USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 32
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(IV) Phineas, eldest son of Joshua and Hannah (Swodel) Bill, was born September 3, 1720, in what is now Ledyard. He was a cooper and resided in the southwestern part of the town, about midway between Unionville and Allyn's Point, probably in what has been known for more than a century and a half to the neighboring inhabitants as the "Phineas Bill House." He died of cancer while a mem- ber of the family of his son Phineas, February, 1780, aged sixty years. December 25, 1784 his widow was allowed £18 out of his estate. He married Mehitable Woodworth, who sur- vived him many years, and died in Groton (Ledyard) July, 1813, aged ninety. Children : Phineas, Mehitable, Mary, Benajah, Joshua, Gurdon and a daughter.
(V) Benajah, second son of Phineas and Mehitable (Woodworth) Bill, was born in Groton, June 29, 1760, died in Lyme, May 22, 1842. In the earlier part of his life he resided on what is now known as "Meeting-House Hill," in Ledyard. Like his father and brothers, he was a cooper. Later in life he removed to Lyme and became a farmer. He married, January 17, 1782, Content Park, born February 4. 1761, died May 27, 1845. Chil- dren: Polly, Lodowick, Eunice Park, Alex- ander Tullius Franklin, Sarah, Elisha Satter- lee, Nelson Horatius, Park Allyn, Lyman Edgecomb, and a child (died young).
(VI) Judge Lodowick, eldest son of Bena- jah and Content (Park) Bill, was born in what is now Ledyard, October 9, 1784, and died in advanced years. He was a farmer, but for many years dealt extensively in wool. After his marriage he resided in Lyme. He was a man of marked traits of character, being upright in business, social in his intercourse with people, and eminently practical in his iii-28
affairs. He began life poor, but by frugality and industry he brought together an ample fortune. His business ability was recognized by his fellow citizens and he was called to fill various public offices. He was constable, deputy sheriff, justice of the peace, judge of probate, and member of the legislature. He held the office of judge of probate until dis- qualified by age. He married, October 20, 1805, Betsey Gower, of Ledyard, a descendant of Rev. John Wight, a clergyman of some distinction. He and his wife lived to see the semi-centennial of their married life, when they had more than forty grandchildren and great-grandchildren living within one-half a mile of them. Children: Eliza, Julia Ann, Polly, Hiram Geer, John Wight, Benajah Park, James Alexander, Ellen Jane, Lucy Stark, and Gilbert La Fayette.
(VII) Julia Ann, second child of Lodowick and Betsey (Geer) Bill, was born in Ledyard. October 20, 1807, died 1869. She married, January 20, 1824, John G. Hughes, of Lyme, Connecticut (see Hughes II).
(The Hughes Line).
The name Hughes is probably of Welsh origin and of comparatively recent arrival in America. The family tradition supports this theory and the fact that no record can be found preceding Captain John Hughes, of Lyme, Connecticut, further supports the idea.
(I) Captain John Hughes first appears in the records of Lyme, Connecticut, January 7; 1788, when he was there married to Jemimah. daughter of Josiah Burnham of that town. He was the commander of a vessel and made several purchases of land in Lyme. The first was in August, 1794, when he bought a house and garden in that portion of Lyme known as Mathers Neck. It is probable that the house now standing on the land is one which he then purchased. In executing the power of attorney in New York, December 19, 1797, he refers to himself of Lyme "master of the brig Prudence now lying in the port of New York but bound for New Orleans." In other documents he is referred to as John Hughes, mariner, and always "of Lyme." He had children: Joseph Higgins, born March 31, 1794; Polly, March, 1797; John Gordon, mentioned below ; Betsey, February 29, 1808.
