USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Groton historical series. A collection of papers relating to the history of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, Vol III > Part 33
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Within a few weeks I have discovered a little book once belonging to this association which was known as the Groton Library. It is entitled : -
The Catechism of Nature. For the use of Children. By Doctor Martinet, Professor of Philosophy at Zutphen. Translated from the Dutch. Boston : Printed by Samuel Etheridge, for David West, No. 36, Marlborough-Street. 1795. 12mo, pp. 99.
On the inside of the front cover is pasted a printed book- plate on which the number of the volume, the price, and the last three figures of the year when received, are written. Unfortunately the upper left-hand corner is torn off which perhaps contained " No.," the abbreviated form of " Number." The following imitation is as close as type will allow : -
YOUNG
Price
Groton Library.
1796
399
WM. NUTTING'S DIARY.
Frid. 9th [Sept., 1796] . . . . at even" attended a meeting of a Society for establishing a Libra in this town.
Frid' 30th .. 1 went into Town at night, & attended a meeting of y" Libra Society, when a list of Books & a list of regu- lations were reported by ye comtee for those purposes, & sª lists were accepted by ys Society.
Mondy 17th [Oct., 1796] .... at night I attended a meeting of ye Libra Society . . . .
Monday 24th . .. . in ye evening a meeting of the Libra Society.
Mond. 28th [Nov., 1796] . ... at evening was a meeting of ye Libra Society to Subscribe articles of Regulation - & draw Books, I took out a book entitled the man of feelings.
Wedy March Ist. [1797] . .. . afternoon attended a Libra meeting, to return, & take out Books, & to Choose officers -Chose David Moors Librarian, Peter Edes clerk, D" Lawrence L' Sam! Rockwood & Maj: Farnsworth for a Standing Committee ; also m! Chaplin m! Bigelow & D. Prescott J' a purchasing Comtee
W, 6th [Dec., 1797] . .. . I went to a libra meeting &c.
Wed! 7" [March, 1798] I attended a Library meeting afternoon
Wed. 6th [June, 1798] .... afternoon attended the meeting of the Libra Society &c.
WV. 5"h [March, 1800] I attended a meeting of the Libra Society purchased another Share for which I p" 12' cash & took 2 certificates for my 2 shares.
W. 3" [Dec., 1800] .... Carried Libra Books home &c
W. 4th [March, 1801] .... attended the Annual meeting of the Library Society afternoon, &c.
W. 24 [Dec., 1801 ] I attended Library meeting . .
W. 34 [March, 1802] .... I went to Town towards night, & at- tended a Library meeting.
W. 2" [ March, 1803] afternoon was the Annual Library meeting, which I attended, & spent the afternoon.
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الج بنة
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400
THE PARKER FAMILY.
THE PARKER FAMILY.
CAPT. JAMES PARKER.
JOIN PARKER was the eldest son of Captain James and Elizabeth (Long) Parker, of Groton, who had previously lived at Woburn, where the son was born on January 18, 1649, ac- cording to the Woburn printed records (Part I. page 188); though Mr. Butler, in his History (page 421), gives February 28, 1649, as the date of birth. A simple allusion to one of the same name is found in Mr. Savage's Genealogical Dic- tionary, thus : " JOHN, Malden, freem. 1678" ; but the follow- ing extract from the Middlesex County Court Records, under date of June 17, 1679, shows clearly that Captain Parker's son and the freeman were one and the same person : -
Cap' James Parker doth acknowledge himselfe to stand bound in 90' steri. by him to be payd to y Trer of the Coun. On condiccon y' he will truly adm! on ye estate of Jn? Parker his sonne lately deced at Mauldon. & respond ye same to ye order of ye Coun Court. an Inventory whereof he p'sented in Court on oath (III. 295).
Administration on the estate was granted to Captain Parker, on April 7, 1679, - so that the son died before that date, - at which time his abode was given as Chelmsford, where he had lived while the town of Groton was abandoned after its destruction by the Indians.
In the records (IV. 41) of the County Court, begun on June 20, 1682, and held at Charlestown, it is entered : --
Cap! James Parker is allowed clark of the writts for the Town of Grotton.
