Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 103

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 986

USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 103

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).

(VI) William, son of Asa and , Abigail (White) French, was born probably in Wil- liamsburg, as nearly all of his father's chil- dren were born there. He was a farmer by occupation. He married Eunice Coates. Chil- dren : Orange, William, Edmond, Henry, Frank, Fred, Miranda, Minerva.

(VII) Edmond, son of William and Eunice (Coates) French, was born in Stamford, Ver- mont, January 14, 1826, died September 6, 1901, at Brattleboro, Vermont. After a com- mon school education, he learned the trade of carpenter, later taking large contracts to build mills. In 1849 he removed to Pittsfield and there and in neighboring towns built several large mills, among which was a paper mill at West Cummington. He married, about 1852, Mary Galloway, born in New York, August I, 1832, died June 24, 1889. Children: I. Gren- ville W., born in Pittsfield, July 12, 1853, mar- ried (first) Nettie Hollister, of Hartford ; one daughter, Edith M .; married (second) May Elliot ; one boy, died in infancy. 2. Arthur M., see forward. 3. Ervin E., January 2, 1859, died April 6, 1864. 4. Nellie Elizabeth, October 7, 1864, married G. W. Gardiner ; no. issue. 5. Alice Gertrude, March 12, 1868, died unmarried, April II, 1909. 6. Mary Emily, August 29, 1869, married L. G. Mugford, of Chicago ; three children: Dorothy, Gertrude and Elizabeth.

(VIII) Arthur M., son of Edmond and Mary (Galloway) French, was born in Pitts- field, October 10, 1856. He obtained his edu- cation in the public schools of that place, and April 26, 1875, came to Holyoke, at once en- tering the employ of the Massasoit Paper Manufacturing Company. The business of paper manufacturing appealed to him, and at the expiration of nine years he was offered the position of superintendent of the Whiting Paper Company's mill, No. 1, at Holyoke, Massachusetts, remaining for five years, later

assuming a like position with the Hurlburt Paper Manufacturing Company of South Lee, Massachusetts, and after one year there re- turned to Holyoke as superintendent of the Valley Paper Company. He soon purchased an interest in that company and was elected to the board of directors, serving four years. With his assistance the Linden Paper Com- pany was then organized. Mr. French was entrusted with the difficult problem of draw- ing the plans for the building so that all avail- able land might be utilized, also with the su- perintendency of its erection and the install- ing of the plant. Soon after the mill was in operation he became ambitious to manufacture "Blueprint" paper, which heretofore had never been successfully done in this country, and at the present time (1909) this is one of the principal papers manufactured by him. On the absorbtion of the company by the Ameri- can Writing Paper Company, Mr. French was retained as superintendent. He is a director of the Home National Bank, member of the Masonic orders, Knights Templar and Shrine, and of the Congregational church. In poli- tics a Republican, serving in 1897-98 as alder- man at large, and 1890-91 as president of that body. He married, September 20, 1882, Me- lissa D., daughter of Albert G. and Mary (Jenne) Ridout. They have one child, Ar- thur Edmond, born May 7, 1889, who gradu- ated from the high school, Worcester Acad- emy, and is now at Dartmouth, class of 1911.

Line of descent of the Jenne family of which Mrs. Arthur M. French is a representa- tive :

Sometime in the early settlement of this country Isaac and Ephraim Jenne came from England and settled in Massachusetts, in the part which is now New Bedford. Tradition says they were of Welch extraction ; also that they married sisters (English women) about 1720.

( I) Isaac Jenne married Milly - and had five children : Isaac, Ephraim, James, Mary and Milly. Many descendants of this line are now living in Chester, Vermont.

(2) Jamies, son of Isaac and Milly Jenne, was born in New Bedford, August 14, 1744. He married Miriam Pope, sister of General Pope, of revolutionary fame. They had nine children : Isaac, Thomas, Miriam, James, Sarah, Elisha and three others who died in infancy.

