Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 49

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 49

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).

"And we do hereby vote that we attend the funeral in a body.

"Resolved, That this board tenders to the family of the deceased, its sincere sympathy in their great and irreparable loss.

"Resolved, That these resolutions be entered upon the records of this company, and that a copy be sent to the family of our departed friend.

In religious belief Mr. Smith was a Con- gregationalist, being a member of the South Congregational Church of Springfield. He married Mary Louise Avery, (see Avery). Children : Cornelia Achsah, born in Colches- ter, November 17, 1854, married, October 17, 1877, Samuel A. Bangs, of Springfield. Charles Dwight, mentioned below. Mary Louise, born June 25, 1866, died January 17, 1876. George Freeman, born July 17, 1870, was drowned at Block Island, August 1, 1897. He was a graduate of Amherst College in 1894.

(V) Charles Dwight, eldest son of Dwight Ripley and Mary Louise ( Avery) Smith, was born in Hampton, November 26, 1861, and resides in Springfield. He received a high school education and was for fifteen years connected with the insurance company of which his father was president, acting as special agent for New England states. He is a member of the Winthrop Club. Mr. Smith married Jennie A. Bunnell, of Blairstown, New Jersey. Her father was a prominent man in this town and one of the founders of Blair Academy.

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Avery is a good name to conjure

AVERY with. The line contains such names as John D. Rockefeller, whose grandfather. Godfrey Rockefeller, married Lucy Avery ; and the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, vice-president of the United States. The record of the achievements of its scions is a noble one and its ramifications extend into every state in the Union.

(I) Christopher Avery, emigrant ancestor, was born in England about 1590. The family is said to have been native to Cornwall. It is not known where he made his landfall or when, but he was selectman of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1646-52-54, and he took the oath of allegiance and fidelity, June 29, 1653. Also he was constable and clerk of the market. He was fined twenty pounds at Ipswich court for living apart from his wife. Upon his peti- tion to the court, being aged and poor and having no means to procure his wife hither, his fine was remitted. He left her in England. In 1658 he sold land in Gloucester and removed to Boston, buying real estate in what is now the center of the city. The deed was acknowledged before Governor Endicott. For this he paid forty pounds and its location was where the present post office building stands and near what was afterwards the birthplace of Benjamin Franklin. He removed to New London, Connecticut, with his son James, and died there March 12, 1679.

(II) James, only son of Christopher Avery, was born in England in 1620, died in New London, April 18, 1700. He was granted land October 19, 1650, a town lot on Cape Ann Lane and in addition "Little Owle Meadow." In 1652 he was granted land in South Groton, Connecticut, and in 1653 secured a farm on the "Pocketannock Grants" on the river Thames. In 1684 he bought the "Unadorned church and watchtower of the wilderness" out of the timber of which he constructed a dwelling and it was standing until about 1902, when it was destroyed by fire. He was active in military affairs. This part of Connecticut was the seat of the Pequot war and in this strife he took a prominent part. In 1665 he was made lieutenant of "ye train band." He was one of the commission to lay out a reservation for the Coassotuck Indians, and for this service he was allowed five pounds. In 1668 he was chosen one of a committee to settle the boundary line with the Uncas. When danger was apprehended from the Dutch along the Connecticut coast, Cap- tain Avery was ordered to prepare for the

defense. During the King Philip war, he had charge of the three towns of New London, Stonington and Lyme, and also the friendly Pequots. In the stubborn fight at South Kingston, Rhode Island, on Sunday, December 19, 1675, against the desperate Narragansetts, Captain Avery commanded the Pequot con- tingent. At a later engagement the chief sachem Canonchet was captured and the power of the mighty tribe which had long terrorized the community was humbled and permanently broken. In these culminating events of a great war drama, Captain Avery acted a foremost part. No enemy ever saw his back ; he faced the foe in every emergency. As a civilian, he was equally prominent, being selectman twenty years. One of the acts of his official life deserves especial mention, inasmuch as he ordered "that for the good of after posterity, the town book be kept with an Alphabet where all acts passed shall hereafter be recorded, and we agree that all old books be searched into what is material concerning the public good to be drawn." In 1663 he was appointed by the general court a commis- sioner of the peace to try petty offences, an office corresponding to a justice of the peace. He was twelve times elected a member of the general court. His tax rate was two hun- dred and thirty-six pounds. Likewise he was very active in ecclesiastical affairs. In 1677 he was one of the building committee for erecting a new church in place of the outgrown Blinman church, and in 1683 he was on a committee to send a letter to Rev. Mr. Mather for advice in regard to a successor to Rev. Mr. Bradford. Captain James Avery was a very remarkable man. Living as he did in stirring times, he was a leader among strong men, enjoying their confidence and respect be- cause he deserved them. Especially is it to be noted that, although the state then took cogniz- ance of affairs which we now call private and interfered in the details of family life and personal relations in a way that would not be tolerated now, he was never censured or "pre- sented" for any shortcoming or alleged der- eliction of duty or propriety. Eminent in all the relations of life, his descendants look upon him with pride and affection." He married, November 10, 1643, Joanna Greenshade, of Boston, who died in 1714. Children: Han- nah, James, Mary, Thomas, John, Rebecca, Jonathan, Christopher and Samuel.

