USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 82
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(The Durant Line).
The family, a line of whose representatives are given below, is of French extraction and not unlikely found shelter on English shores from persecution following the horrors of St. Bartholomew's day. The name signifies en- during, lasting, sturdy.
(I) George Durant appears first in Colonial records in 1662, as a tenant on Dexter proper- ty in Malden, Massachusetts, just west of Bos- ton. He settled at Middletown, Connecticut, receiving a large grant of land extending over several modern counties on both sides of the Connecticut river. He was often recorded as "blacksmith", which in those days covered all occupations for shaping iron for various pur- poses, not merely for shoeing horses. His name is still preserved ni the Durant school district of Middletown, on the south side, cov- ering the site of his mill and land. He also (welt part of the time at Hadlyme; and also had land and a mill at what is now North Lyme. The christian name of his wife was Elizabeth ; her surname has not been learned, but certain indications suggest that her father was John Blake, a relative of Robert Blake, an admiral in the British navy. They had one son Edward, mentioned below; and four daughters : Elizabeth, married John Wade. Mary, married (first) John Waller; (second) Samnel Shether ; (third) Robert Chapman Jr. Sarah, married Amos Finker. Abigail, mar- ried Samuel Tinker, brother of Amos.
( II) Edward, only son of George and Eliz- abeth Durant, "was born June 2d, 1661, as his mother saith", according to the record of the town clerk of Middletown, Connecticut. The town record of Boston states that he died
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"March 28th, 1718, aged 66 years." In 1686 Edward Durant had a child baptized in Bos- ton, and in 1689 another baptized in Middle- town, Connecticut. In Boston he kept the fa- mous inn of his time, the "Lamb Tavern", which stood on the site of the present Adams house, but had more land, on Washington street. He married (first) about 1684, Anne Hall, who seems to be the one of this name, born November 20, 1661, sixth child of "Mr." John Hall, who settled in Middletown, Con- necticut, in June, 1654, and died there May 26, 1673, "being in the 89th year of his age, and the 40th of his being in New England." The following inscription is on his tombstone in Middletown :
"Here lyeth the body of John Hall aged LXXV years departed this life January the XXII, 1694. Here lyes OUR deacon Hall who studyed peace withall was upright in his life voyd of malignant strife gon to his rest, left us in sorrow, doubtless his good works will him follow."
(III) Captain Edward (2), fifth child of Edward (I) and Anne ( Hall) Durant, was born in Boston, March 2, 1694-95, and died at Newton, October 14, 1740, and was buried in the churchyard of King's Chapel, Boston. In 1732 he bought for £1800 ninety-one acres in Newton, including a large part of Nonantum hill, on which he built a large wooden house which descended to one of his daughters who married a Kenrick, and it went out of the fam- ily only a year or so ago. He moved to New- ton about the time of the purchase. He left a great estate, which was appraised by Samuel Jackson, Esq., John Hill, Thomas Foster, Sam- uel Sparhawk, Thomas Greenwood, August, 1741. He had ninety-seven acres of land, house, and two barns in Newton, three dwell- ing houses in Boston ; one hundred and thirty acres of land, with house and barn, in Worces- ter, and a township in New Boston, and three slaves, amounting in all to £10,277 and Ios. He married, March 31, 1714, Judith Waldo, born in Boston, January 25, 1692, died in Medford, October 27, 1785, daughter of Cornelius and Faith (Peck) Waldo. Their children were : Edward, Thomas, Cornelius and Elizabeth.
(IV) Edward (3), eldest child of Captain Edward (2) and Judith (Waldo) Durant, was born in Boston, February 7, 1715, and died at Newton, April 10, 1782. He settled on the homestead which his father left him in New- ton. He was moderator of town meetings
from 1765 to 1775 ; selectman four years, and was a leading, influential, and patriotic man in Newton, in opposing the arbitrary measures of the British government for more than ten years preceding the revolutionary war, and was chairman of a committee to report instruc- tions to the representative to the general court, 1765, upon the passage of the stamp act. He was chairman of a committee in 1772, and a member of the committee in 1774 to report res- olutions upon the state of public affairs, and instructions to their representative, and an an- swer to a circular of the selectmen of Boston. He was chairman of the committee of corres- pondence in 1774, and a delegate to the pro- vincial congress in 1773-75. He married (first ) Anne, daughter of Captain John Jack- son, and granddaughter of John Jackson, Sen., September 15, 1735. She was born in Newton, June 15, 1714, and died there November 25, 1753. They had Anne, Abigail, Edward, Na- thaniel, Catherine, Thomas, John and Eliza- beth. He married ( second) November 25, 1754, Mary Allen, born in 1728, died in March 1792, daughter of John Allen, a merchant of Boston. There were three children by this marriage : Allen, Martha and Nathaniel.
