Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 88

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 88


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).


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The father of Samuel Stone, Sr., was the emi- grant, Gregory Stone, who came in 1635 and set- tled in Cambridge. He was deacon of the first church. He married Lydia Cooper, widow, who had two children by her first marriage and six by the second. He was a deputy to the general court. He died November 30, 1672, aged eighty-two, and Lydia died June 24. 1674. His father was a dis- senting minister in Sudbury, Suffolk county, Eng- land, where Gregory was born about 1590. The father, Rev. Samuel Stone, allowed four sons to emigrate in order to enjoy religious freedom. The wife of Samuel Stone, Sr., was Sarah Stearns.


wife of Isaac Stearns, the emigrant. (See sketch of Stearns family.) The wife of Samuel Stone, 2d., Dorcas Jones, is believed to have been daugh- ter of John and Dorcas Jones, of Concord.


Betsey Reed's father, Nathan Rced, was the son of Jonas and Elizabeth (Wright) Reed. Elizabeth Wright was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Wright. Samuel Wright, his father, settled in Sud- bury, Massachusetts, where he was born April 9. 1670. He removed to Rutland and was prominent in town and military affairs. He died January 15, 1740, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Cyprian Stevens, died May 18, 1739. (See Stevens Family. )


Samuel Wright was the son of Edward Wright, captain and pioneer in Sudbury, who died there August 7, 1703. Captain Edward married, June 18, 1659, Hannah Axtell, who died May 18, 1708. He was probably the son of Dorothy Wright, widow, an early settler in Sudbury, who married (second) John Blandford, Hannah Axtell was the daughter of Thomas Axtell. He was buried in Sudbury, March 8, 1646, leaving a widow Mary, who mar- ried (second) John Goodnow.


Colonel Benjamin Brown (VII), was prominent among the early settlers in Royalston. He became a colonel in the militia, and served two terms in the general court, served in the town in all the im- potant offices, and was many years selectman. He was a prosperous farmer. His two brothers, Will- iam and Otis, died young. His sister Hannah married William Pierce, of Royalston, and (second) Samuel Dadmun, of Fitchburg, and lived in Fitch- burg. The children of Benjamin and Betsey (Reed) Brown were: William Otis, born March 30, 1815, died Jannary 29, 1890, of whoni later; Isabella R., May 3, 1818, married John Forrester Brooks, the well known proprietor of the Massasoit House, Barre ; Eliza Morse, October 18, 1820, unmarried, resides in Royalston and Fitchburg; Mary Richard- son, December 27, 1822, died January 10, 1823; Benjamin Hammond, July 31, 1824, farmer at Ray- alston, Massachusetts, married Nancy L. Wood, he was a soldier in the civil war; Edward Augustus, August 7, 1827, married Bessie Maria Harding; served his regiment in the civil war as quarter- master ; has for many years been treasurer of the county of Worcester, resides in Worcester; Moses Reed, born April 1, 1830, died January 27, 1864, unmarried; Elizabeth Reed, March 22, 1833, resides in Chicago, Illinois, where she was a school teacher about forty years and is now enjoying a teachers' pension for length of service.


(VIII) William Otis Brown, eldest child of Benjamin Brown (7), was born in Royalston, Massa- chusetts, March 30, 1815, died Jannary 30, 1890. He was brought up in Royalston and received his early education in the district schools there. He worked at mechanical trades when a young man in his native town. In 1854 he removed to Fitch- burg, a neighboring town, and started in business as a dealer in grain and flour with his brother, Ed- ward A. Brown, the present county treasurer, and W. A. Crehore under the firm name of Brown. Crehore & Co. In 1857 he formed a partnership with ex-Mayor H. A. Blood. Their grain store was in the building on Water street opposite the Union Station until 1861. He enlisted as quarter- master in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment, and was mustered into the service with the rank of first lieutenant September 20, 1864. Soon after the capture of Newbern, North Carolina, he was appointed first commissary at that important point.


