Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 91

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 91

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(VI) Samuel, son of Thomas Shaw, was born at Middleborough, and died in 1866. He attended the district school, and helped carry on the farm, his mother being a widow with Small children. At the age of twenty he mar- ried and settled on a farm, where he remained all his life. He was .Orthodox Congregational in religion, and a Whig in politics. He mar- ried, at Middleborough, in 1791, Lydia Cobb, born 1766, died 1870, daughter of Ebenezer and Lydia (Churchill) Cobb. Children : 1.

Thomas. 2. Samuel, mentioned below. 3. Eben, married Relief Shaw. 4. Elisha, born September 16, 1817, died September 5, 1881 ; married ( first) Emily Hildreth; (second) Martha Lincoln; (third) Mercy Marie Lin- coln. 5. Melinda, married Jonathan Pratt. 6. Persis. 7. Anna. 8. Christina. 9. Mary. 10. Hannah.

(VII) Captain Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1) Shaw, was born in Middleborough, about 1795, and settled in the neighboring town of

Carver. He was a farmer and also a shingle cutter. He served in the war of 1812. He died in Carver. He married and had children : I. Samuel, died at Wareham, Massachusetts. 2. Daniel, a farmer at Carver. 3. John, a farmer. 4. Lyman. 5. Abigail, married Thomas Bent. 6. Welcome, born 1829, men- tioned below.

(VIII) Welcome, son of Captain Samuel (2) Shaw, was born in Carver, Massachusetts, 1829, died at South Carver, 1890. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and followed farming most of his ac- tive life. He was engaged in mercantile busi- ness for a time. In addition to his farm he carried on lumbering for many years, and af- ter cutting the timber he cleared the land and increased his acreage of tillage. He was a Baptist in religion, and a Republican in poli- tics. He married Betsey Ward, born at Car- ver, died there in 1900, daughter of Colonel Benjamin Ward. Children, born at Carver : 1. Elnathan, died in infancy. 2. Child, died in infancy. 3. Child, died in infancy. 4. Benjamin Ward, mentioned below.

(IX) Benjamin Ward, son of Welcome Shaw, was born at Carver, September 28, 1856. He was educated there in the public schools. He was apprenticed to learn the trade of iron molder, and worked four years in the foundry. He followed his trade for three years after- ward as a journeyman in the foundry of the Ellis Foundry Company, and then became a shipping clerk for the Parlor Grate Company, and had charge of that department one year. He then embarked in business for him- self, buying a small express business. After a few years he sold out, and soon afterward bought a trucking and furniture moving busi- ness in Jamaica Plain, where he continued in business with much success for a period of nineteen years. He sold his business in Sep- tember, 1906, and removed to his present home on a farm at 973 Front street, Southi Weymouth. He bought this place in 1898, and has brought it to a high state of cultivation, and built a new barn besides making various improvements in the other buildings and equip- ment. He is a member of the Driving Club of Weymouth, and well known and highly re- spected by his townsmen. In religion he is a Congregationalist, and in politics a Republi- can. He married, November 14, 1883, Han- nah Bartlett Griffith, born November 14, 1855, at Carver, daughter of David Thomas Bart- lett (see Griffithi). They have no children.

B. W. Shaw

This. B. Griffith

MASSACHUSETTS.

1847

The Griffith family is of

GRIFFITH Welsh origin, and claims descent from Llewellyn, last of the Welsh Kings, who was beheaded by the English in 1282, son of Griffith, also king of Wales. No less than thirty branches of this ancient family, according to Burke, bear coats-of-arms. The arms of the royal family were: Gules three passant in pale argent armes gules. Several Griffiths came early to Maryland and Virginia and founded families of importance and distinction.

