Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 110

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 110


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).


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(IV) Clarissa, youngest child of Alfred and Clarissa (Smith) Greene, was born De- cember 18, 1833, and married David B. Flint (see Flint VII).


Next to Jones, Smith and Rob- BROWN inson this is a most common name. One hundred and twen- ty-three Browns had emigrated to America be- fore 1700. Over thirteen hundred, a regiment in itself, served in the revolution from Massa- chusetts. According to the Herald's College, the Browns have been granted one hundred and fifty-six coats-of-arms. One hundred and thirty-nine had graduated from Yale up to 1904. The orthographic changes have been Boown, Bown, Braun, Broan, Brione, Broon, Brioun, Broune, Brourn, Browne, Brownn and Brune. The first Mr. Brown was called so because of his swarthy complexion. Brown- ing was the son of Brown. Brownell was the mighty Brown, nell coming from neil mean- ing the mighty. Brownly or Brownlee was the Mr. Brown who lived in a pasture and Brownlow from lowe meaning a hill was the Mr. Brown who lived on a hill. Among the distinguished men of this line have been B. Gratz Brown, who ran for vice-president with Horace Greely; Justice Henry B. Brown of the United States supreme court who was a Connecticut Brown;


Senator Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia; Jacob Brown, command- ing general of the United States army in the war of 1812; John Brown, the abolition lead- er; Charles Brockden Brown, the novelist ; Henry Kirk Brown, the sculptor; Charles


Farrar Browne (Artemus Ward) ; and J. Ross Browne, the war correspondent.


(I) Richard Brown came from Malford, Wiltshire, England, and sailed in the good ship "Mary and John" in 1635. He settled first at Ipswich, Massachusetts. A little party of about a dozen families went by water from Ipswich through Plum Island sound and up Parker river in 1635. Of this party Richard was one. They made a landing place on the north bank of the river near where the pres- ent bridge stands. They called the place "Ould Newberry", after a town in England. Rich- ard removed to the "Trayning Green" in 1646 and his lot was number sixteen from the river. He was made a freeman in 1635. The name of his wife was Edith. Children : Joseph (died young) ; Joshua (mentioned below) ; Caleb, born May 7, 1645. He married (second) Feb- ruary 16, 1648, Eliza, widow of Giles Badger. Their children were: Eliza, born March 20, 1649; Richard, February 18, 1651; Edmund, July 17, 1654; Sarah, September 7, 1657; Mary, April 10, 1660. Richard Brown died April 26, 1661.


(II) Joshua, the second son of Richard and Edith Brown, was born in Newbury, April Io, 1642, died November 21, 1742. September 5. 1694, he was on a committee who petitioned the general court in behalf of a company that erected a meeting house at their own expense, "and supplied themselves with a minister, re- questing the honorable court to take some effectual care for the relief of the petitioners and for the quiet of the whole town, the peace whereof is now so dangerously interrupted." This is what is known in local history as the Queen Ann chapel controversy and Joshua was in it from first to last. It continued to agitate the town for many years. A majority of the inhabitants had voted to move the meet- ing house to Pipe Stave hill, West Newbury, and discontinue the one at "Ould Newberry". In 1705 it was voted to build a new house at Pipe Stave hill, and work was begun on the same, but it was not completed until the year 1709. That year a tax was levied on all the people of the town to pay for the building of the new church. Those living at "Ould New- berry" strongly protested and refused to pay their taxes. In some cases their lands and household goods were forcibly taken and sold and some committed to jail, but afterward by order of the general court the collector of the parish was instructed to return the goods and chattels taken on distraint. Trouble kept brewing. The "removers" were still in the


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majority and by 1711 the town voted to sell and dispose of "Ye ministry house at ye plains and also to take the seats and glass out of ye old meeting house to be used in the new one, and remove ye old house to Pipe Stave hill and use it for a barn for ye minister". Fol- lowing this vote certain of the objectors at the plains signed this agreement.


"We whos names Are hearto Subscribed doo Agree And oblidge oursealves to each other to mayntain the publick Ministry At the old meeting house in ye west precinct in New- bury, Although we are forsed to pay Elswhare what shall be levid upon us."