The historian of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Cap- tain J. W. Denny, wrote, wrote of him: "Lieutenant William O. Brown was esteemed by all as a most


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capable and efficient officer. Indeed, it was often remarked that his department was the best managed one in the service." Near the close of his time of service yellow fever broke out at Newbern, and one of the first victims was a clerk in his department. The disease was not at first recognized by the army surgeons who were not familiar with it. Mr. Brown had a severe attack which nearly proved fatal and doubtless left its mark on his naturally vigorous constitution. After the close of the war he held a responsible position at the construction of the Hoosac tunnel, which was then being excavated under state management, and remained in that po- sition until the contract for the completion of the tunnel was fet to the Shanleys in 1809.


Mr. Brown had a long record of faithful service in town and county, and was highly esteemed as a discreet, conservative and thoroughly honest official. He was selectman of Fitchburg from 1857 untif 1861, and after his return from the service in 1865- 66-70. He represented ward three in the board of aldermen in 1888, and served on the committees on police, highways, city property and buildings. He was elected county commissioner of Worcester county in 1868 and re-elected six times. He com- pleted his twenty-first year of continuous service at the close of 1889, only a few months before his death, when failing health obliged him to decline a re-election. In January, 1877, he succeeded J. War- ren Bigelow as chairman of the board, a position which he held during the remainder of his term of service. He had had the direct oversight of the erection of the court house, of that part of the jail built after the fire in Fitchburg, and the extension of the jail in 1888. His successive elections were proof of his ability and fidelity to the duties of his position.


He was one of the incorporators of the Wachu- sett National Bank of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, which began business June 1, 1875, and was a director to the time of his death and vice-president since January 9, 1877. For several years he was treasurer of the Waiter Heywood Chair Manufacturing Com- pany. He was director of the Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Company from 1865 to 1868, and from July 7, 1870, until his death.


He was an entertaining companion and during his long and varied experience had acquired a large fund of anecdotes which he could effectively re- late. He had a deep love for children and was often seen leading or entertaining them, and no citi- zen had more friends among the little folks.


He married Hannah G. Heywood, of Royalston, Massachusetts. She died October, 1868. She bore him two sons, George and Charles, who died at the ages of thirteen and nine years, respectively. Mr. Brown married (second), October 4, 1870, Rosa Heywood, daughter of Walter and Nancy ( Foster) Heywood, of Gardner, Massachusetts. They had no children. Mrs. Brown resides at the homestead on Main street, Fitchburg, where she is highly es- teemed. She is active in church and charitable work.


(VIII) Edward Augustus Brown, son of Cofonet Benjamin Brown (7), was born at Royalston, Massa- chusetts. August 7, 1827. He was educated in the public schools of Royalston and at the Westminster Academy in a neighboring town. After leaving home he was employed first by Captain Ephraim Mur- dock, of Winchendon, in his wooden ware estab- lishment for two years or more. In 1854 he went to Fitchburg and worked as clerk in the store of Brown, Crehore & Company, dealers in groceries, butter, etc. In the year following he went west and located in Beloit, Wisconsin, as a dealer in furni-


ture, and remained there until the fall of 1859- when he returned to Fitchburg and was employed in the flour and grain store of Blood & Brown, for whom he worked until he enlisted.


Although he lost the sight of one eye through. an accident in childhood and could not have been drafted as a soldier, he was accepted when he volun- teered having demonstrated that he had an excellent vision, nothwithstanding the defect. When President Lincoln called for volunteers in the spring of 1861 Mr. Brown was a member of the Fitchburg Fusiliers, then commanded by General John W. Kimball, and the company was offered as a whole, but was not accepted. He joined the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment when it organized and was made quarter- master-sergeant. The regiment went into camp Sep- tember 20, 1861. It was in the Burnside expedition: to Roanoke Island and Newbern, North Carolina; in the fall of 1862, he was appointed first lieutenant and quartermaster of the Fifty-third Massachusetts Volunteers, and he went with the regiment to Louisiana, where he was stationed during the re- mainder of his service with that regiment. After the nine months of his enlistment had expired and he was mustered out, he returned to Newbern and worked in the commissary department until the summer of 1864, when he received from President Lincoln a commission as commissary of subsistence with the rank of captain, and remained in the serv- ice until the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the close of the war. He was also breveted major by President A. Johnson and discharged as such. He was mustered out October 2, 1865, after more than four years of service.


