Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 25

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 25

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(III) Joseph, third son of Thomas (2) and Martha ( Ilolden ) Boyden, was born April 24, 1678, in Groton, died in Worcester, Massachusetts, April 17, 1748. He rmoved to Dedhani, now Needham, Massachusetts, where he was selectman in 1721, and one of the custodians of a fund received by act of the general court for the use of the town and the schools. In August, 1735, he kept a public house in Sutton, Massachusetts, and removed to Worcester in 1738, where he bought one hundred aeres in Bogachoge. He married Rebecca, surname unknown. Their children : Joseph, born October 6, 1705: Daniel, see next paragraph ; John, August 16, 1710 ( died young ) ; Nathaniel, June 3, 1714: Rebecca, March 6, 1716: John, August 7, 1719.

(IV) Daniel, second son of Joseph and Rebecca Boyden, was born in Dedham, March 1, 1708, died in Auburn, Massachusetts, Jan- uary 29, 1782. He settled on a farm in the south part of Worcester, later removed to Dedham. His name appears on the tax and

jury list of Worcester in 1741. He was a man of affairs, selectman for several years, and a pillar of the first parish church. In 1776, when a new church was erected in the south precinct, he was active in promoting the new society from the first, and remained one of its most loyal supporters. The south parish became later Auburn. He was one of the original proprietors of Dummerston, Vermont, near the Massachusetts line. He married Mehit- able, daughter of William and Bethiah Man. She was born September 1, 1713, died June 7, 1789, in Auburn. Children: Daniel, born August 31, 1735 (died young) ; Mehitable, October 25, 1736; Hezekiah, November 28, 1739; Daniel, see' next paragraph; Darius, December 6, 1743 : William, January 12, 1746; Esther, December 23, 1747; Mary, May 17, 1751; Tryphena, March 12, 1753; James, November 3, 1758.

(V) Daniel (2), third son of Daniel (I) and MIehitable ( Man) Boyden, was born in Worcester, October 29, 1741, died in Guild- ford, Windsor county, Vermont, August 29, 1813. He went to the latter place on Green river in about 1758 and was a pioneer settler there. He was a farmer, and active in public affairs. He served in the revolution in Captain Moses Draper's company, Lieutenant Colonel William Bond's regiment. He inlisted in April, 1778, and was in the service at Cambridge. He married, June 7, 1764, Rebecca Barber, of Wor- cester. Children : Daniel, born March 22, 1765 ; Levi, see next paragraph. Rebecca, June II, 1768: Ebenezer, August 17, 1770; Lydia, Try- hpena, Mary Mehitable and Azuba.

(VI) Levi, second son of Daniel (2) and Rebecca ( Barber) Boyden, was born in Wor- cester, October 16, 1766, died April 20, 1859. He married Dolly Smith, of Guildford, in 1790. She died July 20, 1821. He married (second) May 1, 1822, Olive Cutter, who died March 21, 1857. Levi Boyden was the parent of Asa, born December 21, 1792: Hollis, August 25, 1794, died March 7. 1833; married, 1820, Hannah Burnett ; Nabby, May II. 1797; William, see next paragraph ; Levi, April 29, 1803 ; Rectina, January 2, 1809.

(V11) William, third son of Levi and Dolly (Smith ) Boyden, was born August 26, 1798, in Guildford, died in Lowell, Massachusetts. September 12, 1889, at the home of his daugh- ter, Gertrude M. He was a likely man in his home community, and exceedingly well thought of. He married, February 13, 1825, Susan Adams, born August 29, 1804, in Ashby, Mass- achusetts, died in Chicopee, April 18. 1884.

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Children : Frances Jane, born March 19, 1826, married Hiram Pierce ; William Smith, Decem- ber 22, 1827 ; Cora Miranda, March 20, 1830, married Jesse Tyler ; Anna Isabella, April 26, 1832. married Charles Spaulding, of Keene, New Hampshire ; Gertrude Mary, March 5, 1839, married Nelson Whittier. ( See Whittier VII).

