Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 16

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 16

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be with you all," gave the final order," Every man for himself," Lieutenant Grout had done his duty, and nobly justified the highest expectations of his admirers. After waiting for the first faint glimpse of the rising moon, he threw his incumbrances be- yond recovery, and with a few companions plunged into the stream, but before he could reach the oppo -. site shore, the fatal ball of the barbarous assassin left him only time and strength to exclaim "Tell Company D that I should have escaped, but I am shot." He was lost in the dark rolling waters of the Potomac, but after some time the river. yielded up the treasure, and under the flag of his heroic love he was borne from the paternal mansion "to the. house appointed for all living." We are indebted for the facts here given to a memorial written by Rev. E. Cutler, soon after the gallant soldier was killed, and it is a priceless gem among the family possessions, and they have thus had it inserted in this volume to further perpetuate the pathetic story of one who gave up his young life to save his com- rades-and his country as well,

This sketch of the Grout family would be in- complete without a few lines to place upon record some of the accomplishments of a sister of this deceased hero, Lieutenant John William Grout. Ellen Mandeville Grout was born in the town of Princeton, Massachusetts, at the foot of Mount Wachusett, in the year 1840. Her father soon re- moved from Princeton, and while prosecuting suc- cessful business enterprises in Worcester, the daugh- ter attended the graded schools there, and also attended the Oread Collegiate Institute, that famous school founded by Hon. Eli Thayer for the educa- tion of girls. In October, 1862, she was married to Rev. George H. Gould, who two years later was settled as pastor over the old Center Church in Hartford, Connecticut, About the year 1870 Dr. Gould returned to Worcester, Massachusetts, and for several years was pastor of Piedmont Church. He was a very popular and gifted preacher and dis- tinguished for his brilliant oratory. He died May 8, 1899, and his widow married for her second hus- band the Rev. William S. Smith, of Auburndale. Mrs. Smith is greatly interested in the subject of conchology, and is the possessor of a large and valu- able collection of shells, many of them rare and very beautiful. She has given much time to the study of conchology, and has lectured in Boston, Worcester and other places on that subject, illus- trating her addresses with selections from her stock of beautiful shells, also with fine water-color de- signs. She presents her subject not so much in a scientific as in a popular way, quoting from litera- ture, history and geology. She has published a volume of Dr. Gould's sermons, which is entitled : "In what Life Consists, and Other Sermons," and has written articles for the papers and magazines. Mrs. Smith has traveled extensively in this country and in Europe.

WELLINGTON EVARTS PARKHURST, The family of which Wellington E. Parkhurst, who was born January 19, 1835, in Framingham, Massa- chusetts, is a member, is of ancient English origin, the name appearing as early as A. D. 1000. The signification of the name is seen in its construction, "Park" meaning a public ground, and "Hurst" a grove or wood. The history of the Isle of Wight mentions a royal park called "Parkhurst Forest." Two centuries ago a colony of Parkhursts migrated from Parkhurst, on that island, to Surrey county, in England, from which branch of the family the Americans of this name are supposed to have de- scended. Bishop Parkhurst, of Norwich, England, who died in 1574. is supposed to have been the

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grandfather of the great-grandfather of George Parkhurst, the first settler in America.

The descent of the American families from the George. mentioned above, was as follows : I. George, living in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1643. II. George, Jr., born in 1618, lived in Water- town. III. John, born in 1644, also resided in Watertown. IV. John, Jr., deacon, born in 1671, lived in Weston. V. Josiah, born in 1706, also re- sided in Weston. VI. Josiah, Jr., born in 1736, first settled in Weston, and in 1762 removed to Fram- ingham, building a house near "Cutler Mills," later a part of the town of Ashiland. VII. Ephraim, born in Framingham, January 16, 1765, a farmer. died at the homestead, January 20, 1850. VIII. Charles F WV., of whom later. IX. Wellington Evarts, of whom later.

Charles F. W. Parkhurst (father) was born March 5, 1808, in Framingham, Massachusetts, a son of Ephraim Parkhurst, a farmer, also the teacher of district schools for twenty-one successive win- ters. Charles F. W. was educated in the town schools and at Framingham Academy. In 1853 he removed to Clinton, Massachusetts, and for twenty- one years was paymaster of the Clinton Wire-Cloth Company. also for a part of the time served as clerk at Parker's Machine Works. He served as first town clerk of Ashland, Massachusetts, also several years as a member of the school committee, a justice of the peace, chorister of the village choir, and teacher in penmanship. During his residence in Clinton, he also served as a member of the school committee board, a portion of which time he acted as chairman. He was a member of the Congrega- tional church, and served several years as deacon. Originally he was an Abolitionist in politics, but later became a Republican. On November 8, 1832, Mr. Parkhurst married Mary Goodale, born in Marlboro. Massachusetts, November 18, 1807, and prior to her marriage was a school teacher. Mr. Parkhurst died February 9. 1878; his wife passed away March 15, 1887.

