Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 6

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 6

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In 1849 Judge Barton went to Europe, where he passed nearly two years, enjoying a much needed rest. On his return he resumed his practice in the firm. He was a member of the American Anti- quarian Society, and one of its councillors. He died July 18, 1867, and the librarian of that institution, Samuel F. Haven, LL. D., in his council report of October of that year says of Judge Barton- "In every station, public or private, he was dis- tinguished for ability, sterling integrity, and earnest

WORCESTER COUNTY

devotion to the fullest performance of every duty." He was an accomplished lawyer, an upright magis- trate, an enlightened patriotic citizen. His widow died in Worcester, November 24, 1883, aged eighty- three years. Their children were: William Sumner, born September 30, 1824, died July 13, 1899; Hannah Maria, born April

13, 1906; Artemas 21, 1826, died December

Bullard, born August 12, 1828, died June 21,

1831; Charles Henry, born April 10, 1830, died February 16, 1885; Artemas Bullard, born December 5, 1831, died April 17, 1837; Luey Ann, born July 24, 1834, died Septem- ber 25, 1905; Francis Augustus, born October 24, 1836, died January 29, 1898; Edmund Mills, born September 27, 1838; George Edward, born July 30, 1841, died May 29, 1878.

William Sumner Barton, eldest son of Judge Barton, was born in Oxford, September 30, 1824, and came when ten years of age with his parents to Worcester. attended the common schools and also the Worcester Acad- emy, was graduated from Brown University in 1844, and later received the degree of A. M. After studying law in the office of his father and law partner, Peter C. Bacon, and attending the Har- vard Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1846, and became a partner in his father's firm, the style of the firm being Barton, Bacon & Barton. In June, 1854, he accepted a position in the Bank of Commerce, Boston, where he remained until January, 1872, when he was elected treasurer and collector of taxes for the city of Worcester. From 1876 until his death he was treasurer of the sinking funds, and also from 1872 treasurer of all the trust funds of the city. Mr. Barton was a genial, court- eous gentleman, prompt and accurate, thoroughly competent to discharge the duties of his office-an ideal public official. He inaugurated a new and modern system of arranging and keeping accounts, which greatly facilitated and simplified the work of the department. He was fond of historical study and research, and among the articles from his pen are, "Sketch of the Bullard Family," "Sketch of the Life of the Duchess of Orleans and her Sons, the Comte de Paris, and the Duc de Chartres," and "Epitaphs from the Cemetery on Worcester Com- mon, with occasional notes, references and an in- dex." After a faithful, honorable service as city

BULLARD HOUSE, WEST SUTTON

The Bullard house was built by Ebenezer Waters in 1767, who sold it to Mr. Hunt, of whom Dr. Artemas Bullard purchased it about the year 1805. Here Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher was born, courted and married. In the parlor at the left as you enter the house, in which Mr. and Mrs. Beecher were married, is a painting of Boston Common, on the panel over the fire place. and in the chamber overhead is a painting of the Boston Tea Party, in a panel over the fireplace there.

treasurer for twenty-seven years, he died July 13, 1899.

He married April 4, 1849, Anne Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Samuel and Mary Gould ( Ellery) Jennison, of Worcester. He married for his second wife, No- vember 22, 1870, Katharine Almy, daughter of Will- iam and Jane Byron Ellery, of New York city. His widow and five children survive him; three daughters by the first marriage, and a son and daughter by the second.

Edmund Mills Barton was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, September 27, 1838, the son of the late Hon. Ira Moore Barton and his wife, Maria Waters (Bullard) Barton. She was born January 25, 1800, in the town of Northbridge, daughter of Artemas Bullard, M. D., and his wife Lucy, eldest daughter of Deacon Jesse and Anna Mason White, of Northbridge. Dr. Bullard was a successful prac- titioner, who acquired an extensive practice, and as a citizen was greatly respected and beloved. He was appointed by Governor Strong surgeon of the local infantry regiment, and was in 1814 elected a fellow of the council of the Massachusetts Medi- cal Society. Mr. Barton's great-grandfather, Asa Bullard, of Holliston, Massachusetts, answered the Lexington Alarm, serving in Captain Stapels Cham- berlain's company, Colonel Samuel Bullard's regi- ment.

