton, June 22, 1678. 5. Joseph, February 7, 1680. 6. Leah, April 7, 1683. 7. Mehitable, August 14, 1685.

(III) Ithiel, son of Jonathan Smith, was born during King Philip's war, probably at Hampton, 1675-76. He died about 1732. He lived at Exeter and Stratham, New Hamp- shire. He married Mary Children : I. Ithiel, settled at Kingston, New Hampshire, and had sons Ithiel and Peter. 2. Solomon, mentioned below.

(IV) Solomon, son of Ithiel Smith, was born 1700-10. He settled at Stratham. He married Abigail Children, born at Stratham: I. Joseph, October 12, 1725. 2. John, March 17, 1729. 3. Solomon, December 29, 1734. 4. Josiah, June 2, 1736. 5. Elipha- let. March 5, 1739. 6. Joseph, April 25, 1742, mentioned below. 7. Samuel, February 7, 1743-44.

(V) Joseph, son of Solomon Smith, was born at Stratham, April 25, 1742. He married Esther Rundlett, daughter of Theophilus Rundlett, granddaughter of James (2) and great-granddaughter of Charles Runlett (Ran- lett or Randlett ). He resided at Stratham and Epping, New Hampshire, and died January 21, 1816. Children: I. Theophilus, born Febru- ary 26, 1765, mentioned below, and other children.

(VI) Captain Theophilus, son of Joseph Smith, was born at Epping, New Hampshire, February 26, 1765. According to the census of 1790 a Theophilus Smith lived at Francis- borough, Maine. He resided at Epping and Newmarket, New Hampshire, and at Cornish, Maine, and was a farmer. He was a farmer and brick mason. He married, March 13, 1788,

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Sally Pike, daughter of John Pike, of Epping. Children : 1. Theophilus, mentioned below. 2. Greenleaf, married, July 13, 1816, Polly French, of Epping, New Hampshire. 3. Sarah. 4. Nancy.

(VII) Theophilus (2), son of Theophilus (1) Smith, was born about 1785. He married Mary Lowell. He spent his youth in Cornish, Maine, and later was a farmer and lumber- man in Denmark, Maine, where he died. He was commissioned captain in the state militia. He was a prominent citizen and held various positions of trust and honor. In politics he was a Whig. Children: 1. Lucy Ann, mar- ried Henry Warren. 2. Nancy, died aged eight years. 3. Greenleaf E., born 1816, men- tioned below. 4. Amanda, married Daniel Lowell, of Denmark.

(VIII) Greenleaf Edmund, son of Theo- philus (2) Smith, was born in Cornish, York county, Maine, 1816. He was brought up on his father's farm and early in life began to work on the farm. He received a common school education in the district schools. He was engaged for a number of years as con- tractor in railroad construction. He thirty years old when he took up the study of medicine under Dr. Richardson. He began to practice in his native town, removing after a time to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he enjoyed a large and successful practice. In 1882 he removed to Denver, Colorado, and continued to reside there until his death in 1885. He was a Republican in politics and faithful to his duty as a citizen. He never sought public office, however. He was a Free Mason. In religion he was a Baptist. Dr. Smith was a physician of ability, and in many respects a man of remarkable character. Without the advantages of a liberal education, he began his professional career at a time when most physicians are already well estab- lished. He had been successful in business and few men can turn to the life of a student after once enjoying for a space of years the success of an active business career. He had to an exceptional degree the gift of concentra- tion of mind and self-control. He achieved his ambition in the world of medicine and took high rank as a physician. His personal char- acter was exemplary. He inspired confidence in his patients and won their affection and esteem. He married, in 1847, Almira Moul- ton, one of the thirteen children of Cutting and Mehitable ( Lord) Moulton, of an old Parsonsfield, Maine, family. Children: I. Sarah P., May 17, 1850, married (first) Oscar

E. Lowell, of Denmark, Maine; (second) Frank A. Pendexter, of Mechanics Falls, Maine. 2. George Pray, June 28, 1851, men- tioned below. 3. Lucy P., September 25, 1854, married Frank Kincaide, of Madison, Maine. 4. Henry R., June, 1856, married Nellie Blais- dell and resides in Denmark, Maine. 5. Susan M., December 25, 1860, died unmarried in 1876.

