Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 60

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 60

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John Webster, one of the original settlers in Hartford and one of the founders of the Republic of Connecticut, was from Norwick- shire, England, and from the formation of the constitution of the republic in 1639 to the year 1659 he was an officer, holding the offices of magistrate or judge and in this capacity assist- ed in administrating the government, 1639-55. He was elected deputy-governor in 1655 and governor in 1656. He was chosen first magis- trate 1657-58-59. In 1659, in consequence of the controversy in the church at Hartford of which Mr. Stone was minister, John Webster and his sons, with a number of their friends, aggregating fifty-nine persons belonging to Hartford, Wethersfield and Winslow, deter- mined to purchase a large tract of land in the colony of Massachusetts Bay and removed out of the Hartford Colony with their families. They drew up an agreement to this end at Hartford. April 18, 1654, and they purchased a tract of land which includes the present towns of Hadley, Amherst, South Hadley and Granby on the east side of the Connecticut river and Hatfield and a part of Williamsburg on the west side of the river. The signers to the agreement was headed by John Webster and was also signed by his son Robert. John Webster superintended the laying out of roads on the tract and lodged in Northampton, where he was taken sick and made his will which bears date June 25. 1659. The will was wit- nessed by Mr. John Russel, Jr., minister at Hadley. and Mr. Ebenezer Mather, minister at Northampton. Mr. Webster recovered from the sickness and he was appointed a com- missioner or judge of the court and had as associates John Pynchon and Samuel Chapin. On March 26, 1661, at the court held on that date at Northampton, Mr. Webster with others of the colonists from Connecticut took the oath of allegiance, known as the freeman's oath as required by the general court of the colony of

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Massachusetts Bay before Mr. Pynchon and Mr. Holyoke, who was recorder of the court. Mr. Webster did not long survive this import- ant act as he died April 5, 1661, and according to the directors of his will he was buried at Hadley. John and Agnes Webster had four sons : Robert, Matthew, William and Thomas. William and Thomas received by the will of their father his lands in Hadley. William married Mary Reeves in 1671 and died in Had- ley about the year 1687-88. He probably had no children. His wife, Mary, was accused of witchcraft about the years 1684-85, and her testimony was taken and sent to Boston but she was not disturbed and died in peace in 1696. Thomas removed to Northampton where he married Abigail Alexander in 1663 and they had three children : Abigail, George and John. Robert, eldest son of John Webster, represent- ed the town of Hartford in the general court in 1656-57-58-59. He was sole executor of the will of his father and probably did not remove from Hartford where his father had property and where his mother remained after the death of Governor Webster. The children of Rob- ert and Susannah Webster were: John, Jon- athan, Samuel, Robert, Joseph and William, and four daughters: Susannah, married John Grove, of Hartford; Mary, married Thomas King; Eliza, married John Seamore (Sey- mour ) ; Sarah, married a Mr. Myzatt.

(For ancestry see John Page 1).

(VII) James Page, son of Benja- PAGE min Page, was born in 1797. in Belmont, New Hampshire, and moved with his parents when young to Water- borough, Maine. He was a millwright, and lived in various towns. He died in 1840, aged forty-three. He married Eliza Woodman, who (lied in 1890, aged ninety-one, daughter of John Woodman, a millwright of Buxton, Maine. She married ( second) David Dennett. Chil- dren, born at Hollis, Maine: 1. Amos Wood- man, August 8, 1823, mentioned below. 2. John Woodman, twin with Amos Woodman. 3. Abigail, April 1. 1827. 4. Moses, October 1, 1830. 5. Thomas Clark, April 23, 1832. 6. Harriet A., November 11, 1834. Born in Buxton, Maine: 7. Eliza Jane. April 26, 1838; died 1869.