Mr. Barton's boyhood days were chiefly spent in Worcester. After passing through the various graded schools, he took a course at the Valentine school in Northborough. The opening scenes of the civil war found him at home, assisting in the care of his invalid father. In May, 1863, lie went to the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, visit- ing hospitals on the way, and laboring in the field hospitals after the battle of Chancellorsville. He then visited the headquarters of General John A. Dix, at Fortress Monroe, and accompanied him upon his expedition to Bottom's Bridge, near Rich- mond. The battle of Gettysburg called him to that field for hospital work, and there he was commis- sioned field relief agent of the United States sani- tary commission, under the authority of the secre- tary of war. and was assigned to the Fifth Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. This position lie held at the front until the end of the war and the final review at Washington. (See Marvin's "Worcester in the war of the Rebellion" for further details.)

After Mr. Barton's return from the war, July 1, 1865, he spent a few months in travel and on April 1, 1866, became assistant librarian of the American Antiquarian So- ciety, Worcester. Upon the death of the eminent librarian. Dr. Samuel Foster Haven, he was unanimously elected on April 24, 1883, to succeed him in the im- portant office. It was a most fitting recog- nition of the services of a zealous, pains- taking efficient officer, who has at all times given the best at his command to further the good service of that remarkably well equipped institution. For Mr. Barton's literary productions, reference is made to Ford's partial bibliography of published works of members of the American His- torical Association, of which Mr. Barton is an original life member of the American Library Association, of which he was for some years a councillor ; life member of the American Antiquarian Society ; life mem- ber of the Massachusetts Library Club, and at one time a vice-president ; member of the Worcester High School Association, and its president in 1894; also a member

BLEIL. 1 PUBLI LIBRAR

Full Berton

BOST PUBLIC LIBRARY

John Wood cach

WORCESTER COUNTY

of various historical, military, and benevolent so- cieties and church clubs.

He married, September 6, 1871, Abigail Twycross Blake, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Paine Blake, and they have one daughter and three sons : Lydia Maud, born August 2, 1872; Edmund Blake, born October 30, 1874; Frederick MacDonald, born June 19. ISSO; and Harold Bullard, born December 21, 1885.

WOODCOCK FAMILY. We find from "His- torical Collections" that the first settlement in Attle- borough was commenced by a John Woodcock and his sons, about 1669. He built a public house on the Bay road, and laid out about three hundred acres of land for his farm. He took up in several parts of the town six hundred acres, some on his own shares, and the rest on rights that he pur- chased. His house was occupied for a garrison, and was licensed in 1670. Woodcock was a man of some consequence in those days, his name often appearing in town offices and on committees. In 1691 he was chosen deputy to the general court from Rehobothi, and at several other times. He was shrewd, hardy and brave, a strong and im- placable enemy to the Indians. He died in 1701, at an advanced age. After his death seven bullet holes were counted in his body. He had two wives : Sarah, died May 10, 1676; and Joanna, who sur- vived him. His children were: I. John, married Sarah Sınith, 1673. 2. Israel. w Nathaniel. + Jonathan. 5. Thomas; and three daughters.

In August, 1894, the following item appeared in the Boston Journal: "The grave of Nathaniel Wood- cock, who was killed by the Indians, and who was the first white settler in Attleborongh, has prob- ably been located. The discovery promises to be of much historical importance. A few days ago, while workmen were grading at the 'Old North Burying Ground,' a grave-stone was ploughed up. At present all that can be traced without acids is. 'In Memory of N- W-, died March, 1665.'" Nathaniel Woodcock is known to have been killed by Indians in March, 1665.

