Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 23

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 23

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One of the many notable char-

WILBUR acters in early New England history was the founder of the American family, bearing the surname of Wil- bar, but which in the time of the ancestor him- self was spelled Wildbore. This rendition is said to have been continued through one or two generations of some branches of the family after that of Samuel. and in various early records in towns where some of his descendants became settled the name appears in different forms, and Savage gives account of Wilbore, Wildboare, Wilbur, Wildbore and the name Wilbar now represents a majority of the descendants of Samuel of Boston and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and Taunton, Massachusetts, where the scene of his life was chiefly laid, and thus is distinguished from the more numerous families of Wilbur and Wil- ber. It may be said, however that so good an authority as Austin in his genealogical diction- ary gives the family name of Samuel as Wil- bur. In the present work, the name will be

iii-25

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mentioned as known to the several generations holding it.

(I) Samuel Wildbore was born in England and is believed to have come to this country before 1633, with his wife and several chil- dren. The christian name of his first wife was Ann, and reliable accounts mention her as a daughter of Thomas Bradford, of Lancaster, Yorkshire, England, from which part of the dominion Samuel himself is said to have come. His second wife was Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Lechford. The year of Samuel's birth is not known, but he died September 29, 1656. He was made freeman in Boston in 1633, and with his wife Ann, was admitted to the church in December of the same year. In 1634 he was assessor of taxes, and on November 20, 1637, was one of the several disarmed "in con- sequence of having been seduced and led into dangerous error by the opinions and revela- tions of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchin- son," and therefore being given license to depart the colony, he took up his place of abode in the colony of Rhode Island. He is next recorded in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where on March 7, 1638, he was one of eigh- teen who entered into the following compact : "We, whose names are underwritten do here solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incor- porate ourselves into a Bodie Politick, and as he shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates, unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of his given us in his holy word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby." It is evident that Samuel Wildbore was a person of some consequence in the plantation at Portsmouth, for in 1638 he was present at a public meet- ing, upon notice, and in the same year was chosen clerk of the train band. In 1639 he was made constable and given an allotment of a neck of land lying in the great cove, con- taining about two acres. In 1640 he and Ralph Earle, who seems to have been in some way associated with him, were ordered to furnish the town of Newport with new sawed boards at eight shillings per hundred feet, and half-inch boards at seven shillings, to be de- livered at the "pit," by the water-side. On March 16, 1641, he was made a freeman in Portsmouth, became sergeant of militia in 1644, and in 1645 returned with his wife to Boston. On November 29, 1645, Samuel Wildbore and his wife were received into the church in Boston, and in a deposition made May 2, 1648, he made oath that when he mar-

ried the widow of Thomas Lechford he re- ceived no part of her former husband's estate. In 1655 he was again in Portsmouth, but at the time of making his will he lived in Taunton and at the same time had a house in Boston. His will was recorded in both Mass- achusetts and the Plymouth Colony. That instrument bore date April 30, 1656, and was admitted to probate November I following, which fact determines the year in which he died. His property was inventoried at two hundred and eighty-two pounds, nineteen shillings, six pence. His children, all by his first marriage, were: Samuel, Joseph, Wil- liam and Shadrach.

(II) William, third son of Samuel and Ann ( Bradford) Wildbore, was born in 1630, and died in 1710. He spelled his name Wil- bor. About 1654 he settled at Little Comp- ton, Rhode Island, but died at Tiverton. His wife, whom he married in 1653, was Martha. Their children were: Mary, Joseph, John, Thomas, William, Martha, Samuel, Daniel, Joan and Benjamin.

(III) Samuel (2), fifth son of William and Martha Wilbor, was born in 1664, died in 1740. He married Mary, daughter of Na- thaniel and Elizabeth (Stapes) Potter, and they had: Martha, Samuel, William, Mary, Joanna, Thankful, Elizabeth, Thomas, Abial, Hannah and Isaac.

(IV) William (2), second son of Samuel (2) and Mary ( Potter) Wilbor, was born January 6, 1695, died September, 1774. He married, June 20, 1717, Esther, daughter of Thomas and Esther Burgess. She was born in 1696 and died in 1760. Their children were: Thomas, Mary, Esther (died young). Lydia (died young), Samuel, William, Daniel, Charles, Esther, Lydia, Deborah and Clarke.

