Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 73

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 73

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).

(VIII) Frank Bigelow, eldest son of Jo- seph A. and Mary J. ( Bigelow) Priest, was born June 16, 1863, in Littleton, and gained his elementary training in the common school of his native town up to sixteen years of age, in the meantime helping in the tillage of the farm. Leaving home he went to Boston, and entered the employ of Shreve, Crump & Low, the leading jewelry establishment of Boston, situated at the corner of Summer and Washing- ton streets. After a year he found employment in 1880 as clerk with L. J. B. Lincoln, the first canned goods broker in Boston. He sub- sequently entered the establishment of Walter Locket, who conducted a similar business, and shortly after acquired a one-third interest in the concern; the name of the firm becoming

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Walter Locket & Company. His thrift and enterprise aided in the rapid development of the business, and in 1889 he disposed of his interest and associated himself with J. K. Armsby. as salesman and manager. In 1892, when the concern was made a corporation. Mr. Priest became a director. The corpora - tion is engaged in the commission business, handling a general line of California canned goods, and dried fruits, and has its main office on River street, Chicago, with branch offices in New York, Boston and San Francisco, and offices and packing houses in nearly every county of California. Its business extends all over the United States. Mr. Priest was man- ager of the New York office in 1901-02-03, and returned to the Boston office as manager. His home continues to be in Littleton. He sold personally the first car load of California English walnuts, almonds and figs ever shipped from that state into New England. He is a member of the Littleton Unitarian Society, and chairman of its parish committee, and has filled the office of church treasurer. In poli- tics he is a Republican, has served the town one year as overseer of the poor, and has been a delegate in various conventions of his party. He is a member of the Boston City Club; the New England Historical Genealogical Society ; a life member of the American Unitarian As- sociation ; a charter member of the Boston Fruit and Produce Exchange; vice-president of the Littleton Historical Society; and was formerly a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce. Besides the blood of the old Priest family, he carries in his veins also that of Peter Buckley, a pioneer of Concord; John Bigelow, a pioneer of Watertown; Lieutenant Joseph Wheeler, who built the first house in Littleton, and of the Bancroft, Longley, and Lawrence families, of Groton, Massachusetts. He married, October 31, 1888, Lillian Florence, daughter of Thomas and Susan (Hogan) Malcolm, of Hyde Park, Massachu- setts, born May 25, 1870, in Framingham, Massachusetts. Children: Henry Malcolm, born July 23, 1890; Dorothy Bigelow, Sep- tember 10, 1891 ; George Alexandria, January 28, 1893, in Malden ; Barbara Buckley, Octo- ber 30, 1903, in Littleton.

(III) Gabriel, third son of John and Rachel (Garfield) Priest, was born about 1688, in Lancaster, and died March 27, 1755, in Har- vard. Massachusetts. He lived in that part of Lancaster which was set off as Harvard, and was active in the promotion of the latter town. He occupied the second seat in the church,

showing that he was a man of much impor- tance in the community, and was a corporal in 1748, in a company of Scouts organized for protection against Indian surprises. His wife. Abigail (surname unknown), born about 1693, was a member of the church in Stow, Massa- chusetts, and died June 29, 1770, aged seventy- seven years. Children: John, mentioned below ; Gabriel, born June 17, 1720; Jeremiah, April 30, 1722.

