Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 119

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 119

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I. Josepli A. Harrington, born October 26, 1829, died December 4, 1875 ; a soldier in Fifty-first Regi- ment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, in civif war for nine months; married Zelia M. Pierce.

2. Emily A. Harrington, born October 23, 1831, married George S. Battelle, died 1883.

3. Charles A. Harrington, born May 20, 1834, died October 16, 1905. He married (first) Lucy Goulding; (second) Margaret Patch. He served in the city council, 1882-1883. His children were: EI- mer W., Herbert H.

4. Henry M. Harrington, born March 20, 1836, died August 6, 1837.

5. Delia A. Harrington, born March 21, 1841, married George B. Andrews, 1863, residence Clinton, Massachusetts.

6. Maria A. Harrington, born September 2, 1843, married Edward W. Wellington, son of T. W. Wel- fington, coal dealer at Worcester; Mr. Wellington enlisted in the civil war, serving as lieutenant. His two children were: Delia M., Frank E.

7. Hon. Francis Alfred Harrington, born No- vember 17, 1846, married (first) Roxanna M. Grout, who died December 24, 1900, (second) Mrs. Lillia (Dudley) Leighton. He was born and reared at the old homestead, the farm purchased in 1741, which he now owns. He is a prominent Odd Feflow and Free Mason, and also active in Grange organizations, having been treasurer of the State Grange for twenty years. He was elected as alderman to represent ward three in the city gov- ernment, serving during the years 1887-88-89 in the- board of aldermen. The following year he was elected mayor, and was twice re-elected. His ad- ministration covered a period from 1890 to 1893, and proved one of economy and success, for all there were many difficult problems to solve. He was then called higher and represented the Second Wor- cester senatorial district in the legislature for the years 1899-1900-01. He is past eminent commander of the Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar, and past master of Athelstan Lodge of Master Masons.

The children of Hon. Francis Alfred Harring- ton are: Charles A., married Luella B. Crook, of Columbus, Ohio; he was a teacher in the Worces- ter high school, now engaged in the insurance busi- ness; he is commander of the Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar, past master of Athef- stan Lodge, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and master of the Worcester Grange, Patrons of Hus- bandry. Their children are: Ruth Anna and Mildred Elizabeth. Frank C., married Leora Leighton and they have Frank L., Robert Dudley, Lillia L., and Anna G .; he is the secretary of the Callahan Supply Com- pany of Worcester, and is past master of Athelstan Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. May E., married James P. Gray.

8. George A. Harrington, born July 8, 1849, died 1883.

9. Daniel A. Harrington, born May 8, 1851, was educated at the Worcester public schools and acad- emy; also graduated at Howes Business College,

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Worcester, in 1867. He resided on the old Harring- ton homestead, farming and contracting in the dairy business until 1876, when he became identified with the livery business, in which he has been engaged for twenty-eight years. His barns are models of up-to-date liveries. He is also president and treas- urer of the Harrington Automobile Station. He is a member of the Independent Order Odd Fellows and in 1903 was elected brigadier-general of the Second Brigade of Patriarchs Militant of Independent Order Odd Fellows. He served two terms on the board of aldermen, and was a member of the board when the vote was passed to build the new city hall of Worcester, that now so beautifully adorns the Common. Among other things he had the honor of being chairman of the committee that induced the trustees to locate the State Odd Fel- lows Home in Worcester, and was chief marshal of the immense parade when the corner stone of that institution was laid in 1892.

Mr. Harrington married Jennie A. Spiers, by whom the following children were born: Clara A., a teacher in the Worcester schools. Josie A., mar- ried Herbert Linnell, a graduate of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who is now holding a posi- tion as resident engineer of the city of Colon at the Isthmus of Panama. His was the first family to reside there, from this country, after our govern- ment took possession of that territory. Mr. and Mrs. Linnell have two sons-Herbert H., born 1898, and Phillip, born 1900. John S. Harrington, married Mabel N. Clark, by whom two sons were born-Jolın S., Jr., October 27, 1903, and William Clark, June 28, 1905.