While some of this family have ASHLEY ever remained within a few miles of the sacred spot where the remote ancestor of them all set up the Ashley standard in very early times and they have married and reared up children who have gone to the making of good citizenry, others of the blood have wandered to other parts of the country, to the nearby Housatonic Valley, to the granite hills of New Hampshire, to the green fields of Vermont, to the great plains of the central west, to the golden shores of the Pacific slope, and there is not a state in the Union but has some member of the brotherhood. In the crises of war they have ever been ready to support the government ; in peace they have been actively identified in the civil, ecclesiasti- cal and educational movements of their respec- tive communities. The escutcheon of the family in England was: Argent, a lion rampart, sable, crown. Or. The name originated from ash, a tree, and leigh, a pasture. The first Mr. Ashley was he who lived in a pasture where grew the ash trees. Included among the great men of this line have been Hon. Chester Ashley, United States senator from Arkansas, the Hon. James M. Ashley, congressman from the Toledo district. General John Ashley, of Sheffield, Massachusetts, of the revolutionary service, and O. D. Ashley, formerly president of the Wabash railroad. It is of the Massachusetts and more particularly the Springfield branch, the ones who breathed the native air on their own soil, that this narrative treats.

(I) Robert Ashley. the founder of the Amer- ican family, dwelt in Springfield, Massachusetts, then called Nayasett, three years later than William Pynchon appeared on the scene In an allotment of land January 5th, 1640, Robert had home lot No. 3 of four acres and was on what is now the northwest corner of Main and State streets and extended back as far as Spring street. The lot was situated between the Widow Searle and John Dibble. His plant- ing lot was on the west bank of the Con- necticut river and was No. 12 with seventy acres and but four others had as large an acre- age. one of these being Major Pynchon His

"meddow" ground was on the Agawam river, lot No. 19. with four and one half acres. He had lot No. 4 of two and one half acres on the west side of the Connecticut. March 15, 1653, by purchase from John Leonard he acquired a parcel of "meddow" in the woods near Swans pond, on the left hand of the Bay path, and from the same grantor another "meddow" lot on the "Greate" river. He bought of Widow Johns in Long "meddow" a planting lot of six acres. January 2, 1655, there was granted him by the town a lot on Round hill. This was granted upon condition that he would not leave the town for five years. The town granted him nine acres lying on the brook that empties into the Connecticut below the Agawam. Septem- ber 27, 1656, he purchased of Rice Bedortha five acres of wet "meddow" on the Mill river. February 1, 1657, the town granted him a house lot of four acres extending from the street to the "Greate" river, also two acres of wet "meddow," and a wood lot of four acres. February 2 of that year he bought of Samuel Marshfield three acres of wet "meddow" adjoining his own, one acre of wet "meddow" under Round hill and a home lot formerly belonging to Samuel Ferry. September 18 of that year he bought of Samuel Ferry three acres of wet "meddow" and at the same date was granted by the town four acres of wet "meddow" by the highway that goes under Round hill. January 20, 1659, he bought of Richard Fellows three acres on the side of Round hill in "ye" plain adjoining his own. February 12, 1660, the town granted him three acres in common with two others on the north branch of the brook that empties into "Greate" river below Agawam. October 18 of that year he bought of John Riley land in "Chickupee" plain on "ye west side of ye Greate" river con- taining forty-three acres. January 1, 1661, he bought of John Dumbleton twenty-four acres of land on "ye west side of the 'Greate' river in Chickupee Plain." February 19th of that year the town granted him five acres between the two brooks below "Chickupee plain on ye west side of the Greate river," provided he build and dwell thereon or that he would dis- pose of it only to such as would build or dwell thereon. March 16 of the same year he was granted six acres of "meddow" on the back side of "Chickupee playne," and on same date the town granted to Captain Pynchon, Robert Ashley and George Colton a share each of upland at Woronoco "Meddow," with the pro- 'viso that they buy out the Indian rights in said land. February 6, 1664, the town granted him