(IV) John (2), eldest child of Gabriel and Abigail Priest, was born November 21, 1717, in Lancaster, and was baptized on the twenti- eth of July following. He died April 4, 1772, in Harvard. He was an active member of the church, his seat with that of his brother Ga- briel's being located in the front of the gal- lery. He married, October 12, 1748, Mary. daughter of Deacon Joseph and Mary (Brown) Fairbank, of Harvard, Massachu- setts. The ancestry of the Fairbank family appears elsewhere in this work. Deacon Joseph, eldest child of Captain Jabez and Mary (Wilder) Fairbank, was born in 1693, in Lan- caster, and died December 6, 1772, in Harvard. The farm on which he lived was cut off from Lancaster in 1732, and thus it fell out that he died in another town though living in the same place. About 1720 he built his house which is still standing and in use as a dwelling. He was a member of the First Church established in Harvard, and after the erection of that town served as selectman in 1733-35-43, and from 1745 to 1752. He was treasurer from 1736 to 1740, and was chosen representative to the general court in the latter year, but declined to do service. He served on various commit- tees entrusted with town business, and was ac- tive in affairs during the years preceding the revolution. He was a deacon and one of the most active supporters of the Harvard Church, and was one of the ten seated on the first seat in front of the pulpit. He married, April 21, 1718, Mary Brown, born near the close of the year 1699, died November 14, 1791, being twenty-four days short of ninety-two years old. Children: Phineas, Mary (died young), Joseph, Mercy, Cyrus, Mary, Lydia, Elizabeth, Amos and Relief. Mary, third daughter of Joseph and Mary (Brown) Fairbank, was born January 19, 1729, in what is now Har- vard, and became the wife of John Priest, as above related. Children of John and Mary Priest, besides the first, a still born son, were : John, born August 22, 1750; Philemon, men- tioned below ; Mary, August 23, 1755; Jacob, August 15, 1757 ; Abel, April 20, 1760: Calvin,

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September 14, 1762; Jabez, January 23, 1764; Mary, February 9, 1765 ; Relief, November 13, 1767; Sarah, February 10, 1771.

(V) Captain Philemon, third son of John (2) and Mary (Fairbank) Priest, was born February 18, 1753, in Harvard, and died there February 24, 1837. He resided on the pa- ternal homestead in that town, and engaged in agriculture. He served through several en- listments in the revolution, being first a private in Captain Jonathan Davis' company, Colonel John Whitcomb's regiment of minute-men at the Lexington alarm, and marched to Cam- bridge, being credited with a service of eight days. He was also a member of Captain Manasseh Sawye's company, of Colonel Dike's regiment ; his pay abstract for mileage being dated at Dorchester Heights. This was al- lowed September 15, 1776. He also appears on a pay abstract of the same company, No- vember 30, 1776, when he is credited with thirty-eight miles' travel, and he subsequently signed a receipt to the selectmen of Harvard for a mileage covering one hundred and eighty miles, from Harvard to Danbury. He was a corporal in Captain David Nourse's company in 1777, and in 1781 was lieutenant of the Seventh Company, Second Worcester Regi- ment. In 1787 he was a captain of militia. The family records say that he served in sev- eral campaigns and battles of the revolution, but the Massachusetts rolls do not contain a record showing this. He married (first) March 21, 1776, Lois Hartwell, born July 12, 1757, daughter of Nathan and Mary ( Patch) Hartwell, of Littleton, Massachusetts. (See Hartwell IV). She died January 9, 1802. He married (second) February 1I, 1817, her sister Mary, born July 6, 1755; died January 13, 1821. Children, all born of first wife: Betsy, July 21, 1777; Sarah, October 5, 1778; Nancy, August 18, 1780; Benjamin, June 12, 1782 ; Philemon, June 30, 1785 ; Jabez, August IO, 1788: Sylvester, mentioned below ; Jona- than, September 11, 1795.

(VI) Sylvester, fourth son of Philemon and Lois (Hartwell) Priest, was born June 24, 1792, in Harvard, and died January 30, 1879. in Watertown, Massachusetts. A deed on record shows that he sold land in Harvard in September, 1834, and he appears in Water- town, Massachusetts, as carly as 1836. On August 19, 1835, he satisfied a mortgage ap- pearing on the Harvard records, and it is prob- able that he moved about that time to Water- town. His business card preserved by de- scendants shows that he had a partner or part-

