Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 23

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 23

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).

she, Nova Scotia ; (second) Jerusha D., daughter of Thomas Shepherd, of East Hampton. She married (second) John Burg- hardt, of Great Barrington, and died there in 1822. Children of first wife: I. Stephen, born April 4, 1777. 2. Russell, December 12, 1779. 3. Statira, November 19, 1780. 4. Gardiner, March 1, 1783, mentioned below. 5. Silas, June 12, 1785. 6. Palmer, August 18, 1787. By second wife: 8. John Mason, Feb- ruary 22, 1793. 9. Sylvester, December 30,

I794. 10. Jerusha Amelia (twin), February 8, 1797. II. Jonah Alden (twin), February 8, 1797. 12. Hannah, April 9, 1799.

(VI) Gardiner, son of Jonah Hulbert, was born probably in Nova Scotia, March 1, 1783. He probably came to Connecticut when his father returned, but returned to Nova Scotia and lived there. He married Harriet Irish. Children: Charles, William, John, George, mentioned below, Edward, Joseph, Harriet, Margaret, Mary.

(VII) George, son of Gardiner Hulbert, was born in Antigonishe, Nova Scotia, July II, 1825. When he was about eighteen years of age he went to Boston, Massachusetts, and was employed by Hugh Currier, an upholster- er in Cornhill, with whom he learned the trade. Later he worked in the carpet house of Park- er, Fowle & Sons, Washington street, Bos-

ton. When the firm was changed to Torrey, Bright & Capen, Mr. Hulbert remained with them. He was a member of Amicable Lodge, Free Masons, of Cambridge. He died Decem- ber 14, 1902. He married, July 24, 1854, Maria Louisa, daughter of Samuel A. and Louisa (Dow) Ketchum. Her father was son of John Ketchum, and was born in St. John, New Brunswick, July 4, 1797, died April 6, 1873; was a stair builder, came to Boston when a young man and engaged in carpenter- ing and building; married, November 29, 1827, Louisa Dow, of Atkinson, New Hamp- shire, born August 18, 1798, died July 24, 1865, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Jones) Dow; children: i. Child, born Sep- tember 14, 1828, died young ; ii. Maria Louisa, born August 20, 1829, mentioned above; iii. George Frederick, October 23, 1831, died Sep- tember 21, 1832; iv. George Frederick, July 19, 1834, died November 12, 1880; married Elizabeth Anderson, was an actor in the Bos- ton Museum for many years; v. Harriet Au- gusta, December 29, 1836, died October I, 1890; married James Whitney and had daugh- ter Nellie Whitney, married Herbert Read, of Providence, Rhode Island, where she resides; vi. Jane Slater, May 14, 1839, died April 18, 1892; married James Smith, of Cambridge; vii. Rachel Wright, August 23, 1843; mar- ried Charles Walker (deceased ), and had An- gie Walker, married William F. Stevens, son of Dr. E. H. Stevens, of Cambridge, and had Edmund Walker Stevens, born June 17, 1900; viii. Charles James, May 21, 1846, died Sep- tember 3, 1846.

(The Dow Line.)

The surname Dow is of ancient English origin, dating back to the very beginning of the use of family names.

(I) John Dow, English ancestor to whom the American family traces its ancestry, died at Tylner, Norfolk county, England, in July, 1581, and was buried July 7, 1581. His will mentions two brothers, William and Thomas Dow, and children: Thomas, mentioned be- low, John, Edith.

(II) Thomas, son of John Dow, was born in Tylner, England, and lived afterward in Runham, Norfolk. He married Margaret Children: I. Henry, mentioned be- low. 2. Christopher, had nine children. 3. Daughter, married Stephen Farrar. 4. Daugh- ter, married March.

(III) Henry, son of Thomas Dow, was born in county Norfolk, England, and resided

2210

MASSACHUSETTS.

at Runham in that county. He married Eliz- abeth Children: I. Thomas, men- tioned below. 2. Henry, born about 1608; settled in Hampton, New Hampshire. 3- Edward. 4. Mary. 5. Francis. 6. William.