Nathan Woodcock, the great-grandfather of our subject proper, Theodore E., was married in Easton, Massachusetts, September 26, 1765, to Elizabeth Stone.

John Woodcock, their son, was born in Easton, Massachusetts, October 14. 1775, and died in Leices- ter in 1814. He was educated in the common schools of his neighborhood, and was a man of keen in- tellect, shrewd and practical, with a warmhearted nature. He was endowed with the gift of inventive genius, and in 1809 he received United States Let- ters Patent for a machine, still much in use, for splitting leather, and which at that time was of great value. He is mentioned by Governor Wash- burn in his "History of Leicester," as a very "in- genious mechanic," for whose valuable invention the town owes a debt of gratitude which ought not to be forgotten. He lived but fourteen years after coming to Leicester, falling a victim to consump- tion, but in those years he had built up, in con- nection with his partner, a valuable business, known as the manufacture of card clothing, which in the hands of descendants and their associates, continued many years. He married, in Easton, December 15, 1796, Ruth Mehurin, of Easton, Massachusetts, and was at the time of marriage of Rutland, Massachu- setts. He left three sons and two daughters, whose lives were all passed in Leicester, "usefully and honorably :" Hannah. married Benjamin Conklin, 1826. Ruth, married Dwight Bisco, Esq., January 8, 1826. John, Josephus, Lucius.

John Woodcock, son of John (4), was born in

Rutland, Massachusetts, July 23, 1800, and died in Leicester, August 26, 1880. He obtained a common school education, and true to the best traditions of New England life, as well as to the education he had received, he entered early, at the age of seven- teen upon a course of business industry. He took service with James and John A. Smith, who were his father's successors in business. In 1825 he be- came, with Hiram Knight, Esq., partner in the same firm, later known as Woodcock & Knight, and in 1848 Theodore E. Woodcock and Dexter Knight, sons of seniors, came to the firm under the name of Woodcock, Knight & Company. He retired from business in 1867. During his life, he gave a good share of his time to the public service, was a select- man, and in other town offices, and in the legislature two years. He was always a stanch Republican ; was a director of the Leicester Bank from 1836 to the time of his death, a period of forty-four years, and a trustee of the Savings Bank from its beginning. He was for ten years chairman of the directors of the Public Library of the town in which he took a warm interest, and to which he made many donations of valuable books. He was known as a man of intelligence, and of sound, practical judgment, of a memory remarkably exact both of persons and events.

Mr. Woodcock was married, in 1823, to Anna Jenkins, born in Cambridge, New York, daughter of Joshua and Remember Bowen Jenkins, who were both stanch Quakers. Reared in this faith, the daughter Anna retained the gentle. loving nature so characteristic of the Society of Friends, ever ready to lend a helping hand to the sick and un- fortunate ; of affable and pleasing manner, her many fine qualities endeared her to a large circle of friends. Three children were the result of this marriage : Theodore Earle; Ann Eliza, married Dr. William H. Brown, of Bangor, Maine, in 1851, and died in 1889; Ruth Mehurin, married William W. Cald- well, Esq., of Newburyport, Massachusetts, Sep- tember 21, 1848. Mrs. Woodcock died in 1856. Mr. Woodcock married (second) in 1858, Ellen L. Burnett, of North Brookfield, Massachusetts, a lady of culture, who cared for him most tenderly in his declining years, and still survives him. His home was always the happy resort of children and grandchildren; his spirit ever affectionate and gen- erous.

Theodore Earle Woodcock, son of John (5), was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, February 19, 1825. He obtained his education in the schools of his native town and in Leicester Academy. He com- menced at an early age working in his father's card factory, learning the business, and in 1848 was admitted as a partner in the card clothing manu- facturing with his father, the firm known for many years as Woodcock, Knight & Company, Mr. Wood- cock retiring in 1881, the company dissolving by mutual consent, having had a high reputation in one form or another, since 1802, when the business was established hy Winthrop Earle and John Wood- cock, grandfather of Theodore E., the subject proper of this sketch.

