Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 82

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 82

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).

(IV) Cornet John (2) Fowle, eldest son of Captain John (1) Fowle, born at Woburn, January 7, 1700; died there in the early part of 1745; married at Woburn, February 21. 1723. Ruth Simonds, born at Woburn, Decem- ber 12, 1699: died there May 20, 1753. daugh- ter of James and Susanna ( Blodgett ) Simonds. His life seems to have been occupied in assist- ing his father in the conduct of the many affairs of his busy life. He was cornet or color bearer in the company of troopers of which his father was captain, and was town clerk of Woburn during the last year of his life. Children, born at Woburn: 1. Ruth, April 17, 1725 : died at Woburn, May 8, 1738. 2. Jonathan, Septem- ber 7. 1726: see forward. 3. Ruth. September 13, 1741 ; married, September 1, 1785. James Blodgett.

(V) Jonathan, only son of Cornet John (2) Fowle, born at Woburn, September 7. 1726;

died there May 26, 1772 ; married at Woburn, August 1, 1754, Mehitable Hosmer, born at Concord, Massachusetts, April 23, 1731, daugh- ter of John and Mehitable ( Parker) Hosmer, of Concord. She survived him and died at Medford, Massachusetts, February 24, 1821, at the age of eighty-eight years. Jonathan Fowle was a farmer and resided in Woburn all his life. He appears to have given his whole attention to his occupation and took no part in public affairs. Children, born at Wo- burn : 1. John, January 25, 1755 ; see forward. 2. Mehitable, June 3, 1758. 3. Ruth, Febru- ary 18, 1760; married at Woburn, March 15, 1781, Joseph Wyman. 4. Ruhamah, April 8, 1764. 5. Jonathan, March 24, 1768; died there November 28. 1827; married at Watertown. Massachusetts, November 15, 1792, Fanny Fox.

(VI) John (3). son of Jonathan Fowle, born at Woburn, January 25, 1755; died at Cambridge, April 22, 1822; married (first) at Woburn, February 19, 1782, Mary Parker. born at Lexington, Massachusetts, January 5, 1761, daughter of Jonas and Lucy ( Monroe) Parker. Jonas Parker was the martyr hero who was shot and then bayonetted to death by the British at the battle on Lexington Common, on the morning of April 19, 1775, and whose name is inscribed on the monument on Lexing- ton Green. John Fowle was a housewright or carpenter, and his occupation led him to change his residence several times in the course of his life, and he is known to have lived in Medford and Cambridge as well as Woburn, Massachu- setts, and in Mason, New Hampshire. At the time of his marriage to Mary Parker he seems to have been living away from Woburn for about a year, and following the marriage he remained away until 1787, when he returned to his native town and built himself a home on a three-acre lot of land which he had pur- chased in 1784. Here he resided until 1795. when he took up his residence in Medford, where he had bought a dwelling, barn and one- half acre of land. During the eight years of his married life in Woburn three sons were born to him. He resided in Medford about seven years, and there two more sons and one daughter were born. His wife Mary died there October 20, 1801, and in 1803 he married Margaret (called "Peggy") Griggs, and settled in Mason, New Hampshire, where they lived until 1813. when they removed to Cambridge. Massachusetts. Two sons and two daughters were born to them at Mason, and one son and one daughter at Cambridge. All of Mr.

