Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 16

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 16

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).

(VII) Israel (3), third son of Israel (2) and Paulina ( Harmon) Harmon, was born on his father's farm in Suffield, Connecticut, No- vember 19, 1834. He was educated in the public schools and at Williston Seminary,

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Easthampton, Massachusetts, and Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Massachusetts. After leaving school he resided at West Suffield and was a successful farmer and school teacher. In 1867 he removed to Springfield, Massachu- setts, and since that time has owned and car- ried on with success the business of the Spring- field Dye House. Mr. Harmon is proud of his ancestry, and was to have responded at the celebration of the bi-centennial anniversary of the town of Suffield, to the following, to wit: "The first settlers of Suffield, Samuel and Joseph Harmon, and their associates;" but, unfortunately he was not able to be pres- ent to deliver it, and it was read by another. Mr. Harmon's response was as follows :

"Mr. President : Americans are a proud people, and justly so. To be able to say our in connection with the world's only republic that has realized the hopes of the oppressed and the theories of Philanthropists, is a source of pride higher than Roman orator or Athen- ian philosopher could ever glory in. Natives of Suffield are a proud people, and today as they view its religious and educational insti- tutions, its thrift and prosperity, its patriotic record, who shall say their pride is not justi- fiable? The Harmons are this day proud- proud of this town, planted by their ancestors through toil and suffering, and peril, and which today is without superior in this our favored land. They are proud of their descend- ants, who have never furnished lawbreakers for jails or prisons, but have well filled all positions in the gift of their townsmen, in religious, educational, Masonic and political organizations, and furnished judges and other officers for Ohio and other states. I, one of the youngest of the Harmons, in the light of legend, tradition, history, look back through centuries to the time when Samuel and Joseph Harmon, about one mile west from where we now stand, first found rude habitations, laid tribute on the virgin soil, and made a nucleus around which, and from which, originated Suffield, Connecticut's brightest jewel. Fellow citizens, look at your fertile fields, your bene- ficent institutions and your happy homes, and be convinced that those first settlers did more for the good of the human race than did the first great Napoleon. Have we today a duty to perform? Do not the prayers, toils, perils of our forefathers, the prosperity of the past, the result of their labors, call upon us with carnest voice never to prove recreant to our great privileges and responsiblities? Do they not more thrillingly than bugle notes urge us

to high resolve and endeavor that Suffield future history may never put to shame its past, but grow brighter as centuries roll? May pure religion be the sure foundation of our future greatness ; may our fair women be educated, industrious, pure mothers of noble patriots ; may our brave men be refined, enterprising, guided, and guided only by the great principles of eternal truth, and may the Harmons, wher- ever on earth's broad surface they may be, do credit to their brave forefathers, and ever turn with fond recollections to the glorious old town of Suffield which their ancestors planted."

Mr. Harmon takes pride in paying every obligation in full, and fulfilled every duty to church and state through Christ in God. He is a member of the North Congregational Church and the national and state societies and George Washington Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Israel Harmon married, September 28, 1859, Frances Maria Cooley, born in West Spring- field, Massachusetts, August 6, 1837, died in Springfield, January 24, 1896. Her parents were Rev. Henry and Maria Lois (Brown) Cooley. She was a descendant of Puritan ancestors and was of the same blood as was John Brown, of Kansas fame. Endowed with superior qualities of head and heart, a devoted Christian, honoring father and mother, gener- ous, self-sacrificing, loving and loveable, she was an agreeable companion, a sincere friend, and a wise mother. All call her memory blessed. Three daughters blessed this union, all born in West Suffield, Connecticut, and all removed with their parents to Springfield, where they were educated in the city schools and graduated from the high school : I.

