Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 74

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 74

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Judge Gaskill has served the city of Worcester as a director of the Free Public Library for several years, and as president of the board in 1888, and as trustee of both Brown University and Worces- ter Academy. His fondness for books, of which he posesses a rare assortment, brings him into the circle of various literary and social bodies. notably the Club of Odd Volumes of Boston, also the Uni- versity Club of that city, the Worcester Club and the Tatnuck Country Club. He is vice-president of the People's Savings Bank, and director of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company. Brown University in 1899 gave him the degree of LL. D., and recently paid him an honor by placing him upon its Board of Fellows. In politics Judge Gaskill is a strong Republican, and at various times has given valuable aid to the promotion of the princi- ples of that party upon the political platform, being a forcible and polished speaker.

Judge Gaskill married (first), 1869, Katherine M., daughter of A. B. and Ann Eliza Whittaker, of Providence, Rhode Island, where Mr. Whittaker was a prominent merchant. She died in 1889, having borne to her husband two children: Mary M., and George A. Gaskill. Judge Gaskill married (sec- ond) Josephine L., daughter of Joseph and Phebe Abbott, of Providence, Rhode Island. No children have been born of this marriage. Judge Gaskill attends the First Baptist Church in Worcester.

George A. Gaskill, only son of Judge Francis Almon and Katherine M. ( Whittaker) Gaskill, was born in Worcester, June 4, 1877. He graduated from Worcester Academy, class of 1894; and from Brown University, A. B., IS9S. He attended Harvard Law school two years, was admitted to the bar 1901, and has since practiced law in Worcester in the office of Herbert Parker, attorney general of Massachusetts. He was elected a trustee of Wor- cester Academy, 1905. He married, June 1, 1905, Caroline Dewey Nichols, daughter of Dr. Charles L. Nichols, and granddaughter of Judge Francis H. Dewey.

ROBINSON FAMILY OF DORCHESTER. James Robinson (1), the immigrant ancestor of Hannah Caroline (Robinson) Davis, of Worcester, was born in England and came to this country about 1660, when a young man. There is no proof that he was related to any of the numerous other imini- grants of this surname among the early settlers, nor is there any clue yet discovered whereby his birthplace in England could be discovered. This difficulty in tracing the family in England is of course the rule with all the Puritan fathers. and the difficulties are enormously increased in the case of a family bearing a surname like Robinson. because of the great number of persons of the same name at the same time.

James Robinson settled in Dorchester and was admitted a freeman there in 1669. He died there

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April 18, 1694. His name appears in the seating of the church March 17, 1693-94. in the "fourth men's below." His wife was admitted to the church February 15, 1673-74, and a month later on the strength of her membership her four children were baptized-James, Thomas, Samtiel and Mary. He married September 27. 1664, Mary Alcock, daughter of Thomas Alcock, now generally spelled Olcott. She died March 13, 1718, aged seventy-three years. Children of James and Mary Robinson were: I. James, born November 8. 1665, was soldier in the Canada expedition in 1690 under Captain John With- ington : there is no record of his having any family at Dorchester. 2. Thomas, born April 15, 1668. 3. Samuel, born September 4. 1670. 4. Mary, born March 17. 1673, died young. 5. John, born April 17, 1675; see forward. (Many of the early writers have followed excellent authority in calling this John the Rev. John Robinson, who became the min- ister at Duxbury in 1701 and preached there until dismissed in 1738; but it has been shown that he was the son of Samuel Robinson, of Dorchester, possibly a brother or some relative of James; lie died at Lebanon, Connecticut, 1745, aged seventy- four years, making him several years older than John, son of James Robinson (1), mentioned above. ) 6. Henry, born June 21. 1678, died young. 7. Ebenezer, born January 5, 1682, killed at Port Royal, May 27. 1707, while fighting with the Americans and British against the French.

