Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 64

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 64

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).

(I) Silas Smith was doubtless a descend- ant of Samuel Smith, of Hadley, the immi- grant mentioned elsewhere in this work, and of the settlers at Pittsfield. His father settled in Cheshire, which was incorporated in 1793 from the towns of Lanesborough, Windsor and New Ashford to the northward of Pitts- field. Many of the settlers were from Con- necticut. Silas Smith was a carpenter by trade. He removed to Springfield in 1812, and was employed in the United States armory in building machinery, maing tools and in other capacities. He died at Springfield, July 1, 1858, leaving three sons, Isaac H., Horace and William. He married Phebe Rogers. Children : 1. William, for many years super- intendent of water shops of United States armory at Springfield. 2. Mrs. Minot King- man. 3. Mrs. William Collins. 4. Isaac H. Smith. 5. Mrs. Roderick Smith. 6. Silas. 7. Joseph. 8. Horace.

(II) Horace, son of Silas Smith, was born at Cheshire, Massachusetts, October 28, 1808. He attended the public schools of Springfield, and assisted his father in his work. At that time he lived with his father in a small house near Blake's woods. He was employed early in the water shops of the armory, entering as an apprentice at the age of sixteen. He worked in the armory for eighteen years, and became a master in the trade of gun-making.

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In 1842 he went to Norwich, Connecticut, and the next year to New Haven, where he was employed for some months in the Whitney armory, making tools for the manufacture of rifles, on a contract which Mr. Whitney had made with the government. After this he was employed for three years in the pistol fac- tory of Allen & Thurber in Norwich, later successful manufacturers in Worcester, Mas- sachusetts. In 1846 Mr. Smith began the manufacture of guns in the firm of Cranston & Smith, in which business he continued until 1849, when he became employed by Oliver Allen of Norwich, assisting in the manufact- ure of whaling guns which projected harpoons by the force of gunpowder. In 1851 Mr. Smith took a position in the establishment of Allen, Brown & Luther, manufacturers of rifle barrels at Worcester. When he had been in their employment about a year, he became acquainted with Daniel B. Wesson, afterward co-inventor and partner. During this time Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson devised and made a new firearm on the repeating or magazine principle. Though they did not then obtain a patent or attempt to introduce it, they com- pleted a single rifle which is still in existence and is as effective a weapon as the best now manufactured. An improvement to the rifle was patented by B. Tyler Henry, of New Haven. October 16, 1860. and the rifle was called by his name. In 1853 Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson entered into partnership, Court- landt Palmer, of New York City, furnishing the capital. and removed to Norwich, Con- necticut. The same year a patent was granted to them on the fire-arm they had previously devised together. A substitute for the metallic cartridge at first thought of by them had been invented by Walter Hunt, of New York City. but this would foul a gun so badly that soon the lead ball, in being fired from it, would be elongated or distorted, and there was there- fore no accuracy of aim. Smith & Wesson overcame this difficulty, and a patent was granted August 8. 1854. The following year they disposed of their first patent to the Vol- canic Repeating Arms Company of New Haven. They also assigned to this company the patent of August 8, and a subsequent pat- ent granted January 22, 1856. In 1855 they sold their plant to the present Winchester Arms Company at New Haven, and dissolved partnership. Mr. Wesson remained as super- intendent of the Winchester Arms Company, and Mr. Smith went to Springfield and en- gaged in business with his brother-in-law,