JOSEPH PARKER
Joseph Parker, of Chelmsford, mentioned in the following petition, was a brother of Captain James Parker, of Groton, in which town he was a large landowner as well as in Chelms- ford and Dunstable. Hle " was the ancestor of the most
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THE PARKER FAMILY.
numerous branches of the Parker families in Groton and its vicinity," says Lemuel Shattuck, in his " Memorials of the Descendants of William Shattuck ". (page 375). See " Col- lections of the New-Hampshire Historical Society " (III. 97) for a copy of the letter, giving an account of the attack made on Parker and one of his sons by the Indians, early in the morning of February 15, 1675-6, when they were returning from Nonacoicus. The affair took place only a short time before Groton was assaulted and burned. He died in the year 1690, leaving a large property. Ilis eldest son Joseph, the administrator of the estate, died at Groton about the year 1725. By two wives Joseph had seven children, of whom Benjamin, the petitioner, was next to the youngest, having been born on December 3, 1691.
A Petition of Benjamin Parker of Groton, in the County of Middlesex, shewing, That about Forty Years ago Joseph Parker of Chelmsford, and Grandfather to the Petitioner died Intestate, and Letters of Administration were committed to Joseph his eldest Son, and no Settlement has been yet made on the said Intestates Estate, praying that Administration may be now granted to one or more of the Heirs of the said Intestate. Read, and the Question was put, Whether the Prayer of the Petition shall be granted ?
It passed in the Negative.
Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 137, 138), December 2, 1729.
JOSEPH PARKER, JR.
The following petition is found among the Massachusetts Archives (XLV. 341, 342), and from a genealogical point of view has some value. The statements therein made are without doubt trustworthy, and will go far toward clearing up the confused record in the early history of the Parker family. Joseph Parker, who signs this petition, was a son of Joseph, and the father of Benjamin, who presented the one to the General Court on December 2, 1729, as just pre- viously mentioned. The paper shows that Joseph Parker's first wife was Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Richard and Isabel Blood.
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402
THE PARKER FAMILY.
To his Excellency Joseph Dudley Esq: Gou! In Cheif ouer her Majesties Prouince of ye Massachusets Bay in New England & Hon'ble Councill & Representatives assembled In Gener # Court. ye 5th Sep! 1705.
The Humble Petition of Joseph Parker of Grotton is as Followeth.
May it please yo' Hon's to take notice of y' suffering estate of Issable Blood Widow & Relict of Richard Blood of sd Towne (who dyed Intestate :) he had three sons @ one daughter who I Marryed vnto two of which sons dyed & left smale children & the other liueing being decrepid & vnable to Manage his owne affaires & sustaine his family were not able to help his sd. Mother : soe y' I was, as it were, Constrained to take the whole Care of her & the Lands being scittuate out of Towne 1 Could make little Improue- ment of them. S' widow being about 99 y's of age & haueing Lost her sight & vnable to doe any thing towards a Livelyhood I haue kept now about 14 y's : she always Intending to Make me Recom- penc out of her Lands desired Me to goe to ye Judg of probate y' she might be allowed to sell the Land her husband dyed seized of for y' End : sd Judg Informed y' her Sail would not be valled with- out an act of this Hono" Court allowing ( Impowring thereof : whereupon s" Widow desired me in her behalf to petition yo' Hon's for liberty to sell s! Land ; for to sattisfie for her keeping hitherto ; & what further she may stil need; as also for her funerall Ex- pences ; she haneing noe other way to discharg ye same ; or be kept from becomeing a Towne Charg
yo' petitioner humbly prayes that yo' Excellency Hon's would in your Wisdom & prudence pass such an act as y' sd Widow May be enabled to Make me such Recompenc as may be thought Just & Right ; by selling such part of y" Land as shall answer the ends afores,d
yo' Excellen'ys & Hon's
Most Humble Seru'
In the House of Representatives Nov! 3 : 1705 : Read. & Comitted. JOSEPH PARKER
6 : Read. & a Report of the Committee to whom it was Referd Pass'd viz! to be Referrd'd to next Session &c.
