Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 83

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 83

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

children are: Ruth, born December 17, 1889; Ralph Warner, born November 16, 1891; Ethel, born July 29, 1894; Myrtle Isabel, born August 8, 1896, died September 7, 1901 ; and Dean Emerson, born July 1903

STEPHEN P. STREETER. Stephcu Streeter (I), first of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1642, was the emigrant ancestor of Stephen P. Streeter, of Wor- cester. He is believed to have come to New England before 1640. He may have preceded the settlers of 1642 in Gloucester, as Blynman's grant as that time included a lot primarily given to Streeter. He had a house in Gloucester, but did not remain long there after its permanent settlement. In 1644 he was in Charlestown, recorded as a householder, and he took the freeman's oath there May 29, 1644. He and his wife Ursula joined the church there Marchi 21, 1652. The family genealogists think the proof conclusive that Stephen Streeter came from the Streeter family in Goudherst, England. The tradition in some branches of the American family is that the emigrant came from Surrey while Goudherst is in Kent, but there are representatives in both counties now and have been for centuries.

Stephen Streeter's will was made Jime 10, 1652. He was a shoemaker by trade. His wife Ursula is said to have been the daughter of Henry Adams, of Braintree, but the relationship is not proved. After Streeter's death his widow married, October 13, 1656 or 7, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Sam- uel Hosier, of Watertown. He died July 29, 1665. His widow married, about 1666, William Robinson, of Dorchester, whose name first appears in Dor- chester records in 1636. He was killed July 6, 1668, being caught in the wheel of his mill and torn in pieces. His widow married Griffin Crafts, of Roxbury. She died before 1690. The children of Stephen and Ursula Streeter were : Stephen ; Sarah, who was under eighteen when her father's will was made in 1652; Samuel; John, a soldier in King Philip's war, 1675; Hannah, born November 10, 1644; Rebecca; Mary, (posthumous) born about 1652.

(II) Stephen Streeter, son of Stephen Streeter (1), was probably born in England and died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1689. He lived in Charlestown, Watertown, Brookline and Cambridge, Massachusetts. He sold half of the homestead in Charlestown, inherited from his father, in 1679, and other land in 1681. His wife Deborah was ad- mitted to the church at Cambridge in full com- munion July 13, 1701, and after her husband's death she married, August 10, 1704, Samuel Sears, of Wrentham, Massachusetts.

The children of Stephen and Deborah Streeter were: Stephen, born June 20, 1667, at Watertown ; Sarah, born October 2, 1669, in Watertown; Samuel ; John, born probably at Brookline; Rebecca, born September 3, 1683, at Cambridge; Deborah, born September 25, 1685, died April 7, 1689, at Cambridge ; Joseph, born September 18, 1687; Benjamin, born November 25, 1689, died April 23, 1690.

(III) Samuel Streeter, son of Stephen Streeter (2), was born probably at Brookline, Massachusetts, and died at Framingham, Massachusetts, 1752. He probably removed from Cambridge to Attleboro, Massachusetts, about 1706, where he bought land on several occasions, but later he was again in Framingham, Massachusetts. His will is dated April 23, 1751, and probated September 16, following.

He married (first), Deborah , who died November 13, 1708, and (second) Mercy

who was probably a widow Howe. The children of Samuel and Deborah Streeter were: Mary,

290

WORCESTER COUNTY

baptized February 2, 1696-7; Sarah, baptized Febru- ary 2, 1696-7; Stephen, baptized in 1698, died in Douglas, Massachusetts, September 22, 1756; Samuel, baptized January 7, 1699-1700, died in Charlton, Massachusetts, June 7, 1763; Mercy, baptized May 14, 1704; Susanna, baptized April 28, 1706, in Cam- bridge; Joseph, born May 10, 1708; Deborah, mar- ried Jedediah Belknap, of Framingham; Elizabeth, married Ebenezer Frizzell, of 'Framingham.