Martha Frances, born June 14, 1860, married, February 18, 1891, William Sheldon Humph- rey. Possessing culture, natural abilities and tact, she was eminently successful as a teacher, exerting an influence for good among her pupils. Equally good and faithful as a wife and a mother she discharged one of the nobl- est duties of womanhood in the care of her children. She resides in Claremont, Cali- fornia. William S. Humphrey was born in Faribault, Minnesota, November 25, 1860, died at Parsons, Kansas, April 18, 1895, and was buried at Oak Grove cemetery, Springfield, Massachusetts. He was a graduate of the Technological School at Worcester, Massachu- setts, and followed his profession as civil engineer and mathematician at Parsons, Kan- sas. Ile was a christian gentleman, noble, honor- able and truc. He was a grandson of Dr.

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Humphrey of Southwick, Massachusetts. His descent from Governor Winthrop is as follows: He was the son of Adelaide Wells King Humphrey, who was the daughter of Seth (2) King. Seth (2) was the son of Lydia Ballantyne, Mrs. Seth King (1). She was the daughter of Rev. John Ballantyne who was the son of Mary Winthrop, Mrs. Colonel John Ballantyne. She was the daughter of Adam (2) Winthrop, who was the son of Adam (1) Winthrop. He was the son of John Winthrop, the second governor of Massachu- setts Bay Colony, 1630-1634, 1637-1640. The two daughters of William S. and Martha F. (Harmon) Humphrey are: Helen Harmon, March 19, 1893; Ruth Winthrop, December II, 1894, both born at Parsons, Kansas. 2. Clara Eliza, born October 22, 1862, is a woman of bright mind, and an efficient and devoted wife and mother. She married, September 19, 1883, Edward C. Johnson and lives in Spring- field. Their children, all born in Springfield, are Edward Phelps, November 22, 1889; Elfrida M., December 15, 1891; and Arthur A., July 2, 1896. 3. Lilla Maria, born in Suf- field, August 1, 1865, took an additional course in drawing and painting under the instruction of Artist Adams, and developed her rare natural gifts for artistic work and later took lessons in artistic designing at the Woman's School of Design in Philadelphia, where she graduated. Mr. G. W. Harmon, of Benning- ton, was the historian of the Harmon family and since his death the mantle has fallen upon Israel Harmon, the subject.

LOOMIS In England, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the the name was spelled Lummas, Lommas, or Lomis, but in the nineteenth cen- tury it was uniformly spelled Lomas, while in New England in the seventeenth century it was spelled Lomis, Lomys or Lomas, and in the nineteenth century it was with a few ex- ceptions spelled Loomis. The common ances- tor in New England of the Loomis family was Joseph Loomis, one of the first settlers of Windsor, Connecticut, in 1639. The Lummis family have, for their common ancestor, Edward Lomas, born about 1606; came from London, England, to New England in 1635 and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony, as early as 1648. Of his six children John settled in Salem; Samuel in Hamilton, Nathaniel in Dover ; Jonathan in Ipswich. The only son who went beyond the bounds of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was Edward who

located in Cohansey, New Jersey. This family generally spell their name Lummis. The Lomas family are descended from Joseph Lomas, born in England about 1761, a soldier in the army of General Burgoyne and after the revolu- tion in America, settled in Andover, Massa- chusetts, and died in Erie county, New York, about 1830. He had ten children, including six sons who married and had children.

(I) Joseph Loomis, immigrant ancestor, born in Braintree, Essex county, England, about 1590, came from London, England, in the "Susan & Ellen," Mr. Edward Payne, master, to Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, arriving July 17, 1638. He brought with him his wife, five sons and three daughters, and they migrated from Boston to the west side of the Connecticut river with Rev. Ephraim Huet who arrived at Windsor, August 17, 1639. This territory was in the possession of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who granted to Joseph Loomis from the plantation twenty- one acres of land adjoining Farrington river and he also had several large tracts of land on the east side of the river by purchase. He built his home near the mouth of the Farrington river on what was an island at high water during the spring freshets, hence the location was known as the Island. The name of his wife does not appear on the records. She died August 23, 1652, having borne him eleven children, and Joseph, the patriarch immigrant, died November 25, 1658. The children of Joseph Loomis, all born in England, were: I. Joseph, born in England about 1616, married (first) Sarah Hill, 1646, and (second) Mary Chancery, 1659, and had twelve children all born in Windsor. 2. A daughter who married Captain Nicholas Olmstead, of Hartford, in 1640. 3. Elizabeth, married Josiah Hull, May 20, 1641, and moved to Killingworth. 4. Dea- con John (q. v.), 1622. 5. Thomas, married Hanah Fox, November 1, 1653, and (second) Mary, daughter of Thomas Judd, January I, 1662-63; they had eleven children born in Windsor. 6. Nathaniel, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Moore, November 24, 1653. 7. Mary, married (first) John Skinner and (second) Owen Tudor. 8. Lieutenant Samuel, married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Judd, December 27, 1653, and had ten children, eight born in Windsor, Connecticut, and two in Westfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony ; he was appointed ensign of the first company of West- field commanded by Major John Pynchon by the general court in 1674 and served in the Indian troubles of 1677.

