Genealogy and history of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 13

Author: Hurd, Charles Edwin, 1833-1910
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 850

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Another branch of the family was then set- tled at Sharpenhoe, in the parish of Streatley, county of Bedford, having existed there for several generations. These two branches were doubtless closely connected, as John, son of Hemyng above mentioned, m. Agnes, sole heir of the family of Beleurge, or Beleverge, pos- sessors of the estate of Sharpenhoes, county

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of Bedford, who brought him that estate. He appears then to have changed his residence to Sharpenhoe, as the family was afterwards called of that place. By some lines the descendants of John and Agnes Wingate have been traced for twelve generations. Among them were : Edward, for thirty-three years Clerk of the Cheque to Queen Elizabeth, who d. in 1597; another Edward was "Serjeant to the Bear Garden " to the same queen. Edmund Win- gate, of Bedford, of the eighth generation from John and Agnes, a man of "various learning, great industry, valor, and the refinements and accomplishments incident to a place at court," the author of a table of logarithms and mathe- matical works, also works highly esteemed in his day on the Common Law and the Statutes of Magna Charta, deserted (probably from high principle) his king and patron, Charles I., in order to assume active service with the Parliamentarians. He became an influential member of Parliament, and a friend and sup- porter of Cromwell, when Protector. Mary Wingate, daughter of Ralph, and of the tenth generation from Hemyng first mentioned, m. Sir Jerome Smithson, and became ancestress of the present Duke of Northumberland. Sir Francis Wingate under the English law of May 16, 1664, against conventicles, relieved the community over which he presided as a justice of a "perverse and noisy " itinerant preacher by imprisonment for life, "and thus secured to the Christian world from the pen of that same preacher, John Bunyan, the immortal allegory of the 'Pilgrim's Progress.'" His son John, tradition says, was appointed to the command of the fleet in the Mediterranean ; but, being laid up with a fit of the gout, which he did not survive, the command was transferred to Ad- miral Byng, the political sacrifice of the day. Thus it will be seen that in the strenuous times long past, when the battle for constitu- tional liberty was being fought out in England, the Wingates, like many other influential families, were divided in sentiment, some sup- porting the crown in its efforts to extend and firmly establish the kingly prerogative, while others fought for the liberties of the subject and the upholding of the laws of the realm against the royal encroachments.

The Wingates of America, all those at least who have been long settled here and whose presence cannot be accounted for by compara- tively recent immigrations, can be traced to one man, who emigrated to this country about the middle of the seventeenth century - John 1 Wingate, a native of England, who came to New Hampshire when a young man without a family. Two others bearing the same surname came to Virginia in the early Colonial period, Charles Wyngate (aged twenty-two) in 1635 and John Wyngatt in 1679; but it is probable that these two either did not long remain or that their lines soon became extinct. The family name has been variously spelled or misspelled, the variations being due doubtless in many cases to the carelessness of recording clerks.

John ' Wingate came to Dover, N. H. (then called Hilton's Head), in the service of Thomas Layton; and in 1658 a lot of twenty acres was granted him by his master and con- veyed to him by the Selectmen, whereupon he became a planter. The records show that he had other lands also, ten acres laid out in 1669 being granted him by the inhabitants of Dover Neck. Here he established a homestead, which has remained in possession of the Win- gate family ever since, a period of two hundred and twenty-five years. It is now a beautiful farm of nearly one hundred acres, very near the city. A description by a sister of the present occupant thus reads : "The magnificent elms which now stand before the house were planted by the late William P. M. Wingate (b. 1789) in 1801. An apple-tree planted with his own hand by John, the first American an- cestor, survived in good condition until the great storm of 1845. It was over sixteen feet in circumference. Pieces of that tree are now in possession of the family. We can drink from the same spring where our forefathers have drunk for two hundred and twenty-five years, and also from a glass one hundred and twenty-five years old. The old house is full of relics. We have a flint-gun carried by Moses 4 (b. 1744) in the Revolutionary War; and, as Grandfather Wingate handed down his firearms for the stalwart sons, so his wife passed down her bridal robes to the daughters.

GENEALOGY AND PERSONAL HISTORY

The present house was built in 1803." John 1 Wingate in 1683 was one of the principal land- holders in Dover. He served as juryman, and was Selectman in 1674, 1686, and 1687, being chairman in the year last named. He also performed active military service in 1675, dur- ing King Philip's War. In 1683 he was con- cerned with the leading citizens in opposition to Edward Cranfield and Robert T. Mason, the latter of whom under color of ancestral claims had mortgaged the whole province to Cranfield and procured the latter's appointment as Lieu- tenant Governor. Their claims, conflicting with those of the settlers who had held posses- sion of the land for over fifty years, gave rise to troubles that lasted several years, and were finally ended by the settlers being left in quiet possession.

