Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 133

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 133

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probably died young. 5. Mary, January 29, 1726, probably died young. 6. John, February 6, 1728, married Elizabeth, sister of General George Reid. 7. Elizabeth, January 28, 1730. 8. Thomas, March 26, 1732. 9. Benjamin, Sep- tember 13, 1734, married Agnes, sister of Col- onel James Gilmore, of Windham, and daugh- ter of James Gilmore, of Londonderry.

(II) Thomas, son of Deacon James and Elizabeth (McKeen) Nesmith, was born in Londonderry, March 26, 1732, died November 30, 1789. After marriage he settled in Wind- ham, where he was a farmer. Both he and his wife were industrious and frugal and by their united efforts accumulated a comfortable prop- erty for those days. They were generous to the unfortunate and needy and their home was a refuge for many distressed persons. In 1761 he married Annis, daughter of James and Janet (Taggart) Wilson, both of Irish birth and Scotch ancestors. Annis Nesmith sur- vived her husband thirty-four years and died January 4, 1824, having borne him three chil- dren, all born in Windham: 1. John, March 29, 1762. 2. Elizabeth, married Jonathan Wallace and in 1814 removed to New York state. 3. James, died young.

(III) John, son of Thomas and Annis (Wilson) Nesmith, was born in Windham, March 29, 1762, died February 20, 1806. He succeeded his father in the ownership of the old farm in Windham, and his parents spent the later years of their lives as members of his household. The farm contained about four hundred acres, and in connection with its management Mr. Nesmith carried on a general store. He was a prosperous man and accumu- lated a good property, although he died in the prime of life. He married Lucy, daughter of Captain Jacob Martin. She was born in Ips- wich, Massachusetts, November 17, 1765, died February 20, 1837. She was a woman of strong character and remarkable business ability, and although lame and compelled to use a crutch in walking she did more work than most women, and after her husband's death with the aid of her sons carried on the store until her marriage, in 1813, with Deacon Daniel McKeen. He died November 4, 1820, after which she returned to her old home. John and Lucy ( Martin) Nesmith had nine chil- dren, all born in Windham: 1. Colonel Jacob Martin, September 20, 1786, lived in Windham and died there January 21, 1863. 2. Thomas, September 7, 1788, was Colonel Thomas Nesmith, one of the foremost business men of his time, and accumulated a large fortune. 3.

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Betsey, April 30, 1791, died January 18, 1836; married Alexander Park. 4. John, August 3, 1793. 5. James Wilson, May 28, 1796, died April 29, 1881 ; married Eliza G. Parker. 6. Lucy, November 13, 1798, died April 22, 1848; married, December 3, 1829, John Patten, born October 15, 1798, died December 19, 1866. 7. Annis, January 16, 1801, died March 31, 1877 ; married, December 27, 1827, William David- son, and removed to New York state. 8. George Reid, March 14, 1803, died August 21, 1882. 9. Jonathan Wallace, October 28, 1805, died in Somerville, Massachusetts, November 2, 1847; married Mary Manton and lived in New York City.

(IV) Lieutenant Governor John (2), son of John ( I) and Lucy ( Martin ) Nesmith, was born in Windham, New Hampshire, August 3, 1793, and until he attained his twenty-ninth year was quite actively identified with the civil and political history of that town, town treas- urer in 1819 and representative from Wind- ham to the general assembly in 1821. 'In 1822 he removed to the town of Derry, formerly a part of the mother town of Londonderry. He had only the education afforded by the common schools and began his business life poor in purse, but with strong determination and a mind which was both bright and active. At the age of fourteen he was clerk in the general store formerly conducted by his father and at nineteen with his elder brother Thomas started in business on their own account, having a general store in Windham. From the outset they prospered. As soon as his cash capital and credit would permit he removed to New York City, entered into partnership with his cousins, John P. and Thomas Nesmith, and built up a large and very profitable trade. In 1831 the brothers went to Lowell, Massachu- setts, where they made large investments in real estate and otherwise identified themselves · actively and earnestly with the interests of that city, in which they saw promise of future growth and prosperity, and they were leaders in enterprise and progress, shrewd and far- sighted men of affairs. John Nesmith soon became interested in the manufacture of blankets, flannels, prints, sheetings and other textile fabrics, and that became his own principal occupation. He became agent or part owner in mills in Lowell, Dracut, Chelmsford, Hookset and other places, and managed those enterprises with almost unvarying success. He was a large stockholder in the Merrimack Woolen Mills Company. Appreciating per- haps more than any other man the natural

