Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 75

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 75

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(II) Nicholas, son of John Higginson, was living at Wem at the time of his father's death in 1540, and was trustee of a small legacy for Agnes Higginson, which his father had re- ceived for her benefit from her father. He is mentioned in the will of his brother Thomas in 1573. He appears to have settled in Berkes- well or vicinity. and probably died in Clay- brook in April, 1581, buried April II. Chil- dren : 1. Hugh, of Berkeswell. 2. Rev. John, mentioned below. 3. Nicholas, of Leire, died 1589: known from his will to be brother of Rev. John. Probably others.

(III) Rev. John (2) Higginson, son of Nicholas Higginson, was born as early as 1540, and educated at Jesus College, Cam- bridge, B. A. 1564-5; M. A. 1568. He was instituted to the perpetual vicarage of Clay- brooke, county Leicester, January 23, 1571-2, and faithfully filled the pastorate for about fifty-three years. He died in 1624, and accord- ing to the register of the parish of Claybrooke, now in the possession of Lord Bray, was buried February 10, 1624. His will, dated December 4, 1623, proved April 2, 1624, directs

that John Picksley, clothier of Coventry, shall convey to his wife Elizabeth and such one of his two sons William and Nathaniel as shall be most dutiful, a cottage in Claybrooke, etc. He also mentions sons John, William, Nicholas and Nathaniel ; grandson Nicholas Higginson, and granddaughter Priscilla Higginson. There is a tradition in the Marlow ( England) branch of the family that he lived and did duty as a clergyman until he was one hundred and four years old, and was then drowned by the sudden rising of a brook as he was returning from church. Children, all baptized in Claybrooke except Nathaniel : 1. Nathaniel, named in father's will. 2. John, baptized April 25, 1575, died young. 3. Dorothy, baptized April 24, I 576 ; married, December, -- , William Gilbard. 4. Priscilla, baptized September 22, 1578. 5. John, baptized December 14, 1580; buried May 26, 1585. 6. John, baptized October 27, 1585. 7. Francis, baptized August 6, 1586; mentioned below. 8. William, baptized May 15, 1589 ; married, October 28, 1629, Francis Palmer. 9. Catren, baptized May 18, 1591 ; married, April 22, 1619, Thomas Coleman. 10. Martyn (twin), baptized February 4, 1593. II. Mary (twin), baptized February 4, 1593. 12. Nicholas, baptized March 24, 1594; buried April 11, 1681. 13. George, baptized Decem- ber 25, 1607 ; buried April 21, 1603. 14. Nich- olas, baptized March 19, 1608; died about 1649. 15. Grace, baptized May 13, 1610. 16. Elizabeth, baptized December 8, 1611; buried January 30, 1612, or July 13, 1613. 17. Judith, baptized May 23, 1613; buried October 17, 1613. (Dates are said to be all new style ).

An old manuscript quoted by Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson in his "Life of Francis Higginson," gives the children as follows: John, "a gentleman that kept high company ;" Francis ; Nathaniel, "owner of a castle in Ire- land. but lost in the Rebellion:" Nicholas, "father of Henry the goldsmith in Liverpool;" William ; four daughters married to Andrews, Coleman. Gilbert and Perkins.

(IV) Rev. Francis Higginson, son of Rev. Tohn (2) Higginson, was baptized at Clay- brooke, Leicestershire, England, August 6, 1586. He was educated in Jesus College, Cambridge, where his father also took his de- grees, taking his B. A. in 1609-10; his M. A. in 1613. Two years later he was settled over Claybrooke parish, apparently curate to his father. Cotton Mather's "Magnalia" contains a careful account of Higginson's life from the time of his graduation. being in error in some instances, however. Higginson was appointed