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(II) Deacon John, second son of Joseph Loomis, of Windsor, was born in England in 1622, came to New England with his father's family in 1638, was admitted to the church at Windsor, October II, 1640, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Scott, of Hart- ford, February 3, 1648-49. He was granted forty acres of land from the plantation, May 3, 1643, and resided in Farmington from 1652 to 1660. He returned to Windsor in 1660 and became a deacon of the church. He served as deputy to the general court of the Connecti- cut Colony, 1666-67, and 1675 to 1687. The children of Deacon John and Elizabeth (Scott) Loomis were born in the order as follows: I. Deacon John, November 9, 1649, married and had nine children by the first wife, and he married (second) Sarah, widow of Isaac Warner, December 30, 1696; she had no chil- dren by him; he lived first in Windsor and died in Lebanon August 31, 1715. 2. Deacon Joseph, November 7, 1651, married Hannah -, had seven children ; he died 1699. 3. Thomas, December 3, 1653, married Sarah, daughter of Samuel White, of Hartford, and had two children, John and Thomas; he died August 12, 1688, and his widow married John Bissell, November 12, 1689, and removed to Lebanon. 4. Samuel, June 29, 1655, died young. 5. Daniel, June 16, 1657, married ( first) Mary, daughter of Josiah Ellsworth and (second) Hannah Drake, widow; had nine children by Mary Ellsworth. 6. James, September 19, 1659, died December 14, 1669. 7. Timothy, July 27, 1661, married Rebecca Porter, March 20, 1689-90, lived in Windsor, had seven children ; he died May 19, 1710, and his widow April 21, 1750. 8. Ensign Nathaniel, July 8, 1663, married Ruth Porter, November 28, 1689, had five children ; was deputy to the general court, 1708-10, and died in Bolton, June 25, 1732, and his widow February 16, 1753. 9. Deacon Samuel (q. v.), August 12, 1666. 10. Isaac, August 31, 1668, died De- cember 12, 1688. 11. Elizabeth, May 8, 1671, married John Brown, February 4, 1691-92, and from this marriage John Brown, of Har- pers Ferry tragedy, 1859, was a direct descend- ant. 12. Mary, August 7, 1673, died May 14, 1675. Deacon John Loomis, the father of these children, died in Windsor, September I, 1688, and a monument marks his grave in the Windsor burying ground. His widow died May 7, 1696.

( III) Deacon Samuel, ninth son and ninth child of Deacon Jolin and Elizabeth (Scott) Loomis, was born in Windsor, Connecticut,