ners at one time, and did business under the style of S. Priest & Company. They manu- factured shoe boxes and all kinds of packing boxes to order, and also did planing, sawing and matching. He was part owner of a wharf near the present North Station in Boston. In 1861 he retired from the partnership which included Philemon and John W. Priest, the former probably his brother. There are many land transactions recorded in Harvard, in which he figured as a capitalist, and he must have been an extensive business man. Nu- merous other transactions are recorded at Watertown, Brighton, Newtonville, and other points in the vicinity. He was an ardent church worker, one of the founders of the St. John Methodist Episcopal Church of Water- town, and was accustomed to give a tithe of his income for church purposes. He married (first) in December, 1819, Rebecca Fuller, who died between 1831 and 1833. He mar- ried (second) January 23, 1833, Cynthia Eaton, born October 10, 1796, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, daughter of Timothy (2) and Betsy ( Frey) Eaton, of that town; died July 4, 1848, in Watertown. Captain Timothy (I) Eaton, second son of James and Rachel (Kim- ball ) Eaton, of Haverhill, was born July 31, 1731, in Haverhill; married Abigail Massey, and resided in that town. Timothy (2), son of Timothy (I) and Abigail ( Massey) Eaton, was born July, 1751, in Haverhill, and mar- ried Betsy Frey, born 1765, died August I, 1821. He had children : Timothy, Thaddeus, Abijah, Francis, Royal, Elizabeth, Sirus, Cyn- thia, Phoebe, Lydia, James, Caroline, Benja- min and Mary. The eighth of these became the wife of Sylvester Priest as above noted. He married (third) September 18, 1859, Han- nal Fuller, who died in July, 1891, at the age of ninety years. Children of first wife : Mary ( died young), George ( died young), Caroline, born December 4, 1827; Mary H., July 19, 1829: Thurston S., October 29, 1831 ; married Mary Anne Lee. Children of second wife : Charles Henry, died young; George Eaton.

(VII) George Eaton, youngest child of Sylvester and Cynthia (Eaton ) Priest, was born January 30, 1842, in Watertown, and died in Marblehead, Massachusetts, July 22, 1897. He resided in Watertown, where he carried on the lumber business, founded by his father, and was a very highly respected citizen. He was a soldier of the civil war, enlisting in Sep- tember, 1862, being commissioned first lieu- tenant of Company H, Fifty-third Massachu- setts Volunteer Infantry. He participated in

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the Port Hudson campaign, his term of serv- ice expiring in September, 1863. In the fol- lowing November he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Regiment, and was appointed regimental quartermaster. This was the General Bart- lett regiment ; and he served in the campaign before Richmond until the close of the war, participating in the battles of Spottsylvania, Wilderness, North Anna River, the siege of Petersburg, battles of Welden Road and Pop- lar Grove Church. He was on the staff of General Mclaughlin and made an excellent record for military service. He was dis- charged from service, December 17, 1864. On the close of the war he returned to Water- town, and during the winter of 1865-66 was employed as a bookkeeper in Boston. In May, 1866, he became a partner in the firm of Kin- ney & Priest, lumber dealers, with an office on State street, Boston, which was subsequently dissolved, and Mr. Priest entered the employ of White, Pratt & Company. This concern is now known as the Walker & Pratt Manu- facturing Company. Mr. Priest continued with it until his death, serving a portion of the time as treasurer of the company. During the war he became affiliated with Pequossette Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and remained a member of this body until his death. He was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and was elected a trustee of the Water- town Public Library in 1889, continuing on the board the remainder of his life. He served as secretary in 1889-90, treasurer in 1891 and 1893, and chairman from 1893 to 1897. He was one of the incorporators of the Watertown Savings Bank; was a member of its board of trustees, and for several years served as treasurer. He was brought up in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, and united with that body when a young man, remaining a devoted member throughout his life, and serving many years as superintend- ent of the Sunday school. He served the so- ciety in many capacities; as a member of the board of trustees, treasurer of the stewards or custodians of the church property. He was a good citizen, honest, faithful and upright, caring little for public office, and though often urged to accept refused the nomination for selectman and representative to the general court. He graduated from Harvard College with the degree of M. A. in 1862, and after leaving the army settled in Watertown, and was among the active citizens of the town.