(V) Thomas, eldest child of William (2) and Esther ( Burgess) Wilbor, was born May I, 1718, died March 5, 1787. He resided in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. He married (first) March 9, 1739, Edith Woodman, born Decem- ber 20, 1719, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Briggs) Woodman. He married (second) July 27, 1761, Mary Hoxic, born September 9, 1736, died July 4, 1827, daughter of Solo- mon and Mary ( Davis) Hoxic. She survived him and married (second) January 30, 1790, Jabez Wing. The children by the second wife Mary were: William, Isaac, Mary, Jolın, next mentioned.

(VI) John, youngest child of Thomas and Mary Wilbur, was born in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, July 17, 1774, died in Hopkinton, May

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1, 1856, and was buried in the Friends' grave- yard in that town. He was religiously in- clined, and was brought up by his parents in the old and orthodox school. He was a use- ful citizen, often taught school and was a land surveyor through life. At twenty-eight years of age he was appointed an elder and was officially acknowledged as such in 1812. In 1824-25 he conceived the idea of knowing more of the country and of the Quakers, traveled through various parts of New England and in 1827 visited the state of New York. His increased experience and growing zeal led him in 1831 to visit England, where he preached to the Friends very acceptably for two years. For nearly twenty years he remained at home attending to his duties and writing. In 1852- 53 he traveled and preached in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. In 1853 he made a second visit to England, where he was again engaged in religious labor. He was a con- servative in opposing innovations made by Elias Hicks and Joseph J. Gurney. On account of this opposition he was denounced in 1838, his monthly meet- ing, that of South Kingston, was dissolved and its members were added to the Green- wich meeting, by which in 1843 he was dis- owned. A division in the society ensued, an independent yearly meeting being established by the Wilburites, as they were called, of Rhode Island and other parts of New Eng- land. His private writings were very ex- tensive. In 1845, after the Gurney schism, he published a duodecimo of three hundred and fifty-five pages, entitled "A Narrative and Exposition." His "Journal and Correspond- ence," an octavo of five hundred and ninety- six pages, published by his friends, appeared in 1859, three years after his death. He was a citizen who was held in highest esteem by those who knew him and his differences with those of his own sect were on religious matters only. Among other denominations, he was honored for his high character and ability, and often preached in their sanctuaries. He mar- ried, October 17, 1793, Lydia Collins (see Collins VI), who was born April 29, 1778, daughter of Amos and Thankful Collins. She died December 19, 1852. They had children : Thomas, Amos C., Lydia, Phebe, Susan C., Sarah S., Mary, John, Hannah C., Ruth. Wil- liam H., Anna A. and Elizabeth W.

(VII) Dr. William Hale, son of John and Lydia (Collins) Wilbur, was born in Hop- kinton, Rhode Island, March 10, 1816, died in Westerly, Rhode Island, October 12, 1879.

During his early years he made good use of such educational advantages as were then en- joyed in the region of his birth, and after- wards he attended for a while the Friends' school in Providence. He also taught to some extent. As a mathematician he had few equals and as a Latin scholar he was singu- larly adept. When about twenty-seven years of age, he commenced the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. Thomas Wilbur, of Fall River, Massachusetts, and while continuing his studies there he attended the lectures in the medical department of the University of New York. Before completing his course he became much interested in the hydropathic treatment of disease, as taught and practiced by Priessnitz at Graefenburg, in Germany; and after concluding his course, with a view to making himself perfectly familiar with that system, he went to Europe and spent nearly a year there, taking treatment under Priessnitz, and visiting the principal hydropathic insti- tutions on the continent and in Great Britain. Returning to this country, he established a hydropathic institution at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where some wonderful cures of chronic disease were performed. After two years of practice in connection with that institution, finding that comparatively few individuals could take advantage of institutions of the kind, while those taking treatment at home lacked the necessary facilities for its success, he gave up the institution, then practiced suc- cessfully for nearly a year at Warwick; and finally, in order to be near his father's family, went to Westerly, about 1851, where he con- tinued to practice ever afterward, with the exception of two years and three months spent as a surgeon in the army during the civil war.

