USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 107
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(II ) Abraham, son of John Allen, baptized at Marblehead, Massachusetts, December 15. 1689; married at Lynn, Massachusetts, Janu- ary 6, 1713. Ruth Bassett, born at Lynn, March 16, 1689-90, daughter of William Jr. and Sarah ( Hood) Bassett, of Lynn. At that time his vocation was given as a fisherman. He soon afterwards removed to Mendon, Massachusetts, where he passed the remainder of his life, his occupation there being given as that of a tanner. He was evidently a fol- lower of the Quaker faith as all his children were married by the ceremony of the Friends. Children, born at Mendon : I. Joseph, June 15, 1719; see forward. 2. Sarah, married, No- vember 22, 1738. William Graves, of Lynn, born December 8, 1716, at Lynn, son of Cris- pus and Rebecca (Alley) Graves. 3. Abi- gail, married, December 13, 1739, William Phillips, born at Lynn, January 14, 1715, son of Walter and Lydia ( Howland) Phillips of Lynn. She died at Lynn, March 5, 1793, and he died there February 2, 1808. 4. Ruth, born October 17, 1724, died at Lynn, April 11, 1811 : married, at Mendon, November 27, 1747, Ben- jamin Breed, of Lynn, born there July 4, 1715, died there June 7, 1798, son of Samuel and Anna ( Hood) Breed.
(III) Joseph, son of Abraham Allen, boris at Mendon, June 15, 1719, died there March 21, 1802; married Lydia, daughter of Moses Aldrich ( Mendon's celebrated Quaker preach- er ) and Hannah ( White) Aldrich. Lydia Aldrich was born at Mendon, October 28, 1721. and died there in September, 1805. Moses Aldrich was son of Jacob and Huldah (Thayer) Aldrich, and grandson of George Aldrich, one of the first settlers of Mendon. The following testimony concerning him is
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among the records of the Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends: "He was born in Men- don, 4mo. 1690; united himself with Friends about the twenty-first year of his age, and four or five years afterwards engaged in the services of the ministry, in which he was well approved. In 1722 he visited the Island of Barbadoes, laboring in the work of the min- istry. In 1730 he visited most of the colonies on this continent, going as far south as the Carolinas. In 1734 he again visited Barbadoes and in 1739 crossed the Atlantic and spent the most of two years in Great Britain and Ire- land in the service of truth. He is spoken of as a man of cheerful mind, pleasant in con- versation, of exemplary life, and endowed with a sound understanding. In his last sick- ness, noticing that his children were troubled at the apparent near approach of death, he said : 'Mourn not for me, but mourn for your- selves ; it is well with me and as well to depart now as to live longer.' He retained his senses to the last, and died the 9th of the 9th mo., 1761, in the seventy-first year of his age. He was buried in Friends Burying Ground at Mendon. The late Waitee Davenport was one of his granddaughters."
March 1, 1756, Moses Aldrich reported to a town meeting a list of Quakers in Mendon, of whom there were twenty-six in all. The first Friends' meeting house in Mendon was built in 1729, and the first in Blackstone (then Mendon) was built in 1812 and known as South Mendon meeting house. March 27, 1758, Moses Aldrich, Moses Farnum, Joseph Allen and Seth Aldrich attested as to certain members of the three military companies being Quakers and attending Quaker meetings to worship, Joseph Allen himself being a member of Captain Phineas Lovett's company. In 1763-64 Joseph Allen was a selectman of Men- don. Children of Joseph and Lydia (Ald- rich) Allen, all born at Mendon : I. Infant son, born and died September 30, 1743. 2. Han- nah, December 1, 1744, died December 10, 1744. 3. Moses, November 30, 1745. 4. Ezra, October 18, 1747. 5. Tamar, March 9, 1750, died December 9, 1788. 6. Abraham, September 6, 1752, died June 25, 1754. 7. Jo- seph, June 29, 1754. 8. Alvan, October 21, 1756. 9. Caleb, July 22, 1758, died August 23, 1785. 10. Daniel, October 20, 1760, died October 19, 1762. II. Lydia, March 4, 1763, died November 2, 1764. 12. Ahaz, July 23. 1765 ; see forward.