(II) John Robinson, son of James Robinson (I). was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. April 17. 1675. He seems to have been a quiet citizen like his father. He joined the church October 15, 1699, and owned the covenant February 22, 1701-02. He died at Dorchester, February 6, 1742-43. He mar- ried Mary who died at Dorchester. Decem- ber 22, 1713. He married (second), January 20, 1714-15, Ruth Burt. Only two children were recorded at Dorchester, viz .: I. James, born May 19, bap- tized May 21, 1704. 2. John, Jr., born March 20, 1706-07, see forward.

(III) John Robinson, Jr., son of John Robinson (2), of Dorchester, was born there March 20, 1706-07. He seems to have been a prominent citizen of Dor- chester and is called Major, doubtless serving in the Colonial wars. He died in 1767. He married Susannah Williams, bo'n 1706 and died 1804. Their children, all born at Dorchester, were: John, born July 28, 1728, probably captain in the revolution ; Mary, born January 12. 1730-31: Captain James, see forward: Ebenezer, born March 25, 1735, died young : Ruth, born December 19, 1737; Ebenezer, born Sep- tember 27, 1741 : Stephen, born January 4, 1748.

(IV) Captain James Robinson, son of John Rob- inson, Jr. (3), was born in Dorchester, Massachu- setts, January 30, 1732, and died there March 14, 1808. He seems to have been a soldier in the revo- lution in Captain Ebenezer Withington's company, Colonel John Robinson's regiment, April 19, 1775, at the battle of Lexington. Later he became cap- tain of the militia and commanded a company in the regiment of Colonel Ezra Bedlam during "Shays's Rebellion" in 1787. He was one of the signers of the Suffolk Resolves. He was on a committee with a number of other Dorchester men to remonstrate with the general court against the annexation of Dorchester Neck to Boston, January 23, 1804. He married Sarah Breck, born in 1736 and died 1797. They lived at Dorchester and their children, all born there, were: 1. Stephen, see forward ; 2. James, born July 17. 1756. 3. Edward, born December 26, 1758. 4. John, born November 27. 1761. 5. John, born July, 1763. 6. Joseph, born June 18, 1766. 7.

Saralı Breck, February 2, 1769. 8. Susanna, born June 8, 1771.

(V) Lieutenant Stephen Robinson, eldest son of Captain James Robinson (4), was born in Dor- chester, Massachusetts, August 23, 1776, and died there October 24, 1852. He was lieutenant of the First Brigade of Artillery, First Division, in 1806. He married April 11, 1805, at Dorchester, Hannah Withington, daughter of Ebenezer Withington, who was a soldier in the revolution, a minute man at Lexington. The children of Stephen and Hannah Robinson were: Stephen Augustus, see forward; James Ebenezer, born December 16, 1810; James Withington, February 21, 1812; Hannah Withington, July 10, 1814; John Flavel, January 29, 1817; Mary Withington, April 30, 1819: Edward Breck, May 29, 1821.

(VI) Captain Stephen Augustus Robinson, eldest child of Stephen Robinson (5), was born at Dor- chester, Massachusetts, May 3, 1806 (family record May 5), and died there June 9, 1863. He settled at Dorchester and married Mary Capen, daughter of Joseph Capen, of Canton, Massachusetts.

CHARLES FREEMAN READ. Esdras Read (I), the immigrant ancestor of Charles Freeman Read, of Worchester, was born in England, the son of Mathew Read. The name Esdras is sometimes found Ezra. A tract of land was granted him by the town of Boston, of which he was a proprietor as early as 1638. His place was at Muddy river, now Brookline, but he removed that year to Salen and was a proprietor of the town. He was admitted to the Salem church, May 10, 1640, and his wife Alice December 29, 1640, when Rev. John Fiske was pastor, and went with him and his church to Wen- ham, then called Enon, meaning "much water," in 1643. He was deputy to the general court from Wenham in 1648 and also in 1651. He was sent in 1655 by Rev. Mr. Fiske and his, church to look out for a more commodious settlement and he selected Chelmsford. The next spring Rev. Mr. Fiske, Mr. Read and a majority of the church mem- bers removed to that place. While at Wenham he was deacon of the church. In 1658 he was again admitted an inhabitant of Boston, where he died in 1680, and his gravestone is now standing in Copps Hill cemetery. He was a tailor by trade and owned considerable property on Copps Hill at the time of his death. Administration was granted De- cember 17, 1680, to his son, Obediah Read, of Bos- ton. Esdras Read married Alice Ward.

