Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 35

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 35

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BERRY FAMILY. Joseph Berry (1), ancestor of Russell Woodward Berry, late of Worcester, Massachusetts, was born before 1700. While the record of his birth has not been found, it is believed that he came from a Boston family. Ambrose Berry and wife Hannah were living in Boston from 1686 and probably earlier, and in 1697 and probably later. They had a son Joseph, born July II, 1693; died July 24. 1693. and there are reasons for believing that Joseph Berry (I), may be a son born after they left Boston. Ambrose Berry was at Saco, Maine, in 1636, perhaps the father of Ambrose Berry, of Boston, and died May 3, 1661.

Other members of the Berry family, of Boston, were Thomas and Grace Berry, who had a son John, born March 3, 1664, and a daughter Grace born June 1, 1669. Thaddeus and Hannah Berry had : I. Elizabeth, born December 2, 1665; married Joseplı Townsend. 2. Samuel. June 20, 1667. 3. Han- nah, August 12, 1668. 4. Thomas, September 20, 1670. Thomas and Margaret Berry, of Boston, had Margaret, June 26, 1692, and Thomas, March 19, 1694. Oliver and Gartright Berry, of

Boston, had Sarah, born January 28, 1678; Abigail, May 10, 1688; Oliver, February 26, 1093; John, Feb- ruary 4, 1696. To some of these families it seems certain that Joseph Berry belonged, and it is believed that all of them were related closely.

Joseph Berry settled in Framingham, Massa- chusetts, and married there Thankful Shears, Jan- uary 27, 1719-20. She was the daughter of John Shears, of Framingham.

John Shears (3), son of Samuel Shears (2), was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts, 1666, and went to Framingham, Massachusetts, to settle. His farm was on Doeskin Hill where he was living in 1693. He was a town officer in 1724. He married, April 9, 1688, Alice Mitchleson, of Cambridge, Massa- chusetts. Their children were: I. Thomas, born January 9, 1708. 2. Thankful, married January 17, 1719-20, Joseph Berry, before mentioned.

Samuel Shears (2), son of Jeremiah Shears (I), was born in 1627, in England, and probably came to Dedham, Massachusetts, with his father. He mar- ried Mary - and settled in Wrentham, whichi was originally part of Dedham, Massachusetts. He died in 1691, aged sixty-four years. His wife died April 26, 1704. Their children were: I. Mary, born 1664. 2. John, 1666; before mentioned. 3. Mehitable, February 1, 1668. 4. Solomon, February 20, 1669; died at the age of nineteen years. 5. Gracc, Febru- ary 29, 1672. 6. Judith, July 17, 1675.

Jeremiah Shears (1), was an emigrant and pio- neer of Dedham, Massachusetts. He was probably from Yorkshire in England. He married (probably for his second wife) Susanna Green, widow of Nich- olas Green. He died in 1664. It is presumed that he was the father of the preceding, though little is known of him.

Joseph Berry married (second) Hepzibah Ben- jamin. He owned the farm later owned by Ezekiel Howe, whose father bought it of Berry. His widow administered his estate in 1757. Children of Joseph and Thankful ( Shears) Berry were: I. Alice, born 1721; baptised June 18, 1721, at Framingham. 2. Abijah, baptised July 14, 1723; died young. 3. Shears, (see forward). 4. Thomas, March 16, 1726-7; was in Sudbury 1760. 5. Benjamin, April 14, 1733; settled in Framingham; fought in the Concord fight, April 19, 1775; died at Oakham, Massachusetts, March 1, 1800. 6. Thankful, Octo- ber 14, 1735; married General John Nixon, Febru- ary 7, 1754, one of the most prominent officers of Central Massachusetts in the revolution; his fam- ily came from New York and the South. 7. Mary, May 29, 1737; married Amos Parmenter. 8. Abijah, December 5, 1738; died, unmarried, at Marlboro about ISI0. 9. Lydia, April 5, 1739; married Joel Newton, June 3, 1862, in Southboro. (One of the two latter dates of birth is obviously erroneous, but is according to record .- Ed.)

