Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 123

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 123

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(I) The New England Fays are the descend- ants of John Fay, who arrived at Boston in the "Speedwell." from Gravesend, England, June 27, 1656. Savage says that he was eight years old, but other authorities state that he was probably eighteen. He went to Sudbury, but subsequently settled in Marlborough, Mass- achusetts, where, with the exception of a short time spent in Watertown during King Philip's war, he resided for the remainder of his life. His

death occurred December 5, 1690. In 1668 he married Mary Brigham, who was born in Watertown, 1638-39, daughter of Thomas Brigham, of Cambridge; she died in Water- town in 1676. July 15, 1678, he married ( sec- ond ) Mrs. Susanna Morse, nee Shattuck, born in Watertown in 1643, daughter of William Shattuck, and widow of Joseph Morse. The children of his first union were: John, David (died young), Samuel and Mary. Those of his second marriage were: David, Gershom, Ruth and Deliverance.

(II) Gershom, second son of John and Sus- anna (Shattuck) ( Morse) Fay, and sixth of the eight children of John Fay, the immigrant, the first four being by his first wife, Mary Brigham, was born in Marlborough, Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, October 19, 1681. He married Mary, granddaughter of Thomas and Mary (Hurd) Brigham, of Watertown, who was born May 6, 1678. Tradition has given an episode in her life, which deserves to be perpetuated as an example of the bravery of the women of that time and of the dangers with which they were confronted on the frontier settlements. Mrs. Fay and her friend and neighbor, Miss Goodnow, were companions left at home with no protector, the men includ- ing her husband, being at work in the fields some distance from the house. The two women ventured into the garden to gather herbs and, while so employed, a party of Indians in ambush attacked them. Obeying the rules of the settlement they ran toward the garrison house, but before reaching it, Miss Goodnow, who was lame, was overtaken and cruelly slain, while Mrs. Fay reached the door of the garrison house and closed it before the savages could prevent her escape. Here she found a solitary sentinel or guard. No indica- tions of danger being apparent, the other able- bodied men had gone to the fields as was the custom. Once inside the house the heroic Mrs. Fay reloaded the muskets as fast as the senti- nel, who was a crack shot, sent their contents into the body of the nearest savage and the continuous firing brought the husbandmen to the rescue and the Indians, not disabled by the sharp-shooter, fled. The children of Gershom and Mary ( Brigham) Fay were born in Marl- boro as follows: 1. Gershom. September 17, 1703, married Hannah - 2. Mary, July 10, 1705, married George Smith. 3. Susanna, November 18, 1707, was afflicted with nervous tremblings resulting from the fright experi- enced by her mother who was attacked by the Indians only a short time before her birth. 4.

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Sarah, October 2, 1710, married Timothy Bill- ings. 5. Silas, August 12, 1713, married Han- nah 6. Timothy (q. v.). 7. Paul, August, 1721, married Rebecca Rice.

(III) Timothy, third son and sixth child of Gershom and Mary ( Brigham) Fay, was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, June 26, 1716. The part of the town in which he was born was known as Chauncey and was established as the town of Westborough, November 18, 1717, and became the district of Northborough, January 24, 1766, and the town of North- borough, August 23, 1775. About 1750 he removed his family to the Connecticut valley and established a home at Murrayfield, which district was incorporated as a town, October 31, 1765. Here he laid out a farm and built a house in 1752, which he constructed so care- fully and well that it sheltered several genera- tions of the Fay family, and in 1909 was in an excellent state of preservation, the property of Willis Wheeler. Murrayfield became known as Chester on February 21, 1783. Timothy Fay married, in 1738, Lydia Tomblin, and their son, Timothy, was born in the new house in Murrayfield, in 1754.

(IV) Timothy (2), son of Timothy (I) and Lydia (Tomblin) Fay, was born in 1754, in the new plantation known as Murrayfield and which on February 21, 1783, became the town of Chester. He was brought up on his father's new farm, and was a firm patriot in the times that brought on the American revo- lution. In 1778 he determined to enter the service of his country and enlisted in the Third Connecticut line, March 7, 1778, and after nearly three years service was mustered out February 14, 1781. Timothy Fay (2), the revolutionary soldier, died in Chester, Massa- chusetts, in 1799.