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Fowle's twelve children lived to adult years, and all were married except the youngest son. Mr. Fowle's second wife Margaret survived him about seventeen years, and was killed in an accident, August 9, 1839, while out for a drive in Boston with her youngest son, Henry D. Fowle, a well known druggist. The horse be- came frightened at a load of wood, and, being unmanageable. threw both Mrs. Fowle and her son out upon the pavement. Mrs. Fowle struck upon her face on the curbstone and survived the accident but a few moments, while her son escaped with a slight injury. She was fifty- eight years of age at the time of her death. Children by Mary Parker: I. Jonas Parker, born at Woburn. November II, 1788; died at Boston, August 24, 1862; married (first) Thankful Parmenter, born at Sudbury, Massa- chusetts. March 27. 1786, daughter of Eben- ezer and Anna (Wheeler ) Parmenter. She died at Boston, June 6, 1816, and he married (second) Lucy Maynard, born at Sudbury, May 25, 1793, daughter of Isaac and Rebecca (Haynes) Maynard. She survived him and died at Boston, May 30, 1883, at the age of ninety years. 2. Charles Sigourney, born at Woburn, October 28, 1790; died at Boston, December, 1868 : married Frances Hilton, who died at Boston, May, 1859. 3. William, born at Woburn, August 17, 1794; died at Boston, May 13, 1871 ; married at Roxbury, December 4, 1832. Maria Fiske, born at Boston, August 4. 1806; died at Brooklyn, New York, April 21, 1882. 4. John, born at Medford, Septem- ber 28, 1796; died at Arlington, Massachusetts, June 5, 1871 ; married at Arlington, then West Cambridge, October 14, 1821, Abigail Bow- man Hill, born at West Cambridge, then called Menotomy, December 1I, 1802 ; died at Arling- ton, March 8, 1881. 5. George, born at Med- ford, May 12, 1798; died May, 1834; married Mary Elizabeth Whitwell, who died at Boston, November 21, 1863, aged fifty-five years. 6. Mary, born at Medford, February 26, 1801 ; died at Brooklyn, New York, December 27, 1891; married at Boston, October 26, 1825, Avery Clark, born at Gerry, now Phillipston, Massachusetts, October 3, 1804, son of Will- iam and Susan Clark. Children by Margaret Griggs : 7. James, born at Mason, New Hamp- shire, May 9, 1804; died at Boston, May 12, 1863; married Harriet Meriam, born at Bev- erly, Massachusetts, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Meriam. She died at Boston, Octo- ber 16, 1863, aged sixty-two years. 8. Char- lotte, born at Mason, July 20, 1807; died at Roxbury, April 1, 1895; married at Boston,

January 28, 1835, David Jones Foster, born March 14, 1806, at Dudley, Massachusetts; died at Roxbury, July 13, 1881, son of Silas and Lucina Foster. 9. Emma Cades, born at Mason, December 27, 1809; died at Hudson, Massachusetts, June 16, 1886; married at Bos- ton, December 12, 1837, Elbridge Darling, born at Marlborough, Massachusetts, November 22, 1808; died at Hudson, March 16, 1897, son of Ethan and Mary ( Hapgood) Darling. IO. Seth Wyman, born at Mason, July 25, 1812; died at Boston, October 19, 1867 ; see forward. II. Mehitable Ausmer, born at Cambridge, September 26, 1814; died at Roxbury, March 27, 1902, aged eighty-seven years; married at Boston, May 1, 1844, Rev. Josiah Adams Coolidge, born at Framingham, Massachusetts, October 30, 1816; died at East Lexington, Oc- tober 6, 1865. 12. Henry Dearborn, born at Cambridge, May 3, 1817; died at Boston, May 26, 1882 ; unmarried.

(VII) Seth Wyman, seventh son and tenth child of John (3) Fowle, born at Mason, New Hampshire, July 25, 1812; died at Boston, October 19, 1867; married at Salem, Massa- chusetts, April 9, 1839, Lucy Ann Sweetser. born at Boston, May 24, 1817; died at Rox- bury, August 12, 1900, aged eighty-three years, daughter of Thomas Wells and Rachel (Cross) Sweetser, of Salem. The year following his birth, Mr. Fowle's parents removed to Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, where his father died nine years later. The lad was then sent to live with friends of the family in Sudbury, Massachusetts, where he attended school until he was fourteen years of age, when he went to Boston and was apprenticed to his older brother James, who was then doing business as an apothecary at the corner of Green and Leverett streets. Here he formed the excellent character which he bore through life, and being obliged to work early and late, and through all hours of the night called up to prepare pre- scriptions, he found little time for amusement or association with others of his age. Faith- ful to the duty of forwarding his brother's interests, he became accustomed to habits of industry which clung to him through life. Neglecting no opportunity to acquire knowl- edge of the business in which he was employed, he became thoroughly acquainted with the nature and uses of the various drugs and very expert in compounding them. Just prior to attaining his majority he purchased, with his brother's assistance, the apothecary stand on the corner of Prince and Salem streets, one of the oldest drug establishments in Boston, which