(IV) Thomas (2), son of Henry Dow, was immigrant ancestor of this branch. He was a nearly settler of Newbury, Massachu- setts, and was admitted a freeman June 22, 1642. He bought a house and land there in 1648. Later he removed to Haverhill, where he died May 31, 1654. His nuncupative will was dated May 29, 1654, proved February 2, 1656. He married Phebe who mar- ried (second) John Eaton, of Haverhill, No- vember 20, 1661. Children : I. John. 2. Thomas, died June 21, 1676. 3. Stephen, born March 22, 1642. 4. Mary, April 26, 1644. 5. Martha, June 1, 1648.

(V) John (2), son of Thomas (2) Dow, was born about 1640; married, October 23, 1665. Mary Page, who died November 2, 1672. He lived at Haverhill and was ances- tor of the Atkinson, New Hampshire, fam- ily of Dow. He had a son John, mentioned below.

(VI) John (3), son of John (2) Dow, was born at Haverhill, November 26, 1672; married, May 23, 1696, Sarah Brown. They had a son John, mentioned below.

(VII) John (4), son of John (3) Dow, was born August 19, 1707, at Haverhill. With others he settled at what is now Atkinson, New Hampshire, formerly part of Haverhill. Massachusetts. He married Mehitable Haines, June 23, 1728. Children : I. Abraham, men- tioned below. 2. Job. 3. John, married Anna Atwood. 4. Moses. 5. James.

(VIII) Abraham, son of John (4) Dow, was born about 1730. He settled in Salem, New Hampshire, formerly part of Haverhill. In 1774 he was released from church taxes because he belonged to the Church of Eng- land. He was selectman in 1768 and in 1797; justice of the peace, 1789-90. In 1781 he was a witness before a trial conducted by the com- mittee of safety. He married Susanna Children, born at Salem, New Hampshire: I. Thomas, August 19, 1753, mentioned below. 2. Susanna, April 19, 1756. 3. Mehitable, September 8, 1761.

(IX) Lieutenant Thomas (3), son of Abraham Dow, was born at Salem, August 19, 1753. He was a soldier in the revolution ; selectman of Salem, 1797-98. He kept a tav- ern in the house owned later by Seth M. Pat- tee, from 1775 to 1780 or later. He married,

December 2, 1773, Elizabeth Jones, at Salem.

Children, born at

Salem : I. Abraham, March 10, 1775. 2. Child, October 17, 1776. 3. Abraham, October 23, 1777. 4. Rachel, February 24, 1780. 5. Evan, December 5, 1781. 6. Child, August 9, 1783. 7. Betty, September 9, 1784. 8. Susanna, March 12, 1786; married Hoyt. 9. Amos, May 17, 1787. 10. Moses, March 23, 1789. II. Relief, March 25, 1791. 12. Jones, April 27, 1792. 13. Hezekiah, July 18, 1794. 14. Re- lief, June 29, 1796. 15. Louisa, August 18, 1798, died July 24, 1865; married, Novem- ber 29, 1827, Samuel A. Ketchum. (See Hul- bert VII).

The Crane family of Massachu- CRANE setts, numerously represented in its various generations, has been conspicuous in the history of the Common- wealth, along the most useful lines, and num- bers among its members the founders and managers of some of the most important in- dustries, and those who have rendered to the State and Nation distinguished official ser- vice.

