Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 5

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 5

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).

(II) Philip, son of John Bill, was born in England, about 1620. He lived at Pulling Point, a part of Boston, Massachusetts, where his brother James and mother Dorothy were living. Next he resided at Ipswich until 1667 or 1668, when he removed to New London, Connecticut, after spending some months vis- iting relatives in Pulling Point. He settled on the east side of the Thames river, in that part of New London incorporated in 1705 as the new town of Groton. He became the owner

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of a large amount of real estate. He died July. 8, 1689, of a throat distemper, and his daugh- ter Margaret died the same day. His widow Hannah married (second) Samuel Bucknall. or Buchland, of New London, and died in 1709. Children: I. Philip, born about 1669 ; married Elizabeth Lester; (second) Mary 2. Mary, born about 1661. 3. Mar- garet, born about 1663 ; died July 8, 1689. 4. Samuel, born about 1665; married (first) Mercy Houghton; (second) Elizabeth 5. John, born about 1667; married Mercy Fowler; (second) Hannah Hurst. 6. Eliza- beth, born in New London. 7. Jonathan, bap- tized November 5, 1671; living in 1708. 8. Joshua, mentioned below.

(III) Joshua, son of Philip Bill, was born October 16, 1675, in that part of New London which became Groton, Connecticut, and which in 1836 formed a part of what is now the town of Ledyard. He was baptized March 29, 1675-6. He was a blacksmith by trade, and a prominent citizen of Groton, Connecti- cut. He acted as moderator in 1719, and in 1720-I was one of a committee for division of lands. In 1723 he was on committee to lay

out the highway running from Meeting House Hill to the Great Pine Swamp, now the road from Groton to Preston. He was selectman several years, and town clerk from 1719 to 1730. His old family Bible, printed 1690, by Charles Bill, of London, contains a record of births, deaths and marriages of his family, and is still preserved. He died in 1735, and his widow Hannah was appointed administratrix September 26 that year. He married (first) November 1, 1699, Joanna Potts, born May, 1679, died November 3, 1718, daughter of William Potts, of New London. She was admitted to the church in New London. May 9, 1701. He married (second) October 4, 1719, Hannah Swodel, born December, 1697, daughter of William Swodel of Groton. Chil- dren of first wife: I. Son, born July 29, died September 28, 1700. 2. Joshua, born Septem- ber 28, 1707. 3. Edward, born December I, 1710; married Zeruah 4. Benajah, born March 3, 1713; married Judith Water- man. 5. Mary, born April 6, 1716. Children of second wife: 6. Phineas, born September 3. 1720; mentioned below. 7. Naomi, born March 10, 1722. 8. Orpha, October 20 1723. 9. Hannah, September 30, 1725. 10. Sarah, September 12, 1727. II. Esther, July 9, 1729. 12. Joanna, May 7, 1731 ; died June 5, 1731. 13. Phebe, October 26, 1733.

(IV) Phineas, son of Joshua Bill, was born

in that part of Groton now Ledyard, Septem- ber 3, 1720. He was a cooper by trade, and resided in the southwestern part of the town of Ledyard, about halfway between the village of Unionville and Allyn's Point. The house is still known as the Phineas Bill house. He died of cancer, in the home of his eldest son Phineas, February, 1780, aged sixty years. At the age of fifteen he was left fatherless, and March 14, 1737-8 was placed under the guardianship of B. Davis. He married Mehit- abel Woodworth. Children: I. Phineas, born September 8, 1751 ; married Mercy Allyn. 2. Mehitabel, married William Spink, of Col- chester. 3. Mary, married (first) Richard Dayton : (second) Alpheus Chapman. 4. Ben- ajah, June 29, 1760 ; married Content Park. 5. Joshua, mentioned below. 6. Gurdon, 1766; died September, 1781, aged fifteen. 7. Daugh- ter, married Emanuel Simons.

