Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 68

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 68

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member that when we were first married I use to amuse you by taking my hat down with my toes. I wonder if I could do it now.' He sprang from the floor, caught the hat off with his toes, struck on his feet like a cat, hung up his hat again, turned to the table, asked a bless- ing and feasted. He had double teeth in front. When he loaded grain in a cart, he would seize a bag with his teeth, and giving it a swing, throw it into the cart with the aid of a push with his knee. He would hold a ten- penny nail in his teeth and break it off with his fingers. When he died, all his teeth were sound. He said jocosely, that he did not know a man he could not whip-or run away from."

He married, in May, 1743, Thankful Burt, born 1724, died July 17, 1800. They were ad- mitted by letter from the Springfield church to the Wilbraham church, November 18, 1744. Children : I. Othniel, born August, 1744; married (first) Martha Kellogg; (second) Sybil -- -. 2. John, born January 4, 1745-6; married, January 19, 1769, Martha Hitchcock ; died May 17, 1770. 3. Azubah, born August 6, 1748; married John Gleason. 4. Reuben, born May 1, 1751; married Hannah Smith. 5. Moses, born March 19, 1753; died Novem- ber 25, 1772. 6. Aaron, born September I, 1756 ; mentioned below. 7. Phebe, born March, 1760; married, May 24, 1783, Andrew King. 8. Simeon, born September 23, 1761 ; married (first ) Gleason. 9. Thankful, born October 13. 1765; married, March 3, 1790, Aaron Colton.

.(VI) Aaron, son of Deacon John Hitch- cock, was born September 1, 1756. In his. later years he was insane, and died November 29, 1836. He lived in South Wilbraham, and married, March 25, 1780, Desire Maxwell, who died August 22, 1830, aged seventy. Children : I. Ithamar, born May 10, 1781; mentioned below. 2. Phebe, born August 1, 1783; mar- ried, November 27, 1805, Luther Stebbins. 3. Aaron, born March 28, 1788; died unmarried, February 24, 1825. 4. Sally, born July II, 1790 ; married, 1820, David Bliss.

(VII) Ithamar, son of Aaron Hitchcock. was born May 10, 1781, died December 20, 1842. He married (first ) November 5. 1807, Polly Allen, who died January 21, 1821, daugh- ter of Timothy Allen. Children: I. Sophia, born September 14, 1808; married, October 2, 1833, Noah Stebbins. 2. George, born No- vember 19, 1810 ; married, September 10, 1836, Julia Ann Kenfield; died August 20, 1853. 3. Sophronia, born September 13, 1814. 4. Wal- ter, born September 9, 1816. 5. Levi, born

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July 24, 1819; mentioned below. He married (second) April 21, 1824, Lois Andrews, sister of his first wife. She married ( second) April IO, 1849, S. Pitkin Crane, and died October 24, 1876. Child of second marriage: 6. Mary, born February 3 1825; married Amos Himes.

(VIII) Levi, son of Ithamar Hitchcock, was born July 24, 1819, at Wilbraham. He was educated in the schools of North Wilbra- ham, and for several years thereafter taught school. In 1849 he came to Springfield and engaged in the meat business on the west side of Main street just below State. A little later he became a grocer on the same side of the way, in the old Foot's block, being in company with his nephew, George H. Stebbins. Here he continued until 1866, when he decided to de- vote himself wholly to real estate, and for the last quarter of a century his operations in land and buildings has been perhaps more varied and extensive than those of any other one resident. One of his earliest ventures was the purchase of four acres of land of William Wilcox on North Main street, at what is now known as the corner of Jefferson avenue. This section he named "Oaklawn" and began laying out streets and cutting up lots. He laid out Calhoun street and Calhoun Park, also Hooker street and Bond street. About this time he bought the land on Main street now occupied by the new and up-to-date building block that has just been erected by his heirs, T. H. Hitch- cock, of Coronado, California, and Mrs. E. H. Hamblen, of this city. Another of his import- ant deals was that of securing the larger part of what is now known as Brightwood, in which the William Pynchon farm on Plainfield street was located, this section reaching from Main street to river, the late Daniel Harris being his partner in the enterprise of developing it. They named that large section Brightwood, after J. G. Holland's home on the adjoining hill. J. G. Holland was the author, who lived in that section before Brightwood was named. In company with James A. Baldwin, the old time clothing merchant, Mr. Hitchcock acquired the land at the corner of Main and Vernon streets, ncw occupied by Barr's restaurant. The local- ity about Broad street was very largely built by him, and he was a member of the syndicate that bought a large tract of land near the Hooker school, long known as the Heywood property. His partners in this scheme were Messrs. Gurdon Bill, Heywood and Beebe. His real estate interests were also extensive on Bond, Lebanon and Union streets, while