June : 11 : 1706 : Read.
403
THE PARKER FAMILY.
In the House of Representatives
June 12 : 1706.
In answer to the within Petition.
Resolved That all the Lands which Richard Blood, late of Grotton dec! Died seized of, lying in the sª Town, be Given and Granted, to Joseph Parker, the Petitioner his Heires, and Assignes for ever in Considera""" of thee charge, the s! Parker has been at in the maintenance of the within mentioned Isabel Blood for fourteen years last past Provided that the s- Parker Give her also a meet and comfortable Maintenance during her naturall life, and a decent funerall at her Decease.
Sent up for Concurrence.
THOMAS OAKES Speaker
In Council.
June. 13th 1706.
Read & not agreed to. &
Resolved
That the Justices of the Superiour Court at their next Session in the County of Midd' summon all persons concern'd to appear before them, and to Examin into the matter of this Petition and Report the same to this Court at their next Session.
Is! ADDINGTON Secry.
Sent down for concurrance. July 12 : 1706. In the House of Representatives
Read and Pass'd a Concurrence.
THOMAS OAKES Speak
[Indorsed.] Jos : PARKER : Petition 7 " 10 : 1705. Nov .. 6 : 1705. Referrd to next Session.
Joseph Parker, of Chelmsford, and Joseph Parker, of Dun- stable, both mentioned by Mr. Savage in his Genealogical Dictionary (III. 353), were one and the same person. His children were Joseph, Jr., born on March 30, 1653 (by wife Margaret), and five others by a second wife Rebecca Read, to whom he was married on June 24, 1655. A comparison of the children's names and the dates of their birth as there recorded, leads inevitably to this conclusion. Joseph Parker,
404
JACOB ONG.
whose family is given by Mr. Butler on page 421 of his His- tory, is identical with Joseph, Jr., just mentioned ; and he was a son of Joseph, - and not of James, as there stated, - and the signer of the petition to Governor Dudley and the General Court. I have seen a list of James l'arker's children made in the year 1656, by the Reverend John Fiske, of Chelmsford, and the name Joseph does not appear among them.
EPITAPH.
THE following epitaph was copied by me, on September 13, 1892, from a slate slab standing near the southeastern corner of the Burying-ground at Charlestown, New Hampshire. Elizabeth Shepley was the second daughter and third child of John and Abigail (Green) Sheple, of Groton, and an aunt of the late Ether Shepley, Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of Maine. See page 278 of this volume for a reference to a change in the surname. See also the Reverend Henry Hamilton Saunderson's History of Charlestown (page 628), for an account of her own family.
Elizabeth Shepley wife of William Willard. Born Groton Mass. June 5th 1 759. Died Sept. 25, 1851 A. 92 yrs. 3 mos. 20 ds.
JACOB ONG.
Ar a session of the Middlesex County Court held at Cam- bridge, October 6, 1685, it is recorded : --
Jacob Ong appearing in Court made choyce of Nathaniel Law- rence Sen' of Grotton to be his Guardian. The Court do approve thereof (IV. 181).
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405
MISS PRESCOTT'S SCHOOL.
MISS PRESCOTT'S SCHOOL.
SEVENTY years ago, Miss Prescott's School for Young Ladies at Groton was a famous institution, and from afar attracted scholars to the town. An account of the School is printed in the first volume (Number V., pages 8-11) of this Historical Series. The following advertisement appears, line for line, in the " Columbian Centinel " (Boston), April 10, 1824, and gives the scale of prices for that period : -
Young Ladies' Seminary, Groton.
M ISS PRESCOTT grateful for past patronage, informs her friends and the public, that she shall be prepared to receive boarding and day Scholars for the ensuing season, on Wednesday, May 12th. The branches taught in her Seminary are Orthography, Reading, Poetry and Prose, Writ- ing, English Grammar ; Geography, ancient and modern, Arithmetic, Projection of Maps, History, Composition, Rhetoric, Logic, Natural and Intel- · . lectual Philosophy, Geometry, Astronomy, Chem- istry, Botany, French Language, plain and various kinds of ornamental Needle Work, Drawing and Painting. Terms of tuition $3, $5, $7, per quar- ter, according to the branches-boarding including washing, $2 per week. Music and dancing will be taught by an approved instructor. Miss P. pledges her devoted attention to the manners, mor- als and habits of all the pupils who are confided to her care.