(IV) Stephen Streeter, son of Samuel Streeter (3), was baptized September 4, 1698. He settled in Framingham and removed to Douglas, Massachu- setts, where he died September 22, 1756. He was a yeoman. He bought a one hundred and sixty acre farm at Douglas, December 14, 1744. He married Catherine Adams, and they joined the church in full communion at Framingham, February 7, 1725. Seven of their children were born in Framingham. The children of Stephen and Catherine ( Adams) Streeter were: Esther, born January 13, 1724-5, married Josiah Haven, of Framingham; Stephen, born February 14, 1726-7; Abigail, born January 15, 1728-9; Elizabeth, born January 9, 1729-30; Jolin, born February 14, 1731-2; Ursula, born November 9, 1733; Adams, born December 31, 1735; Zebulon, born March 24, 1739; Naphtali, born March 6, 1741, in Douglas, owned land in Royalston, Massachu- setts; Samuel, born January 16, 1743, in Douglas ; Mary, born April 1, 1747, probably married Benja- min Green, of Spencer, Massachusetts.

(V) Zebulon Streeter, son of Stephen Streeter (4), was born in Douglas, Massachusetts, March 24, 1739. He settled in Surrey, New Hampshire, where he died October 14, ISO8. He and his brother, Adams Streeter, were two of the leading ministers of the Universalist denomination in their day. His will was made December 3, 1807, and proved Octo- ber 26, 1808.

He married, July 16, 1760, at Oxford, Massa- chusetts, Tabitha Harvey, who was born 1736 and died in Surrey, New Hampshire, January 25, 1813, aged seventy-six years. Their first three children were born in Douglas, the others in Winchester, New Hampshire. The children of Rev. Zebulon and Tabitha (Harvey) Streeter were: Benjamin, born April 21, 1762; Daniel, born June 23, 1764; Benoni, born June 22, 1766; Hannah, married Samuel Hud- son; Lucy, born January, 1771; Jesse, born October 25, 1773; Elijah, born July 3, 1775; David; Tabitha, married - Smith, of Grafton, Vermont; Eliab, born 1774, died 1806, unmarried.

(VI) David Streeter, son of Zebulon Streeter (5), was born in Winchester, New Hampshire, December 2, 1777. He removed early to Concord, Vermont, where he took the freeman's oath, March 4, 1799, and was on the tax list as a voter and prop- erty owner in 1802. He married, July 18, ISO3, at Concord, Vermont, Anna Winslow, of Wendell, Massachusetts.

The children of David and Anna (Winslow) Streeter, all born in Concord, Vermont, were: Phebe, born May 23, 1806; David, born January 14, 1808; Zebulon. born October 19, 1809, died March 15, 1810; Anna or Nancy, born December 25, 1810, married Howard; Susanna, born September 14, 1812.

(VII) David Streeter, son of David Streeter (6), was born in Concorn, Vermont, January 14, 1808, and died there. He married, December 6, 1832, Mercy Row, at Concord, Massachusetts. All their children were born at Concord, viz .: Jane W., born September 8, IS33: Anna L., born February 23, 1835; Chester P., born May 12, 1837, died February 25, 1882, married, March 28, 1858, Eliza Boutwell ; Prescott B.

(VIII) Prescott B. Streeter, son of David Streeter (7), was born in Concord, Vermont, May 12, 1837. He married, February 8, 1865, Georgianna Boutwell. They settled in Concord, Vermont, where their children were born, viz .: Adelbert D., born April 18, 1866; William P., born May 27, 1868; Elmira E., born May 11, 1870; Stephen P., born April 13, 1872; Dene F., born March 19, 1874; Alice M., born April 27, 1877; Henry P., born June 8, IS82; Carrie E., born February 1, 1885.

(IX) Stephen Streeter, son of Prescott B. Streeter (S), is the subject of this sketch.