(3) Thomas, son of James and Miriam (Pope) Jenne, was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, January II, 1773, died Janu-

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ary 9, 1861. When about four years of age his parents moved to Grantham, New Hamp- shire, where March 2, 1797, he married Bet- sey Hunter, born in Ashford, Connecticut, September 13, 1777, died January 13, 1854. They were the parents of three children,: Thomas, born March 23, 1799; Siloam S., July 26, 1809; Moriah, December, 1817.

(4) Siloam S., son of Thomas and Betsey (Hunter) Jenne, was born in Grantham, New Hampshire, July 26, 1809. He removed to Lenox, Massachusetts, with his parents, where November 26, 1829, he was married to Amelia P. Root. She was born in Lenox, October 5, 1806. They had children: Nancy M., born December 10, 1830, died November 6, 1834; Mary Ann, August 25, 1833; William McK., January 14, 1837; Frances Amelia, June 27, 1846, died May 16, 1873.

(5) Mary Ann, daughter of Siloam S. and Amelia P. (Root) Jenne, born August 25, 1833, married, November 24, 1853, Albert G. Ridout, of Lee, Massachusetts. Children : Charles Albert, born Lenox. November 9, 1854: Melissa D., born in Lee, Massachusetts, July 17, 1860, married Arthur M. French, as previously stated.

(For preceding generations see preceding sketch).

(IV) Jacob French, son of

FRENCH Alexander French (q. v.), was born September 19, 1739, at Braintree. He married Olive - He and his brothers settled in Williamsburgh, Massa- chusetts, when young men. According to the first federal census taken in 1790 John, Thomas, Samuel, Asa and Jacob were heads of families in that town. Jacob had one male over sixteen years of age, three males under that age and two females, four children in all, at that time. He was a soldier in the revolu- tion.

(V) Isaac, son of Jacob French, was born August 30, 1789, in Williamsburgh, and died there of lung fever, March 8, 1857. He mar- ried, October 2, 1814, Nancy Hill, born on Battery-march street, Boston; died at Wil- liamsburgh, Massachusetts, in 1886, at an ad- vanced age. She was descended from an old and prominent family of Boston. Children, born in Williamsburgh: I. Seth, March II. 1816, died 1857; married Maria Deman, of Williamsburgh, where she died without issue in 1864. 2. Chauncey, March 29, 1817, men- tioned below. 3. Samuel, July 14, 1818, died in 1874; married Ophelia Adams. 4. Polly, January 29, 1820, married Samuel Smith, of

Granby, Massachusetts, and had a son and a daughter. 5. Clymena, March 12, 1821, mar- ried Simeon Merritt, a mason by trade ; had several children. 6. Tirzah, April 27, 1822, married John B. Orcutt, who was for some years superintendent of spinning at the cord- age works, Warehouse Point, Connecticut ; daughter, Alice Arcutt. 7. Salome, August 9, 1823, died unmarried in 1853. 8. Abisha, March 17, 1825, died August 12, 1827. 9. Joseph, September 24, 1826, died August 27, 1827. IO. Lucretia Jane, March 15, 1828, mar- ried William Fuller, for many years in the livery stable and trucking business at Spring- field ; son William Fuller lives in Springfield. II. Joseph, September 12, 1829, married Nancy Hitchcock, now living with her only son, Cornelius French, of Springfield. 12. Laura, May 17, 1833, married Timothy Fuller, teamster, Palmer, Massachusetts ; had no chil- dren. 13. Algene, September 26, 1834, mar- ried Willis Gilford, a carpenter in Williams- burg, where he died December 19, 1907; his wife died April, 1905 ; daughter, Jennie Gil- ford.