Joshua Griffith, first in New England, came with Henry Collins, in the ship "Abigail," from the parish of Stepney, London, England. Nothing further is known of him, but the name Joshua is preserved in the family of this sketch. Stephen Griffith settled at Har- wich, Massachusetts, before 1699. He mar- ried, April 6, 1699, Rebecca Ryder, of Yar- mouth, Massachusetts. Children, born at Harwich : I. Joseph, March 15, 1699-1700. 2. Stephen, March 15, 1701-02 ; lived at Bres- ter. 3. Rebecca, June 18, 1703 ; married, July 29, 1725, Gershom Phinney. 4. Lazarus, June 7, 1708; married Lydia Doane. 5. Barn- abas, November 21, 1710. 6. Thankful, April 3, 1714. 9. Abraham, July 31, 1716. (I) Samuel, brother or son of Stephen Griffith, was born about 1700. He settled at Rochester, Massachusetts. Children, born at Rochester: I. John, February II, 1723. 2. Daniel, July 8, 1726. 3. Samuel, July 22, 1730. 4. Ephraim, July 25, 1733; mentioned below. 5. Joshua, August 15, 1735. 6. Wil- liam, August 2, 1737. 7. Eleanor, Novem- ber 1, 1739. 8. Mary, June 21, 1741. 9. Thankful, September 16, 1743. 10. Desire, 1745.

(II) Ephraim, son of Samuel Griffith, was born in Rochester July 25, 1733, died De- cember, 1823; married - Children, born at Rochester : I. John. 2. Ellis. 3. Abigail. 4. Lot. 5. Ephraim. 6. Lydia. 7. Obed, mentioned below. 8. Alden (judging from this name it is likely that the mother was a de- scendant of John Alden, of the "Mayflower.")

(III) Obed, son of Ephraim Griffith, was born in Rochester, about 1760-70. He mar- ried Rebecca Maxon, and was a farmer. Chil- dren, born at Carver or Middleborough : 1. Ellis, mentioned below. 2. Sylvanus. 3. Obed. 4. Wilson. 5. Stillman. 6. Lucena. 7. John W., 8. Albert.

(IV) Ellis, son of Obed Griffith, was born in Middleborough about 1800, and died at Avon, May 8, 1885. He was an iron moulder

by trade, and operated a blast furnace. He lived at Carver for many years. In religion he was a Universalist, and attended the Union church, in which services of various denomina- tions were held. In politics he was a Republi- can. He married Lucy M., daughter of John Bent, granddaughter of Bartlett Murdock. Her father was one of the oldest manufac- turers of the town of Carver, commencing business about 1792, at what was known as Benson's Forge, making wrought iron bars, drawing them out with a hammer, in 1798-09 he went to Pope's Point and ran a blast fur- nace until about 1817, when he sold out, and in company with Timothy Slavery bought the Federal Furnace, and had charge of those works until about 1830, making hollow-ware, such as pots, kettles etc. Children; born at Middleborough : I. Thomas Bartlett, May 17, 1823; mentioned below. 2. Charles W., died December 31, 1893, at sixty-nine years. 3. Ann Maria Bent, married Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff. 4. Lucius E., soldier in the Civil war; died November 6, 1862, in his twenty- seventh year, while a prisoner at Belle Isle.

(V) Major Thomas Bartlett Griffith, son of Ellis Griffith, was born in Middleborough, May 17, 1823, and died in Roxbury February 18, 1897. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and assisted his father on the farm up to the age of seventeen, when he went on a whaling and merchant voyage to South America. On his return he was em- ployed as a clerk in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1842- 3, and then returned to Massachusetts. His health not being of the best, he embarked on another whaling voyage from Wareham, in the bark Montezuma, for the Indian ocean, cruising most of the time along the eastern coast of Africa, calling at the different vil- lages along the coast, which were mostly in- habited by Arabs and Hottentots. During this voyage he visited the Isle of St. Helena, and saw the tomb of Napoleon, and also assisted at the burial of Mrs. Judson, one of the India missionaries. Returning home, he was clerk for a short time in New York City, and then returned to Carver, and entered the employ of Benjamin Ellis & Company as Clerk, where he remained eight years. In 1853, in company with George W. Bent, under the firm name of Bent, Griffith & Company, he engaged in the manufacture of parlor grates, continuing until 1868, when Bent retired and the firm became Murdock & Company. This partnership was terminated in 1875 by Mr. Murdock's death, and a stock company was formed, with Major

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MASSACHUSETTS.