John ™ Wingate was twice married. His first wife was Mary, daughter of Hatevil Nutter. His second wife, whom he m. about 1676, was Sarah, widow of Thomas Canney. In maiden- hood Sarah Taylor, she was a daughter of An- thony and Phillippa Taylor. Her father, who came to Hampton about 1640, d. in 1687, at the age of eighty years. His wife d. in 1683. The father of Mary Nutter Wingate, Hatevil Nutter, was "one of the most enterprising, use- ful, and respectable planters on the Piscat- aqua," and doubtless, as his name would indicate, of genuine Puritan parentage. He was an occasional preacher as well as elder. Born in England about 1603, he came to America probably in 1635 with Captain Wig- gins. His will was proved June 29, 1675. His son Anthony also was a man of note, serving as Selectman and Representative to the General Court. Anthony was one of those engaged in the controversy with Cranfield. He is described as a "big, tall man"; and, as a specimen of his free and easy manners, it is said, in the account of his visit with a certain Wiggin to Mason, that the latter got "his wig turned and his teeth knocked out, and met with several other similar accidents." John 1 Wingate d. December 9, 1687. In his will the family name is spelled "Windiett." He

had seven children, four sons and three daugh- ters, b. between 1667 and 1687, a detailed account of whom may be found in The History

of the Wingate Family (by Charles E. L. Wingate, pub. J. D. P. Wingate, Exeter, N. H., 1886). The line of descent from John1 to James Irish Wingate is: John, 12 Simon, 3 Snell, 4 John,5 James Irish. 6

John 2 Wingate, eldest son of John,I was b. July 13, 1670. He inherited the homestead, where he resided all his life. He commanded a company in the expedition to Port Royal. He d. in 1715, having made his will in De- cember of the preceding year. Of his wife we know nothing, except that her Christian name was Ann, and that ten years after his death she m. Captain John Heard (b. 1667). John 2 Wingate had twelve children, five sons and seven daughters, b. between 1691 and 1713. These children, as the records show, afterward maintained the high standing in the community of Dover that their father had attained.

Simon 3 Wingate, youngest child of John, 2 was b. September 2, 1713. He moved to Biddeford, Me., was admitted to the First Church of that town October 17, 1742, and subsequently became a Deacon. He m. Lydia Hill, daughter of Ebenezer Hill, and wife of Abiel (Snell) Hill. She was admitted to the First Church, November 25, 1744. It is prob- able that she m. a second time, September 29, 1774, Captain Daniel Stover. Simon 3 and Lydia had twelve children, whose birth dates are not all given in the Wingate history.

Snell + Wingate, fourth child of Simon, 3 was baptized February 3, 1744. He m. first, De- cember 1, 1768, Margaret Emery, of Biddeford, Me. (d. November 29, 1783) ; second, June, 1788, Mehitable Crocker, of Dunstable, Mass., widow of Elijah Crocker, a sea captain, and sister of Solicitor-general Daniel Davis. Mehitable Crocker had by her first husband a daughter, who m. October 30, 1796, Edward Woodman, of Searsmont, Me. Descendants

now living in Cambridge, Mass. Snell + Win- gate settled in Buxton, Me., in that part of the town now known as Buxton Centre. He was Selectman for eleven years. He had five chil- dren by his first wife and six by his second - eight sons and three daughters.

John 5 Wingate, son of Snell and father of James I. Wingate, was b. in Buxton, Me., April 28, 1799, and d. September 21, 1858.

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He resided successively in Buxton and Gor- ham, Me, where he followed the combined occupations of farmer, tanner, and shoemaker. He was a man of sterling character. Without the advantages of an education beyond that afforded by the town schools of his time, he was yet able through reading, and with the help of a remarkably retentive memory, to call to mind at once the time and place of public events and the uttterances of public men, and his knowledge of public affairs made him a strong character in the humble community in which he lived. Originally a Democrat, he early became a most bitter opponent of slavery, and cast his fortunes and his vote with the first Abolitionists and Free-soilers. Later he iden- tified himself with the Republican party. He was a man of most positive ideas, fearless in his advocacy of reforms, and called things by their right names to a degree that often made his opponents feel uncomfortable. By precept and example he was a strictly temperate man, unusually so considering the times in which he lived; and "liquor " never passed his lips or his door. A constant attendant at church, he was liberal and independent in matters of religion. He maintained throughout his life the respect of his fellow -citizens, and filled for some years the offices of Selectman and Town Clerk. He d. in the fifty-ninth year of his age, September 21, 1858. John 5 Wingate m. first, January 22, 1821, Salome Small, of Bux- ton, Me., b. December 10, 1802. His chil- dren by her were as follows: Ansel D., b. May 31, 1822, m. September 1, 1848, Almira Scam- mon; Sarah P., b. November 22, 1823, m. October 8, 1847, Edward A. Scammon; and Maria J. H., b. November 7, 1825, m. Novem- ber 3, 1848, Leander Stevens. John 5 Wingate m. second, September 22, 1829, Mrs. Sophro- nia Frost, a widow. She was a native of Gor- ham, Me., b. September 5, 1799, a daughter of General James 3 Irish by his first wife, Rebecca Chadbourne Irish.

