Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 107

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 824

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I > Part 107

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PUBLIC BY

ALBERT G. MANN

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contains about two hundred and fifty acres. The present house was built in 1782 by Andrew Mann and is in good repair (1884). The place was never sold after Nathaniel Mann bought it until within a few years. John Mann married Margaret Peters, of Hebron, aunt of Governor Peters, of Hebron. She was born August, 1724, died June 2, 1789. He married (second), about 1790, Hannah Kellogg, widow of Samuel Kellogg, of Marlboro. All his children were by the first wife. They are: I. Mary or Margaret, born April 14, 1742, married · Cross, and settled at Montreal, Canada, had two sons. 2. John, born December 25, 1743, died 1828; married (first) Lydia Porter. 3. Mary, born February 25, 1745-6, died May 18, 1817; married, October 16, 1768, Jacob Loomis, who was born at Andover, Connecticut, May 20, 1745, died May 9, 1813, had three children. 4. Hannah, born 1747. 5. Mercy, born March 5 or 16, 1749, married Joel Mann. 6. Elijah, born August 9, 1751, married (first), Au- gust 20, 1771, Mary Perkins, who died 1781; he married (second), November 14, 1782, Widow Bax- ter, of Lebanon, Connecticut, had four children. 7. Andrew, captain, born March 18, 1755, married Harriet Phelps. S. Dr. Nathaniel, born August 11, 1757. educated at Dartmouth College and in Eng- land as a physician, married a Miss Owen, of Heb- ron, May 6, 1787, removed to Georgia, where he practiced medicine : had two daughters. 9. Phebe, born August 6, 1763 (or 68), probably married Buel. 10. Hannah, born June 5, 1772, married The- ophilus Baldwin, who was born August 25, 1769, lived for a time at Bradford, Connecticut, removed to Holland, Erie county, New York, where they died : had four or more children.

(V) John Mann, son of John Mann (4), was born at Hebron, Connecticut, December 25, 1743. He married in 1765. Lydia Porter, of Hebron, Con- necticut. She was born March 17, 1746, daughter of Jolin Porter, of Hebron. He removed with her on horseback to Orford, New Hampshire, in October. 1765 and settled on a tract of land given him by his father. They arrived in the wilderness October 24, 1765, and passed the winter with a family that was already located there, in a hut covered with bark. That family moved away so that Mr. Mann and his wife were the first abiding settlers of the town. After the arrival of other settlers and much clearing had been done, Mr. Mann bought other lots, making a large farm, and built his house in what is now the centre of a thriving village. He died at Orford, New Hampshire, May 9, 1828. A handsome monu- ment erected to his memory is to be seen in the vil- la~e grave yard. His wife Lydia died March 5, 1805. It is said that late in life he married (second) a Widow Barber. He had fifteen children by his wife Lydia, born at Orford. New Hampshire. all of whom except the two youngest lived to marry and have children. They were: John, born May 21, 1766. married (first) Lydia Dutton; Solomon, born August 19. 1768, married - Parkhurst ; Jared, born November 6, 1770, married Mindwell Hale; Ira. born September 8. 1772, married (first) Bailey; Aaron, born July 21, 1774, married (first) Sally Melvin; Lydia, born September 17, 1776, died at Littleton. New Hampshire. December 29, 1851, married Joseph Pratt and had four children; Sarah, born Jane 4. 1778, died at Orford, New Hampshire, November 5. 1861, married Dr. Rogers, had one child; Nathaniel, born December 29, 1779, married Mary Mason : Benning (judge), born November 25, 1781, married Phebe Mann: Asaph, born September 30. 1783, married Mary Barker: Cyrus (Rev.), born April 3. 1785, married Nancy Sweetser ; Phebe, born March 7. 1787. died November 25, 1871, married

Samuel Sargent, had seven children; Joel (Rev.), born February 7, 1789, married Catherine Vernon ; Abijalı, born April 3, 1791, died March 8, 1809; a son who died in infancy.