(III) James (2), eldest son of James (I) and Joanna (Greenshade) Avery, was born December 16, 1648, in Gloucester, died in

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Groton, Connecticut, August 22, 1748. He was a man of affairs in his township, being deputy for the general court at Hartford for New London six times, commissioner of the peace, captain of the train band and advisor and counsellor of the Pequot Indians. Also he was a committee on boundary disputes be- tween his town and the adjoining one, and on the location of public lands. He and his wife joined the Church of Christ in 1672. He appeared before the general court in 1696 in behalf of the inhabitants on the east side of New London river to establish a church. This was the beginning of the church at Groton. The tombstone of himself and wife in a very good state of preservation stands near the center of the west burying ground at Poquon- noc. He married Deborah, daughter of Ed- ward Stallyon, February 18, 1669. She died March 27, 1729. Children: Margaret, Ed- ward, Ebenezer, Christopher, Jonathan, Mary, Hannah, Sarah, Joseph, Benjamin and Mary.

(IV) Christopher (2), fourth son of Cap- tain James (2) and Deborah (Stallyon) Avery, was born in Groton, January 23, 1679, died January 20, 1753. He married Abigail, daugh- ter of Captain John Parke, and she died Feb- ruary 12, 1713. Children : John, Abigail, Christopher and Nathan.

(V) John, eldest son of Christopher (2) and Abigail ( Parke) Avery, was born October 26, 1708, died August 29, 1790. He married, February 19, 1732, Annie, born August 6, 1708, daughter of Joseph Stanton. Children : John, Abigail, Amos, Annie, Margaret, Isaac, James and Hannah.

(VI) John (2), eldest son of John (I) and Annie (Stanton) Avery, was born December 6, 1732, died July 23, 1794. He married, Jan- uary 22, 1752, Mary, daughter of Robert Parke. She died January 14, 1769. Children : Elizabeth, Ziporrah, John, Anna, Samuel, Rob- ert, William, Hannah. He married ( second) his cousin, Experience, daughter of Robert Stanton. Children: Robert S., Nathaniel, Amos, Jonas, Mary and Christopher.

(VII) Samuel, second son of John (2) and Mary ( Parke) Avery, was born January 3, 1760, died February 13, 1836. He married, in 1782, at Groton, Sarah Eldridge, born in 1761, died in 1811. Children : Samuel, Saralı Eldridge, Betsey, Lucy, Maria, Harriet and Austin.

(VIII) Austin, youngest child of Samuel and Sarah ( Eklridge) Avery, was born in June, 1804. He was a carriage builder and resided at Franklin, Connecticut. He married,

May 19, 1826, Mary Peters, of Stonington,

Connecticut. Children: Harriet E .; Mary Louise, born August 29, 1828, in Franklin, Connecticut, married, January 17, 1854, Dwight R. Smith, q. v., in preceding sketch.

(For first generation see Edward Sprague 1).

(III) Sergeant Samuel Sprague,

SPRAGUE son of William Sprague, was born in Hingham, Massachu- sets, May 24, 1640, died in 1710. He moved from his native town of Marshfield in 1663 and was town treasurer there in 1665. He may have gone there to live with his uncle, Anthony Eames, who settled in Marshfield as early as 1652. Sprague became a leading citi- zen: was highway surveyor in 1663; was deputy to the general court nearly every year between 1680 and 1701; was selectman in 1677-81-86-87-94-95-97 to 1706 and 1709-10. He held one or more public offices every year except four after he came to Marshfield. He was sergeant in 1686 and afterward. In June, 1686, he was elected secretary of the general court and recorder of the court of assistants and served until the union of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies in 1692, except during the Andros regime. He was the last secretary of the Plymouth colony. Part of his duties was to act as register of deeds and wills. He was elected to office sixty-three times. He married, 1665-66, Sarah Chilling- worth and went to live on the Chillingworth estate on the north side of the South river. His widow's will was dated May 14, 1725, when she calls herself "very aged." Children : 1. Samuel, eldest, removed to Duxbury before 1710; grandfather of Hon. Seth Sprague. 2. John, removed to Duxbury; resided on Sprague's Neck. 3. Nathan, resided at Marsh- field ; married Margaret ---; his son James was the father of Captain Jonathan Sprague, of Marshfield, born 1744. 4. James, mentioned below. 5. Sarah, married Joseph Holmes ; their son John lived at Plymouth. 6. Mary, married Nathaniel Willianison. 7. Joanna, married, May 1, 1710, John Holmes, of Marsh- field. 8. Hannah, married John Ruggles Jr., December 11, 1700.