(II) Shears Berry, third child of Joseph Berry (1), the preceding, born in Framingham, Massa- chusetts, December 25, 1725; married June 15, 1750, Esther Woodward, of Holden. He settled in the West Wing of Rutland about the time of his mar- riage, and his children were born there. In 1766 he bought a farm of Samuel Gordon at Oakham, and removed to that town. He and his son Joseph were associated in the ownership of considerable land in the vicinity. He was a soldier in the revo- lution. He was in Captain Barnabas Shears' com- pany in 1776, and in the Continental army, in Colo- nel Converse's regiment, in 1777. He enlisted for three years in 1777 in Captain Wheeler's company, Colonel Nixon's regiment. He was also a private in Captain Abel Holden's company, same regiment, and

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was at Peekskill in 1779, in Captain Timothy Paige's company, Colonel John Rand's regiment, and in 1780 was at West Point with his company.

After the revolution it seems that Shears and Joseph Berry left Oakham and settled in Salem, New York, as stated in a deed dated March 24, 1788, and recorded in 1797, in which land in Oakham is deeded to them by John Powers, of Oakham. They also bought land in common from George Caswell, February 4, 1789, when they were both living in Oakham. About 1797 the family moved to Ver- mont, where Shears probably died. Some of them located at Guildhall, Vermont. Children of Shears or Sheers (as the records have it) Berry were: I. Eunice, born in Rutland, June 22, 1751. 2. Joseph, born in Rutland, December 29, 1752. 3. Ephraim, born in Rutland, November 25, 1754. 4. Esther, born in Rutland, December 5, 1757; married Elias Marsh, August 1, 1776. 5. Lydia, born at Rutland, September 9, 1760; married at Oakham (intentions August 23) 1789. 6. John, born at Oakham, April 4, 1772. 7. Woodward (see forward). 8. Benjamin, baptised August 17, 1777, at Rutland.

(III) Captain Woodward Berry, seventh child of Shears Berry (2), born in Oakham, September 2, 1774; baptised October 1, 1775. He married Nancy. The family removed to Vermont and resided at Guildhall, where most of the children were born. He was captain in the militia and served, it is said, in the war of 1812.

Joseph Berry, brother of Captain Woodward Berry, was also a very prominent man, a lawyer, in 1799 one of the seven founders of the Guildhall Church; chief judge of the court in 1822; in the governor's council in 1819-20-21-22-23-24; state's attorney in 1811-12-15-16-17-18-21-23-24; representa- tive to the state legislature of Vermont in 1816; re- moved to Newbury, Vermont, thence to Iowa, where he died; his wife was Sarah. Perhaps Woodward Berry went West also. The date of his death and place are not known. His wife returned with the family to her old home in Oakham, Massachusetts, about 1830. She lived to an advanced age and died in the eighties, in Worcester, at the home of her son Russell Woodward Berry, Chatham street.

Children of Captain Woodward and Nancy Berry were : 1. Joseph Austin, born in Oakham, July 7, 1807; died young (probably the Joseph who died January 7, 1839, at Oakham, though his age is given wrongly as twenty-two instead of thirty-two). 2. Sarah, born in Vermont, ISTI; died December 28, 1839, at Oakham. 3. Sophronia, born in Vermont about 1812; died October 19, 1842; married Captain Russell Ripley, December 13, 1832, at Oakham. Captain Ripley was the son of Lieutenant Zenas and Sarah Ripley, and was born at Oakham, February 22, 1804. 4. Russell Woodward. (see forward). 5. Deacon Zebina E., (see forward). 6. Isaac; settled in Vermont; married Emily Copeland and had two children : Hortense, who married James W. Rand, of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and had children ; Nancy, who married David G. Tapley, of Worcester, and they have two children: Walter, married, liv- ing in Washington, District of Columbia, and Ella, married Robinson, and resides with her parents at 110 Austin street ..