(VI) Aaron Mann, son of John Mann (5); wsa born at Orford, New Hampshire, July 21, 1774, died in Elgin, Illinois, in 1851, having moved there and settled with his family in 1838. He married (first) Sally Melvin; (second) Sally Ingraham. Captain Mann, as he was called, had sixteen children, eight by each wife. They were: Sally, born at Orford, married Reuben Roberts, resided at Fisherville, New Hampshire; Aaron, born February 28, 1799, married Eliza Weld; Harriet, married Francis Weld; Phil- oxa, born 1803, died October. 20, 1831, at Elbridge, New York ; married, September 12, 1827, Peter Clark, graduate of Union College, president of Washington College, Kent county, Maryland, had one son; Eli- phalet Kimball, born in New Hampshire, went to Elgin, Illinois, about 1833, died in Chicago about 1880; Isaac, Cyrus, Adin, William, Leonard, Ben- ning, Munroe, Charles, Eunice, Maria, died young ; . and an infant that was buried with his mother.

(VII) Aaron Mann, son of Aaron Mann (6), was born February 28, 1799, at Orford, New Hamp- shire, died March 10, 1854. He resided in the easterly part of Orford and was a farmer and dealer in lumber. He married Eliza Weld, at Orford, New Hampshire. She was born April 15, 1800, died August 9, 1876. Their children were: 1. Caroline, born January 17, 1825, married Oliver Chase, of Paxton, Massachusetts; married (second) Calvin Proctor, of Claremont, New Hampshire, has a son, Henry Chase, now or lately of Worcester, Massachusetts. 2. Albert Geary, born July 19, 1827, married (first) Julia Maria Sanborn, of Orford, New Hampshire; married (second) Harriet A. Bigelow, of Worcester, Massachusetts. 3. Henry A., born September 1, 1832, died January 9, 1835. 4. Louisa, born October 8, 1836, died February 9, 1859; married, January 14, 1857, John E. Spaulding, of Worcester ; has no children.

(VIII) Albert Geary Mann, son of Aaron Mann (7), was born at Orford, New Hampshire, July 17, 1827. He was brought up on the New Hampshire farm. During a part of the year he was engaged in burning lime, a business that his father carried on at times, and in this occupation he learned the rudi- ments of the business which he followed later in life. He attended the district schools of his native town, but like most of the successful men who started life under similar conditions, was taught to under- stand that school furnishes a man only a slight start in his education. At the age of eighteen he left home and went to Leicester, Massachusetts, to work. He was back and forth between Orford, Leicester and Worcester for several years. In 1847 he was em- ployed for about three months by David Wodward the leading stone mason in Worcester at that time, and he cut most of the window caps and sills for the Warren block, then building on Pearl street.

In 1851 Mr. Mann located himself in Worcester, and two years later entered into partnership with David Damon, they having a stone yard on School street. In 1857 the firm was dissolved and he con- tinued alone. He bought some property on South- bridge street and established there the extensive stone business which he conducted for many years. He enlarged the stone yard several times by the purchase of adjoining property. For twenty-five years he carried on the largest stone business in Wor- cester, employing at times as many as eighty stone cutters and masons. In 1868 he bought the granite quarry at Marlborough, New Hampshire, where most of his stone was secured. He sold the city

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much of the block paving. He furnished all the stone for the ashlar work on the Union station and Plymouth Church. In 1888 he was the contractor for the granite in Jonas G. Clark's building, opposite the City Hall, the largest and best block at that time in the city. Much of his work was for cemeteries, such as tombs, headstones and monuments. In the course of his business life Mr. Mann made many inventions and improvements, such as the hardening of the heads of the tools used in cutting stone and alterations in the derricks used in the quarries and on construction of buildings. In 1876, in consequence of the threatened withdrawal of railroad facilities, Mr. Mann removed his stone yard to Crescent street, and in 1885 he sold his entire business, including the New Hampshire quarry, to George D. Webb, who has continued the business with marked success since then. After the sale of his business Mr. Mann occasionally served on building committees and places where his knowledge and experience were invaluable. He was on the building committee of the Young Men's Christian Association and also of Central Church. Mr. Mann had a handsome resi- . dence on Harvard street overlooking the town, so much of which he had taken part in building. He was an excellent business man with a reputation for square- dealing and uprightness, and personally he was simple, sincere and courteous. He was a member of the Society of Antiquity and of the Wor- cester County Mechanics' Association.