(II) John Gordon, younger son of Captain John and Jemimah (Burnham) Hughes, was born January 1, 1802, in Lyme. The family tradition states that he was born in England, and this is quite possible as his father was
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frequently a visitor to that country and might have been accompanied by his wife on a voy- age on which occasion the birth of the son occurred. The record of the four children in Lyme was evidently made at one time and does not specify whether any of them were born in Lyme or elsewhere. He resided in Lyme, where he was a man of substance and lived to an advanced age. John G. Hughes married, January 20, 1824, in Lyme, Julia Ann, daughter of Lodowick Bill, of that town (see Bill VII). Children : Mary Seldon, Charles Gordon, Alfred Smith, Hiram Geer, John Wight, Annie Louise, Jennie Eliza, Elizabeth Maria, Fannie Emeline, Ellen Burnham and Julia Emma.
(III) Annie Louise, second daughter of John G. and Julia Ann ( Bill) Hughes, mar- ried, October 22, 1863, James H. Bliss (see Bliss VIII).
COWING John Cowing, a Scotchman from Edinburgh, appeared in Scituate in Plymouth Colony in 1656. He purchased a tract of land in Cohas- sett, north of Sweet Swamp, and east of the Michael Pierce farm, and on it he erected a house which occupied the site on which the house of Stephen Litchfield stood in 1830. John and Rebecca (Man) Cowing lived in the house on Man Hill, occupied by Richard and Rebecca Man, up to the time Richard was drowned, and Rebecca married John Cowing. His Scottish spirits did not desert him in his new home as is evidence in the Colony records of 1670 as follows: "John Cowen appeared in court to answer for contemptible words against Royal Authority; to wit: that he scorned to be in subjection to an Englishman- and that there never was any King of England that was an Englishman, save one crooked back'd Richard-a crooked Rogue just like such an one, (naming a well known hunch back)." He was cleared of the offence, how- ever. He married, in 1656, Rebecca, widow of Richard Man. Richard Man was a "May- flower" passenger, 1620, a planter ; came as a youth in Elder Brewster's family, was one of the partners in the Cohassett purchase in 1646, and he had children: Nathaniel, born 1646; Thomas, 1651; Richard, 1652; Josiah, 1654. We find no record of the date of death of either John Cowing or his wife Rebecca. John and Rebecca Cowing had five children born in Scituate, as follows: 1. Joseph, 1657, was killed in the Rehoboth battle, King Philip's war, 1676. 2. Mary, 1659. 3. John, 1662, married Deborah Litchfield, 1687, and
his children were: i. Sarah, born 1688; ii. Joseph, 1690; iii. John, 1692, married Desire
-, who died February 8, 1723-4; iv. Joshua, 1694 ; v. Caleb, 1696, married and had two children : James, 1740, and Samuel, 1742; vi. Israel, 1701; vii. Mary, 1705. 4. Israel, 1664 (q. v.). 5. Rebecca, 1666, married Oba- diah Holmes, of Dorchester.
(II) Israel, third son and fourth child of John and Rebecca (Man) Cowing, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, 1664, died January 15, 1717. He married Rebecca, daughter of James Wade, in 1689. His children were: I. Mary, born 1691. 2. Hannah, 1694. 3. Eliz- abeth, 1697. 4. Israel, 1699 (q. v.). 5. Jonah, 1704, died young. 6. Gethelus, 1708, married Mary Gill, of Hingham, 1735, and left sons David and John. 7. Job, 1713, was called Cap- tain Job, and had son Job, 1742, who died in Scituate and had no sons ; Gethelus and Israel, 1750, who left sons : Israel, Charles and others. 8. Joseph, 1715, removed to Bridge- water and married Howland in 1736. 9. Sarah, 1717.
(III) Israel (2), eldest son of Israel (1) and Rebecca (Wade) Cowing, was born in Scituate, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, in 1699. He married Howland, of Pem- broke, in Plymouth county, about 1722, and they removed to Weymouth after his sons Joseph, Israel and Balch were born as follows : I. Joseph, probably early in 1723, married Jane, daughter of Samuel Keith, in 1744, and they had: Joseph, 1745, Hannah, 1747, Word, 1755. 2. Israel, 1724. 3. Balch (q. v.).
(IV) Balch, youngest son of Israel (2). and (Howland) Cowing, was born in Scituate, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, in 1728. He removed with his father and the other members of the family to Weymouth, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, which was just over the border from Plymouth county, where he married and had children: Balch, Cornelius, Howland, Rachel, Sarah, married Peleg Jordan.