General Irish, who merits more than a pass- ing mention, was b. in Gorham Me., August 18, 1776, just six weeks after the birth of this nation. His grandfather, James Irish, had emigrated from England about the year 1711, and settled in Falmouth, now Portland, Me.,

whence he removed with his family, in 1738, to what is now the town of Gorham, but which was then an almost unbroken wilderness. James2 Irish, Jr. (father of General James Irish), b. at Falmouth in 1736, m. in 1756 Mary Gorham Phinney, who was the first white child born in Gorham (b. August 24, 1736). She was a daughter of Captain John 4 (John 3-2-1) and Martha Coleman Phinney (John ' Phinney was of Plymouth, 1638). Captain John Phin- ney was a direct descendant of Mary Rogers, grand-daughter of Thomas Rogers, the "May- flower " Pilgrim. These pioneer families numbered among their members men of the most dauntless courage and skill in Indian warfare, than whom none had a wider fame than Captain Phinney, the first settler of the town of Gorham (1736). In 1777 General Irish's father was summoned to service in the Revolutionary War, and during his absence the mother, the Mary Gorham of earlier times, supported the large family of children by spin- ning and weaving cotton cloth - in exchanging the manufactured for the raw material, riding to and from Falmouth, fourteen miles distant, over the roughest and most primitive roads. In 1780, during a great scarcity of provisions, the General's mother allowanced the members of her own family, so that she might administer to the wants of her neighbors.

General James Irish had but limited oppor- tunities for securing an education. He re- ceived some elementary instruction in the primitive schools of the community, and in addition to the "three R's" studied the art of singing. At the age of fifteen years he had already attained the size and muscular devel- opment of a man. At the request of his par- ents he then took upon himself the entire management of the farm. Provisions were scarce, and family misfortunes added largely to his burdens. For some years he continued farming and lumbering, and, having purchased books, set about the task of improving his edu- cation, with the view of becoming a teacher, his farm work, though involving severe toil, bringing but small returns. His first effort at teaching was at Buxton, and his pay five dollars per month. Though a small beginning, it was the first step toward more lucrative em-

GENEALOGY AND PERSONAL HISTORY

ployment. For seven months, in 1796, he was clerk in a store in his native town. In the following year his father was severely injured by an accident. At the age of twenty-one he was appointed Orderly Sergeant in Captain Nathaniel Warren's Company of militia, which was his first military appointment. His regu- lar business was now farming in summer and

teaching school in autumn and winter. In 1798 he m. Rebecca Chadbourne, a daughter of Silas Chadbourne, of Berwick, Me., and in the same year he and his wife united with the Congregational church. In the year 1800 he embraced the opportunity to learn the art of navigation from an old sailor whom he had hired to work on the farm; and this led to his study of geometry, trigonometry, and the kin- dred branches of mathematical science. He

soon became a practical surveyor, and was em- ployed in his own and neighboring towns to run lines and survey lands. In 1804 and 1805 he added to his landed estate by the purchase of one hundred and forty acres of land, mostly in the town of Standish. In 1806 he contrib- uted to the building fund of the Gorham Acad- emy, which was then constructed, and surveyed the one-half township of land which had been granted to the academy by the legislature of Massachusetts. In 1807 he suffered pioneer hardships while surveying in Aroostook County. In the following year he was commissioned as Major in the Third Regiment of militia, and also was a Justice of the Peace. In 1810, hav- ing a large and growing family to support, he sold the old homestead and purchased a larger farm, to which he moved his family on the first of May. The approaching war with England now increased the burden of his public duties. As soon as war was declared, he took an active part in the drilling and reviewing of troops, bringing those under his command into such a high state of efficiency as to receive universal applause and promotion to the rank of Briga- dier-general. In September, 1814, upon threatened invasion of Portland by the British he obeyed a hasty call from the Committee of Safety, like General Putnam leaving his work in the field upon the arrival of the messenger. The parting words of his aged mother were : "Don't be a coward, James - don't be a coward.