In the fall of 1862, when the Union army stood in need of every loyal arm, Dr. Wilbur gave up a large and lucrative private practice, and entered the army as surgeon of the First Rhode Island Cavalry. He joined the regi- ment December 16, the day after the Army of the Potomac re-crossed the Rappahannock from the battle of Fredericksburg. The regi- ment immediately went into winter quarters, but from the active part taken by it in the summer campaign as a part of the Army of Virginia and later in the season as a part of the Army of the Potomac, the sick and wounded needed and received constant atten- tion. When hospital accommodations were so limited that many of the boys were obliged to remain in their tents, his visits to them were regular and prompt ; and through all that cold

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and unusually rigorous winter, his presence and his sympathy gave hope and courage when most needed. With no pompous austerity, which some army surgeons seemed to regard as so befitting their rank, he performed his duties with fidelity, and won the confidence of all, as being wise and skillful in his profes- sion. Early in the spring of 1863 the First Rhode Island became a part of the First Bri- gade of the Second Division Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, and on March 17 took part in that terrific hand-to-hand fight, which was the first instance in the war where any considerable number of cavalry met sabre to sabre in the open field, and which is known as the battle of Kelly's Ford. During this en- gagement Dr. Wilbur remained upon the field, performing surgical operations under fire of the enemy, and won from all the recognition that he was not only skillful in his profession, but intrepid as a soldier. The troops again returned to their winter quarters. Hospitals were improvised, and the surgeon's hands were full. At the time he assumed the duties of brigade surgeon, and none was oftener called upon in consultation, and to no one were more difficult cases submitted. He entered the army for no holiday purpose, but gave his best ser- vice to the duties in hand; and being decided in his convictions, he pursued the course he deemed to be right, with the most exact fidelity. The winter camp was broken in April and the regiment entered upon the spring cam- paign of 1863. On the 4th of May it partici- pated in the great battle of Chancellorsville, and performed constant picket and scout duty, when the Army of the Potomac commanded its northward movement to overtake Lee. On the 17th of June the regiment, by a special order, was detached from the brigade, sent on special service, and met the enemy at Middle- burgh. This was also a hand-to-hand cavalry fight in which the regiment suffered fearfully in killed, wounded and missing. Through all this Dr. Wilbur, having resumed his duties with the regiment, remained at his post and rank and file affectionately regarded him as their helper in every time of need. He was constantly in the saddle, and although his horse was hit by a shell yet no danger drove him from the spot where duty called. The regi- ment was then ordered to Alexandria to re- cruit, but such was the pressing need of men to pursue Lee that a detachment of it, accom- panied by Surgeon Wilbur, was ordered to the front. Although the regiment was not engaged at Gettysburg, yet it was represented

in the hottest of the fire, and poured out some of its heroic blood in that most desperate bat- tle of the war. August 17 the different de- tachments of the regiment came together near Warrentown, and again began service at the front. The cavalry experienced severe and trying service during the remaining days of 1863. The surgeon was constantly with the men, and was ever solicitous for their wel- fare. His skill was in frequent requisition and no personal weariness made him forget the wants of others. In March, 1864, the most of the men of the First Rhode Island Cavalry re-enlisted and went home on furloughs. Dr. Wilbur went home at this time, reaching Providence March 26, and returning April 8. The regiment was assigned to that part of the Army of the Potomac which was sent to unite with the Army of the James in laying seige to Richmond and Pittsburg, and cutting off Lee's communications with the South. In June the regiment, after repeated skirmishes, and participating in the battle at White House Landing, and many exhausting scout duties performed by different detachments, at length crossed the James river, July 27, and advanced near to Malvern Hill. The next day it took part in the battle of Deep Bottom, and on the 3Ist was ordered to City Point. In all these marches and counter-marches, the surgeon ac- companied his command, faithful to his pro- fessional duties, and from his cheerful and hopeful disposition he encouraged the weak and inspired the strong. Although suffering himself from a mild form of typhoid fever during those hot summer months, and many days being quite unable to remain in the sad- (lle, yet his strong desire to be always found in the path of duty, and the sense of profes- sional responsibility which always weighed upon him, nerved him to remain constant at his post. The confederate forces dashing down the Shenandoah Valley and crossing the Po- tomac, the regiment became part of that force which was ordered back, and on the 12th of August became a part of Sheridan's command. Day and night the men were in their saddles hunting confederate scouts and raiders. The brigade train was attacked near Winchester by Mosby's guerillas, who plundered some of the wagons and burned others. Here the regi- ment suffered a serious loss in the destruction of the regimental and company books and papers, while many of the officers, includ- ing the surgeon, lost all their clothing save what they were wearing. The regiment was part of the force that was detailed to destroy