(V) Timothy (3), son of Timothy (2) Fay, was born in the town of Murrayfield, Massa- chusetts, November 16, 1781. He was brought up on his father's farm. He married, March 12, 1807, Hannah Jones, and lived at the home- stead where he also worked at his trade of blacksmith and later in life also engaged in the lumber trade and the manufacture of wooden ware. He was a man of excellent standing in the community, was very versatile as a mechanic and noted for his ingenuity and untiring industry. He was very religious and a member of the Methodist church, which he liberally supported. He died in Chester, Hampden county, Massachusetts, in July, 1864. Children, born in Chester, Hampden county : 1. Olive, married Nelson Dickson. 2. William,

married Independence Root. 3. Warren (q. v.), born February 3, 1813. 4. Cordelia, married Wiley Sennet. 5. Timothy, married a Miss Hubbard. 6. Daniel, married Rachel Preston. 7. Hannah, married Dyer Wilbur. 8. Eliza, married Harrison Wilcutt. 9. Solomon. 10. Roena, married Morgan Pease.

(VI) Warren, son of Timothy (3) and Hannah (Jones) Fay, was born in Chester, Hampden county, Massachusetts, February 3, 1813. He inherited his father's mechanical ingenuity and became a noted builder of reservoirs, canals, dams and other construc- tions calling for heavy stone work. His early life was spent on the homestead farm and he was noted for his good judgment and accurate estimates of the character of the men with whom he dealt as well as of the work on which he estimated. He married, in 1846, Jane D., daughter of William and Hannah (Cross) Bell, born in 1817, died February 14, 1876. Children, born in Chester, Massachusetts: I. James Monroe (q. v.). 2. Watson, born about August, 1849. 3. Nancy Minerva, married Charles M. Hathaway, of Westfield. 4. Han- nah Maria, married Henry Cross. 5. Martha Jane, married Myron Day and lived in North- ampton, Massachusetts. Warren Fay died in Chester, Massachusetts, in April, 1854.

(VII) James Monroe, son of Warren and Jane D. (Bell) Fay, was born in Chester, Massachusetts, March 23, 1847. He was of the fourth generation of the Fay family born on the homestead farm in the house built by his great-great-grandfather, Timothy Fay, in 1772. He was educated in the public school of his native town and was prepared for college at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Massachu- setts. He studied medicine under Dr. William O. Bell and began the practice of medicine in Colbrook, Connecticut, in 1868. In 1873 he was invited by the physicians and other citi- zens of Chester to return to his native town to take up the practice of Dr. H. H. Lucas, who had signified his intentions to retire. He accepted the flattering offer and became a prominent factor in the professional and poli- tical affairs of the town. Meantime he was graduated at the University of Vermont, M. D., 1875, and took a post-graduate course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City. He served the town of Cliester as superintendent of schools for six years and after coming to Northampton represented the district in 1884 in the general court of Massa- chusetts and held various town offices. He became a member of the Independent Order

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of Odd Fellows at Chester, being initiated in the order there. In 1881 he removed to Hayden- ville, Connecticut, and in 1884 to Northamp- ton, Massachusetts, where he established an office in Main street and subsequently occupied the old Dr. Marther house. He was appointed a member of the medical and surgical staff of the Cooley-Dickinson Hospital and he served as city physician of Northampton, 1887- 1907. He was a Republican representative from Northampton in the general court of Massachusetts in 1892, serving on the com- mittee on public charitable institutions; as a delegate to attend the dedication of the Massa- chusetts building erected on the grounds of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, and a member of the committee to attend the gov- ernor of the commonwealth on the occasion of his official visit to the Exposition. He re- tired from the staff of the Cooley-Dickinson Hospital in 1907, and was thereupon made trustee of the institution. He was made a member of the Hampshire District Medical Society; of the Eastern Hampden Medical Society ; of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the American Medical Association and he has read before the several societies papers relative to nervous diseases and on pathological subjects, of which he was a specialist. He was a member of the board of health of Northamp- ton for five years, from 1887, and during the time he served as chairman of the board. He was also a member of the board of pension examiners for eighteen years under five admin- istrations, and medical examiner of several of the old line life insurance companies. He was initiated into the secrets of Free-Masonry in St. Andrews Blue Lodge at West Winstead, Connecticut, and from thence he passed through the council, chapter and commandery of Northampton, and he became a member of the Mystic Shrine in Springfield and held nearly all the offices of the lodge and worked in all the bodies except the head. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion. He married (first) May 10, 1872, Han- nah, daughter of James and Hannah ( Hack- ett) Forsythe, of England. She died February 8, 1886, leaving one child, Clara Evangeline, who married Dr. A. G. Doane, of Northamp- ton. Dr. Fay married (second) Mary L., daughter of Elisha and Cordelia Hubbard, of Hatfield, March 23, 1887. She died August 23, 1903, leaving two children: I. Grace Louise, who was salutatorian of her class in the Northampton high school, and matriculated without a condition at Smith College; married