(IX) George Pray, son of Greenleaf E. Smith, was born in Northumberland, New Hampshire, June 28, 1851. His father re- turned to Cornish, Maine, and the boy alter- nated work on his father's farm with attend- ance at the district school and academy. In 1867 he left home to study the art of engrav- ing, being possessed of an ambition to make art his profession. He located in Worcester, where he worked as an engraver up to 1875, when the artistic fever was over, and he deter- mined to become a miner and ranchman in the far west. He located in Nevada, where he acquired large interests, and became the con- trolling owner of the Buck mountain gold mine, one of the most profitable in the terri- tory, and in 1907 he was still in control of the property as president and general manager of the Buck Mountain Gold Mining Company. He also acquired a large cattle ranch in New Mexico, which he held as an investment, the property including eighty thousand acres of land, all of which he placed under fence, and in 1907 there were several thousand growing cattle on the ranch, the matured stock produc- ing a large annual income. Besides his west- ern interests, Mr. Smith, on locating in Mass- achusetts, became interested in eastern enter- prises, and he organized and became vice- president, treasurer and general manager of the Boston Fuel Company, with offices in the Beacon building on Beacon street. He also organized the Beacon Machinery Company, which owns and controls the patented machin- ery used by the Boston Fuel Company in the manufacture of peat into commercial fuel. The universal deposit of peat throughout every state in the United States gives to their cor- poration a vast field for works. Continuous practical demonstrations are being made of the value and utility of the properly prepared peat for general heating purposes which has carried the enterprise into the region of practicability, and it only needs the introduction of specially prepared stoves and furnaces to make its use universal. Mr. Smith is one of the owners of a well equipped stock farm near McCords- ville, Indiana, and the pacers and trotters bred

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upon this farm have become familiar and favorite objects of admiration at every trotting association in the country, for their peculiar grace, beauty and wonderful intelligence.

Mr. Smith has behind him a genealogical record that gives him reason for especial pride in the blood that runs in his veins. His revo- lutionary ancestors were not rare in the annals of that seven years effort to throw off the yoke of England, and he is doing a duty to his country and to the liberty loving in all the world by doing his part in keeping alive the spirit of liberty, through encouraging the work done by the various patriotic societies of America. He was instrumental in founding the Sons of America, and as head of that patriotic and philanthropic order, he placed the organization in a commanding position among the fraternal societies of the United States, and the Mortuary Benefit Fund sug- gested by him has in the quarter century of its existence distributed over $100,000 annu- ally to members in benefits. Mr. Smith be- came peculiarly prominent in this connection at the convention of the order held at Wash- ington, D. C., where in his address to the con- vention he touched upon the murder of Dr. Cronin. of Chicago. in a way that caused the Associated Press to telegraph that portion of his address verbatim to all parts of the Eng- lish speaking world. Mr. Smith married, June 22, 1880, Anna S. Chapman, born in Charles- town, Massachusetts. Children: I. W. Win- ford H., born in Scarboro, Maine, July, 1881, graduate of Bowdoin College, Maine, Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, physician and surgeon, now managing physician of Belle- vue Hospital, New York City. 2. Mildred F., born in Marion, Massachusetts, 1882, married Thomas Oglesby. 3. Ross G., born in Scar- boro, Maine, 1885, general manager of the Iris Gold Mining Company of Fay, Nevada ; married Lillian Blair, of Massachusetts. 4. Ethel, born 1890. Mr. Smith has a beautiful residence on Otis street, Newtonville, that charming suburb of Boston, and here with the fine roads and bridle paths of the neighbor- hood, he with his family enjoy to the fullest the companionship of his intelligent and well trained horses. Mr. Smith became known all over the United States, and of him the New York Herald said, "A man who wears his heart upon his sleeve" and an author who dedi- cated a novel to him which became widely read, described him as "a man who loves a horse, whose heart pulsates in a royal setting,

whose fidelity never falters, and whose friend- ship never fails."

Although no complete genealogy

FOWLE of the Fowle family has ever been compiled, sufficient data has been discovered as the result of tracing a number of lineages to make it appear almost beyong doubt that all of the name in this country have descended from George Fowle, who settled in Concord, Massachusetts, a year or two prior to 1638, when he was admitted a freeman, and continued to reside in Con- cord until between 1646 and 1648, when he removed to Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was a tanner by trade and buying land and buildings in Charlestown, he pursued his occu- pation there during the remainder of his life.