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as a military necessity the corps in the Shen- andoah Valley and was later the body-guard to the chief of cavalry, and while serving in this capacity both officers and men were con- stantly in positions of danger, being called to act as aids, couriers and bearers of dispatches. In this exhausting work, although participat- ing in several battles, the regiment was con- stantly engaged until the close of the year. In December the regiment was consolidated into a batallion. The new organization being entitled only to an assistant surgeon, Dr. Wil- bur, with other officers and men, was mustered out of the service on the 21st, leaving behind him written in the hearts of all, the record of a patriotic, kind and efficient medical officer, whose skill and devotion to his responsible duties had saved many sick and wounded.

At the close of his service in the war, Dr. Wilbur returned to Westerly and resumed his practice: and there after all it must be said his life-work was done. Deeply absorbed in his profession, and having a just estimate of its high mission, he gave to it the full wealth of his knowledge, his experience and his life. He was exact in his habits of thought, meth- odical in his investigations, studious in keep- ing pace with the progress made in the science of medicine, holding his opinions tenaciously when matured and being thus critical and thorough in his own culture, he was intolerant of pretense and sham in others. He was too human to be faultless, yet where sickness and sorrow dwelt there could his ministering hand be found. Such was his sympathy and his tenderness of nature, that he allowed no pecuniary considerations to swerve him from the performance of what he deemed to be his professional duty. Holding high rank as a surgeon as well as a physician, he spent his life in the community of his residence, re- sponding to the call for help, without regard to the source whence it came, and by his skill restoring life and light to many a stricken home. He made many personal sacrifices and did much to increase the sum of human hap- piness, and his memory will be treasured with affection and gratitude by a host of loving friends. He was the senior physician of Westerly at the time of his death ; his practice was very extensive and he was recognized as one of the most able physicians and sur- geons, not at his home only but throughout Rhode Island and Connecticut. He died sud- denly from the last of a series of attacks cov- ering several years, and brought on by poison with which he was inoculated in performing a

surgical operation. His funeral held at the Baptist church was conducted by the Friends, and the attendance was so large that many were unable to gain admission.

Dr. William H. Wilbur was married at Smithfield, Rhode Island, April 23, 1849, to Eliza S. Mann, who was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, September 6, 1824, died in Springfield, Massachusetts, January 2, 1906, daughter of Thomas S. and Eliza (Scott) Mann, of Franklin, Massachusetts. They had three children : John, born September 20, 1850, died September 10, 1895; Sarah M., whose sketch follows, and Caroline E., who died young.

(VIII) Dr. Sarah M., daughter of Dr. William H and Eliza S. (Mann) Wilbur, was born in Westerly, July 9, 1853. She attended private school and William Woodbridge's academy at Westerly until she was seventeen years of age, when she entered Rutgers Female College in New York City and gradu- ated from that institution with the degree of A. B. in 1872, receiving the honorary degree of A. M. in 1879, and that of PH. D. in 1887. After leaving Rutgers she matriculated in the Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which she received the degree of M. D. in 1885. Soon after gradu- ating she became an interne in the New Eng- land Hospital for Women and Children at Boston, Massachusetts, where she spent her first year in the practice of her chosen pro- fession. In 1886 she was appointed resident physician at the State Primary School at Monson, Massachusetts, where she had over four hundred children under her care for two years. From there she went to Staten Island and was resident physician to the Nursery and Children's Hospital for five months. Resign- ing that position she came to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1889, and began practice May 6. Her natural skill, thorough training, and conscientious attention to her duties have made her one of the leading women physi- cians in Massachusetts. She is a member of Springfield Academy of Medicine, the Hamp- den County Medical Society, the Massa- chusetts Medical Society and was a member of the New England Hospital Medical Society.

(The Collins Line).

The Collins family of New England, whose progenitor was Henry Collins, came from England and settled in Massachusetts, in the pioneer days, as documentary evidence clearly shows.