(II) Obediah Read, son of Esdras Read (I), was born about 1639. lle married Anna Swift, of Boston. She died September 13, 1680. The record of his death is on his gravestone in Copps Hill ceme- tery, Boston, as February 19, 1721. He was a car- penter by trade. The children of Obediah and Anna Read: Thomas, born 1665, see forward; Rebecca, 1668: Elizabeth, 1669: Sarah, 1671; Anna, 1672; Obediah, Jr., 1677; James, 1679.

(III) Thomas Read, son of Obediah Read (2), was born in Boston in 1665. He went back to Chelmsford and had a grant of land from the town. The name of his first wife is not known. Hle mar- ried (second) Hannah - His children by the first wife were: Thomas, born 1687, see forward; Jonathan, William, Esdras, John. The children of Thomas and Hannah : Benjamin, Timothy.

(IV) Thomas Read, son of Thomas Read (3), was born. at Chelinsford, Massachusetts, 1687, and married Sarah Fletcher. He was a prominent man in the town of Chelmsford and held the office of justice of the peace. He died December 24, 1773,

PUBLIC LIBR

Plus & Read

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aged eighty-six years. The Reads were the first set- tlers in that part of Chelmsford, now Westford. The children of Thomas and Sarah: Sarah, born 1712; Timothy, 1714, see forward; Eleazer, 1731; Benjamin. 1732.

(V) Timothy Read, son of Thomas Read (4), was born at Chelmsford, Massachusetts, March 21, 1714. He married, November 10, 1732, Mary Cum- mings. He moved from Chelmsford to Dunstable, Massachusetts, when that town included the present towns of Dunstable, Nashua, Nashville, Hollis and parts of the towns of Pelbam, Londonderry, Hudson, Merrimac and Townsend, some now of New Hamp- shire, some of Massachusetts, having an area of two hundred square miles. For many years Dunstable was on the frontier and the early settlers were ex- posed to Indian attack frequently. Many outrages were committed there by the Indians and many deeds of valor and heroism by the white men. The chil- dren of Timothy and Mary Read: Elizabeth, born 1733: Mary, 1734: Timothy, Jr., 1736; Eleazer, 1749. (V1) Eleazer Read, son of Timothy Read (5), was born in Dunstable, Massachusetts, February, 1749. He was a soldier in the revolutionary war and fought in the battle of Bunker Hill. He mar- ried Rachel Cummings. Their children : Rachel, born January 4, 1770; Rhoda, November 26, 1772; Caleb, August 7, 1775, see forward; Leonard, 1777: Re- becca. 1779: Betsey, December 17, 1780.

(VII) Caleb Read, son of Eleazer Read (6). was born in Dunstable, Massachusetts. August 7. 1775, died November 28, 1838. He was a captain in the militia and served as stich in the war of 1812. He married Sarah Richardson and their chil- dren were: Calvin, see forward; James, born in 1799: Rachel: Abigail.

(VIII) Calvin Read, son of Caleb Read (7). was born in Dunstable, Massachusetts, January 20, 1708. He was educated in the common schools. He was a farmer during his active life. In re- ligion he was a Universalist, in polities a Democrat. He was a very skillful fifer and used to play a great deal for parades and military occasions. He married Catherine Baxter, born December 30, 1799, in Haw- ley, Massachusetts. Their children: Sarah Richard- son, born in Hawley, January 4, 1821 ; Calvin Dwight. born at Ashfield, February 28, 1824; William Eleazer. born in Hawley, June 25, 1828; Caroline Rathbone, born in Hawley, December 19, 1829; Calista Blood, born in Hawley, July 13, 1831: Anna Eliza, born in Dunstable. February 8, 1833; Charles Freeman, see forward: James Alonzo, born at Dunstable, Novem- ber 9, 1839: Emily Etta, born in Lennox, New York, September 2, 1841. All deceased except Calista, Charles F .. James A. and Emily E.