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to one of the five parish churches of Leicester, and such was his goodly influence, according to Mather, that there was a notable revival of religion in Leicester. "For some years he continued in his conformity to the rites then required and practised in the Church of Eng- land; but upon his acquaintance with Mr. Arthur Hildersham and Mr. Thomas Hooker, he set himself to study the controversies about the evangelical church discipline then agitated in the church of God; and then the more he studied the Scripture, which is the sole and full rule of church administrations, the more he became dissatisfied with the ceremonies which had crept into the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. * From this time he be- came a conscientious non-conformist, and therefore was deprived of his opportunity to exercise his ministry in his parish church; nevertheless his ministry was so desirable unto the people that they procured for him the liberty to preach a constant lecture, on one part of the Lord's Day, and on the other part as an assistant unto a very aged parson that wanted it. He was now maintained by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants ; and though the rest of the ministers there con- tinued conformists, yet they freely invited him unto the use of their pulpits, as long as they could avoid any trouble to themselves by so doing. * * He preached also in Belgrave, a mile out of the town."

He was a fearless and outspoken preacher and some significant anecdotes are related by Mather of his ministry in England. On one occasion he rebuked the mayor and aldermen of the city for over-indulgence in wine, and after the commotion had subsided he held the respect and confidence of these men to such an extent that he was chosen town-preacher, but he declined this comfortable living because of his unwillingness to conform. He had other offers of livings, but for the same reason refused to continue in the Church of England. While Mr. Higginson continued in Leicester, he was not only a good man full of faith, but also a good man full of work. He preached constantly in the parish churches; and he was called, while a conformist, frequently to preach visitation sermons, assize sermons and funeral sermons; and as well then as afterwards he was often engaged in fasts, both in public and private, both at home and abroad; and many repaired unto him with cases of conscience, and for help about their interior state. Besides all this he was very serviceable to the educa- tion of scholars, either going to or coming

from the university ; and such as afterwards proved eminently serviceable to the church of God; whereof some were Dr. Seaman, Dr. Brian, Mr. Richardson and Mr. Howe, all of them Leicestershire men, who would often say, how much they owed unto Mr. Higginson. And he was very useful in forwarding and promoting of contributions for the relief of the Protestant exiles which came over from the ruined Bohemia and the distressed Palati- nate in those times; and many other pious designs." When Laud came into power Mr. Higginson was informed against and expected imprisonment. But at this juncture he was invited to go to New England as minister of the colony about to be sent to Massachusetts. He sailed on the "Talbot," one of the five ships sent by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1629, sailing from Gravesend April 25, 1629, from Yarmouth May 16, and arriving June 29 at Naumkeag, now Salem, Massachusetts. In August of that year he gathered a church at Salem, the first of the Massachusetts Bay Col- ony. He kept a journal of his voyage, and it is one of the most precious historical documents relating to the founding of the commonwealth. It has been repeatedly published. It is dated July 24, 1629, and created much interest in England, where it was originally printed. A letter sent by him to England under date of July 24, 1629, was also published and served to increase the interest in the colony and per- suade many to join the pioneers. His book, "New England Plantation," written soon after- ward, as a continuation of the journal, was published in 1629. It was one of the first books written in Massachusetts, and had much to do with bringing thousands of colonists to this country. The further history of Higgin- son is identified with that of the early days of Salem. A house was built for him on the site now occupied by the Asiatic building, Washington street. His life in his new pas- torate was busy but very brief. He died Au- gust 6, 1630. As a preacher, Higginson was popular in England ; of his preaching in Amer- ica we know little. His last sermon only was preserved. The subject was: "What went ye out into the Wilderness to see?" and it was preached before Governor Winthrop and the large body of colonists who came with him that year. A portrait of Higginson and two copies are extant, though some authorities be- lieve that the portrait was not of the immi- grant, but of his son John. There is no doubt that it is of a Higginson. His widow removed to Charlestown and finally to New Haven,

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where she died in 1638-9, leaving eight chil- dren. Her estate was settled at New Haven February 25, 1639. Her maiden name is un- known.