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four acres of wood lot next beyond Samuel Ferry's February 1, 1665, this was extended to eight acres. It will thus be seen he was quite a landed proprietor and a farmer. The ear mark of his cattle was "in the off ear, a slit cut in the under side of the ear (not at ye top of ye ear) but toward ye root of ye ear, the slit is but a little slanting outward toward ye root of ye ear." In 1646 he was granted land on the Mill river on condition that he should keep an ordinary. The following order was issued thereon : To Robert Ashley and his wife, keepers of the ordinary in Springfield ; "Whereas it is famously known how Indians abuse themselves by excessive drinking of strong liquors whereby God is grieviously dishonored and the peace of this Plantation in great danger to be broken. And whereas you have noe Lycense formerly and according to law to sell eyther wine or strong waters to English or Indians. These are therefore to will and require you uppon yo perill that you henceforth forbear to sell eyther wine or strong waters to any Indian though for selling to the English wee would not restrayne you but doe allow yr of." This order was signed by the commissioners of the town and was perhaps the first prohibitory law in America. The best men were selected for tavern keepers. Robert resigned in 1660. We have seen he was granted a home lot on the west side of the river with the proviso that he dwell thereon. Accordingly he built on the hillside in that part of West Springfield known as Riverdale, which was the first part of that village to be settled. He was a juryman in 1639-54-61-62-64-67-70. He was a litigant in these causes. December, 1640, he sold his canoe to some outside parties against the law of the plantation and was ordered to return it or be liable forfeiture. In February, 1641, he en- tered a complaint against John Woodcock for not delivering him a gun he had paid for. The jury found for him in the sum of twenty-two shillings. He petitioned the commissioner for damage for a horse killed by a Nepannett Indian. The commissioners ordered the sachem to pay twenty pounds or deliver up the Indian that killed the horse. In September, 1659, he entered complaint against Richard Fellows for detaining a sword from him. This action he withdrew, promising to pay costs of action. In September, 1660, Miles Morgan sued Robert Ashley for wrongfully impound- ing his swine. In 1665 he was fined for ab- senting himself from town meeting. He was a fence viewer in 1646-50 and highway sur- veyor in 1651-67. He was selectman in 1653

and for twelve successive years thereafter, being chairman of the board in 1651. Refus- ing to serve longer he was fined twenty shil- lings. He was a constable in 1659 and sealer of weights and measures. He took the oath of allegiance and fidelity March 23, 1655. Mr. Ashley took a deep interest in church affairs and this was not a perfunctory interest. He dearly loved the church and was strong in the faith of the ever living God. He sat in pew No. one and served on the seating committee and was rate collector. From all this we gather that Robert was a man of solid parts, trustworthy, which his townspeople were quick to recognize. He was just the man for a town builder and to be the corner stone of a great family. His shoulders were broad. He did not sign his name but this was nothing to his disparagement considering the state of edu- cation then. He died November 25, 1682, and his will was executed October 9, 1679. Major John Pynchon and John Holyoke were the wit- nesses and his son Joseph administered. His appraisement was four hundred and ninety- two pounds, which was quite an estate in those days. He married, in 1641, Mary, widow of Thomas Horton, of Springfield. She died September 19, 1683. When he married her she had two sons by her former husband, the record declares, "one sucking, the other three years old." Children of Robert Ashley : David, and a girl (twins), Mary, Jonathan, Sarah, and Joseph, sketched below.