Griffith as president and Samuel Shaw treas- urer. Major Griffith gave his personal super- vision to the manufacturing department, get- ting up the patterns, furnishing designs and supervising construction. Changes were fre- quent and radical in the style of goods, which embraced everything in the line of iron goods for the furnishing of dwelling houses, hotels, stores, etc. He gave much of his time in set- ting grates and fireplaces where the best re- sults were desired in the way of heat and draught. When France, England and Ger- many began putting on the market brass goods to take the place of iron, Major Griffith was one of the first in the United States to give at- tention to that branch of manufacturing. In 1877, before much progress had been made in the matter, he went to Europe and gained such information as would assist him in the work. The knowledge he had gained was ap- plied, and his establishment took a high rank among the progressive manufacturers in this country. The salesroom was in Boston, and the aim of the firm has always been to put out only first class goods of superior design and workmanship. The firm of Bent, Griffith & Company was situated first at II Marshall street, Boston, later at 21 Washington, and at 2 and 18 Beacon street, and 156 Boylston street. Later, as the Murdock Parlor Grate Company, they did an extensive business in and around Boston in tiles and mosaic work, and many of the historical tablets in the city are of their construction.

In 1852 Major Griffith headed an enlistment roll for a military company which was char- tered as Company K, Third Regiment Massa- chusetts Volunteers. In 1861 he was still a militiaman, and started to Fortress Monroc, but was ordered back as a recruiting officer to fill the Third Regiment. In 1862 he was mustered into his regiment as captain of Com- pany F. (nine months' volunteers ). He served in North Carolina, stationed most of the time in Newberne, and was in the battles of Kinston, Whitehall, Goldsborough, and Blount Creek. In 1863 the regiment was mus- tered out, and Major Griffith returned to Car- ver. In 1868 he was commissioned captain of what was then the Eighty-sixth unattached company, and in the fall of that year it was placed in the Third Regiment. In 1870 he was elected major of the regiment, holding this position until 1875, when he resigned. In politics Major Griffith was independent, and his first vote was for General Taylor for pres- ident. He then voted for Bell and Everett.

but remained loyal to the government at the time of the rebellion, and after that time voted mostly with the Republican party. He served as selectman and assessor in the town of Carver, also postmaster many years, was a member of the state legislature in 1870, and held various minor positions. He was a mem- ber of the Republican town committee of Wareham; treasurer of the Onset Associa- tion ; trustee of the Wareham Savings Bank, and a heavy owner in shipping, especially in the Boston Fruit Company's steamship line, engaged in the banana trade in Jamaica. He owned large amounts of real estate in Middle- borough, Onset and Carver, and was largely interested in Oregon mines and lands, and in other business enterprises. He was one of the organizers, and for a number of years was president of the Onset Bay Street Railway Co. He was a member of Gen. E. W. Pierce Post No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic, and Camp Major T. B. Griffith, Sons of Veterans. of Middleborough, was honored with his name in recognition of his services in behalf of his country. In religion he was a Spiritualist, and his attitude in this respect as well as his personality is well described in his obituary in the Warcham Times, a part of which is as fol- lows :

"Liberality in thought was the keynote to the life and the existence of this remark- able man, to whom belongs more than any one the measure due for maintaining in his old age, the liberal movement in ideas and attend- ant material development at Onset Bay, which has latterly made the Summer School of Phil- osophy set up there, famous from America to farthest India. The eagerness with which he accepted and aided the new dispensation at Onset the past two years, that aims to attain the highest in progressive thought and science, attests to this. Major Griffith was the enemy of what is sometimes termed the old-fash- ioned hellfire and brimstone orthodoxy. It stifled him and he hated it. He was a good hater. His keen pricks into that phase of it which appealed to his insight as hypocrisy, were pungent, and counted against its continu- ance in his presence most tellingly. The hum- bly pious man who asked for aid on account of his piety got a strong recommendation us- ually to depend more upon himself and less upon his faith, though rarely was the suppli- cant sent away empty handed if his cause ap- peared at all just. This antagonism to shams made him a marked man. Accused of antag- onisin and a spirit which he did not feel