Do your duty like a man." The march of his brigade of twenty-five hundred men through the streets of Portland called forth the liveliest

enthusiasm. The invasion, however, failed of realization; and the troops were soon dismissed.

After the termination of the war, General Irish

received so many calls to the discharge of duties of a public nature that he gave up the business of teaching, which had occupied a por- In tion of his time yearly for twenty years. 1818 he was appointed Surveyor of Public

Lands under Colonel Lothrop Lewis. In 1819 he represented Cumberland County in the Sen- ate of Massachusetts. It was at this session that the act was passed providing for the sepa-

ration of the province of Maine from the State of Massachusetts.

In his capacity of Public Surveyor General Irish performed much diffi-

cult and hazardous work in the wilds of Aroos- took County, and took an active and patriotic part in the troubles arising out of the north- eastern boundary dispute with Great Britain.

lished manfacturing industries in Gorham, giv- In order to keep his family together, he estab-

ing the management to his sons, and showed at all times an enterprise that did much to develop the resources and increase the pros-

perity of the town. In his later years he suf-

and a favorite daughter-in-law being snatched and dear to him, his mother, wife, son James, fered affliction in the loss of some of those near

away by the hand of Death, and also through

financial embarrassment, resulting from the

These things caused a depression of spirit, causes that led to the great panic of 1837.

from which he never fully recovered. His services as surveyor were called into requisi-

tion upon the projection of the York and Cum-

ment of Clerk of the Board of Directors. At berland Railroad, and he received the appoint-

the termination of his services for the railroad company in 1849, when he had reached the age of seventy-three years, he retired from active business pursuits. His life was extended to

During the progress of the June 30, 1863.

War of the Rebellion he was much disturbed

by the occasional reverses to the loyal arms. A few months before his death he said to his minister, the Rev. Mr. Strong, "I have no strong desire for a continuance of life," but

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added, with much earnestness, "I do want to live to see the close of this dreadful war." His patriotic instincts forsook him only at the end of life. In politics General Irish in ear- lier manhood was a Democrat. He joined the Whigs in 1840, and soon after became a mem- ber of the political party that opposed the ex- tension of slavery .. Upon the organization of the Republican party he entered its ranks. He was in the fullest sense a public-spirited citizen. In the early days of its Statehood no citizen of Maine was more largely instrumental in impressing its citizens with an adequate conception of the value of its timberlands and the importance of protecting them from spolia- tion. After giving up business pursuits, he spent much of his time in the several families of his children, between whom and himself there existed a strong attachment founded in earlier years. Endowed with good powers of mind and a plentiful measure of common sense, he had largely made up for his lack of early educational advantages, and by his strength of intellect and force of will qualified himself to fill many important and responsible public positions with honor to himself and usefulness to the public. (For further information see "A Sketch of the Life of General James Irish," by Lyndon Oak, Lee & Shepard, Bos- ton, 1898.)

General Irish was twice married. His first wife, Rebecca Chadbourne, has been already mentioned. His second wife, whom he m. October 15, 1832, was Louisa Mason, a native of Massachusetts, b. August 5, 1789, d. Octo- ber 3, 1881. He had in all thirteen children, of whom the eldest was Sophronia, b. Septem- ber 5, 1799. She m. in 1821 Henry Frost, who d. July 13, 1827. She m. second, Sep- tember 23, 1829, John 5 Wingate, by whom she became the mother of James I. Wingate, whose name begins this article. By the first husband she had two children, and by her second eight. They were as follows : -

Elizabeth, b. Gorham, August 4, 1822, d. May 6, 1848, m. February 25, 1845, The- ophilus Waterhouse, of Standish, Me .; Caroline C., b. Gorham, August 17, 1824; Rebecca I., b. October 30, 1830, d. August 14, 1853; Salome S., b. March 4, 1833, m. first, July

I, 1852, George J. Prentiss, who d. June 25, 1864, m. second, January 6, 1877, George W. Newbegin; Henry F. (twin), b. February 28, 1835, d. in Nevada, November 28, 1865; James I. (twin brother of Henry F.), d. February 21, 1836; James I. (of whom separate mention is ' made in this sketch) ; Mary Gorham, b. March 13, 1840; Ellen S., b. April 2, 1843; John Phinney, b. March 7, 1846, d. August 15, 1849. Mrs. Sophronia (Irish) Wingate d. March 31, 1886.

