Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 58

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 58

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).

(I) Benjamin Crane, who founded this branch of the family, was born in 1630. By some he is supposed to have been a son of John Crane, of the Muddy Brook section of Boston, now Brookline. Other traditions more or less substantiated are to the effect that he lived in Dedham for a time in youth and then up the Hudson river. He appeared in Wethers- field in 1655 and was a tanner and currier. At that time he was a defendant in a civil suit

with John Sadler, plaintiff, in the particular court held at Hartford. February 24, 1656, the town gave him a house lot of two and one- half acres. He also bought land on Mud Lane in 1664. It was there he built his dwell- ing and tannery. The town also gave him three acres on Beaver, now Tonda brook in 1666. In 1670 he was allotted more land and December 8, 1671, purchased land of Daniel Rose and acquired other tracts in 1680. He was a juryman in 1664; in May, 1682, with others he petitioned the general court for liberty to establish a plantation in the Wabay- nassit country, now Windham county. He made his mark in common with the majority of his neighbors, penmanship not being a pre- vailing accomplishment at that time. He car- ried on his tannery about a mile below the village on the Middletown road and it is still known as old "Crane Tannery Place." He died May 3, 1691. The inventory was five hundred and fifty-eight pounds. He married, in youth, Mary, daughter of William and Sarah ( Charles ) Backus, April 23, 1655. She died May 31, 1691. Children : Benjamin, born March 1, 1656 (deceased) ; Jonathan (see hereafter) ; Joseph, April 1, 1661 ; John, April 30, 1663, who succeeded to his father's business ; Elijah, 1665; Abraham, 1668; Jacob, 1670; Israel, November 1, 1671; Mary.

(II) Lieutenant Jonathan, second son of Benjamin and Mary ( Backus) Crane, was born December 1, 1658, at Wethersfield, died in Lebanon, Connecticut, March 12, 1735. He lived in that part of Wethersfield, afterwards set off as Windsor. At a town meeting of the inhabitants thereof, Jonathan was chosen to run the town line. In October, 1691, he was on the petition for the town charter which was granted the next year. Mr. Crane was made one of the first townsmen and served on a committee to secure a minister. He was of the committee chosen "to set to rights the lots at the Ponds," also a collector to levy and gather rates. He served on the committee to locate the burying ground. In May, 1695, he received a commission from the general court as ensign of a military company. He took an active part in building the parsonage house. In 1700 he, with Rev. Mr. Whiting, purchased the William Backus lot and gave to the town for a meeting house and thereon was erected the first church and was long called "Windham Green." That year he was appointed by the general court to view Plainfield and see where the best place was to erect a meeting house, appointed on a committee to regulate the grind-

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ing of corn. In October, 1701, he was on a committee to run the town lines, in 1702 to see to completing the meeting house, and in 1703 to assign the seating, in 1704 to run the town lines "from Appaynayz to the southeast corner of the town." In 1705 Lieutenant Crane was on the committee to have charge of the town lands, to call meetings to vote on matters necessary to be considered and to sign the acts to lay out the highways. In 1713 he was on the committee to build a new church and treasurer of the same. In 1715 he served on a committee to settle the question whether to allow the North Parish (Canada) to form a separate society. In 1726 he was chosen one of the pillars of the church. Lieutenant Crane was the first juryman to be impannelled in the county of Windham at the first court of com- mon pleas holden January 26, 1726. He was a miller and built a grist-mill on what is now known as Brigham Mills. He also kept the village tavern for the entertainment of trav- ellers and strangers. In the Indian war of 1704 he was commissioned by the general court lieutenant in Captain John Fitch's com- pany. On his gravestone in the old cemetery at Lebanon, Connecticut, reads this inscrip- tion : "Here lies Mr. Jonathan Crane, husband of Mrs. Deborah Crane, who lives a pius, Godly life and left ye Earth for heaven March ye 12th, Anoe 1735 on ye 77th year of his age."