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against the truth that is inherent to the church, he would scathingly denounce what he considered a totally false position. Major Griffith's religion was very real to him. His advanced position and eagerness to compre- hend the new thought in modern philosophy and scientific research, served to make him a most interesting conversationalist to those who could appreciate his power and the nat- ural bent of his nature. His love for and care of the welfare of Onset Bay was the bright light that illuminated his declining years. He made the common enemies to the camp ground, who would have perverted its propa- ganda to sectarian lines and its platform to narrow, unliberal position, his personal foe. And then he fought. Almost always he won. When he did fail, subsequent events proved it to be a greater public misfortune than per- sonal loss to him."

Major Griffith founded the Mediums' Home at Onset. At his funeral a military escort composed of picked men from Gen. E. W. Pierce Post 8, G. A. R., and Major Thomas B. Griffith Camp, Sons of Veterans, of Mid- dleborough, accompanied the remains to the cemetery at South Carver, where the last rites were performed. Major Griffith married, De- cember 22, 1852, Hannah Maria Dunham, born December 15. 1827, at Carver, daughter of Isaac L. and Hannah P. ( Cobb) Dunham. She is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Benja- min W. Shaw, at South Weymouth. Chil- dren : I. Henry, died aged six months. 2. Hannah Bartlett, born November 14, 1855: married Benjamin W. Shaw ( see Shaw fam- ily). 3. Thomas Bartlett, died aged nine years.

This surname was originally ATWOOD spelled Att Wode and was un- doubtedly given in the first in- stance to one or more families who resided in or near a forest. The coat-of-arms of no less than sixteen Atwood families are recorded in the Herald's College in England. The various Atwood families in America are not the posterity of one immigrant, but trace their lineage to several early English colonists. It is quite probable, however, that they are for the most part descended from the Attwoods of Sanderstead in Surrey, where according to a burial record in the parish church, they were living as early as the year 1520. The immigrants of this name were: John, who came previous to 1635; James, freeman in 1639; Herman, prior to 1643; John, arrived

at Plymouth in 1643; Stephen, who settled in Eastern Massachusetts; Dr. Thomas, (sometimes called Captain), was of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1664, and settled in Wethers- field three years later; and Joseph Woode (Atwood), ancestor of the Taunton Atwoods, a record of whom follows.

(I) Joseph Woode (Atwood), who was of Taunton before 1679, married, January I, 1679, Hester Walker, born in 1650, died April 8, 1696, daughter of James and Elizabeth ( Phillips ) Walker, of Taunton. James was a son of "Widow" Walker, of Rehoboth, Mas- sachusetts, and both were natives of England. For his second wife Joseph Atwood married Abigail Paul, October 18, 1697. His children were: I. Joseph, born August 4, 1681, died September 26, 1724; married Mary Reed. 2. John, February 28, 1683, died in 1764. 3. Ephraim. 4. Joanna, who was of his second union.

(II) Ephraim, son of Joseph and Hester (Walker) Atwood, was born in Taunton about the year 1689, died August 14, 1776. He re- sided in Dighton, Massachusetts, and repre- sented that town in the general court in 1718. He married, August 17, 1724, Ruth Richmond, born March 7, 1705-06, died November 16, 1776. Children, all born in Dighton, were: I. Sylvester, September 4, 1725, married Dor- othy Walker. 2. Ruth, May 4, 1727, married Samuel Shaw. 3. Ephraim. 4. A son who died in infancy. Ruth Richmond was a daugh- ter of Colonel Sylvester and Elizabeth (Rog- ers ) Richmond, granddaughter of Edward and great-granddaughter of John Richmond. who arrived from Wiltshire, England, about 1635, and was one of the purchasers of Taunton in 1637. Colonel Sylvester Richmond, who was born at Little Compton, Rhode Island, in 1672, was married in 1683 to Elizabeth Rogers, born in 1672, died October 23. 1724, daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Pabodie) Rogers, of Bar- rington, granddaughter of John Rogers, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and great-grand- daughter of Thomas Rogers, who came in the "Mayflower" in 1620. Elizabeth Pabodie, born in 1647, was a second child of William and Elizabeth (Alden) Pabodie, early settlers in Little Compton. Elizabeth Alden, born in Duxbury, in 1625, died in Little Compton, May 31, 1717, was the third child of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, both of whom were "Mayflower" pilgrims.