He married (first) Julia Maria Sanborn, of Or- ford, New Hampshire, and (second), December 13, 1864, Harriet A. Bigelow, of Worcester, who sur- vives him. They had no children. Mr. Mann died June 9, 1899, after an illness lasting about a month.

SILAS EMERSON HARTHAN. William Harthan (1) (spelled Harthborne, Hawthorn and various other ways in the early records) was the emigrant ancestor of Silas Emerson Harthan, of Worcester, Massachusetts. Ile was also the pro- genitor of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who changed the spelling of his name from Hathorne. Following is the line of descent of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author : 1. William Hathorne. 2. Jolni Hathorne and wife Ruth Gardner. 3. Joseph Hathorne and wife Saralı Bowditch. 4. Daniel Hathorne and wite Rachel Phelps. 5. Nathaniel Hathorne and wife Elizabeth Clark Manning. 6. Nathaniel Hathorne and wife Sophia Peabody, married July 4, 1804. He changed his name to Hawthorne; died at Plymouth, New Hampshire, May 19, 1864.

William Hathorne, the emigrant, is the ancestor of most of the families of Harthan and Hathoru and other variations of the spelling. He and his brother John were the only emigrants of colonial days of this name. Both lived in Salem and it is difficult to distinguish between the two families.

William and John Hathorne were sons of William and Sarah Hathorne, of Binfield, Berkshire county, England. William was born in 1607 and came with Governor Winthrop in the "Arabella" in 1630. He settled in Dorchester, where he was a proprietor. He was admitted a freeman May 14, 1634. He was a town officer there. He removed to Salem in 1036. He represented Dorchester in the general court 1635 and 1637, and Salem many years after his removal. He was elected speaker of the house of deputies in 1644 and re-elected a number of times. He had a grant of land of six hundred and forty acres Septem- ber 6, 1676, for extra services to the state. This was the first grant in Townsend, Massachusetts, and is probably the land occupied by his sons and grand- sons in Stow, Marlboro and Townsend later. He was elected assistant to the governor in 1662 and

served until 1679. He was one of the most able, energetic and widely influential men in New Eng- land. He was at the great training in Boston in 1639. He was captain of the Salem military company appointed May 1, 1646, commissioned major 1656. He was narrow and bigoted, arbitrary and intolerant in church and state, judged by present standards, but he was a zealous and fearless advocate of personal rights against the encroachments of the royal agents. He had letters from his brother, Robert Hathorne, of Bray, England, April 1, 1653, with a message to his brother John, who has been mentioned above.

A list of his children written by his own hand has been preserved. He died in 1681, in his seventy- fourth year. His will was dated February 17, 1679- 80 and an inventory is dated June 10, 1681. His wife Ann was executor. He bequeathed to his wife; to William, Samuel and Abigail, children of his deceased son Eleazer: to son John; to Sarah, widow of deceased son William; to grandchildren Jervice Helwyde, land at Groton if he came over from "Urop" to enjoy it; to daughter Sarah Coak- er's two eldest sons by her husband Coaker; to the rest of his grandchildren. The estate was settled by his sons, John Hathorne and Israel Porter. The children of William and Anne Hathorne were: Sarah, born March 11, 1634-5, married Joseph Coker, of Newbury, Massachusetts; Eleazer, born August 1, 1637, married Abigail Curwen, daughter of George Curwen; Nathaniel, born August 11, 1639; John, born August 5, 1641, married Ruth Gardner, daugh- ter of George Gardner; Anna, born December 12, 1643, married Joseph Porter; William, born April I, 1645, married Sarah ; Elizabeth, born 1649, married Israel Porter; Mary, baptized May 1, 1653.