E. W. Whalen. 2. Mary Bell, in 1908 a mem- ber of the junior class in Northampton high school. Dr. Fay married (third) November, 1905, in Wyoming, New York, Clara M., daughter of Virgil Homer and Phoebe ( Cronk- hite) Cate, of Wyoming, New York, and granddaughter of Joseph and Elizabeth ( Bald- win) Cate. With his wife he is connected with the Congregational church.

EMMEL John Emmel was born at Heidel-

berg, Germany, of an ancient and highly respectable German family.

He was a miller by trade in his native city, where he died when but little past middle age. He married Katharine Bloom, a native of the same city. After the death of her husband she came to America where she lived with her children, who came here before her. She lived to be more than seventy years of age. Chil- dren: I. John, settled in Pennsylvania and was a prosperous farmer ; died at his home there, leaving a family. 2. Christopher, also settled in Pennsylvania and was a farmer ; died there, leaving three daughters. 3. George, settled on Long Island, New York, a harness- maker by trade; had three sons and a daugh- ter by his first wife, and four sons and a daugh- ter by the second. 4. Louis, married a Boston girl ; settled in New York City and died there at a comparatively early age. 5. William, lived for some years in New York and New Jersey, and finally located at Boston where he died. 6. Carl, born in Germany, mentioned below.

(II) Carl, son of John Emmel, was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and received his edu- cation in his native city. He was fourteen years old when he came with others of the family to this country. He learned the art of wood carving in New York City. In 1863 he came to Boston and was employed by a Mr. Davenport, a well known furniture manufac- turer of that city. A number of years later, he left the Davenport establishment to engage in business in Boston. He was one of the most skillful wood carvers in the business, a veritable artist in his line. Even after he had his business to manage, he was often called upon to execute some particularly intricate or difficult piece of work. He prospered in busi- ness, continuing active almost to the time of his death, March 5. 1904. He was well known in the furniture trade and universally respected for his artistic ability, his practical knowledge and skill as a craftsman, his uprightness and sincerity. He had a host of friends, and had a large and wholesome influence especially

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among the German-speaking people of Boston. He was fond of his home and devoted to his family. From early manhood he was an active and earnest Republican in politics. In religion he was a Presbyterian. He was a member of the Masonic Order. He married, December II, 1865, at Cambridge, Margaret Wood, born in that city, February 17, 1848. She was edu- cated in the public and high schools of her native city. She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Wilkinson ) Wood. Carl and Mar- garet (Wood) Emmel had one child, Laura, married Walter Kenniston, who succeeded her father as manager of the furniture business on Albany street, Boston, and has conducted a large and successful business. Mrs. Emmel resides at 15 Myrtle street, Jamaica Plain, Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Kenniston have had no children. but have adopted a daughter, Bertha.

John Wood was born in Newcastle, England, and came of an old respected family of that city. He married, in England, Elizabeth Wil- kinson, and in 1846 came to Cambridge, Mass- achusetts, where he followed his trade as a glass-blower. He died there in middle life, leaving a widow and five children. His widow died at the age of seventy-four. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, though communicants of the established church in the old country. Their children: I. George Wood, died from the effects of wounds in the service during the civil war at Fortress Mon- roe. after making a gallant record as a soldier in the Twenty-fourth Regiment, Massachu- setts Volunteers, Company E, first under Cap- tain Stevens, later under Captain Wilson. 2. Belle Wood, married Otis Danforth, of one of the oldest Combridge families, now retired and living at Lebanon, Maine, where he and his wife are enjoying the fruits of an active and fruitful business career ; their only child, Eliz- abeth, married Charles Simon, of Somerville. 3. John W. Wood, a wood-carver by trade, lives in Cambridge, married Ellen Shepard, of Cambridge, and had children: Gerard Wood, now residing in Cambridge, Stephen, manager of a Boston branch of a New York house, John W. Wood, Jr., teacher in the Rindge Manual Training School of Cambridge, Made- leine Wood, teacher in the public schools of Cambridge, and Charles Wood, associated with George Giles in an extensive real estate busi- ness on Massachusetts avenue in Cambridge ; he married Emma Stewart, of Cambridge, and has children: Esther, Elizabeth, Margaret and Harriet. 4. Margaret Wood, mentioned above, married Carl Emmel.