William Collins, in the livery stable business on Market street. In May, 1856, Mr. Wes- son joined Mr. Smith in Springfield, and to- gether they began manufacturing revolvers, the principal feature of which was the cham- bers, which ran entirely through the cylinder. They began with a force of twenty-five work- men, making also metallic cartridges, making their first sales in November, 1857. A patent was issued to them late in 1860 for a metallic cartridge in which the fulminate was inclosed in the hollow annular projecting case, and in the same year they built a factory on Stock- bridge street, employing six hundred work- men, and during the civil war they supplied the government with firearms. Their first shop was on Market street, between State and Sanford streets. In 1870 they received a con- tract to supply the Russian Government with 200.000 rifles, which took them four years to fill. Smith & Wesson's pistols soon became very popular, and there were a number of at- tempts at infringement. One of these was a pistol manufactured by a Mr. Pond, under a patent granted to A. J. Gibson, of Worcester. This pistol contained a device patented June IO. 1860, which was considered by them so valuable an improvement that they compro- mised with Mr. Gibson and purchased his patent. Later they purchased a valuable de- vice of William C. Dodge, of Washington, that of an extractor, the object of which was to throw out the empty shells, effected by a single motion when all the chambers had been discharged. Other valuable improvements were made from time to time, and several val- uable patents were issued to the firm or to Mr. Wesson himself. The firm had con- tracts at various times with the governments of the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany, China. After twenty years of successful co- operative business, Mr. Smith sold out his in- terest to Mr. Wesson in July, 1873. At that time the plant was about two-thirds its pres- ent size.

After his retirement, Mr. Smith was largely interested in the pine lands of Michigan. His ability as a successful business man was rec- ognized by his election in 1861 as a director of the Chicopee Bank, of which he was elected president on the death of Henry Fuller Jr., in July, 1887. He was elected a trustee of the Springfield Institute for Savings in 1877, and was also a director of the Worthy and River- side Paper companies. He had a fine resi- dence on Crescent Hill Springfield. Mr. Smith was a remarkable representative of that

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generation of skilled mechanics which have helped to make Springfield famous. He was responsible for many inventions which had to do with gunmaking machinery; and the Win- chester rifle and the Smith & Wesson revol- ver, the two best known firearms in the world, were the product of the skill and inventive genius of him and of his partner, Mr. Wes- son. Mr. Smith always took a great interest in young people. He often advanced money to his employees to help them build homes of their own, and assisted many a young man through school and college. His charities were unostentatiously bestowed, with no thought of public praise. He died in Spring- field, January 15, 1893.

He married (first) Eliza Foster ; (second ) Mrs. Eliza (Hebbard) Jepson, who died in 1872; (third) February 5, 1873, Mary Lu- cretia Hebbard, of Norwich, Connecticut. Children, all by first wife: I. Son, died young. 2. Son, died young. 3. Dexter, mentioned below.

(III) Dexter, son of Horace Smith, was born on Hickory street, Springfield, January 28, 1833, and died December 4, 1892. He at- tended the public schools, and worked in his father's shop at the age of seventeen, in Nor- wich, Connecticut, and later in Springfield, at the Smith & Wesson shops. For years he manufactured the cartridges for the Smith & Wesson revolvers. He was the inventor of the Dexter Smith shotgun, which he later manufactured. In 1877 he was obliged on ac- count of ill health to retire from active busi- ness, and for many years was afflicted with heart trouble. For a short time he was en- gaged in the lumber business with a cousin in the west, and also in the butter business, but nothing interested him like fire arms. He was a man of retiring disposition, and although he had many friends, his intimate friends were few. He married, April 1, 1860, Harriet A., daughter of Tyler and Achsa (Leeman) Walker, of Palmer, Massachusetts. They had one child, Eliza Foster, born May 16, 1861, died unmarried, May 4, 1891.

Elizabeth Curtis, immigrant CURTISS ancestor, came to Stratford, Connecticut, after the death of her husband, whose name is not known. Some writers have assumed without proof that he was William of Roxbury, Massachusetts, but it is not even known that William Curtis, of Roxbury, was related. She died at Strat- ford in 1658 and her will was proved Novem-

ber 4, 1658. Children : I. John, born 1611, mentioned below. 2. William, 1621, died De- cember 21, 1702; married (second) Sarah Goodrich, widow of William Goodrich.