(VI) Mary Harrington, daughter of Captain Francis Harrington, married Captain and Deacon Samuel Perry, and they settled on the old Harring- ton homestead, Vernon street, Worcester. Their children were: Hannah Harrington, born October 8, 1824; Mary Stone, November 8, 1826; Joseph Stone, November 3, 1828; Julia Maria, October 13, 1830; Nathan Fiske, March 10, 1833; Lydia Al- mira, February 27, 1835; Harriet Newell, February 28, 1837; David Brainard, March 7, 1839; Samuel Payson, March 18, 1841; Moses, July 15, 1843.

HOPKINS FAMILY. This surname was spelled Hopkyns in England in the sixteenth century. It is an ancient English family of Oxford county. John Hopkyns was a civic officer in Coventry, Oxford- shire, in 1567. From the strong resemblance of the armorial bearings of the Wykehams of Swelcliffe, Oxford county, and of Hopkins of Oving, it is con- jectured by Burke that in early times some bond of connection existed between these families. l11 confirmation of this surmise there is in Sibford Gower in Swalcliffe Parish a small estate which is charged with a quit-rent of a hundred pence that tradition has assigned to the late owners as the nineteenth John Hopkins who has successively and lineally inherited it without the intervention of any other Christian name than John. It belonged some fifty years ago to Mr. D. D. Hopkins, who had then in his possession a deed of the ninth year of Elizabeth's reign when the name was written Hop- kyns. As this estate joins immediately to War- wickshire, it may fairly be assumed that the family of Hopkins in Coventry and Swalcliffe derive from a common ancestor. Following is the ancestry of the Coventry family :

(I) William Hopkins, chosen to preside over the city of Coventry. His sons: William, the heir ; Richard, sheriff of Coventry 1554; Nicholas, sheriff of Coventry 1561.

(11) William Hopkins, son of William (1), was

sheriff of Coventry 1557; mayor 1564; was pre- sented for heresy ; married Agnes Riley, daughter of Thomas Riley.

(III) Richard Hopkins, son of William Hop- kins (2), was also of Coventry. His sons: Samu- son, William, proprietor of Shortley.

(IV) Sampson Hopkins, son of Richard Hop- kins (3), was mayor of Coventry 1609; represented the city in' parliament. He died 1622. Children : Sir Richard, Sampson, mayor 1640; Ann, married Matthew Babbington, Esq., of Rothby Temple, county Leicester, died 1648, aged thirty-three years.

(V) Sir Richard Hopkins, son of Sampson Hop- kins (4), was steward of Coventry; represented the city in Parliament; married Sarah Burton, the daughter and co-heir of John and Mary (Jesson) Burton, of Buckland, Hampshire. Mary Jesson's father, William Jesson, was mayor of Coventry in 1631. Children: Richard, Thomas, Sarah, married Sir John Goodricke.

The American ancestor it is fair to assume was connected with this family of Coventry, though actual proof has not been found. The Hopkins coat of arms: Sa. a chev. arg. charged with three roses gu. between three matchlocks, or.

(I) Thomas Hopkins, the immigrant ancestor of many of the numerous families bearing the name of Hopkins, especially in Rhode Island and Massa- chusetts, was the progenitor of Frederick Ferdinand Hopkins, of Worcester. He was the son of William and Joanna (Arnold) Hopkins, and was born in England, April 7, 1616, died in Providence prior to December 27, 1792. His mother was a daughter of Thomas and Alice (Gully) Arnold. Joanna Arnold was baptized November 30, 1577; her brother, Will- iam Arnold, was born June 24, 1587, the father of Bendict Arnold, not the traitor but the first governor of Rhode Island under the royal charter of 1643 and ancestor of the Arnolds of Warwick. Her half- brother, Thomas Arnold, is progenitor of the Ar- nold families of northern Rhode Island. The wife of Thomas Hopkins is believed to be Elizabeth Ar- nold, · daughter of William Arnold, and sister to Governor Benedict Arnold, a cousin. Thomas Hop- kins was a deputy to the general assembly from Providence for the years 1652-59-60-66-67, a member of the town council for 1667-72. Children : William, see forward; Thomas, Jr., died April 1, 1718.