(V) Thomas, seventh child of Edward (3) and Anne (Jackson) Durant, was born at Newton, March 18, 1746, and died at Middle- field, August 2, 1831. He was a "Minute man" in the exciting times preceding the American Revolution for independence. He took part in the opening of that war at the Lexington fight, when he served as corporal in Captain Jeremiah Wiswell's company from Newton. Later in the war, according to his widow, who used to relate incident of his ser- vice after Lexington, he was a commissary and a captain, but there had not been found any public record of this latter service. He re- moved to Middlefield between October, 1788. and 1791, his eighth child, Thomas, having been born in the latter place January 30, 1791. His farm at Middlefield was about two miles west of the village towards Hinsdale, and was later known as the "Harry Meacham farm." Thomas Durant married, at Newton, July 23. 1775, Elizabeth Clark, born May 25, 1752. died in Pittsfield, March 17, 1853, aged one hundred years, nine months and twelve days. daughter of William and Mary Clark. Their children were: William, Edward, and Anna, next mentioned.
(VI) Anna, called "Nancy," only daugh- ter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Clark) Dur- ant, was born at Cambridge. October 21.
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1777; baptized "Anna" at Trinity Church, Boston, November 8, 1779, and died at Mid- dlefield, October 15, 1841. She married, at Middlefield, about 1802, Amasa Blush, who died there, November 18, 1839, son of Joseph Blush. Their children who lived were: Wil- liam, Oliver, Nancy, Julia Ann.
(VII) Julia Ann, seventh child of Amasa and Anna (Durant) Blush, was born at Mid- dlefield, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, June 29, 1814, died in Springfield, March 14, 1864. She married, June 9, 1834, Ira Brad- ford Sampson (see Sampson VI).
REYNOLDS Robert Reynolds, immigrant ancestor of this family, was born in England.
He is known to have been living in Boston, Massachusetts, as early as 1632. He was a shoemaker by trade, and was admitted to the church at . Boston, August 10, 1634. He was admitted a free- man, September 3, 1634. He removed to Wa- tertown and was dismissed to the church at Wethersfield, Connecticut, March 29, 1636, but returned to Boston later and died there April 27, 1659. He sold land at Muddy River, now Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1645, and also in 1653. His wife Mary was admitted to the church October 4, 1645, and died Janu- ary 18, 1663. His will was proved July 27. 1659, bequeathing to wife Mary; son Na- thaniel ; daughter Ruth Whitney and her eld- est son ; daughter Tabitha Abdy and her son Matthew ; to daughter Sarah Mason and her son Nathaniel. Children : 1. Nathaniel, mentioned below. 2. Ruth, married John Whitney. 3. Tabitha, married Matthew Abdy. 4. Sarah, married Mason. 5. Mary, married - - Sawyer.
(II) Captain Nathaniel, son of Robert Reynolds, was born in England. He lived in Boston and was a lientenant and later captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany. He was in King Philip's war at Chelmsford in February, 1676. He was ad- mitted a free man in 1665. He was a shoe- maker by trade, like his father. In 1680 he removed to Bristol, Rhode Island, where he became a very prominent citizen, and where he died July 10, 1708. He married (first) November 30, 1657, Sarah Dwight, daughter of John W. Dwight. She died July 8, 1663, and he married (second) Priscilla Brackett, daughter of Peter Brackett, who was a trader of Boston. Children of first wife, born in Boston : 1. Sarah, born July 26, 1659, mar-
ried John Fosdick. 2. Mary, November 20, 1660, died January 28, 1663. 3. Nathaniel March 3, 1662-63, mentioned below. Children of second wife, born in Boston and Bristol : 4. John, born August 4, 1668, died January 30, 1757, in his eighty-ninth year. 5. Peter, January 26, 1670. 6. Philip, September 15, 1672. 7. Joseph, January 9, 1677, died Janu- ary 16, 1759. 8. Hannah, January 15, 1682, married Samuel Royall. 9. Mary, 1684, mar- ried Nathaniel Woodbury. 10. Benjamin, May 10, 1686, died August 4, 1770; married, 1709, Susanna Rawson. II. Ruth, December 9, 1688, married Josiah Cary.