(V) Balch (2), eldest son of Balch (I) Cowing, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, about 1750. He was brought up in Weymouth and followed the sea in his younger days. He became master of the packet brig "Volasute," owned at one time by Peter Lane, and which sailed from Boston and had accommodations for passengers as well as freight. Later in life he retired and worked a small farm in Weymouth, which employment occupied his declining years. He was married, about 1775, to Cynthia Bates, of Weymouth, and by this
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marriage eight children were born as follows: I. Joshua Bates (q. v.). 2. Francis. 3. Lucre- tia. 4. Maria, the only one now living, married Henry Willie. He died in March, 1907, leav- ing one son, Theodore Parker, who was named for the famous minister by that name. This son was a man of more than ordinary ability as a mechanic, doing some very fine work in this direction and was also an accomplished musician ; he died at thirty-eight years of age. 5. Henry B., whose son Henry was a soldier in the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment in the war 1861-65. 6. Sarah H. 7. Susan H. 8. William B.
(VI) Joshua Bates, eldest child of Balch (2) and Cynthia (Bates) Cowing, was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, about 1800. He was married in Batestown, Weymouth, Mass- achusetts, to Deborah Cushing, and they had eight children as follows: I. Francis Henry, ' born and died in 1831. 2. Francis Henry (2) (q. v.). 3. Mary C., married Edward H. French: they reside in East Weymouth. 4. Helen M., married Ezra Wilder, of Hingham. 5. Charles G., deceased; was a soldier in the United States army, married Etta Nickerson, of East Weymouth, where she now resides. 6. George, deceased, married and had children Helen and George Cowing. 7. Elizabeth, mar- ried Charles Hayward; resides in East Wey- mouth. 8. Edward, married Jessie Cain, of Hingham.
(VII) Francis Henry, second son of Joshua Bates and Deborah (Cushing) Cowing, was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, December 17, 1834. He attended the Weymouth dis- trict school, and was a clerk in a store and in business on his own account up to 1857, when he accepted a position with the Old Colony Railroad Company as station agent at East Weymouth, and remained in the service of that corporation up to 1893, when he resigned, being nearly three score years of age. He served as assessor of the town of Weymouth from 1895 till 1906, and as a trustee of the Weymouth Savings Bank, one of the board of investment, and its vice-president, which offices he still holds. He never married .. In 1841 he purchased for a home the fine residence which Samuel Arnold had built in 1803, and where Mr. Cowing still resides. Mr. Cowing attends the Universalist church, is a Republican in political belief, and has always been held in high esteem by the people of Weymouth, all of whom are counted as his friends. As he approaches the seventy-fifth milestone in his journey through life's years, he treads with a
light foot and unfaltering step, bidding fair to mark many more milestones to the credit of a well spent life.
( For preceding generations see John Johnson I ).
(III) Nathaniel Johnson, son
JOHNSON of Humphrey Johnson, was baptized at Hingham, Massa-
chusetts, 1666. He married Abigail and settled about 1695 in Sherborn, Mass- achusetts. He had a lot assigned to him there March 8, 1696. The history of Sher- born and various other authorities have con- fused him with Nathaniel Johnson, son of his uncle, Isaac Johnson, of Roxbury. Both branches lived in this section and in Connecti- cut in the same vicinity. Children : I. Nathaniel, born at Hingham or Scituate, about 1684, men- tioned below. 2. Joseph, born at Hingham, September 9, 1685, drew land at Douglas, but resided in Sherborn, inheriting his father's rights; died at Sherborn, March 25, 1744-45 ; married Lydia 3. Abigail, April I, 1687. 4. Elisha, March 12, 1688-89. 5. Mary, March I, 1691, married, 1705, Noah Morse. 6. Jonathan, March 16, 1692-93. Children, born at Sherborn: 7. Martha, February 19, 1696-97. 8. Mehitable, October 15, 1699.