(II) Major William Hopkins, son of Thomas Hopkins (1), was born about 1650. He was ad- mitted a freeman April 30, 1672, and married, about 1680, Abigail Dexter, widow of Stephen Dexter, son of Rev. Gregory Dexter, daughter of John and Sarah Whipple, early settlers in Providence, re- moving from Dorchester about 1659. Major Hop- kins was a man of marked ability, serving the colony in both civil and military offices to an advanced age. He was noted as a surveyor of lands throughout the colony and numerous accounts of his labors in this profession are found in the records. His home at the time of his death and probably for a long time previous was at Massapauge, a portion of Providence that was included in the part set off to make the town of Cranston in 1754. He died July 8. 1723, leaving a large property, the bulk of which he bequeathed to his grandson William. His widow died 1725. The only child of Major William and Abigail Hopkins was William, see forward.

(III) William Hopkins, son of William Hop- kins (2), was born about 1682, and died in Scituate in 1738. He married early in life Ruth Wilkinson, daughter of Samuel and Plaine ( Wickenden) Wil- kinson. Samuel was a son of Lawrence Wilkinson, an early settler in Providence, and Plaine was a daughter of Rev. William Wickenden, who suc-

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ceeded Rev. Gregory Dexter as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Providence. The will of William Hopkins was made June 1I, 1738, and proved Octo- ber 9, 1738. The children: William, born probably at Cranston about 1705, died in Providence, Feb- ruary 17, 1755; Stephen, born March 7, 1707, see forward; Rufus: John, born about 1710, died Feb- ruary 1, 1755; Hope, born March 3, 1717, died July 20, 1803; Esek, born April 26, 1718, died February 26, 1802; Samuel, died September, 1741; Abigail, born 1727, died January 30, 1772; Susanna, born 1728, died November 8, 1745.

(IV) Governor Stephen Hopkins, son of Will- iam Hopkins (3), was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, March 7, 1707, as is shown by a record of his family made by himself February 3, 1754, which sets at rest the oft-repeated account of Scituate be- ing his birthplace. He was elected the first mod- erator of the town of Scituate in 1730, and in 1731 was town clerk. He was first elected to the gen- eral assembly in 1732. In 1742 he removed to Provi- dence. After that he represented Providence in the general assembly for many years and was several times the speaker. He was for ten years chief jus- tice of the superior court. In 1755 he was elected governor of Rhode Island and held that office nine years. In 1774 he was elected member of the con- tinental congress and he was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. At that time he was suffering from a nervous affliction that made writing very difficult. For a number of years pre- vious to 1776 it is stated on the authority of his friend and associate, Moses Brown, that when he wrote at all he was compelled to guide his right hand with his left. This accounts for the poor ap- pearance of his signature on the Declaration of In- dependence. In early life he wrote a beautiful hand, as shown in his town records written when town clerk of Scituate.