he long held the land on Worthington street now occupied by King & Sons paper warehouse and other property on the same thoroughfare. His Spring street property-the large white house that had been his home for over twenty years-has been an unchanging landmark. He also held considerable real estate in Agawam, West Springfield, other surrounding towns and the west. Mr. Hitchcock was one of the few heavy real estate operators who weathered the panic of the early seventies and paid one hun- dred cents on the dollar. At that period he shared with one other operator the reputation of being the shrewdest real estate manager in the city. He was not a real estate handler according to the boom methods of later days, but rather a careful investor in landed inter- ests whose widespread operations have left a lasting imprint upon the city. Mr. Hitchcock cared little for outside associations or pre- ferment of any sort, although always a staunch Republican. He joined the South Church soon after coming to Springfield, which connection he always retained. He was one of the com- mittee of three chosen to take charge of the building of the new church, in which he had such an interest that not a day passed during its erection without his visiting the scene of action. In his domestic circle he was en- deared by his cheery disposition and cordial but retiring manner, while to his business asso- ciates and acqaintances he was a man of sound judgment and unquestioned integrity. Mr. Hitchcock was a prominent figure upon the streets to hundreds of people who never knew his name, his silvery hair and beard and sunny cast of countenance being such as to stamp themselves even upon a careless memory. He frequently drove along the streets in a Con- cord wagon, drawn by a small horse of peculiar color that only served to fix the recollection more vividly.

Mr. Hitchcock married (first) September IO, 1851, Mary Jane Johnson, of Stanstead, Vermont, who died May 9, 1863. He married (second) October 18, 1865, Mrs. Harriet Lavinia Lathrop, who survives him. Children, all by first wife: I. Henry, born May 9. 1852; lied May 23, 1852. 2. Henry, born October 2. 1855 : at present located at Coranado, Cali- fornia : married, in 1882, Fanny Billings. 3. Georgana Swazey, born August 10, 1858 : mar- ried, October 1I, 1882, Edward H. Hamblen (see Hamblen family). 4. Mary Jane, born May 3, 1863 ; died June 6, 1863. Levi Hitch- cock died at his home on Spring street, Spring- field, March 23, 1892.

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The following is a record of

SARGEANT some of the descendants of William Sargent, of Malden, Massachusetts, whose early arrival in New England entitles him to be enrolled among the pioneers of the country.