(IV) Nathaniel (2), son of Nathaniel (I) Johnson, was born in Hingham or Scituate about 1684. He lived for a time in Sherborn, later in Framingham, then probably in Stur- bridge and perhaps Woodstock. His estate was not settled in Worcester county. He mar- ried, at Sherborn, November 23, 1708, Mary Haven, of Framingham, daughter of John and Hannah (Hitchings) Haven, of Lynn, and granddaughter of Richard Haven. Children : I. Jonathan, born at Sherborn, January 30, 1709- 10. 2. James, 17II, mentioned below. 3. Dr. John, 1714, whose wife Abigail died March 15, 1809, at Sturbridge, aged eighty- six years. 4. Hannah, February 21, 1716-17. 5. Nathaniel, October 4, 1716, died July 21, 1733.
(V) James, son of Nathaniel (2) Johnson, was born in Framingham or Sherborn in 171I, died at Sturbridge, April 1, 1788. He married, at Killingly, Connecticut, in 1732, Susanna Waters, and settled at Sturbridge, where she died April 9 or 10, 1774, in her sixty-ninth year. Children, born at Sturbridge: I. Lydia, May 10, 1733, married, September 7, 1749, Benjamin Scott. 2. Susannah, March 13, 1735. 3. Abigail, August 1, 1737. 4. James, May 19, 1739, died October 12, 1816; married, June 13, 1763, Hannah Harding. 5. Lucy, Septem-
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ber 8, 1741, married, December 18, 1766, Oliver Mason. 6. Barakiah, November 5, 1743, died June 26, 1746. 7. Isaac, July 7, 1746 (twin), married, October 21, 1770, Jemima Robbins. 8. John (twin), July 7, 1746, died August 1, 1746. 9. Comfort, December 3. 1747, died February 13, 1839. 10. Job, March 29, 1750, mentioned below. 11. Elijah, May 2, 1751. 12. Timothy, baptized December 2, 1752. 13. Hannah, baptized August 25, 1754. 14. Mary, baptized March 23, 1756, married, Jan- uary 31, 1775,
(VI) Job, son of James Johnson, was born at Sturbridge, March 29, 1750. He was a soldier in the revolution, in Captain Timothy Parker's company, Colonel Warren's regiment, at the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775 ; also in Captain Adam Wheeler's company, Colonel Ephraim Doolittle's regiment, later in 1775; also in Captain Francis Stine's company, Col- onel James Converse's regiment, in 1777. He married Rachel Lee, of Thompson, Connecti- cut, and perhaps lived there and at Western, now Warren, Massachusetts, later. Children, born at Sturbridge: I. David, October 18, 1770. 2. John, mentioned below.
(VII) John, son of Job Johnson, was born in Sturbridge, October 4, 1773, died at Warren, Massachusetts, August 10, 1805, the death being on the Sturbridge records, where the wife removed shortly after his death. The will was presented September 9, 1805. He married, at Sturbridge, December 28, 1794, Mary (Polly) Smith, who died January 21, 1815 (gravestone), at Sturbridge, aged thirty- nine years. Their children were born at West- ern, now Warren, Massachusetts, but they were baptized in the church at Sturbridge to which their mother belonged, all on the same clay, March 10, 1808. Children : I. born June 29, 1797, shoemaker, settled in Sut- ton ; died 1853; married Sophia Albee. 2. Abijah, October 26, 1798, mentioned below. 3. Almira. 4. Elvira. 5. Mary Eliza.
( VIII) Abijah, son of John Johnson, was born in Western, October 26, 1798. He set- tled in Warren, Massachusetts, and Boston, was the first man to build a house in what is now Auburndale, coming in January, 1847; built twenty houses ; member of the First Con- gregational Church; Republican in politics. He married Mary E. Washburn, daughter of James and Mary ( Douglas) Washburn, descendant of John Washburn, one of the early settlers of Duxbury, Massachusetts. He was a prominent carpenter and builder of Boston and had contracts for nearly all the
residences in Harrison avenue, Peck lane, now the Chinese district of the metropolis. Chil- dren : I. Charles H., born November 23, 1828, mentioned below. 2. Almira, born Buffalo, New York. 3. William, killed in the civil war, private in Company B, Thirteenth Massachu- setts Regiment. 4. Annie, born Auburndale, Mrs. William E. Plummer, of Newburyport ; widow; three children. 5. Frederick, hide 6. expert, of Auburndale ; two children. George, Auburndale, grain store; enlisted in an Illinois regiment, served in Missouri and under General Rosecrans at the battle of Chat- tanooga. 7. Helen, Auburndale, unmarried, lives with Frederick. 8. Mary, born Buffalo, New York, Mrs. Charles Rockwood.