(V) Joshua (2), son of Phineas Bill, was born May 14, 1762. He was a cooper by trade, and resided on the homestead. He served in the revolution under Colonel William Led- yard, and at the engagement at Fort Griswold was wounded in the leg by a cannon shot, which caused him much suffering and trouble. In the latter part of his life, through the exer- tions of his son Gurdon, a pension was granted him by the government. He died December 20, 1841, in his eightieth year, in the home of his son Gurdon, and was buried in the family burying ground on the farm of his son. He married Abigail Miner, born December 15, 1759, died February 14, 1839. Children: I. Gurdon, born January 18, 1784; mentioned below. 2. Sabrina, January 14, 1786; married Samuel Taylor. 3. Sarah, September 16, 1787 ; married Robert Chapman. 4. Phineas, Sep- tember 16, 1789; married Fanny Gallup. 5. Abigail, August 29, 1791; married Samuel Taylor. 6. Betsey, August 24, 1793 ; married John Darrow. 7. Fanny, March 9, 1795; married Jesse Bedent, and died three months later. 8. Avery, October 1, 1796; married Betsey Barnes. 9. Nancy, June 2, 1798; died October, 1799.

(V1) Gurdon, son of Joshua Bill, was born January 18, 1784. His opportunities for an education were limited, and up to the age of twenty-one he had had almost no schooling. After a summer's work for wages he entered the Plainfield Academy as a student in one of the lower classes, but his ambition and ability soon placed him among students of his own age. His progress was rapid, and on leaving the school he was foremost in his class in all

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the branches which he had studied. He re- turned to his native town and engaged in teaching for seven successive winters, spend- ing the summers in farming. He taught the first grammar school ever held in the town of Groton. During the war of 1812 he was tem- porarily stationed on picket duty at Stoning- ton, while the British fleet was off that port. For a short time he was in the wholesale fish trade at the old Fly Market of New York City. He engaged in business with Philip Gray in Groton, where he bought land and resided. After a few years of successful mercantile life he bought out his partner and carried on the business alone. His family by this time had increased and he abandoned the life of a mer- chant for that of the farm, in order to bring up his boys on a farm and to rear them to habits of industry and economy. He had bought what had constituted two small farms, with three dwelling houses, three barns and a store, situated on three of the four corners made by the main roads leading, one from Norwich to Stonington, the other from New London through Groton to Preston City. Here he resided the remainder of his life. In 1828 he was representative in the State Legis- lature. He was a prominent factor in the divi- sion of the town and the incorporation of the new town of Ledyard. The committee for the arrangement of details met at his house, and while there a son was born to Mr. Bill, and the committee proposed to christen the son the first born in the new town. This they did, and the chairman, Captain Anson Avery, accom- panied the christening with a token of remem- brance. The son was named Ledyard, in honor of the new town and of Colonel William Ledyard, for whom the town was named. As a citizen his voice was always on the side of truth and justice. He despised a mean action and was the friend and helper of the defense- less and needy. He died September 10, 1856, aged seventy-two, and was buried with the ceremonies of the Masonic fraternity in the burying ground on his farm. He married, No- vember 18, 1821, Lucy Yerrington, born Jan- uary 6, 1795, died October 1, 1846, daughter of Joseph Yerrington. Children : I. Edward Mitchell, born April 24, 1822; was an officer in New London county prison at Norwich ; travelled in the west, engaged in the sale of books; prior to 1854 located in Worcester, Massachusetts ; removed to Albion, Iowa, en- gaged in farming; superintendent of schools for Munroe county, Iowa; married June I, 1847, Esther Alice Sylvester ; children: i. Ira ii-8