( I) William Sargent, first ancestor of one of the families of Sargent in America, came from England in the year 1638, was admitted a member of the church in Charlestown, Mass- achusetts, March 10, 1639, and his wife Sarah the Sunday following. He was made a free- man of Massachusetts Bay colony the same year. They resided at Mystic-side (now Mal- den), where he was a lay preacher from 1648 to 1650: he is mentioned by Johnson in his "Wonder Working Providence" as a "Godly Christian." He was by occupation a lay preacher and a ruling elder of the church, who led in religious services and exhortation, but was not allowed by ordination to perform the rite of baptism and to administer the sacra- mental bread and wine: His penmanship, speci- mens of which are still extant, was very hand- some. William Sargent was made a freeman of Plymouth colony in 1658, having removed probably in 1657 to Barnstable, where he died December 16, 1682, and his wife January 12, 1689. He made his will March 9, 1680. By it he disposed of lands and houses in both Malden and Barnstable, and of various items of personal property. The inventory sworn to March 3. 1683, amounted to £309.14.9. "The House and land at Malden according to the information we have from John Seargeant, besides what John Sargeant hath added to it £176,00,00." "The orthography of the name seems to have varied, not only with the differ- ent early members of the family, but also- according to time-with the same members. The most common spelling previous to the commencement of the present century (and, perhaps, the most correct) was Sargeant ; and this method is still retained by some branches of the family, though a majority of the living members omit the latter vowel in the final syllable." The farm at Malden, given to John Sargent in the will, was owned by William as early as 1649, and perhaps earlier, with the exception of eight acres southwest of and ad- joining his own land, which he purchased in 1654. It was on a hill in the southerly part of the town, about one and a half miles north- east from Malden Bridge, and is now inter- sected by the Newburyport turnpike. No part of the place has been in possession of any member of the family of William Sargent for

nearly a century. The children of William and Sarah Sargent were: Elizabeth, Hannah, John, Ruth, Samuel.

(II) John, the elder of the two sons of William and Sarah Sargent, was born in Mystic-side (Charleston), December, 1639, baptized on the 8th of the same month; was admitted to inhabit Barnstable between 1662 and 1666; returned to Malden about 1669; was selectman there six years, and was free- man March 22, 1690. John Sargent became the heir to the lands left by his father in Malden, and was the ancestor of numerous progeny. He died September 9, 1716. He married (first) March 19, 1662, Deborah Hyllier, of Barnstable, born at Yarmouth, Oc- tober 30, 1643, died April 20, 1669, daughter of Hugh Hyllier. He married (second) Sep- tember 3, 1669, Mary Bense, who died Febru- ary, 1671; married (third) Lydia, daughter of John Chipman, of Barnstable. She was born at Barnstable, December 25, 1654, died March 2, 1730. His gravestone is in the old burial ground. The children of John by wife Deborah were: Joseph, John, Mary, Jabez ; by wife Lydia: Hannah, Jonathan, William, Lydia, Deborah, Ruth, Samuel, Ebenezer, Hope, Mehitable and Sarah.

(III) John (2), son of John (I) and Deb- orah (Hyllier) Sargent, was born in Barn- stable, February 16, 1665, died April 16, 1755, aged ninety years. He resided in Malden and Reading, Massachusetts, and Mansfield, Con- necticut. His wife Mary died about 1755. Children : John, Sarah, Mary, Ruth, Isaac, Jacob. John.

(IV) Jacob, third son of John (2) and Mary Sargent, was born March 29, 1702, re- sided in Mansfield, Connecticut, died April 2, 1787. He married, December 21, 1727, Mindwell Root, born in 1702, died April 4. 1789, aged eighty-seven, daughter of Thomas Root. Children : Jabez, Samuel, Sarah (died young ), John, Hannah, Joseph, Mary and Thankful.

(V) Samuel Sergeant, second son of Jacob and Mindwell (Root) Sargent, was born May 2, 1730, resided in Mansfield, Connecticut, where he died April 30, 1804, aged seventy- four. He married, September 26, 1751. Hannah, daughter of Daniel Baldwin. who was born in 1732, died December 13, 1812, aged eighty. Children: Miriam, Jacob (died young), Joseph, Jacob, Hannah, Deborah, Samuel, John, Thomas and Benjamin.

(VI) Thomas, sixth son of Samuel and Hannah ( Baldwin) Sargeant, was born April

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9, 1773, resided in Springfield, Massachusetts, and died there May 16, 1834. He married, October 3, 1795, Lydia, daughter of Phineas Adams, born May 4, 1774, died May 5, 1855, aged eighty-one years. Children : Henry and Thomas.