From all we can learn Lieutenant Crane was a man looked up to by his neighbors and by people in general, and was frequently called to discharge town offices. Capable men were scarce in those days and when one was found qualified to act in times of an emergency, he was often pressed into service. He labored for the advancement of the church and the cause of christian religion. He was known as an enterprising citizen, concerned for the develop- ment of his town. He married Deborah, daughter of Francis Griswold. She was born in May, 1661, died about 1704. This Mr. Griswold was of Windsor and later of Wind- ham. He erected the first saw mill there and was in addition a blacksmith. He was a deputy to the general court of Windham for nine years. Children of Lieutenant and Deborah Crane : Sarah, born November 16, 1680; Jon- athan, February 2, 1684 ; John ( see hereafter ) ; Mary, October 20, 1689; Hannah, March 7, 1692; Isaac, April 6, 1694; Joseph, May 17, 1696; Elizabeth and Deborah (twins), Febru- ary, 1698; Abigail.

(III) John, the third son of Lieutenant Jonathan and Deborah (Griswold) Crane, was

born in Windham, October 1, 1687. He lived at a place called Fort Hill where his father gave him a house and land, January 18, 1710. He sold April 10, 1728, all of his land and dwelling to Joseph Walden for three hundred pounds. He resided in Coventry, Connecticut. He married Sarah Spencer, September 16, 1708, at Windham. She died September 15, 1715. He married (second) Prudence Beld- ing, April 18, 1716. Children of this marriage : John (see later) ; Alvah, born October 12, 1710; Eunice, May 13, 1712; Elisham, March 13, 1718; Sybil, April 1, 1719; Hezekiah ( see later ) ; Prudence, July 24, 1723 ; Lemuel, July 12, 1725; Hannah, March 15, 1727; Rhoda, March 28, 1729; Adonijah, May 12, 1731.

(IV) John (2), eldest of the eleven chil- dren of John ( I) and Sarah ( Spencer) Crane, was born in Windham, July 31, 1709, died at Becket, Massachusetts, March 9, 1793. He was given land in Wethersfield, July 3, 1734, by his grandfather Crane, and purchased land there of Jonathan and Stephen Riley. He was assessor in 1757. His marriage to Rebeckah, daughter of Joseph and Adgate Huntington, was solemnized January 24, 1733. She was born in Windham, September 18, 1712, died January 23, 1742. The second marriage was with Sarah Hutchinson, November II, 1742, and the third with Hannah Bissell, of Middle- field, Massachusetts. Children: Sarah, born November 30, 1735; Benjamin, March 29, 1738, died young; Benjamin, March 8, 1740; John, January 12, 1742; Amos, April 8, 1744; Elijah ( see later ) ; Abel, March 27, 1748; Re- becca, May 18, 1750; Samuel, May 29, 1752; Rachel, January 14, 1755; Lydia, August 18, 1757.

(V) Elijah, the sixth of the eleven children of John (2) and Sarah ( Hutchinson) Crane, was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, February 22, 1746, died at Madrid, New York, January 15, 1818. He was one of the first to settle in Washington, Massachusetts, then called Hart- wood. He was appointed to settle his brother Amos' estate at Tolland, Connecticut, who was killed by the Redskins. He married Sarah Hill, of Woburn, Massachusetts. She died at Canton, St. Lawrence county, New York, Sep- tember TI, 1819. Children of this marriage : Elijah, born December 15, 1771; Sarah, May 26, 1773; Amos (see later) ; Lois, March 2, 1777; Jael, February 17, 1779; Eunice, No- vember 23, 1780; Lucy, August 23, 1782 ; Sus- anna, April, 1784; Elijah, September 28, r785 ; Lucy, September 18, 1787.

(VI) Amos, the third of the ten children of

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Elijah and Sarah (Hill) Crane, was born in Washington, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, December 17, 1774, died there July 25, 1863, at that time the oldest inhabitant of the place. For thirty-two years he was connected with the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Martha Remington, of Suffield, Connecticut, October 30, 1799. She died November 16, 18441, and was a devoted christian woman. Children : Martha R., born February 21, 1801 ; Amos S., November 5, 1802; Samuel R., No- vember 27, 1804; Polly, October 15, 1806; George, April 17, 1808; Lucy, September 30, 1810; John M. (see later) ; William H., Feb- ruary 12, 1816.