Wellington Evarts Parkhurst attended the public schools and Framingham Academy. In May, 1853. at the age of eighteen, he went to Clinton, taking a position in the office of the Bigelow Carpet Com- panv. Later he was paymaster at the Lancaster Quilt Company's mill, and afterwards assistant treasurer of the Clinton Savings Bank. He held the office of town clerk six years, and for fifteen years was a member of the school board; he also lias filled the office of town treasurer, library direc- tor and assessor, and for four years was the super- intendent of the Congregational Sunday school. He represented the Worcester thirteenth district four years in the legislature, in the sessions of 1890 QI- 92 and '93, serving as house chairman of the joint committee on education, of public charitable insti- tutions, also as house chairman of the state legis- lative delegation to the Chicago World's Fair. visit- ing in the "Massachusetts House," June 17, 1893.

For a time during the civil war. Mr. Parkhurst filled the position of city editor of the Worcester Daily Spy, and was subsequently promoted to take the chief editorial chair, but declined on account of ill health. In 1865 he assumed the editorial manage- ment of the Clinton Weekly Courant. which posi- tion he still fills, after a continuous service of about forty-one years. In 1803 he also became the editor of the Clinton Daily Item, having served to the present date, a period of about thirteen years. On the occasion of a vacancy on the board of trustees of the State Sanitarium for Consumptives, at Rut- land, Massachusetts, Governor Wolcott, in 1897. ap- pointed him to the position, which he still holds

by a reappointment in 1902. At the semi-centennial of the incorporation of the town of Clinton, in 1900, lie officiated as chairman of the reception committee, and a's chairman on the occasion of the public exer- cises in the town hall. In 1904 he was elected by the Republican convention of the fourth Massa- chusetts district a delegate to the national conven- tion held in Chicago. Mr. Parkhurst is a member of the Masonic Order, lodge, chapter and command- ery. A member of the Odd Fellows Order. A member of the Massachusetts Press Association, of which he was one of the original members. A member of Pomona and Lancaster Granges. A member of Clinton Historical Society, of which lie was one of the organizers and for ten years the treasurer. A member of the Clinton board of trade.

On September 13, 1866, Mr. Parkhurst married Miss Hattie F. Fairbank, of West Boylston, who died December 13, 1885. On August 9, 1887, Mr. Parkhurst married Miss Georgiana B. Warren, a daughter of George and Pamelia ( Eames) Warren, of Framingham, Massachusetts. Mr. Parkhurst has one sister, Miss Helen Adelaide, for many years a teacher of music and of day schools, also two brothers : Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, D. D., for the past twenty-five years pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church of New York city; and Professor Howard E. Parkhurst, organist at the same church, also a teacher of music, a resident of Englewood, New Jersey.

GENERAL JOSIAH PICKETT. The record of Worcester is no exception to that of other cities in this great Republic, but the reader has only to glance at the long roll of names of patriotic men who, during those trying days of the civil war, re- sponded to the call of President Lincoln and went forth front this city to strengthen the hands of the government and help to preserve the Union, to in some measure appreciate the ·service her citizen soldiery rendered the country from the spring of 1861 to the close of the war. Among those names representing that honored list appears that of Gen- eral Josiah Pickett, who was born at Beverly, Massa- chusetts, November 21, 1822, and after attending the common schools of his native town was appren- ticed to learn a mechanical trade, which he in rea- sonable time acquired and in the prosecution of which for a number of years he found remunera- tive employment. The prevailing gold excitement induced him in 1852 to make a trip to California, via the Lake Nicaragua route, where after a so- journ of nearly three years, and in the meantime a satisfactory trial at mining, he returned to Massa- chusetts, and in the early spring of 1855 found a home in the city of Worcester.