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for many years had been conducted by the cele- brated Dr. Fennelly, and whose once elegant sign of the Golden Æsculapius still remains on the corner. Here he remained about ten years and was very successful. In 1842 he sold out to his youngest brother, Henry D. Fowle, who had learned the business with him, and the latter continued in the same place until his death in 1882. Seth W. Fowle then connected himself with Joseph M. Smith, who for many years had been established as a druggist on Washington street, opposite School street. Here they continued for two years under the firm name of Smith & Fowle, and during this period Dr. Wistar's Balsam of Wild Cherry was introduced into New England. This well known throat and lung remedy was first pre- pared about 1840 by the celebrated Dr. Henry Wistar, and for many years had been put up by Williams & Company, of Philadelphia, dur- ing which time it had quite a large sale in the middle and southern states. In 1843 Isaac Butts, one of Williams & Company's traveling agents, bought out their interest and establish- ed himself in New York City, and by extensive advertising more than doubled the sale of the balsam. He appointed Smith & Fowle his gen- eral agents for New England, and a large de- mand was created in this section. In 1844 Mr. Fowle purchased his partner's interest and continued the business in his own name for eleven years. Although Mr. Butts was making money rapidly, his health became impaired, and wishing to go west he disposed of his entire interest in Wistar's Balsam to Mr. Fowle for $30,000. This money Mr. Butts invested largely in telegraph stock, which was then selling very low but it soon rose above par and he became a very rich man. He made his home in Roches- ter, New York, where for several years he edited and published, with others, the Daily Union, in which also he made money, so that he was able to retire with a fortune of about a million and a half dollars. Rows of stores and acres of land owned by his family in Rochester attest to the great wealth which he had acquired. Mr. Fowle advertised Wistar's Balsam more extensively than ever, placing long advertise- ments in nearly every newspaper in the eastern, middle and southern states and Canada, and as a consequence the sale of it became the largest of any medicine at that time in the market. Mr. Fowle also increased his regular drug business, became a large importer, and was soon one of the leading merchants in his line in Boston, but misfortunes came upon him throughi reverses in investments in California,

and assisting others less fortunate than him- self, and following his remarkable success he lost money quite as rapidly as he had made it. In 1855 he disposed of his drug business to Charles T. Carney, of Lowell, and took as a partner George W. Safford, a long time valued and trusted assistant, and they continued the sale of Wistar's Balsam, under the firm name of Seth W. Fowle & Company. With other medicines and extensive advertising the busi- ness reached large proportions. In 1858 Mr. Safford sold his interest to William L. Beal, who retired from the firm in 1861, and Mr. Fowle continued alone until 1865, when he took into partnership his eldest son, Seth A. Fowle, who had been his clerk since 1856, and the firm became Seth W. Fowle & Son. Al- though the business increased, Mr. Fowle's outside investments continued to cause him heavy losses, and these misfortunes completely broke down his health and hastened his death, he having lost nearly all his property. Most men under the circumstances would have long before given up in despair, but he struggled manfully to recover lost ground, placing his honor and character above everything else, and retaining the confidence and esteem of all for his staunch and steadfast integrity. He never was known to misrepresent the quality of his wares, and the confidence he thereby gained was one great cause of his success in business. He was a kind friend to young men starting in business, and many a successful merchant has remembered with gratitude the encouragement and pecuniary assistance ren- dered him in his early career by Mr. Fowle. He left a spotless character and unblemished name as a priceless heritage. Mr. Fowle re- sided in Boston during his whole business life. In religion he was a Unitarian, in politics first a Whig and afterwards a Republican. His strict attention to business prevented him from engaging in public affairs. He was a director of the Worcester & Nashua railroad and of the Cochituate Bank, and a director and treasurer of the Winthrop House Corporation .-