(VII) John M., the seventh of the eight children of Amos and Martha (Remington) Crane, was born in Washington, Massachu- setts, March 21, 1813. He tilled the patri- monial estate and lived in the house in Wash- ington where his grandfather settled, long the home of the family, and he was the last of the race to retain a residence in the old town. He married Sarah M. Joy and (second) Mary C. Wright, of Middlefield, Massachusetts, May 20, 1846. She died February 5, 1880. Chil- dren: John W., Delia M., Myra C. and Lester M.

(VIII) John Wright, the eldest of the four children of John M. and Mary C. (Wright) Crane, was born in Washington, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, May 23, 1847. He was educated in the schools of his native town and began as a clerk in a store at Middlefield, of which he subsequently became proprietor. He came to Springfield in 1886 and bought out the store of P. D. Winter & Sons, grocers, on upper State street. From 1889 to 1893 he was with J. S. Marsh & Son. Then one year with W. S. & Dana Buxton and one year with the Whitcomb Stove Company. In 1902 he opened the real estate and insurance office which he still conducts and is one of the largest real estate operators in the city. He is masonically related and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He mar- ried Harriet, daughter of Sumner U. Church, of Middlefield. She died December 14, 1905. Mrs. Crane was a woman of quiet nature and of great refinement of character, with warm qualities of mind and heart which endeared her to all who knew her. She had been from childhood a member of the Congregational church of Middlefield, and on her removal to Springfield she became connected with the Hope Church, where she was very active, hav- ing been a teacher in the primary department

of the Sunday school. Children : Alfred, born in Middlefield, January 5, 1880, a graduate of the Springfield high school in 1896, now in the real estate business with his father ; he mar- ried Lulu E. Rice, of Lyndonville, Vermont. Mary C., unmarried, who lives at home.

(IV) Hezekiah, the sixth of the eleven children of John and Prudence (Belding) Crane, was born in Windham, March 31, 1721, died in Bolton, Connecticut, January 3, 1805. There was a Hezekiah Crane, a private in Cap- tain Roswell Grant's company, Colonel Johns- ton's regiment, in the service in Providence and was either he or his son. His will was dated October 20, 1796, and admitted to pro- bate, East Windsor, February 1, 1805, David Crane named as executor. He married Rachel Rockwell, April 2, 1746. She died October 7, 1809. Children : Hezekiah (see later ) ; David, born October, 1748; Rachel, June 8, 1751; Rhoda, April 22, 1753; Rufus, 1755; Aaron, May 8, 1756; Anna.

(V) Hezekiah (2), the eldest of the seven children of Hezekiah ( I) and Rachel ( Rock- well) Crane, was born in Windsor and died in 1794. He enlisted, September 7, 1776, and was honorably discharged November 2, 1776, serving as a private in Captain Isaac Sergeant's company, Major Backus' regiment of light horse, and was engaged in New York City. As we have stated it was he or his father who was in Captain Grant's company and Colonel Johnson's regiment in Rhode Island. His estate was administered as intestate, the son Joel made administrator. He married Sybil Lamphire. Children: Wareham (see later) ; Joel, born January 19, 1772; Hezekiah, 1773; Eunice ; Abner, January 3, 1776; Rhoda, Jan- uary 8, 1783; Russell Willis and Lucretia.

(VI) Wareham, the eldest of the eight chil- dren of Hezekiah (2) and Sybil (Lamphire) Crane, was born in Windsor, 1770, died there January 21, 1835. He was a farmer. He mar- ried Eunice Barber ; she died October 23, 1854, aged eighty-three years. Children: Clarissa, born July 15, 1792; Sibil, January 21, 1794; Eunice, January 3, 1796; Wareham Barber, January 27, 1798; Anna, October 30, 1799; Russell Willis, January 31, 1802; Sophronia, February 14, 1804; Oliver Root, December 6, 1806; Electa B., August 25, 1808; Hezekiah Backus (see later ) ; Charles Reynolds, Febru- ary 26, 1817, and Lorenzo Bliss, November 21, 1818.