(III) Nathaniel (2), son of Captain Na- thaniel (I) Reynolds, was born in Boston, March 3, 1662-63, died October 29, 1719, aged fifty-six years. He resided in Bristol, Rhode Island, and married Ruth -. They had seven children, among whom were the following: I. Nathaniel, born September II, 1689, mentioned below. 2. John, March 29, 1696.
(IV) Nathaniel (3), son of Nathaniel (2) Reynolds, was born in Bristol, September II, 1689, died in 1740, aged fifty-one. He re- moved from Bristol to Boston in 1755, and was a merchant there and the owner of a store. He married Mary D. Snell, daughter of Thomas Snell. She resided, a widow, in North Bridgewater. Among his children were : I. Nathaniel, born 1716-17, removed to Vassalborough, Maine. 2. Thomas, March 19, 1718, mentioned below, may have been a twin of Nathaniel.
(V) Thomas, son of Nathaniel (3) Rey- nolds, was born in Bristol, March 19, 1718, died in 1795, aged seventy-seven. He served in the revolution, enlisting from Bristol, No- vember 30, 1779, under Colonel Henry Jack- son, and is described as aged forty-two, height six feet one inch, complexion dark, hair dark. His age was much understated, a practice common upon enlistment. He served in the Colonel Jackson's company from January I to December 31, 1780, being absent in May of that year on account of illness. He was at Hutt's January 28, 1781. On December 5, 1777, when he was engaged in the war, his family was reported as living in Wrentham. In the Revolutionary Rolls he was called of Bristol and Rehoboth, but he may not have lived at the latter place. A Thomas Reynolds of Deerfield, perhaps this same Thomas, served in Captain Lemuel Trescott's company, Colonel Trescott's regiment, in 1775. The only Thomas Reynolds in the state in 1790
1
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was Thomas of North Bridgewater and his son Thomas of that place, who are included in the census of that year. Thomas Reynolds was a carpenter by trade. He married, at North Bridgewater, November 3, 1748, Eliza- beth Turner. He has descendants living at Winslow, Maine. Children: I. Amy, born October 29, 1749, died May 9, 1752. 2. Jos- eph, June 22, 1751, married, September, 1772, Jemima Perkins. 3. Amy, February 25, 1753, married, July 2, 1772, Silas Dunbar. 4. Eliz- abeth, June 22, 1755. 5. Susanna, April 24, 1757, married, 1780, Oliver Howard. 6. Mar- tha (Patty), March 23, 1759, married, April 9, 1798, Permeneus Packard. 7. Thomas, January 27, 1762, mentioned below. 8. Jo- siah, July I, 1766, married -- Phillips and removed to Vermont.
(VI) Thomas (2), son of Thomas (1) Reynolds, was born January 27, 1762, and in 1790 was living at Bridgewater, with a family of one male over sixteen, two under sixteen and one female. He married in 1785, Tabitha Thayer. He removed to Hadley, Massachu- setts, where some of his children were born. Among his children were: I. Thomas, born about 1790, mentioned below. 2. Son, born at Bridgewater. Born at Hadley: 3. Sophia, baptized May 22, 1803. 4. Edwin, baptized July 17, 1804. 5. Mary, baptized April I, 1810.
(VII) Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2) Reynolds, was born probably at Bridgewater about 1790. He was brought up by a family named Henderson, of Amherst, and at the age of twenty-one went to Hadley. He mar- ried (first) Martha Dickinson, daughter of John and Abigail ( Alexander ) Dickinson. He married (second) Polly Dickinson, a sister of his first wife. Children: Mary, Johanna, Ed- win, Thomas, mentioned below. Frederick, Charlotte, John D.