Edward, born June 3, 1849, died December 19, 1851 ; ii. Lucy Yerrington, born October I, 1853, died August 7, 1855; iii. Lydia Sylves- ter, June 26, 1856; iv. Edward Henry, Decem- ber 19, 1859, died April 30, 1862; v. Gurdon Frederic, June 17, 1861 ; vi. Clara Maria, Sep- tember 13, 1863; vii. Edward Charles, March I, 1866. 2. Henry (twin), May 18, 1824; mentioned below. 4. Joshua (twin) May 18, died May 19, 1824. 4. Joseph, February 12, 1826; died March 8, 1826. 5. Gurdon, June 7, 1827 ; mentioned below. 6. Frederic, April 6, 1829; died April 9, 1830. 7. Eliza, May 27, 1831 ; died July 31, 1847. 8. Frederic, Sep- tember 7, 1833; married May 19, 1858, Lucy G. Denison ; attended public schools and Suf- field Literary Institute and taught school ; spent a large part of his life in travel ; retired from trade in 1861 ; in 1865 entered the firm of Tracy & Bill, in the manufacturing business in Newark, New Jersey, with salesrooms in New York City. 9. Ledyard, May 14, 1836; men- tioned below. 10. Harriet, April 28, 1838 ; died November 17, 1857. II. Charles, deceased, born June 7, 1840; educated at public schools, State Normal School, and Norwich Free Academy, where he graduated as valedictorian in 1861 ; entered Yale College, and took degree of B. P. and three prize medals ; in business at Chicago, Illinois.

(VII) Henry, son of Gurdon Bill, was born May 18, 1824. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to John J. Hyde, in the office of the New London Gazette, but remained only four months and went back to assist his father on the farm. In a few months he returned to New London, and was for a short time clerk of Robert Chapman in a confectionery store. The following winter he taught in the Broad- brook district, Preston, receiving nine dollars a month. The succeeding fall he attended a teacher's preparatory school at Plainfield, and taught school in that town in the winter, and the next winter at Groton. In 1842, at the age of eighteen, after the fashion of enterpris- ing boys of that day, he purchased his time till he should become of age, and embarked as an agent for the sale of the publication of his cousin, James A. Bill, of Lyme. He travelled extensively through the west and some parts of the east. In the fall of 1847, encouraged by Messrs. Harper & Brothers, of New York, he engaged in the publication and sale of books by subscription, and located at Norwich, Con- necticut, where he afterwards resided. Among the works which he published are Stephen's "Travels in Yucatan;" "History of the

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World" (two vols). by Mainder; the "Ency- clopedia of all Nations," by Murray ; "Illus- trated History of the Bible," by Kitto; and, in connection with his brothers, Gurdon and Ledyard, "Civil War in America," by Abbott. He employed about two thousand agents in the sale of these books, and was one of the oldest subscription book publishers in the country. In 1850 he was one of a company which undertook the development of a large tract of land on the south bank of the Shetucket river, called Laurel Hill. In 1853 he was the Democratic state senator. During the civil war he was an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party and was actively engaged in the raising of troops, and contributed largely of his time and means to raise and equip troops for the national defense. His last act for the benefit of the public was the endowment of a public library in his native town, contributing a thousand dollars and a library of one thousand volumes. He married, February 10, 1847, Julia Octavia Chapman, born in Groton, December 14, 1824, daughter of Simeon Chapman. Children: I. Henry Gustavus, born November 18, 1847; died No- vember 3, 1853. 2. John Harper, born June 21, 1851. 3. Henry Sumner, June 19, 1856. 4. Julia Florence, April 29, 1858. 5. Jennie Eliza, April 8, 1860. 6. Frederick Abbott, March 12, 1864.

(VII) Hon. Ledyard Bill, son of Gurdon Bill, was born May 14, 1836, and died in 1908. He was brought up on the farm, and first established himself in business in Louisville, Kentucky, where he continued until the break- ing out of the civil war, when he returned north and settled in New York City. He there carried on a successful publishing busi- ness until forced to retire on account of ill health. He removed to Paxton, Massachu- setts, where he resided the remainder of his life. He was representative to the general court of Massachusetts in 1891, and served as chairman of the committee on agriculture, obtaining the passage of the oleomargerine bill. In 1894 and 1895 he was elected state senator, leading every other candidate on the ticket. He published several volumes of inter- est, among them being "A Winter in Florida ;" "A Work on Minnesota;" "A Genealogy of the Bill Family," and "A History of Paxton." He was a life member of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society ; a corres- ponding member of the Wisconsin Historical Society ; a life member of the Long Island Historical Society; a member of the New