Tradition tells us that he came from the Highlands of Scotland, where he had been active in the Scottish clans and was obliged to leave his native hills on account of political troubles. It is not improbable, however, that when he came to this country it was from Kent county, England, for when he settled in Concord several Kentish families were there who had preceded him, among them the Mer- riam immigrants, who it has been discovered came from Kent county, where the name of Fowle has not been uncommon in its history. (I) George Fowle brought with him his wife Mary (maiden name unknown), his daughter Hannah and his son John. While in Concord four more children were born to him, and after his removal to Charlestown five more were added to the family, making eleven in all, seven sons and four daughters. Nine of these children lived to adult years, and six of the sons and one daughter were married and raised families, their descendants being a numerous progeny who have become scat- tered over many parts of the country, although the majority have remained near their ances- tral homes. George Fowle died in Charles- town, September 19, 1682, aged seventy-two. years (gravestone), showing that he was born in 1610. His wife died there February 15, 1676-77, aged sixty-three years (gravestone with husband). By his will dated March II, 1681-82, probated October 3, 1682, he devised to his sons in minute detail all his property, the real estate being inventoried at three hun- dred and twenty-one pounds. He was pos- sessed of a military spirit, and joining a train band was chosen surveyor of arms. This spirit was transmitted to many of his descend-

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ants, particularly in the line of his son James, who settled in Woburn, Massachusetts. Chil- dren : I. Hannah, married 10 ( II) 1654-55, Captain Samuel Ruggles, of Roxbury ; died October 2, 1669. 2. John (Captain), married 25 (II) 1658-59, Anna Carter, daughter of Thomas and Anna Carter, of Charlestown ; died at Charlestown, October 13, 17II. 3. Mary, born 24 (9) 1640, at Concord, Massa- chusetts ; died there in infancy. 4. Peter, born 2 (10) 164I, at Concord, died at Woburn, De- cember II, 1721 ; married Mary Carter, daugh- ter of Captain John and Elizabeth Carter, of Woburn ; resided at Charlestown and Woburn. 5. James (Lieutenant ), see forward. 6. Mary, born 9 ( 12) 1644, at Concord, died at Charles- town, July 4, 1667, unmarried. 7. Abraham, born at Charlestown; married, July 14, 1679, Hannah Harris. 8. Zechariah, born at Charles- town, died there 7 (II) 1677-8; married 24 (10) 1675, - Paine, daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth (Carrington) Paine, of Charles- town. 9. Isaac, born at Charlestown, died there October 15, 1718, in his seventieth year (gravestone) ; married, November 30, 1671, Beriah Bright, daughter of Henry and Anne (Goldstone) Bright, of Watertown, Massa- chusetts. Isaac and Beriah ( Bright ) Fowle were, through their daughter Abigail, great- grandparents of Abigail (Smith) Adams, wife of President John Adams and mother of Presi- dent John Quincy Adams, second and sixth presidents, respectively, of the United States. IO. Jacob, born at Charlestown; died 1678, at Boston. II. Elizabeth, born at Charlestown, January 27, 1655-56; died there in infancy, March 10, 1656-57.

(II) Lieutenant James, son of George Fowle, born at Concord, Massachusetts, 12 (1) 1642, died at Woburn, Massachusetts, De- cember 17, 1690, in his forty-ninth year ; mar- ried, about 1666, Abigail Carter, born at Wo- burn, April 21, 1648, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth Carter, of Woburn. Slie married (second) April 18, 1692, Ensign Samuel Walker, of Woburn, who was a dea- con of the First Church of Woburn from 1692 until his death, January 18, 1703-04. She married (third) Deacon Samuel Stone, of Cambridge Farms, now Lexington, Massa- chusetts, and died, his widow, at Woburn, May IT, 1718, aged seventy-one years ( grave- stone). Lieutenant James Fowle was the fifth child of George Fowle and settled in Woburn probably at the time he married Abigail Carter, for their first child, a son, was born in Woburn, March 4, 1667, and was named James for his

father. As shown by the records he appeared first in Woburn in 1666, and in 1668 he had a right in the common lands of the town. In 1672 he was a constable of Woburn. Being imbued with the military spirit of his father, he became a member of the train band, first as a trooper, later, sometime between 1686 and 1689, appointed an ensign by Governor Edmund Andros and afterwards elected a lieutenant. As Governor Andros was unpopu- lar with the colonist, Mr. Fowle's appoint- ment met with considerable opposition, and was the subject of a number of lengthy docu- ments, with the result, however, that the appointment was allowed to stand. Lieuten- ant Fowle gave evidence of his patriotism by enlisting in 1690 in the Phipps expedition to Quebec, Canada, against the French. Owing to bad management and the excessive cold weather in Canada, this expedition proved unsuccessful, and many of the soldiers from New England died in Canada from colds and distemper brought on by exposure. There is little doubt that, while Mr. Fowle was able to return home, he was afflicted by the prevailing distemper, for he died December 19, that year. Previous to this departure on the expedition, he apparently thought it well to provide against the possibility of his death while away, as on July 30, 1690, he made his will, in which he said: "Being by a call of God bound for Canada in the expedition against the French Enemy and not knowing whether I shall ever return home alive," then disposed of his estate to his wife and children.