(VIII) Thomas (4), son of Thomas (3) Reynolds, was born in Hadley, March 7, 1820, died September 2, 1886. He received his edu- cation in the public schools of his native town and at Hopkins Academy. At the age of four- teen he laid the foundation of his large farm by taking some land to work on shares. He was a farmer all his life and raised large crops of tobacco and broom corn, and also ran a dairy. He was a prominent man in the town and served as assessor and as chairman of the board of selectmen. In politics he was a Whig and in religion a Congregationalist. He mar- ried, June 4, 1845, Sophia Smith Dickinson, daughter of Salmon Morton Dickinson, son of
Aaron and Eleanor ( Morton) Dickinson, grandson of Moses and Thankful (Smith) Dickinson, great-grandson of Nathaniel and Hannah (Smith ) Dickinson, great-great- grandson of Nehemiah and Mary (Cowles) Dickinson, and great-great-great-grandson of Nathaniel Dickinson. Children: I. Charles, born April 19, 1847. 2. Francis S., November 5, 1848, mentioned below. 3. Elizabeth M., October 8, 1850, died December 27, 1850. 4. William C., May 13, 1852, died July 6, 1878. 5. Ellen S., January 17, 1855, died September 12, 1873. 6. Mary L., January 27, 1857, died February 14, 1864. 7. Julia A., March 12, 1859, died August 21, 1869. 8. Jessie, Jan- uary 23, 1862, died July 29, 1909; married Henry R. Cook. 9. Edward, September 17, 1866, died same day.
(IX) Francis S., son of Thomas (4) Rey- nolds, was born in Hadley, November 5, 1848. He received his education in the public schools, Amherst Academy and Hopkins Academy. At the death of his father, he took charge of the farm and he has followed farming all his life. He has one of the largest and best equipped dairies in this section and has been very suc- cessful in this line of business. He has taken an active part in public affairs and assisted in every movement designed to promote public welfare. In politics he is a Republican. For fifteen years he was selectman of the town and he accomplished much in the way of improve- ments and efficient government. He was a prime mover in the construction of the town water works and influential in securing electric railways and improved steam railway service for the town. For many years he was super- intendent of streets and always an earnest ad- vocate of better roads. He was for two years a trustee of the Smith Charities and is at pres- ent a trustee of Hopkins Academy, of the Northampton Institution of Savings and of the Russell Church Society. He is a member of Hope Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. He is a Congregationalist in religion. He possess- es a large and wholesome influence among the farmers of this section of the state. His sound judgment, integrity and independence of char- acter have won for him the respect and confi- dence of the entire community. . He married, January 9, 1895, Mrs. Jennie E. Cook, born in Pittsfield, daughter of Seth W. and Diadamia (Curtis) Clark, granddaughter of Watson and Sabrina (Lyman) Clark, descendant of Ches- ter Clark and of Dr. John Curtis, of Dalton, one of the founders of the Hinsdale church.
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William Reynolds was a
REYNOLDS resident
of Providence, Rhode Island, as early as 1637, when he had a grant of land there, and the same year signed a compact of the town. In 1640 he was one of the signers for a form of government for the town. On January 27, 1645, he sold to Robert Williams all his houses and homeshare and three small pieces of mea- dow, and the same day sold to William Feld a share of six acres on Fox Hill. The next year he sold to Thomas Lawton his valley of eighty acres, and three acres of meadow. He had a son James, mentioned below.