(IV) Ahaz, son of Joseph and Lydia (Ak- rich) Allen, born at Mendon, July 23, 1765,
died there (then Blackstone) October 4, 1848; married (first) intention promulgated at Men- don, January 9, 1786, Chloe French. She died at Mendon, January 23, 1802, and he married (second), intention promulgated July 6, 1802, Keziah (Cook) Thompson, born at Mendon, July 27, 1770, died there October 15, 1848, eleven days after the death of her husband. She was daughter of Noah and Keziah (Al- bee) Cook and widow of Micah Thompson. Noah Cook was a prominent citizen of Men- don, and was constable in 1756 and selectman in 1764. Ahaz Allen was one of Mendon's leading citizens and a man of considerable distinction, being honored almost continuously with public office, or chosen to serve on im- portant committees, for more than twenty-five years. In 1799 he was constable and col- lector ; in 1801-2-3-4 selectman ; 1805-13 town treasurer ; 1815-16-20-21, selectman; in 1807 was member of school committee, and from that time until 1826 was chosen at the town meetings to serve on the most important com- mittees of the town, such as for revising school and highway districts, dividing school money among the several school districts, abatement of taxes, to consider the suppression of in- temperance and immorality, laying out high- ways, purchasing a farm for support of the poor, and a number of others. Children, all born at Mendon: I. William F., February 2. 1789; married, December 23, 1809, Polly Bates. 2. Joseph, July 3, 1791 ; see forward. 3. Eunice G., May 9, 1794 ; married, November 21, 1827, Buffum Allen, and taught school with him at Lynn, Massachusetts, where they both died. Her remains were buried in the Friends' burying ground at East Blackstone. She was a most excellent grammarian. 4. Daughter, September, 1798, died next month. 5. Chloe, October II, 1801, died at Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts ; married Zebina E. Berry, of Worcester, Mass- achusetts. Children of Ahaz and Keziah: 6. Keziah, born March 10, 1803, died young. 7. Olive Wilcox, May 5, 1804; married March 15, 1822, Zimri Cook. 8. Daniel W., Febru- ary 27, 1806; married, April 23, 1830, Myra A. Barber. 9. Ahaz, July 13, 1811, died De- cember 3, 1881, unmarried.
(V) Joseplı (2), son of Ahaz and Chloe (French) Allen, born at Mendon, July 3, 1791, died at Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, Au- gust 20, 1877; married March 20, 1816, Ruth Alden Thayer, born October 19, 1794, a direct descendant from John and Priscilla Alden of the "Mayflower" passengers. He was a mer-
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chant and trader and for a while kept a store at Chestnut Hill, outside of Mendon. In poli- tics he was first a Whig and then a Republi- can. Children : 1. Edmund M., born Septem- ber 2, 1817. 2. Joseph Addison, April 15, 1825. 3. Charles Francis, September, 1826; see forward. 4. William F., June 6, 1831. 5. Sarah F., August 16, 1832.
(VI) Charles Francis, son of Joseph (2) and Ruth Alden (Thayer) Allen, born at Mendon, September, 1826, died at Worcester, Massachusetts, October 26, 1884. He mar- ried Olive Ely Dewey, who survives him. She was born July 4, 1822, at Westfield, Massa- chusetts, daughter of Sewall and Marcia (Ely) Dewey. Mr. Allen was a real estate dealer at Worcester, and a justice of the peace. In religion he was a Baptist and a member of the First Baptist Church, Worcester; in politics a Republican. He had no desire for public office and declined it. His wife was a de- scendant from Thomas Dewey, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1633, and her grandfather was Adjutant Russell Dewey, who was on the staff of General George Washington. Her lineage is as follows: (i) Thomas Dewey, Dor- chester, 1633; (ii) Cornet Thomas Dewey, baptized February 16, 1639-40; (iii) Captain Adijah Dewey, born March 5, 1665-6; (iv) Lieutenant Moses Dewey, January 6, 1714; (v) Adjutant Russell Dewey, August 7, 1755 ; (vi) Sewall Dewey, August 3, 1782; (vii) Olive Ely Dewey, July 4, 1822. Children : I. Frank Dewey, born at Worcester, August 15, 1850; see forward. 2. Charles Sewall, born at Worcester, March 26, 1853. 3. Ed- ward .E., born at Oxford, Massachusetts, April 12, 1856. 4. Charlotte Elizabeth. 5. Mary Ely.