(I) Henry Crane, immigrant ancestor, was born in England, in 1621, and died in Mil- ton, Massachusetts, March 21, 1708. He set- tled in that part of Dorchester set off as Mil- ton, his home being on the road from Rox- bury to Braintree, and he was living there be- fore September 1, 1654, was selectman 1679- 80-81, and one of the trustees of the first meeting house. He was engaged in the iron manufacture in Milton and Dorchester, and accumulated considerable wealth. An auto- graph letter written by him May 7, 1677, is preserved in the Massachusetts archieves; it is his reply to the order of the colonial gov- ernment for him to dispose of three Indian servants. He married (first) Tabitha, daugh- ter of Stephen Kinsley; (second) 1683, Eliz- abeth Children by first marriage: I. Benjamin, born about 1656; was in King Philip's war, and wounded in Swamp fight. 2. Stephen, see forward. 3. Henry Jr. 4. John, born January 30, 1658-59; was one of the brothers who started the first iron forge in America ; married Hannah, daughter of Cap- tain James Leonard. 5. Elizabeth, born Au- gust 14, 1663 ; married Eleazer Gilbert; (sec- ond) George Townsend. 6. Ebenezer, born August 6, 1665. 7. Mary, born November 22, 1666; married Samuel Hackett. 8. Mercy, born January 1, 1668. 9. Samuel, born June 8, 1669. 10. Anna, removed to Taunton.

22II.

MASSACHUSETTS.

(II) Stephen, second son of Henry and Tabitha (Kinsley) Crane, was born in that part of the town of Dorchester, Massachu- setts Bay Colony, called Uncataquissett, set off as the town of Milton, May 7, 1662. The date of the marriage of his parents and of the birth of their first three sons-Benjamin, Stephen and Henry-are not recorded in the town books. The date of the birth of the fourth son John is fixed as the II mo. 30, 1658, which would make the approximate year of birth of Stephen 1655-56. He was brought up on his father's estate, and prob- ably continued in that occupation during his entire life. He married (first) July 2, 1676, Mary Denison, born in 1660, died June 17, 1721. Children, all born during the life of father : I. Mary, July, 1680. 2. Tabitha, October 7, 1682, died November 13, 1682. 3. Elizabeth, March 14, 1684; married Samuel Fuller, January 15, 1718. 4. Samuel, May 23, 1687. 5. Zerviah, November 30, 1690. 6. Benjamin, mentioned below. Stephen Crane married (second) Comfort, widow of Samuel Belcher, of Braintree, August 13, 1723; no children. He died at Milton, Massachusetts, July 20, 1738, and his widow died in Milton, December 21, 1745.

(III) Benjamin, youngest child of Stephen and Mary (Denison) Crane, was born in that part of the Blue Hill lands as were divided between Braintree and Milton, May 30, 1712, December 17, 1692. He married, December 27, 1722, Abigail Houghton. He was, like his father and grandfather, a farmer, and brought up his eight children on the farm. Children, born in Milton, Norfolk county, Massachusetts : I. Joseph, February 28, 1724. 2. Mary, January 23, 1727. 3. Benjamin, June 4, 1728. 4. Abigail, August 16, 1729. 5. Amariah, March I, 1731. 6. Seth, July 22, 1732. 7. Stephen, mentioned below. 8. Abijah, August II, 1736, died July 4, 1737. Benjamin Craine died in Milton, Massachu- setts.

(IV) Stephen (2), son of Benjamin and Abigail (Houghton) Crane, was born in Mil- ton, Massachusetts, May 19, 1734. He re- moved to that part of Stoughton which after February 23, 1797, was known as Canton, Massachusetts, where he erected a house on the shore of Punkapoag Brook, near the junc- tion with the Neponset river. A paper mill had been erected there in 1730, a short distance below the site of this house, by a company which included Daniel Henchman, a well es- tablished bookseller and publisher in Boston.

This mill had been run for a few years and then discontinued, as it did not prove profit- able. In 1760 the mill was again started up by James Boies, of Boston. He was induced to do this through a knowledge of the willing- ness of one Hazelton, a soldier in an English regiment, then stationed in Boston, who was by trade a paper maker, to operate the mills if he could procure a furlough. This was ef- fected, and the mill was set at work and con- tinued to manufacture paper in small quan- tities until the revolution. Stephen Crane fur- nished from his family two workmen in his sons Stephen (3) and Zenas, and they, under the direction of Hazelton, became adept paper makers and pioneer manufacturers of paper in New England, Stephen building a mill of his own at Newton Lower Falls, ten miles west from Boston.