His military experience began in July, 1840, as a member of Company F, Sixth Infantry Massa- chusetts Volunteer Militia, and within three years was advanced to a lieutenancy. Soon after his arrival in Worcester lie became a member of the city guards, and in 1850 was elected a lieutenant of the company. When the call for troops came in April, 1861, he was among the first to offer his services and to encourage others to do likewise, and as first lieutenant he left Worcester April 20, with his company, then assigned to the Third Battalion of Rifles, Major Charles Devens, Jr., commanding. The battalion reported at Annapolis, then proceeded to Fort McHenry, Maryland, where Lieutenant Pickett rendered valuable service during a three months' campaign. Returning to Worcester in Au- gust. he became actively interested in organizing the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry, receiving a commission as captain in September. This regi-

GIUN PUBLIC LIBRARY

WORCESTER COUNTY

ment left Worcester, October 29, 1861. and was as- signed to General Burnside's forces for service in North Carolina, sailing from Annapolis, Maryland, January 9. 1862, and after a perilous experience at sea reached the scene of the battle of Roanoke Is- land in season to receive their baptismal fire on that vighth day of February, Captain Pickett being among the first to effect a landing, and was highly commended for gallantry in this engagement.

The battle and capture of Newberne followed. on March 14. and on the 20th he was promoted to be major, in which capacity he commanded the regiment during the Tarboro and Goldsboro expe- dition, and, upon the resignation of Colonel Upton, on October 29, received a commission as colonel of the regiment. Colonel Pickett gave abundant evidence of his courage and capability as an officer and soldier. He brought his regiment to a high standard of, discipline, rendering conspicuous ser- vice in all the subsequent battles and military opera- tions in North Carolina, commanding also, with signal ability, the forces and defences at Plymouth, and of the sub-military district of the Pamlico, at Washington, North Carolina, receiving honorable mention for such services upon his departure for Virginia to rejoin his regiment in December, 1863.

Early in 1864 the Twenty-fifth Regiment was assigned to Heckman's brigade of the Eighteenth Army Corps, for service in the Army of the James, and, with his brave and loyal veterans in a new field of operations, Colonel Pickett won further dis- tinction in the severe engagements that followed, notably his gallant repulse of the charging Con- federate lines at the battle of Arrowfield Church. May 9. Again, in the battle of Drury's Bluff, May 16, at the critical moment in the fight, the intrepid and decisive action of Colonel Pickett saved the Union right from irretrievable disaster. In this in- stance the First Brigade was being severely pressed by the enemy. General Heckman, Colonel Lee, with Captain Belger and a portion of his battery had fallen into the hands of the enemy and were prison- crs. The brigade was in a most critical and serions plight, when the command fell to Colonel Pickett. whose self possession served him at this moment as it had on former occasions. He quickly rallied what was left of the brigade, formed a new line of battle, and succeeded in holding the enemy in check, thereby protecting the base of supplies at Bermuda Hundred from possible capture.

June 3. 1864, at the battle of Cold Harbor. Vir- ginia. in a most heroic charge upon the enemy's works, the Twenty-fifth losing two hundred and nineteen out of three hundred and two men taken into action. Colonel Pickett was severely wounded while leading his brave men through that "Valley of death." and not since the famous charge of the brigade at Balaklava, immortalized in story and in song, has greater heroism been displayed. So says the Confederate General Bowles in his official .re- port of the battle. For his distinguished gallantry upon this and previous occasions during the war. he received a commission as brevet brigadier-gen- eral to date from June 3. 1864, the recommendation for this commission being signed by Brevet-Major- General George J. Stannard. and endorsed by Major General A. E. Burnside, Major General John G. Foster, U. S. A., and Brevet Brigadier General A. B. R. Sprague. U. S. V Disabled from further active service in consequence of his wound. and deeply regretting his inability to continue with his brave comrades until the final victory, he reluctantly retired after a service of nearly four years, on Janu- ary 10. 1865. having won the respect and confidence not only of his entire command, but that of his

superior officers as well. It is not the purpose of this sketch to present to the reader incidents as- sociated with all of the various engagements during the civil war in which General Pickett took part, but merely to mention those in which his conduct as a soldier and military tactician called for the special commendation from his associates in arms and from others knowing the facts and competent to pass judgment upon his patriotic and praise- worthy service.