(II) Joseph, youngest son of Robert and Mary Ashley, was born in Springfield, July 6, 1652, died there May 18, 1698. He settled in West Springfield in the Riverdale district. He inherited all his father's land and besides owned plots in the Farm Meadow in the Chickupce field and on the Agawam river, in Springfield proper on the cast side of the Connecticut. He was surveyor in 1675-77 and took the oath of allegiance in 1678. In 1682 he was constable and the same year "prizer for the Town stock for making the Towne's Rates." In 1683 he was fence viewer. Hc was a litigant in these causes. On July 31, 1679, he was brought before the court for taking the horse of Isaac Morgan out of the pasture and riding it, for which he was fined ten shillings. In 1680, in September, he was fined five shillings for working his horses two hours after sun down the night before the Lord's day, and in December of the same year he got an attachment against Thomas Han- cock. In March, 1682, he was presented to the court for taking the marking of another man's

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horse and fined ten shillings. In September, 1684, he was fined forty shillings for not col- lecting the county rates, he being then con- stable. In May, 1685, he was presented for ten rods of defective fence and fined fifteen shillings. In 1686 he was fined nine shillings for want of a stake, and in February, 1691, was fined six shillings for absenting himself from town meeting. In January, 1693, he was fined five shillings for refusing to perform his duties as fence viewer. This all goes to show for what trivial offences the colonists were made to smart in fines and the obnoxious character of the blue laws. Everything tends to prove that Joseph was an estimable neigh- bor, a kind friend, and deserving townsman. He married Mary, daughter of Cornet Joseph and Mary (Bliss) Parsons, who was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, June 27, 1661. After Joseph's death she married Joseph Wil- liston, of Springfield, and died August 23, III. The accurate historian is compelled to record an unfortunate affair in Joseph's life, a domestic difficulty, in consequence of which, his wife in 1687 applied for a divorce. This was perhaps the first divorce case ever entered in the old Bay Colony. The affair was amic- ably adjusted through the exertion of friends to the mutual satisfaction of both and they lived together ever afterwards. Children : Joseph (sketched below), Ebenezer, Mary, Abigail and Benjamin.

(III) Joseph (2), eldest son of Joseph ( I) and Mary ( Parsons) Ashley, was born in Springfield, April 16, 1686, died there April 2, 1780. He lived in Springfield proper on the east side of the Connecticut and in the south part of the town. He was a joiner and farmer. In November, 1717, he was paid five shillings for work on the pound and for work at "ye schoole" house six shillings, for a "Greate Chaire for ye school" and five shillings for re- pairing meeting house. He was a fence viewer in 1710, a tythingman in 1723 and con- stable in 1729. He was a member of the church and was one of the principals in the famous Breck controversy disputing that preacher's orthodoxy. He married Mary Bid- well, December 15, 1720, and she died July 14, 1733. Children: Joseph, John, who lost his life at Louisburg : Mary, Ruth, David ( sketched below) and Stephen.

(IV) David, third son of Joseph (2) and Mary (Bidwell) Ashley, was born in Spring- field, May 8, 1731, and died there July 15, 1800. He settled on the patrimonial estate in Springfield where he always lived. He was a

private in Colonel Gideon Burt's Hampshire county regiment which marched to retake Samuel Ely who was rescued from Spring- field jail, June 12, 1782, and also opposed the rioters at Northampton on the 16th. He mar- ried Vashti Brooks, January 1, 1756. After David's death she married John Charter and removed with her son to Vershire, Vermont, where she lived to be one hundred and four years old. Children of David: David, died in infancy; Ruth, David, Lucy, Daniel ( sketched below), Olive (died young), Luke, Olive, Timothy and Polly .

(V) Daniel, third son of David and Vashti (Brooks) Ashley, was born in Springfield, September 22, 1764, died there August 8, 1812. He lived in the south part of Spring- field proper and was a farmer. His farm was a large one and extended along Mill river, towards Longmeadow. He was a member of Colonel Burt's Hampshire county regiment that marched to retake Samuel Ely, June 12, 1782, also opposed the rioters at Northampton the 16th. He married Sally Hunt, of Spring- field, September 17, 1784, who died June II, 1818. Children: Elizabeth, David (sketched below), James, Sally Brewer, Daniel and Olive.