(VII) Captain Henry, elder of the two sons of Thomas and Lydia (Adams) Sar- geant, was born August 5, 1796, died in Springfield March 24, 1864. He was a manu- facturing jeweler, following this line of busi- ness in Springfield, where he also resided throughout his lifetime. He was a member of the First Congregational Church, and a Whig in politics. He married, December 30, 1830, Mary M., daughter of Samuel Holman, born in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Septem- ber 7, 1801, died November 24, 1895, aged ninety-four years. Children: Mary (died young ), Ellen (died young), Thomas Henry ; Elizabeth, born September 23, 1839, married, July 2, 1868, William Fowle Smith, and died May 19, 1876.

(VIII) Thomas Henry, only son of Henry and Mary M. (Holman) Sargeant, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, October 12, 1836, died May 24, 1884. He was for many years local freight agent for the Connecticut River Railroad Company. He resided in Spring- field. He was a Congregationalist in religious belief, and a Republican in politics. He mar- ried, October 24, 1867, Annie Jay Lalor, born September 12, 1846, daughter of William and Eleanor Lalor, of Boston, Massachusetts. Children: William Henry, mentioned below. Walter, died young. Isabelle Holman, born November 4, 1872, married Leon E. Hawes, of Springfield. Florence Elinor, born December 2, 1879, married Clarence B. Clark, of Spring- field, and has one child, William Sargeant Clark, born September 19, 1907.

(IX) William Henry, only son of Thomas Henry and Annie Jay (Lalor) Sargeant, was born in Springfield, October 5, 1868. He at- tended the public and high schools of Spring- field until sixteen years of age, when he became office boy for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and from that time until the present ( 1909) has remained continuously with that company and has been gradually advanced in positions of responsibility and trust. In August, 1900, he was made in- spector of agencies for the company, and ill 1903 became assistant secretary under Colonel Phillips, who was then secretary. In 1905 Colonel Phillips was made vice-president and Mr. Sergeant became acting secretary and

soon afterward was elected secretary by the board of directors. In October, 1908, he was elected second vice-president, and January, 1909, was made vice-president, and has since then discharged the duties of that office. He is a staunch Republican and active in promot- ing the interests of the party. He is a mem- ber of Memorial Church. He is a member of Springfield Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and has constantly advanced in the order ; he is a Knight Templar and a member of Melha Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member and di- rector of the Nayassett Club, and a member of the Springfield Country Club. He married, September 20, 1905, Belle Scott, born in North Chesterfield, New Hampshire, February 7, 1877, daughter of George Dennison and Nancy Annie ( Burns) Scott.

The ancestry of Mary Prudence SMITH (Wells) Smith, on both the pa- ternal and maternal sides, were of the early Puritan stock of New England, who emigrated during the seventeenth century to escape religious persecutions in England.

(I) Hugh Wells (q. v.), immigrant an- cestor on the paternal side, was born 1590 in Essex county, England, settled at Hartford, Connecticut, 1636, and married Frances

(II) Thomas, son of Hugh and Frances Wells, moved to Hadley, Massachusetts, 1659, as one of the "engagers" to settle that town. He married, 1651, Mary Beardsley.

(III) Noah, son of Thomas and Mary ( Beardsley) Wells, removed from Massa- chusetts to Connecticut. He married Mary

(IV) Noah (2), son of Noah (I) and Mary Wells settled at Colchester, Connecticut. He married Sarah Wyatt, daughter of Israel Wyatt, of Colchester, Connecticut.

(V) David, son of Noah (2) and Sarah ( Wyatt ) Wells, removed from Colchester, Connecticut, to Shelburne, Massachusetts, in 1772. He was a colonel in the revolutionary army and led the Fifth Hampshire County Regiment in the battles along the Hudson leading to the surrender of General Burgoyne ; was a member of the colonial congress of Massachusetts and served many terms as representative. He married, 1749, Mary Taintor, daughter of Michael Taintor, of Colchester, Connecticut.