(VIII) Amos Woodman, son of James Page, was born in Hollis, Maine, August 8, 1823, and died August 31, 1891. He began his business career as a boy in the cotton mills of Biddeford, and was promoted from time to time until he became overseer and superin-

tendent of the weaving department. He served in the army in the Twenty-seventh Maine In- fantry, nine months, as first lieutenant. He afterward engaged in the lumber business in Beaufort, North Carolina. In 1866 he went to Rochester, New York, with his brother, Thomas Clark Page, who owned an interest in the knitting machine manufactory of that place. In 1867 he established a needle manu- factory in connection with the Lamb factory at Chicopee Falls, where he conducted a most successful business until his death. He mar- ried, October 17, 1847, Caroline Warren Shute, born October 31, 1825, daughter of Michael and Olive (Leavitt ) Shute, of Effingham Falls (now Centreville), New Hampshire. Her father was born in Newmarket, New Hamp- shire, and died in Biddeford, Maine; married Olive Leavitt, born in Buxton, Maine. Mrs. Amos W. Page died in Chicopee Falls, in 1888, aged sixty-three. Amos W. Page was a Re- publican in politics and served as selectman, being chairman of the board, in Chicopee Falls. He was a member of Belcher Lodge of Free Masons. Children: 1. Francis Moore, born November 28, 1848; died October 5, 1861. 2. Laura Eva, born January 8, 1853. 3. Ernest Lawrence, born September 6, 1855; died Feb- ruary 27, 1857. 4. Irving Howard, born No- vember 15, 1858; mentioned below. 5. Wood- man Shute, born May 7, 1862; married, Octo- ber II, 1893, Mary Engle Hamilton ; children : i. Dorothy Woodman, born December 16, 1895 ; died December 28, 1895; ii. Karl Woodman born August 5, 1900.

(IX) Irving Howard, son of Amos Wood- man Page, was born at Biddeford, Maine, No- vember 15, 1858. At the age of seven years he went with his father to Rochester, New York, and at the age of eight went to Chico- pee Falls, Massachusetts, where he attended the public schools. He also attended Willis- ton Seminary in 1877. He began his business career as a newsboy in Chicopee, and then became a clerk in the store of George Bray for a year. From there he went to Springfield, in the employ of Colles Pease, grocer, as a de- livery clerk in Springfield. He was badly injured by a barrel of sugar falling upon him and was incapacitated for work for a year. From November 20, 1879, to 1882, he was a clerk in the employ of James E. Taylor, of the Stevens Company. then became a book- keeper for the J. Stevens Company. In 1893 he entered the employ of the L. S. Starrett Company, in the general office at Athol, Mass- achusetts. He became one of the most efficient

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and trusted employees of this concern. In 1895 he became connected with the Stevens Company, buying the interests of James E. Taylor, Joshua Stevens and George S. Taylor. C. P. Fay, who was associated with him, bought his father's share. The business of the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company grew rapidly under the new management and took rank among the foremost concerns in its line of business. The Stevens-Duryea Automobile Company was established and became an im- portant part of the business. The automobile business was incorporated as a separate con- cern, July 1, 1906, and continues to be one of the most flourishing automobile industries of the country. The machine made by this com- pany is one of the best in the world and the concern has had a phenomenal growth. Mr. Page is at the present time: president and treasurer of the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Com- pany ; president and treasurer of the Stevens- Duryea Automobile Company ; president and director of the Hampden Knitting Company ; vice-president and director of the Springfield Board of Trade; director of the Chicopee Na- tional Bank; director of the Confectioners' Machinery & Manufacturing Company ; treas- urer of the Page-Storms Drop Forge Com- pany ; president of the Page Chocolate Com- pany ; director of the Consolidated Wrapping Machine Company ; director of the Megantic Fish and Game Club, Megantic, P. Q. ; also a member of the Licensed Association of Amer- ican Automobile Manufacturers, of the Engi- neers' Club of New York City, of the Hard- ware Club of New York City, and of the Nayasset Club of Springfield. He is also prom- inent in the Masonic fraternity, a member of Belcher Lodge : of Unity Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; of Springfield Commandery, Knights Templar ; and of Melha Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs to the Massachusetts Con- sistory. In politics he is a Republican, but has never sought public office. In religion he is 1 Congregationalist. He married, November 3, 1886, Alice Jane Whittemore, born in Febru- ary, 1859. daughter of John R. and Olive ( Muzzy ) Whittemore.

CROSBY Hon. John Crawford Crosby, a justice of the superior court of the commonwealth of Massa- chusetts, is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The family originated in England. Its name ap- pears from the very beginning of the use of

surnames there, and is borne by eight different towns and villages in that country.