Lucy Ann Sweetser, wife of Seth Wyman Fowle, was descended from one of the oldest and best known families of New England, the immigrant ancestor being Seth Sweetser, who was born in 1606, in Hertfordshire, England, about thirty miles from London, and came to this country in 1637. with his wife Bethia and son Benjamin and settled in Charlestown. Massachusetts, where he died in 1662. The son Benjamin was a lastmaker, and in 1658 was a householder in Charlestown. As evi-

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dence of the religious intolerance of the time, in 1659 he was fined £50 and imprisoned for being a Baptist. He married Abigail Wiggles- worth, and the succeeding generations of the Sweetsers in direct line were: (III) Samuel and Elizabeth (Sprague) Sweetser; (IV) Phineas and Mary (Rhodes) Sweetser ; (V) Samuel and Elizabeth (Wells) Sweetser ; (VI) Thomas Wells and Rachel (Cross) Sweetser ; (VII) Lucy Ann Sweetser. Chil- dren, born in Boston : I. Seth Augustus, March 27, 1840; mentioned below. 2. Helen Sweetser, October 8, 1841; died at Boston, April 20, 1842. 3. Helen Ausmer, July 12, 1843; unmarried. 4. Elizzie Endicott, Septem- ber 15, 1845; married at Boston, October 16, 1873, William Frederick Whitcomb, born at Boston, September 1I, 1846; died there Octo- ber 24, 1889, son of John Adams and Caroline

(Pierce) Whitcomb. 4. Horace Sweetser, No- vember 5, 1847 ; married at Lawrence, Massa- chusetts, June II, 1879, Mary Emma Wingate, born at Lawrence, July 7, 1859, daughter of Moses and Lydia Ann (Snell) Wingate. Lydia Ann Snell was daughter of Samuel and Sarah Jane (Horn) Snell. 6. Alice Wells, De- cember 1, 1850; unmarried. 7. Annie Derby, November 6, 1852 ; unmarried.

(VIII) Seth Augustus, eldest son of Seth Wyman Fowle, born at Boston, March 27, 1840; married, September 12, 1866, at Cam- bridge, Emily Morton Mitchell, born at Nan- tucket, Massachusetts, April 22, 1843, daugh- ter of Captain Richard and Charlotte Frances ( Morton) Mitchell, of Nantucket. Captain Mitchell was in his early life a member of the firm of Richard Mitchell & Sons, merchants and shipowners in Nantucket, and afterwards commanded some of the largest ships sailing out of New York and Boston. During the civil war he was a paymaster of state troops, and for twenty-two years afterwards held a position in the Boston custom house. His wife was the daughter of Dr. Martin Tuller Morton, a leading physician of Nantucket, and collector of customs for that port from 1817 to 1834. Seth Augustus Fowle attended a private school in Boston until he was eight years of age, then the Phillips and Mayhew grammar schools and the English high school, of Boston. On his graduation from the Mayhew school in 1854 he received a Franklin medal. After leaving the English high school in December, 1856, he entered the office of Seth W. Fowle & Com- pany, and has followed the same business ever since. In 1865 he entered into partnership with his father, under the firm name of Seth

WV. Fowle & Son, which continued until the death of his father in 1867. The son carried on the business under the same name until January, 1871, when a new firm was formed with his brother, Horace S. Fowle, and the name became Seth W. Fowle & Sons, which has been retained to the present time. In addi- tion to the compounding and selling of medi- cines the firm became interested in "Coca- Cola," in 1892, and has since that time been the New England agents for that popular soda fountain drink, which was first sold in Atlanta, Georgia, where the principal office is located, the sale in the southern states particularly being very large. The firm of Seth W. Fowle & Sons has been very successful and stands high in the business world.