Lieutenant Fowle was a cordwainer or shoe- maker by trade, and lived and had his shop near where the present Central House stands. In 1678 he was allowed by the town to take in "a little piece of land behind the Bell Hill," an eleva- tion adjoining his estate, and so called because upon its summit was then located the bell whose voice summoned the people to worship in the church near its base. Upon the westerly slope of this hill, the town laid out its first buryng ground, which is still preserved and in which rest the remains of Lieutenant James Fowle, his son, Captain James Fowle, and a number of their descendants, as well as the ancestors of many other more distinguished men who were given to the world by the carly sons and daughters of the historic old town of Woburn. Here were buried Captain Ed- ward Johnson, the "Father of Woburn," Col- onel Loamini Baldwin, of revolutionary fame, and Moses Cleveland, the emigrant ancestor of President Grover Cleveland, also ancestor

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of presidents, Franklin Pierce and William H. Harrison. From the time when the town erected one of the old time stone powder houses, so common in the early days, upon this hill, it has been known as Powder House hill. Lieutenant Fowle was the ancestor of all the members of the well-known Fowle family which has always been prominent and distinguished in Woburn. He was evidently a man of thrift during his life, as shown by his holdings of land and buildings at the time of his death, which comprised the present Central House lot, and more to the northwest and southeast on that side of Main street, then the country road as well as on the opposite side, his estate showing an appraisal of seven hundred and fifteen pounds, quite a fortune for that time. To these lands his descendants in the succeeding three or four generations gradually added until the Fowles came to be among the largest land proprietors in Woburn, their possessions comprising many acres of valuable land, with buildings, right in the heart of the town, land which is now thickly settled with business blocks, stores, shops and residences.

Children, all born at Woburn: I. Captain James, March 4, 1667, see forward. 2. Abi- gail, October 15, 1669, died at Woburn, Jan- uary 3, 1690; married, July 29, 1689, Cornet Jonathan Wyman, son of Lieutenant John and Sarah (Nutt) Wyman, of Woburn. 3. John (Captain), March 12, 1671, died at Woburn, June 13, 1744; married, July 1, 1696, Eliza- beth Prescott, born at Concord, November 27, 1678, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Hoar) Prescott, of Concord, Massachusetts. 4. Samuel, September 17, 1674, was a mariner and died while on a voyage about 1699 or 1700 ; married Susanna Blaney, born June 13, 1673, at Charlestown, daughter of John and Mary (Powell) Blaney. 5. Jacob, April 3, 1677, married, November 3, 1701, Mary Broughton, at Woburn. 6. Elizabeth, Septem- ber 28, 1681, died at Medford, Massachusetts, February 3, 1764, in her eighty-fourth year (gravestone) ; married (first) March 2, 1699, Timothy Walker, son of Deacon Samuel and Sarah (Reed) Walker, of Woburn; married (second) Lieutenant Stephen Hall, of Med- ford, born at Charlestown, son of John and Elizabeth (Green) Hall. 7. Hannah, January 23, 1683-84, married, December 25, 1705, Samuel Trumbull, son of John and Mary (Jones) Trumbull, of Charlestown. 8. Mary, July 18, 1687, no further record found.