. Groton, March 26, 1824.
FIRST WARRANT RECORDED.
THE first warrant for a town-meeting, copied in the records of Groton, is for the one held on May 13, 1757, when Abel Lawrence was town-clerk.
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LIST OF DEATHS.
LIST OF DEATHS.
THE following list of Deaths is found in the " Columbian Daily Centinel " (Boston), under the respective dates as here given : -
In Groton, Valney, son of Mr. Jonathan Blood Jr. aged 13. He perished in a snow storm on the night of the 25th ult.
January 6, 1834.
In Groton, widow Lydia Chaplin, aged 68.
March 5, 1834.
The widow of Jeremiah Chaplin, to whom she was married on March 29, 1796. Her maiden name was Ames.
In Groton, widow Abigail Corey, 69.
September 11, 1834.
In Groton, Mrs Rebecca, wife of Mr. Samuel Dana, and daughter of the late Hon. Charles Barrett, of New Ipswich, N. H.
May 15, 1834.
At Port au Prince about ist inst. from brig Sublime, of yellow fever, Mr. Thomas Dodge, of Groton, Mass.
August 27, 1834.
In Groton, Mr. Samuel Farnsworth.
February 26, 1834.
In Groton, Mr. John Lawrence, aged 58.
July 30, 1834.
In Groton, May 3d, Mrs. Anna, wife of Mr. Samuel Rockwood, aged 53.
May 12, 1834.
In Groton, Mr. Danforth Sheple, aged 43 : Mr. Amos Davis, a soldier of the revolution, aged 82.
December 6, 1834.
In Groton, 30th ult. Mrs. Martha, relict of Mr. Neh. Tarbell, aged 91.
October 4, 1834.
CORRIGENDUM.
IN the article on the Honorable Hugh Blair Grigsby, page 344 of this volume, third and fourth lines from the bottom, for " Jeffer- son, Madison, and other eminent men," read " Madison, Monroe, Marshall, and other eminent men."
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GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1892.
HISTORICAL SERIES, VOL. III., No. X.
THE PHYSICIANS OF GROTON.
THE following article is supplementary to the medical sketches which appear on pages 1-88 and 163-168 of this volume : -
DR. EDWARD PAGE is a son of Abel and Asenath (Pierce) Page, and was born at Groton, on December 4, 1826. He attended school at Groton Academy in the year 1845, and at one time afterward lived in Leominster, where he was married, on August 14, 1850, to Rebecca Jane, daughter of Isaac and Arvilla (Kendall) Wright. In 1865 he removed to Charlestown, which has since been his place of abode. He graduated at the Harvard Dental School in the Class of 1869, - the first class that ever graduated at that institu- tion, - and during the next year took the degree of M.D. at the Harvard Medical School. He now lives at No. 3 Dexter Row, where he is engaged in the successful practice of den- tistry. His only child, Washburn Eddy Page, a native of Leominster, graduated at the Harvard Dental School in the Class of 1877, and at the present time is practising his profession in Boston. He is first vice-president of the Massachusetts Dental Society ; and the father is treasurer.
DR. HERMON FRANKLIN Tirus is the youngest son of Moses and Sophronia ( Patch) Titus, and was born at Pep-
408
THE PHYSICIANS OF GROTON.
perell, on January 12, 1852. His parents were married at Westford, on April 28, 1831, and lived to celebrate their golden wedding fifty years later at l'epperell ; and at one time they were residents of Groton. He began to attend school at Lawrence Academy, where he remained for several years. He graduated at Madison University, now known as Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, in the Class of 1873, and afterward was a tutor in that institution; and at the Hamilton Theological Seminary, now a department of the same University, in 1876, at which time he also received the degree of A.M. He was settled, first, over a Baptist church in Ithaca, New York, and subsequently, in the year 1880, over a Baptist society in Newton, where he remained until 1887, when he gave up his profession. He then began the study of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, where he graduated in the Class of 1891, and at once became a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society; and after practising this profession for a short time at Newton, he removed to the State of Washington, where as surgeon he was in the service of the Great Northern Railway. He has now established himself at Seattle.