Mr. Woodcock was chosen director of the Leices- ter Bank in 1869. serving until 1904, when the bank went into liquidation; is second vice-president of the Leicester Savings Bank; also a member of the finance committee : he has served as selectman in his town, and was a director of the Public Library for many years. Mr. Woodcock is a man of quiet tastes, home-loving and fond of reading. Although residing in Worcester, he is still loyal to his native town, Leicester, and retains his legal residence there, and is also a regular attendant at the John Nelson Memorial Church of that place.

WORCESTER COUNTY

In 1850 he was married to Miss Ellen Caldwell, daughter of John Caldwell, Esq., of Newburyport, Massachusetts, a most estimable lady of pleasing manner, but who was unfortunately an invalid for several years, and died in 1873. By this union, three children were born, viz .: Anna Ruth; Ellen Orne, died in 1873, aged seventeen years; John, died in infancy. Anna Ruth married, April 28, 1875, George Richardson, of the firm of Clark, Sawyer Co., of Worcester. They have two children, and reside in Worcester, Massachusetts.

HON. THOMAS H. DODGE. Among the noted and praiseworthy types of manhood whose career has brightened and blessed his fellowmen, none rises to a more truly noble and lofty attitude than an honored son of the "Green Mountain" state, of whom the subjoined notice and genealogi- cal sketch is written. With such an abundance of real facts from which to draw, one scarcely knows which to select for record use and which to leave unemployed. The subject of which we write is

Thomas H. Dodge, who has been an active, brainy, never-stand-still character, whose career, now well nigh spent by the coming-on of old age, will for generations yet to come be kindly remem- bered for the work he had so intelligently wrought out with his own brains and willing hands. While some men achieve great names by military fame ; some by statesmanlike lives; others by money-mak- ing traits alone, this gentleman has made for the world a true pattern for any young man who wishes to improve his time and make good use of the op- portunities with which he finds himself environed, upon his advent into the world. In this man one finds a study, which to fully comprehend needs to be re-enforced by a knowledge of his noble an- cestry-noble not in a sense of handed-down "royalty," but of that sturdy self-making, self-deny- ing, painstaking sort of which most truly great men are produced.

Concerning the genealogy of Mr. Dodge, let it be said that he is of English origin, and what people have been felt more for their intellect and virtues than the Anglo-Saxon race? The Dodges have a history known somewhat of as far back as 1306 A. D., when members of the family held lands in Stockport, England. But as the object of this volume is to begin with the American ancestry, as a rule, and trace the descendants to the present time, such facts as might be had concerning the English family will not be attempted to be repro- duced herein.

In the course of researches for this family his- tory only two main branches have been found, one descended from William, or Richard, of Beverly, Massachusetts, and the other from Tristram Dodge, who settled on Block Island, Rhode Island, in 1660. April 25, 1629, there sailed from Gravesend, on the Thames, two boats-one the "Talbot," a vessel of three hundred tons, and the "Lion's Whelp," a neat ship of one hundred and twenty tons. They reached Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, May 8. The journal kept by Reverend Francis Higginson, of the "Talbot," has been preserved and gives clue to the origin of all American Dodges. That record says that the "Lion's Whelp" had forty planters from Dorchester, many mariners, eight pieces of ordnance, provisions, and four goats. Both vessels sailed from Yarmouth, May II, 1629, and arrived at Salem, June 29, the same year.

William Dodge settled in that location now called Beverly, but in early times known as Bass-River- Side, being separated from Salem by the bay. Tra- dition states he was tall, with black hair and a dark complexion. He became a freeman April 17,

1637, and received a grant of land containing sixty acres in September that year. William Dodge came to Salem nine years earlier than Richard, hence he has been called the "father of American Dodges." The records, however, show the descendants of Richard outnumber his, probably on account of the fact that the former had but two sons, while Richard had five.