On this Joshua's name appears. At this juncture a number of disorderly persons from the upper parish bent on having their own way came down in the night and demolished the old meeting house. Indignant at this turn of affairs the plains people determined to re- place the one that had been destroyed. The materials were provided and the work begun. July 19, 17II, the general court advised and directed that the raising of the church be de- ferred until a hearing be had; and on August 24, issued an order forbidding Samuel Bart- lett, Joshua Brown and Joseph Annis and their associates, aiders and abettors from pro- ceeding with the work. November 2, reports coming to the ears of the court that the order was not being complied with, a new and per- emptory injunction was issued. In this di- lemma the plain folks applied to Mr. John Bridger, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, governor general of her Majesty's lands and woods in America. He visited Newbury, heard the grievances and promised to help them "at home" if they would promise to use the lit- urgy of the Church of England. They were willing to do this and upon his advice a long petition was drawn up and forwarded to his Grace, the Bishop of London, reciting the whole situation and praying for a relief. On this Joshua Brown's name was second. They then directed a petition of similar import to Governor Dudley who requested the authori- ties in Essex county not to interfere with the worshippers at the plains. The following let- ter written by Judge Sewall of witchcraft fame explains the matter further :


"Sir,-I have thought on your words re- lating to the West Precinct in Newbury, men- tioned in your Letter of the 22th of January last. It came to my mind that my Landlord Webster was a near neighbor to Joshua Brown for many years. You are a Younger Man and a Deacon. I would have you goe to Mr. Web-


ster, and accompany him to your brother Dea- con Brown, and speak to him with that Seri- ousness and Solemnity as the case requires, and see if you can reclaim him and recover him. Be not discouraged with thinking that he will not hear you. Hereafter, possibly, he may complain that few, or none, dealt plainly and faithfully with him. However it be, if you in faithfullness and Meekness endeavor to restore your brother thus surpris'd, you will have peace & Comfort in it. Success belongs to GOD."


The church was rebuilt by the inhabitants, Joshua Brown contributing his mite towards it. The next thing the matter was taken to the courts for an airing and damages for the demolition of the old chapel was sued for, but a compromise was effected without a trial. Judge Sewall in his diary says:


"Mr. Rogers prays at opening of the Court. Din'd at Smith's. At noon Brother and I per- suaded them of Artichoke precinct to agree. I gave Lt Moodey Five pounds, and Jno Em- ery gave five pounds, and Moodey and others let fall their Review; went into Court and said, They are Agreed. The Agreem't was made in Smith's Garret. Adjourned sine die."


The matter, however, continued to agitate the town up to 1722 when those of Artichoke precinct asked Governor Shute to relieve them from paying rates or supporting the West par- ish. The relief was accordingly granted. It continued to be used for a house of worship until 1766 when it was deserted and in 1776 was blown down by the wind. Part of the building saw further religious use. The pews were put into a gallery of a nearby church. The Bible went to a church in Boscawen, New Hampshire, and the silver christening basin was donated by Joshua Brown, to St. Paul's, Newbury, where it remained until stolen by burglars in 1887. The bell, with the inscrip- tion : "Presented to Queen Ann Chapel by the Bishop of London", hung for a long time in a school house in Pillsbury lane now Ashland street, but it disappeared in 1839, no one knew how. Joshua Brown was buried in the old Belleville cemetery and the following inscrip- tion is on his tombstone :


Here Is Interred The Body Of Joshua Brown Who Was One Of Ye First Founders Of The Church In Newbury He Died November The 21st A. D. 1742 & In Yo 71st Year Of His Age.


He married. January 15, 1669, Sarah.


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daughter of William Sawyer. Their children : Joseph, born October 16, 1669; Joshua, April 18, 1671; Tristram (mentioned below), De- cember 21, 1672; Sarah, December 5, 1676; Ruth, October 29, 1678; Samuel, September 14, 1687.


