Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 117

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1008

USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 117

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).

But Mr. Wheeler's business activities are not confined solely to his native town and its vicinity, for he is president of the Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company, president and director of the Leavitt Machine Company, the latter a corporation doing a large and profitable business in Orange. In 1891 he was president of the Worcester Northwest Agricul- tural and Mechanical Society. In 1859 he was one of the charter members of Orange Lodge, F. and A. M., its first secretary and afterward its treasurer. He also is a member and for several years was treasurer of Crescent Chapter, R. A. M., of Orange, and a member of Orange Commandery, K. T. Since its organization in 1856 he has been a consistent advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and while he always has taken an active and earnest interest in the success of his party he has held office far less frequently than has been asked of him by his fellow citizens who have always been anxious to honor him with their votes and

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give him the political recognition to which they believe him justly entitled. From 1861 to 1867 he was town clerk of Orange, and in 1864 Governor Andrews appointed and commis- sioned him justice of the peace. In 1866 he was a member of the board of selectmen, and in 1876 was elected representative to the general court from the first Franklin district, in the legislature serving as member of the committee on finance. In 1888 he was a delegate from the eleventh district of Massachusetts to the National Republican Convention at Chicago which nominated Harrison for the presidency, and in 1904 was an alternate delegate to the convention which nominated Mr. Roosevelt ; and again in 1908 he was a delegate to the convention at Chicago which nominated Mr. Taft. In 1904 he was elected member of the governor's council, representing the eighth councillor district of the commonwealth. He was a member of the council under the administration of Governor Douglas and still later under Governor Guild. He is one of the vice-presidents of the Home Market Club, Boston.

Mr. Wheeler has been so busily occupied with his extensive business and financial opera- tions and enterprises that he has found very little time to devote to social affairs, although his nature is very social and genial and he enjoys the pleasures and benefits of social companionships; and at such times as he has been able to throw aside the cares and responsibilities of business he has been found a most entertaining and companionable gentle- man. He is not given to games and sports and the various fads in which so many persons indulge themselves, but he is earnest and faith- ful in whatever matters are in his charge, feel- ing that results are secured almost wholly by personal effort and if one aspires to the grander and higher ideals in life the greatest pleasure is therein found and the ultimate reward is far more gratifying and enduring. It is his nature to be cheerful and hopeful, not boast- ful or loud in his talk, but he is a deep thinker and careful observer, and utterly intolerant of indolence and holds in contempt all that savors of knavery or sham. One of the most notice- able of his characteristics is his love for his native town, for which he has done so much and to which he in turn owes so much. Although he never has been abroad he is an extensive domestic traveller, and in his journey- ings into almost every part of this country he has always combined business with a large measure of pleasure; and he always has

returned to his home with an increased love for his native town of Orange. This love for his home town may be said to be intense and the one subject which is uppermost in his mind is to do something more for its welfare and growth; and he never seems content to sit . down with the record of his achievement in its behalf already accomplished.

And besides his other vast interests Mr. Wheeler is owner of a large farm near the village of Orange, and which from the beauty of its location is called "Grand View." Here is his summer home, and here he finds rest and much pleasure in directing its cultivation. His attention is turned especially to the raising and breeding of fine horses and cattle. His spacious and attractive colonial residence in town, which was completed about five years ago, is one of the finest residences in that part of the state and is an ornament to Orange. The new manufacturing suburb called Wheeler was founded by him, and in its enterprise and con- tinued prosperity he takes great pride; and still another enterprise in which he takes deep interest in the newly laid out tract of land just north of Orange village proper and which is known as Orange Highlands. Indeed, it may be said with exact truth that Mr. Wheeler has been and still is one of the most enterprising and successful town builders in the eastern states, and whatever he has done in that direc- tion has been done well and without a single failure. Mr. Wheeler was one of the organizers and first president of the Ex-Councillors Club of Massachusetts, organized in 1908, and was re-elected in January, 1909.