(IX) Charles H., son of Abijah Johnson, was born in Boston, November 23, 1828. He attended the Franklin grammar school and was a graduate from the English high school. Bos- ton, in the class of 1846. He began his career as clerk in the wholesale drug house of Bige- low & Greenwood, 13 India street, Boston. The firm also dealt in paints, oils and dyestuffs. He continued for five years in this business, then for about a year was associated with his father in Auburndale, Massachusetts, in the building business. He next became complaint clerk for the Boston Gaslight Company and was promoted to the office of assistant cashier in March, 1853, and had his office at the works until the September following. Since 1868 he has been cashier, notwithstanding the changes in ownership in 1889 when the company was bought by the Addicks interests and in 1905 when it was taken over by a syndicate and became part of the Boston Consolidated Gas Company. He is one of the best known men in the gas business, having been connected with it from the days of its infancy. He is a promi- nent Free Mason. He took his first degree in 1867 in Aberdour Lodge and held the various offices in succession, being worshipful master in 1876-77. He is a member of St. Andrew's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and of Boston Council, Royal and Select Masters. He has always been a lover of music and since 1854 has been a member of the famous Handel and Ilaydn Society of Boston. In politics he is a Republican. In religion Congregational. Was active in Auburndale Congregational Church ; superintendent of Sunday school, was member of various committees ; member of Congrega- tional Chib and Apollo Club. He married (first) June 9, 1862, Lucy M. Adams, born July 16, 1838, daughter of John and (Kimball) Adams. Her father was of the
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firm of Barnard & Adams, Cornhill, Boston. He married (second) December 17, 1872, Mary E. Thomas, born August 6, 1850, daugh- ter of John and Eliza (Burditt) Thomas, of Charlestown. Child of first wife: Lucy M., born June 9, 1865, married J. P. B. Fiske ; lives in Auburndale ; children : Charles, George, born January 16, 1897 ; Robert, July 18, 1900; Helen, January 16, 1907. Child of second wife: Susie C., born at Auburndale, August 6, 1877, graduate of Wellesley College, class of 1900; teacher in the State Normal school at Thomasville, Georgia, one year, in Tilitson College, and at Austin, Texas, one year ; now has a class in English in Lasell Semi- nary, Auburndale, Massachusetts. Mary E. (Thomas) Johnson was a musician, vocal and instrumental, catering to the high class ele- ment of Boston.
JOHNSON At the time of the first settle- ment of New England, this name was common in Eng- land, as well as in several other parts of Europe. There were very many emigrants to New England with this patronymic, from the first, and so many bearing the same christian name that it has been exceedingly difficult to trace many branches of the family. Savage says one of the first accused of the "impossible" crime of witchcraft bore this name; many graduated from New England colleges before 1700, and a number of these entered the min- istry. Many of them distinguished themselves in other ways, and many held positions of prominence in England as well. When the British parliament made a law compelling the use of surnames, many simply added the suffix "son" to their christian name and gave it to their children as a surname, in this way forming such names as Peterson, Carlson, Johnson, and the like.
(I) Peter Johnson was living in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1649, and had probably come from Massachusetts. He had sons Moses, Ebenezer and John.
(II) Colonel Ebenezer, supposed to be the son of Peter Johnson, of Fairfield, Connecti- cut, was born about 1649, and settled at Derby, Connecticut, about 1668. He married, in 1671, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Wooster, and their children were: Elizabeth, born in 1672; Eunice, August 22, 1678: Hannah, December 6, 1680; Peter, October 9, 1684; Ebenezer ; Timothy, December 23, 1693; and Charles, December 29, 1696.