advantages of water power as a factor in the industrial importance of the city of Lowell, he conceived the idea of securing the water supply in Winnepesaukee and Squam lakes in New Hampshire as reservoirs for the Lowell mills in seasons of drouth and of letting the water into the Merrimack by artificial canals when needed ; but his suggestions were repudiated by those whom he would have interested with himself in this then great project, but being himself sure of the future need of those waters, he bought the right to use both of those lakes for the purpose, and it was not very long after- ward that other manufacturers were compelled to reckon with him in order to secure water power to turn the wheels in their own mills. And it appears that John Nesmith was the first person to discern the natural desirability of the site of the present city of Lawrence on the Merrimack as a center of manufacture, and having in view the future of that locality he made heavy purchases of land on both sides of the river and secured a charter for the control of the water power. About 1844 his opera- tions began to attract the attention of Boston capitalists, and soon afterward large factories began to rise at Lawrence. The later growth and development of that city as an industrial center attests something of the sagacity and foresight of its actual founder, John Nesmith. He also purchased the Gedney estate at Bel- videre, Lowell, with its large mansion house -- the "Old Yellow House"-built in 1750. He laid out streets, giving his own name to one of them ; and his purchase being made soon after the organization of the Merrimack Manufac- turing Company, he sold the property to very good advantage. But while carrying on these various undertakings he still found time to devote to mechanical study and experiment. Several of his inventions were of great import- ance and value, and among them may be men- tioned the well known machines for making wire fence and shawl fringe. Though natur- ally averse to the turmoil of political life, he held various offices in the city government of Lowell, and like most anti-slavery men he found himself within the ranks of the Republi- can party on its organization in 1856, and he was a presidential elector from this state in tlie college that made Mr. Lincoln president in 1861 and again in 1865. In 1862 he was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts on the ticket with Governor John A. Andrew, and declined renomination at the end of his term of office. Afterward he was appointed collector of internal revenue for his district

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and discharged the duties of that office until twelve days before his death, when he resigned. His attachment to the principles of his party was that of the moralist rather than the partisan, and in political affairs he never lost the respect or confidence of either friends or opponents. The temperance movement in the state engaged his hearty interest and for several years he was president of the State Alliance. From the large fortune acquired by his enterprise and business capacity, he made generous donations to objects of charity and benevolence which had won his sympathy, and he was invariably kind and hospitable to all his friends and neigh- bors. In his will he made generous provision for the care, support and education of the indigent blind of New Hampshire, a founda- tion known as the Nesmith fund; and also provided for a public park in the town of Franklin, New Hampshire. In June, 1825, John Nesmith married (first) Mary Ann, daughter of Samuel Bell, of Chester, New Hampshire. She died at St. Augustine, Florida, February 26, 1831, leaving two chil- dren. He married (second) Eliza Thom Bell, daughter of Governor John Bell, of Chester, She died in Lowell, September 4, 1836, she had children. He married (third) October 19, 1840, Harriet Rebecca Mansur, born July 14, 1816, daughter of Aaron Mansur, of Lowell. Mr. Nesmith had in all fourteen children: I. John, died young. 2. Lucy Anne, died young. 3. John, died young. 4. Eliza Jane Bell, born August 19, 1836, married, December 4, 1873, John Bell Bouton, of Concord, New Hamp- shire, New York City, and Cambridge, Massa- chusetts (see Bouton). 5. Harriet Bell, born August 16, 1841, died March 1, 1871 ; married, October 29, 1868, Horace B. Coburn, of Lowell. 6. Isabel, October 1, 1844, married, October 1, 1872, Governor Frederick T. Green- halge. 7. John, died young. 8. Julia Dalton, February 1, 1848, married, January 1, 1894, Thomas Parker Ivy, of Georgia. 9. Rebecca, died young. 10. Arthur, died young. II. Will- iam, died young. 12. James E., born January 27, 1856. 13. Joseph Aaron, March 25, 1857; Harvard, 1881 ; married, June 10, 1891, Louise A., daughter of Horace R. and Martha M. Barker.