(IV) James, son of Samuel Sprague, was born at Marshfield about 1690. He had a share of the homestead with his mother, after his father died. He married, November 19, 1717, Hannah Black, at Marshfield. Children: I. James, mentioned below. 2. Hannah, married Barnabas Ford. Perhaps other children.

(V) James (2), son of James ( 1) Sprague.

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was born in Marshfield, 1720-30. He married Sarah Jackson and settled in his native town. Children: 1. James Jr. 2. Ezekiel (?), was living in Marshfield in 1790. 3. Melzar, men- tioned below. In 1790 James had three males over sixteen and two females in his family; James Jr., his cousin or son, had two sons under sixteen and one female in his family. Jonathan and Ezekiel were also heads of fami- lies in Marshfield.

(VI) Melzar, son or nephew of James (2) Sprague, was born in Marshfield in 1770, died there May 2, 1844. He married Eleanor Keen, who died April 1, 1855, at Marshfield. Child, Jairus, mentioned below.

(VII) Jairus, son of Melzar Sprague, was born in Marshfield, March 14, 1807. The homestead was in the south part of the town. He attended school in his native town, and learned the trade of nailer in his youth. He followed it for a few years, and then engaged in business as a contractor and builder. He came from Marshfield to South Bridgewater, and in 184I removed to East Weymouth where he built the nail factory, also a number of houses, and when the church was rebuilt he built the steeple. During the last years of his life he bought and sold houses and dealt ex- tensively in real estate. He was a very capable and successful business man, energetic, indus- trious and upright. He was a prominent mem- ber of the Congregational church and a deacon for many years. A portrait of Deacon Sprague may be seen in the vestry of the church. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and of Crescent Lodge, No. 82, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Deborah Barker, born September 1, 1802, at Pembroke, Massachusetts, died August 24, 1864, at East Weymouth. He married (sec- ond) Mary Bates, born 1818, died 1901, at East Weymouth. He died at Weymouth, March 17, 1879. Children: I. Jairus Sin- clair, born March 28, 1832, mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth, born at Marshfield, August 7, 1835, married John S. Porter, of East Wey- mouth ; she now resides in Knoxville, Tennes- see ; had eight children, three of whom are living.

(VIII) Jairus Sinclair, son of Jairus Sprague, was born in Marshfield, March 28, 1832, died at East Weymouth, August 30, 1888. He received his education in the public schools of East Weymouth, whither his parents moved when he was very young. He learned his father's trades of nailer and carpenter, and as

a young man became associated with him in his business as a builder. He went to Towanda, Pennsylvania, in 1871, built a nail factory and set up all the machinery, later returning to East Weymouth. He then went to Canada and spent some time experimenting on nails for Mr. Stacey, after which he again returned to East Weymouth and was for a time engaged in the plumbing business, being also, at inter- vals, employed in the nail factory. In 1880 he built the house adjoining the one where his widow now lives. He was a skillful mechanic in various trades and was for some years en- gaged in the manufacture of cartons (paper boxes) in Weymouth, and was also an active dealer in real estate. He was a keen and successful business man, highly respected and esteemed by his townsmen, thoroughly fair and straightforward in his dealings, of sterling character. He was a liberal supporter and an active member of the Congregational church. In politics he was a Democrat, but he sought no public offices. He was domestic in his tastes and devoted to his family. He married, November 28, 1854, Susan Jordan Lovell, born August 22, 1832, at East Wey- mouth. She survives her husband and resides at East Weymouth. She is the daughter of George Goodnow Lovell. Children: I. Mary D., born October 19, 1864, mentioned below. 2. Arthur B., born October 24, 1869, died June 14, 1871, at East Weymouth.