Stephen P. Streeter was born in Concord, Ver- mont, April 13, 1872. The public and high schools of his native town gave him the foundation of his education. He took a course in the State Normal School of Vermont and at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. After graduating from college Mr. Streeter taught for a year and a half in the Vermont Indus- trial School, where he learned by experience the excellencies and defects of the various systems of teaching boy's schools. He taught in the public schools also. He is a natural teacher and from the first showed himself able to transfer his thoughts to his pupils and also to inspire in them self-con- fidence and self-reliance, characteristics that are essential in any attempt to educate. In 1896 Mr. Streeter accepted the position of teacher and assistant superintendent of the Worcester County Truant School at Oakdale. He remained there for about two years, the results being unusually good, and won the esteem and praise of the officers of that institution. In 1898 he became the master of the congregate department of the Boston Parential School.

When Edwin F. Northrup resigned as superin- tendent of the Worcester Boys' Club in April, 1900, the executive committee selected Mr. Streeter to fill the position and neither Mr. Streeter nor the man- agers of the club have ever had any occasion to re- gret the choice. His experience and natural ability made him especially adapted to the peculiar work demanded of the administrative officer of an insti- tution of this kind. To the technical and industrial side of the Boys' Club Mr. Streeter brought a mind richly stored with facts of value to him in his work. He had kept closely in touch with scientifiec and technical education in school and in private study. When Superintendent . Streeter commenced his duties in Worcester there were no organized classes ; no systematic way of visiting the house; the dor- mitory was unfurnished; there was no reading room and the manual training department was not in ex- istence. He made provision for all these needs and deficiencies and provided a library and reading room. He organized the business classes also, and estab- lished the gymnasium.

The Boys' Club was established in 1889, although the real beginning of its usefulness was in 1893, when it was incorporated. The chief departments of the club in past years have been the savings bank, where- in small sums several hundred dollars are on de- posit with the club; the manual training classes ; the civil government and business classes. In the manual training department there are classes in carpentry, carving and printing. The boys show great interest of course in the gymnasium where they are given some instruction and encouraged to take systematic exercises. There are classes in music and in basketry. There are of course various games for recreation and the reading room is well patronized. The police court is one of the newer departments of the club. Some of thhe rougher members are turned over to a lady probation officer, who gets them to join the classes, visits them in

29[

WORCESTER COUNTY

their homes and tries to get them interested in study or useful occupations. It is the purpose of the club to prevent crime among boys by getting them away from evil companionship and idleness and kecp them usefully employed or interested in harm- less play and sports.

The membership fee is one cent. In previous years it has been free. Each member when he pays his dues is presented with a membership ticket, and if he loses it he has to pay two cents for a dupli- cate. The money is used to buy games for the club. Superintendent Streeter reserves the right to take up a boy's ticket, but that is seldom necessary. If a member violates the rules he is fined a nickel. In 1905 there were classes in manual training, print- ing, pyrography, and they had an orchestra, Sun- shine Club, Checker Club, Ping Pong Club, Athletic Club, Dramatic Club, Music Club and Glee Club. About fifteen hundred boys are enrolled as mem- bers and there is an average nightly attendance of two hundred and twenty. The club is supported by voluntary subscriptions. Enrolled on the list of con- tributors are the names of a majority of the mer- chants, manufacturers, bankers, capitalists and citi- zens, who realize the importance of organized action in educating the boys. The present officers of the club are: President, George T. Dewey; vice-presi- dent, W. S. B. Hopkins; secretary, Florence A. Rider ; executive committee, Henry L. Miller, James Taylor, Jr., Lewis C. Muzzy, Mrs. David F. O'Con- nell, U. Waldo Cutler and M. Adelaide Mellen.

The secret of Superintendent Streeter's success is in his character, his intense earnestness and en- thusiasm for his work, his appreciation of its mean- ing and vast importance to the boys themselves as well as the community, and above all his personal magnetism, which is always in evidence notwith- standing his quiet manners and unobtrusive ways. His work is not confined to the limits of the club. He was the author of the bill introduced in the last legislature by Representative Arthur M.Taft, of Wor- cester, and passed, providing for indeterminate sen- tences up to sixteen years of age for boys com- mitted to truant schools, instead of the old sentence of from forty days to two years at the discretion of the court.