(VI) William, son of David and Mary (Taintor) Wells, was a prominent and active

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man, serving forty sessions in the Massachu- setts legislature. He married, 1794, Prudence May, who traces her ancestry to John May, of England, who settled in Roxbury, 1640, and married Sarah ; their son John May, married Sarah Bruce ; their son, John May, married Prudence Bridge ; their son, Hezekiah May, married Anna Stillman and moved to Wethersfield, Connecticut ; their son, Rev. Eleazer May, married Sybil Huntington ; their daughter, Prudence May, married William Wells, aforementioned. John May. immi- grant, was the ancestor of the Rev. Samuel J. May, of Syracuse, New York, of Louisa May Abbott and other prominent persons. Sybil (Huntington) May, wife of Rev. Eleazer May, traces her ancestry to Simon Hunting- ton, of Norwich, England, who came to Con- necticut in 1640; the line from him is as fol- lows: Simon; Samuel; Rev. Samuel; Sybil; Prudence May : from this branch of the Hunt- ington family sprang the late Bishop Freder- ick Huntington, of Syracuse, New York, and Hadley, Massachusetts.

(VII) Noah S., son of William and Pru- dence (May) Wells, was a student at Williams College. He studied medicine, and settled at Attica, New York, then a newly settled town, and in 1849 removed to Greenfield, Massa- chusetts, where he gave up the practice of medicine, and became assistant clerk of courts ; was also town clerk twenty years, and town treasurer eighteen years. He married, 1837, Esther Nims Coleman, and had two children, one being a daughter Mary Pru- dence (see forward). Esther Nims (Cole- man) Wells traces her ancestry to Thomas Coleman, of Evesham, England, who came to Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1639, and in 1659 removed to Hadley, Massachusetts, as one of the "engagers" to settle that town ; he married Frances Wells, widow of Hugh Wells; their son, John Coleman, married Mehitable Root, lived in Hatfield, Massachusetts; their son, Nathaniel Coleman, married Mary Ely, lived in Hatfield, Massachusetts; their son, Elijah Coleman, married Mary ; they lived in Hatfield, Massachusetts; their son, Elijah Coleman Jr., married Tabitha Meekins, daughter of Thomas Meekins of Hatfield, and Martha Smith, a descendant of Lieutenant Samuel Smith, of Hadley; removed to Green- field, Massachusetts, about 1780; their son, Thaddeus Coleman, married Millicent New- ton ; was captain in war of 1812; their daugh- ter, Esther Nims Coleman, married Dr. Noah

S. Wells, aforementioned. Millicent (New- ton) Coleman, mother of Esther Nims (Cole- man) Wells, traces her ancestry to Rev. Thomas Hooker, first minister at Hartford, Connecticut ; married Susanna -; their eldest daughter, Mary Hooker, married Rev. Roger Newton, who studied for the ministry with Mr. Hooker; Mr. Newton was minister at Farmington and Milford, Connecticut ; their son, Samuel Newton, was ensign in King Philip's war, married Sarah Fowler; their son, Abner Newton, moved to Durham, Con- necticut, married Mary Burwell; their son, John Newton, moved to Greenfield, Massa- chusetts, married Mary Pickett; their son, John Newton Jr., married Elizabeth Arms ; their daughter, Millicent Newton, married Captain Thaddeus Coleman; their daughter, Esther Nims Coleman, married Dr. Noah S. Wells, aforementioned. Through her mother, Mrs. Smith is also descended from the Arms, Allen, Catlin and Hawks families, all being among the early settlers of Deerfield, Massa- chusetts.