August 12, 1666. He removed from Windsor to Colchester in 1700, was chosen deacon of the church in Colchester in 1702. He married, 1688, Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel White, of Hat- field. She was born November 13, 1667, and died February 10, 1736. Deacon Samuel and Elizabeth (White) Loomis had five children born in Windsor and five in Colchester, as fol- lows: I. Elizabeth, 1688, died 1688. 2. Sam- uel, February 28, 1689-90, died March 14, 1689-90. 3. Deacon Samuel, July 17, 1691, married Elizabeth Holmes, December 12, 1717 ; he was appointed ensign of the military com- pany of Colchester in 1730, was deacon of the church and died July 10, 1753, leaving no chil- dren. 4. Isaac, December 23, 1692, died before 1754. 5. Deacon Jacob, October 25, 1694-95, married Hannah Taylor, March 22, 1716, was captain of the Colchester company of militia from 1743 and deacon in the church; he died childless, June 27, 1757. 6. Lieutenant Azariah, May 2, 1700, married Abigail Newton, Decem- ber 25. 1723, had four children, all daughters ; was appointed lieutenant in the Colchester militia in 1743, and died February 20, 1758; his widow died June 15, 1778. . 7. Elizabeth, November 13, 1702, married Daniel Worth- ington, January 3, 1720-21. 8. Sarah, March 7. 1705, married Deacon John Day, August 20, 1725. 9. Deacon Caleb (q. v.), September 20, 1707. 10. Daniel, February 20, 1709, mar- ried Hannah Withrell, October 7. 1731, lived in Colchester, had seven children; he married (second) Widow Elizabeth Church, October 25. 1738, and she died August 10, 1751, aged seventy-six, and Deacon Daniel died May 20, 1754.

(IV) Deacon Caleb, sixth son and ninth child of Deacon Samuel and Elizabeth ( White) Loomis, was born in Colchester, Connecticut, September 20, 1707. He was made a freeman of the town of Colchester in 1739, a member of the Andover Society in 1747, removed to Union about 1754, where he died. He mar- ried, January 27, 1726, Abigail Wright, and their children were born as follows: I. Israel, September 25, 1727, died August 13, 1749. 2. Irene, August 5, 1728. 3. Abner (q. v.), April 21, 1729. 4. Abigail, July 3, 1732, died Janu- ary 13, 1751. 5. Phoebe, March 7, 1733, died October 13, 1756. 6. Caleb, June 19, 1735, mar- ried Mary Wyman, January 7, 1758, and lived in Brookfield, Massachusetts, where he died Jan- uary 28, 1774. 7. Deborah, March 8, 1738.

(V) Abner, son of Caleb and Abigail (Wright) Loomis, was born in Colchester, Connecticut, April 21, 1729. He married Char-

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ity Sprague, July 12, 1754, lived in Union, Connecticut, and had six children all born in Union as follows : I. Israel, October 29, 1756, married, in January, 1786, Hannah, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah ( White) Loomis, of Frederick, New York ; he was a lieutenant in the American revolutionary army and died in Pomfret, May II. 1825, and his widow died in Frederick, New York. November 7, 1847. 2. Luther, July 26, 1758. 3. Abner (q. v.), June 3, 1759. 4. Phoebe, March 3, 1761, married (first) Ichabod Moore and (second) Eleazer Kinney. May 21, 1849. 5. Abigail, February 7, 1763. 6. Calvin, 1767, married (first) Eunice Moore, and (second) Mrs. Alice Whitman : Calvin Loomis died in Middlesex, New York, August 23, 1840.

(VI) Abner (2), third son of Abner (I) and Charity (Sprague) Loomis, was born in Union, Conecticut, June 3. 1759. He married, August 24, 1783, Zilpah Field, and lived in Whately, Franklin county, Massachusetts, where he died April 2, 1813, and his widow Zilpah died March 22, 1847, aged ninety years. The children of Abner (2) and Zilpah ( Field) Loomis, were born in Whately, Massachusetts, as follows : 1. Sarah, August 24, 1784, mar- ried. in 1804, Elijah Sanderson, and she died in Whately, Massachusetts, November 27, 1854. 2. Jonathan Colton, October 18, 1785, married Elieta Stockbridge, November 30, 1810, had nine children and died in Whately, August 25, 1864. 3. William (q. v.), Septem- ber 26, 1789. 4. Leonard, July 30, 1797, mar- ried (first ) Philomela Arns, who died July 31, 1825, aged twenty-four years, and (second) Clarissa Bordwell, and lived in Whately. 5. Luther, November 20, 1798, died September 30. 1804.