After returning to his home in Worcester, and suffering severely for nearly a year from the wound in his hip, the ball was finally extracted, and in October, 1865, General Pickett accepted a position in the Boston Custom House. Within a year (namely, in September, 1866) he received the ap- pointment as postmaster of Worcester, a compli- ment most satisfactory to her citizens. With his characteristic promptness and foresight for the ac- commodation of the public, he sought new and more commodious quarters, and the postoffice was re- 'moved from the old Exchange building to Pearl street. and 'for twenty years he was the efficient and progressive postmaster of Worcester. All re- forms that seemed to him necessary for the best interests of the service he adopted, and the capacity of the office grew with public demand, and the present efficient postmaster of Worcester (Mr. Hunt) was educated from a boy of sixteen in the Worcester postoffice while it was under the man- agement of the subject of this sketch. In fact, it may be said that other valuable assistants in that department were also early brought under the same care and training. and still continue in service. In 1889 he was appointed by Governor Ames a mem- ber of the State Armory Commission. This choice was made by the governor at a time when it was proposed to crect at the expense of the state of Massachusetts a number of buildings to be used as headquarters for the militia of the state, and the stately structures, with their convenient appoint- ments, that may be seen in Worcester, Boston, Fall River. Lowell, Springfield and other cities within the state, attest the good judgment and wisdom of that commission of which General Pickett is still (1905) a member. and for the service on which board he possesses special qualifications. To the military associations that originated through ser- vice performed in behalf of the country, General Pickett has given most cordial support. While no

attempt is made to mention the list it was noted that he is a charter member of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loval Legion; a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public : president of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Veteran Regiment Association ; and has been treas- urer of Post 10. Relief Fund from its organiza- tion. In 1894 Hon. Henry A. Marsh, mayor of Worcester, selected him to serve as a member of the License Commission, and in the discharge of the perplexing duties devolving upon that board his integrity has never been questioned.

Since the day of General Josiah Pickett's retire- ment from the army, the citizens of Worcester have sought to do him honor in various ways. It was the accepted belief that no street parade of any considerable magnitude. either of civic or military nature, could be handled in the streets of Worcester without General Pickett as chief marshal in com- mand, and it is but fair to say that from the mili- tary procession July 4. 1865, when the war regi- ments returned and were received by the citizens of Worcester, together with the many subsequent military and civic processions, under his direction as chief marshal, including the ceremony of laying

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the corner stone of the new city hall, September 12, 1896, there was no confusion in the line, all moving on time with promptness and military precision.

But the latest, perhaps the most deserving and lasting compliment paid this quiet, thoughtful, mod- est, loyal citizen and soldier, was the placing of his portrait upon the walls of Mechanical Hall, that famous forum of Worcester, the walls of which have echoed and re-echoed during the past half century as works of patriotism fell from the lips of Andrews, Philips, Sumner, Bullock, Devens, Hoar, and others. And upon those walls may be scen, as companion pictures, portraits of Washing- ton, Lincoln, Garfield, Andrews, General Ward, Sergeant Tom Plunkett and many others. The pre- sentation speech was made October 30, 1902, by General A. B. R. Sprague, a comrade thoroughly familiar with the military life of General Pickett, and the portrait was received by ex-Alderman Ed- ward M. Woodward, president of the Worcester County Mechanics Association. Both addresses were of high order, and in eloquent language expressed the high estimation in which the subject of this sketch is held by both his comrades and fellow citi- zens-the man who. from the impulse of the hour, performed his duty as he saw it, without thought of reward. and on account of such service was promoted from lieutenant to a brevet-brigadier- general is certainly worty of respect and special mention. The ancestral line of General Pickett has been traced to Nicholas Pickett, who was born about 1649, and an inhabitant of Marblehead, Massa- chusetts, as early as 1670, then a young man about twenty-one years of age. He married a daughter of Jolin Northey. Of his connection with other families of the same name, or from whence he came to Massachusetts, the records are silent. It is be- lieved that by occupation he was a mariner. He was living in 1692. He had children: Henry, born about 1676; Nicholas, born about 1678, died 1825 : John, born about 1680, died May, 1763; Dorothy, born about 1682, married Thomas Stevens.

(11) John Pickett, born about 1680, died May, 1763, was a fisherman, and later a shoreman, resi- dence Marblehead. February 16, 1727, he bought for 250 pounds a tract of land near the southerly end of the town, of Peter Levally. He married, January 17, 1704, Elizabeth Kelley, a daughter of John and Grace Kelley. Elizabeth died 1720. July 22, 1737, lie bought the mansion house once the homestead of his deceased father-in-law, John Kel- ley. John Pickett married (second), October 31, 1721. Elizabeth Savory. By his will dated April I, 1763, we learn that he was owner of the schooner called the Pelican, and one-half of the sloop called the Lizard in which his son John carried on the coasting business. The will also mentions a silver tankard. Children were: John, baptized February 27, 1708-9: Grace, baptized July 17, 1709, died young ; William, baptized July 27, 1712, died Decem- ber. 1761; Joseph. baptized October 10, 1714, died April II, 1775; Elizabeth, baptized July 27, 1717, died young : Thomas, baptized July 17. 1719-20, died about 1753: Sylvester, baptized March 25, 1722, died young ; Elizabeth, baptized May 17, 1724, married Thomas Swan, Jr., living 1763; Nicholas, baptized November 6, 1726, died before 1762.