(VI) Chauncey, son of Isaac French, was born in Williamsburg, March 29, 1817, died in 1888. He was educated in the public schools, and learned the trade of blacksmith. He en- gaged in business on his own account at Hins- dale, New Hampshire, in the manufacture of axes. Afterwards he manufactured at North- ampton, Massachusetts, hoe eye-sockets, at which he was especially skillful and successful. At that time all this work in making tools was done by hand and there were no large fac- tories. He returned to Williamsburgh in his declining years and spent the remainder of his life there. He died in 1888. He married, in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, Martha Eliza- beth Smith, born 1816, at Hinsdale, died 1894, in Williamsburgh. She was of an old New England family. Children : I. William C., born May II, 1841, mentioned below. 2. Hen- ry, 1842-43, enlisted on the first call in the civil war in the Tenth Massachusetts Regiment. Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, from Northampton, and contracted sickness from which he died April 19. 1862, in the military hospital, and is buried at Young's Mills, Vir- ginia ; unmarried. 3. George L., 1845, en- listed in the Twenty-seventh Regiment. Mas- sachusetts Volunteer Militia, in 1861, and served three years, taking part in twenty-six different engagements, escaping serious wounds or illness, and was discharged in 1865; found employment in Northampton on

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the Canal railroad, as it was then called, and in 1867 was accidentally killed by being thrown from the top of a freight car on which he was standing when he came into contact with an overhead bridge; he was unmarried. 4. Charles A., January, 1853, lives in Charles- town, Massachusetts; represents the National Cash Register Company; married Ida Van Houton, of New York ; has two children : Ed- ward and Edith. 5. John, born June, 1855, died unmarried September, 1898.

(VII) William C., son of Chauncey French, was born in Hinsdale, New Hamp- shire, May II, 1841. He was educated in the public schools. He was gifted with me- chanical ability and when a boy learned the trade of machinist and stationary engineer. He worked in various machine shops in Springfield and in 1875 took charge of the stationary engine on the Hunnewell estate in Boston, and continued in charge of the mechai- cal plant there until he resigned in 1899. From the time of the experimental use of electricity for lighting purposes, Mr. French has been a student of electricity and an expert electrician. As early as 1878 the inventor, C. F. Brush, introduced his mechanism for electric lighting, and under his supervision Mr. French learned to run the dynamo. The demonstration was successful and the Brush system was de- veloped successfully on commercial lines. While Mr. French was engineer in charge of the Continental Clothing House, corner of Howard and Washington streets, Boston, an arc light machine constructed by C. F. Brush was installed in its engine room. In 1899 Mr. French was placed in charge of the electric lighting plant of the Masonic Temple of Bos- ton and superintended its installation. He has held the position of chief engineer of this plant to the present time.

For many years Mr. French has been inter- ested in Masonry and is a member of Blue Lodge; Royal Arch Masons; Boston Council, Royal and Select Masters; De Molay Com- mandery, Knights Templar ; Lodge of Perfec- tion ; Princes of Jerusalem; Mount Olivet Chapter, Rose Croix; the Massachusetts Con- sistory ; and Aleppo Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a Republi- can. In 1861, on the first call of President Lincoln for troops in the civil war, he enlist- ed in the Charleston Artillery Company of the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment. He took part in both battles of Bull Run and in several skirmishes, and served for three months, the period of his enlistment. He was a member

of John A. Andrew Post, No. 15, Grand Army of the Republic.

He married (first) July 30, 1862, Henrietta Chadwick, born 1839, died December 12, 1879. He married (second) June 8, 1884, Louise M. (Malcolm) Anderson, born in New York City in 1851, widow of Frederick Anderson, who died in 1881. By her first marriage she had one child, William G. Anderson, who married Harriet Rouchfuss, of Boston, and has one child, William C. William G. was married under the name of William G. French, the name he has been known by for twenty-five years. Mr. French has. no children. He re- sides at No. 3 Alveston street, Jamaica Plain, Boston.

. The surname Wolcott is

WOLCOTT identical with Walcott, as shown by the use of the same coat-of-arms, but both in England and Ameri- ca the two forms of spelling have survived for several centuries. The coat-of-arms, which was engraved on the silver of Governor Rog- er Wolcott, of Connecticut, mentioned below : Argent a chevron between three chess rooks ermine. Crest : A bull's head erased argent or ducally gorged lined and ringed of the last. The family motto: Nullius addictus jurare verba magistri"-accustomed to swear in the words of no Master; or, taking nothing on trust. The English ancestry of the American immigrant has been traced for several genera- tions, as follows :

(I) John Wolcott lived and died in Tol- land, Somersetshire, England. His will, dated February 9, 1571, proved April II, 1572, be- queathed to children John, Alice, Mary ; wife Agnes, and also to John Howe, Agnes Meyer, and appointing his brothers Henry and Roger Wolcott overseers. Children of John and Agnes : John, mentioned below; Alice ; Mary.