London Historical Society, and president of the Oroskaso Historical Society of Worcester county. He was an honorary member of the American Mechanics, a Knight of the Essenic Order, and an associate member of Worcester Post, Grand Army of the Republic. At the time of his death he was president of the Worcester County Agricultural Society. He was a member of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, the Sons of the American Revo- lution, and the Worcester County Horticul- tural Society. He married Sophie Earle of Pazton. Children: I. Frederic L., graduate of Amherst College. 2. Bertha Earle. 3. Lucy S.

(VII) Gurdon (2) Bill, son of Gurdon (I) Bill, was born in Groton, June 7, 1827. He received a common school education, and, as did the rest of his brothers, worked on the farm. In 1845 he worked on the farm of Joseph Geer in Ledyard. At the end of a year he was urged by James A. Bill, the pub- lisher, to undertake an agency for the sale of his books in the west. After a few years travel there, in 1854 he established himself in business in Springfield, Massachusetts, as a publisher of books by subscription. In 1856 his brother Frederic became his partner, con- tinuing until 1861, when Frederic retired from the firm. His career as a publisher was eminently successful, and brought him a com- petency. His publications reached the number of half a million copies. He married, May 12, 1853, Emily A., daughter of Nathan Fish Denison, a descendant of General Daniel Den- 1son. Children : I. Nathan Denison, born October 12, 1855 ; mentioned below. 2. Hat- tie Eliza, August 21, 1857. 3. Mary Avery, deceased, born September 15, 1859. 4. Edward Everett, deceased, born February 22, 1862. 5. Charles Gurdon, February 13, 1870.

(VIII) Nathan Denison Bill, son of Gur- don (2) Bill, was born October 12, 1855, in Springfield. He was educated in the public schools and Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York. When twelve years of age he worked on a farm for $2.50 a month ; when fifteen years of age he received $10 a month ; when sixteen years of age sold books in Maine, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island for the Bill Publishing Com- pany ; at seventeen years of age taught school for $25 a month, boarding himself. He then took a course at Poughkeepsie, and at the age of eighteen was employed in a paper ware- house, receiving as compensation $250 a year. The second year he was in their employ he was

Nathan D. Bill

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placed on the road as a salesman at a salary of $800. At the age of twenty he was a partner in the Union Envelope and Paper Company, and the following year he purchased the inter- est of the three other partners and continued alone for two years, when he consolidated with the Springfield Envelope Company, forming the National Papeterie Company, with which he remained until thirty-two years of age, when he sold out. He then started new con- cerns known as the Springfield Envelope Com- pany and the National Envelope Company ; he then purchased the Platner & Porter Paper Company, the Windsor Paper Company, and started the Springfield Knitting Company.

Mr. Bill is best known, perhaps, for his public spirit and zeal for the welfare and improvement of the city. He has given freely of his time and money to make the city more beautiful, including a large tract of land near the centre of the city for a playground, in memory of his father-in-law. Hon. Emerson Wight. He has been a member of the board of aldermen, is a park commissioner, president of the City Library Association, and is now a member of the River Front Commission and Bridge Commission. Chiefly through his efforts, Andrew Carnegie was induced to give a large sum to the city to aid in the construc- tion of a new, larger and more artistic library building than would otherwise have been erected. His efforts in the park commission have shown substantial results in beautifying the public places and making the city more attractive. Mr. Bill has travelled extensively both in this country and abroad. He is a director of the Union Trust Company, and is a member of the Nayasset Club, Union Club of Boston, New York Union League Club, New York Yacht Club, New York Athletic Club, Lotus Club of New York, Country Club of Springfield and Iroquois Fishing Club of Que- bec.