(II) John Hathorne, son of William Hathorne (I), was born August 5, 1641, in Salem, Massachu- setts. He was distinguished in civil and military life. He was a captain in the war with the eastern Indians, later colonel of his regiment and chief in command of the expedition in 1696 against the In- dians. He was a magistrate, except during the brief administration of Sir Edmund Andros, and was a most cruel and intolerant judge during the witchcraft delusion. He married Ruth Gardner. Their children were: John, Nathaniel, Ebenezer, Joseph, baptized June, 1691, married Sarah Bow- ditch ; Ruth, Benjamin. There is some doubt whether the Ebenezer and Nathaniel Hathorne, who settled in Marlboro, Massachusetts, about 1720, were sons of Jolin (II) or Nathaniel, but there is more reason to think that they were the sons of Nathaniel.

(11) Nathaniel Hathorne, son of William Ha- thorne (1), was born in Salem, Massachusetts, August II, 1639. He settled in Lynn, Massachu- setts. Among his children the historian of Marlboro evidently believes were the two settlers, viz. : Ebenezer and Nathaniel, though the Marlboro set- tlers may have been sons of Ebenezer Hathorne (]]]), the son of Nathaniel (II). The children of Nathaniel Hathorne (II) were: Ebenezer, mar- ried, 1683, Esther Witt, probably daughter of Jon- athan and Mary Witt; she was born 1665; Nathaniel, born in Lynn, Massachusetts.

(III) Ebenezer Hathorne, son of Nathaniel He- thorne (2), was probably father of Nathaniel and Ebenezer Hathorne, of Marlboro. There is no doubt that the Marlboro line is connected with the Salem family and probably in one of the ways indi- cated. Ebenezer Hathorne married a Witt and the Witt and Hathorne families came to Marlboro to- gether from Lynn and Salem.

(IV) Nathaniel Hathorne, son of Ebenezer Ha- thorne (3), was born in Lynn or Salem about 1690

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He is brother of the ancestor of Silas E. Harthan, and came with his brother to Marlboro. He married (first) Martha and liad several children. He married (second), 1728, Sarah Stevens, probably of Stow, where the Hathornes seemed to have set- tled before coming to Marlboro. He settled on what is now the Marlboro town farm. The children of Nathaniel and Martha Hathorne were : Nathaniel, baptized August II, 1723, died young ; Martha, bap- tized December 23, 1726; Nathaniel, born December 23, 1726. The children by the second marriage were : Ebenezer, born June 30, 1734, married, May 6. 1757, Rhoda Howe; Mary, born 1730, marricd, November 5, 1754, Amasa Cranston; Deliverance, married, March 1, 1764, John Cutler, of Shrews- bury.

(IV) Ebenezer Hathorne, probably son of Ebenezer Hathorne (3), was born in Salem or Lynn about 1690. He came to Stow and later to Marlboro with his brother, Nathaniel Hathorne, about 1720. He married, 1730, Elizabeth Goodale, daughter of Benjamin Goodale. The Goodales were settlers in Salem also. So were the Stevens family, into which his brother married. The children of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Goodale) Hathorne were: Lucy, born February 28, 1730; Silas, born December 22, 1732, was in French war, 1759; afterwards lived in Shrewsbury; Micah, born March 31, 1735; Solo- mon, born February 24, 1738, married, 1761, Mary Gates, and had Ebenezer, born April 8, 1763, and Eunice, born April 1, 1765.

(V) Micah Harthan, as he usually spelled it, son of Ebenezer Hathorne (4), was born in Marl- boro, Massachusetts, March 31, 1735. He was a sol- dier in the French and Indian war in 1757. He was in Captain Samuel Howe's company at the fall of Fort William Henry in the relief expedition. He was also a soldier in the revolution at the Benning- ton alarm. He enlisted in Captain Solomon Stuart's company and Colonel Josiah Whitney's regiment, August 21, 1777. The powder horn carried by Micah Harthan in the French and Indian war has been preserved and is in the possession of Silas E. Harthan.