On April 11, 1871, Dr. Titus was married in New York City to Mrs. Sarah Ann (Close) Adams, daughter of Thomas and Ann (Arkley) Close, of Poughkeepsie, New York. During the present year (1892) there has been a separation between them.
DR. MELLEN ROBERT HOLBROOK was the eldest child of Clark Bates and Abigail (Mellen) Holbrook, and born at Swanzey, New Hampshire, on February 7, 1819. Hle attended school at Groton Academy in the year 1838, and afterward was a student at the Academy in Keene, New Hampshire. He received his professional instruction from Dr. Hosea Pierce, of Winchester, New Hampshire, and afterward from Dr. Henry Halsey Childs, of Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, and Dr. Benjamin Rush Palmer, of Woodstock, Vermont, - graduating at the Vermont Medical College, Woodstock, on June 19, 1850. lle began the practice of
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THE PHYSICIANS OF GROTON.
his profession at Fulton, New York, where he remained for about ten years, and then removed to Poughkeepsie, where he died on June 6, ISSI.
On January 1, 1857, Dr. Holbrook was married, first, to Emily E. Smith, of Volney, New York, who died on May 5, 1857; and on May 8, 1861, secondly, to Mary J. Lobdell, of Poughkeepsie, who died in the year 1863.
DR. GEORGE P. HURD, mentioned on page 163, came to Groton in July, 1891, to take the practice of Dr. William B. Warren, who had gone away in order to pursue his studies in New York and in foreign cities. While a resident of this town Dr. Hurd occupied the house next south of the Brick Store, and opposite to the High School, where he lived until July, 1892, when a most unfortunate affair took place. Early in the morning of July 5, during his temporary absence, the house was set on fire, but owing to the efforts of the Fire Department was saved, though with great difficulty. Three days later, at nearly the same hour in the morning, the house was again set on fire, and this time totally destroyed with the barn, sheds, and other out-buildings. Within a month of the occurrence a fire inquest was held, at the instigation of an Insurance Company, when many witnesses were examined ; but no definite result was reached in regard to the cause of the unhappy event. A few days afterward Dr. Hurd and his family removed from town.
The dwelling was a large square mansion with brick ends, built about the year 1805 by Samson Woods, and was a well- known landmark on the village street.
DR. AMOS BANCROFT, mentioned on page 18, was the fourth son' of Edmund and Rachel (Howard | Barron) Ban- croft. His mother's first husband was Jonathan Barron, of Chelmsford, who died in that town on November 3, 1755. She was married to him at Chelmsford, on October 19, 1749, and to Mr. Bancroft at the same place, on April 12, 1757.
410
THE PHYSICIANS OF GROTON.
DR. GEORGE BROWN, whose sketch is given on page 54, died in New York, on May 6, 1892, after a surgical operation performed in that city. An appreciative notice of him appears in "The Barre Gazette," May 13. On the day of the funeral at Barre, during the services in the Congregational Church, all the places of business were closed ; and the several minis- ters of the town took part in the exercises.
THE following announcement is found in the " Columbian Daily Centinel " (Boston), November 19, 1832, under " Mar- riages." For an account of Dr. Mansfield, a native of Groton, see pages 15 and 51 of this volume.
In this city, on Thursday evening [ November 15], by Rev. Mr. Blagden, Dr. George Mansfield, of Waltham, to Miss Hannah Maria, daughter of the late Henry B. Curtis, Esq.