On October 9, 1856, John Wilson Wheeler married Almira E., one of seven daughters of Daniel and Almira ( Porter ) Johnson, of North Orange. Their marriage ceremony was per- formed by the Rev. Levi Ballou. Three chil- dren, all daughters, were born of this marriage : Marion L., married Everett L. Swan and lives in Orange. Clara Jane, died in infancy. Rosa A., died in infancy. On October 9, 1906, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, out of the kindness of their hearts, took into their home two boys, when two years of age, who adopted their name and have since been known as Percy G. and Perley J. Wheeler, they having now ( 1909) attained manhood. They were given a practical education which thoroughly qualified them for active business careers, and in addition to this were trained at home by both foster parents, who faithfully and conscientiously performed

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the duties of such, to lead lives of usefulness, helpfulness and courage, to follow always the right and just course in all things, and to become worthy and reliable citizens of this great Nation, patriotic and loyal in their allegiance, fulfilling their part in a manner that should reflect credit upon their benefactors. After completing their studies they entered the employ of their foster father, entering the tool room of the New Home Sewing Machine Com- pany's factory, the principal part of this manu- facturing industry, and are so engaged at the present time. Percy G. Wheeler married, July 26, 1906, Gertrude Ruffle and they are the par- ents of one child, John Whitman Wheeler. Perley J. Wheeler married, June 29, 1903, Blanche Hamilton.

DYER William Dyer, immigrant ancestor, residing in England, came to Boston as early as 1635. He and his wife Mary joined the church in Boston in December, 1635, of which Mr. Windsor was pastor. On March 15, 1637, he and others. signed a remonstrance affirming the innocence of Mr. Wheelwright, and on November 15 following was disenfranchised for signing the statement. Five days later they were warned to deliver up all guns, pistols, swords, powder, shot, etc., because "the opinions and revela- tions of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchin- son have seduced and led into dangerous errors many of the people here in New Eng- -land." In 1638 Mr. Winthrop thus alludes to him and his wife: "The wife of one William Dyer, a milliner in the New Exchange, a very proper and fair woman, and both of them notoriously infected with Mrs. Hutchinson's errors, and very censorious and troublesome." He removed about 1638 to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and was a charter member of the church formed there March 7, 1638, and was elected clerk the same day. April 28, 1639, he and eight others signed a compact preparatory to the settlement of Newport, Rhode Island, and the June following he was one of a com- mittee to apportion land. He had a grant of eighty-seven acres recorded at Newport, March 10, 1640. From 1640 to 1647 inclusive he was secretary for the towns of Portsmouth and Newport, and was general recorder in 1648. In 1650-51-52-53 he was attorney gen- eral. Early in 1653 he returned from a trip to England, having gone there with John Clarke and Roger Williams to obtain a revo- cation of Governor Coddington's power, and

he left his wife in England. On May 18 of that year he received a commission from the assembly as "Commander-in-Chief upon the sea," to act against the Dutch. He was admitted a freeman in 1655. His wife Mary returned from England in 1657, after a five years stay, during which time she had become a Quaker and was a minister of that denom- ination. On disembarking at Boston she was put in prison, but was released at the inter- cession of her husband, and leave granted him to take her to his home in Rhode Island- "bound in a great penalty not to lodge her in any town of the colony, nor to permit any to have speech with her in the Journey." In 1659 she returned to Boston and was tried and con- demned to death with Marmaduke Stephenson and William Robinson, but was reprieved on the very scaffold with the rope around her neck. The day after her reprieve, October 31, 1659, she wrote "Once more to the General Court assembled in Boston, speaks Mary Dyer, even as before : My life is not accepted, neither availeth me in comparison of the lives and liberty of the thuth etc." She again returned to Rhode Island, but in a few months went back to Boston. Ten days after her return, May 31, 1660, she was brought before Gover- nor Endicott. He said "Are you the same Mary that was here before?" She replied : "I am the same Mary Dyer." He then said "You will own yourself a Quaker, will you not?" She answered, "I own myself to be reproachfully so-called." He sentenced her to be hung the day following. On the gallows she was abjured by her early pastor, Mr. Wilson, to repent, and not to be "so deluded and carried away by the deceit of the devil." She was accused of having said she had been in Paradise, to which she replied, "Yea, I have been in Paradise these several days. No ear can hear, no tongue can utter, no heart can understand the sweet incomes and refreshings of the spirit of the Lord which I now feel." She was accompanied from the prison to the gallows by a band of soldiers, and drums were beaten before and behind her that none might hear her speak. She is described as "a person of no mean extract of parentage, of an estate pretty plentiful, of a comely stature and coun- tenance, of a piercing knowledge in many things, of a wonderful sweet and pleasant dis- course." The Friend's records at Portsmouth thus note her death: "Mary Dyer the wife of William Dyer of Newport in Rhode Island : She is put to death at the town of Boston with