(IV) Russell Woodward Barry (Berry), son of Captain Woodward Berry, born in Guildhall, Vermont, died in Worcester in 1891. He went to school in Vermont. When a young boy he re- turned with his mother to Oakham, Massachusetts, but soon afterward came to Worcester to learn his trade. He had little schooling, but having a taste for books, managed to acquire a good education. lle learned the carpenter's trade and followed it all

his life in Worcester. He built his own house at 42 Chatham street, where his widow now resides. During his active life he worked for the leading con- tractors and helped construct many of the important buildings that rank among the landmarks of Wor- cester.

Mr. Berry was a good citizen, modest, quiet and domestic in his tastes, belonging to no secret orders. He was for many years a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association. In poltics he was a Republican, but never cared for public office. He attended the Congregational church. He married October 5, 1843, Harriet Gage, daughter of Eben and Sally (Stone) Gage, of Leicester, Massachusetts. Eben Gage was a farmer. He lived for a time also at Orford, New Hampshire. He was colonel of a regiment of New Hampshire militia. No children were born to Russell Woodward Berry.

(IV) Deacon Zebina E. Berry, son of Captain Woodward Berry (3), was born in Guildhall, Ver- mont. He was educated there and worked on the farm of his father there until 1831, when he re- turned with the family to Massachusetts, and went to work in Worcester. He was then twenty-five years of age. He was employed first by Carter & Tobey, builders, and helped to build the first part of the old Lunatic Asylum on Summer street, and worked on other large structures built at that time. He retained the spelling, Berry, while his brother Russell preferred Barry. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest and best known carpenters and builders in Worcester. He died in 1889, at the home of his daughter Mrs. Alonzo W. Cole, 12 May- wood street. He was very active in church work. Soon after coming to Worcester he joined the First Baptist Church, and was one of forty baptized No- vember, 1831, in Fox's Pond near Green street, and in 1836 he was elected deacon. He served until 1848. In his later years he was a member of the South Baptist Church because of his residence in that section of the city.

He married (first) November 3, 1836, Lucretia H. Culver, daughter of Joshua and Susan (Teed) Culver, of Somers, New York; married (second) a sister of his first wife, Susan Augusta Culver, September 4, 1849. Children of Deacon Zebina E. and Lucretia H. (Culver) Berry were: I. Susan Augusta, September 16, 1838; deceased. 2. Sarah Louisa, July 22, 1840; deceased. 3. Ella Lucretia, (see forward). 4. Susan Culver, January 9, 1846; inarried Charles Amidon, of Worcester.

(V) Ella Lucretia Berry, third child of Deacon Zebina E. Berry (4), born in Worcester, Massa- chusetts, March 6, 1843: married August 6, 1867, Alonzo W. Cole, a native of Orleans, Massachusetts. They reside on Maywood street, Worcester. They have one child, Arthur Williams Cole, born Feb- ruary 17, 1875; married January 23, 1903, Emma Louise Taylor, daughter of Robert C. Taylor, formerly of Webster, Massachusetts. (See sketch of Alonzo W. Cole and the Cole Family in this work.)

THE KNOWLES FAMILY, as represented in Worcester county, is from Eastham, (the Nauset of the aborigines), Barnstable county, that portion of Massachusetts known as Cape Cod, where for more than a hundred and fifty years the ancestors of L. J. and F. B. Knowles lived, and were known as exemplary, wise and industrious farmers.

Richard Knowles who had lived in Plymouth and there married Ruth Bower, August 15, 1639, was at Eastham as early as 1653, according to Freeman, the trustworthy historian of Cape Cod. (Vol. 11. P. 393, noted.) At least three of his children were

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born in the former town: Mercy, married Ephraim Doane, February 5, 1668; John; Samuel, born Sep- tember 17, 1651. It would appear that Mehitable, born in 1655, and Barbara, born September 28, 1656, were born in Eastham. Samuel married, Decem- ber, 1679, Mercy Freeman, and Barbara, June 13, 1677, married Thomas Mayo. The complete genealogy of the Knowles family would reveal mar- riages with all the names early represented in East- ham, so that it was nearly or remotely related with all the dwellers in that township.