Richard Dodge, brother of William (1), was received as an inhabitant in October, 1638, and was granted ten acres by the town of Salem. He was admitted into the church at Salem. May 5, 1644. In 1671 he helped to establish the First Church at Beverly. Richard died in June, 1671, leaving a will by which it appears that he left a brother Michael ; the will of Richard, in connection with the will of his father, John Dodge, renders the origin of Salem Dodges quite clear. Records in the register's office of Essex county also show that William Dodge, senior, had a nephew William Dodge (Coker Will- iam or William Coker), son of Michael, to whom by a deed dated May 12. 1685, he gave sixteen acres of land where now stands the Beverly reser- voir. On the same date he also imposed a duty upon his son Captain William Dodge, of Beverly, to "pay my brother," "if he came to New England and dwell in this town of Beverly, five pounds per annum, so long as he shall dwell here"-referring to his brother in England-doubtless Michael Sprague, then his only brother, Richard having died in 1671.

The Dodges for at least four generations rarely engaged at anything besides farming. They wanted to possess and improve the soil. They were hard workers and seldom irreligious; rarely office seek- ers, and were a temperate set of people. With the expansion of population they pushed forth for new homes, to subdue other lands. and have been found on the wild frontiers, through the northern states, and today count their descendants by the hundreds if not thousands all the way from New England to the waters of the Pacific. Men of note and national fame may be found here and there from out their ranks of workers. They are found among the philanthropic, military, literary, clergy, medical, legal and college professorships and callings-ever ready to do and to dare.

To come now direct to the line of genealogy in this country it may be said. first, that John Dodge (1) and wife Margery, of Somersetshire, England, had these children: I. William, came to America, 1629: died between 1685 and 1692. He was prob- ably born about 1604. 2. Richard, appeared in Salem, 1637: died June. 1671: probably born 1602. 3. Michael, lived and died in Somerset county, Eng- land, and had five children. 4. Mary, died in Eng- land and had one son-John.

(II) William Dodge, eldest son of John (1), born about 1604. came to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1629. A tradition was handed down by Col. Robert Dodge to his son Francis, of Georgetown, D. C., that "farmer William" came to America when about twenty-one years of age, to see how he liked it, and returned to England, telling his father that he had determined to settle in America, and asked him for some present. His father said. "get mar- ried and I will give it." William is said to have had two refusals, but finally succeeded. married, and for his "present" his father gave him a pair of bulls. "Farmer William," as he was styled, be- came a prominent factor in his new home in the New World. He was elected to many local offices and served in courts as juryman, helped construct roads, bridges, churches, and was an extensive farmer. In 1685 he sold his real estate. conveying the homestead to his son Captain William. His

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Thor Ho Dodge

WORCESTER COUNTY

children were: 1. Capt. William, born September, 1640; died 1720. 2. Hannah, born 1642; married Samuel Porter, who died 1660; married Thomas Woodberry. Josiah Dodge, killed in the Narragan- sett war in 1675, may have been another son.

(11) Richard Dodge, son of John Dodge (I), the English ancestor, and a brother to William above named. married in England, and had a son John, who died there. His wife was baptized as Edith. It is quite certain that Richard and wife joined the New England colony in 1638, and as the King at that time was not allowing emigration, it is possible that he left England without royal sanc- tion. He settled in "Dodge Row," North Beverly, where he built a house that was occupied and kept in the family for more than two hundred years. He and his wife Edith were members of the Wen- ham Church, but the most of his time and talent seems to have been spent in farm improvements, not paying any special attention to church work. His wife outlived him seven years, dying June 27, 1678, at the age of seventy-five years. Their children were: John, Mary, Sarah, Richard, Samuel, Edward, Joseph.