Mr. Fowle and his family reside in Roxbury, and attend the First Church, Unitarian, there, of which Rev. James De Normandie, D. D., is pastor. He is a Republican in politics, was a member of the state militia, the Independent Corps of Cadets, from 1865 to 1870, and is now a life member of the Veteran Association of that organization. He is a life member of the Boston Young Men's Christian Union, member of the New England Historic Gene- alogical Society, member of the Roxbury Charitable Society, is president of the English high school class of 1854-1857 ; was president of the Mercantile Library Association, of Bos- ton, in 1864-65 ; is a member of the John Eliot Club, of Roxbury ; a director of the Elm Hill Association, member of the Boston Druggists' Association, a trustee of the Eliot Five Cents Savings Bank, and has been a justice of the peace since 1870. Children, born in Boston : I. Seth Mitchell, born August 29, 1868; died at Boston, February 16, 1874. 2. Charlotte Helen, born February 20, 1872 ; died at Boston, December 25, 1875. 3. Frances Sweetser, born November 23, 1877 ; married at Boston, Octo- ber 27, 1903, Boylston Lincoln Williams, born at Boston, Massachusetts, March 22, 1870, son of Major Horace Perry and Mary Frances ( Mitchell) Williams. They have one child. Emily Morton Williams, born at Boston, April 25, 1907.

ALLEN This is one of the names most frequently met in the United States, and is represented by many distinct families. Several immigrants brought it to these shores among the earliest in New England. The family traced below has numerous representatives throughout the United States, and they are usually found

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among the useful and desirable citizens. There was a family of this name living in Lynn and Grunston, Norfolk county, England, including three sons and a daughter, all living in 1643, namely : Bozoune, Elizabeth, William and Thomas. William died unmarried at Grunston in 1648, and Thomas died unmarried in Lon- don, in 1646. From their wills the family con- nection above noted is learned. It is presum- able that the family was of French origin.

(I) Bozoune Allen was the only one of the family to come to America. He was a mercer or trader, and came from Lynn, England, with his wife and two servants, in the ship "Dili- gence," of Ipswich, John Martin, master, in 1638, and settled first at Hingham, Massachu- setts. He became prominent in both civil and military life, being a town officer at Hingham, deputy to the general court, and captain of the military company. He was admitted freeman June 2, 1641, and served seven years in the general court, beginning with 1643, the last service being in 1652. He removed to Boston, where he joined the artillery company, and died September 4, 1652. His will, made six days previous to his death, mentions his wife and children and two sisters, Elizabeth Burcham and Joanna Peck (the last not men- tioned in the wills of his brothers), Mr. Hub- bard, his pastor, and Matthew Hawks. The inventory of his estate shows that he had accounts with two hundred and eighty-six per- sons. His wife Anne married (second), May 13, 1653, Joseph Jewett, of Rowley, and died February 4, 1661. Children of Bozoune and Anne Allen: Prescilla, Ephraim and John (twins), Anne, Deborah (died young), Debo- rah, Isaac, Bozoune and Martha. The young- est son settled in Boston and reared a large family. The youngest daughter became wife of Ebenezer Savage.

(II) Ephraim, eldest son of Bozoune and Anne Allen, was born October 13, 1641, in Hingham, and settled in Roxbury, Massachu- setts.

(III) Ephraim (2), son of Ephraim (I) Allen, was born about 1670, in Roxbury, and settled in what is now Northboro, Massachu- setts, where he purchased from Eleazer Howe a few acres of land with a grist mill, which was for many years the only grist mill in the town.

(IV) Ephraim (3), son of Ephraim (2) Allen, was born about 1700, in Northboro, then a precinct of Marlboro, Massachusetts. He settled in that part of the latter town now Westboro. His wife's baptismal name was

Susanna ; children, all born in Westboro : Sam- uel, September 7, 1720; Susanna, August 31, 1723; William, resided at Rutland, Massachu- setts ; Elijah, November 25, 1728; Sarah, 1729; Ephraim, mentioned below ; Hannah, April 28, 1734. The first two were baptized July 13, 1729, in Marlboro, and the fourth and fifth, August 17 of the same year.