Children of Francis and Ann Higginson: I. John, born August 6, 1616; mentioned below. 2. Francis, born 1617; schoolmaster at Cam- bridge, Massachusetts; resided at London ; settled at Kerby Steven, Westmoreland, Eng- land; died unmarried. 3. Timothy, mariner ; died unmarried. 4. Theophilus, died aged thirty-seven. 5. Captain Samuel, captain of an English man-of-war, and afterward of an East Indiaman ; died aged forty-four. 6. Ann, married Thomas Chatfield, of Guilford, New Haven. 7. Mary, died Tuesday, May 19, 1629. 8. Charles, captain of a ship in the Jamaica trade; died aged forty-nine. 9. Neophytus, died aged about- twenty.

(V) Rev. John (3) Higginson, son of Rev. Francis Higginson, was born at Claybrooke, England, August 6, 1616, and died at Salem, Massachusetts, December 9, 1708. He became a member of his father's church at the age of thirteen, and when he was but twenty was sent at the head of a commission with Lieu- tenant Edward Gibbons and Cutshamekin, Sagamore of Massachusetts, to wait on Can- onicus, chief of the Narragansetts, concerning the murder of John Oldham while on a trad- ing voyage to Block Island; and at twenty- one was appointed scribe of the Cambridge Assembly, to take down its proceedings in shorthand-a report unfortunately lost. He was afterward teacher of the grammar school at Hartford, and chaplain of the fort at Say- brook, Connecticut, where he took part in the defence conducted by the celebrated Lion Gardiner. He turned to the study of divinity and was for some time assistant to Rev. Henry Whitfield, at Guilford, Connecticut. The old stone parsonage there, the oldest house stand- ing in the original limits of the United States, was his home for a time, and in it his wedding to the minister's daughter Sarah took place. In 1659, after the death of his mother he de- cided to return to England to settle her estate and make his home there, but the vessel in which he and his family embarked was driven by a providential storm into Salem harbor. But for this storm the great contributions that Higginson and his distinguished descendants have made to American history would be want- ing. He was persuaded at Salem to take charge of the church his father founded there thirty years before, and was ordained in August, 1660. For a period of forty-eight years he

was minister at Salem, and during much of that time the foremost clergyman of the Mass- achusetts Bay Colony. In his old age he bore the title of "Nestor of the New England Clergy."

John Higginson was undoubtedly in sym- pathy with the prevalent hostility to the Quakers. "But his name is not identified, I believe," writes Colonel T. W. Higginson, "with any of the judicial cruelties aimed at these persecuted people; though it is probable that he fully approved the action of the county court when it sentenced Thomas Maule, known to the readers of Hawthorne's 'House of the Seven Gables,' to be whipped ten stripes for saying that 'Mr. Higginson preached lies, and his doctrine was the doctrine of devils.' But he was a rational opponent of the witchcraft persecutions, even in his old age. He was a witness in favor of Goody Buckley, charged with witchcraft, and this involved him in such reproach among the fanatics that his own daughter Anna, wife of Captain William Dolli- ver of Gloucester, was arrested as a witch and thrown into the jail at Salem."

He wrote the preface to Cotton Mather's "Magnalia," and says in it of himself, January 25, 1697: "As for myself, having been, by the mercy of God, now above sixty-eight years in New England, and served the Lord and his people, in my weak measure, sixty years in the ministry of the gospel. I may now say in my old age, I have seen all that the Lord hath done for his people in New England, and have known the beginning and progress of these churches unto this day, and having read over much of this history, I cannot but in the love and fear of the Lord bear witness to the truth of it." Judge Samuel Sewell was one of his intimate friends, exchanged papers and books, and when Higginson was ninety years old we find him giving Sewell his support in the move- ment against the slave trade and slavery, which, it must be remembered, was the foundation of the fortunes of many great. families of Salem and Boston. His funeral sermon was preached by Cotton Mather, and at least two of the printed copies have been preserved. The fol- lowing list of the published works of Mr. Higginson was compiled by Colonel T. W. Higginson : "The Cause of God and his Peo- ple in New England," a sermon, May 27, 1663; "Our Dying Saviour's Legacy of Peace" (1686) ; "Address to the Reader of New Eng- land Memoriall" (1669) ; "Epistle Dedicatory to New England's Duty" (1669) ; "Epistle to the Reader of Modest Enquiry into the Nature