Mr. Bill married, April 22, 1885, Ruth E. Wight, daughter of Emerson and Elizabeth (Lewis) Wight, of Springfield. They have one daughter, Beatrice W., who married, No- vember 26, 1908, Fritz B. Talbot, M. D., of Boston, Massachusetts.

WENTWORTH Few American families have been able to trace their ancestry in Eng- land. Some know the English home of the immigrant, and can perhaps trace three or four generations. Some of the pedigrees claimed for American immigrants are mere guess-

work. Therefore, the history of the Went- worth family in England as well as America, well authenticated at every step, is a monu- ment to the ability, skill and patience of the family historian, Dr. John Wentworth, as well as a source of satisfaction and pride to all members of the Wentworth family.

(I) Reginald Wentworth, or, as given in the original spelling, Rynald de Wynterwade, was living at the time of the Norman Con- quest, 1066. At that time there were no sur- names. He was merely Reginald of the lord- ship of Wentworth, a place in the wapentake of Strafford, in the West Riding of York- shire. Wentworth is in the parish of Wath- upon-Dearn, nine miles from Sheffield. The family of Reginald was Saxon. (II) Henry Wentworth succeeded his father. (III) Rich- ard was succeeded by his son. (IV) Michael was succeeded by his son. (V) Henry was succeeded by his son. (VI) Hugh, son of Henry, died in 1200. (VII) William was succeeded by his son and heir. (VIII) Robert married Emma Woodhouse, thus acquiring the estate from which the family was subse- quently known as the Wentworths of Went- worth-Woodhouse. He was living in the reign of Henry III and Edward I.

(IX) William Wentworth, of Wentworth- Woodhouse, married Beatrice, daughter of Gilbert` Thakel, of Yorkshire. Children: I. William, mentioned below. 2. Richard, became prebendary of St. Paul's; in 1338 was made Bishop of London, and in same year lord high chancellor of England. He died in 1339, one of the most distinguished men of his day.

(X) William Wentworth married (first) I288, Dionysia, daughter of Peter de Rother- field ; (second) Lucy, daughter of Sir Adam New March. He died in 1295, in the lifetime of his father, at whose death in 1308-9 the family estate went to William (XI). Children, all by first wife: William, mentioned below ; John, married Alice, daughter of John Bissell. (XI) William Wentworth inherited Went- worth-Woodhouse. He married Isabel, daugh- ter of William Pollington Esq., of Pollington, Yorkshire. Children: William, knighted and continued the direct line of the family of Went- worth-Woodhouse; John, mentioned below.

(XII) John Wentworth was of North Elm- sall, Yorkshire, inheriting the estate from his uncle John Wentworth, (XI), which is at no great distance from Wentworth-Woodhouse, parish of South Kirkbym, about nine miles from Doncaster. He married Joan, daughter of Richard Tyas, of Burghwallis, Yorkshire.

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(XIII) John Wentworth, of North Elm- sall, married Agnes, sister and co-heir of Will- iam Dronsfield, of West Bretton, Yorkshire, and was living in 1413. Sons: John, mentioned below ; Roger, married, June, 1423, Margery. de Despenser ; Thomas, settled in Doncaster, died 1449-50 ; Richard. .

(XIV) John Wentworth Esq., of North Elmsall, married Joan, or Elizabeth, according to some authorities, daughter of Richard Beaumont Esq., of Whitley Hall, Yorkshire. Sons: John, mentioned below ; Roger ; William.

(XV) John Wentworth Esq., married Eliz- abeth, daughter of William Calverley, Esq., of Calverley, Yorkshire. Children : Jane, mar- ried William Goldthorpe Esq., of Goldthorpe, Yorkshire ; Thomas, mentioned below.

(XVI) Thomas Wentworth, of North Elm- sall, married Jane, daughter of Oliver Mir- field, of Howley, Yorkshire, by his wife Isabel. daughter of Sir John Saville, Knt. of Methley Hall, Yorkshire. He died in 1522. Children : I. John. 2. Roger, married Elizabeth Went ; settled at South Kirkby. 3. Oliver, mentioned below. 4. William. 5. Thomas. 6. Daugh- ter, married William Hawksworth Esq. 7. Isabel, married her kinsman Sir Thomas Wentworth, Knt., of Bretton.