(III) Ephraim (2), son of Ephraim (1) and Ruth (Richmond) Atwood, was born in Dighton, June 16, 1737. In 1763 he married

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MASSACHUSETTS.

Abigail Burns (bans published August 9 of that year). They resided in Dighton.

(IV) Ephraim (3), son of Ephraim (2) and Abigail (Burns) Atwood, was born in Dighton about the year 1773. In his youth he became a ship carpenter's apprentice, serving seven years in that capacity and attaining pro- ficiency in his calling, which he followed in his native town. After his marriage he resided at the Hathaway homestead, and thenceforward devoted a portion of his time to agriculture. He was widely known and highly respected for his upright character and unwavering devotion to his religious duties, was deeply attached to his home and family. He married Anne Hath- away ; children : Stephen, married Lydia Tew and had Lydia Ann, who married William Presby. 2. Ephraim. The mother died in Au- gust, 1805, aged twenty-nine years, and the bereaved husband never recovered from the shock of her untimely death. He finally suc- cumbed to a severe attack of heart disease. Anne Hathaway was born in Taunton, Decem- ber 30, 1775, daughter of Stephen and Hope- still (Pierce) Hathaway. Her grandfather was Nicholas Hathaway, of Taunton. Stephen Hathaway, who was born in Taunton in 1746, was a well-known house carpenter of that lo- cality in his day and represented Taunton in the general court in 1801. His death occur- red April 19, 1819. He married Hopestill Pierce, born July 8, 1746, died January 10, 1841, aged ninety-four years and six months, was a daughter of Ebenezer Pierce, grand- daughter of Isaac and a descendant of Abra- ham Pierce, who was the first of that name in the Plymouth colony, where he settled in 1623.

(V) Ephraim (4), youngest child of Eph- raim (3) and Anne ( Hathaway) Atwood, was born in Dighton, Massachusetts, August 14, 1805, died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 14, 1885. He attended the district school near the homestead of his father, and also the Taunton Academy at Taunton, until he had attained young manhood, and this training he supplemented by close and quick observation and a wide range of reading throughout his life. When he was about twenty years of age he became clerk in the general store of Thom- as Daggett at Assonet, Massachusetts, remain- ing in this employ three years. He then formed a partnership with David Barrows, under the first name of Atwood & Barrows, conduct- ing a general store in Assonet, were success- ful, and Mr. Atwood purchased the interest of Mr. Barrows and continued the business alone for a number of years. From 1850 until

1862, through the influence of Richard A. Andros, the head of the United States cus- toms at Boston, Mr. Atwood held various po- sitions in the financial department, remaining there about twenty-three years in a confi- dential capacity. His business at Assonet