John Knowles, son of Richard, married, Decem- ber 28, 1670, Appliia, daughter of Edward Bangs, one of the first comers and a very important man in the community. Apphia and her twin sister Mercy, born October 15, 1651, were married on the same day, the latter to Stephen Herrick. John Knowles was one of nineteen men Eastham furnished for the King Philip war, and was one of the slain, as ap- pears in the action of the colony government in pro- viding for his widow. Freeman (vol. I, p. 280) says, "and provision was especially made for Apphia, widow of John knowles, of Eastham, lately slain .in the service." From a note at the foot of p. 366, vol. II, the conclusion is drawn that he was killed near Taunton, June 3d, 1675 (i. e. 3d day, 4th month, O. S.). John and Apphia Knowles had three children: Edward, November 7, 1671; John, July 10, 1673; Deborah, March 2, 1675. When the father died no one of his children was old enough to appreciate their deprivation. Edward, older son, married (first) Ann Ridley, and (second) the widow Sarah Mayo, and was the father of six children. He was known in town annals as Deacon Knowles, and died November 16, 1740. The widow of John Knowles later married Joseph Atwood, and the ap- pearance of a Bangs Atwood in a later generation of the Atwoods would indicate that she bore chil- dren by her second husband. The son John, of the third generation in the Knowles family, married Mary -, of whom no record is found. In an old burial burial ground of Eastham, near the shores of the town cove, the bodies of the brothers are buried. Quite likely many more of the family lie there also, but if so their memorials long ago disappeared. Side by side are two ancient slates, each having the winged skull, that of the wife with the traditional crossed bones, and inscriptions as follows: "Here Lyes Buried the Body of Mrs. Mary Knowles, wife of Colnl John Knowles. Died Nov. ye 7th, 1745, in the 73d Year of Her age ;" "Here lies buried the body of Colnl John Knowles who departed this life Nov. 3d, 1757, in the 85th Year of His Age." When he bore the title of captain, John Knowles was a member of general court. Very likely his military appellations came from service in the militia. Colonel John and Mary Knowles had: Joshua, born 1696; John, 1698; Setli, 1700; Paul, 1702; James, 1704; Jesse, 1707; Mary, 1709.

Joshua, eldest child of Colonel Jolin and Mary Knowles, apparently followed the vocaton of his father, farming, with possibly an occasional venture at fishing. The metes and boundaries of the town assignments of land to the successive generations of the family indicate nearness to the center of the town of Eastham, and the burial 'of their dead in the cemeteries near that part bears out the sup- position. Joshua Knowles was married to Sarah Paine, March 13, 1717-18, by Nathaniel Freeman, Esq. She was born April 14, 1699, daughter of John and Bennet Paine, another of the oldest families in the township, one that later gave a signer of the Declaration of Independence to the country. The wife died July 12, 1772, and the husband, May 27,

1786. Their children were: Jesse, born April 13, 1723; Rebecca, May 23, 1726; Sarah, March 10, 1727-28; Joshua, April 27, 1730; Josiah, May 24, 1735; Simeon, August 11, 1737; Susanah, March 9, 1740.