(1) John Crosby, from whom descends Judge John Crawford Crosby, was born in Dublin, Ireland, December 30, 1799, died Feb- ruary 7, 1886. At the age of eleven years he came to the United States with his father, who settled in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. John Crosby became one of the leading agriculturists of that locality, and left a large landed estate. He married Han- nah Curtis, who survived him, dying December 30, 1892. She was a descendant of Henry Curtis, founder of the American family of that name, who came from England in 1621. The Curtis family were pioneer settlers of Berk -- shire county, Massachusetts, among the early settlers of Stockbridge, and founder of the town of Curtisville. Children of John and Hannah (Curtis) Crosby: I. Child, died in early life. 2. John, see forward. 3. Harriet. married Richard Perkins, a Union soldier who died at Winchester, Virginia, during the civil war.

(II) John (2), son of John (I) and Han- nah (Curtis) Crosby, was born in Sheffield Massachusetts, February 15, 1829, died De- cember 17. 1902. As a young man his ser- vices were sought in the fulfillment of the duties of numerous local offices, and shortly after attaining his majority he was appointed deputy to Sheriff Edward F. Ensign, being retained in that capacity throughout the admin- istration of Sheriff Ensign and of his suc- cessors, Sheriffs George S. Willis and Gra- ham A. Root, a period covering a quarter of a century. In 1860 Deputy Sheriff Crosby re- moved from Sheffield to Stockbridge, and while at the latter place was chairman of the board of selectmen, as such being actively identified with the raising of troops in defense of the Union. In 1868, at the request of Sheriff Root, Deputy Crosby took up his resi- dence in Pittsfield, where he continued to live up to the time of his decease, December 17. 1902. He was appointed in 1875 by Governor Gaston a member of the Massachusetts state detective force, an office which he held for several years, during his incumbency rendering conspicuous service in some of the most im- portant criminal cases that had been tried up to that time. He was for several years one of Pittsfield's board of assessors, and his ser- vices were frequently called into requisition as administrator and executor in the settlement of estates. In 1886 he was elected sheriff of

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Berkshire county, re-elected thereto in 1889, and again in 1892, serving three full terms of three years each. An onerous duty which de- veloped upon him as sheriff was the carrying out of the sentence of execution of William Coy for the atrocious murder of John Whalen. During his term of service as sheriff each grand jury at its setting of the court reported after due inspection of the jail and house of correction an excellence of condition and efficiency of management of both institutions, the especial charges of the sheriff. It has been said of Sheriff Crosby that he "knew every man, woman and child in Berkshire county ;" it is certain that he enjoyed and merited a large measure of the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He married, February 17, 1858, Margaret, daughter of Andrew and Anna ( McIndoe) Crawford, both natives of Scot- land, and residents for many years of the city of New York, where Mr. Crawford was a con- tractor and builder.

(III) John Crawford, son of John (2) and Margaret (Crawford) Crosby, was born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, June 15. 1859, attended the public and high schools of Pittsfield, and was graduated from Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1878; began the study of law in the office of Hon. Marshall Wilcox, of Pittsfield, and was graduated from the law department of Boston University and admitted to the bar in 1882. He established himself for the practice of his profession in Pittsfield under especially favorable auspices for ten years. He occupied offices with the late United States senator, Henry L. Dawes, and 1894 to 1905 was in partnership association with John F. Moxon, the present district attorney. Summed up briefly, Judge Crosby's professional career may be said to have been successful both in the extent and character of his practice, the partnership associations especially being pro- lific of a patronage and lucrativeness of prac- tice second to none in Berkshire county.

Judge Crosby is a Democrat of the stalwart type and has rendered valuable service thereto in every campaign from the attainment of his majority up to the date of his accession to the state judiciary. He served as a member of the Pittsfield school committee from 1884 to 1890: was a representative in the state legis- lature in 1886 and 1887, serving on the rules and railroads committee; following which, in 1888 and 1889, he was senator, serving as chairman of the committee on probate and insolvency, chairman of the committee on mer-