(VII) Hezekiah Backus, the tenth of the twelve children of Wareham and Eunice (Barber) Crane, was born in Windsor, Sep-

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tember 12, 1811, died in East Longmeadow, December 19, 1880. He was reared upon the old farm, but in early manhood entered the dry goods trade in Hartford, going from thence to Springfield, where he went into the confectionery trade. The factory was on the corner of Sanford and Market streets. Sell- ing out his interest therein, he removed to New Britain, Connecticut, and finally to East Longmeadow. He married Angeline, daugh- ter of Robert and Anna (Henry) Gowdy, of Somers, Connecticut.

(VIII) Deacon Roman A., only child of Hezekiah B. and Angeline (Gowdy) Crane, was born in Enfield, Connecticut, February 19, 1842. He came to Springfield with his father and began work in the confectionery shop at the early age of sixteen. His health failing him, he went to farming. He has been a great traveller in his own country. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church of East Longmeadow, of which he has been clerk, treasurer, teacher in the Sunday school, dea- con and trustee. He is Republican in politics and has served on the school committee and as town auditor. He is a member of the Hamp- den Agricultural Society. He married, in 1864, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel T. Avery, of South Windsor, Connecticut. Children : I. Frank Albert, born September 9, 1865, mar- ried, November 23, 1887, Bertha Cadwell, of East Longmeadow. 2. Howard Walton, born May 8, 1867, died January 15, 1869. 3. Arthur Gowdy, born July 18, 1871, married, January 11, 1893, Lute Hanscom, of Alfred, Maine; their children are: i. Marion Elizabeth, born May 26, 1894; ii. Howard Irving, February 15, 1896; iii. Helen Esther, April 9, 1898; iv. Roland Arthur, November 30, 1901. 4. Walter Avery, born June 6, 1876, died April 2, 1882. 5. Robert Samuel, born December 6, 1886.

This family inherits from many HALL generations of ancestry the Yankee propensity for business activity, and the sound mind, body and principles neces- sary to usefulness in the world. The name is one of the oldest in America, and was estab- lished at several points in New England at almost simultaneous dates. The origin of the name has been the subject of much speculation among its bearers, and three probable sources are mentioned. The most probable is the fact that baronial seats in England were almost always called Halls, with some title annexed. When men were obliged to take surnames, many took the name of their estates, and thus

many names were made to end with Hall. The Norman or Anglo-Saxon usage, "de la Hall" (translated, of the Hall), accounts for most of the occasions where this became a surname, without doubt. One authority attributes it to the Welsh word for salt, which would be attached to a worker in salt or dweller near a salt mine. Again, it is traced to the Norwegian word for hero, which is hallr, the last letter being silent and only indicative of the nomina- tive case. As the Norwegians overran Eng- land at one time, many of their words found their way into the language. Hallett is a dimi- nutive of Hall, and was probably given to a dwarfed or younger son, only the eldest son being entitled to the patronymic in earliest usage.

(I) Gilbert Hall resided in the county of Kent, in the southeastern part of England. No record is available as to his wife, but the next mentioned is known to have been his son.

(II) Francis, son of Gilbert Hall, born about 1608, with his brother, William, came from Milford, county of Surrey, England, in the ship with Rev. Henry Whitefield and his party, which included people from Kent and Surrey. They arrived at what is now New Haven, Con- necticut, in time to praticipate in the meeting of the colonists held in Newman's barn, June 7, 1639. In 1640 he joined Mr. Ludlow in the enterprise of planting a settlement at the head of a small inlet of Long Island sound, which they named Fairfield. At that time he had a wife, Elizabeth, and two sons, Isaac and Sam- uel, born in England. The mother died in 1662, probably in Fairfield, and Francis Hall married (second) October 30, 1665, Dorothy, widow of John Blakeman, and daughter of Rev. Henry Smith, of Stratford, Connecticut, who survived him. He was a man of some property and brought with him a small stock of hardware, carpenter's tools and farming implements for trade. He was a member of the Church of England, but on his arrival in America adopted the Congregational method of worship. He may have lived in New Lon- don for a time. In 1669 he held the office of constable in Stratford and was a deputy from that town to the general court held at Hart- ford, May 11, 1676. He was a large owner of lands in Fairfield and Stratford and died in the latter town in 1690. Besides his widow, he was survived by the following children: Isaac, Samuel, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary and Re- beccah.