(II) John, son of Elizabeth Curtis, was born in England in 1611, died at Stratford, December 6, 1707. His first wife Elizabeth died 1682; his second wife Margaret died 1714. Children: 1. John, born October 14, 1642, settled at Newark, New Jersey. 2. Israel, April 3, 1644. 3. Elizabeth, May 2, 1647. 4. Thomas, January 14, 1648, men- tioned below. 5. Joseph, November 12, 1650. 6. Benjamin, September 30, 1652. 7. Han- nah, February 2, 1654.

(III) Ensign Thomas, son of John Curtis, was born at Stratford, Connecticut, January 14, 1648, died in 1736. He was among the first planters who settled Wallingford, Con- necticut, in 1670, doubtless through the in- fluence of Captain Nathaniel Merriman, whose daughter he married. He was an active and influential citizen, and during the sixty-six years that he lived in Wallingford held nearly every office in the town. He was the last of the original planters to die. He married Mary Merriman, June 9, 1674. Children, born at Wallingford: I. Mary, October 13, 1675. 2. Nathaniel, May 14, 1677, mentioned below. 3. Samuel, February 3, 1678, married, January 4, 1705, Elizabeth Frederick. 4. Elizabeth, September II, 1680, married Nathaniel Hall. 5. Hannah, December 3, 1682, died October 12, 1703. 6. Thomas, August 16, 1685, mar- ried Mary 7. Sarah, October 1, 1687, married James Parker. 8. Abigail, No- vember 3, 1689, married, 1709, Joseph Hall. 9. Joseph, August 10, 1691, died January II, 1713. 10. Jemima, January 15, 1694, married Nathaniel Beach. II. Rebecca, August 21, 1697, married Lambert Johnson. 19. John, September 18, 1699.

(IV) Sergeant Nathaniel, son of Ensign Thomas Curtis, was born at Wallingford, May 14, 1677. His homestead was between Yale avenue and Misery highway or Paddock avenue and his house was near Falls Plain or Hanover. He divided this farm between his sons Moses and Enos, but Moses died when a young man and Enos had the homestead un- divided and lived there until 1767, when he removed to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to live with his son on what is now the country place of Anson Phelps Stokes, of New York. Na- thaniel deeded another farm to his son Ben- jamin, as stated below. He married (first) April 6, 1697, Sarah Hall, who died December

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13, 1700. He married (second) July 9, 1702, Sarah How. Children, born at Wallingford : I. Benjamin, April 27, 1703, mentioned below. 2. Hannah, February 19, 1705. 3. Moses, August 4, 1706, died young. 4. Nathan, May 19, 1709, married Esther Merriam. 5. Jacob, August 23, 1710, married Abigail 6. Sarah, March 30, 1712. 7. Abigail, April 9, 1713. 8. Lydia, March 20, 1714. 9. Com- fort, October 30, 1716. IO. Nathaniel, July I. 1718, married Lois

(V) Benjamin, son of Nathaniel Curtis, was born in Wallingford, April 27, 1703, died there in 1754. He was buried in the old Meeting House Hill cemetery. His wife died in 1776 and is buried in the Broad Street burial ground. Benjamin received from his father a deed of the house on the site between the Lemuel J. Curtis and Edwin E. Curtis places on Curtis street, in 1729, lots 112 and 128. The house was torn down about 1830. The farm extended to Meeting House Hill, down to Swayne avenue, fronting a few hun- dred feet on Curtis street and spreading out like a fan to the eastward, containing two hundred acres. Benjamin was the ancestor of most of the Curtis families of the present city of Meriden and vicinity. Children, born at Wallingford: I. Esther, October 2, 1728. 2. Abel. December 22, 1729. 3. Susanna, No- vember 9, 1732. 4. Lois, September 30, 1733. 5. Benjamin, October 27, 1735, mentioned below. 6. Miriam, August 30, 1737. 7. Sarah, May 29, 1739. 8. Aaron, November 8, 1744.