cantile affairs, and as a member of the judiciary committee. During his senatorial career it devolved upon him to secure the city charter for Pittsfield. In 1890 he was elected as the Democratic candidate to the fifty-second con- gress from the then twelfth Massachusetts congressional district. During this term he was present at every roll call and introduced more bills and petitions than any other from Massachusetts. He served on military affairs and postoffice and post roads committees, tak- ing an especially active interest in the work of the latter and securing the passage of vari- ous bills for the improvement of the postal ser- vice. He was defeated for re-election in 1892 by a plurality of less than 200 out of a total of 35,1II votes. He was elected third mayor of Pittsfield and two terms 1894 and 1895, an administration which was marked by diverse and important public improvement ; during this period the central station of Pittsfield fire department was erected and thoroughly equip- ped; the beautiful high school building con- structed, and the Refield, Russell and Briggs schools built. It was Mayor Crosby who ap- pointed the first board of license commissioners. He was a delegate to the Democratic national convention which in 1896 at Chicago, Illinois, nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. He was elected city solicitor of Pittsfield and served as such from 1899 to 1903. inclusive. He was Democratic candidate for attorney-general of Massachusetts in 1901 and was defeated, and defeated again in 1904 as candidate for lieutenant-governor on the ticket with William L. Douglas, who was elected governor by a majority of 35,000. Al- though defeated by 18,000 votes, Mr. Crosby led the remainder of his ticket by 8,000. He was appointed one of the justices of the su- perior court of Massachusetts by Governor Douglas and unanimously confirmed by a Re- publican council, January 25, 1905. He was for several years member-at-large of the Dem- ocratic state committee, resigning that office upon his appointment to the justiceship. A political organization of which he was a mem- ber and first president, and in which he took an especial pride and interest, was the Young Men's Democratic Club of Massachusetts, the well directed efforts of which are generally con- ceded to have resulted in the election for three consecutive terms of William E. Russell as governor of the commonwealth. He declined a re-election as president of this club, because of his election to congress.

Judge Crosby married, February 4. 1897,

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Henrietta, daughter of the late Captain Na- than Richards, of New London, Connecticut. Mrs. Crosby is a lineal descendant of Elder William Brewster, and numbers among her direct and collateral connections numerous of the most interesting of the early colonial set- tlers (including Roger Williams), some of whom bore arms for the mother country in the French and Indian war and against her in the wars of the revolution of 1812.

PLUNKETT The Plunkett family, repre- sentatives of which have been noted for their sterling worth and manly and womanly characteristics, filling important political positions and con- tributing to progress along the various lines of manufacture, have been residents of west - ern Massachusetts since the founding of the family in this country.

(I) Patrick Plunkett, immigrant ancestor, was a native of Ireland, from whence he emi- grated in the closing years of the eighteenth century, settling in Lenox, Massachusetts, where the remainder of his life was spent. He was a man of energy and enterprise, and these traits have descended in a large degree to his posterity, who nobly performed the duties entrusted to them in business, private and social life. He married Mary Robinson, also a native of Ireland, and she accompanied him to the new world, where, as heretofore, she faithfully acted the part of wife and mother. They were the parents of three sons: 1. Will- iam C., see forward. 2. Charles H., born in Lenox, Massachusetts, September 16, 1801. died September, 1860; married, 1841, Mary Kittredge, born in 1809, daughter of Dr. Abel Kittredge, and they were the parents of five children. 3. Thomas F., born in Lenox, Mass- achusetts, 1804, died October 31, 1875; he married (first) in April. 1830, Hannah S. Taylor, of Chester, who died in 1844 ; married (second) in October, 1847, Harriet Merrick Hodge, of Hadley, Massachusetts; he was the father of nine children, four by his first mar- riage and five by his second.

(II) William C., eldest son of Patrick and Mary ( Robinson) Plunkett, was born in Lenox, Massachusetts, 1799, died January 21, 1884, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He spent his early years in Lenox, acquiring a practical education in the village school. In 1830, with the limited capital of two hundred and seventy dollars, he started out to make for himself a career in the business world. He removed to South Adams, Massachusetts, and