Micah Harthan came from Marlboro to the north district of Shrewsbury, now located in West Boylston, in 1761. He married Sarah Jones, of Marlboro, November 26, 1761, recorded in Shrews- bury. She was born March 8, 1734, died 1820, aged eighty-six years. He died in 1803, aged sixty-eight years. The widow declined to administer the estate and Jonas Temple, who married his daughter Lois, was appointed, the other heirs consenting. The chil- dren of Micah and Sarah (Jones) Harthan were : Caty, married Samuel Straw, of Peterboro, January 27. 1801 ; David, born January 15, 1764, married Prudence Winn Smith; Eunice, married, November 20, 1794; Lois, married Jonas Temple, December 27, 1791; Lucy, married Benjamin Pollard, of Greenfield, New Hampshire, February 2, 1796; Lydia, married Thomas Keyes, Jr., March 26, 1791 ; Olive, married Hiram Howc, of Holden, January 6, 1800. (VI) David Harthan, son of Micah Harthan (5), was born in Shrewsbury, now West Boylston, Massachusetts, January 15, 1764. He married, July 15, 1786, Prudence Winn Smith, widow, born in 1764, daughter of Jacob Winn. He was the founder of the well known Harthan Mills in West Boylston, Massachusetts. His home was about fifty rods north of the present railroad station at West Boyls- ton. The children of David and Prudence (Winn) Harthan were: Antipas Smith, born in West Boyls- ton, October 3, 1788; Silas, born in West Boylston, November 28, 1791; Lois, born November 19, 1793;

Dennis, horn November 17, 1796; Ward Boylston, born July 28, 1804.

(VII) Antipas Smith Harthan, son of David Harthan (6), was born in West Boylston, Massa- chusetts, October 2, 1788. He married Cynthia Fair- banks, born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, July IO, 1784. She was a descendant of Jonathan Fair- bank, of Dedham. (See Fairbanks Family sketch elsewhere in this work.) This branch of the family settled Lancaster and is that from which the vice president of the United States, Charles W. Fair- banks, is descended. Antipas Smith Harthan died in 1815. The children of Antipas Smith and Cynthia (Fairbanks) Harthan were: Silas Smith, born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, August 7, 1814; Prudence Maria.

(VIII) Silas Smith Harthan, son of Antipas Smith Harthan (7), was born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, August 7, 1814. When eighteen years of age he learned the trade of cabinet maker and car- penter. He had a common school education. He set- tled in Sterling, but in 1841 removed to Worcester and lived in the old Dan Tucker house on Pleasant street, opposite High street, where the Brunswick block now stands, the house at that time being the first one on the street coming from Main street. In 1845 he built and occupied the house on Chatham street, then called Division street, corner of Clinton street, now occupied by General Josiah Pickett. Afterwards he removed to Guilford, Connecticut, Sterling and West Boylston, Massachusetts. His home at West Boylston was taken by the Metro- politan water board during the construction of the reservoir there, and the last few months of his life were spent on the old homestead in West Boylston, where he was born eighty-eight years before. He died September 18, 1902. He was a member of Quinsigamond Lodge, 1. O. O. F., when in Worces- ter. In politics he was a Republican. He was a Congregationalist and belonged formerly to the Old South Church, Worcester, of which his wife was also a member.

He married, January 6, 1836, Mary Ann Ross, born in Sterling, Massachusetts, January 22, 1817, the daughter of Peter and Polly (Burpee) Ross. She was the mother of thirteen children, of whom Silas E. Harthan was the second. She attended the old Redstone school in Sterling, the very school attended by Mary Sawyer, of whom the verses "Mary Had a Little Lamb" were written many years ago. Mrs. Harthan was reared in the strict Ortho- dox faith of her ancestors and she brought up her own children in the same way. She died December 6, 1902. A sister of Mrs. Harthan, Mrs. Olive Ross Burbank, was the mother of Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, California, known throughout the world as "The Wizard of Horticulture." Mr. Bur- bank and Silas E. Harthan are first cousins.