(VI) Benjamin (2), son of Benjamin (I) Curtis, was born in Wallingford, October 27, 1735, died in 1822 in Meriden, formerly Wall- ingford. His family outgrew the old house on the homestead which he inherited from his father and as early as 1795 he had built a new house at which is now 54 Curtis street, for on that date he deeded part of this new house to his son Benjamin, calling it his "new" house to distinguish it from the old one. It may have been built some years before and it is to-day in excellent condition. His son Abel bought the other Curtis homestead of his uncle, Enos Curtis. He married Mindwell Hough. Among his sons and nephews prominent in the town of Wallingford and Meriden were : Edwin E., Lemuel J., George R., Alfred P. and Homer Curtis.

(VII) Samuel Curtiss, son of Benjamin (2) Curtis, was born in Wallingford. He bought the Daniel Hough place at what is now 160 Curtis street, still owned by Lillian F.

Curtiss. Daniel Hough was father of Dr. Ensign Hough and of Mindwell Hough, who married Benjamin Curtis. A memorial win- dow was placed in St. Andrew's Church at Meriden in honor of Samuel Curtiss by his descendants.

(VIII) Alfred Pierpont, son of Samuel Curtiss, was born in Meriden, and died there in 1870. He was educated there in the pub- lic schools. He was a prosperous farmer and a prominent citizen. He held various offices of trust and honor in the town. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He married Emeline Amelia Bradley. She died at the age of twenty-five. Children: I. Jane Maria, married George Austin Fay. 2. Levi Bradley, born August 10, 1843, men- tioned below. 3. Alfred W., married Clara Homan ; children : i. Leroy Homan, born Jan- uary, 1872; ii. Clarence A. Homan; iii. Fred L. Homan.

(IX) Levi Bradley, son of Alfred Pier- pont Curtiss, was born in Meriden, formerly Wallingford, Connecticut, August 10, 1843, died at Weymouth, Massachusetts, November 5, 1907. He was educated in his native town in the public schools and at Schoharie, New York. When he was nineteen years old he enlisted in the Fifteenth Connecticut Regi- ment and served in the civil war from 1862 to 1865. After the war he became superintend- ent of the fertilizer company for Mr. Bradley at Weymouth, Massachusetts, and filled this position with ability, and later was one of the members of the Bradley Fertilizer Company. When the concern was incorporated and merged with other companies, he became a stockholder and director of the new company known as the American Agricultural Chemical Company, and was general manager of this until his death. He was a director of the East Weymouth Savings Bank and of the Weymouth Light & Power Company, and president of the Weymouth Water Power Company. He attended the Congregational church. In politics he was a Republican. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons up to and including the commandery, and a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public. He married, December 23, 1868, Alice Maria Cushing, born October 14, 1848, at North Weymouth, daughter of Henry Francis and Abigail Vaughn ( Bicknell) Cush- ing. (See Cushing family.) Children, born at Weymouth: 1. Lillian Fay, January 27. 1873. 2. Harold M., April 25, 1878, men- tioned below.

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(X) Harold M., son of Levi Bradley Cur- tiss, was born in North Weymouth, April 25, 1878. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and at the military academy at Poughkeepsie. When he was twenty-two he engaged in business in Cali- fornia. Later he was a dealer in coal, coke and wood at Milford, Massachusetts. Since 1900 he has made his home in Milford. He is a director of the Milford National Bank and of the Weymouth Light & Power. Company. He is a member and vice-president of the Mil- ford Board of Trade. In religion he is a Con- gregationalist and in politics a Republican. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. He married Edith G. Hollis, of Hingham, daughter of John Hollis. They have two children : Robert Hollis and Mary Gray.

(For preceding generations see Matthew Cushing 1). (IV) Adam Cushing, son of CUSHING Theophilus Cushing, was born in Hingham, January 1, 1692- 93. He graduated at Harvard College in 1714, and m 1720 was a selectman of Hing- ham. He removed to Weymouth, where he was prominent both in civil and military affairs. His will was made at Weymouth and proved in 1752. He married (intentions dated August 18, 1718) Hannah Greenwood, of Rehoboth. Children, born in Hingham: I. Adam, baptized September 6, 1719. 2. Thomas, born June 4, 1721, mentioned below. 3. Greenwood, September 29, 1723, died Oc- tober 9, following. 4. Alethia, February 21, 1725-26.