(VII) Frank Dewey, son of Charles Fran- cis and Olive Ely (Dewey) Allen, born at Worcester, Massachusetts, August 16, 1850, (lied at Boston, January 23, 1910, very sud- denly ; married at Lynn, Massachusetts, Janu- ary 9, 1878, Lucy Rhodes, born at Lynn, Feb- ruary 18, 1844, died in 1889, daughter of Trevett Mansfield and Eliza (Munroe ) Rhodes of Lynn. They had no children. Mr. Allen was educated in the public schools of the City of Worcester, including the Classical High School, graduating in 1869. He entered Yale College that year, from which he was gradu- ated in 1873. He was a member of the "Scroll and Key," and pulled an oar in his class crew. After a year in the law office of Bacon, Hopkins & Bacon, at Worcester, he entered the Boston University Law School,
graduating in 1875 with the degree of LL. D. While studying law he tutored in Latin and Greek. After his course at the law school he entered the office of Hillard, Hyde & Dick- inson, Boston, and became managing clerk. He remained there until he was admitted to the Suffolk county bar, January 8, 1878, when he opened an office on his own account in Bos- ton, where he was located the remainder of his life. At the time of his death his suite of offices was in the Old South Building, on Washington street. Mr. Allen was one of the promi- nent men of Massachusetts, and enjoyed a national reputation. He was much in public life, was a Republican in politics, and highly honored in office. He was a member from Lynn of the Massachusetts house of rep- resentatives in 1881, serving on the commit- tee on judiciary, and acting as its clerk ; also on the committee on banks and banking, the congressional redistricting committee and the committee on the removal of Probate Judge Day, of Barnstable county. He served on the Republican state central committee, succeeding Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge from the Fifth Sen- atorial District, in 1884-85, and was on the executive committee of the same. He was a member of the governor's council in 1886-87- 88, elected from the Fifth Councillor District, serving one year with Governor George D. Robinson and two years with Governor Oliver Ames. In 1889 to 1893 he was United States district attorney for the district of Massachu- setts, under President Harrison. Mr. Allen was well known throughout the common- wealth as a leader in the Republican party, was an able and forceful speaker and made political speeches for the party in state and national campaigns, and was also frequently called upon to deliver Memorial Day ad- dresses. In the practice of his profession he was notably successful in important cases. He succeeded as counsel for the Lancaster Bank in recovering the sureties stolen from its vaults and he won distinction by his masterly prosecution in the Maverick Bank cases and by the shrewdness with which, as receiver, he closed up the affairs of the Central National Bank of Boston. He was complimented by Attorney General Miller, of the United States, for his faithfulness and ability. In 1884 Mr. Allen organized the Massachusetts Temper- ance Home for Inebriates, located at Lynn, and was its president for a number of years. He organized the Lynn Electric Lighting Com- pany, under the Thomson-Houston patents, procured its charter, and was one of its direct-
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ors. He also successfully negotiated the plan which brought the Thomson-Houston Com- pany's business to Lynn. One of Mr. Allen's carliest cases as United States district attorney was a perjury case in connection with the Johnson pension claim. General Benjamin F. Butler was counsel for the defendant, but Mr. Allen won his case after a long and bitter legal battle. The customs administration act, the alien contract labor law, the anti-trust statute and various new matters of congressional leg- islation received judicial interpretation during his official term in cases which he personally conducted. In 1902 Mr. Allen was appointed receiver of the Central National Bank, and with his knowledge of banking and banking laws he was able after a few years to close up the bank's affairs with remarkable success and with no loss to the depositors, for which he was greatly complimented on all sides. He was also