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the like cruel hand as the Martyrs were in Queen Mary's time upon ye 31 day of the 3d mo 1660."

William Dyer was commissioner in 1662-63, and deputy to the general court from 1664 to 1666. He was general solicitor in 1665-66-68 and secretary to the council in 1669. In that year he with others purchased Dyer's Island, and afterwards became sole owner, in 1670 deeding it to his son William. He died before December 24, 1677, and in 1681 his widow Catherine had her dower set off by order of the town council, and was living six years later. He married (first) Mary - -- , who died June 1, 1660. He married (second) Cath- erine -, who died after 1680. Children : I. Samuel, born 1635, married Ann Hutchin- son. 2. Mary. 3. William, mentioned below. 4. Mahershallalhashbaz, married Martha Pearce. 5. Henry, born 1647, died February, 1690; married Elizabeth Stanford. 6. Charles, born 1650, died May 15, 1709; married (first) Mary (second) Martha Wait. 7. Elizabeth.

(II) William (2), son of William (I) Dyer, was collector of customs for America at the port of New York, receiving his appoint- ment from the Duke of York. He was a mem- ber of the governor's council in 1675-76. In 168I he was indicted for high treason on the charge of collecting unlawful duties, and was sent to England for trial. Arriving there, no one appeared to prosecute him, and he returned in 1682 to New York with more ample powers. From here he is said to have gone to Delaware. He had a son William, mentioned below.

(III) William (3), son of William (2) Dyer, settled in Barnstable, Massachusetts. The fact that his son William was called Junissimus, indicates that there were more than two of the name, and corroborates the history of Truro, Massachusetts, which points to William Dyer, of Rhode Island, as the father of William of Barnstable. Nothing else is known of the father's family, however. Other children may have remained in New York or Delaware. There was no other William Dyer in Barnstable or vicinity when William Junissimus was born in 1690. William Dyer Sr. married, December, 1686, Mary Taylor, daughter of William Taylor, of Barn- stable. He lived at Truro before the original proprietor, though the births of his children are recorded in Barnstable. His house at Truro was that owned by the late Captain Ebenezer Atkins, and taken down within a generation. He died July 27, 1738, aged

eighty-five; his wife Mary died October 8, 1738, aged eighty, according to their grave- stones. Their descendants are numerous in Truro and vicinity. Children: 1. Lydia, born March 30, 1688. 2. William (Junissimus), October 30, 1690, mentioned below. 3. Jona- than, February, 1692. 4. Henry, April II, 1693. 5. Isabel, July, 1695, married, 1713, Samuel Small. 6. Ebenezer, April 3, 1697, married, 1720, Sarah Doane, of Eastham. 7. Samuel, October 30, 1698. 8. Judah, April, 1701, married Phebe Young.