(VII) William, second son and third child of Abner (2) and Zilpah (Field) Loomis, was born in Whately, Massachusetts, September 26. 1789. He married (first ) February 5. 1812, Rebecca, daughter of Benjamin and Polly (Mott) Waite, of Goshen. She was born in Martha's Vineyard about 1794, where her par- ents then resided and when she was a mere child the British landed on the island in quest of supplies for the army and when they reach- ed the home of her parents they drove off the cattle, sheep and swine, but through her child- ish persuasion they consented to leave one cow upon which the family depended for milk. Four children were born to William and Re- becca (Waite) Loomis, as follows: I. Luther (q. v. ). born May 12, 1814. 2. Maria, Febru- ary 12, 1816, married (first) Rufus Buell, and iii-23

(second) Nathaniel Marsh, of Westfield. 3. Jane, June 27, 1818, married (first) George Samuel Bates, and (second) Job Cowing, of Haydenville. 4. Zilpah, August 10, 1820, died young. Rebecca ( Waite ) Loomis, the mother of these children, died December 20, 1821, aged twenty-seven years, and Mr. Loomis mar- ried ( second ) Lucinda Thayer, April 10, 1822. She was born June 22, 1795, and died in 1872. The children of William and Lucinda ( Thayer ) Loomis were: 5. Mary, 1822, died in infancy. 6. Rebecca, May 24, 1824, married William Cowing and died in Haydenville, October, 1848. 7. Mary, January 27, 1826, married Ansel Packard; she died in Haydenville, Feb- ruary II, 1847. 8. Charles Leonard, June 27, 1828, married Wealthy Leonard, of Worth- ington, Massachusetts. 9. Francis, April 6, 1832, married Sarah Hillman and lived in Haydenville. 10. Elizabeth A., May 24, 1835, married ( first ) John Damon, and (second) Le Roy Huntley, of Florence, Massachusetts. William Loomis, the father died October 13, 1854. He was a professional builder of bridges, having learned the carpenter's trade when a youth and his skill as a bridge architect is to be seen in the large bridges at Chicopee Falls, Miller's Falls and West Springfield, Massa- chusetts. He lived in Whately, Massachusetts, up to 1822 when he removed to the town of Hatfield, and when the town was divided he lived in Williamsburg, where he purchased a farm of eighty acres, erected new barns and remodeled the old dwelling house. He left the supervision of his farm largely to his eldest son Luther and superintended under Captain Damon the construction of all the large bridges constructed or rebuilt on the larger streams and rivers of the Connecticut valley, he returning to his family to spend the Sabbath. His earlier days, before establishing his skill as a bridge builder, were spent upon a farm on which he built a shop where he manufactured wooden bench vises and screws as used on all farms for rough carpentering and repairing. His farming was of the primi- tive style, a single plow stock fitted with an iron point with a wooden mould board and drawn by a single horse, all home-made, as he was equally skilled as a blacksmith and car- penter. His political views were in harmony with the Whig party, and he held the office of member of the school committee for a number of years.

(VIII) Luther, eldest son of William and Rebecca (Waite) Loomis, was born in Whately, Franklin county, Massachusetts. May