receiver of the Alfred Mudge & Son Company, of Boston, which corporation be- came involved with the Central National Bank. Mr. Allen was clerk of the Washington Street Baptist Church, of Lynn, for a year but was obliged to resign from pressure of other duties. He was later a member of the First Baptist Church of Boston, and had a pew in the Old South Church. While at Yale College he was a member of the college societies each year. and in 1902 was chosen president of the Yale Alumni Association of Boston. In club life he was affiliated with the Oxford and Park Clubs, and the Republican Club of Lynn, the Twentieth Century Club, Bostonian Society. Boston Shakespeare Club, University Club, Art Club and City Club, of Boston, the Oakley Golf Club of Watertown, the Tedesco Country Club of Swampscott, and the Seapuit Golf Club at Osterville, Massachusetts. During his married life Mr. Allen and his wife resided in Lynn, but since his wife's death he has made his home with his mother and his sister, Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Allen; in the summer in the ocean district of Lynn, and a portion of the season at York Beach, Maine, and in the win- ter in Boston. His death came wholly without warning, he being found dead in his bed on Sunday morning, January 23, 1910, in his apartments at the Hotel Ericson, 373 Common- wealth avenue, Boston. The physicians sum- moned were of the opinion that death was caused by heart disease and that Mr. Allen died shortly after retiring on Saturday night. He had been in his usual good health and after partaking of dinner with his mother and sis- ter on Saturday evening he sat and chatted
and joked with them and made no mention of feeling ill. He excused himself after a time and went to the Art Club and spent the even- ing. He returned to his apartments shortly after II o'clock and retired. In the morning when his mother went to call him that he might accompany her to breakfast his death was discovered, and Mrs. Allen and her daugh- ter were overcome by the shock. Funeral services were held at the Old South Church, Boylston and Dartmouth streets, Boston, with private burial at Lynn, on Tuesday, January 25.
BARBER This name is to be found both in England and Scotland. The English spell it Barber, while the Scotch spelling is usually Barbour. Early immigrants of this name came to Massachu- setts, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Penn- sylvania. The Barbers of New England are descended from several immigrants, among whom were Thomas, who arrived at Dor- chester, Massachusetts, in 1635, and proceeded to Windsor, Connecticut; John, who arrived at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1637 ; George, who was in Dedham as early as 1643; Edward, who died there in 1644; and Robert, the New Hampshire settler, founder in America of the Barber family, whose history is now being reviewed.
(1) Robert Barber came from England (probably Yorkshire ) about 1690, and settled in Exeter, where he was granted fifty acres of land located in what is now Newfields. He was killed by the Indians while working in his field. The data at hand fails to give the maiden name of his wife, but mentions three sons, Robert, John and Daniel.
( II) Robert (2), son of Robert Barber, was born at Exeter, in 1699. He married Sarah Bean, born at Exeter, 1707, and they removed to Epping in 1735.
( 111) Lieutenant Daniel, son of Robert and Sarah ( Bean) Barber, was born in Exeter, April 25. 1733. He was reared in Epping, and in 1752 married Sarah Parsons, born at New- market, 1730. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter.
(IV) Daniel (2), son of Lieutenant Daniel (1) and Sarah ( Parsons) Barber, was born in Epping, April 19, 1753. He was a revolu- tionary soldier and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, July 28, 1777, he married Sarah Coffin, born in Epping, September 24, 1758. Of this union there were four sons and one daughter.
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(V) Daniel (3), son of Daniel (2) and Sarah (Coffin) Barber, was born in Epping, July 16, 1792. He was a prosperous farmer and a lifelong resident of Epping. On April 22, 1813, he married Hannah Holt Gilman, born January 28, 1793, and she bore him eight sons and three daughters.