(IV) William (4) (Junissimus), son of William (3) Dyer, was born in Truro, Octo- ber 30, 1690. He resided a Truro, and per- haps at Marshfield. Children, all but the last two baptized March II, 1728: I. Ambrose. 2. John. 3. William, went to Maine. 4. Joseph. 5. Anthony. 6. Christopher. 7. Samuel, born 1724, mentioned below. 8. Levi. 9. Hannah. 10. Isabel, baptized July 13, 1729. II. Benjamin, December 9, 1733, removed with Anthony and William to Vinal Haven, Maine.

(V) Samuel, son of William (4) Dyer, was born at Truro, Massachusetts, in 1724. Se set- tled in the village of Longnook, Truro, on the farm lately owned by Mr. Williams. He mar- ried, in 1746, Mary Paine, daughter of Jona- than Paine, of Truro. Children, born at Truro: I. Shebna, baptized May 8, 1748, mentioned below. 2. Thomas, baptized June 10, 1750, married Mary Lombard. 3. Sarah, baptized July 19, 1752, married, in 1770,' Joseph Small. 4. Mary, born in 1754, mar- ried in 1776, Joshua Rich. 5. Jemima, born 1765, married Captain Calen Knowles.

(VI) Shebna, son of Samuel Dyer, was born at Truro, and baptized there May 8, 1748. He was a soldier in the revolution, a private from Truro in Captain Nathaniel Winslow's company, Colonel Josiah Whitney's regiment, in 1776; also a soldier on the sloop, "Repub- lic," Caleb Dyer, master, in 1778-79. After the war he settled in Athol, Worcester county, Massachusetts. He deeded his farm at Athol to his son Samuel, December 20, 1802, seventy acres. He conveyed other land to his son James Dyer, part of the eighth division, lot 8, December, 1807, taking a mortgage back on the same date. In 1790, when the first federal census was taken, Shebna had three sons under sixteen and four females in his family. He married, at Truro, Mary Paine. Children : 1. Samuel. 2. James, mentioned below. Three or more daughters. Shebna Dyer died intestate in 1817, leaving a widow Mary, who adminis-

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tered the estate, Joel and Samuel Drury were sureties on her bond, Molly Dyer, probably daughter, and Amos Drury, witnesses. The son Samuel died intestate in the summer of 1809.

(VII) James, son of Shebna Dyer, was born in Truro. He married, at Royalston, Massachusetts, October 21, 1807, Mary Holt, of Winchendon, Massachusetts. He lived at Athol. Children, born at Athol: I. Louisa. 2. William. 3. Franklin. 4. Horatio N., born 1817, mentioned below. 5. James Humphrey. 6. Hannah. 7. Theodore. 8. Emeline, mar- ried (intention dated November 21, 1849) Frederick L. Heywood. 9. Mary.

(VIII) Horatio Nelson, son of James Dyer, was born at Athol, 1817. He was a manufac- turer of bricks at Otter River (Templeton), and continued in this business during his active life. He died in 1880. He married Lydia Lawrence Ellis, of Royalston (intention dated at Templeton, March 8, 1845) and she died February 9, 1894. Children, born at Templeton : I. Francis Freelove, born 1846, died 1848. 2. George N., December 19, 1850, a brick manufacturer and dealer in brick and cement at Gardner, Massachusetts. 3. Charles Curtis, May 14, 1857, mentioned below.

(IX) Charles Curtis, son of Horatio Nelson Dyer, was born at Templeton, May 14, 1857. He was educated in the public schools and then became associated with his father in the manu- facture of brick. In 1880, when his father died, he succeeded to the business and con- tinued it until 1888 when he sold it. In 1890 he engaged in the brick business at Greenfield, Massachusetts, and has continued with marked success to the present time there. He is a trustee of the Franklin Savings Institution; director of the Electric Light and Power Com- pany and has been one of the water commis- sioners of Greenfield since 1907. He is a member of the Unitarian church and served three years on its board of assessors. He is a member of the Greenfield Club and the Country Club. He married, November 27, 1879, Harriet P. Blanding, born January 28, 1854, at Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, daugh- ter of Oscar F. Blanding. They have one son, George Blanding, born in Templeton, October 4, 1887. (See Blanding family herewith ).