( IX) Charles Freeman Read. son of Calvin Read (8). was born in Dunstable, Massachusetts. August 7. 1835. He received his early education in the pub- lic and high schools, working, when not in school, on the homestead. He went with his father's fam- ily to Lennox, Madison county, New York, in 1841. and worked with his father on the farm there until 1852. He then went to Fitchburg. Massachusetts, and attended the high school. He began his career . in business at Gardner, where he became clerk in a general store. February 21, 1853. He remained in this store as clerk and bookkeeper for five years. He then entered the employ of Greenwood & Wright, chair manufacturers of Gardner, as shipping clerk and bookkeeper. Later he became a member of the firm, and was for many years identified with the chair manufacturing business of Gardner. He re- tired from business and removed to Worcester in ISO6. His home there is on Burncoat street. corner Marie avenue. Mr. Read has always been a Republi-

can in politics. He was elected to various positions of honor and trust in Gardner. He was town audi- tor, assessor, and member of the school committee. During the civil war he served three years in the cavalry. At the expiration of his term of enlist- ment he was mustered out as first sergeant in "Read's" company, Third Massachusetts Cavalry, Second Division, Nineteenth Army Corps. He served under Generals Banks, Butler and Sheridan. He was in the Department of the Gulf and in Shenan- doah Valley. He was at the battle of Cedar Creek. He saw Sheridan's famous ride.

Mr. Read joined the Evangelical Congregational church in Gardner, Massachusetts, in 1858. That church afterward merged into and became a part of the First Congregational Church of Gardner. He remained in that church until 1896, when removing to Worcester, he changed his membership to the First Congregational (Old South) church, Worces- ter. Since 1902 he has been parish clerk of Old South. While at Gardner he was superintendent of the Sunday school for a number of years. In 1865 he joined Hope Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of which he was master in 1876 and of which he is at present an honorary member. He was commander of D. G. Farragut Post, No. 116, G. A. R., in 1880 and 1881. He was a member of the Massachusetts staff of the national commander, G. A. R., in 1895. He is a member of George H. Ward Post, No. 10, G. A. R., of Worcester, and served for four years on the library committee. He was elected quartermaster of the post, March 15, 1906.

Mr. Read married, at Gardner, Massachusetts, December 15, 1858, Catherine Augusta Wright, born April 9. 1839. daughter of David and Elizabeth (Gay) Wright, granddaughter of Joseph Wright, who came from Sterling to Gardner, settled on Wright Hill, married Rebecca Nichols. Of the chil- dren of Joseph Wright, Rebecca, born June 25. 1791. married Walter Greenwood; Martha, born July 12, 1802, married Levi Heywood, the chair manufacturer ; and Emily, born December 24. 1814, married Seth Heywood, the chair manufacturer, all of Gardner. David Wright was one of the pioneers in the manu- facture of cane and wooden seat chairs. He was one of a family of eleven children and lived to the advanced age of ninety-one years. He was born in Gardner, October 25, 1808. Catherine was educated in the public and high schools and academy and taught school for some time before marriage. She was eligible for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution through her maternal an- cestors. She died at Gardner, April 10, 1889.