(III) Lieutenant Ebenezer (2), son of Col-
onel Ebenezer (I) and Elizabeth (Wooster ) Johnson, was born February 22, 1686, at Derby, Connecticut, and died in 1751. He was a man of prominence in the community. By his wife Hannah he had children as fol- lows: Benajah, born in 1704; Timothy ; Ann and Sarah.
(IV) Timothy, son of Lieutenant Ebenezer (2) and Hannah Johnson, married, February 21, 1725, Abigail Brewster, who died Decem- ber 15, 1773, and had children as follows : Nathaniel, born March 6, 1726; Timothy, died April 2, 1733 ; Hannah, born December 4, 1727 ; Alexander : Timothy ; Ruth ; Charles, April 19. 1739 : and Timothy, December 5, 1741.
(V) Alexander, son of Timothy and Abi- gail (Brewster) Johnson, was born June 20, 1730, and lived at Seymour, Connecticut. By his wife Hannah he had children as follows : Timothy, born January 21, 1766; David; Eli- jah ; Nathaniel ; Charles ; Abigail Brewster and Ruth.
(VI) Charles, thought to be the son of Alexander and Hannah Johnson, was born about 1777, and died about 1868. He lived at Franklin, Connecticut, and married Mary Sholes. Among their children was James Huntingdon.
(VII) James Huntingdon, son of Charles and Mary (Sholes) Johnson, was born in March, 1810, and died February 2, 1878. He married, November 1, 1835, Almira, daughter of Elijah Rathbun, of Lisbon, Connecticut, born December 14, 1808, died in Springfield, Massachusetts, September 23, 1894. Her ancestor, Thomas Rathbun, born August 5. 1730, at Lisbon, Connecticut, was third lieu- tenant in Captain Belcher's company in the revolutionary war, 1776. They had a son, James Louis.
(VIII) James Louis, son of James Hunt- ingdon and Almira (Rathbun) Johnson, was born December 30, 1840, at Canterbury, Con- necticut, and died December 18, 1905, at Springfield, Massachusetts. In his youth he lived on his father's farm, assisting in the work to be done there, and in winter attended school, first the public and high school, and later the Normal school at New Britain. He commenced teaching school at the age of eighteen, and kept this up in the winters, while he attended the Normal school, from which he graduated in 1863. After teaching a few years, he spent some time in Ohio, as special agent for the Continental Life Insurance Com- pany, of Hartford, Connecticut, then in 1866 became the general agent in Western Massa-
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chusetts for the same company, locating with his family in Springfield. In 1873 he accepted a similar position for the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Maine, and in 1880 left this company to accept the agency in Western Massachusetts and part of Connecticut, for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, of Springfield, in which business enter- prise he became very successful. He took great interest in Springfield's prosperity and progress, and became well known in business, society and church circles. For several years he served as a member of the school board, was a member of the City Library Associa- tion, director of the Mutual Fire Assurance Company, and a member of the Springfield Board of Trade. He belonged to Connecticut Valley Congregational Club, Realty, Winthrop and Nayasset clubs, the Pequot Club of New Haven, Connecticut, and was a Mason, being affiliated with Roswell Lee Lodge, Morning Star Chapter and Springfield Commandery Knights Templar, being charter mem- ber of the latter body. He belonged to several Underwriters' Associations, being the first president of the Western Massa- chusetts Life Association, organized in 1894, and at one time president of the National Association of Life Underwriters, having been present at its organization. He was a member of the First Church of Springfield, and much interested in all its work, working in the Sun- day school and Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, being one of the board of trustees for the latter society's international training school. In politics he was a Republican. He married, June 13, 1866, Sarah Hosmer, daughter of Abel Child and Angeline Atwood (Hosmer) Chamberlain, born August 20, 1840. (See Chamberlain VII). Their children were: I. Anna Louise, born September 25, 1869, at Springfield, graduate of Smith College, also a graduate of the Springfield Kindergarten School. 2. Grace Almira, December 22, 1874, at Springfiell. 3. Helen Chamberlain, April 18, 1885, died November 14, 1892.
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