(II) John (2), son of John (1) Wolcott, lived at Tolland, and died there March 2, 1618, according to his gravestone. Various branchies of the families lived in that and adjacent par- ishes. William and Thomas Wolcott were in Tolland as early as 1525, but the records are wanting, so the relationship is not known. John married Joan -, who died April 5, 1637. He owned mills and other property at Tolland. His will, dated November 10, 1623. proved January 16, following, bequeathed to John Wolcott, son of his son John, and Agnes and Mary, daughters of son John ; to children of son Henry ; to kinsman Symon Wolcott ;

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servant Giles More; also to Richard Locke, Alexander Thatloke, John Sealy and Alex- ander Engrave; witnessed by sons of the testators, Christopher and Henry Wolcott. Children, baptized in Lidiard, a parish ad- joining Tolland : I. Henry, mentioned below. 2. Christopher, died March 25, 1639. 3. John, died February 17, 1652.

(III) Henry Wolcott, immigrant ancestor, was son of John Wolcott, of Tolland, and was baptized at Lydiard, or Lidiard, England, December 6, 1578. He came with the first company to Dorchester, Massachusetts. Al- though it is said that he came first in 1628, he came with part of his family in the ship "Mary and John," of four hundred tons, Cap- tain Squeb, landing at Nantasket, May 30, 1630. He was one of the original settlers and proprietors of Dorchester, and was on the first list of freemen, dated October 19, 1630. He was one of the leading citizens, held the office of selectman, and other positions of trust. He removed with many of his neigh- bors to Windsor, Connecticut, in 1636-37, and was a member of the first general assembly of Connecticut in 1637. He was one of the undertakers (stockholders or owners) of the ship "Hopewell" in 1640, when he made a visit to England, and in that year his name stands first on the list of inhabitants. He was elected to the house of magistrates of Connecticut in 1643, and served during the rest of his life. He was one of the most prominent immigrants to New England. He was possessed of wealth and influence. He owned a good estate in Somersetshire. We are told that he spent his youth in gaiety and the usual country pas- times of the normal English youth, but after- wards, under the instruction of Rev. Edward Elton, "his mind was entirely changed and turned to the sincere love and practice of re- ligion." He became an austere Puritan. As the Puritans were then treated with great severity in England, he sold an estate worth eight thousand pounds and prepared to re- move to America. At his death, he still owned a considerable estate in England, rented for sixty pounds per annum, and afterwards sold by his heirs. His home in Windsor was at the south end of the town, south of the Farm- ington river, on a tract of land called the Island. He was called by contemporaries a "man of fine estate and superior abilities." He died May 30, 1655. He married, Janu- ary 19, 1606, in England, Elizabeth Saunders, baptized December 20, 1584, died at Windsor, July 5, 1655, daughter of Thomas Saunders.

His tombstone of brown stone stands at the rear of the First Congregational Church, sur- rounded by the gravestones of descendants. His wife was buried at his side, and Prince's Chronology says: "These both dyed in hope and Ly buried under one Tomb in Windsor." The stone and inscriptions are perfectly pre- served.

Children : I. John, baptized at Lydiard; died in England. 2. Anna, married, October 16, 1646, Mathew Griswold, of Windsor. 3. Henry, baptized January 21, 1610-II. 4. George, married Elizabeth -; died at Wethersfield, Connecticut, February 12, 1662. 5. Christopher, died September 7, 1662; had his father's homestead at Windsor. 6. Mary, married June 25, 1646, Job Drake; both died September 16, 1689. 7. Simon, mentioned be- low.