(VI) James Pike, ninth child of Daniel (3) and Hannah Holt (Gilman) Barber, was born in Epping, June 14, 1831. His studies in the public schools were augmented by a year's course at an academy, and his training for the activities of life not only embraced the ac- quisition of a good knowledge of agriculture. but he also served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's and carriage-maker's trades. His active years have however been devoted chiefly to general farming in Epping. In early life he united with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was for many years an official, and he is still a member. Politically he acts with the Republican party, but has never aspired to public office. He married, July 4, 1854, Lu- cinda A. Jenness, born in West Epping, Au- gust 6, 1830, daughter of James K. and Sarah (French) Jenness. She died in Epping, January 15, 1864. Children: Eben Jenness, born January 21, 1856, died September 21 same year; Albert Gilman, see forward ; Arthur Jenness, the latter's twin brother, died June 18, 1880; Florence J., born March 20, 1863. died June 15, 1864.
(VII) Albert Gilman, second son and child of James P. and Lucinda A. (Jenness) Bar- ber, was born in Epping, July 18, 1857. His early studies were pursued in the Epping pub- lic schools, and he concluded his education at the age of sixteen years with a two year's course at Athol ( Massachusetts) high school. For the ensuing six years he assisted in carry- ing on the homestead farm during the summer season. being employed winters at the lumber camps in the woods, and was subsequently for two years engaged in farming on his own ac- count at Epping. He next worked at car- riage making for a time in Amesbury, Massa- chusetts, and later was employed in a shoe fac- tory at Epping. In 1884 he began to learn the optical business, which he found upon fur- ther acquaintance to be his proper sphere of action, and he has ever since followed it with success. As an optician he first located in Waltham, Massachusetts, whence he removed to Lawrence, having an office in the Bay State Bank Building, that city, and in 1888 he es- tablished himself in business in Boston. In the following year ( 1889) he organized the
manufacturing and wholesale optical concern known as the Globe Optical Company, of which he is president and treasurer, and he has from the commencement of its career di- rected its affairs in a most able and progres- sive manner. This concern, which is consid- ered the largest wholesale optical house in the East, employs nearly one hundred and fifty people, is transacting a business amounting to over half a million dollars annually, and its trade is constantly increasing. In addition to the Globe Company, Mr. Barber is a director in several other optical companies, and is sim- ilarly connected with other business corpora- tions. In politics he is a Republican, but takes no active part in public affairs beyond the ex- ercise of his elective privileges. When twenty years old he became a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, and has ever since been actively identified with that denomination. He was formerly superintendent of the Sunday school connected with the Bromfield Street Church, Boston, officiating in the same ca- pacity at the Methodist Church, Newton. where he now resides, and at present is a trus- tee of that church and treasurer of its benevo- lences. He was made a Mason in Sullivan Lodge, Epping, in 1880, advanced to Newton Royal Arch Chapter, to Gethsemane Com- mandery, Knights Templars, of Newton, and is a member of the Boston Chamber of Com- merce, Boston City and Economic clubs, all of Boston ; the Methodist Social Union, the New- ton Young Men's Christian Association, and other organizations. He married at Law- rence, Massachusetts, Annie Estelle Skerrye, born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, February 8. 1861, daughter of an edge-tool manufacturer of that place. Her father having died when she was very young, she was brought to Bos- ton, where she attended the public schools, and her education was completed at the New Hampshire Conference Seminary in Tilton, New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. Barber have two sons, both of whom are engaged with him in the Globe Optical Company: Frederick, Arthur, born at Epping, New Hampshire, De- cember 1, 1880, and Raymond Jenness, born in the same place, August 12, 1884.
The surname Bennett is an BENNETT abbreviation of the English form of the word Benedictus, meaning "blessed" and is the name of many emigrants from England to the American colonies. During the revolution the Ben- netts, with various spellings of the name.
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were numerous, and the revolutionary rolls of Massachusetts show one hundred and twenty Bennets, ninety Bennetts, thirty Bennits, and nineteen Bennitts, who were . in service. Four distinct lines of the family are traced from Essex county, Massachusetts.