The very numerous family of EASTMAN this name which has spread throughout New England and many of the middle and western states is the progeny of a pioneer of Salisbury, Massachu- setts, and many of the later generations in New Hampshire are descended from the first of the name in Concord, who was the principal settler of that town. This family has many prominent representatives in its various gen- erations. The earliest known record of the ancestry of the Eastmans of this country is the will of John Eastman, of Ramsey, county of Southampton, England, dated September 24, 1602.

(I) Roger Eastman, as investigation shows, was the first of the name in America. He was born in Wales, in 1611, and died in Salisbury, Massachusetts, December 16, 1694. He came from Langford, county of Wilts, sailing from Southampton, April, 1638, in the ship "Con- fidence" John Jobson, master, bound for Mass- achusetts Bay Colony. On the ship's papers he was entered as a servant of John Saunders. It is believed that his real rank was higher · than appears, but was concealed on account of the emigration laws or for political reasons. The name has been spelled and mis-spelled in divers ways, Easman being one of the com- monest divergencies. Roger Eastman received lands in the first division in Salisbury in 1640- 43. and his minister's tax in 1650 was eight shillings and three pence. From Salisbury the members of this family dispersed in vari- ous directions, the major part settling in the southern towns of New Hampshire and the northern towns of Massachusetts. Members of the third generations pushed farther north and settled on the Merrimack. Roger East- man married Sarah Smith (the surname is uncertain, however), who was born in 1621, died in Salisbury, Massachusetts, March II, 1697. They were members of the church in Salisbury in 1694. Their children were: John, born January 9, 1640; Nathaniel, March 18, 1643: Philip, October 20, 1644: Thomas, Sep- tember 11. 1646; Timothy, September 29, 1648; Joseph, November 8, 1650: Benjamin, Decem- ber 12, 1652; Sarah, July 25, 1655; Samuel, September 20, 1657; and Ruth, January 21, 1661.

(II) Philip, third son of Roger and Sarah (Smith) Eastman, was born in Salisbury, Massachusetts, October 20, 1644. The name of his first wife is unknown; by her he had one daughter. He married (second) August 22, 1678, Mary Morse, born September 22,

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1645, widow of Anthony Morse, and daughter of Thomas and Eleanor Barnard, of Newbury- port, Massachusetts.

He married (third) Margaret - - His children were: I. Sus- annah, born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1673, and died in the one hundredth year of her age ; she was twice married and twice captured by Indians. 2. Hannah, born in Haverhill, No- vember 5, 1679. 3. Ebenezer, January 10, 1681. 4. Philip, August 18, 1684. 5. Abigail, 1689. Philip Eastman first lived in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where his house was burned by Indians, March 15, 1697, some of the family being captured and others dispersed. He also was captured at the same time but finally escaped. Later he settled in Connecticut, where his son had preceeded him. A full record of the family has never been found. It is known, however, that he served in King Philip's war. On the town records of Wood- stock, Connecticut, where he settled, mention is made of Philip Eastman as being represented by his heirs in the distribution of lands as laid out among the proprietors in 1715; mention is also made of his buying a piece of land in Ashford, a town adjoining Woodstock. He died prior to the year 1714.

(III) Ebenezer, third child of Philip East- man, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, (one record says), February 17, 1681. The first date above is from the Haverhill records and ought to be correct. He married, March 4, 1710, Sarah Peaslee or Peasley, daughter of Colonel Nathaniel and Judith ( Kimball) Peas- ley. Captain Eastman was the first settler in Concord, New Hampshire, and there are many interesting facts concerning the part he took in the settlement of the town that was to be- come the future capital of the commonwealth. The services he rendered and the affairs of trust and honor committed to his charge were many, and always faithfully and honorably administered. Having considerable property, and coming as he did at the earliest period of settlement, with six sons, the eldest of whom was fifteen years of age and able to perform the work of a man, Captain Eastman became in a few years the strong man of the town. In 1731 his house and home lot were in better order and he had more land under cultivation than any other person in the settlement. At the age of nine years, his father's house was destroyed by Indians, and at nineteen years of age he joined the regiment of Colonel Wain- wright in the expedition against Port Royal, Nova Scotia. In 1711, when about twenty- one years of age, he had command of a com-

pany of infantry which embarked on a trans- port forming a part of a fleet under Sir How- enden Walker in the expedition against Canada. In the ascent of the St. Lawrence river, tradition says, the weather was very rough and the fleet had orders to follow at night the great light at the admiral's masthead. To do so in doubling a certain rocky and dan- gerous cape would bring sure destruction to any ship so doing, but Captain Eastman, hav- ing previous knowledge of the state of things, and supported by his men, by force compelled the captain of the ship to deviate from the admiral's instructions and thus saved the ship and all on board, while eight or nine other vessels and a thousand men perished by follow- ing the orders of the admiral.