(IX) Mary D., daughter of Jairus Sinclair Sprague, was born at East Weymouth. Octo- ber 19, 1864. She was educated there in the public schools. She married, November 28, 1883, Walter Ernest McFaun, born at East Weymouth, February 8, 1864, son of James and Lucina (Griffith) McFaun. His grand- father came from Scotland to Weymouth. His father was born in Glasgow, Scotland; his mother ir Baltimore. Mr. McFaun had brothers: William, Robert, Thomas, Frank and Charles; sisters: Hattie, Alice and Flor- ence. Mr. McFaun is a carpenter by trade, also a shoemaker and nailer, a general mechanic of much skill. He is independent in politics ; a member of Crescent Lodge, No. 82, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; Steadfast Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, of which his wife, also Mrs. Jairus S. Sprague, are mem- bers, and of which Mrs. Sprague was secretary for three years. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Faun : I. Bertha S., born April 23, 1885, married Edward R. Bailey, a clerk at the Fore River engine works in Quincy, and they have had

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one child, Christine F., born December 31, 1907. 2. Arthur Sinclair, born June 19, 1888, died December 1, 1890. 3. Pearl G., born July 16, 1893, student in the Weymouth high school.

CLARK Robert Clark, probably of Scotch ancestry, was an early settler at Buckland, Massachusetts. Accord- ing to the census of 1790 he was living at Buck- land and had three males over sixteen, two under sixteen and four females in his family- four sons probably and three daughters. He was probably born in Ireland of Scotch-Irish parents and Scotch ancestry. It is not known to the writer whether his parents came to this country. According to family tradition he lived for a time in Plymouth and Bristol counties before coming to Buckland. He was a farmer at Buckland.

(II) James, son of Robert Clark, was born in Buckland about 1780, and died there. He was a farmer in Buckland all his active life. He married Almeda Davis. Children: James, Daniel, Chandler, mentioned below ; Almeda.

(III) Chandler, son of James Clark, was born February 24, 1807, died December 30, 1877, in Holyoke. He married, December 17, 1835, Joanna Woodward, daughter of Spencer Woodward, of Buckland. He settled in 1859 in Holyoke, where he was an active member of the Methodist church. He was a shoe mer- chant. His wife died May 28, 1885. Children : I. Eliza Townsley, born November 14, 1836, died at Charlemont, Massachusetts. November 12, 1853. 2. Francis Asbury, December 29, 1840, died April 15, 1843. 3. Embury Philip, mentioned below.

(IV) Colonel Embury Philip, son of Chand- ler Clark, was born in Buckland, March 31, 1845. He was educated in the public schools and began work as clerk in a grocery store. When but seventeen years old, he enlisted in Company B, Forty-sixth Regiment, Massachu- setts Volunteer Militia, for the civil war, in July, 1862. He was appointed corporal and served nine months. The regiment was sent to North Carolina and immediately began cam- paign work on an expedition to Kinston, White Hall and Goldsboro, under General J. G. Foster. The following summer it was ordered to Fortress Monroe to join the Army of the James, but instead was dispatched to Balti- more, then to Harper's Ferry, finally joining the army of the Potomac at Funkstown, Mary- land. After his service he returned to Holyoke and was successively a druggist, paymaster of

a large manufacturing concern, and registrar of the Holyoke Water Works, an office which he held from July 1, 1876, until January I, 1893, when he resigned to take up the duties of sheriff. Colonel Clark was prominently identified with educational work and was fif- teen years a member of the school board. He was elected sheriff of Hampden county in 1892, and has held the office ever since. In politics he is a Republican. In 1868 he enlisted in the state militia, Second Regiment, and was appointed sergeant of Company K. He was elected captain, June 4, 1869; major, August 14, 1871 ; colonel, August 31, 1875; and dis- charged April 28, 1876. He re-enlisted as cap- tain in Company D, December 23, 1878; was elected lieutenant-colonel, August 2, 1879 ; col- onel, February 2, 1899. He served all through the Spanish war, at Santiago, Cuba, as colonel of the Second Regiment of Infantry, Massa- chusetts Volunteers, in 1898. He was elected brigadier-general of the First Brigade, July 26, 1904. He is a member of Post No. 71, Grand Army of the Republic, and served as commander several years. He is a member of Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; of the Naval and Military Order of Spanish-American War, of which he was com- mander-in-chief in 1904; of the Society Army of Santiago de Cuba : Order of Foreign Wars, and of the League of Spanish War Veterans. Mr. Clark is a member of the Springfield Board of Trade; Nayasset Club; Winthrop Club ; Holyoke Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Knights of Pythias of Holyoke; Belcher Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He married, August 21, 1866, Eliza Ann Seaver, born February 13, 1846, daughter of Perley and Julia ( Field) Seaver. Children: I. Kate Elizabeth, born at Chicopee, December 3, 1869; married Edwin L. Brewer, and had children : Doris, Evelyn, Chauncy, Kenneth. 2. Edward Simpson, born at Holyoke, April 5, 1873; mar- ried Bessie Farr, daughter of Mrs. H. M. Farr, of Holyoke. 3. Frederick Bayard, born at Holyoke, September 4, 1878; educated at Holyoke and Springfield Business College ; was a clerk in the office of the civil service examiners at Washington, and now in the Isthmian canal department ; married Alice Ly- man, of Northampton. 4. Alice May, born at Holyoke, May 18, 1880; graduate of the Mc- Duffee school at Springfield; married George S. Lombard, of the Lombard Iron Works of Augusta, Georgia.