(IV) Simon, son of Henry Wolcott, was born in 1624-25, in England. He was five years old when his father came to America, and he came with other children later. He lived opposite his father's homestead in Wind- sor, on land that he bought of Goodman Whitehead, on the road to Hartford. He had a grant of land at Simsbury in 1667. He was prominent in public life. In 1668 he was on a committee of the general court to further planting. He removed to Simsbury in 1671 and was captain of the trainband there, Au- gust II, 1673 ; selectman 1674. He and other settlers were driven from their homes during King Philip's war, and it said that he buried a brass kettle containing the family silver, sinking it in the mud of the swamp, and that it has never been recovered. He had a grant of two hundred acres from the general court in 1680, and was one of six in the colony honored with the title "Mr." He married (first) March 19, 1657, Joanna Cook, born August 5, 1638, died April 27, 1657, aged only eighteen years. He married (second) Octo- ber 17, 1661, Martha Pitkins, who came from England with her brother, William Pitkins, at- torney general and treasurer of the colony. Wolcott died September II. 1687, and two years later his widow married (second) Daniel Clark. She died October 13, 1719, aged Wolcott, wrote of her: "She was a gentle- eighty years. Her son, Governor Roger woman of bright and natural parts which were well improved by her education in the city of London. She came to New England in 1661, and the same year was married to my father. The rest of her useful life she spent in the wilderness in doing good and setting an ex-

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ample of piety and prudence, charity and pa- tience." Children : I. Elizabeth, born August 19, 1662; married, December 10, 1680, Daniel Cooley, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts. 2. Martha, born May 17, 1664; married, January 6, 1686, Thomas Allyn, of Windsor. 3. Simon, born June 24, 1666. 4. Joanna, born June 30, 1668; married September 2, 1690, John Colton, of Longmeadow. 5. Henry, born May 20, 1670. 6. Christopher, born July 4, 1672; died April 3, 1693. 7. Mary, born 1674; died 1676. 8. William, born No- vember 6, 1676. 9. Governor Roger, men- tioned below.

(V) Governor Roger Wolcott, son of Si- mon Wolcott, was born January 4, 1679, at Simsbury, Connecticut. He became the fore- most man of his day in the colony, and from him are descended many distinguished Ameri- can statesmen, among whom may be men- tioned Governor and United States Senator Edward O. Wolcott, of Colorado, and Gover- nor Roger Wolcott, of our own generation in Massachusetts. From the private journal of Governor Wolcott we gain an excellent ac- count of his life. In 1680, when he was an infant, the family settled on the east side of the river at Windsor, at some distance from any school, and he never attended a school. He was instructed by his parents. There was no church in the vicinity. His father died, leaving his buildings unfinished, his land to be cleared, and in debt, but the widow and her six children managed, and as the governor say, "we never wanted." After his mother married Daniel Clark, he went to live with her in her new home on the west side of the river. In 1690 he learned to write and read; in 1694 he was apprenticed to a clothier or fuller to learn the trade, and January 2, 1699, he engaged in business as a clothier on his own account and be- came very successful. He was elected selectman of Windsor in 1707; deputy to the general assembly in 1710. He took part in the expedition against Canada in 1711 as com- missary of Connecticut stores. He was elect- ed councillor in 1714; judge of the county court in 1721 ; of the superior court, 1732; deputy governor and chief judge of the su- perior court in 1741. He was commissioned major general of the colonial army by Gov- ernor Shirley, of Massachusetts, and Gov- ernor Law, of Connecticut, and led the Con- necticut troops in the expedition against Cape Breton in 1745. He was. then sixty-seven years old, the oldest man in the service except