(V) Ephraim (4), fourth son of Ephraim (3) and Susanna Allen, was born October 24, 1731, in Marlboro, and resided for a time in what is now Boylston, whence he removed to Petersham, Massachusetts. He owned the mill in Boylston on Buck Brook, built by the Hend- erys. He possessed a strong and musical voice, and for many years, seated in the front gallery, he led the Sacred Psalmody of the sanctuary. He married at Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, July 12, 1757, Huldah ( Maynard) Chestnut, a widow, daughter of Elisha Maynard. Chil- dren found of record: Elijah, born March 3, 1758; Hannah, January 10, 1760; Ephraim, April 9, 1763 ; Elisha, May 7, 1765, at Shrews- bury ; Abner, December 1, 1767, settled at Palmer ; Cynthia, January 17, 1770; Huldah, May 3, 1772; Samuel, baptized October 26, 1777, settled at Westfield, New York, and was father of Anthony B. and Richard L. Allen, founders of the American Agriculturist.

(VI) Captain Washington Allen, undoubt- edly a son of Ephraim (4) and Huldah ( May- nard) Allen, was born in 1778, probably in Boylston, and resided in Oakham, Massachu- setts, where he died in 1858, at the age of eighty years. He married, December 27, 1800, in New Braintree, Massachusetts, Betsy West ; children found of record : Lysander Brown, born November 13, 1802; Almeda, May 17, 1804; Nehemiah, December 18, 1805, died in Oakham; Catherine, married Samuel Keith, and lived in Middleton, Massachusetts ; Lewis, mentioned below; Elizabeth West, February 16, 18II; Charlotte Norton, August 27, 1813; George Washington, September 12, 1815; William, January 3, 1818; Paul West, April 6, 1820.

(VII) Louis, third son of Captain Wash- ington and Elizabeth (West) Allen, was born September 5, 1809, in Oakham, and grew up on the paternal farm. For three years after his marriage he resided in Barre, but returned to Oakham, where he was a farmer through life, and died about 1870. He purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, and was a thrifty and successful man ; a Con- gregationalist in religion, and a Democrat in politics. He served as selectman, and was a

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respected and useful citizen. He married at Barre, April 5, 1836, Lucy, daughter of Asa and Abigail ( Conant) Shattuck, born March 1, 1816, in Barre (see Shattuck, VII). Chil- dren : Charlotte, became wife of Albert Conant, and resided in Worcester; Elizabeth, married Lake Van Arnham, and died in Northville, New York; Henry W., mentioned below ; James C., died at Colebrook Springs, Massa- chusetts ; Edwin, died in infancy; John E., born March 6, 1845, died in Worcester, at the age of fifty years ; Lucy Maria, September 23, 1846, married Henry Lawrence, of Westboro; Caroline Louisa, October 26, 1847, became wife of John Upham, of Worcester.

(VIII) Henry William, eldest son of Lewis and Lucy (Shattuck) Allen, was born August 14, 1841, in Barre, and grew up on the paternal farm in the town of Oakham, receiving his education in the public schools. At the age of eighteen years he went to Worcester and engaged in the butchering business, being em- ployed one year by W. B. Newton, and was subsequently with Peaselee & Davis nearly three years. He enlisted in August, 1863, at Worcester, in Company D, Fifty-first Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry, for nine months. Most of the service of this organization was rendered in the vicinity of Newberne, North Carolina, and Mr. Allen participated in light engagements at Kinston, White Hall, and Goldsboro, North Carolina. After the expira- tion of his enlistment he returned to Wor- cester and was employed five years in a hotel. In 1872 he settled in Boston, and has ever since engaged as victualer in that city. For thirty-five years he has been located on North Market street in that city. His home is in Somerville, Massachusetts, and he is a mem- ber of W. H. Smart Post, No. 30, G. A. R., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, having formerly been a member of Post No. 10, at Worcester. He is a member of Athelston Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Worcester, and of Cambridge Royal Arch Chapter, of Cambridge. In politics he has always favored the Democratic party, but is independent in action. He married, 1868, in Worcester, Lucy Childs, a native of that town, daughter of Gardner and Fannie (Gold- ing) Childs. They have one son, Harry G. Allen, connected with a wholesale grocery house in Boston.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 82

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