The esteem in which he was held is indicated by the bronze tablet to his memory in the free public library of Watertown. He mar- ried, September 30, 1866, Mary Wallis Whit- tier, born February 21, 1845, in Cornville, Maine, daughter of Joseph Whittier, of Fair- fax, Maine. Children : George Wesley, men- tioned below; Jessie Whittier, died at the age of four years; Benjamin Sydney, graduated from Harvard in 1891, engaged in the lumber business at Watertown, and died October 15, 1909; Mabel Eaton, graduated from Rad- cliffe Seminary, in 1898, now widow of Dr. Vivian Daniel, of . Watertown; Winifred Morse, died at the age of ten months.

(VIII) George Wesley, eldest child of George Eaton and Mary W. (Whittier) Priest, was born August 10, 1868, in Water- town, and attended the public schools of that town; graduated from the Cambridge Latin school in 1887, and was graduated from Har- vard College in the class of 1891. Soon after graduation he became interested in the chem- istry of leather and pursued a course in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pre- pare himself for the active manufacture of leather. At that time the chrome system of tanning was in its infancy, and he became iden- tified with its growth and development, and has been very successful in producing a fine grade of goods. In 1899 he operated a fac- tory at Newark, New Jersey, and was the first to produce chrome-tanned patent leather finished on the grain side; and for this re- ceived a gold medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900. In 1901 he established himself in busi- ness at Watertown, Massachusetts, and two years later his factory was destroyed by fire. He then removed the business to Mansfield, Massachusetts, where he has since continued successfully, and is engaged in producing a high grade of chrome-tanned patent leather. His home is in Newton, Massachusetts. He is a member of the St. John Methodist Epis- copal Church of Watertown; of the Univer- sity Club; American Chemical Society and other chemical associations; and the Boston Chamber of Commerce. He attends the Grace Episcopal Church of Newton; and is a Re- publican, politically. He married, October 16, 1900, Mabel Langford, born June 10, 1869, in Dorchester; daughter of John Thompson (mentioned below) and Ellen M. ( Priest ) Langford, of Boston. (See Priest IX below.) Children : Katharine, born December 24, 1902 : John Sylvester, October 10, 1904; Ellen Lang- ford. December 21, 1905, died August 18, 1906.

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William Langford came from England with his widowed mother when a boy, and settled in Taunton, Massachusetts, where he married Sarah Husband. Later they resided in Fall River. John Thompson, sixth son of Will- iam and Sarah (Husband) Langford, was born February 8, 1842, in Fall River, and fitted for college, but abandoned the college course because of the injurious effect on his health of indoor life, and engaged in business. He turned his attention to engineering under- takings, and was engaged in the construction of water works. Besides erecting many sys- tems of fire protection for corporations, he built the whole or part of the water works of forty cities and towns in New England. For over thirty years he resided in Newton, Mass- achusetts, and gave great impetus to many movements for public improvement. To his influence was largely due the depression of the railroad tracks in Newton, and improvements along the Charles river. Everything pertain- ing to the welfare of the Metropolitan district interested him, and he gave unsparing and un- requitted effort to the development of public improvements. He died at his home in New- ton, May 22, 1908. He was a member of the Grace Episcopal Church, and of Winslow Lewis Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Actuated by the fraternal and be- nevolent principles of the order, he progressed through its various degrees until he attained the thirty-second. He was earnest in the sup- port of Republican principles, and exercised much influence in the political affairs of the community, serving in 1899 and 1900 as rep- resentative to the general court. He married, November 20, 1867, Ellen Marean Kingsbury, born October 14, 1830, died May 23, 1903, in Newton, daughter of John Fox and Cather- ine B. (Marean) Priest, of Boston, and widow of Franklin Kingsbury. (See Priest, VIII, below.)