(VIII) Mary Prudence, daughter of Dr. Noah S. and Esther Nims (Coleman) Wells, was born at Attica, New York, July 23, 1840. She was educated in the common schools of Greenfield, Massachusetts, graduating from the high school in 1858, and the following year from the Misses Draper's Female Seminary at Hartford, Connecticut. She taught in the Greenfield high school, and later was clerk in the Franklin Savings Institution at Greenfield, being the first woman employed in a savings bank in Massachusetts. In April, 1875, she married Judge Fayette Smith, of Cincinnati, Ohio, born at Warwick, Massachusetts, Au- gust I, 1824, son of Rev. Preserved and Try- phena (Goldsbury) Smith, and a descendant of Rev. Henry Smith, the first minister of Wethersfield, Connecticut, of Lieutenant Samuel Smith, of Hadley, and Robert Will- iams, of Roxbury. Judge Fayette Smith graduated at Harvard College in 1844, and after studying law at Greenfield and Cam- bridge Massachusetts, went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where for many years he was member of the law firm of Lincoln, Smith & Stephens. He served as judge of the common pleas court of Ohio for five years. After residing in Cin- cinnati forty-one years, he retired from busi- ness and returned to New England to pass his last days, making his home at 17 High street. Greenfield, Massachusetts, where he died January 3, 1903. Two children of his

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first marriage survive him. The only child by the second marriage, Agnes Mary, died when fourteen years old.

Mrs. Smith has written a number of books, the first being published the year of her mar- riage, 1875. This has been followed during subsequent years by many books for children, namely: The Jolly Good Times Series, eight volumes, illustrated, as follows: "Jolly Good Times ; or, Child Life on a Farm ;" "Jolly Good Times at School; also, Some Times Not So Jolly ;" "The Browns ;" "Their Canoe Trip;" "Jolly Good Times at Hackmatack;" "More Good Times at Hackmatack ;" "Jolly Good Times To-Day;" "A Jolly Good Summer." The following is taken from the "Boston Transcript": "The Naturalness of the stories, their brightness, their truth to boy and girl life and character, and the skill with which the author manages incident and dialogue, have given them deserved popularity." "Four on a Farm," illustrated by Emlen McConnell. The Young Puritans Series, four volumes, illustrated, as follows: "The Young Puritans of Old Hadley ;" "The Young Puritans in King Philip's War;" "The Young Puritans in Captivity ;" "The Young and Old Puritans of Hatfield." The following is from the "Christian Endeavor World," Boston: "They make the men and women, and particularly the boys and girls, of old times, with their surroundings, very real. The history of the seventeenth century in New England would gain new life when read in the light of such books." The Old Deerfield Series, four vol- umes, illustrated, as follows: "The Boy Cap- tive of Old Deerfield;" "The Boy Captive in Canada :" "Boys of the Border ;" "Boys and Girls of Seventy-seven." The following is from the "Public Opinion": "There is enough exciting incident to satisfy any boy and enough history to make the story informing as well as entertaining." These books are published by Little, Brown & Company, Boston. The two historical series cover the leading events in Western Massachusetts and the Connecticut Valley from the settlement of Hadley to the Revolution. During Mrs. Smith's twenty-one years' residence in Cincinnati, she was active in church and public work, being one of the seven women who founded the Cincinnati Woman's Club, of which she has been made an honorary member, a worker in the Asso- ciated charities and the Woman's Art Museum Association, and president of the Unitarian Woman's Alliance. She aided in founding the Post Office Mission in the Unitarian de-

nomination, and to further its work wrote "Miss Ellis's Mission," published by the American Unitarian Association. Since her return to Greenfield, Massachusetts, Mrs. Smith has continued her interest in public work. She is president of the Greenfield branch of the Unitarian Woman's Alliance, was for seven years president of the Connecticut Valley Associate Alliance of Unitarian Women, and is now its honorary president, is a director of the National Alliance of Uni- tarian Women, a director and active worker in the Greenfield Historical Society, and was elected on the Greenfield school board in March, 1907.

McGREGORY The ancestor of the Mc- Gregorys early took root in Connecticut soil, "the land of wooden nutmegs and steady habits," and from a small beginning thereabouts they have branched out in all directions and have become a numerous family and made an hon- orable record. It is a family of great an- tiquity. Gregor was Gaelic for herdsman. Gregory is derived from gregor. McGreg- ory was the son of Gregory. Gregory was one of the early fathers of the church and made a saint.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 68

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