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(I) Henry Collins, as recent research has developed, resided on Tatcliff Highway in the parish of Stepney in the eastern part of the city of London, and worshipped at the old parish church of St. Dunstan, in that place. The church records show that several of his children were baptized in this church, among them being his son John, at the age of eight days, January 22, 1631. Henry Collins, born in England in 1606, died in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, February 20, 1687, aged eighty-one years. The passenger list of the ship "Abi- gail" of London contains the following record of June 30, 1635 :

VItio Junij, 1635. Aboard the Abigail, Robert Hackwell Mr. p cery from the Minister of Stepney pish of their conformitie; I that they are no subsedy men.

Yeres.

Starchmaker Henry Collins. 29

Vxor Ann Collins

Children-Henry Collins

Jo. Collins 3

Margery Collins 2

Servants-Joshua Griffith 25

Hugh Alley

Mary Roote

Jo. Cooke

Geo. Burdin

Henry Collins settled in Essex street, Lynn, Massachusetts, where he remained until his death. In 1637 a town meeting was held in which Daniel Howe, Richard Walker and Henry Collins were chosen a committee to divide the lands, or as it was expressed in the records, "To lay out ffarmes." The land was laid out in those parts of the town best adapted to cultivation, and the woodlands were re- served as common property, called the "Town Common," and was not divided until sixty- nine years afterwards. In a list of names, about one hundred in number, recorded in the town records in the year 1638, which follows the above extract, appears the following: "Henry Collins upland and meadow 80 acres and ten." The ten acres were a separate allotment, and undoubtedly his village or town lot where he lived. In 1639 Henry Collins was a member of the Salem court. The facts of Henry Collins bringing servants, and the references to him in the public records of Lynn, show that he was a man of importance in the community. He was frequently called upon to perform duties of public trust and confidence, and sometimes acted as an advocate in court trials. His wife, Ann, died at Lynn, probably in 1690, as her will dated in 1690 was probated in that year.

The children of Henry and Ann were: Henry, John, Margery and Joseph.

(II) John, second son of Henry and Ann Collins, was born in London, England, Janu- ary 14, 1631 (O. S.) and was lost by ship- wreck with his son John in 1679. In a list of names returned of Quakers in Lynn for the year 1703 appear the names of Samuel Col- lins, Samuel Collins Jr. and John Collins. The estate of John Collins was valued at £365 Is. 6d. and letters of administration were granted to the widow, June, 1680. John Col- lins married, at Lynn, Massachusetts, Abigail Johnson, daughter of Richard Johnson. "Richard Johnson came over in 1630 and lived with Sir Richard Saltonstall at Water- town. He was admitted freeman in 1637. He came to Lynn the same year and settled as a farmer on the eastern end of the commons. He died in 1666, aged 54." Abigail Collins married ( second) March 3, 1681, Thomas Farrar. The children of John and Abigail Collins were sixteen, twelve of whom sur- vived him. Mary (died young), John (died young), Samuel, Abigail, John, Joseph, Eliza- beth, Benjamin, Mary, Daniel, Nathaniel, Hannah, Sarah, Lois, Alice and William (John), next mentioned.

(III) John (2), youngest child of John (I) and Abigail (Johnson) Collins, was born June 28, 1679, and named William. After the death of his father John and brother John in the same year, his mother renamed him John, by which name he was ever afterward known. John Collins was one of six persons who bought, May 22, 1710, three thousand acres of wild land in what is now the northeastern part of the town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island. In religious faith he was a Quaker. He died in Charles- town, Rhode Island, "20th day, 10th Month, 1755." He married, in Lynn, Massachusetts," January 13, 1704, Susannah Daggett, daugh- ter of William and Rebecca Daggett. She was born in Saco, Maine, 1685, and died at Charles- town, Rhode Island, "14th day, ist month, 1753." The history of Richmond, Rhode Island, contains the following account of her : "When a small child she was taken to the wigwam of an Indian chief by his squaw who found her lost in the woods. Late at night the chief returned home and told the squaw of a plan adopted to exterminate the whites. She cautioned him, saying there was a little pale face sleeping in a bed of skins in the wig- wam. The chief then told her the child must clic, to which she remonstrated, saying that

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 23

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