(III) Joseph, fourth son of John and Rachel (Garfield) Priest, was born about 1690, in Lancaster, Massachusetts, and died in Sterling in 1738. He resided on Bare Hill until 1743, then removed to Lancaster proper. He married, December 13, 1715, Mary (daugh- ter of Isaac Miller, of Sudbury, probably a son of Humphrey Miller, of Reading) who was the mother of children born as follows in Lancas- ter: Joseph, mentioned below ; Benjamin, February 29, 1720; Mary, March 23, 1722; Susanna, March 22, 1724; Eleazar, August 23, 1726; Tabitha, November 5, 1728; Batlı- sheba, May 1, 1731; Dorothy, October II,

1733; Betty, April 24, 1736; John, January 13, 1738.

(IV) Joseph (2), eldest child of Joseph (I) and Mary (Miller) Priest, was born No- vember 28, 1717, in Lancaster, and died there May 17, 1798. He was a soldier of the French war, at Crown Point and Ticonderoga under Captain Benjamin Hastings; enlisted April 26, 1756. He was also on the muster roll of Captain John Church's company, dated, Feb- ruary 6, 1760, at Boston. He married, July 5, 1737, in Groton, Elizabeth Atkinson, born 1714, died in Lancaster, March 25, 1798. They were received into the church at Lancaster by baptism, December 8, 1754, at which time were also baptized their children: Benjamin, Sus- anna, Abigail, Joseph, Sarah, Eleazer and John. On December 19, 1756, were also bap- tized, daughters, Tabitha, Elizabeth and Mary. The births of a portion of these are recorded, namely, Susanna, October 8, 1740; Abigail. February 7, 1743.

(V) Benjamin, eldest child of Joseph (2) and Elizabeth (Atkinson) Priest, was born December 12, 1738, in Lancaster, and died in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, January 4, 1817. He was a soldier in the French war, serving as a private in Joseph Whitcomb's company, Colonel Timothy Ruggles's regiment, March to December, 1758; Captain Thomas Beaman's company from February 29, to November 10, 1760, and from March 18 to November 15, 1762, he was in Captain Thomas Farrington's company. He was also a revolutionary sol- dier, being a private in Captain John Hart- well's company, of Colonel Nicholas Dyke's regiment, July 10, 1776, and from December 14, 1776, to March I, 1777. He served from November 1 to 23, 1779, in Captain Thomas Cowdin's company, Colonel Samuel Dennie's regiment. He married at Lancaster, January 20, 1761, Hannah Johnson, born November 2, 1739, daughter of Dole and Hannah John- son, of Harvard, Massachusetts. Together, Benjamin and Hannah Priest owned the cov- enant in the Lancaster church, October 30, 1763, and on the same date were baptized their sons John and Benjamin. Subsequently were baptized of their children : Oliver John- son. December 4, 1768; Meribah, January 5, 1772; Joel, February 25, 1776; the records also show that they had a son Solomon, bap -. tized at Shirley, December 28, 1777 ; died be- fore three days old. A second Solomon, son of Benjamin and Hannah, died in Lancaster, January 4, 1779. Dole Johnson, father of Hannah Johnson, was born September 30,

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1710. in Woburn, son of William and Sarah (Dole) Johnson. William Johnson was born March 28, 1686, in Woburn, and died in Mans- field, Connecticut, February 29, 1752. He married, January 1, 1708, Sarah Dole, born February 14, 1681, in Newbury; died in Wo- burn, October 14, 1710, daughter of Richard and Sarah (Greenleaf) Dole. Richard Dole, born September 6, 1650 (married, June 7, 1677. Sarah Greenleaf, born October 16, 1655, daughter of Captain Stephen (I) and Eliza- beth (Coffin) Greenleaf ; the latter a daughter of Tristram Coffin, and the former of Captain Edmund Greenleaf, of Newbury) was a son of Richard and Hannah (Rolfe) Dole, who were married May 3, 1647. Richard Dole was a resident of Newbury as early as 1639. His wife, Hannah Rolfe, died November 16, 1678. The Johnson family descended from Captain Edward Johnson of Woburn, whose son, Major William Johnson, married Esther Wiswall. They were the parents of William (2) Johnson, born February 26, 1656, in Wo- burn; and died there January 10, 1730. He married Esther Gardner, born 1659; died De- cember 17, 1706, daughter of Richard and Anna ( Blanchard) Gardner. They were the parents of William (3) Johnson, the father of Dole Johnson above described. The baptisms of the children of Benjamin and Hannah (Johnson) Priest have already been noted, with the exception of Hannah and Sarah (twins), baptized November 26, 1769-70, and Solomon, December 31, 1778.