meanwhile was under the management of Ben- jamin Briggs, and he later sold the store. At the termination of his services in the custom house Mt. Atwood entered into the insurance business, being connected with the Mutual Life Insurance Company as expert account- ant in their Tremont street office, Boston, for twenty years, and upon the removal of the company's business to Portland, Maine, in 1881, he resigned his position and retired from active business life. He at first resided at the corner of Fourth and Thorndike streets, East Cambridge, then purchased his homestead at No. 25 Clinton street, Cambridge, where he died. During his earlier years he was also in- terested for a time in a thread manufactur- ing concern in Assonet. He was a man of fine executive ability, a deep thinker and possessed of sound judgment. Dignified in his manner and bearing, of quick wit and having a fund of dry jokes, of a sunny disposition and kind heart, he possessed a host of friends. He was devoted to his family and in the home circle found his deepest enjoyment. Mr. Atwood had decided opinions on the temperance question, and gave his political support to the Demo- cratic party ; he filled various town offices in Assonet, among them being that of justice of the peace. While living in Assonet he was a member of the Christian Church, and in Cambridge joined the Prospect Street Congre- gational Church. Ephraim Atwood married (first) at Assonet, Angannette Gifford, born June 8, 1816, died in Cambridge, October 21, 1868, daughter of Nathaniel and Delia (Tis- dale) Briggs, the former a ship owner who was lost at sea in 1830. Children: I. Charles Henry, born July 18, 1834, married, May 5, 1861, Sarah Ellen, born July 10, 1837, daugh- ter of Jeremiah and Susan Gilman (Sheriff) Sawyer, and has: Howard Julian, born Au- gust 22, died September 26, 1866. 2. Annie De- lia, February 13, 1836. 3. Benjamin Franklin, October 22, 1838, died at Cambridge, August 6, 1892, married (first) Eliza A. Sherman, who died March 28, 1868; children : i. Adele ; ii. John; iii. Laura, born April 15, 1867, mar- ried (first) September 15, 1890, William Noyes and has : Sherman Fletcher, born Au- gust 9, 1891, married (second) December 14, 1905, James Parker Black, and has: James

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Parker Jr., and William Sherman, born August 12, 1907. Benjamin Franklin Atwood married (second) April 14, 1869, Orpha Fletcher, and had: iv. Anganette, born April 5, 1875. 4. Josephine Maria, died at the age of twenty- four years, at Cambridge. Ephraim Atwood married (second) Rebecca Durphee.

(For preceding generations see William Hayward I). (II) Samuel Hayward, son HAYWARD of Jonathan Hayward, was born at Braintree, Massa- chusetts, April 11, 1682, died there in 1745. He settled in Braintree where he followed farm- ing. He married Mary Paine, daughter of Moses Paine, of Braintree. Children, born at Braintree: 1. Samuel, 1709. 2. John, Decem- ber 19, 1713, mentioned below. 3. Abraham. 4. Caleb, April 6, 1717. 5. Mary, April 25, 1719.

( IV) Captain John, son of Samuel Hay- ward, was born at Braintree, December 19, 1713, died there September 14, 1773. His gravestone is still standing at Braintree and the inscription reads :

"Stop here, my friend, and cast an eye, As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you must be Prepare for death and follow me."

He was prominent in military affairs. He married, in 1738, Silence White, daughter of Thomas and Mary White. Children, born at Braintree : 1. John, April 3, 1739, killed by the Indians on the St. Lawrence river during the French and Indian war in 1759. 2. David Person, August II, 1741, died 1813. 3. Mar- gery, June 25, 1743. 4. Susanna, January 6, 1744-45, married, in 1774, Rev. Oakes Shaw, of Barnstable, their son, Judge Lemuel Shaw, was the distinguished chief justice of Massa- chusetts supreme court. 5. Ebenezer, Febru- ary 28, 1747. 6. Lemuel, March II, 1749. 7. Caleb, 1750, died in infancy. 8. Caleb, Feb- ruary, 1752, mentioned below. 9. Thomas, May 21, 1754, died young. 10. Elizabeth, Feb- ruary 16, 1756, died February 8, 1775.

(V) Caleb, son of Captain John Hayward, was born in Braintree, February, 1752, died there in 1800. He was a soldier in the revolu- tion in Captain Moses French's company, Col- onel Joseph Palmer's regiment, in 1776, and in the same company under Colonel Jonathan Bass later in 1776, at Hough's Neck and Nan- tasket. He lived at Braintree. He married there, in 1793, Deborah White. She married (second) Deacon John White, of Concord,

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume III, Part 91

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