(I) John Bennett was born in England in 1632. There is a tradition that he ran away with a Scotch peasant's daughter and that he was the son of a nobleman. Evidence of the latter fact is afforded by his court dress, said to be in the possession of a descendant. He was in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1659, and was drowned in 1674. He was a weaver. His widow, Mary, married Richard Meade, 1678. Children: I. John, born about 1659. 2. Josias, died in infancy, September 12, 1663. 3. Josias, born April 23, 1664. 4. James, men- tioned below.
(II) James, son of John Bennett, was born in Charlestown, May 31, 1666. He settled in Roxbury, where the Bennett family were prin- cipally located. He married, February I, 1680-81, Elizabeth Tarbell (Tarbole), born 1656, died July 25, 1684. Children, born in Roxbury : I. James, December II, 1681, men- tioned below. 2. Josias, May 6, 1684.
(III) James (2), son of James (I) Ben- nett, was born December 11, 1681, in Roxbury. He married, March 23, 1703, at Reading, Massachusetts. The name of his wife is un- known. Child: I. James, mentioned below.
(IV) James (3), son of James (2) Ben- nett, was born about 1704, in Groton. He married Elizabeth ( Betsy) Dodge. Children : I. Sarah, born 1745. 2. Thomas, about 1750. 3. Stephen, about 1753. 4. William, 1754, mentioned below. 5. James, served in revolu- tion. 6. Elizabeth, born 1761. 7. Joseph. 8. Jonathan.
(V) William, son of James (3) Bennett, was born in 1754. He appears to have set- tled in Exeter, New Hampshire, for a time and then in Sandwich in that state. In 1776 he signed a petition to the general court to regu- late prices. In 1783 he was one of the Exe- ter men settled at Sandwich and one of the proprietors. He opposed the proposition to make free of taxation Phillips Exeter Acad- emy. In 1790 he was living at Sandwich, New Hampshire, and had two sons under six- teen and three females in his family. Joseph, his brother, was the only other of the name in the town, head of a family, in 1790. He had two sons under sixteen and one female in his family. In 1794 William Bennett was in Bridgton, Maine, and had two males and
one female in his family. He married Lois Flint. He had a son William, mentioned below.
(VI) William (2), son of William (I) Bennett, was born at Bridgton, Maine, about 1800. He married Charlotte Bennett, daugh- ter of Joseph and Mehitable (Moulton) Ben- nett. He had a son Joseph, mentioned below. Joseph Moulton settled in Freedom, New Hampshire, a town adjacent to Sandwich and near the Maine line.
(VII) Joseph, son of William (2) Ben- nett was born in Bridgton, Maine, May 26, 1810. He received his early education at the public schools and having fitted for college at Bridgton Academy and the Boston Latin School entered Bowdoin College in 1860. He left college in his junior year, but subsequently received his degree out of course. In 1863 he came to Boston and studied law in the office of Asa Cottrell and was admitted to the Suf- folk bar. March 6. 1866. He immediately afterward began the practice of his profession in Boston and was for several years associated with Mr. Cottrell in the practice of law. In 1868 he was admitted to practice in the cir- cuit court of the United States and in 1881 to practice in the supreme court of the United States. He made his home in the town of Brighton, then in Middlesex county, now a part of the city of Boston, and in 1870 was appointed trial justice. When Brighton was annexed to Boston he was made special jus- tice of the municipal court for the Brighton district in 1873. In 1879 he was elected a representative to the general court from ward twenty-five and resigned his office as justice. While a member of the house he served on the committee on constitutional amendments and drafted and introduced the bill since known as the bill to prevent the double taxation of mort- gaged property. Notwithstanding the strong opposition that the bill encountered from as- sessors and others throughout the state he succeeded in securing its passage in the house, though it met defeat in the senate. In 1881- 82 he was a member of the state senate and as chairman of the committee on taxation re- ported the same bill, which largely through his efforts and advocacy was finally passed. While in the senate he was also chairman of the committee on election laws, chairman of the committee on redistricting the Common- wealth into congressional districts and mem- ber of the judiciary committee. In 1891 he was again a state senator and served as chair- man of the committee on railroads, chairman
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