(III) Tristram, third son of Joshua and Sarah (Sawyer) Brown, was born in New- bury, December 21, 1672, died at Norwich, Connecticut, before 1756. He was made a freeman of Norwich, January 21, 1710. The baptismal name of his wife was Mary. Their children : Tristram, Joshua, Abraham (men- tioned below), Samuel and Richard.


(IV) Abraham, third son of Tristram and Mary Brown, was born in Newbury. He moved to Norwich with his father in 1715, to Cantebury, Connecticut, in 1736, and Coven- try, Connecticut, in 1739. He married Abigail Dike, of Newton. Their children : Elijah, Ed- mund, settled in Norfolk, Connecticut, Jona- than, Benjamin (mentioned below), James, Elisha and Stephen.


(V) Benjamin, the fourth son of Abra- ham and Abigail (Dike) Brown, was born in Coventry, September 20, 1740, died in Man- chester, Connecticut, March 27, 1809. He served in Captain Latimer's company, third regiment of Connecticut troop, Colonel Elizur Fitch. He married Sarah Keeney (?), born August 13, 1745, died July 3, 1815. Their children : Sarah, born August 13, 1764; Ben- jamin, August 20, 1767; Abigail, August 17, 1769; Edmund (mentioned below) : Esther, June 6, 1774: Achsah, August 23, 1778; Iraenuas, October 23, 1780; James, April 5, 1783; Sarah, December 26, 1785.


(VI) Edmund, the second son of Benjamin and Sarah Brown, was born in Manchester, Connecticut, March 2, 1772, died in Norfolk, Connecticut, July 13, 1859. When about twelve years old he came to Norfolk and lived with his uncle, Edmund Brown, who had no children. When a young man he started out for himself, buying a farm on the west road in Norfolk where he built and almost all his life operated a saw-mill which was standing until 1908 when destroyed by fire. He cleared and made productive the land of the rocky primeval forest, made an attractive home where he lived and died and where his chil- dren were born and some of them died and where some of his grandchildren were born. It' stood near the Goshen road. He was a prominent man in the town for many years, was justice of the peace, held all the town offices and was representative to the legisla- iv-13


ture. He was one of the director's o. the Nor- folk Leather Company. He was a man oi great energy, of marked integrity, of unusual force of character, of excellent judgment and a great reader of books requiring deep thought. At his funeral sermon the preacher said : "Seldom shall we find a man of the like of Edmund Brown." He married, November 27, 1809, Mabel H., daughter of Ebenezer and Content (Dowd) Norton. She was born De- cember 9, 1785, died March 8, 1840. She was from that Le Sr deNorville who came from France into England in 1066 and her first American emigrant was Thomas Norton. born in Skelton Parish, England, in 1625, and came to Guildford, Connecticut, in 1648. Children of Edmund Brown : Sarah, born November 28, 1810 (who never married) ; Ralph, December 2, 1820 (who never married) ; Plumb (men- tioned below), October 11, 1822; Abigail, March 22, 1826; Harriet, April 28, 1828 (who never married).


(VII) Plumb, the second son of Edmund and Mabel H. (Norton) Brown, and the only member of his family who married and reared up children, was born in Norfolk, Connecti- cut, at the old Brown homestead, October II, 1822, died in the house in which he was born, February 2, 1896. He had many of the traits of his honored father, a man of vigorous mind and body, held all the town offices and posi- tions of trust and represented his town in the legislature several times. He spent his life on the old Brown farm in Norfolk. He married Olive E., daughter of Benjamin W. Crissey, of Norfolk, whose ancestry is traced herein. Their children were : Edmund, born July 25, 1862; Benjamin, June 16, 1864; Sarah, Janu- ary 15, 1866; Plumb (mentioned below) ; Mabel Eunice, February 2, 1878.