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of Witchcraft" (1702) ; "Preface to Cotton Mather's Winter Meditations" (1693) ; and "A Testimony to the Order of the Gospel, in the Churches of New England," (1701). His "Advice to His Children," called his "Dying Testimony," was apparently not published dur- ing his lifetime, but from manuscript left in the hands of a descendant in the Essex Insti- tute Collections, ii. p. 97.

"No character in our annals," says Upham, "shines with a purer lustre." John Dunton, the London bookseller, visited him in 1686, when seventy, and says of him: "All men look up to him as to a common father ; and old age, for his sake, is a reverent thing. He is eminent for all the graces that adorn a min- ister. His very presence puts vice out of countenance ; his conversation is a glimpse of heaven." "He had been, in the words of the Massachusetts Company's first letter to Endi- cott, 'trained up in literature' at the grammar school at Leicester, and was therefore recom- mended for a medical education, but the inevit- able influence of the time led him to the pro- fession of his father, while he always retained that breadth of intellectual interest which held out so remarkable amidst many intellectual vagaries, in the second generation of Massa- chusetts Puritans." He was one of the first men in the colony to urge the importance of historical investigations.

He married (first ) Sarah, daughter of Rev. Henry Whitfield, of Guilford, Connecticut. She died July 8, 1675, and he married (sec- ond) Mary, born 1636, died March 9, 1708-9, daughter of Rev. Adam Blackman, of Strat- ford, and widow of Joshua Atwater, of New Haven and Boston. Children of first wife: I. John, born 1646; mentioned below. 2. Nathaniel, born at Guilford, October II, 1652; died in London, October 31, 1708 ; graduate of Harvard, 1670: went to England, and was with Lord Wharton about seven years, steward and tutor to his children ; employed in the mint of the Tower, 1681 ; went in company's ser- vice to Fort St. George, East Indies, 1683; secretary and member of council and after- ward governor of factory at the fort ; married, May, 1692, Elizabeth, daughter of John Rich- ards ; in 1700 returned with his wife and chil- dren to England, and was a London merchant. 3. Sarah, married Richard Wharton, of Bos- ton. 4. Anna, married, October 4, 1682, Will- iam Dolliver, of Gloucester. 5. Thomas, served his time with a goldsmith in England ; returned to America; sailed for Arabia, and was lost at sea. 6. Francis, born at Salem,

June 9, 1660; went to his uncle Francis at Kerby Steven, who educated him at the uni- versity ; died in London, 1684. 7. Henry, born at Salem, December 18, 1661; educated as a merchant ; went to the Barbadoes as a factor, and died there 1685.

(VI) Colonel John (4) Higginson, son of Rev. John (3) Higginson, was born in Guil- ford, Connecticut, in 1646, and died in Salem, March 23. 1719, aged seventy-three years. He was one of the foremost men of the town in his time, a prominent merchant, and in the affairs of colonial government. In addition to his mercantile interests in Salem, he engaged in the fisheries and carried on foreign trade. He had an extensive correspondence with his brother Nathaniel between the years 1692 and 1700, published by the Massachusetts His- torical Society. From a letter written in 1697 the following quotation sets forth the condi- tions prevailing in the town by reason of the French and Indian war: "In the yeare 1689, when this war first broke out, I had attained a competent estate, being as much concerned in the fishing trade as most of my neighbors ; but since yt time I have met with considerable losses. Of sixty odd fishing ketches belonging to this towne, but about six are left. I believe no Towne in this Province has suffered more by this war yn Salem." Again, October 3, 1699, he writes: "In the late war all East India goods were extremely dear. Best mus- lin, 10 pounds a piece ; pepper, 3s, nuts (nut- megs ) 18s. cloves 20s. mace 30s. 1b., but they are now fallen a quarter part ; china and lacker wares will sell of a small quantity. Ambergrece we often have from the West Indies. Some musk, pearl, diamonds, beazor may sell well." In 1674 he was appointed ensign of Captain Gardner's company, and afterward became lieutenant-colonel of militia. In 1708 he sent a memorial to England setting forth to the government the necessity of conquering Can- ada. In 1686 he is mentioned as a trustee in a deed of Salem lands from the Indians "as a safeguard against encroachments of Userpa- tion." In 1712 he was chosen one of a com- mittee "to procure a suitable grammar school master." He was deputy to the general court in 1689; member of the governor's council from 1700 until his death in 1719.