This surname is variously BLANDING spelled in the early records, Blanton, Blantine, Blandin and Blanding. William Blanding, immigrant ancestor, came from Upton, upon the Seavern,

Worcestershire, England, to Boston as carly as 1639 and was admitted to the church there October 8, 1642. He was a carpenter. He was admitted a freeman, May 10, 1643, and was a deputy to the Plymouth court in 1651. He married Phebe He owned land at Muddy River (Brookline) and shares in the Taunton Iron Works. The general court granted him permission to keep a cook's shop "toward Roxbury" in 1647. He died at Bos- ton, June 15, 1662. His will dated April 16, 1662, bequeathed to wife and children. For not giving his son William more, he gave as his reason, "because he will not hearken to my counsel." In case his daughters should die all his property was bequeathed to his brother Ralph; and if Ralph die without issue his brother John of Upton, England, was to inherit. Children: I. William, mentioned below. 2. Phebe, baptized August 21, 1642. 3. Mary, born August 3, 1645.

(II) William (2), son of William (I) Blanding, was born about 1640-50, probably in Boston, and died at Rehoboth, Massachu- setts, November 25, 1724. He settled in Reho- both when a young man and married there, September 4, 1674, Bethia Wheaton, who died, his widow, April 16, 1709. He gave money to Rehoboth to assist in the defence against the Indians in King Philip's war in 1675-76. He was granted a half-acre on the edge of Rocky Hill for a house lot, in 1680. Children, born at Rehoboth: 1. William, May 2, 1676, mentioned below. 2. Samuel, April II, 1680. 3. Obadiah, April 15, 1683. 4. Daniel, Octo- ber 25, 1685. 5. John, June 20, 1687, died August 26, 1705. 6. Ephraim, October 20, 1689, buried August 15, 1690. 7. Noah, March 7, 1690.

(III) William (3), son of William (2) Blanding, was born at Rehoboth, Massachu- setts, May 2, 1676, died there June 19, 1750. He was admitted to the church in 17II. He married (first) October 16, 1708, Elizabeth Perry, who died at Rehoboth, January 26, 1709-10. He married (second) in 17II, Mehitable Child of first wife, born at Rehoboth : Elizabeth, January 12, 1709-10; died November 26, 1774. Children of second wife: I. William, December 17, 1712, men- tioned below. 2. Esther, September 20, 1714. 3. Mehitable, December II, 1717. 4. Bethia, October 26, 1719. 5. Sibell. September 10, 1721. 7. Rachel, September 3, 1723.

(IV) William (4), son of William (3) Blanding, was born at Rehoboth, December 17, 1712. He married there December 25, 1740,

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Sarah Chaffee, who died August 7, 1768. Children, born at Rehoboth: I. Lois, Febru- ary I, 1742. 2. Ebenezer, August 2, 1744, died young. 3. Lucy, March 8, 1745-46. 4. William, February 27, 1747-48, soldier in the Rehoboth company in the revolution ; married, July 5, 1772, Lydia Ormsbee. 5. Shubael, Sep- tember 19, 1750, soldier in the revolution; married, March 17, 1774, Roxalina Sheldon ; they settled at Royalston, Massachusetts. 6. Ebenezer, February 26, 1754, mentioned below. 7. Christopher, October 1, 1756, married, May 26, 1782, Martha Morton.