(VI) John, eldest child of Benjamin and Hannah (Johnson) Priest, was born October I, 1761, in Lancaster, and settled in Rindge, New Hampshire, remaining there until 181I, when he returned to Lunenburg, where he died April 12, 1830, and was interred at south graveyard of that town ; he was on the school committee of the town in 1813-14. He was also a revolutionary soldier. He married, Au- gust 1, 1785 (intentions published in Fitch- burg) Rebecca Gibson, born November 15, 1765, in Concord, daughter of Abraham (2) and Esther (Fox) Gibson, of that town (see Gibson, VI). Children: John Fox, mentioned below; Josiah, born February 14, 1788; Re- becca (died young) ; Abraham Priest Gibson, July 10, 1791 ; Warham, May 26, 1794; Re- becca, May 15, 1795; Dole Johnson, April 26, 1796-97; Joel, May 11, 1799; Miranda, June 16, 1802; Stillman, December 18, 1807; Fan- nie, June 12, 1809; Jonas, July 6, 1812. The fourth took the name Gibson to please a ma- ternal relative. He was for many years iv-46

United States consul at St. Petersburg, and died in England, unmarried. John Priest married (second) November 17, 1814, Mrs. Phoebe ( Atherton ) Sherman.

(VII) John Fox, eldest son of John and Rebecca (Gibson) Priest, was born May 31, 1786, in Rindge, New Hampshire, and died July 12, 1846, in Boston, Massachusetts, being interred in the Granary burying ground. He was an importer of iron and steel in Boston, and conducted a very successful and extensive hardware business. In his day he was counted among the one hundred wealthiest men in Bos- ton. He married in Boston, September 9, 1810, Catherine Brewer Marean, born July 21, 1794, in Boston, died there May 12, 1855, and was buried beside her husband. She was a daughter of William and Sarah (Brewer) Marean, the latter a daughter of Colonel David Brewer, one of three brothers who commanded colonial regiments in the revolution. The line of descent is as follows: ( 1) John Brewer and his wife Anne from England, were early in Cambridge, Massachusetts, whence they re- moved to Sudbury in 1647. (2) John (2), son of John (I) and Anne Brewer, was born September 10, 1642, and resided in Sudbury, where he died January 1, 1691. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Moore) Rice, born August 4, 1648, in Cam- bridge. Children: John, Elizabeth, Hannah, James, Sarah, Mary, Abigail, Martha and Jonathan. (3) Jonathan, youngest child of John (2) and Elizabeth (Rice) Brewer, was born June 21, 1689, in Sudbury, and removed to Framingham, Massachusetts, as early as 1717. He had a wife, Arabella, and children : Samuel, Abner, Peter, Elizabeth, Abigail, Jonathan, Moses, David, Martha and Eleab. (4) Colonel David, sixth son of Jonathan and Arabella Brewer, was born December 24, 1731, in Framingham, and was a resident of Brookfield in 1764, and of Palmer in 1775. He was a colonel of the Ninth Massachusetts Regiment in the revolution. He married, May 8, 1763, in Framingham, Elisabeth Smith. (5) Sarah, daughter of Colonel David and Elisa- beth (Smith) Brewer, became the wife of William Marean, who was a son of Thomas and Margaret (Hammond) Marean. Thomas was a son of William and Elizabeth (Clark) Marean, the former a son of Dorman and Mary Marean. This family is probably of French origin. John F. Priest and wife had children : 1. Sarah Anne, born October 21, 18II ; married John W. Hall, a merchant of Boston. 2. John Lathrop, August 21, 1813;

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 73

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