He married, October 9, 1672, Sarah, daugh- ter of Thomas and Mary (Symmes) Savage, of Boston. Children, born in Salem: 1. Mary, September 27, 1673; married (first) April 4, 1695, Thomas.Gardner, Jr .; (second) April 25. 1699, Dr. Edward Weld, of Salem. 2.

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John, August 20, 1675; mentioned below. 3. Thomas, December 23, 1677, died September 18, 1678. 4. Nathaniel, April 1, 1680, died 1720: married. April 23, 1702, Hannah Ger- rish. 5. Sarah, June 1, 1682, died August 5, 1699; married, June 22, 1699, Nathaniel Hathorne. 6. Elizabeth, October 13, 1684; married, October 22, 1705, John Gerrish. 7. Margaret, November 10, 1686, died June 18, I688.

(VII) John (5), son of Colonel John (4) Higginson, was born in Salem, August 20, 1675, and died there April 26, 1718. He was edu- cated for a mercantile career, and the manage- ment of his father's extensive business as a merchant was for the most part in his hands. For a number of years he was judge of the court of common pleas of Essex county, with his associate Corwin; but in 1702 Governor Dudley made other appointments. In one of his letters to Nathaniel, his father, Colonel Higginson, says of his son John: "My eldest son John, whom I brought up at home, is very capable of business, a very hopeful young man

as any in our town, sober and judicious * and has made good progress in the world ; has built him a good house, has one fishing vessel; a lieutenant of one of our military companies, and register to the judge of probate for wills and granting administrations for this county, and well accepted in the place." The dwell- ing house alluded to stood on the south side of Essex street, between Barton square and the corner of Washington street.

John Higginson married. September II, 1695, Hannah Gardner, of Salem, who died June 24, 1713, daughter of Samuel Gardner. He married (second) November 1I, 1714, Margaret Sewall, born May 7, 1687, died March, 1736, daughter of Stephen Sewall, first register of probate in Essex county. Chil- dren of first wife, born in Salem: I. Elizabeth, June 28, 1696, died March 20, 1722-3 ; mar- ried, October 20, 1715, Rev. Benjamin Pres- cott. 2. John, January 10, 1697-8, died July 15, 1744; graduate of Harvard 1717; register of deeds for Essex county, 1725; married (first) Ruth Boardman; (second) Esther Cabot. 3. Samuel, February 5, 1699-1700, died September 23, 1702. 4. Sarah, February 13, 1702-3, died June 14, 1745; married De- cember, 1732, Dr. John Cabot Jr. 5. Francis, November 29, 1705, died same day. 6. Henry, September 23, 1707, died December 1, 1708. Children of second wife: 7. Stephen, July 31, 1716. 8. Nathaniel, 1718, died 1719.