(XVII) Oliver, son of Thomas Wentworth, resided at Goxhill, Lincolnshire, a parish which extends to the Humber, nearly opposite Hull. His will is dated there December 7, 1568, and proved January 28 following. He bequeathed to sons William and Francis, and Oliver, son of William. Francis, his son, lived at Waltham, Lincolnshire, and died 1612.

(XVIII) William Wentworth also settled finally in Waltham, Lincolnshire. His will is dated May 16, 1574, and proved May 24 fol- lowing. He was probably buried at North Elmsall. He died, according to an inquisition post mortem, May 22, 1574. He left only two sons, both in their minority, the son Oliver mentioned in the grandfather's will dying before his father. The son Thomas was born in 1554. He married (first) Ellen, daughter of John Gilby of Ravendale, and widow of John Ferrars. He married second, Anne - -.

(XIX) Christopher, son of William Went- worth, was born probably in 1556; married, August 19, 1583, at the church of St. Peter, at Gowstin, city of Lincoln, Catherine, youngest daughter of William Marbury Esq., of Girby, parish of Burgh-upon-Main, Lincolnshire, by his wife Agnes, daughter of John Lenton. One of her younger brothers was Rev. Francis Marbury, whose daughter Ann married Will-

iam Hutchinson, and became afterwards the famous religious leader in New England. Christopher seems to have been constantly changing his residence, the baptisms of his eight children taking place in five different places. His will was dated December 8, 1628, at Barrow, a village near Gozhill, the seat of his ancestor, but it was not proved until May 15, 1633, at Alford, forty miles distant. Chil- dren : 1. William, mentioned below. 2. Anne, baptized at Irby, Lincolnshire, October 28, 1585 ; married Rev. John Lawson. 3. Faith, baptized at Great Grimsby, May 14, 1587. 4. Elizabeth, baptized at Irby, August 15, 1589; married John Winne. 5. Frances, baptized at Irby, November 8, 1590. 6. Francis, baptized at Conisholm, May 24, 1593; died young. 7. Priscilla, baptized June 14, 1594 ; married, Sep- tember 1, 1619, William Holmes. 8. Christo- pher, baptized at Waltham, February 27. 1596-7 ; died young.

(XX) William, son of Christopher Went- worth, was baptized at St. Peter, at Gowts, city of Lincoln, June 8, 1584. He was living in Alvord from 1614 to 1620. He married, November 28, 1614, Susanna Fleming, widow, daughter of Edward Carter, of Well. She had married (first) July 1, 1613, Uther, son of Robert and Jane Fleming. her first husband dying six months later. Three children of Wentworth were baptized at Alvord. Then he removed to Rigsby: Children : I. Will- iam, mentioned below. 2. Edward, baptized January 18, 1617-18. 3. Christopher, baptized June 4, 1620; buried at Rigsby, May 18, 1621. The son Edward settled at Boston, England, and had a large family.

( I) Elder William Wentworth, son of Will- iam Wentworth, first in the American line of the family, was baptized at Alvord, England, March 15, 1615-16. He was the American immigrant, and came to Exeter, New Hamp- shire, with numerous relatives and friends. The first record of him there is his signature to a compact drawn by Rev. John Wheel- wright for the government of Exeter, dated July 4, 1639. Wentworth probably came over in 1637 with a party of Wheelwright's friends. The settlement of Exeter was made up of exiles and dissenters from the Puritan church in Boston, and when in 1643 the jurisdiction of Massachusetts extended to Exeter, Mr. Wheelwright was obliged to leave the town he had founded, being under sentence of banish- ment. He went to Wells, Maine, and with him went Wentworth and other adherents from Exeter. In 1642 Wentworth was a

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 5

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