Stephen Hopkins did not confine himself to politics and the holding of office. He took an intelli- gent and active share in building the commerce of Providence, and the Brown family, then already prominent among the great mercantile and shipping houses of New England, found in the rising judge and statesman an energetic and practical coadjutor in their efforts to increase the facilities for traffic and commercial intercourse. Such necessary public works as bridging the rivers met with strenuous opposition, and every improvement of a public na- ture had to be fought for in those days. A system of insurance policies for the benefit of merchants and chiefly if not entirely marine, appears to have been instituted by Governor Hopkins as carly as 1756, although the first insurance corporation, the Providence Insurance Company, was incorporated February 3, 1799, and is still in existence, the oldest in New England. He began to write a history of Rhode Island, but was interrupted by the revolu- tionary war and the difficulties preceding it, so that only the first chapter, published in the Providence Gazette and Country Journal, was ever written. Gov- ernor Hopkins, more than any other man, was re- sponsible for the national sentiment that developed slowly in Rhode Island, but which finally triumphed and brought the state into the Union. He was for a life time an advocate of co-operation among the colonies, of independence even if force were neces- sary, as it was found necessary, and of a policy leading up to a national government. "Next per- haps to Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson, he was," says his biographer, William E. Foster, "most active in developing the system of committees of correspondence. It was he who may well be called the father of the Congress of 1774, and whose com-

manding influence in that Congress led to the form- ation of a powerful sentiment in favor of separation from the home government; the member who intro- duced, advocated and carried through the Second Congress those measures creating an independent postal service, and an American naval armament, which did so much to commit the still reluctant colonies to the exercise of the national functions."

In a paper read before the Rhode Island His- torical Society, Mr. Foster thus summed up the character and service of Governor Hopkins : "Father of the commercial development and ever- increasing prosperity of Providence; distinguished among the founders of this college (Brown) ; the founder of the first public library in Providence ; the first Rhode Island man to make the name and influence of the colony a power outside of its limits ; the very first delegate ever nominated and elected to the very first Congress of the United States; the governor of the colony for a greater number of years than any other of its Eighteenth Century governors, with two exceptions ;- yet the strongest of his claims to distinction is associated with the creation and growth of a national sentiment in Rhode Island. Rhode Island has had few names more worthy of honor, few historic characters more worthy of careful study, than that of Stephen Hopkins."

The Providence Journal, June 23, 1884, says of Hopkins : "Stephen Hopkins lived to sec the states independent; he did not live to see them a united nation. He died July 13, 1785, in his own house on Towne street in Providence and was fol- lowed to his grave by the judges of the courts, the President, Corporation and students of the col- lege and in the language of the Providence Gasctte by 'a prodigious concourse of respectable citizens.' The state and the nation, and more especially the people of Providence, whose particular champion he was in all the struggles of party, owe to him a debt of immortal gratitude, and his name will be remembered in Rhode Island while Point Judith repulses the assaults of the Atlantic, and Prospect Hill looks down upon our city of homes."

Governor Hopkins married ( first), October 9, 1726, Sarah Scott, born June 25, 1707, died Septem- ber 9. 1753, daughter of Sylvanus and Joanna (Jenckes ) Scott, and granddaughter of John Scott, son of Richard Scott, said to have been the first Quaker to settle in Providence. He married (sec- ond), January, 2, 1755, Anne Smith, widow of Ben- jamin Smith, and daughter of a man of the same name. She had by Benjamin Smith four children, one of whom, Benjamin, born October 14, 1741. was the father of thirteen children, whose home was at Quinsnaket in the Arnold neighborhood, in what is now the town of Lincoln. The children of Stephen and Sarah Hopkins: Rufus, see forward; John, born November 6, 1728, died July 20, 1753; Ruth, born October 3, 1731, died April 2, 1735; Lydia, born January 6, 1733, died June 29, 1793; Silvanus, born October 19, 1734, died April 23, 1753; Simon, born August 26 1736, died April 2, 1744; George, born Jannary 11, 1739, died 1775.

(V) Rufus Hopkins, son of Governor Stephen Hopkins (4), was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, February 10, 1727, died in Scituate, November 13, 1812. He entered early upon a distinguished career in business and public life. His early life was spent in maritime pursuits, in which he attained high rank as a nautical commander. He held many offices of trust and honor. He was for several years a judge of the court of common pleas for Providence county, and for a season justice of the superior court of the state; was repeatedly elected to represent

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Scituate in the general assembly ; a trustee of Brown University from 1782 to his death. About 1766 he was associated with his father and Messrs. Nicho- las, Joseph, John and Moses Brown and Jabez Bowen in a project to utilize a bed of iron ore found in Cranston and the building of Hope Furn- ace in which was cast, among other articles, cannon for use of the army in the revolution. The bell now in use in the steeple of the First Baptist Church was broken in 1787 and recast at Hope Furnace. It was at Scituate and Rufus Hopkins was in charge.