Stephen Crane married, November 13, 1762, Susannah, daughter of Nathaniel and Susannah (Tucker) Badcock. She was born in Milton, Massachusetts, February 7, 1742. Children, born in Milton: I. Luther, March IO, 1764; married, May, 1806, Jane Morton ; he died October 6, 1843. 2. Stephen, Janu- ary 2, 1766; married Elizabeth Gardner, of Brighton, Massachusetts; built a paper mill at Newton Lower Falls, said to have been the second in Massachusetts; he died 1802. 3. Philemon, January 7, 1769, died February 12, 1769. 4. Susannah, June 7, 1770. 5. Na- than, May 15, 1774; married, October 19, 1806, Avis Harrington, of Watertown, Mas- sachusetts; she died March 16, 1813, and he married (second) Susan Hastings, of Wal- tham, December 25, 1813; she was born Oc- tober 18, 1787, and died July 25, 1862. Na- than Crane died September 21, 1826. 6. Zenas, mentioned below.

(V) Zenas, somr of Stephen (2) Crane, was born May 9, 1777, and died in Dalton, June 20, 1845. He began learning the paper making business in the mill of his brother Stephen, at Newton Lower Falls, and made further advancement in General Burbank's mill at Worcester. In 1799 he journeyed west- ward on horseback in quest of a location for a mill. At Springfield he found a mill, estab- lished before 1788, probably by Eleazer Wright. Going further west, he reached the upper Housatonic, passing his first night at an inn near the border line between Dalton and Pittsfield, Berkshire county, not far from where his sons, Zenas M. and James B. Crane, afterwards built fine mansions, and where the Crane mills continue to turn out

2212

MASSACHUSETTS.

products that have a world-wide as well as a national fame.

In 1799 Dalton had nearly one thousand in- habitants, chiefly engaged in agriculture. Among them were such men as William Wil- liamson, the distinguished loyalist; Colonel and Judge Israel Williams, of Hatfield, and a cousin of Ephraim Williams, founder of Wil- liams College, who entrusted to him chiefly the execution of his plans; Calvin Waldo, graduate of Dartmouth, and a prominent law- yer ; Dr. Perez March, graduate of Harvard, and a county judge; and other men of like character. At that time the nearest mills were at Springfield, Massachusetts; Bennington, Vermont ; Troy, New York; and Hartford, Connecticut. While the site was selected in 1799, the mill was not built until the spring of 1801, as is shown by the following adver- tisement in the Pittsfield Sun of February 8, 1801 :

Americans !

Encourage your own Manufactories, and they will improve. Ladies, fave your RAGS.

As the Subfcribers have it in contemplation to erect a PAPER MILL in Dalton, the enfusing fpring ; and the bufiness being very beneficial to the community at large, they flatter themselves that they shall meet with due encouragement. And that every woman, who has the good of her country, and the intereft of her own family at heart will patronize them, by faving their rags, and fending them to their Manufactory, or to the neareft Storekeeper-for which the Subscribers will give a generous price.

HENRY WISWALL ZENAS CRANE JOHN WILLARD

Worcefster, Feb. S, 1801.

Martin Chamberlain, a son of Joseph, was an early settler of the town, was at first ap- parently skeptical and would give only oral permission to erect a building and make the experiment, but finally (December 25, 1801) executed a deed to Henry Wiswell, Zenas Crane and Daniel Gilbert, for about fourteen acres of land, with a paper mill and append- ages thereon standing, for $194. Gilbert had taken the place of John Willard. The build- ing was a one-vat mill, and its main part was of two stories, the upper one used as a drying loft. Its capacity was twenty posts, a post being one hundred and twenty-five sheets of paper. When the mill started there were two weekly newspapers in the county, and one of them purchased much of its supply from this mill. In 1779 there were only five postoffices in Berkshire county, and in 1801 only seven. The nearest one to Dalton was at Pittsfield, where Mr. Crane received his mail matter un- til 1812, when the Dalton Postoffice was es- tablished.