there entered into partnership with a Mr. Wheeler, founding the old mill of Plunkett & Wheeler, which was one of the oldest and the most important woolen mills in that region. Mr. Plunkett, being a man of marked business ability and possessing rare sagacity and ex- cellent judgment, was the prime mover in every new plan that was suggested and was active in the carrying out of the same, bring- ing distinction, credit and success to the firm. It was through his efforts that North Adams now enjoys the benefits of a brisk railroad competition, thus effecting a marked change in the methods of disposing of the products of the mills, and he was also largely instrumental in making North Adams the great railroad centre that it is at present, it now being the terminus of five important railroads. He was also prominently identified with the progress and development of his adopted city along other lines, and his efficient public service cov- ered a period of forty years. As early as 1831 he served as moderator, and with scarcely a year's exception up to his deccase, he occupied one or more local offices, including that of selectman, measurer, highway surveyor, fence viewer, bridge commissioner, fire warden, field driver, tithingman, in all of which capacities he repeatedly served. In 1840 he was elected Whig candidate for state senator, in 1852 as one of the governor's council, in 1853 delegate to the constitutional convention, and in 1854 lieutenant governor with Governor Emory Washburn. Mr. Plunkett was a man of strong convictions, slow to make up his mind, weigh- ing well all the pros and cons of a question, but when his opinion was formed it was un- alterable. He was frequently called upon to make addresses in behalf of various objects. and it was while responding to one of these calls, and making an address in the town hall at the reunion of the Forty-ninth Regiment, that he contracted a cold which resulted in his death. Mr. Plunkett married Achsal Brown, of New York, and among their children was William B., see forward.

(III) William B., son of William C. and Achsal ( Brown) Plunkett, obtained his pre- liminary education in the schools of his native place and then entered Monroe Collegiate In- stitute, from which institution he was grad- uated. He then entered into business with his father, being admitted into the firm of Plunkett & Wheeler upon attaining his majority. The manufacture of cotton warps was continued under the above firm name until Charles T. Plunkett, younger son of W. C. Plunkett, was

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taken into partnership association, since which time it has been operated under the name of W. C. Plunkett & Sons. In 1879 the latter named firm absorbed the Adams Paper Mill and equipped the buildings with improved ma- chinery for the operation of a cotton warp and cotton cloth manufacturing establishment. In December, 1886, this last named mill was destroyed by fire, whereupon William B. Plunkett established a new and separate com- pany, rebuilding upon the old site in 1889 a new and modern building, and installing therein an equipment of up-to-date machinery, the business being incorporated as the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company, with a capi- talization of a half million dollars, William B. Plunkett serving in the capacity of treasurer. The enterprise was attended with success, and in October, 1891, the plant was duplicated and capital stock doubled. In 1895 the directors voted to again double the plant's capacity in a single mammoth structure, making in all three plants, with 155,000 spindles, operating about 3.700 looms, and employing 1,500 operatives, upon an investinent of two million dollars. In April, 1899, another half million dollars was added to the capital, and an additional gigantic mill built and put in operation. The execu- tive management of this vast enterprise was in the hands of William B. Plunkett, and in his handling of the same he displayed a broad grasp of business intracies, boldness of busi- ness conception and a spirit of progressiveness. In 1879 William B. Plunkett was elected treas- urer and manager of Greylock Mills, North Adams, which was converted into a gingham factory, and within three years, under his efficient management, the output was tripled. These mills are now utilized as a manufactory of fine cottons, and are part of the plant now owned by the firm. Mr. Plunkett also effected the purchase of the Henry Miller Mill, now known as Greylock Mill, No. 2.

In addition to his vast manufacturing inter- ests, Mr. Plunkett serves in the capacity of president of the Greylock National Bank at Adams, is one of the board of trustees of the New York Life Insurance Company and the North Adams Trust Company, and a member of the directorates of the Berkshire Life In- surance Company, the Berkshire Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Pittsfield, and the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Boston. He has also taken an active interest in politics, serving as a member of governor's council, delegate to numerous conventions, among the number the Republican national convention at Minneapolis

in 1892, and a member of the national advisory committee during Mr. McKinley's campaign, rendering valuable service. He was a personal friend of President Mckinley, who was his guest at Adams upon several occasions while president, and the erection of the monument to President Mckinley in Adams was due in large measure to the personal work of Mr. Plunkett. He was in heartiest sympathy and co-operation with his brother Charles through -. out the latter's successful efforts for the instal- lation of the magnificent public library at Adams. Mr. Plunkett holds membership in the Congre- gational church, is a member of the church prudential committee, since 1888 has served as superintendent of the Sunday school, and was a liberal contributor to the fund for the erection of the parish house and parsonage at Adams.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 60

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