(VIII) Dr. Plumb (2) Brown, youngest son of Plumb ( I) and Olive E. (Crissey) Brown, was born at the old homestead in Norfolk, No. vember 15, 1868. He was educated in the dis- trict schools of Norfolk, Robbins preparatory school and high school of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He attended the medical school of the University of Vermont for one year and graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago in 1892. He practiced two years in South Manchester, Connecticut, com- ing to Springfield in 1895. He has a reputa- tion of being a very successful practitioner, being frequently called into consultation by the medical brethren in difficult cases. He was on the committee that built the Wesson Maternity Hospital. He is a member of the


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Springfield Academy of Medicine, Massachu- setts Homoeopathic Society, Connecticut Homeopathic Society and the American Insti- tute of Homoeopathy. He is a member of the Allen Maternity Medical Club, of the Econ- omic Club and the Winthrop Club, all of Springfield. He is a Mason of Knight Tem- plar rank and admitted to the Melha Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the George Wash- ington Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and also belongs to the state and national organizations of that order. He is a member of the Congregational church and was formerly a deacon therein. He married, Oc- tober 26, 1892, Rebecca Aiken, daughter of Rev. William Elliott Bassett, whose ancestry is traced below. Mrs. Brown is a direct de- scendant from John Elliott, the apostle to the Indians. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brown are de- scendants of Le Sr deNorville who is mention- ed above. Children of Dr. Brown: Elliott Crissey, born June 18, 1894, died June 19, 1894; Elliott Bassett, born December 6, 1897, and who is a pupil of the public schools of Springfield.


(The Crissey Line).


Crissey is a local name in Normandy and on the roll of Battle Abbcy. They came over with William at the Conquest and have shown conspicuously in English and American his- tory.


(I) William Crissey was born in England in 1630 and came to America in 1649, settling at Stamford, Connecticut. He had the follow- ing children : Mary, Nathaniel and John.


(II) John, the youngest son of William Crissey, was born at Stamford, May 15, 1665. He married Abigail Knapp, December 1, 1692. They were the parents of Sarah, born April 25, 1693 ; Abigail, May 8, 1695; John (refer- red to latcr) ; Deborah, February 14, 1698; Nathaniel, September 16, 1700; Moses, Feb- ruary 14, 1702; Mary, February 15, 1704.


(III) Captain John (2), eldest son of John (I) and Abigail (Knapp) Crissey, was born February 2, 1696, in Stamford, died in Wood- bury, Connecticut, where he spent his life, an nonagenarian. He married Mary Hurd, June 22, 1720. They had eleven children : Sarah, born April 22, 1721 ; Joseph, April 28, 1723; John, November 9, 1724; David (referred to hereafter) ; Daniel, January 8, 1727; Mary, November, 1730 (died in infancy) ; Mary, February 21, 1732; Abigail, June 3, 1734; Abigail, February 4, 1737 ; Jane, February 14, 1738; Solomon, February 21, 1743.


(IV) David, the fourth child of Captain John (2) and Mary (Hurd) Crissey, was born in Woodbury, October 19, 1725, died in Colebrook, Connecticut, April 18, 1803. In August, 1757, at the alarm for the relief of Fort William Henry near Lake George, New York, David was in Captain Ebenezer Down's company. He married Hannah Wilmot, No- vember 15, 1753. She was buried in New Hartford town hill cemetery. Their children were named as follows: Jemima, born May 21, 1755; Mary, March 10, 1757; Naomi, April 2, 1759; Preserved, March 16, 1762; Israel (referred to hereafter); Liberty, March 26, 1769; Hannah, October 6, 1771 ; Sene, May 23, 1774; Phineas, June 19, 1778.


(V) Israel, the fifth child of David and Hannah (Wilmot) Crissey, was born in Woodbury, March 31, 1764, died in Norfolk, Connecticut, a septuagenarian. His father moved to Winchester, Connecticut, when he was about twelve years old and lived on a farm on the eastern border of the Indian meadow near Colebrook line. He lived for a time in Winchester and in 1803 sold to Jacob Chamberlain his farm there and moved to Beech hill in Colebrook and about 1810 moved to Norfolk, where he spent the remainder of his life. He maried Alice Woodruff, Febru- ary 7, 1788; she was born April 17, 1763. The names of their children were : Mehitable, born July 21, 1789; Benjamin Wilmot (referred to hereafter) ; Alice, June 15, 1793; Olive, Feb- ruary 28, 1795.