(V) Thomas, son of Adam Cushing, was born in Hingham, June 4, 1721, died while a soldier in the French and Indian war at Lake George, September 15, 1757. He had the rank of sergeant. His home was at Wey- mouth. He married, October 24, 1745, Tabitha Pratt, daughter of Samuel and Abi- gail ( Humphrey ) Pratt. She was born Jan- uary 3, 1725. She married (second) July 17, 1762, John Kingman. Children, born at Wey- mouth : 1. Regemelech, born October 23, 1746. 2. Er, 1750, mentioned below. 3. Tabitha, June 12, 1754, died May 18, 1837; married Dr. Nash.

(VI) Lieutenant Er, son of Thomas Cush- ing, was born in Weymouth in 1750, died Sep- tember 8, 1824. He was a soklier in the revo- lution in 1775 in Captain Asa White's com- pany, Colonel John Greaton's regiment, and went to Canada in Arnold's Expedition. He was living at Sunderland, Massachusetts, from

1779 to about 1785, then returned to Wey- mouth. He married, September 22, 1774, Mary Burrell, daughter of Joseph and Hannah ( Bicknell) Burrell, of Weymouth. Children, recorded at Weymouth: I. Warren, born De- cember 9, 1777. 2. Mary, August 31, 1780. 3. Betsey, December 5, 1781. 4. William, March 20, 1784. 5. Er, January 28, 1786. 6. Josiah, December 9, 1789. 7. John, Novem- ber 25, 1792, mentioned below. 9. Hervey, January II, 1799.

(VII) John, son of Er Cushing, was born in Weymouth, November 25, 1792. He mar- ried (first) September 8, 1815, Nancy Bates ; married (second) Mary Harding and had one child, Sarah Ann, who married Abiah Litch- field ; one son, Charles ; they resided in North Weymouth. He was a painter and paper- hanger by occupation. He was a member of the Congregational church. He died at Wey- mouth in 1863. His first wife was lost in the wreck of a ship plying between Boston and Weymouth. Children, born at Weymouth: I. George. 2. Henry Francis, mentioned below. 3. Elizabeth, married John Ruggles.

(VIII) Henry Francis, son of John Cush- ing, was born in Weymouth, April 27, 1822, died at North Weymouth, July 27, 1895. He was educated in the schools of Weymouth. He learned his trade as painter and paper hanger of John Bates, Temple street, Boston. He served in the civil war from 1862 to 1865, enlisting in August, 1862, in Company H, Thirty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment, for three years. He followed his trade and was in business as a painter and paper hanger in Weymouth during the remainder of his active life. He attended the Congregational church and for many years sang in the choir. He married Abigail Vaughn Bicknell, born in Weymouth, 1829, died 1883, daughter of Stephen Bicknell. Children, born at Wey- mouth: I. Nancy Bates, married George W. Clark, of North Weymouth. 2. Alice Maria, born October 14, 1848, at North Weymouth, married, December 23, 1868, Levi Bradley Curtiss (see Curtiss family). 3. Abbie Frances, married Edward H. Benson, of Mallen. 4. Frank Henry, resides in Meriden, Connecticut. ; married Harriett Morgan.

This is not a common name but FRARY in point of respect to ability it vies with families of a larger clientele. It has not produced great statesmen or celebrated scholars but among that great class, the farmers and middle men who are

Claudiah Frary

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the backbone of this country, it numbers its adherents, and upon this record of moderate achievement and solid worth it stands and rests its claims for recognition.

(I) John Frary came from England and settled at Dedham, Massachusetts, and was one of the founders of the church there. Sub- sequently he removed to Medford and died June 14, 1695, at a great age. The name of his wife was Prudence. Children: The- ophilus, Samson, Mary, John, Eleazer, Isaac and Samuel.