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12, 1814, and he died in Haydenville where he moved after marriage, December 12, 1891. He was educated in the public school of his native town, attending only during the winter months and carrying on as best he could his father's farm in the season of farm work. As he reached his majority, he established a livery business, keeping his teams on the farm, which was a quarter mile east of Haydenville, but as business increased he removed his stables to the village in 1846, renting a large barn for the purpose. He continued in the livery stable busi- ness all his life, and also engaged in the hotel business with his son Byron. He also speculated in lumber, of which he was an excellent judge, and he bought the standing trees on various wood lots and prepared the timber for market, finding for it a ready sale. His cash capital when he began with this business was $700, and he owned twelve horses and supplied all the lumber used by the Haydens, the largest proprietors of Haydenville. He was enabled by his thrift and industry to buy the Hayden- ville Hotel, and pay for it in two years. He also dealt in cord-wood, which was the by- product of his wood lots, and while making money by merchandising the wood he became a large owner of land. He associated his son Byron in all his transactions, and to make him able to meet the demands of modern trade, in which his own want of education handi- capped him, he sent him to the Wilbraham Academy, where he gained a good practical education. Mr. Loomis was a member of both the church and choir of the Methodist Episcopal denomination in Williamsburg, and when a church was formed at Haydenville he contributed to its building and to its support, by purchasing a pew which remains in the family in perpetuity. Luther Loomis married, December 29, 1835, Caroline, daughter of Job and Patience Cowing. She was born in Chesterfield, April 26, 1813, died June 28, 1867. The children of Luther and Caroline (Cowing) Loomis were born as follows: I. Byron (q. v.), December 4, 1836. 2. Lucinda and 3. Lucretia (twins), August 13, 1837; both died young. 4. Sarah Ann, September 22, 1839, died December 14, 1850; burned to death in school house. 5. Luther J., Febru- ary 25, 1842, died June 1, 1862, a soldier in the civil war and member of the Twenty- seventh Massachusetts Volunteers. 6. Mary S., March 9, 1848, died February 8, 1867. 7. Levi, November 24, 1851. After the death of the mother of these children, June 28, 1867, Mr. Loomis married (second) Thankful,

daughter of Reuben Lawrence, who was liv- ing in 1908, making her home in the Haydenville House, Haydenville, Massachu- setts. They had no children. Mr. Loomis was highly respected by the people of Hampshire county, and he served the county as deputy sheriff a number of years, during the term of High Sheriff Longley. He was also accustomed to advise the neighbors on business as well as legal subjects up to time of his death.

(IX) Byron, eldest child of Luther and Caroline (Cowing) Loomis, was born on a farm, Haydenville, Massachusetts, December 4, 1836. He was educated in the public school and Wilbraham Academy. In 1855 he became a partner with his father in his various busi- ness projects, and he proved himself careful and thrifty with excellent judgment and good business tact. He was in partnership with his father in the hotel business up to the time of his father's death in 1891, and afterwards alone. He closed up the hotel business in 1907 to give his entire attention to the care of his landed estate in Haydenville and Northamp- ton, including farming land, store property and the Haydenville House. He was made a trustee and president of the Haydenville Sav- ings Bank, and is a public-spirited citizen in various other lines of investment and progress. His fraternal affiliations with the Masonic order includes membership in the Hampshire Lodge, A. F. and A. M. and Jerusalem Chap- ter, Roval Arch Masons, Northampton, Massachusetts. He is liberal in his political views but not a party man. His religious views took him in the spiritualist belief and he was made treasurer of the Lake Pleasant Camp Meeting of 1908, and he strongly main- tained the views of the Spiritualists when the subject was introduced, but he never intruded his belief, except when drawn out in friendly conference with inquirers. He married, May 10, 1859, Joanna L., daughter of Samuel D. and Laura (Fay) Woodburn, and sister of Mrs. Edwin F. Miller, a sketch of whose life appears in another part of this work. The children of Byron and Joanna L. ( Woodburn ) Loomis were: I. Walter Byron, born May 10, 1860, died September 13, 1862. 2. Parker Byron, died in infancy.

The traditions of this very

HERRICK ancient family claims their descent from Eric Ericke, a Danish chief who invaded Britain during the reign of Alfred, and having been vanquished

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by that prince, who compelled with his fol- lowers to repeople the western districts of East Anglia, the government of which he held as a fief of the English crown. He is recog- nized in history as "Ericke, the King of those Danes who hold the countrie of East Augle." The Morman invasion found this name repre- sented by Eric the Forester, who resided in Leicestershire, and possessed extensive do- mains along the sources of the Severn, and on the borders of Wales. He fought the invaders, was vanquished, then taken into favor by William, entrusted with important military commands, and at the end of a stormy and eventful life, died in peace on his estate in Leicester shire.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 16

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