(III) Thomas Pickett was a mariner, and was lost at sea about 1753. He married Sarah, daughter of Richard Trevett, Jr., and wife whose maiden name was Elizabeth Ingalls. She died 1803. Her great-grandfather. Henry Trevett. is reported as the earliest resident of Marblehead bearing that family name. Their children: Sarah, baptized August 23. 1743. died young ; Sarah, baptized July 2, 1749, died unmarried ; Thomas, born June 27, 1750, died July

10, 1819: Elizabeth, baptized July I, 1753, died prior to 1763.

(IV) Thomas Pickett, born June 27, 1750. He removed to Beverly about 1775, where he died July 10. 1810. He was by occupation. a sailmaker and married Miriam, daughter of Samuel and Mary Striker, April 18, 1775. She died in Beverly, August 23, 1839. March 8, 1788, he purchased a house and lot of William Abbott, and other real estate trans- actions were recorded in his name later. Their children were all born in Beverly, but baptized in the old Second Church in Marblehead, the parents taking them over the river in a small boat, there being no bridge over which to cross the harbor at that time. Their children were: Thomas, born December 10, 1775, died July 4, 1817; Miriam, born May 22, 1777, died October 17, 1818; married Moses Howard. Martha Trevett, born January 25, 1779, died February 14, 1811 ; married Nehemiah Roundy ; Richard, born November S. 1780, died December 20, 1864; John, born July 29, 1782, died June 13, 1800: Sarah, born June 22, 1784, died February 2.4. 1809; Samuel Striker, born March 8, 1786, died November 24, 1854: Margaret, born May 31, 1788, was the second wife of Nehemiah Roundy; Charles, born April 15, 1790, died August 8, 1812; Hannah, Forn July 9, 1792. died December 5. 1818. married Amos Stickney; Josiah, born February 19, 1795, died February IT, 1860; Polly, born March 6, 1797.

(V) Josiah Pickett, born in Beverly. February 19. 1795, died February II. 1860; married. February 10, 1822. Mary, daughter of John and Mary ( Batch- elder) Creesy. She was born September 12, 1799, and died in 1879. He served in the United States navy, war of 1812, was taken prisoner and confined in Dartmoor prison, England. After returning home was for some years a seafaring man, but finally adopted his former occupation-that of sail- making. Children: Josiah, born November 21, 1822; John William, born December 30, 1824, shoe- maker: married Susan H. Tucker; Charles, born December 12, 1826. was a mason in Salem, and re- sided in Beverly; Mary Howard, born February 3. 1820. died September 25, 1833: Sarah Frances, born December 25. 1830. married Dewing Southwick : Mary Elizabeth, born November 13, 1832, married Samuel Bell; Martha, born November 26, 1834, married James H. Kendall; George Augustus, born September 10, 1836, married Agnes G. Munsey; Hepzibah Ann, born June 28, 1813. married (first) Charles L. Woodbury: (second) Charles Friend.

(VI) Josiah Pickett, born in Beverly, Novem- ber 21. 1822. at the age of thirteen years left his home to carve out his own success in life. He mar- ried, December 2, 1817, Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Anna Burnham, born March 4, 1827. Since March, 1855. the family home has been in Worcester. Massachusetts. (See sketch). Their children : Frank Lewis, born January 25, 1849. died Novem- ber 9, 1852; William A., born October 12, 1857.

The foregoing closes the ancestral record of this branch of the Pickett family to date of July, 1905. There was a John Pickett, who landed at Salem, with Governor Endicott's company. in 1628, who removed to New London, Connecticut. and subse- quently married Ruth, daughter of Jonathan Brewster. and granddaughter of Elder William Brewster, of Mayflower celebrity. Their descen- dants are still living in that section of the state. The family name also appears among the earliest legislative. official and historical records of Virginia and North Carolina, and among the conspicuous descendants of more recent date is the Confederate general. George E. Pickett. of Gettysburg fame, in the civil war. Descendants of these early settlers are found in many of the southern states.

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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 16

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