(V) Ebenezer, son of William (4) Bland- ing, was born at Rehoboth, February 26, 1754. He was a soldier in the revolution from Reho- both, a private in 1776 in Captain Zebedee Redding's company, Colonel Josiah Whitney's regiment ; also in Captain Nathaniel Carpen- ter's company, Colonel Thomas Carpenter's regiment in 1777. He and his brother Shubael removed to Royalston at about the middle of the revolution, probably in the early summer of 1779. About 1800 he sold his place at Royalston and removed to Richmond. New Hampshire, where he bought a farm of John Ingersoll. He lived on what is known as the David Cass farm, lately owned by Davis Sprague. He finally removed to Richfield, New York, where he died at the advanced age of ninety years. He married, August 29, 1772, Nancy Wheeler, at Rehoboth; she died at Royalston, December 6, 1785. He married (second) Elizabeth The births of thirteen children are recorded at Royalston, though the three eldest were born, as the records state, at Rehoboth. Children : I. Lucy, born February 15, 1774. 2. Olive, Sep- tember II, 1775. 3. Ebenezer, May 28, 1778, married, November 14, 1799, Polly Cheney, at Royalston. 4. Royal, the first born at Royalston ; November 21, 1779. 5. Otis, June 14, 1782, mentioned below. 6. Nancy, March 24, 1784, died March 22, 1785. Children of second wife, born at Royalston: 7. Nancy, February 6, 1789, died March 16, 1789. 8. Tamer, March 6, 1790, died March 24 follow- ing. 9. Franklin, April 7, 1791. 10. Eliza- beth, April 8, 1793. II. Rachel, April 30, 1795. 12. William, April II, 1797. 13. Lois, July 13, 1799. And four others.

(VI) Otis, son of Ebenezer Blanding, was born at.Royalston, June 14, 1782. He removed to Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, and thence to Michigan, where he died. He married (first) December 1, 1808, Abigail Barrus, daughter of Jeremiah Barrus, of Royalston. He mar-

ried (second) January 20, 1825, Sarah Cass, born August 20, 1797, daughter of Daniel and Lydia (Sweet) Cass, of Royalston. He mar- ried (third), at Adrian, Michigan, Mary Ann Foster, born September 28, 1803, died August 6, 1832, daughter of Alexander and Eunice (Hawes) Foster, of Fitzwilliam. Children of first wife, born at Royalston: 1. Harvey, May I, 1809, died March 23, 1859; married, Decem- ber 3, 1835, Mary Howe. 2. Jason, August 21, 18II, died June 12, 1846. 3. Prudence, Janu- ary 24, 1813, married Dennis Bowen. 4. Oscar F., November 4, 1819, mentioned below. 5. Mansel M., April 17, 1822, married, December 24, 1845, Persis Ingalls. Child of second wife, born in Fitzwilliam: 6. William Ebenezer, September 9, 1826, died January 3, 1861 ; mar- ried, August 10, 1855, Hannah E. White. Child of third wife, born in Adrian: 7. Caro- line Sabra, married David B. Day.

(VII) Oscar F., son of Otis Blanding, was born at Royalston, November 4, 1819, resided at Fitzwilliam. He married (first) June 5, 1844, Lydia Goddard, born March 24, 1821, died August 21, 1845, daughter of Thomas and Lydia (Cook) Goddard, of Richmond. He married (second) May 18, 1846, Hannah Whipple, born December 4, 1820, daughter of Henry and Polly (Smith) Whipple, of War- wick. Children, born in Richmond: I. Oscar G., July 24, 1845, married Laura M. Peeler. 2. Aurora Jane, February 28, 1848, married Charles H. Leathe. 3. Laura Ann, September 27, 1849, married George N. Dyer. 4. Henry W., January 10, 1852, married Nellie Rugg. 5. Harriet P., January 28, 1854, married Charles C. Dyer (see Dyer sketch herewith). 6. Lyman H., January 24, 1858.

WHEATER The ancestors of this family were originally Norsemen. The spelling of the name

was then Vaettir, afterward changed to Watter, and the old English pronunciation was about the same as Waiter. In the records the name is spelled both Watter and Wheater, so there seems to have been a difference of opin- ion about it, although they were all of the same family. Knaresboro is the real center of the family history, the family residing there for centuries. In 1455 William Wheater, or Watter, as it was then spelled, was an active participant in the war of the Roses. At the close of the war, he found himself in trouble for taking arms against the crown; he was court martialled but was not punished. He was compelled to leave Knaresboro and accord-

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 117

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 1008

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1008