Mr. Crane conducted the mill since known as the "Old Berkshire" until 1807, when he sold his undivided third to his partner, Wis- well, and went into the mercantile business in the eastern part of town, in which he con- tinued until 1810. In that year ( April 28), he bought David Carson's interest in what was later known as the "Old Red Mills", which was run for a time by Crane, Wiswell, Cham- berlain and Cole until 1822, when Mr. Crane, who had from the date of his purchase been superintendent and chief manager, became sole owner. In 1842 he transferred his inter- est in the Old Red Mill to his sons, Zenas Marshall and James Brewer, who were al- ready his partners. That year the B. & A. railroad was opened. In the fall of 1870 the mill was burned but was rebuilt. In 1879 the firm was awarded the contract for supplying the United States government with paper for bank bills, bonds, etc. To fill this contract the firm bought the brick mill which had been built a few years before by Thomas Colt, in Pittsfield, very near the Dalton line, not far from the site of the inn where the first Zenas Crane passed his first night in Berkshire. It is now known as the Government Mill. Sev- eral of its employees are detailed from the Treasury Department at Washington, and not the slightest irregularity has ever come to light, such is the perfection of the system em- ployed.

The introduction of silk threads into the fibre of the paper was the discovery of Zenas Marshall Crane in 1846, but he did not ap- ply for a patent at the time, although his idea was adopted by several state banks. Twenty years later, when the United States Govern- ment adopted the plan, an Englishman en- deavored to establish a claim as the patentee, but the fact that the state banks could show issues made by them at an earlier date saved the government much more in royalties than any profits the Cranes may have received.

In 1850 the firm of Crane & Wilson leased a stone factory which had been built in 1836 as a wooden factory, between the Old Red Mill and the Government Mill, the youngest son of the pioneer, Seymour Crane, being then a member of the firm. In 1865 the property was rented by Zenas Crane Jr., eldest son of Zenas M. Crane. The mill was burned May 15, 1877, and rebuilt on a larger scale, and has since been operated by Z. and W. M. Crane.

Mr. Crane sat in the legislature several times after 1811, and in Governor Everett's council 1836-37. He was first a Federalist

2213

MASSACHUSETTS.

and then a Whig in politics. Mr. Crane mar- ried, November 30, 1809, Lucinda, daughter of Gaius and Lucretia ( Babcock) Brewer, of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Children : I. Lucinda, born March 19, 1813. 2. Zenas Marshall; see forward. 3. James Brewer, born April 30, 1817; married Eliza B. Thomp- son ; (second) Mary E. Goodrich. 4. Lind- ley Murray, born March 17, 1822. 5. Sey- mour, born September 16, 1826. Of the sons of Mr. Crane, Lindley Murray, in 1847, es- tablished a paper mill at Ballston Spa, New York, where he died 1879. Robert B. and James, sons of James B. Crane, as Crane Brothers, established mills at Westfield, Mas- sachusetts.

(VI) Zenas Marshall, second child and eld- est son of Zenas Crane, was born in Dalton. Massachusetts, January 21, 1815, and died March 12, 1887. His business training was under his father, and included a minute prac- tical knowledge of the details of paper manu- facturing as it was conducted at that early time. In 1842 he and his brother succeeded to the business of the father, and they, like him, were successful to such a degree that they found it necessary to enlarge their plant from time to time. Much of their success was due to the fact that they constantly installed the most modern machinery, yet with saying this, the great business ability and practical skill of Zenas M. Crane, the senior partner, must not be overlooked. During the course of his business life many inventions changed paper making processes, and not a few of these were the results of his own ingenuity. He invented an attachment to the Fourdinier. machine to regulate the flow of paper and create an even surface, and in 1846 he de- signed a method of introducing into the fibre of bank bills, numbers corresponding to their value, in order to prevent the raising of their denomination without detection. He did not apply for letters patent on the latter ingenious contrivance, but some twenty years later, when the national banking system was estab- lished, the practical men at the head of finan- cial affairs adopted a plan essentially the same as Mr. Crane's, in order to prevent the coun- terfeiting of paper. Soon after the govern- ment had adopted his ideas in this regard, an Englishman came to Washington as claimant of the invention, but, as the Mahaine Bank in Great Barrington, and some others, had adopt- ed Mr. Crane's invention long before the date of the Englishman's patent, it saved the gov- ernment from paying royalty to the foreigner.