Captain Eastman went to Cape Breton twice, the first time, March 1, 1745, in command of a company, and was present at the reduction of Louisburg, June 16, 1745. He returned No- vember 10, 1745. Early in the next year he went again and returned home July 9, 1746. He was also a captain in Colonel Sylvester Richmond's regiment of Massachusetts, Feb- ruary 6, 1744. On settling in Penacook (Con- cord) his "house lot" was numbered 9, second range on Main street. In the second survey, in 1727, he had lot No. 16, containing four and a half acres, on "Mill Brook Range," east side of the river, where he finally settled and had a garrison around his house. At the time of the massacre in Penacook, August 11, 1746, Captain Eastman and family were in a garri- son on the east side of the river. Subsequently he erected on or near the spot a large two- story house, but before it was finished he died. This house is still standing and is occupied by Colonel J. E. Pecker as a residence. Captain Eastman was an extensive farmer, and in 1729 took a lease of the farm land of Judge Sewell, containing five hundred acres, with the islands, for a period of thirty years, for which he was to pay rent as well as to greatly improve the property. He died July 28, 1748, and the inventory of the property he then left amount- ed to seven thousand nine hundred and twelve pounds, ten shillings and six pence. His chil- dren were: Ebenezer, Philip, Joseph, Na- thaniel, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Ruth and Moses.

(IV) Obadiah, sixth son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Peaslee or Peasley) Eastman, was born December 1I, 1721, in Haverhill, died at Salem, New Hampshire, March 28, 1767. His grave is in the cemetery in the south part of Salem, where he resided through his active life. He was a selectman of the town ten

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terms, beginning 1752, in which year, he was elected treasurer, and was moderator in 1764. A quaint record shows that Henry Lancaster resigned to him his pew next the broad aisle in the church at Salem, which had been bid in for one hundred and sixty-one pounds. So far as known he is the only Eastman buried in Salem; all his children removed elsewhere. He married, in 1744, Mehitable, daughter of John and Sarah (Dustin) Waters, grand- daughter of Hannah Dustin. Mrs. Waters was about eight years old when the famous Hannah Dustin was taken prisoner by the Indians at Haverhill. The latter is the only one having the distinction of two granite mon- uments, one located in Haverhill and the other on Dustin Island, in the town of Concord, New Hampshire, where her famous feat of scalp- ing her Indian captors was accomplished. Chil- dren of Obadiah Eastman: Hannah, Obadiah, Timothy, Caleb, Anna, Ebenezer and Simeon. (V) Obadialı (2), eldest son of Obadialı (I) and Mehitable (Waters) Eastman, was born April 27, 1747, in Salem, died in Benton, New Hampshire, January 10, 1812. He settled with his family in Coventry, (now Benton) about 1783, being among the pioneers of that town. It is probable that he secured his home there and made some improvements before re- moving his family thither. His home was on what is now High street, about one mile from Glencliff station on the Boston and Maine rail- road, the postoffice being Warren Summit. In 1767 he was surveyor of Salem, being then twenty years of age, and was elected fence viewer March 31, 1779, and petit juror July 13, 1780. He was the first surveyor of Coventry, a member of the committee to lay out the lots of the town, and was deputized by the proper authorities to call the first town meeting of that town. As revo- lutionary soldier, he was member of Cap- tain Jesse Page's company, Colonel Jacob Gale's regiment. He was made corporal August 5, 1778, in the service army in Rhode Island, going from Haverhill, and was dis- charged from this service August 25, 1778. He married, November 19, 1767, in Salem, Mchitable, daughter of Peter Merrill, of that town, born April 16, 1747, in Salem, died De- cember 27, 1815, in Benton. Mr. Eastman and wife where buried in the old burying ground on High street, Benton. Children: I. Jesse, born September 13, 1769. 2. Sarah, July 31, 1771. 3. Obadiah, October, 1777. 4. James, February 21, 1780. 5. Moses, mentioned below. 6. Ruth, July 26, 1785. 7. Peter, June 3, 1788.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 123

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