Mr. Streeter is a member of the Piedmont Con- gregational Church and is superintendent of its Sun- day school and member of the standing committee. He is a member of Boylston Lodge, A. F. and A. M. of West Boylston; U. S. Grant Lodge, Knights of Malta; Beulah Sisterhood of Daughters of Malta; the National Association of Charities and Correc- tions ; the Massachusetts Civic League; the National Conference of Boys Clubs' Superinendents ; treas- urer of the Knights of Malta; member of the Twen- tieth Century Club ; the Worcester Sportsmen's Club ; the National Conference on Education of Backward, Truant and Delinquent Children. Mr. Streeter is unmarried.

JAMES MILES. James Miles (I), was the father of James Miles, a prominent builder and con- tractor of Worcester. He married Jane French. They lived in Oxfordshire, England. He died when a comparatively young man. The children of James and Jane (Franch) Miles were: I. Eliza, married in England Thomas Larke; they are now living in Woonsocket, Rhode Island; have no children. 2. William, came to America and settled in Blackstone, Massachusetts, and became associated with his brother James in business. In 1885 he settled in South Dakota, where he and his children are living, viz .: William, Millie, Albert, Arthur. 3. Emma,

married James Collect; they are living in Black- stone, Massachusetts. 4. James.

(II) James Miles, son of James Miles (I), was born in Oxfordshire, England, May 24, 1847. His father died when he was a young boy. He left school to learn the mason's trade in London. He worked there at his trade until 1869. His brother and one sister were already in America. Ile came over in 1869 and his mother and other sister soon followed. He worked at his trade in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, for three months, coming then to Worcester, where he worked for several years. He returned to Woonsocket to enter into partnership with his brother, William Miles, as masons and contractors under the firm name of Miles Brothers. They soon developed a large business. Among other large buildings erected by this firm were the inills of the Woonsocket Rubber Co., one of the first large brick buildings in that city ; the Conant thread works, No. 5 mill at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and numerous other mills in Rhode Island cities. He retired from business on account of his wife's health and from 1881 to 1886 conducted a farm, which he bought at Grafton, Massachusetts.

Mr. Miles started in business again in 1886 in Worcester under his own name. Besides taking large contracts he has built and sold buildings in Worcester to the value of $250,000 or more. He has been one of the leading builders of brick buildings in Worcester. Among the buildings he has erected are : The hotel building on Main street now occupied by the Worcester market; Hotel Adams at the corner of Pleasant and High streets, owned by Dr. Wesley Davis; the Forrest building, corner of Main and Austin streets for R. C. Taylor. At this time his son became associated with him and they built a factory for Lafayette Robbins on La- grange street; The Buckingham and The Kensing- ton, apartment houses on Murray avenue; The Vic- toria, an apartment house on Orange street; a large shop for the Crompton & Thayer loom works, Cam- bridge street; the Abbott street school house for the city ; a repair shop for the school department; two large shops for Abraham Israel on Water street. In late years the business has been conducted under the name of James Miles & Son, his son having been admitted to partnership.

Mr. Miles married, in Blackstone, Massachusetts, April 14, 1872, Ella Elizabeth Boyden, daughter of William Wesley Boyden. Mr. Boyden was a car- penter by trade, born in Mendon, Massachusetts, in what is now Blackstone, September 7, 1835. Wil- liam Wesley Boyden was son of Joel and Mercy (Briggs) Boyden and grandson of Amos and Sally (Benson) Boyden. Joel Boyden was born July 7, 1803, in old Mendon. He married, November 28, 1833, Mercy Briggs. Amos Boyden was the son of David and Abigail (Carrol) Boyden. He was born May 31, 1766. He married Sally Benson, September 30, 1790. The children of James and Elizabeth (Boyden) Miles were: Walter James; Grace Ella, born in Grafton, Massachusetts.