(VI) David (2), eldest son of David (I) and Sally ( Hunt ) Ashley, was born in Spring- field in 1787, died there June 30, 1816. He continued the line of activity followed by the members of the family since the first Robert and was a farmer. He was in addition a wheelwright and employed at the armory. He married Sophia, daughter of Henry and Mercy (Sackett) Brass, who was born in Wilbra- ham, Massachusetts. After David died she married a Sanderson and then John Charter. She died November 3, 1855. Children: Har- riet, Sophia, and David Franklin ( sketched below.)

(VII) David Franklin, youngest son of David (2) and Sophia ( Brass) Ashley, was born at Water Shops, Springfield, June 4, 1815. When a mere lad he went to live with an uncle in Westfield, Massachusetts. There he remained until sixteen years of age, going to school winters and working on the farm in summer. At seventeen he entered the office of Hampden Whig as an apprentice and there served three years. The paper fell under a new management and David took charge of the mechanical side of it. In a year's time he had saved money enough from his earnings to become half owner and the name of the paper was changed to the Hampden Post and

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the politics shifted from Whig to pure dem- ocracy. Later Mr. Ashley assumed full con- trol, buying out his partner. The paper was changed to a tri-weekly and later to a daily. He also conducted the Northampton Demo- crat. The Daily Post was run until 1853. In the Know Nothing times from 1854 to 1860 he published the American. About this time he turned his attention to the wholesale yankee notion trade, selling by teams on the road. He was the first of the Ashleys to break away from an agricultural and mechanical life. In politics he was first a Jacksonian Democrat and subsequently joined the Know Nothings. He never cared for political office. He was an independent religious thinker. Mr. Ashley's memory carries him back to the early days of Springfield when it was a small village of three thousand inhabitants. He bought the lot on Worthington street where the school house now stands for four hundred dollars, and in a few years was offered ten times that sum. He married Elvira A., daughter of Hiram and Adeline ( Patton) Hendrick, of South Wilbraham, now Hampden. She was educated in the public schools and at Wilbra- ham Academy. She is a woman of the most estimable and amiable qualities, and in reli- gious preferences a Second Adventist. Chil- dren : 1. Frank E, of Troy, New York. 2. Isabel E., wife of John I. Kelly, of Springfield. 3. Winona Adeline, wife of Frank W. Tower, of Springfield. 4. Hendrick Patton, a com- mercial traveler. 5. Herbert Horton, also on the road.

This name is spelled by those who ABBE bear it, as well as by others, Abbee, Abbie. Abbe, Abbey. It was per- haps originally given to some menial attached to a monastery as "John of the Abbey :" more probably, however, from Abbé, the ecclesi- astical title, since we find it written in ancient rolls as le. Abbe. The scottish form is Abbay. The Abbes were originally settlers in Enfield, Connecticut, where they have ever since been found. They have been among the good citi- zens of the town and have been patriotic and brave, and the records show that they were soldiers in the French wars and the revolu- tion.

(1) Thomas Abbe is supposed to have been a brother of Obadiah Abbe, a first settler ( 1682) of Enfield, who died without children 111 1732. Thomas settled in Enfield in 1683 on the eleventh lot, east side, north of the south corner, and was also one of the original pro-