(III) Joseph Dodge, son of Richard (2), born in Beverly, 1651, died August 10, 1716; married Sarah Eaton, of Reading, 1671. He was a farmer . in Beverly, near his father, on Dodge Row. He was one of the executors of his father's estate, re- ceiving a liberal joint share with his brother Ed- ward. The children born to Joseph and his wife were : Abigail, Joseph, Noah, Prudence, Abigail, Jonah, Sarah, Elisha, Charity, Nathaniel.

(IV) Elisha Dodge, son of Joseph (3), born January, 1687, died January 17, 1755. With his brother Jonah le shared his father's real estate holdings. In his will he gave his wife Mary two cows, four sheep and other property, and to his son Elisha all real and personal estate. He left to his wife a negro woman, Bathsheba, who was to belong to his daughters Lois and Mary on the death of their mother. His realty was appraised at 380 pounds, and personal at 114 pounds. He married Mary Kimball, of Wenham, October, 1709, and the children born to them were: Jerusha, Lois, Elisha, Mary, Elisha.

(V) Elisha Dodge, son of Elisha (4), born in Beverly, May 17, 1723, died after 1777, in New Boston, married, first, to Eleanor Dodge; sec- ondly, to Sarah Foster, of Wenham, 1748, who died August, 1768; and in 1769 he married Mrs. Deborah Lovett. He lived in Beverly until 1777, when he moved his family to New Boston, New Hampshire, where he died. His children were: Sarah, Jerusha, Elisha, Noah, Malachi, Abigail, Ella, Enoch, Mehitable, Mary.

(VI) Enoch Douglas, son of Elisha (5), born May, 1762, in Beverly, died December 27, 1834, in Eden, Vermont; married, December 18, 1787, Jael Cochran, born in New Boston, New Hamp- shire, 1768, died at Eden, Vermont, April 6, 1844. They moved to New Boston in 1788. Their chil- dren were: I. Malachi Foster, born New Boston, New Hampshire, August 20, 1789. 2. Elizabeth, born March 28, 1792, died February 22, 1793. 3. Betsey, born January 17, 1794, died July 22, 1802. 4. Enoch, born December, 1795, died Crete, Illinois. March 4, 1873. 5. Elisha, born February 18, 1798, died July, 1802. 6. Jane, born January 25, 1800, died February, 1844: married Daniel Cornish. 7. Nathaniel C., born May, 1802, lived at Jefferson- ville, Vermont. 8. Joseph, born March 31, 1804, died June, 1864. 9. Mary, born June 24, 1806, died 1880. 10. Hiram, born June 25, 1808, died May 13, 1859. II. John, born December, 1810, died March, 181.4.

(VII) Malachi F. Dodge, son of Enoch (6), born August 20, 1789, in New Boston, New Hamp- shire, died October 13, 1865, in Nashua, New Hamp- shire. He married Jane Hutchins, January 9, 1812, at Belvidere, Vermont. They first resided in Bel- videre and next in Lowell, Vermont, whence they removed in 1837 to Nashua, New Hampshire. Their children were: I. Priscilla D., born May 1813, died August 12, 1864; married William H. Huntley. 2. Malachi F., born January 8, 1815. 3. Elisha C., born September 27, 1816, died February, 1825. 4. Sarah Jane, born July 6, 1818, mar- ried, November 18, 1845, Frederick Plummer Bixby ; both deceased. 5. Daniel Darling, born June 28, 1820, married Miss Wyman; both deceased. 6. Thomas Hutchins, born September 27, 1823, mar- ried Eliza Daniels. 7. Abbie R., born June, IS25, married Rodney M. Rollins; both deceased. 8. Elisha E., born November 17, 1827, married Martha E. Fernald; both deceased. 9. Mary Harding, born November 20, 1829, married Mason Boyd; he is deceased; she resides in New Hampshire. 10. Eme- line A., born July, 1832, died October 26, 1865.

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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 6

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