(III) Walter James Miles, son of James Miles (2), was born in Northbridge, Massachusetts. He married, March 15, 1898, Phoebe A. Blanchard, daughter of Daniel Blanchard, of Adams, Massa- chusetts. He was educated in the Worcester schools. He learned his father's trade and since leaving school has been associated with him. He is now a member of the firm of James Miles & Son. He resides at the corner of Pleasant street and Richmond avenue on Richmond Heights. The children of Walter J. and Phoebe A. (Blanchard) Miles are: Dorothy; Mar- jorie, born July 29, 1902; Priscilla, born June 19, 1905.

292

WORCESTER COUNTY

SAMUEL GUSTAVUS CURTIS. Henry Cur- tis (1) was the immigrant ancestor of the Curtis family of Worcester, prominent from the first set- tler to the present day. One of his most prominent and best known descendants of the present genera- tion is Samuel Gustavus Curtis, of Worcester.

Henry Curtis came from England at the age of twenty-seven, in the ship "Elizabeth and Ann," in the year 1635, and settled in Watertown, New Eng- land. He was a proprietor of that town in 1636. Soon afterward he removed to the adjoining town of Sudbury, of which he was, in 1639, a proprietor. His house and barn were burned during King Philip's war just before his death. He died May 8, 1678, and the estate was administered by his son Joseph. His homestead was on the north street of the settlement, probably where the old Curtis house stood. His sister, Joan Parker, of St. Saviour's parish, Southwark, England, bequeathed to Henry Curtis of Sudbury, a silver tankard and six silver spoons, and to his wife and three sons, Ephraim, John and Joseph, with him, twenty shillings apiece.

He married Mary Guy, daughter of Nicholas Guy, who died in Sudbury. She died there Decem- ber 3, 1682. Their children were: I. Ephraim, born in Sudbury, mentioned below. 2. John, born 1644. 3. Joseph, born 1647; married at Sudbury, February 5, 1678, Abigail C. Grout of Sudbury, daughter of Captain John Grout; settled in Shrewsbury.

(II) Ephraim Curtis, son of Henry Curtis (I). born in Sudbury, Massachusetts, March 31, 1642; was the first white settler of the present city of Worcester. In the fall of 1673, according to the judgment of Caleb A. Wall, as nearly as he could fix the date, Ephraim Curtis left his home in Sud- bury with a pack on his back, a long, light Spanish gun and his axe. Two days later he camped on the very spot which was owned and occupied by him and his descendants for many generations. The principal reason for his selecting this locality to settle was his belief that there was mineral wealth in the soil, from the report that a valuable lead mnie had been discovered by the Indians, who had a sort of rendezvous on Wigwam hill while on hunting and fishing excursions. He settled down to clear the land and make a home in the wilderness, and for two years remained there, working alone. He used to confess in later years that when he sat down and turned his face toward old Sudbury, where his fam- ily was, he could not always restrain his tears. But he persisted. Such was the self-denial and per- tinacity of the pioneers. For a time Curtis laid claim to the whole township of Worcester, but he had to be content with about two hundred acres near upper Plantation street, and another lot near Graf- ton gore, granted by the general court as his share of the town.

The Indian war drove him away from his for- est home in 1675. Ile was a brave soldier and served on the committee to confer with the Indian sachems before the war broke out. He was a lien- tenant in the militia company. He was at Brook- field at the time of the massacre. It was he who crept from the garison house, under cover of the night, eluded the Indians, intercepted the Lancaster com- pany of forty-six men, under Major Willard and Captain Parker, who were going in another direction, and brought relief to Brookfield. He was of a sturdy, ventersome nature, a frontiersman, soldier and scout, used to the customs of his Indian adver- saries, and familiar with the camp fire and the am- buscade.