(II) James, son of William Reynolds, re- sided in Kingston, Rhode Island, and died in 1700. On May 13, 1665, he and others peti- tioned for land in King's Province, and in 1671 he took the oath of allegiance. The same year he was constable. On May 2, 1677, he asked the assembly for assistance from the persecu- tions they suffered from the colony of Connec- ticut. He was among prisoners who were car- ried to Hartford, and on May 24, 1677, they received a letter of encouragement from the Rhode Island authorities. He was a petitioner again in 1679 with inhabitants of Narragansett on account of trouble about the government. On April 29, 1684, he and his wife deeded one hundred acres in East Greenwich to their son James. He often held office, and was overseer of the poor in 1687. grand juror, 1688; con- servator of the peace, 1690. He was a slave- holder and gave away his slaves before his death, as he did also several parcels of land. Children: I. John, born October 12, 1648, (lied 1675, killed by the Indians. 2. James, born October 28, 1650, married (first) Febru- ary 19, 1685, Mary Greene; (second ) Joanna 3. Joseph, born November 27, 1652, mentioned below. 4. Henry, born January I, 1656, died 1716; married, March 27, 1664, Sarah Greene. 5. Deborah, born 1658, mar- ried John Sweet. 6. Francis, born October 12, 1662, died 1722; married, October 17, 1668, Elizabeth Greene. 7. Mercy, born 1664, married, August 6, 1660, Thomas Nichols. 8. Robert, died 1715 ; married Deliverance Smith. 9. Benjamin.
(III) Joseph, son of James Reynolds, was born November 27, 1652, died in 1722. He re- sided in North Kingston, Rhode Island, where on July 29, 1679, he signed a petition to the King. On September 6, 1687, he was on the tax list. He owned land in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, which he had bought of his brother Henry, and which he deeded to his son
Benjamin. His will was proved in April, 1722. He married Susanna -, who married (sec- ond) November 7, 1723, Robert Spencer. Chil- dren: I. Joseph. 2. Benjamin. 3. George. 4. Samuel. 5. Elizabeth. 6. John, mentioned below. 7. Susanna. 8. Deborah. 9. Mary.
(IV) John, son of Joseph Reynolds, was born in North Kingston, Rhode Island, about 1695. He married Hannah - -. He had sons John, Benjamin, Joseph, Elisha and James and two or more daughters. The records of the birth of his children are partly worn away and illegible. Children born at North Kingston: I. Son, born August 23, 1722. 2. John, born 1723, mentioned below. 3. Son, born Octo- ber 9, 172 -. 4. Daughter, born November 14, 17 -. 5. Daughter, born March 11, 17 -. 6. Child, born - 5, 17 -. 7. Benjamin, born January 31, 1726. 8. Child, born October 5, 1729. A child, born February, 1731. 10. Child, born July 18, 1733. Among these children we know there were: Joseph, married Dorcas Tib- betts ; Elisha, married, February 18, 1758, Mary Dickinson ; James, married, May 4, 1767, Alverson.
(V) John (2), son of John (I) Reynolds, was born in North Kingston in 1723, died about 1775. A John Reynolds of Kings coun- ty was lieutenant in Major's regiment in 1775, but there were two others of the same name living in the vicinity. North Kingston had the town of Wickford set off from its territory. Children, born at North Kingston: I. Daugh- ter, born July II, 175 -. 2. Dorcas, born March 15, 176-, married, March 6, 1794, Browen Nichols. 3. Eldred, born April 2, 1765, men- tioned below. 4. Ruth, born July 23, 1766. 5. Sarah, born May 19, 1768.
(VI) Eldred, son of John (2) Reynolds, was born at North Kingston, now Wickford, Rhode Island, April 2, 1765. He married, April 26, 1792, Esther Corey, daughter of Sheffield Corey, of West Greenwich, Rhode Island (by Elder Nathan Hill). Child, Joseph Langford, mentioned below.