Rev. Mr. Moody. Gov. Wolcott said: "It was a tough business. Divine Providence ap- peared wonderfully in our favor and should forever be remembered with thankfulness." Louisburg surrendered and the expedition was successful. In 1750 he was elected governor of Connecticut. In November, 1752, some Spanish merchant vessels took refuge in New London harbor, and through the neglect and delay of the owner suffered much loss while in port. Governor Wolcott was accused of oppression and held responsible in the popular mind of the Spaniard's misfortunes. For this reason he was retired from governorship in 1754. But when the case reached the King's council, Governor Wolcott was absolved en- tirely from blame, and in a measure the pub- lic confidence in him returned. In 1755 he lacked but two hundred votes of re-election. After his retirement from public life "he di- vided his time between devotion, reading, ag- riculture, and the enjoyment of his friends. His body was strong and well proportioned. his countenance and deportment peculiarly adapted to command reverence and esteem. His wit was ready and uncommonly bright, his method of reasoning ( free from sophistry) was clear and manly, as became a generous inquirer after truth and not a noisy wrangler for victory. He was a sincere unfailing friend to every industrious, virtuous, honest man, what ever his walk in life. He was a wise legislature and able statesman. While he was a judge he held the balance of justice with a steady unwavering hand, and being far su- perior to venality or the influence of per- sonal, family or party connections, he pro- nounced the law inpartially on all tthe causes brought before liim. As a governor he ap- peared to advantage. This was his proper element, for he seemed originally formed to govern. He was a kind and provident hus- band and parent. His moral character was unblemished, his religion and piety unaffected and he died as he had lived a member of the Second Church of Windsor." And one who knew the late governor of Massachusetts, his descendant and namesake, must be reminded by this contemporary eulogy of the physique. bearing and character of the late Roger Wol- cott, of Massachusetts.

Governor Wolcott's mansion house was built in 1704, and stood until a recent date. Some of the panels on which the paintings il- lustrated the Indian attack on Deerfield have been preserved. His will was proved July IS. 1761. He published three books: "Poetical

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Meditations" (1725) ; "A Tract on a Contro- versial Letter on the New England Churches" (printed in 1761) ; "Letter to the Freemen of Connecticut" (1761). He died May 17, 1767.

He married, December 3, 1702, Sarah Drake, daughter of Job Drake, (see be- low). Children: I. Roger, born Septem- ber 14, 1704; mentioned below. 2. Eliz- abeth, born April 10, 1706; married,

August 24, 1727, Roger Newberry, of Wind- sor. 3. Alexander, born January 20, 1708; killed by a cart-wheel, October 8, 1741. 4. Samuel, born January 9, 1710; died December 22, 1717. 5. Alexander, born January 7, 1712. 6. Sarah, born and died December 10, 1712 (?). 7. Sarah, born January 31, 1715; "this dear and ingenious child dyed in an extasie of Joy Triumphing over death January 5, 1735." 8. Hepzibah, born June 23, 1717; married, November 10, 1737, John Strong, of East Windsor. 9. Josiah, born February 6, 1719; died January 29, 1802. 10. Erastus (twin), born February 8, 1721 : died May 10, 1722. II. Epaphras, born February 8, 1721 (twin) : died April 3, 1733. 12. Ursula, born October 30, 1724: married, November 10, 1743, Governor Matthew Griswold.

The following is the English ancestry of Job Drake (see above) who married Mary, daughter of Henry Wolcott :

(I) William the Conqueror ( 1066-1087). (II) Henry I, son of William. (III) Henry II, son of Henry I. (IV) John I, son of Henry II. (V) Henry III, son of John I and Isabelle. (VI) Edward I, son of Henry III. (VII) Elizabeth Plantaganet, daughter of Edward I, married Humphrey de Bohen, Earl of Hereford and Essex. (VIII) Margaret, daughter of Humphrey and Elizabeth, mar- ried Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon. (IX) Edward Courtenay. (X) Hugh Courtenay. (XI) Margaret Courtenay, married Sir Theo- bold Grenville. (XII) William Grenville. (XIII) Thomas Grenville. (XIV) Thomas Greenville. (XV) Roger Greenville. (XVI) Amy Greenville, married Drake. (XVII) Robert Drake. (XVIII) William Drake. (XIX) John Drake. (XX) Job Drake, married Mary, daughter of Henry Wolcott, who came to America.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 103

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 986

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 986