His two sons were. I. John, horn 1707, was a cap- tain; inherited the homestead; commanded a com-

pany in the French and Indian war in 1757; died June 29, 1797, aged ninety years; married Elizabeth Prentice, daughter of Rev. John Prentice, of Lan- caster. 2. Ephraim, mentioned below.

(III) Ephraim Curtis, Jr., son of Ephraim Cur- tic (2), was born about 1710. He inherited from his father a farm of two hundred and fifty acres near the line between Auburn, Millbury and Worcester. He married Mary Rice, of Sudbury, Massachusetts, December 23, 1729. Their children, born in or near Worcester, were : 1. Samuel, (see forward). 2. Judith, born September 6 (or 26) (twin) 1730. 3. Mary, horn March 5, 1732. 4. Abigail, born June 21, 1734. 5. Ephraim, born September 6, 1736. 6. Oliver, born January 29, 1740; resided on that part of his father's farm lying near the present location of Holy Cross College.

(IV) Samuel Curtis, son of Ephraim Curtis (3), born in Worcester, Massachusetts, September 26, 1730; died at Auburn, Massachusetts, October 18, 1814, aged eighty-four years. He resided on the Auburn homestead of this branch of the family. During the revolution he was one of the most prom- inent patriots of the town. He served on various committees. One who knew him wrote of him: "His patriotism and valuable qualities always insured the confidence and esteem of his townsmen. Gifted by nature with a strong mind he cultivated and im- proved it by observation and reflection, and as a re- ward of his merit he was repeatedly promoted to the highest offices of the town. As selectman, repre- sentative to the general court, his integrity was al- ways conspicuous and his usefulness always ap- parent."

He married, March 3, 1757, Mary Ward, daughter of Major Daniel Ward; she was born in 1736, and died June 3, 1830, aged ninety-four years. Their children were all born in Worcester, viz .: 1. Sam- uel, born 1759, baptized January 21, 1759, died young. 2. Mary, born February 10, 1760. 3. Samuel, born October II, 1761, mentioned below. 4. Ephraim, born 1763, baptized April 3, 1763, had the homestead, left no children. 5. Sarah, baptized June 23, 1765. 6. Levi, baptized October 4, 1767. 7. Lecretia, baptized May 27, 1770. 8. Lydia, born July 26, 1772. 9. Azu- bah, baptized January 22, 1775. 10. Lydia, born Aug- ust 13, 1780.

(V) Samuel Curtis, Jr., son of Samuel Curtis (4), was horn in Worcester and baptized there April 3, 1763. He resided on the Curtis farm on Plantation street on the estate adjoining Colonel Benjamin Flagg's, afterwards owned by his son Benjamin F. Curtis, and later by E. B. and G. Dana. He was captain of the Worcester Artillery company.

He married (first), August 20, 1785, Eunice Flagg, of Uxbridge. He married (second) Eunice (Taft) Stowell, daughter of Josiah Taft and widow of Stowell. She was a member of the Old South Congregational Church. She died in 1861. He died before his father, January 29, 1811. Children of Samuel and Eunice (Flagg) Curtis were : I. Sarah, born November 25, 1785; married Ebenezer Reed; their daughter was Mrs. Sumner Pratt. 2. Abigail, born February 23, 1788. 3. Aaron, born March 5, 1790, father of Charles F. Curtis, of Auburn. 4. Samuel, born April, 1792. 5. Ephraim, born April 8, 1794. 6. Lydia, born March 22, 1796. 7. John, horn April 29, 1798. 8. Benjamin F., mentioned below. 9. Albert, born July 13, 1807, died July 18, 1898, aged ninety-one years; founder of Curtis & Marble and other large manufacturing concerns of Worcester; one of the most successful of the pio- neer manufacturers to whom the city of Worcester owes much; married Sarah K. G. Houghton. IO. William, born 1809, married Caroline Tompkins, of

293

WORCESTER COUNTY

New York. II. Eunice, baptized October 21, 1810; married Charles P. Bancroft; died 1893 at Brook- line, Massachuestts.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 83

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