(II) Samson, second son of John and Pru- dence Frary, was born in 1675, died April 30, 1727. The appraisement of his estate was seventy-three pounds. He married Mehitable, daughter of Obadiah Dickinson. She was living at Northampton in 1752 when she sold her homestead to Joseph Barnard. Children : Obadiah, mentioned below; Nathan, born April 24, 1719; his daughter Electa married Justin Parsons who was the ancestor of Vice- President Morton ; Eunice, born November 30, 1721 ; Amos, born August 17, 1726.

(III) Obadiah, eldest son of Samson and Mehitable (Dickinson) Frary, was born May 20, 1717, and lived in Southampton. He was a maker of eight day brass clocks and set up the clock in the old meeting house in 1775. He was a revolutionary soldier and killed by the Indian's near Fort Edward in August, 1777.

(V) Obadiah (2), grandson of Obadiah ( I) Frary, was born in Montgomery, Massachusetts, January 2, 1808, died in Springfield, October 29, 1880. Although he was born in Montgomery his father was long a resident of Southampton and his brothers and sisters were all born there. He came to Springfield, Massachu- setts, and became a manufacturer of an elastic webbing. He was a quiet, unobtrusive man but of generous disposition and was prudent adviser in business matters. He was a mem- ber of the South Congregational Church and respected there for his wise council, ready sympathy, liberal contributions and constancy of attendance. He married (first ) Maria, daughter of William and Martha (Goulding) Rice, of Worcester. He married ( second) Louise Tiffany, daughter of Horace and Rox- anna (Hunn) Jenks, of Ludlow, Massachu- setts.

(The Jenks* Line).

(II) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) Jenks (q. v.), was born in England, 1632, died Janu-

ary 4, 1717. He removed from Lynn to War- wick, Rhode Island, and March 25, 1669, was granted land on either side of the Pawtuxet river in Warwick for his saw mill, and in pay- ment for this favor agreed to let the people have boards at a special price. The grant in- cluded three of pine, chestnut and oak within a half mile on each side of the river, that is floatable, the proprietors reserving the right to cut what they need. He was foreman of a jury January 18, 1670. He bought sixty acres of land of Abel Potter, in Providence, near Pawtucket mills, October 10, 1671, and here he established a forge and saw mill. In 1676 his forge was destroyed by the Indians in King Philip's war. He was admitted a free- man in 1677 ; was deputy to the general court, 1679-80-91, and assisted thirteen years be- tween 1680 and 1698. He and two others were empowered May 5, 1680, to buy a bell for public use, to call together the assembly and courts. He had his land laid out Novem- ber 14, 1683, and was taxed afterwards. He and five others and the deputy governor wrote a letter January 30, 1690, to William and Mary, congratulating them on their accession to the throne and informing them of the re- suming of the former charter government since the deportation of Sir Edward Andros. He was chosen by the assembly, July 2, 1695, to lun the easterly line of the colony. He made his will October 21. 1708, and it was proved February 11, 1717. He married Esther, daughter of William and Elizabeth Ballard. Children: 1. Joseph, born 1656, died June 15, 1740 ; married ( first) Martha Brown (second) February 3, 1727, Alice Dexter, widow ; a prominent man, deputy, speaker, deputy governor. 2. Elizabeth, born 1658, died 1740; married Samuel Tefft. 3. Sarah, died 1708; married Nathaniel Brown. 4. Na- thaniel, born January 29, 1662, mentioned below. 5. Esther, born 1664, married Sam- uel Millard. 6. Ebenezer, born 1669, died August 14, 1726; married, March 4, 1695, Mary Butterworth; pastor of First Baptist Church at Providence. 7. Joanna, born 1672, died March 12, 1756 ; married Sylvanus Scott. 8. Abigail, married Thomas Whipple. 9. Will- iam, born 1675, died October 2, 1765 ; married (first) Patience Sprague; (second) Mary -; deputy and judge.

(III) Major Nathaniel, son of Joseph (2) Jenks, was born January 29, 1662, died Au- gust II, 1723. He resided at Providence, and owned land and stock there in 1688. He was admitted freeman in 1690, and in 1709 held

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 64

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