Simeon, youngest son of Joshua and Sarah Knowles, appears as follows in the Eastham records : "August 12, 1758, then entered the intentions of Simeon Knowles and Eunis Mayo boath of Easthamn to proseed in marriage, Recorded Thomas Knowles, town clk." The foregoing is nearest the date of marriage thus far found. The wife was a repre- sentative of another long placed Eastham family, the prime ancestor, John Mayo, having been the first minister in the town. From Simeon comes whatever claims his descendants have on revolution- ary memories from the name of Knowles. The state rolls have under his name the following entry : "Simeon Knowles, Private, Captain Israel Higgins Co., Major Zenas Winslow's Regiment, Sept. 9 to Sept. 13, 1778, 4 days, on an alarm at Falmouth." Roll endorsed, "on alarm att Bedford." It is pos- sible that Simeon died in Eastham, before the inov- ing of the family to Hardwick; certainly Paige, his- torian of the latter town, makes no mention of his death. His wife died in Hardwick, April 5, 1819, aged seventy-nine years. The eldest and possibly all the children were born in Eastham; Simeon, August 17, 1766; Elisha, about 1769, died August 14, 1859; Phebe, died, unmarried, April 7, 1824, and others. The family had remained in Eastham or in adjoining towns for considerably more than one hundred years, but now comes the migratory spirit. It is said that the disposition of people from the Cape to seek better homes in northern Worcester county arose from the locating there of the Rev. Timothy Ruggles, father of his more famous son, who was a loyalist in the revo- lution. Having lived and preached in towns near Barnstable county, he drew upon some of his ac- quaintances for recruits to the settlements in the northwest.

Simeon, eldest child of Simcon and Eunis ( Mayo) Knowles, married Priscilla Doane, their marriage intentions having been published November 10, 1787, in Eastham. The Doanes were also among the long established dwellers in the town. Their children were: Bangs, born in Eastham, March 9, 1789, died September 17, 1806; Simeon, born Eastham, June 22, 1791; Leonard, Edward, Harriet and perhaps others. From the above facts it would seem rea- sonable that the second Simeon was the real migrant, and that his mother and brethren accompanied him. He died August 22, 1823, while his widow sur- vived until February 5, 1839, dying at the age of seventy-five years.

Simeon, second child of Simeon and Priscilla (Doane) Knowles, was the first of the family in nearly two centuries to marry outside the Old Colony. He married, March 14, 1814, Lucetta New- ton, of Hardwick, daughter of Silas and Naomi ( Washburn) Newton. The Newton lineage of Lucetta, born January 2, 1792, began in Sudbury in the person of Richard, whose son. Moses of Marl- boro, transmitted the name to Josiah, and he to Timothy, a farmer, who lived on the road from Hardwick to Barre. All of these men were promi- nent in their day and generation. Timothy, born February 28, 1728, married Sarah Merrick, was a soldier in the French and Indian war, and died July 10, 18II. His son, Silas, born February II, 1766, was a Hardwick farmer and the father of Simeon's wife, Lucetta. The latter died in Warren, August 23, 1868, aged seventy-six years. Simeon Knowles

died in Warren, April 9, 1860.

The children of

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Simeon and Lucetta ( Newton) Knowles were : Laura Loraine, born October 10, 1816, married Rufus Washburn, Jr., of Johnstown, New York, February 21, 1837; Lucius James, born July 2, 1819; Harriet Evaline, July 24, 1821, married Lorin Brown, Fitchburg, October 1, 1844; Francis Bangs, Novem- ber 29, 1823. The family resided about three miles northerly from the common in Hardwick.

Francis B., youngest child of Simeon and Lu- cetta (Newton) Knowles, was twice married, (first ), December 23, 1845, to Ann Eliza Poole, of Glovers- ville, New York. The children by this marriage were : Eliza Evaline, born January 5, 1848, in Gloversville, married September 2, 1873, C. Henry Hutchins, of Worcester, long identified with the Knowles Loom Works and now president of the cor- poration. Their children . are : Arthur Knowles and Helen Mabel. Mrs. Hutchins died February 13, 1808. and Frank Poole, born February 1, 1853, in Gloversville, married, October 2, 1879, Alice J., daughter of George C. and Eleanor J. (Doane) Bige- low, of Worcester; their children are : George

Francis. Marion and Lillian. The mother died February 24, 1865, soon after the removal to War- ren. Mr. Knowles's second marriage, April 23, 1867, was to Hester A., daughter of John Reynolds and Fanny (Wightman) Greene, of Worcester. Their children are: Mabel, married June 15, 1893, Dr. Homer Gage, of Worcester. They have one child, Homer Gage, Jr. Frances, married April 23, 1900, George Eddy Warren, of Boston, a business man. Lucius James, married, April 6, 1904. Laura, daughter of John R. McGinley, of Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania. Their son, Lucius James, Jr., was born in London, England. Both sons of Francis B. Knowles are directly connected with the great busi- ness established by father and uncle. The names of "Frank" and "Lucius" are still heard in the works and, from the names in the latest generations, the famous appellations bid fair to obtain for years to come.