FREDERICK LEE SMITH is the younger son of Dr. Norman and Mary Jane (King | Lec) Smith, and was born at Groton on February 26, 1871. He received his early education at the Groton High School and at Lawrence Academy ; and several years ago went to Boston in order to study dentistry. After serving under both Dr. Carlos Aubrey Young and Dr. James M. Osgood, and later under Dr. Ashly Albert Shaw, of Cambridge, in the autumn of 1892 he established himself as a dentist in Boston.
IN accordance with the expressed wishes of Dr. Peter Pinco, his remains were incinerated on September 13, 1891, by the United States Cremation Company, at Fresh Pond, Queens County, New York.
See pages 34 and 167, for references to Dr. Pinco.
THE authorities of Harvard University have designated the Groton School at Groton as one of the places where appli- cants for admission to the Harvard Medical School can pass their first examination, which is hell each year near the end of June.
411
THE PHYSICIANS OF GROTON.
IN these pages it may be of sufficient medical interest to note the fact that Surgeon Henry Winchester Sawtelle, United States Marine Hospital Service, now in charge of the Hospital at Chelsea, is of Groton descent. He is a son of Elbridge Gerry and Jane (Drummond) Sawtelle, and was born at Sidney, Maine, on March 18, 1841. He graduated at the Medical Department of Georgetown College in the Class of 1868, and was married in Washington, D. C., on December 8, 1874, to Clara Judd, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Frothingham) Fenno, of Augusta, Maine.
ALBERT MILO SHATTUCK, during the past year a student in the Harvard Medical School, is the second son of Milo Henry and Susan Parker (Fitch) Shattuck, and was born at Groton, on August 12, 1870. He entered that institution in the autumn of 1891, where he remained for one collegiate year. At the present time (1892) he is a member of the Dartmouth Medical School at Hanover, New Hampshire.
The Members of the Middlesex Medical Society, are hereby notified, that a semiannual meeting of said Society will be holden on the last Wednesday of October, inst. at RICHARDSON's Tavern [Groton ], at 11 o'clock, A.M. A punctual attendance of the Members is requested.
JOSEPH HUNT, Sedry
"Columbian Centinel " (Boston), October 24, 1798.
At that time, as well as for eight or ten years previously, and until his death, Dr. Oliver Prescott - whose obituary notice appears as the next article - was the President of the Middlesex Medical Society. On July 1, 1779, he succeeded Professor John Winthrop as Judge of Probate for Middlesex County, when he had associated with him Professor James Winthrop, son of John, as Register of Probate.
See pages 5-9, 196 and 197 of this volume for sketches of the life of Dr. Prescott.
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MILESTONES.
In Groton, on Saturday last [November 17], in the 74th year of his age, the Hon. OLIVER PRESCOTT, Esq.
He was born at Groton, A.D. 1731, and educated at Harvard University, where he received his first degree, in 1750, when he commenced the study of physic, under Dr. [Ebenezer] Roby, of Sudbury, a disciple of the celebrated Boerhaave. In a few years he returned and settled in his native town, where he entered on the practice of his profession, in which he continued with uncommon success and reputation upwards of fifty years, in which period he was elected a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and President of the Middlesex Medical Society.
With a just sense of the danger, and a warm interest in the welfare of his country, Dr. Prescott engaged with zeal in the Ameri- can revolution. His fellow-citizens duly appreciated his patriotism and his talents. He was chosen a member of the Board of War and Executive Council, and successively appointed a Brigadier and Major General of the militia. On the death of the late Professor [John ] Winthrop he was appointed Judge of Probate for the county of Middlesex, and continued to discharge the duties of that office with fidelity to the time of his death.
In public life, Judge Prescott was vigilant, just, and patriotic - in private life, active, upright, and remarkable at once for his suavity and dignity of manners. For fifty years he had been a member of the Christian Church, and few have conformed in their conduct as citizens and men more conscientiously to its rules. He died with that composed resignation which springs from faith in the gospel, and a cheering confidence in its promises.
" Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."
"Columbian Centinel " (Boston), November 21, 1804.
MILESTONES.
THE earliest legislation in this Commonwealth on the subject of Guide-posts bears date February 28, 1795. At that time an Act was passed by the General Court requiring the Selectmen of the several towns and districts, under cer-
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