If Mr. Crane had secured patents on his vari- ous inventions, they would undoubtedly have brought him a liberal fortune in themselves. However, this neglect inured to the advantage of various paper manufacturers who utilized the fruits of his genius, and without expense. As a paper manufacturer he had no peer in the country.

Mr. Crane was strong not alone in the field of manufacture and invention, but as a man and a citizen. His was an ideal life. With large brain and large heart, he was strong in intellect, in sympathy, in all that goes to make up the best in man which we call character. In him was no sham, nothing that could be criticised as on a low plane. He never reached down, except to grasp the hand of the lowly who needed lifting up. He was ever reaching for the good, the true, and the beautiful. It was not in his nature to do a man a wrong, and on every hand there is evidence to show that all these elevating characteristics were his. The living men and women in Dalton who were connected with the Crane paper mills during any part of the time he conduct- ed them, are even now ever ready to speak of his kindness and generosity, praising the man who had for so many years employed them at good wages, had looked after them in times of their sickness or misfortune, and who never turned one of them away unless for some great misdeed which could not be over- looked.

But in a far broader sense can Mr. Crane be spoken of in such connection. Outside of his business, he was a man who held a high and honored place. The paper trade, from one extreme of the country to the other, knew him for a man of the highest integrity and strictest honesty. Those who had dealings with him knew that, when he told them he would manufacture for them a paper of a certain quality, it would not fall below the grade he had promised. In short, he was a man of his word, not only in business, but in all things entering into his long and eventful life.

His charities and benefactions were greater than was ever known during his life, so un- ostentatiously were they bestowed. One of the most lasting monuments to his memory is the Old Ladies' Home in Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts. This substantial and artistic brick edifice, one of the ornaments of South street, was his gift, though his will made no provi- sion for its erection. In conversation with his son, only a short time before his death,

2214

MASSACHUSETTS

he expressed a wish to donate to his native county such a Home, making it so plain that he intended to make such provision by will, that, after his death, his family made the fact known, and proceeded to carry out his design. The result was the erection of the Berkshire County Home for Aged Women. It may be here said that out of the love they bore him, and their sympathy for his purpose, the widow and children of Mr. Crane carried out his wish to the letter, providing a Home which ever keeps his memory in grateful recollec- tion, and which is regarded with pride by the people of the city and county. Mr. Crane made a bequest of $5,000 to the House of Mercy, Pittsfield. He lived in a generous style, and was an excellent entertainer, al- though not upon a pretentious scale. His resi- dence and grounds were among the most at- tractive in the beautiful Berkshires.

In his early life Mr. Crane was an ardent Whig. At the formation of the Republican party in 1856 he became one of its most zeal- ous supporters, and maintained his connec- tion with it throughout the remainder of his life. He became one of its leaders, not only in his county, but throughout the state, and he was honored by election to the state sen- ate in 1856 and 1857. It cannot be said that he was ambitious politically, for he assisted others to position rather than himself. H was a staunch friend of the late Senator Dawes, and whenever the latter was a con- gressional candidate, he was one of the most influential in promoting his success. Mr. Crane was a lifelong personal and political friend of the late Judge James Robinson, of North Adams, and when the latter came to Pittsfield to hold court, Mr. Crane usually came in from Dalton, and they spent hours together, talking over political affairs and in- dulging in reminiscence. These conversa- tions at times resulted in furnishing Judge Robinson themes for his editorials in his North Adams Transcript, and this was es- pecially true during the administration of President Cleveland, when Judge Robinson editorially delivered his memorable philippics against the president.

Mr. Crane took an intensely patriotic part - during the war of the rebellion. During the administration of Governor Andrew he was a member of the executive council, in 1862- 63, and in that position exhibited the same qualities of sound sense, business ability and adherence to principle that so strongly char- acterized him in private life, and which were

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 23

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 886

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 886