(III) Isaac, eldest son of Francis and Eliza- beth Hall, was born about 1629 in Kent, Eng-

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land, and accompanied his father to America as above related, dying in Fairfield, Connec- ticut, in 1714, in his eighty-fifth year. He was married about 1660 to Lydia Knapp, who sur- vived him. He qualified for the practice of medicine and settled in Fairfield where he became an eminent surgeon and physician. During the Indian wars he was surgeon of the colonial militia and for this service received a grant of land in the town of Fairfield from the general court. He had previously received in 1660 a large estate from his father in that town. He subscribed to the oath of fidelity to the colonial government in 1659 and was prob- ably one of the proprietors of Wallingford in 1670. His children were: Isaac, Sarah, Lydia, Elizabeth, Samuel, Francis, John (died young), John, Mary, Abigail and Jonathan.

(IV) Jonathan, youngest child of Dr. Francis and Lydia (Knapp) Hall, was born December 2, 1684, and resided in Stratford, where he un- doubtedly died. His estate was distributed in 1723, which indicates that he died at the age of about thirty-nine years. He left sons Icha- bod and Jonathan, who disappeared from the records of Stratford after the division of the paternal estate.

(V) Jonathan (2), probably son of Jona- than (I) Hall, was born in 1712, and settled about 1760 in Walpole, New Hampshire, where he died August 26, 1802. He brought with him his wife, Mary, and eight children. His wife died one month after him, September 24, 1802, aged eighty-two years. Record is found of eight children who became heads of families. Mrs. Philippi Hall, who died in Walpole, Octo- ber 15, 1774, at the age of ninety years, is sup- posed to have been his widowed mother. There was a Pelatiah Hall in Walpole, who is sup- posed to have been a brother of Jonathan. The latter's children were: 1. Sarah, born 1741, wife of Captain Levi Hooper ; lived in Wal- pole. 2. Elisha, 1746, married Philippi Smith ; lived in Walpole. 3. Abraham, married, in 1783, Polly Floyd ;; settled in Bath, New Hampshire. 4. Recompense, married, in 1775, Phoebe Gerry ; removed to Westminster, Ver- mont. 5. Jonathan, subject of the next para- graph. 6. John, resided in Walpole and reared a family. 7. David, born 1756, married, in 1778, Lydia Graves ; lived in Walpole.

(VI) Jonathan (3), fourth son of Jonathan (2) and Mary Hall, was a youth when he went with his parents to Walpole, where he lived and died. He was a soldier of the revolution and at the time of the national census in 1790 he had three sons under sixteen years of age

and four daughters. No record appears of his birth, marriage or death. His sons were Sam- uel, Jonathan and Elisha.

(VII) Jonathan (4), second son of Jona- than (3) Hall, was born about 1785 in Wal- pole and lived in Westmoreland and Surry. He married Phoebe Britton, probably daugh- ter of John Britton, and had a large family. The names of three sons are preserved, namely : Henry, Jonathan and John Britton.

(VIII) John Britton, son of Jonathan (4) and Phoebe ( Britton) Hall, was born Decem- ber 6, 1813, probably in Surry, and when a young man went to Saratoga Springs, New York. He was there married, February 20, 1837, to Clarissa Willard Hayward, born March 10, 1811, in New Hampshire, daughter of Claudius D. and Sallie (Redding ) Hayward, of Saratoga. Their children, born in Saratoga, were: I. Maria, June 10, 1838, died in her twenty-first year unmarried. 2. John Alvin, subject of the next paragraph. 3. Lucella Clarissa, April 15, 1843, married Charles E. Rawson. 4. Sarah, September 23, 1845, mar- ried Edward Augustus Deuel. 5. Lewis Hay- ward, March, 1848, married Maria Olive Tompkins. 6. Edwin Lucius, May 29, 1851, married (first) Rebecca Wickwire.