(V) James E., son of Lieutenant Governor John (2) and Harriet Rebecca (Mansur) Nesmith, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, January 27, 1856, died there July 25, 1898. His earlier education was acquired in the Lowell public and high schools, from the latter of which he was graduated, and Phillips

Exeter Academy, where he was a student for one year and fitted for college; but "naturally artistic, and a desultory student for the most part," says his biographer, he "saw little attrac- tion in a university life, and he chose rather, for the next few years, to work at the National Academy of Design in New York, and at the Boston art schools. But, art lover that he was by nature, 'he still had the cultured man's instinct for a profession, and after a later course at the Harvard Law School we find him in 1884 admitted to the bar." But this was all, for he never took up the practice of law, but naturally and instinctively turned to art. Three times he went abroad, and while in Rome studied art in Miss Foley's studio. In this country several of his sketching trips were made in company with the artist, Phelps, par- ticularly during the latter's sojourn among the White mountains of New Hampshire. "With the publication of his first volume of poems Mr. Nesmith's ability as a poet was brought before the public by Mr. Douglas Sladon, the English critic, who at once counted him among the American singers in a late compilation of the literary men belonging to his generation." Says his biographer: "As a poet and singer Mr. Nesmith holds a some- what isolated position in his art. Unlike the modern lyrists, and having but little tolerance for the decadent school, this lover of nature in all its simplicity has cared but little for the comradeship of fellow-workers, catching inspir- ation rather than the genius of the master minds." Again: "Mr. Nesmith's chief power lies in the simple portrayal of nature, but a certain element of courage inspires another class of sonnets that in themselves command respect even if they do not bear so deep a mark of a poet." And again : "The cardinal interest in these poems lies in their really true artistic worth. As a word-painter Mr. Nesmith is as faithful a colorist as we can find among the pupils of Tennyson, and a certain strength of terseness of epigram adds a personality that is as Nesmithian as the art is Tennysonian. In fact it is this strong individuality which keeps Mr. Nesmith from belonging to the coterie of lesser modern songsters." Mr. Nesmith's first volume of verse, "Monadnock, and Other Poems," appeared during the latter part of 1888, and was followed by his "Philoclites," the latter his only other volume in verse. His last published book was his "Life of Governor Greenhalge." The governor was the author's brother-in-law, having married his elder sister Isabel. Mr. Nesmith's sonnet to Michael

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Angelo is quoted in Steadman's "Anthology," and his "Monadnock" was given much promi- nence in Sladon's "The Younger American Poets." In 1885 James E. Nesmith married Alice Eastman, of Lowell, and of this marriage three daughters were born.

Edward Payson, immigrant PAYSON ancestor, was born at Nazing, county Norfolk, England, where he was baptized October 13, 1613. Nazing is near Stanstead Abbots. He settled first in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he was a mem- ber of the church as early as 1634. He was admitted a freeman May 13, 1640, and was a proprietor of Roxbury. He contributed an annual subscription of three shillings for the support of free schools in the town. He died at Dorchester in 1689. His will was dated November 10, 1688, and proved September 3, 1691. He bequeathed to his wife Mary, sons John, Ephraim, Edward and Samuel Payson ; sons-in-law, Benjamin Tucker and Preserved Capen ; giving a Bible to each grandchild. He married (first) August 20, 1640, Ann Parks, who was buried September 10, 1641. He mar- ried (second) January 1, 1642, Mary Eliot, believed to be sister of the Indian Apostle and daughter of Bennett and Lette ( Ager) Eliot, of Nazing. Edward Payson had a brother, Giles Payson, who was baptized at Nazing, May 14, 1609, died at Roxbury, January 28, 1687; married Elizabeth Dowell; died 1688. Child of Edward and Ann (Parks) Payson : I. Mary, born September 2, 1641, died unmarried. Children of second wife, Mary: 2. John, June II, 1643, died November 15, 1719; married Bathsheba Tileston. 3. Jonathan, December 19, 1644, died unmarried. 4. Ann, April 26, 1646, died February 15, 1659. 5. Joanna, Febru- ary 5, 1649-50, buried February 15, 1650 ( Morse states that Joanna of this family, perhaps a later child, married Samuel Willis). 6. Ann, baptized November 30, 1651, married Benja- min Tucker. 7. Susanna, baptized August 28, 1653, died September 29, 1654. 8. Susanna, born June 27, 1655, married. April 9, 1673, Samuel Capen. 9. Edward A., June 20, 1657, died August 22, 1732. . 10. Ephraim, baptized February 20, 1659, died October 18, 1732; married Catherine Leadbetter. . 11. Samuel, baptized September 21, 1662, mentioned below. 12. Mary, baptized March 19, 1665, died Octo- ber 20, 1708, married Capen.