(III) Captain James (2), son of Lieuten-

ant James (1) Fowle, born at Woburn, March 4, 1667, died there March 19, 1714, aged forty- seven years and fourteen days (gravestone) ; married, October 2, 1688, Mary Richardson, born March 22, 1669, at Woburn, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Green ) Richardson. She married (second) Deacon Samuel Walker, of Woburn, and died his widow at Charlestown, October 23, 1748, aged eighty years (grave- stone). He was the oldest child of Lieuten- ant James and Abigail (Carter) Fowle, and the first native of Woburn of that surname. His homestead was on the site of the present Central House, on Main street, Woburn, and it is probable that he built and kept the old Fowle Tavern, which is supposed to have been erected about 1691, soon after the death of his father, and was for a century and a half one of the most important public houses in Wo- burn and always kept by a Fowle. It was demolished in 1840 to make way for the Cen- tral House, which was built in that year by Joseph Rollins and has been Woburn's lead- ing hotel to the present day. The military spirit was also inherited by this James Fowle, and as a member of the Woburn Militia Com- pany he became a sergeant, which office he held from 1693 to 1701, and was a captain during the last years of his life. Further evi- dence of the soldierly temper possessed by this family is shown in the fact that a brother of Captain James (John) was also a captain and he in turn had a son who bore the title of Cornet John Fowle. Captain James also had a son John who rose to the rank of major, and the latter had three sons, a nephew and three grandsons who served in the revolu- tionary war. Captain James Fowle was for thirteen years town clerk of Woburn, from 1701 to 1714; also selectman for fourteen years ; previous to and during the time he was town clerk and was a commissioner in 1703 to aid in establishing the province tax accord- ing to act of general court, March, 1703. Cap- tain James and Mary (Richardson) Fowle had twelve children, only three of whom were boys and all were born in Woburn. Children : I. Mary, born June 18, 1689, died March 9, 1762, at Woburn, in her seventy-fourth year (gravestone) ; married, June 17, 1714, Lieu- tenant James Simonds, son of James and Sus- anna (Blodgett) Simonds, of Woburn. 2. James, July 20, 1691, died October II, 1706, (gravestone) at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 3. Abigail, August 22, 1693, died at Medford, Massachusetts, February 20, 1759 ; married Jon- athan Thompson, son of Jonathan and Frances

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(Whitemore ) Thompson, of Woburn. 4. John (Major), November 11, 1695, mentioned below. 5. Hannah, September 13, 1697, died at Wil- mington, Massachusetts, May 13, 1788, in her ninety-first year (gravestone) ; married Samuel Walker, son of Deacon Samuel and Judith (Howard) Walker, of Woburn. 6.

Elizabeth, August 9, 1699, died at Lynn, Mass- achusetts, January 28, 1760; married, Decem- ber 28, 1721, Benjamin Newhall, son of Joseph and Susanna ( Farrar) Newhall, of Lynn. 7. Ruth, April 6, 1701, died in childhood at Woburn, March 3, 1713. 8. Sarah, July 29, 1703, married, September 24, 1728, James Richardson, son of Captain James and Eliz- abeth (Arnold) Richardson, of Woburn. 9. Samuel, June 10, 1705, died at Woburn, Au- gust 13, 1793; married, September 5, 1727, Susanna Reed, born August 18, 1707, at Wo- burn, daughter of Lieutenant Joseph and Phebe (Walker) Reed. 10. Esther, May 29, 1707, married, November 2, 1726, Nathan Simonds, son of James and Susanna ( Blod- gett ) Simonds, of Woburn, and brother of Lieutenant James Simonds, who married Mary, eldest sister of Esther. II. Martha, March 12, 1709, died at Boston, September 5, 1794, and was buried in King's Chapel bury- ing ground ; married (first ) August 11, 1737, Rev. Supply Clapp, son of Deacon Samuel and Mary ( Paul) Clapp, of Dorchester, Mass- achusetts. He was a member of the Second Church, Woburn Precinct, now Burlington, Massachusetts, organized in 1735. He died at Woburn, December 28, 1747, and she mar- ried (second) Colonel Nathaniel Thwing, of Boston. 12. Catherine, September 20, 1711, died at Charlestown, December 25, 1790; mar- ried, March 4, 1730, Josiah Whittemore, of Charlestown.

(IV) Major John, son of Captain James (2) Fowle, born at Woburn, November II, 1695, died there September 28, 1775, in his eightieth year; married, December 25, 1718, Mary Converse, born January 12, 1702, daugh- ter of Captain Josiah and Ruth ( Marshall) Converse, of Woburn. The home of Major John Fowle and family was a large gambrel roof house, a most imposing one for the period, which he erected on the country road, now the junction of Main, Salem and Broad streets, in the business centre of Woburn. It was built about one hundred and eighty years ago but its original form and appearance have been preserved in excellent condition, although it is now occupied as a grocery store. In the early part of the nineteenth century, a John

Flagg kept a tavern there and for that reason it became known as the Flagg House. Major John Fowle was captain of a Woburn military company from 1738 to 1748, when he was promoted to the rank of major and bore this title until his death. He served as major in Colonel Jonathan Tyng's regiment from Sep- tember 9, 1755, to January 3, 1756, during the period of the French and Indian war. There is in existence a bayonet roll at the State House, Boston, of members of the com- pany in Woburn of which he was captain, the East Company so called. He was a selectman of Woburn in 1741, this appearing to be the only civil office held by him. He was appar- ently a man of considerable energy and enter- prise and he seems to have made quite a for- tune by the sale of the province lands, granted to the soldiers of the various wars and their descendants.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 32

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