He married (first), October 13, 1747, Abigail Angell, who died July 21, 1758, aged twenty-seven years, eleven days, daughter of John Angell. He married (second), November II, 1759, Sarah Olney, daughter of Captain Joseph Olney, and sister of Colonel Jeremiah Olney. She was born March 31, 1732, died October 2, 1785. The children of Rufus and Abigail Hopkins : John, born October 11, 1750, died September 2, 1754; a daughter, born and died April 5, 1753; Silvanus, born September 17, 1756, died August 21, 1757. The children of Rufus and Sarah Hopkins: Stephen, born Jannary I, 1762, died June 2, 1830; Silvanus, born June 25, 1764, see forward; Rufus, born November 15, 1771, died August 29, 1773; Joseph Olney, born March 20, 1774, died January 5, 1792.

(VI) Colonel Silvanus Hopkins, son of Rufus Hopkins (5), was born June 25, 1764, died August 18, 1824. He was for many years a resident of Scituate, Rhode Island, and engaged in the manu- facture of cotton goods. He stood high socially as well as in business, and rose to the rank of colonel in the military service. About 1819 he removed to Washington Village, Coventry, Rhode Island, and became cashier of the Bank of Kent located there. Subsequently he removed again to Norwich, Con- necticut, where he died August 18, 1824, and his widow August 28th of the same year. He married Mary Wanton, daughter of Captain Peter and Eliza- beth (Gardner) Wanton, of a distinguished Rhode Island family. The children of Colonel Silvanus and Mary Hopkins: Sarah Olney, died June 1, 1821, in her twenty-ninth ycar; Joseph Olney, born January 22, 1794, died December 1, 1841; William Wanton, died November 24, 1824, aged twenty-six years; Sam- uel Stow, died October 16, 1826, aged twenty-six years; Edward A., born July 4, 1802, died September 16, 1836; George Silvanus, see forward.

(VII) George Silvanus Hopkins, son of Col- onel Silvanus Hopkins (6), was born in Scituate, Rhode Island, December 3. 1804, died December 12, 1863, at Colchester, Connecticut, aged fifty-nine years.

George Silvanus Hopkins received his education in the common schools of his native town. At the age of fifteen he removed with his parents to Cov- entry, Rhode Island. In early manhood he learned the trade of machinist, which he followed through life. He was master mechanic for a time at the Naumkeag Mills, Salem, Massachusetts, and for another mill in New Hampshire. He was master mechanic at the Heywood Rubber Company at Col- chester, Connecticut, for a number of years, and at Unionville, Connecticut. At one time he was in the machine business at Norwich, Connecticut, in partnership with Joseph Hopkins, his brother. He was a Methodist in religion. In politics he was a Whig until the Republican party was organized and afterward a Republican. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity at Norwich.

He married, September 15 1832, Esther (Rose) Cooley, who died January 23, 1838, aged twenty-

nine years. He married (second), September I, 1843, Dianthia Robinson, who died December 7, 1850, aged forty-eight years. The children of George S. and Esther Hopkins: William W., born Octo- ber 1, 1833, died August 7, 1850; Frederick Ferdi- nand, born February 17, 1836, see forward; Mary Esther, born December 25, 1837. The only child of George Silvanus and Dianthia Hopkins was : George Warren, born April 1, 1845.