(II) Samuel, son of Edward Payson, was born in Roxbury, baptized there September 21, 1662, died March 24, 1721. He was admitted

a freeman in 1690. He inherited his father's homestead in Dorchester and was a farmer there all his life. He was a constable in 1699, later a selectman and for many years one of the leading citizens. He bought property in Dorchester, January 3, 1693, of Daniel Collins. His will was dated November 21, 1721, and proved December 4, 1721, bequeathing to his wife Mary, to children Mary, Dorcas, Eliza- beth, Ann, Edward, George and Phillips. He married Mary Phillips, sister of Rev. George Phillips, whence came the personal name Phillips in the Payson family. His wife joined the church August 3, 1690, and died April 20, 1725. His death was due to small-pox. Chil- dren, born at Dorchester : I. Mary, March 9, 1688-89, died January 6, 1692-93. 2. Sarah, October 12, 1690, married, May 29, 1711, Will- iam Chamberlain. 3. Anna, February 3, 1691- 92, died October 26, 1692. 4. Samuel, Septem- ber 4, 1693. died young. 5. Edward, June 21, 1695, died December 4 or January 29, 1721. 6. Mary, April 9, 1697. 7. Dorcas, January 17, 1698-99. 8. George, December 12, 1702, married Mary Trott. 9. Rev. Phillips, Febru- ary 29, 1704, mentioned below. 10. Elizabeth, mentioned in her father's will; married, November 19, 1729, John Daman. II. Han- nah, January 12, 1710-II, married, June 19, 1729, James Jeffs.

( III) Rev. Phillips, son of Samuel Payson, was born in Dorchester, February 29, 1704. He graduated from Harvard College in 1724 and was delegated to preach by the Dorchester Society, February 6, 1728. He became a candi- date for the ministry in 1729. He preached at Walpole the first time June 8, 1729, and accepted a call from the society of that town, January 30, 1730, in a brief business-like letter. The one condition stated in Mr. Payson's letter was that the town should furnish him all the firewood he should need, four paces in length, brought to his house. He was ordained and installed September 16, 1730. In the early days of his ministry, Mr. Payson was greatly troubled by the unchristian behavior of some of the members of the church and many were disciplined. On the whole, however, he had a peaceful and harmonious pastorate lasting for the long period of nearly forty-eight years. A good understanding existed between him and his parishioners and he enjoyed the respect and friendship of old and young. Most of his years were passed in quiet and peaceful labor, and good works. The thoughtfulness of his people is shown in a vote passed in 1772, when he was growing old and infirm: "Voted to

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build a seat in the pulpit for the benefit of Mr. Payson, if it is desired." His pastorate lasted until his death, January 22, 1778. He was a typical minister of the colonial period, a fine type of the New England pastor. He sympa- thized with the Whig movement and lived to see the opening years of the struggle for inde- pendence. He married (first ) (intention dated November 17, 1733, at Walpole) Ann Swift, daughter of Rev. John Swift, of Framingham. She died December 30. 1756. He married (second) (intention dated October 9, 1757) Keziah (Bullen) Morse, born September 5, 1720, daughter of John and Mehitable ( Fisher ) Bullen, widow of Seth Morse, of Medfield. Her first husband and sons were drowned while fording the Charles river, May 25, 1753. He married (third) (intention dated December 29, 1772) Sarah ( Payson) Mather, of Pom- fret, Connecticut, widow of Thomas Mather and daughter of Edward Payson, of Pomfret. Children of first wife: 1. Mary, born Novem- ber 22, 1734. 2. Rev. Phillips, January 18, 1735-36, graduate of Harvard College, 1754, a prominent minister. 3. Swift, November 27, 1737, mentioned below. 4. Samuel, April 26, 1739, graduate of Harvard : minister at Lunen- burg. Massachusetts; died unmarried. 5. George, September 27, 1741, died January 31, 1741-42. 6. George, May 24, 1744, deacon of the Walpole Church : died July 6, 1788; mar- ried Abigail Boyden : (second) Keziah ( Chick- ering) Morse, widow of Major Joseph Morse. 7. John, January 6, 1745-46. Child of second wife: 8. Rev. Seth, September 30, 1758, grad- vate of Harvard, 1777, D. D .; married Grata Payson.

(IV) Swift, son of Rev. Phillips Payson, was born at Walpole, November 27, 1737, died January 27, 1816. He settled in the north part of Foxborough prior to its incorporation as a town in 1778 on the farm where Albert Swift Payson lately resided. At the first town meet- ing he was chosen clerk. He was a member of the first committee of safety and correspond- ence and re-elected in 1779. In 1780 he was selectman and on the committee to consider the state constitution. This committee recom- mended several

important amendments endorsed by the town at a subsequent meeting. He was a delegate to the convention to con- sider the proposed division of Suffolk county in 1792; on the committee to call a minister and as late as 1810 an assessor of the town. He was a soldier in the revolution, a private of Captain Samuel Fisher's company, Colonel Ephraim Wheelock's regiment in the Rhode

Island campaign in December, 1776. He mar- ried, December 1I, 1766, Esther Clapp, born March 23, 1746, daughter of Joshua and Abi- gail (Bullard) Clapp, granddaughter of Joshua and Mary ( Boyden ) Clapp, and great-grand- daughter of Thomas Clapp, son of the immi- grant Thomas. Children, born at Foxborough : I. Phillips, October 24, 1773, married Abigail Clark. 2. Susanna, June 19, 1777, died unmar- ried January 7, 1836. 3. James, August 10, 1782, mentioned below. 4. Esther, January 6, 1785, died May 15, 1860; married, June 19, 1811, Spencer Hodges.