(VIII) Stephen, son of John (5) Higgin-

son, was born in Salem, July 31, 1716, and died there October 12, 1761. He was a prom- inent merchant and held many town offices ; deputy to general court two years, and one of the founders of the Salem Social Library in 1760. Many of the books for this library were purchased by him in Boston. In 1810 the books were bought by the founders of the Salem Athenaeum. He married, April 22, 1743. Elizabeth Cabot, born March 8, 1710-II, daughter of John and Anna (Orne) Cabot. Children, born in Salem: 1. Stephen, Novem- ber 28, 1743. 2. Sarah, January 14, 1745, died May 5, 1772 ; married, January 3, 1767, John Lowell, LL. D., who was appointed judge of the district court by President Washington. 3. John. April 30, 1746, died August, 1750. 4. Henry, December 14, 1747, died in Boston, October 4, 1790; master mariner ; deputy 1780- 81. 5. Deborah, July 24, 1750, died Septem- ber, 1753. 6. Deborah, January 6, 1754, died December 14, 1820; married (first) Stephen Cabot ; (second) Joseph Lee. 7. Elizabeth, baptized May 2, 1756, died July, 1826; mar- ried, February 22, 1774, George Cabot.

(IX) The Honorable Captain Stephen (2) Higginson, son of Stephen ( 1) Higginson, was born in Salem, November 28, 1743, and died November 22, 1828. He was a merchant with an extensive business in both Salem and Bos- ton. He made a visit to England just before the revolution, and was called to the bar of the House of Commons to answer questions as to the state of feeling in Massachusetts. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1782-83, and a firm supporter of Washington and Adams. He was acting secretary of the navy May II, 1798, to June 22, 1798, and was one of Governor James Bowdoin's most active and resolute advisers in the suppression of Shay's Rebellion, going out as second in command to suppress this insurrection. While he was shipmaster he brought over a church bell in 1772 for the North Church of Salem, and later a bell for the East Church, which then sold its old bell to Harvard College. In the war of 1812 he suffered great losses. It is said of him that he sustained with great credit the reputation of an ancient and honor- able family. He was the reputed author of "The Writings of Laco," as published in the Massachusetts Centinel in February and March, 1789. These articles had for a motto: "The liberty of the Press is essential to the security of freedom in a state, it ought not therefore be restrained in this Common- wealth ;" and they are reprinted under the

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modernized title, "Ten Chapters in the Life of John Hancock," (New York, 1857).

He married (first) Susanna Cleveland, born at Medford, March 1, 1741, died at Salem, June 24, 1788, daughter of Aaron and Sus- anna (Porter) Cleveland, granddaughter of Aaron Cleveland, great-granddaughter of Aaron, and great-great-granddaughter of the immigrant, Moses Cleveland. She inherited her mother's personal attractions, and was celebrated alike for her beauty and her dignity of mind and manners. The marriage license signed by Governor Benning Wentworth, now in the possession of Colonel T. W. Higginson, is remarkable in that it authorizes all ordained ministers of the Gospel "Except one Browne" to join the couple in matrimony. Captain Higginson married ( second) Elizabeth Perkins, of Boston, daughter of a merchant, Thomas Perkins, of English birth. He married (third) Sarah Perkins, sister of his second wife. Chil- dren of first wife: I. John, born in Salem, January 15, 1765. 2. Sarah, June II, 1766, died 1805; married Dudley Atkins Tyng. 3. Nathaniel, February 12, 1768, died 1794; mar- ried Sarah Rhea. 4. Stephen, November 20, 1770, at Salem, died February 20, 1834; for many years steward of Harvard College ; mar- ried (first) August, 1794, Martha Salisbury ; (second) Louisa Storrow; father of Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson. 5. Barbara Cooper, June 15, 1774; married Samuel G. Perkins. 6. Elizabeth, August 5, 1776; mar- ried (first) Dudley A. Tyng, being his second wife; (second) George Searle. 7. George, July 19, 1779, at Boston ; mentioned below. 8. Henry, born in Boston, February 5, 1781 ; married, 1803, Nancy Cushing. 9. Susan Cleveland, April 20, 1783; married Francis Dana Channing. Child of second wife: IO. James Perkins, mentioned below.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 75

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