Mrs. Knowles comes of an old Rhode Island fam- ily, descended from John Greene, surgeon, of Gill- ingham, England, who came to America in 1635 and settled in Warwick, Rhode Island, where through successive generations the family resided. The line from the first John Greene included Peter, Peter, Elisha. Elisha, Stephen, William, who mar- ried Abigail Reynolds, thus becoming the father of John Reynolds Greene, the father of Mrs. Knowles. He was for many years a Worcester merchant, and a warden of All Saints' Church. He was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, December 22, 1811, and died April 1, 1873. Well educated, he was highly suc- cessful in business, and deeply interested in church work. His children were: Byron W., Hester. A., Stephen E., Mary, Fannie and Abbie.

So blended were the lives of the brothers L. J. and F. B. Knowles, it were much easier to write of them together than separately. Their characteristics supplemented each other perfectly, and never did men better exmplify the scriptural words, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." There were only two sons in the family of Simeon Knowles, and they ap- peared to have little affiliation for the life so long pursued by their ancestors, for we see them, in due order, leaving the hills of Hardwick determined to win their way by other means than those employed by the fathers. To the younger brother had been given the rather unusual name, for those days, of Francis with another, still more uncommon, but re- calling an uncle, Eastham born, who had died in his early manhood. As a Christian name, Bangs sug- gester a long line of ancestral facts and no doubt

the father, Simeon, in thus naming his boy had in mind a tribute to the "Cape Cod Folks," whose memory to him was especially dear. However, as the years went by and the boy advanced to man- hood his double name was seldom used in its en- tirety. Indeed among his immediate friends he was more often known as "Frank," while for signature purposes the initials, F. B., were found to be all he had time to write.

After securing whatever of educational aid the common schools of Hardwick could afford, with some higher attainments at Leicester Academy, he early essayed the role of schoolmaster himself, in this capacity serving in Dana, and possibly in other nearby towns. While still four years away from his majority he was permitted to leave the farm and to undertake the task of shifting for himself. His older sister Laura had married in Johnstown, New York, and it is possible that this fact accounts for her brother's presence, when nineteen years old, as a teacher in the neighboring village of Gloversville. He had not assumed the profession as a lifelong occupation, but rather a makeshift till some better way appeared. The place where he thus found him- self was noted then, as it is now, for its manufacture of kid and buckskin gloves and mittens, leading in this particular all other places in the country. What more natural than that this enterprising, resource- ful New England boy should speedily see a chance for himself to better his condition, by forsaking the schoolroom for the mart of trade. At any rate ere long he became a salesman for one of the great glove making companies of the town and, going upon the road, he speedily familiarized himself with a large part of the eastern portion of the country. April 1, 1845, he entered upon the making of gloves himself, continuing in this occupation till he em- barked in the clothing business, and this was his vocation when in 1883 came the call from his brother to come back to Massachusetts.

He, therefore, came to Warren, Worcester coun- ty, to bear a hand in the development of the inven- tions which were taking shape in the fertile brain of Lucius J., and from that time onward his interests were largely in this part of the Commonwealth. Though L. J. Knowles was conducting a great busi- ness in his making of steam pumps in his Warren factory, he was not satisfied, but desired rather to enter upon the manufacture of looms, upon whose improvement his mind had been dwelling. Accord- ingly the advent of the younger brother followed and with expected pleasing results. We are told that the first loom was constructed in the pump works of Warren, but the advantages of Worcester soon became so obvious that in 1866 the loom works were transferred to this city and first established in Allen court, the name of F. B. Knowles appearing in a Worcester directory for the first time in 1867. The older brother continued his residence in War- ren1.

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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 35

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