(VI) Benjamin Wilmot, the eldest son of Israel and Alice (Woodruff) Crissey, was born in Winchester, May 19, 1791, died Octo- ber 28, 1864. He married, March 4, 1828, Eunice, daughter of Daniel and Betty (Brown) Burr. She was born January 14, 1797, and was descended from Benjamin Burr, onc of the original settlers of Hartford in 1635 and the progenitor of Aaron Burr. Their children were: Ralph Truman, born April 13, 1829; Warren, March 5, 1831 ; Ralph Isracl, February 4, 1833; Olive Eliza- beth, April 6, 1835, who was descended from Peter Brown, a "Mayflower" passenger, and who married Plumb Brown whose ancestry is traccd above, and who was the mother of Dr. Plumb Brown; Theron Wilmot, April I, 1837: Halsey Halburt, May 27, 1839.


(The Bassett Line).


Bassett mcant a little fat man with short legs and thighis, is a name borne by good pco- ple, and has furnished its quota of enlistments in all our wars. Among its members have


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been clergymen, lawyers, physicians and mer- chants of note.


(I) John Bassett came to New Haven, Connecticut, from Boston, about 1642, in which port he had recently landed from Eng- land. The name of his wife was Margorie; he died February 15, 1652, at New Haven, and she at Stamford in 1654. Their children were: Robert (referred to hereafter) ; Sarah and Maria.


(II) Robert, son of John and Margorie Bassett, was born in England, died in Hemp- stead, Long Island, New York, in 1670. He was a shoemaker by trade and known as Rob- ert, the drummer, from which fact he prob- ably in his youth served in some of the wars. It is thought probable that he was married in England but the name of his wife is unknown. He had the following children : Robert (re- ferred to hereafter) ; Elizabeth, born in 1642; Mary, March 8, 1649; John, 1651.


(III) Ensign Robert (2), eldest son of Robert (I) Bassett, was born in England in 1640, died in Stratford, August 5, 1720. He came to Stratford, Connecticut, and bought land November 16, 1681, and a house lot in February, 1682. In 1683 he built a house thereon placing a stone in the ceiling with the following inscription cut therein "R. B. 1683". He was a very wealthy man for that day, and after giving his four sons large farms he left when he died about ten thousand dollars. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Ensign Sam- uel and Sarah (Baldwin) Riggs, in 1687. Their children were: John, born June 23, 1689; Samuel (referred to later) ; Jonadab, July 20, 1695; Robert, July 11, 1699; Eliza- beth, December 15, 1710; Ebenezer, January 31, 1707.


(IV) Captain Samuel, the second son of Robert (2) and Elizabeth (Riggs) Bassett, was born in Stratford, November 28, 1692, died in Derby, Connecticut, September 15, 1764. He located upon a farm given him by his father in Derby upon which he built a house in 1727 and this house is now standing. He was commissioned ensign of the militia of Derby in 1722, lieutenant in 1732 and captain in 1735. He was elected deputy to the general court from Derby consecutively from Septem- ber, 1733, to 1764, and was a justice of the peace for over twenty years. He married De- borah Bennett, of Newtown, Connecticut, Jan- uary 21, 1719; she died July, 1773. Their children were: Samuel, born November 19, 1719; John, February 15, 1721; Joseph, Au- gust 31, 1722; Abraham, February 27, 1724;


Deborah, March 22, 1725; Elizabeth, March 15, 1728; Ebenezer, June 18, 1731; Amos, January 7, 1734; Mary, November 21, 1734; Ephraim, February 7, 1738; Benjamin (re- ferred to later).


(V) Benjamin, the eleventh child of Cap- tain Samuel and Deborah (Bennett) Bassett, was born in Derby, November 20, 1740. He resided on the old homestead in Derby, and during the revolutionary war the ladies used to meet at his house for the purpose of mak- ing clothes for the soldiers. He was a mem- ber of the committee of safety and corres- pondence. He married Mollie, daughter of Ebenezer and Hannah (Scovell) Hinman, of Southbury, Connecticut, July 29, 1771. She died May II, 1826, and was buried from the Episcopal church in Seymour. Their chil- dren were: Archibald, born March 21, 1774; Polly, 1776; John (referred to later) ; Betsey, 1780; Benjamin, 1782; Hannah, 1785.