prietors. In the record of land grants is the following: "Thomas Abbe, sen' is possd of A Farm or tract of land lying In the Mountains Near the North East Corner of the Township of Enfield Lying 160 rods in length, and 150 rods in Wedth Easterly and westerly and is butted and bounded South East Corner on A Chestnut Tree near a mountain with A Heep of Stones at ye foot of sd tree, Northeast Corner with A rock and A Heep of Stones upon it with A bush marked by it, North West Corner with A Chestnut and A Heep of Stones. The aforesd Land as it is butted and Bounded is 150 acres be it more or less. Laid out by Tom Jones Town Measurer. June 22d, 1723." He also had two pieces of land in the second division, one tract of twelve acres near the old saw mill, and the other in the East precinct near a saw mill called Hamp- shire, and containing twenty acres. These lots were granted to him in addition to various smaller pieces, which he had received from time to time from the town. His home lot of eleven acres was bounded on the north by the minister's lot. Thomas Abbe was a man of much activity and good judgment, and was an efficient public servant for many years. He was early chosen to assist in transacting the town's business and was selectman 1686-89- 1706-07-09-10. In 1705 he was assessor and frequently filled the offices of road surveyor and fence viewer. In 1701 he was one of a committee to lay out a road to Warehouse Point, and for years he was one of the com- mittee annually appointed to settle the dispute as to the location of the dividing line between Enfield and Windsor. In 1708 he was a petit juror. In 1705, a committee consisting of five citizens, Captain Pease, Thomas Abbe, Ser- geant Randall, Sergeant Morgan and Goodman Colton, was appointed to bargain with Ensign Terry and Zacharialı Booth for the building of a meeting house, the cost of which was not to exceed three hundred pounds. When the town voted to be a part of Connecticut he dis- sented, evidently preferring to be a citizen of Massachusetts. Sergeant Thomas Abbe is referred to in the records of 1711 and 1715; and Lieutenant Thomas Abbe in 1713. Thomas Abbe died in Enfield in 1728, and left two sons, Thomas, born 1686, and John. Thomas Abbe made his will October 12, 1720, and in that he mentions the two sons and also two daughters, Sarah Geer and Tabitha Warner.

(11) John, youngest son of Thomas Abbe, was born in 1692 and was one of the first

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settlers of the upper part of "King's street." He held various minor offices and was an active and somewhat influential man. He had four sons: John, Thomas, Daniel and Rich- ard, the subject of the next paragraph. Lieu- tenant John Abbe is mentioned in 1786 and 1791.

(III) Richard, fourth son of John Abbe, was born in Enfield, in 1735, and died there "September 20, 1807, aged seventy-two years," as stated in the ancient family Bible still in possession of his descendants. He was a farmer, and held minor civil offices in the town. In the Connecticut records of the revo- lutionary war, Lieutenant Richard Abbe, of Enfield, appears as serving six days. Richard Abbe, commissioned ensign January 1, 1777, resigned February 6, 1778. Richard Abbe was an ensign in Captain Abner Robinson's company, Colonel Mclellan's regiment, which was raised for one year's service, from March, 1778, and which appears to have served in Tyler's brigade under Sullivan in Rhode Island, August and September, 1778. Ser- geant Richard Abbe joined, May 29, 1781, Captain James Dana's company. This com- mand served at post at Horseneck and places adjacent. In July it joined Washington while he was encamped at Phillipsburg. Captain Richard Abbe married, January 9, 1755, Mary Bement, daughter of Captain Dennis Bement, who was born 1711, and married Mary Abbe. daughter of Thomas Abbe, 1737. Captain Dennis Bement died 1789 and left two sons. The Abbe family Bible states: "Mary, relict of above Captain Richard Abbey, died August 14, 1821, aged eighty-three years."

(IV) Captain Richard (2), a son of Cap- tain Richard (I) and Mary ( Bement) Abbe, was born March 2, 1760, died August 9, 1831, aged seventy-one. He married, January 16, 1782. Lydia Stevenson, born October 20, 1764, died June 1, 1844, aged eighty. Their chil- dren were: I. Charles, born December I, 1785, married Harriet Strong, March 2, 1809. 2. Richard, December 30, 1787, married Char- lotte Bement, November 29, 1810. 3. Ros- well, December 30, 1787, married Sally Olm- sted, November 30, 1809. 4. Betsey, Febru- ary 15, 1790. 5. Joshua, August 17, 1791, married Phila Pease. 6. George, mentioned below. 7. Harriet, February 10, 1798, died August 19, 1825, aged twenty-seven. 8. Lu- cinda, February 2, 1805, married Charles Chase, September 17, 1821, and died Sep- tember 25, 1827, aged twenty-two. He died March 16. 1833, aged thirty-three. 9. Lo-

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 25

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