Mr. Read married (second), at Worcester, Janu- ary I, 1896, Oella Elizabeth Stone. She is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution through her great-grandfather, Jeduthan Stone, son of Nathan and Mary Stone, born Janu- ary 13, 1748, served in the revolutionary army under Captain Thomas Eusts, marching from Rutland to Cambridge, April 19, 1775. Jeduthan married. Janu- ary II, 1773, Elizabeth Howe, who bore him seven children. Mrs. Read's grandfather was Augustus Stonc, and her father, Joseph Stone, who married Martha E. Maynard. Oella was educated in the public schools and at Worcester Academy. The children of Charles Freeman and Catherine Augusta Read: Ettie Elizabeth, born in Gardner, March II. 1860, died 1884: married A. E. Knowlton, bad one con. Stanley Read Knowlton. Charles Clarence, born in Gardner, January 2, 1862, graduate of the Gardner high school, commercial traveler, selling chairs and furniture : married Annie Hurlbut and they have three daughters-Katherine. Alice, and Esther. Gertrude Wright, born in Gardner, August

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26, 1866, died 1901 ; married A. E. Knowlton, whose first wife was her sister Ettie E .; their three chil- 'dren-Dorothy, Henry, Hazel. David Wright, born in Gardner. November 27, 1874, died aged three years and two months.

JAMES ATKINSON NORCROSS. The emi- grant ancestor, Jeremiah Norcross (1), came from England to America in the year 1638, and from "Bond's History and Genealogies of Watertown, Massachusetts," we learn that he was a proprietor in that place. as early as 1642, his family then con- sisting of wife Adrean and three children, Nathaniel, Richard and Sarah. The original homestead in Watertown covered about twenty-six acres, the ti- tle to which was held within the family for more than one hundred and sixty years. A portion of this estate was later purchased by the United States government, and is now the location of the Water- town arsenal. The senior Mr. Norcross, in 1654, when arranging to visit England, executed a will in which the various members of his family are mentioned, leaving at his death the greater part of his estate to his son Richard. The brother Nathaniel received the degree of A. B. at "Cather- ine Hall College," Cambridge, 1636-37, was called to become the minister at Lancaster, and signed with others a petition to the general court to plant a settlement there. But there being so much de- lay in preparing for the settlement and building the early houses, that his attention was called in another direction, he is said to have returned to England in 1646. His father died in England in 1657.

(II) Richard Norcross, born in England, 1621, was the possessor of a small estate at Watertown in 1642. He was chosen to act as the first schoolmaster in that town, and from 1651 to about the year 1700 followed the occupation of a school teacher, and for nearly a quarter of a century was the only person in the town to fill that office. He married (first) Mary Brooks, daughter of Captain Thomas Brooks. She died in 1671, and he married ( second) Susanna, widow of William Shattuck. Mr. Norcross died in 1709, leaving six children, the eldest, Mary, hav- ing died in 1661.

(III) Nathaniel Norcross, born in Watertown, December IS, 1665, was a shoemaker, and resided in Watertown and Sudbury. He married (first) Nehitable Hagar. She died April 5, 1691, and he married ( second) Susanna, daughter of Dr. Philip Shattuck, of Watertown. She died in Sudbury, February 15, 1711-12. He died in 1717, leaving a family of four children.

(1V) Philip Norcross, born March 5. 1698, married, in 1721, Sarah, daughter of Edward Jack- son, of Newton, and settled in that town, their home being on the site of the present Eliot meeting house. Philip Norcross died in 1748, leaving nine children. (V) Jonathan Norcross, born February 7, 1734-35, the fifth child of Philip Norcross, was a soldier in the French and Indian war, and at Lake George in 1758. Two years later he removed to Georgetown, Maine, where he married Martha, daughter of James Springer. In 1775. he was a resident of Readville. Maine, but we have no record of his death. His wife died in 1809, and was buried at Hollowell, Maine.

(VI) Jonathan Norcross, Jr., born 1767, mar- ried Jane Atkinson, of Lancaster. England, and re- sided during the greater portion of his life in Wayne. Maine, where he owned a farm. It is believed at his death he was buried in Winthrop, Maine. llis widow died and was buried in Salem, Massa- chusetts.