(V) James, son of Swift Payson, was born in Foxborough, August 10, 1782, died Novem- ber 16, 1827. He inherited the homestead in his native town and followed farming for his occupation. He married, April 26, 1808, Sarah Stratton, born September 19, 1786, daughter of James Stratton, of Framingham. Children, born at Foxborough: 1. William, July 31, 1809, died December 26, 1809. 2. Samuel Russell; February 2, 1813, mentioned below. 3. Albert Swift, April 26, 1816, inherited the homestead; married Lucy G. Holden; chil- dren : Hannah Holden, Joseph Holden, Edward, James. 4. James Gardner, March 7, 1819, married Emma Kimball, of Nashua; had no children.

(VI) Samuel Russell, son of James Payson, was born at Foxborough, February 2, 1813, died at Belmont, Massachusetts, July 12, 1897. He was educated in the public schools of his native town. In early life he became a mem- ber of the firm of J. C. Howe & Company, a large and prosperous woolen commission house of Boston. After a long and successful busi- ness this firm went out of business in the fall of 1873. In 1874 when the Manchester, New Hampshire, mills were sold out, he was the buyer. He organized a corporation in which the old stockholders were given advantageous terms and of which he became president. The business prospered greatly after that. The company operated the mills known as Man- chester Mills. Out of distressing complications which. grew from a tragic source in 1886, his large fortune was seriously impaired and he made an assignment. But, at great personal sacrifice, he managed to pay off his obligations in full and maintained his high reputation for business ability and integrity. His quiet and unostentatious manner and great force of char- arcter attracted to him a large circle of friends. He won to a remarkable degree the confidence and affection of his associates in business and social life, and held a leading place in the

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business world of New England for two gen- erations or more, and was one of the promi- nent figures among the manufacturers of that section. He was a Congregationalist in Old South Church, very active in religious work, and a Republican in politics. He was a mem- ber of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, a life member from April 7, 1869. He removed to Belmont. He married Hannah Gilbert Cushing, of Assonet, daughter of Dr. Oliver and Eliza (Winslow) Cushing. (See Cushing family ). Children : I. Adelaide Eliza, married John Carver Palfrey, son of the scholar and historian, and resides at Bel- mont, Massachusetts; he was born December 25, 1833, at Cambridge, Massachusetts ; he was prominent in the civil war, holding the rank of major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel and brigadier general, United States army ; was overseer of the Thayer School of Civil Engineering in Dartmouth College in 1868; vice-president of the Webster Bank of Boston; author of many standard historical works. 2. Gilbert Russell, mentioned below.

(VII) Gilbert Russell, son of Samuel Rus- sell Payson, was born in 1840, died May, 1891. He was educated in the private schools at Bos- ton (Dixwell) and at Harvard College, where he was graduated in the class of 1862, A. B. He engaged in dry goods business under firm name of White, Payson & Company, agents ( selling ) for the Manchester Mills. He was a Congregationalist, active in Old South Church, and a Republican in politics. He married Althea Train, born in Framingham, Massachu- setts, July 24, 1847, daughter of Charles R. and Martha A. ( Jackson) Train, (see Train). Children: I. Gilbert Russell Jr., born October 10, 1868, mentioned below. 2. Eleanor, April 4, 1873, married Philip S. Parker, lawyer, 84 State street, lives in Brookline ; four children : Philip S. Jr., Grace Hamilton, Eleanor Gilbert, Frances. 3. Samuel Cushing, April 20, 1875, mentioned below. 4. Charles Clifford, Febru- ary 1, 1877, married Ethel Winslow Williams, daughter of Charles I. and Ella ( Winslow ) Williams, of Brookline, Massachusetts; had one child, Althea, born November 24, 1906. He attended Hopkinson's private school, Bos- ton : graduate of Harvard, class 1898, A. B .; clerk in office of Lancaster Mills one year ; 1902 became member of firm of Ingersoll, Amory and Company, cotton buyers and brokers ; his wife attended private school in Boston ( Miss Fullsom's on Chestnut street) ; at home until marriage ; lives Brookline, Massachusetts.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 133

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