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SNELL The surname Snell has been known in colonial and national history on this side of the Atlantic ocean since about the last half of the seventeenth century, although the immigrant ancestor of the family sought to be treated in this place did not come into the country until about the time of the first war with the mother country.

(I) John Snell, the immediate ancestor of the immigrant, was of English birth and ances- try, and lived on what was known as the West North Farm, in Doubwalls, near Liskard, Eng- land. He had two brothers, Samuel and Ed- ward, both of whom came to America about the time of the revolution and are supposed to have settled somewhere in the New England colonies. The Snells of New Bedford, Massa- chusetts, are of this same family, although it is not known from which of the brothers they are descended. John Snell married twice, the name of his first wife being (it is believed) Mary Stevens, but the name of his second wife does not appear. His children, born of his first marriage, were : John ( see post), Richard, Elizabeth, Mary, Samuel, Ann, Eliza, who mar- ried in England, Thomas Mayne, of Cornwall, and on coming to America settled in Montreal, Canada.

(II) John (2), son of John (1) and Mary (Stevens) Snell, was born on the homestead at the West North Farms, in Doubwalls, Eng- land, and was about nineteen years old when his father died. After that on account of a misunderstanding with his brothers he resolved to leave England and come to America. He sailed for this country and took up his home in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, where he died and is buried. Five of his children were born in England. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan and Alma Werry. She was bap- tized December 1, 1794, and by her John Snell had eight children: I. Mary, born March 15, 1822, died April 4, 1904; married Thomas Stevens. 2. John, January 30, 1824, died about 1854; never married. 3. Richard, April 12, 1826, went to sea and never was heard of afterward. 4. Samuel (see post). 5. Eliza- beth, December 29, 1829, died in 1866; mar- ried Jacob Fox, who is still living in Ohio. 6. Jane Phillips, December 31, 1833; married Charles Bode, and has three children : Richard, Joseph and Mary Bode. 7. Ann Maria, Janu- ary 3, 1836; married William Gregory. 8. Ellen, April 29, 1838, died young.

(III) Samuel, son of John (2) and Eliza- beth (Werry) Snell, was born May 4, 1828, and when a boy was sent to the common

schools of the township in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, in which his parents then lived. At the age of sixteen he began working out at farming, and when about nineteen years old he began an apprenticeship to the trade of a carpenter, worked with Nettleton, Bartlett & Ferry, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in which city he lived about two and one half years. He then removed to Holyoke and followed his trade of journeyman carpenter, and in the course of his work in that city he assisted in the erection of the Lyman mills and other large structures built by the Holyoke Water Power Company. About 1878 he became inter- ested in the manufacture of pottery drainer bottoms for use in the paper mills of Holyoke, and the business then started in a small way gradually developed into one of the most ex- tensive enterprises of its kind in the region. In 1862 Mr. Snell was one of the owners and operated the Holyoke Swing Ferry. He was the first man who built the first tar walk in Holyoke and was the owner of the business. He also helped to build the first Quaker church in Brooklyn, New York. And besides his interest in business concerns Mr. Snell during his long residence in Holyoke has been some- what active in public affairs and has served in various capacities, such as member of the city government, in the fire department for four years and as member of the board of engineers about the same length of time. He is a com- municant in the Protestant Episcopal church, a Republican in politics, a Master Mason and an Odd Fellow. He married, October 15, 1866, Phebe Ann, daughter of Benjamin Arnold and Mary (Green) Streeter, of Vernon, Ver- mont (see Streeter).

STREETER The Streeter family in New England in early times ap- pears to have been a part of the agricultural class of the community during the long period in which farm owners were leaders in the affairs of the several communities in which they lived; but in more recent years the tendency of the family has been to draw away from the farm and incline in the direc- tion of business and professional pursuits.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 49

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