(VII) Jesse Springer Norcross, son of Jonathan Norcross, Jr., was born in Wayne, Maine,. in 1806. He was a carpenter and builder, also pro- prietor of the "Norcross Mills," at Winslow, Maine. He married, in 1826, Margaret Ann Whitney, of Westboro, Massachusetts. They resided in various places in the state of Maine, among them the towns of Clinton and Winslow. In 1843 he removed to Salem, Massachusetts, where he continued to ply his occupation as carpenter and builder. In the year 1849 he joined the great concourse of seekers for gold in California. He died the following year and was buried at Benicia, in that state. His widow, Margaret Ann ( Whitney) Norcross, was the daugh- ter of Jonah and Anna (Rider) Whitney. The father of Jonah was Thomas Whitney, a revolution- ary soldier from the town of Shrewsbury, Thomas being in the fifth generation from the emigrant an- cestor, John Whitney, who settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, and was admitted freeman there in 1635-36. The children of Jesse Springer and Mar- garet Ann ( Whitney) Norcross were: Rosina C., Julia and James A., twins; Elizabeth, Orlando W' .. William, died at sea, when nineteen years of age; Leander, who died an infant, and Charles Henry, died when four years of age. As the business ca- reer of the two brothers, James Atkinson, born March 24. 1831, and Orlando Whitney, born Octo- ber 25, 1839, appears so closely interwoven, it seems. highly proper that they should be reviewed together.

James Atkinson Norcross, eldest son of Jesse Springer and Margaret Ann (Whitney) Norcross, born March 24, 1831, in Kennebec county, Maine, was a mere lad when the family removed to Salem, Massachusetts. The early death of his father placed upon his shoulders heavy responsibilities. Having in- herited in a large degree the mechanical genius of his father, he learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed at Salem a number of years. In 1864. upon the return of his brother Orlando from his. three years service in the war of the rebellion, the two formed a partnership which continued until the year 1897. The style of the firm was Norcross Brothers, and their business career was started in Essex county, Massachusetts, in the city of Salem, but they soon removed to the city of Worcester to. gain a larger field in which to labor. The Leicester Congregational Church was their first large contract. The excellent manner in which that contract was filled gave the firm an enviable reputation among build- ing contractors, and from that date onward they were awarded a large share of the contracts given out for expensive structures erected within their immediate locality. As their facilities for executing work, and the quality of their workmanship became known to the public, demand for their services came not only from the various cities and towns in the New England states, but far and near throughout the United States, until there was scarcely a city among those most prominent in the Union but what contained a sample of their handiwork.

During the thirty-three years of most unpre- cedented business prosperity, James A. Norcross attended to the clerical and financial part, while Orlando Norcross gave attention to di- recting the men in their employ, an arrange- ment which proved to ensure signal suc- cess. They erected factories, equipped with the- latest improved machinery, where they manufacture doors, sash, and all necessary finish required by their contracts, and the firm soon became conspicuous for reasonable prices, promptness, and the skill- ful way in which all of their contracts were met. Scores of magnificent structures erected by this firin may be found noted in the personal sketch of

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Mr James A Norcross

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the brother partner, Orlando, which follows at the conclusion of the notice of James A., who retired from the firm in 1897 for the purpose of enjoying some of the case and comfort to which a lifetime ·of labor and steady brain work entitled him. For years he had resided in an elegant mansion on Claremont strect, Worcester, built of Longmeadow sandstone, but he sought better and more roomy surroundings, and after purchasing a tract of land containing several acres, situated on May street, a short distance west from his Claremont street home, upon a beautiful eminence, furnishing a command- ing view of the surrounding country, he reared his "Fairlawn," and passed the remainder of his days within this home of beauty and luxury, into which he with his family removed in July, 1895. After his retirement from business he visited various portions of the United States for the purpose of inspecting rare and choice specimens of work produced by his craft, and in February, 1892, in company with his wife, visited the Old World, passing considerable time in England, France, Holland, and Italy, enjoy- ing the scenes and meditating on the contrast be- tween the New and the Old World.

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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 74

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