(IX) Silas Emerson Harthan, son of Silas Smith Harthan (8), was born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, March 5, 1838. He attended the same little district school that his mother before him had attended, the Redstone Hill school in Ster- ling, Massachusetts. After the family removed to Worcester he attended the school house formerly on the Common and the old Thomas street school. He attended the academy at Guilford, Connecticut. When a small boy he sold the Daily Spy and the Daily Telegraph in Worcester. In 1848-49- 50 he sold the Worcester Directory, then only twelve and a half cents a copy. While in the academy at Guilford he began to learn the machin- ist's trade. When seventeen years of age he was given charge of the department making dies for tin

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toys and tinware. About that time he constructed his first steamboat. It was twenty-one feet in length and he made the boiler, engine, patterns, castings and all himself. Afterwards he built a side wheeler used in the passenger trade on the Providence river and at Martha's Vineyard. In 1873 he built the steamboats "Addie" and "Little Favorite," and later four other steamboats used on Lake Quinsigamond. These were the first steamboats on the lake. He has built more than fifty steamboats. The last boat the Mr. Harthan built was the "Sterling," now in commission on Lake Waushacum, Sterling, Massa- chusetts.

Mr. Harthan came to Worcester in 1860 and went to work for the Cleveland Machine Company on contract work. He was also superintendent there for a time. He worked for the Gilbert loom works also on contract work. In 1869 he became master mechanic for the Bay State Shoe and Leather Com- pany, of which H. H. Bigelow was the general man- ager. Mr. Harthan invented the Bigelow Heeling Machine, an ingenious machine for compressing scraps of leather into heels, shaping the heel and driving the nails part way through, ready for use. Each machine had a capacity of three thousand heels a day, and each machine produced about four thousand five hundred dollars a year in royalties. The perfecting of this machine brought about the consolidation of the Bigelow Heeling Company and the Mckay Company. He also invented other ma- chines used in the manufacture of boots and shoes. The Armsby property at 44, 46 and 48 Central street was purchased and rebuilt for use in making these heel machines. Many of these machines are still in use by the Bay State Shoe and Leather Com- pany at 68 High street.

In 1879 Mr. Harthan became the manager of the first electric light company and later the first electric railway, the first electric power, the first storage battery, operated in Worcester. The first arc lamps used in Worcester were in the Skating Rink on Foster street during the New England Fair in Sep- tember, 1879. The next were installed at Union Station. When the Denholm & Mckay Company moved into their present quarters opposite the Com- mon in 1881, the department store was fitted with electric lights. The announcement that the store was to be lighted by electricity awakened the fears of some good old citizens. There was quite a public demonstration against the innovation. A meeting of the city government was hurriedly called as a last resort to prevent the use of the new-fangled lights on the opening night of the Boston Store, but they failed to locate the management of the light in time. Denholm & Mckay's big Boston Store was lighted with electricity on the opening night of course, in spite of the clamor, and it was not long before many stores in the city were lighted with electric lamps. The dynamos then in use were in the brick station on the old Skating Rink grounds. There were very few instruments for measuring electricity at that time. Lighting was done by thumb rule at first, but the oll rule that necessity is the mother of invention was again demonstrated in the simplicity and reliability of the modern electric light plant. In 1883 the electric light business was sold to the Worcester Electric Light Company. The Worcester Electric Power Company was organized by a Boston company with Mr. Harthan as manager. It was sold to HI. H. Bigelow in 1887.

A number of electrical exhibitions were held in the Skating Rink under the direction of S. E. Har- than and H. H. Bigelow to demonstrate to the public the usefulness of electricity in the industrial world. The public was made familiar in this way

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Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 107

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 824

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 824