(VIII) Frederick Ferdinand Hopkins, son of George Silvanus Hopkins (7), was born at Nor- wich, Connecticut, February 17, 1836. He attended the common schools of his native place until about seventeen years old. In 1854 he came to Worces- ter and entered the employ of Allen & Thurber, manufacturers of fire arms. Mr. Hopkins continued with the firm about three years. He worked for a short time in a firearms factory at Newark, New Jersey. He was an expert machinist and skilled in the making of fire arms. From 1858 to 1869 he did contract work for Frank Wesson, brother of Daniel B. Wesson, late of Springfield (of the famous firm of Smith & Wesson). In 1870 Mr. Hopkins began as solicitor of business for the State Mutual Life Assurance Company. He was promoted fin- ally to the position which he still occupies, as general agent of the company. He formerly attended the old Salem Street Congregational Church, but has been a member of Piedmont Congregational Church since its organization, and was for sixteen years sec- retary and treasurer of the Sunday school. He is a member of the Worcester Congregational Club. He is an honorary member of the Worcester Continentals and was formerly an active member. He is an as- sociate member of George H. Ward Post, No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic.

He married, January 1, 1857, Sarah Maria Lewis, born in Norwich, Connecticut, December 16, 1836, daughter of Joseph B. and Deborah (Rathbun) Lewis. Their children : Herbert Perry, see for- ward; Edward Earle, see forward; Marion A., born June 16, 1862, died August 5, 1864; Frederick Syl- vanus, see forward.

(IX) Herbert Perry Hopkins, son of Frederick Ferdinand Hopkins (8), was born at Norwich, Connecticut, June 25, 1858. He removed with his parents to Worcester when a young boy and was educated there in the public schools, and the Clas- sical high school. In 1878 he entered the employ of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad as an ex- press driver, was soon made express messinger, and was appointed baggage master within a short time. A year later he became clerk in the general offices of the company, and in 1880 was made a conductor of passenger trains, a position he held for six years. He resigned to become associated with his father, who was general agent of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, with offices at 240 Main street, later in the Burnside building and finally to the present quarters in the new State Mutual building. He remained with his father un- til his deatlı, December 28, 1904. He was elected treasurer of the Worcester Association of Life Un- derwriters, a position he held to the time of his deatlı. He attended All Saints Protestant Church, Worcester. He was a Republican in politics. He was made a member of Quinsigamond Lodge, Free Masons, April 12, 1889; Eureka Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, June 4, 1889; Worcester County Com- mandery, Knights Templar, September 20, 1889. He was a member of Company C. Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, Worcester Light Infantry, from December 2, 1879, to December, 1882. He was at one time a member of the Arling-

PUBLIC

F. F. Hopkins

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ton Social Club and for a number of years its president. He also belonged to the Tatassit Canoe Club and the Uptown Club.

He married, October 5, 1893, and liad one child, Sarah M., born in Worcester, May 14, 1901. Mr. Hopkins died in the very prime of life, cutting short a promising career in business. He had the natural ability and the personal magnetism that makes a man especially successful in the insurance business. He attracted friends by his voice and manners, was social, sympathetic and generous, and his death was universally regretted.

(IX) Edward Earle Hopkins, son of Frederick Ferdinand Hopkins (8), was born at Colchester, Connecticut, August 26, 1860. He received his early education in the Worcester public schools, gradu- ating from the Classical high school in 1878. While still in school he began the study of dentistry, In ISSo he entered the Harvard Dental School, Boston, and was graduated in 1882 with the degree of D. N. D. In the fall of that year he began to practice in Boston. His offices were at 85 Newbury street, where he was located for fifteen years. lle pur- chased the estate at 175 Newbury street, Boston, in 1879, and has been located there since that time. He was for seven years after graduating an in- structor in operative dentistry and had charge of the crown and bridge work in Harvard Dental School. He resides at 355 Newtonville avenue, New- tonville, Massachusetts. He and his family attend the Newtonville Congregational Church. In politics Dr. Hopkins is a Republican. He is a member of the Newton Social Club, the American Academy of Dental Science, the Harvard Dental Alumni Asso- ciation and was formerly a member of the Harvard Odontological Society.

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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 119

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