(IX) John Alvin, eldest son of John Brit- ton and Clarissa W. (Hayward) Hall, was born December 17, 1840, in Saratoga, and located in Springfield, Massachusetts, July 21, 1861, shortly before attaining his majority. During the civil war he was employed in the United States armory at Springfield, and in 1865 left there to go into the insurance busi- ness in Springfield. After a short time he was connected with the Guardian Life Insurance Company of New York, and on October I, 1872, he became general agent of the Massa- chusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company of Springfield, whose headquarters were then located on the site of its present handsome offices. This connection continued until Janu- ary, 1879. Early in 1881 he was elected secre- tary of the company and filled this position most efficiently for a period of fourteen years, until his election in 1895 to the position of president. This office he held until the close of his life, which occurred September 3, 1908, while on a trip to Europe, dying in the city of London, England. Mr. Hall filled a large part in the business, social and philanthropic life of Springfield, and was identified with many of the leading interests of that city. He was vice- president and subsequently president of the Springfield Institution for Savings, and during

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the early years of his career in Springfield he served the city as a member of the common council, board of aldermen and on its school committee. While not a member of any relig- ious organization he was a regular attendant of the Unitarian church, and was a member of the Union League Club of New York and Nayasset Club of Springfield. He married, July 21, 1863, Frances E. Fay, of Springfield, daughter of Foster and Sarah (Taft) Fay, a member of an old Massachusetts family. She was born January 14, 1843, in Mendon, Mass- achusetts, and died January 19, 1908, in Spring- field. Their children were: Clara F., Blanche E. and John Alvin.

(For first generation see John Ball 1).

(II) Nathaniel Ball, son of John

BALL Ball, was born in England and came to New England with his father. He settled in Concord and married Mary He was admitted a freeman, May 22, 1650, the same day as his father. Children: I. John, died July 27, 1649. 2. Nathaniel, born September 29, 1649, died November 23, 1649. 3. Ebenezer. 4. Eleazer. 5. Nathaniel, born July 3, 1663, mentioned below. 6. Hannah, January 22, 1665.

(III) Nathaniel (2), son of Nathaniel (I) .Ball, was born in Concord, July 3, 1663, and married, April 19, 1688, Mary Brooks. Chil- dren, born at Concord: I. Susannah, January 24, 1689. 2. Caleb, August 10, 1690. 3. Nathaniel, April 1, 1692, married, May 31, 1711, Sarah Baker. 4. Thomas, February 2, 1693-94. 5. Samuel, March 24, 1696-97. 6. Mary, May II, 1699. 7. Jeremiah, May I, 1701, mentioned below. 8. Benjamin, June 19, 1704. 9. Ebenezer, May 30, 1712. 10. Sarah, April 29, 1714.

(IV) Jeremiah, son of Nathaniel (2) Ball, was born at Concord, May 1, 1701. He settled in Townsend, Massachusetts, in the cast part of the town, in 1726, near the John Spaulding place. He married, in 1727, Mary Stevens, who died February II, 1764, aged sixty-two years. He died April 12, 1780, aged seventy- nine years. Children: I. Ebenezer, born July 3, 1729, mentioned below. 2. Lieutenant Jerc- miah, August 31, 1731, died March 7, 1792; married, January, 1759, Mary Stevens. 3. Mary, June 24, 1733, died August 11, 1822; married (first) Hubbard; (second)

Baldwin; (third) Jedediah Jewett. 4. Elizabeth, March 4, 1736. 5. Susannah, March II, 1738, married Dutton. 6. Benja-

min, July 26, 1742, settled in Hancock, New Hampshire.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 58

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