James Irish Wingate was educated in the public schools and at Gorham Academy in his native town. He acquired a knowledge of his trade in Gorham and Portland, and subse- quently worked at it in Boston, coming here at the age of seventeen. In 1860 he laid the foundation of the present house of James I. Wingate & Son, the son becoming a partner in 1893. In 1896 they added a new department to their business, that of furniture and interior decorations. The firm is one of the best known and its business one of the most exten- sive of its kind in the country. Mr. Wingate is a charter member, and in 1891-93 was presi- dent of the Master Builders' Association of Boston. He is a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association, the Ma- sonic and Odd Fellows fraternities, the Pine Tree State Club of Boston, the Republican Club of Massachusetts, and the Society of Sons of the Revolution. In politics, as may be in- ferred, he is a Republican. In 1900 Mr. Win- gate, after repeated solicitation, allowed his name to be put out by his friends as a candi- date for the General Court, and was duly elected for the session of 1901 as Representative of the Twenty-fifth District of Boston (Brigh- ton). His nomination for this office called forth many spontaneous expressions of approval both from the press and from private individ- uals. A local journal well said, "His candi- dacy meets the approval of the large number, irrespective of party, who favor representation from this type of our substantial citizens."

Mr. Wingate was married in Boston, May I, 1870, to Helen Frances (Snow) Edgecomb, who was born November 8, 1838, a daughter of Eli N. and Dorcas Snow. He has one child, Frank Elmer, born January 3, 1872.

CHARLES H. TAYLOR.

GENEALOGY AND PERSONAL HISTORY

Frank Elmer Wingate married, January 25, 1893, Helen May Buckner, a native of Boston, born September 12, 1871, a daughter of James and Helen F. Buckner. He has three chil- dren : Muriel, born April 23, 1894; Marjorie, born June 17, 1895; and James Donald, born December 21, 1900.

HARLES HENRY TAYLOR, editor and manager of the Boston Globe, widely known as one of the most en- terprising and successful newspaper men of New England, is a native of the Bunker Hill district of Boston and unquestionably a well-grounded patriot, as befits one brought up under the shadow of the monument. A veteran of the Civil War, he still carries the bullet with which he was wounded while fighting for the Union. General Taylor, as he is usually designated, from his rank as a member of the staff of Governor Russell, was born July 14, 1846, the second child and eldest son of John Ingalls and Abigail Russell (Hapgood) Taylor. His father, the late John Ingalls Taylor, was b. at Salem, Mass., May 21, 1816, being the son of John and Olive Taylor, of that city. . He d. at Haverhill, Mass., March 31, 1890. He was m. May 21, 1842, to Abigail Russell Hap- good, b. in Marlboro, Mass., April 28, 1819. She d. at Roslindale, Mass., March 9, 1888.

Colonel Taylor's maternal grandparents were David5 and Lydia (Stearns) Hapgood, of Marl- boro. His descent from Shadrach' Hapgood (or Habgood), who came over in the "Speed- well " in 1656 at fourteen years of age, m. at Dedham in 1664 Elizabeth Treadway, and was the founder of the New England family of this surname, is through Thomas,2 John, 3 Jona- than,4 David,5 Abigail Russell6. (See Hap- good Genealogy, also sketch of Warren Hap- good on another page of this volume. )

Thomas2 Hapgood, son of Shadrach' and Elizabeth, was b. at Sudbury, Mass., in 1669. He settled in the locality that is now the north-eastern part of Marlboro. Besidę his homestead property of between five hundred and seven hundred acres, he owned other lands, including some in Shrewsbury. In 1690, while engaged in military service, he was

wounded in a skirmish with the Indians near Oyster River, N.H., his right hand being much shot and his left arm broken, so that for some time he was unable to labor. He m. Judith, daughter of John and Judith (Sy- monds) Barker, of Concord, Mass. He d. Oc- tober 4, 1764, in the ninety-fifth year of his age. He had nine children. In his lifetime he gave a farm to each of his three sons. John3 Hapgood, b. in February, 1706-7, settled at Marlboro in 1735, on a part of the home farm that he received as a gift from his father. He served five years as Selectman, and in 1757 was on the alarm list attached to Cap- tain Weeks's company of militia. He m. in 1731 Abigail, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Stow) Morse, of Marlboro. Seven children, five daughters and two sons, b. of this union, grew to maturity, and were m.

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Genealogy and history of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 13

Author: Hurd, Charles Edwin, 1833-1910 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company Number of Pages: 850

Author: Hurd, Charles Edwin, 1833-1910
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 850