(VI) John (2), the second son of Benja- min and Mollie (Hinman) Bassett, was born in Derby, in 1779, died there August 16, 1858. He occupied the old Bassett homestead in Derby. He married Nancy A., daughter of Dr. Daniel Lee, of Westerly, Rhode Island, October 9, 1809. Their children were : Cath- erine E., born November 28, 1810; Daniel Lee, March 30, 1812; Hannah Ann, Novem- ber 4, 1813 ; Benjamin S., November 6, 1815; Elizabeth, July 12, 1818; Charlotte L., April 24, 1820; Jane P., November 21, 1822; Ben- jamin F., January 23, 1825; Allen Lee, Feb- ruary 28, 1827; William Elliot (referred to later).


(VII) Rev. William Elliot, the tenth child of John (2) and Nancy A. (Lee) Bassett, was born in Derby, May 24, 1829, died in Norfolk, Connecticut, November 6, 1881. He was lib- erally educated at Yale and among his college associates were the Hon. John W. Noble, sec- retary of the interior under President Harri- son ; Daniel Coit Gilman, president of Johns Hopkins University; Associate Justice David J. Brewer and Henry B. Brown, of the United States supreme court; Chauncey M. Depew. He was graduated from the Union Theologi- cal Seminary of New York in 1856 and took his first pastorate at Central Village, Connecti- cut. He held charges subsequently at Man- chester, Warren, Bethlehem and East Canaan, all in the state of Connecticut. He was a valiant worker in the Master's vineyard and he laid up riches in heaven by his good works. His sermons showed great study and were ably and effectively delivered. He married,


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October 22, 1856, Mary Dowd, of Norfolk, born August 31, 1835, died January 29, 1886. Their children were: John Dowd, born Jan- uary 6, 1858, in Central Village, who is a lead- ing banker in Ritzville, State of Washington; and Rebecca Aiken, born December 23, 1868, who is the wife of Dr. Plumb Brown (q. v.).


BROWN The armorial bearings of this family were: Sa. three mallets argent ; quartering; party per bend. Argent and sable in bend three mascles bendways, counterchanged. Or on a fesse gule three crosses pattee argent. Argent on a bend sable a bezant in chief. Crest. On a wreath argent and sable a demi-stock, its neck nowed gule and wings displ. argent. In its beak a scroll bearing the motto, "apprendre a mourir".


(I) John Brown was born in England in 1631 and came to this country and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1662 he re- moved to Marlboro, same state. In 1678 he sold his farm to Thomas Rice and soon after removed to Falmouth, Maine, then Massachu- setts. From there he came to . Watertown, Massachusetts. His will was dated Novem- ber 20, 1697. He married Esther Makepeace, of Boston. Children : Joseph, born February 8, 1655; Elizabeth, March 26, 1657; Sarah, July 18, 1661; Mary, December 19, 1662; John, November 27, 1664; Hester; Thomas, 1669: Daniel, 1670: Deborah, 1673; Abigail, March 9. 1675 ; and Joseph, mentioned below. (II) Joseph, son of John and Esther (Makepeace) Brown, was born in Marlboro in 1677 and died in Lexington, aged eighty- six. He settled at Watertown Farms, now Weston, and sold to Benjamin Garfield, a col- lateral ancestor of President Garfield, seventy- two acres of land in Weston, April 20, 1709, and about this time removed to Lexington, Massachusetts. He and his wife were admit- ted to the Lexington church in May, 1713, of which he was afterwards deacon. He was a constable, selectman and town clerk. He mar- ried Ruhamah Wellington and she died in 1772, a nonagenarian. Children : Ruhamah, born July 15, 1701 ; Daniel, December 21, 1703: John, May 5, 1706; Joseph, September 8, 1708: Jonas, May 20, 1711 ; James, July 26, 1713: Josiah, August 21, 1714: Benjamin, June 30, 1720; William, April 28, 1723.




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