(VII) Joseph Langford, son of Eldred Reynolds, was born on the old Reynolds homestead in the village of Wickford, Rhode Island, December 31, 1796. He attended the public schools of his native town. In ISIt he left home and worked at farming at Ports- mouth, Rhode Island, but returned home the following year. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to learn the trade of machinist at Coventry, Rhode Island. He worked there three years, then at Bozrah, Connecticut, where he was engaged in making brass and-
1803
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irons. Afterwards he was employed by Eli Whitney. the famous inventor of the cotton gin, making muskets for the United States government at Whitneyville, Connecticut, for three years. He followed his trade for a time at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He em- barked in the manufacture of cotton goods in 1820 at Brimfield and the following year be- came general overseer of the Hampden Cot- ton Manufacturing Company at Monson, Mas- sachusetts, afterwards being appointed agent, a position he filled with credit and success for a period of twenty-five years. In 1850 the company as a mark of appreciation of the long and valuable service of Mr. Reynolds, presented to him a handsome, solid silver pitcher, bearing the inscription: "Presented to Joseph L. Reynolds, Esq. by the Hampden Mfg. Co. as a token of their sense of the skill, ability and integrity evinced by him in the management of their affairs for a quarter of a century. 1850." The Hampden Manu- facturing Company was finallly dissolved and Mr. Reynolds rebuilt the Rockland Mill, which he purchased June 5, 1869, and manufactured on his own account. He built four other mills afterward. In 1879 Mr. Reynolds retired from business at the advanced age of eighty- two years, and died at Monson, June 9, 1885. Mr. Reynolds attained a leading position in the ranks of the cotton manufacturers of the state and was held in the highest esteem by all classes of people. Of exemplary char- acter, strict integrity and attractive person- ality, he was popular in social life and called to many positions of trust and honor. In 1854 he was state senator and served on vari- ous important committees. In later years he was a Republican in politics. For many years he was a justice of the peace. He supported every movement for the welfare and improve- ment of his home town, and his family con- tributed several thousand dollars to the build- ing fund of Memorial Hall. He was the first master of Thomas Lodge of Free Masons of Monson, also first master of Day Spring Lodge, constituted in 1862 ; he has attained to the thirty-second degree. In religion he was Orthodox. He married, July 13, 1824, Sylvia Smith, daughter of William Smith, of Brim- field, Massachusetts. She died August 9, 1836, and he married (second) March 8, 1837, Oral Munn, daughter of Rice Munn, of Mon- son. Children of first wife: I. Eli Whitney, born March 29, 1825, mentioned below. 2. Joseph Langford Jr. 3. Sarah. 4. Abraham H. Children of second wife: 5. Rice Munn, born December 18, 1838, died April 3, 1897.
6. Theodore, born October 31, 1843, died March 29, 1898. 7. Child, died in infancy.
(VIII) Eli Whitney, son of Joseph Lang- ford Whitney, was born in Monson, Massa- chusetts, March 29, 1825, died January 9, 1909. He was educated in the public schools and Monson Academy of his native town. He became associated with his father in con- ducting his cotton mills. Afterwards he en- gaged in manufacturing on his own account, with mills at Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire. He possessed a rare intelligence and ability, and was successful in business. In politics he was Republican, and in religion a Congregationalist. He married, April 2, 1853, Sophronia Adelaide Scott, who died Sep- tember 16, 1863, daughter of James Scott, of Stoddard, New Hampshire. He married (second) Mrs. Mary Hixon, of Boston. Chil- dren of first wife: I. Joseph Everett, born February 23, 1854, mentioned below. 2. Whitney Smith, born September 11, 1856, died October 30, 1863.
(IX) Joseph Everett, son of Eli Whitney Reynolds, was born in Nashua, New Hamp- shire, February 23, 1854. He attended the public and high schools of Keene, New Hamp- shire, and the Bryant & Stratton Business College of Boston. When a young man he engaged in the manufacture of straw and straw hats, and for thirty years he was prom- inent among the manufacturers of straw in New England. He was interested in fac- tories at Holliston, Wrentham, Westborough, Massachusetts, and Stamford, Connecticut. He retired in August, 1900, and has. since re- sided in South Monson on the Reynolds home- stead in the handsome and spacious residence erected by his grandfather, Joseph Langford Reynolds, in 1845, and occupied after his death by his son, Theodore, who died March 29, 1898. Mr. Reynolds is a member of the Hockomocko Lodge, Odd Fellows, of West- borough, and of Siloam Lodge, Masons, of Westborough. In politics he is a Republican and in religion a Congregationalist. He is a di- rector in Monson National Bank. He married, July 24, 1875, Sarah Isadore Rixford, born February 1, 1848, daughter of George L. and Elizabeth S. Rixford, of Holliston, Massachu- setts. Children : 1. Ethel Scott, born Novem- ber 24, 1877, died March 16, 1905. 2. Vivian, born April 4, 1880, married, September 20, 1897, Edward W. Emery in San Francisco ; children: i. Thelma Elizabeth Emery, born November 21, 1898; ii. Esther Reynolds born September 5, 1900.
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