He returned to his father's home at Royalston and assisted him until his father died in February, 1866. On the first of May following he was ap- pointed general passenger and ticket agent of the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad, with central offices in Fitchburg, a position that he filled with credit. He resigned January 20, 1876, to accept the appointment of county treasurer to fill an unexpired term of Charles A. Chase, resigned. He has been re-elected at the expiration of each of his three year terms of office, and has (1906) already served con- tinuously over thirty years. Mr. Brown has the honor of serving for the longest period of any treasurer of Worcester county. In the meantime the duties of the office have greatly multiplied; the population of the county has become vastly greater and amount of money and the number of accounts handled by the treasurer greatly increased. Yet the administration of Mr. Brown's office has been above criticism. The expense, compared with some other counties in New York and New England, is re- markably small. Mr. Brown has been a most useful public servant. As he served the government and the railroad company, so he has served the county. with the same regard for economy and scrupulous regard for the treasury. He could not be more con- scientious and painstaking in any business, private or public.


Mr. Brown removed from Fitchburg to Wor- cester in 1877 to be nearer the office of the county treasurer. He has resided for many years at 31 Harvard street. In politics he is a Republican : in 1875 he was a member of the common council of Fitchburg, but he has never cared for party politics or for political contests. He attends Plym- outh Congregational Church, to which his family belongs. He is a member of E. B. Sumner Post, Grand Army, of Fitchburg.


He married. September 13, 1869, Bessie Maria Harding, daughter of Theodore and Nancy (Clark) Harding, of East Medway, Massachusetts. Her


- Ver UBLIC LIBRAR


Edward


Brown


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father was a farmer there. She was born April 14, 1841, and died at Worcester, August 15, 1903. The children of Edward Augustus and Bessie Maria Brown are: I. Anna Grace, born at Fitchburg, Feb- ruary 5, 1872, married, December 25, 1899. Clifford Raymond Harris, graduate of the Worcester Poly- technic Institute, 1897, manager at present of the Standard Plunger Elevator Company of Worcester ; residing at 61 Beachmont street ; they have two chil- dren : Edward Augustus Harris, born March 8, 1902; Joseph Harris, born April 26, 1905. 2. Sarah Abbie, born February 22, 1875, resides at home with her father. 3. Mary Alice, born August 30, 1879, re- sides at home with her father.


BALDWIN FAMILY. Richard Baldwin (1), ancestor of John S. Baldwin and Charles C. Bald- win, of Worcester, held the Manor of Dunbridge, in Aston-Clinton, Buckinghamshire, England, early in the sixteenth century. His will was proved in 1552-53. His heir was Henry Baldwin.


(II) Henry Baldwin, son of Richard Baldwin (I), was heir to the Manor at Aston-Clinton, which is in the Hundred of Aylesbury and Deanery of Wendover, four miles from Aylesbury east on the road from London through Tring. Dundridge and the Chapel farm of the Baldwins were in that part of Aston-Clinton called St. Leonards. Dundridge remained in the Baldwin family until 1748 when it was sold by the heir of J. M. Baldwin, Esq, to Ed- ward Darrell, Esq.


Henry Baldwin married Alice King and had eight children, four sons and four daughters. His will, dated January 2, 1599, mentions his children as fol- lows: Agnes; Jane, married James Bonus; Mary, ยท married Richard Salter; Richard, who inherited the Manor : John; Robert; and Sylvester (see forward). (III) Sylvester Baldwin, son of Henry Baldwin (2), was born at the Manor of Dundridge about 1765. He married Jane Welles in 1590. He died previous to 1632. His children were: Harry, buried in 1594; John, not living in 1632: Henry, inherited Dundridge; Richard; William; Sylvester, married Sarah Bryan in 1620. These sons were born be- tween 1590 and 1600.


(IV) Sylvester Baldwin, son of Sylvester Bald- win (3), was born about 1600 at Aston-Clinton. He lived at St. Leonards in Aston-Clinton near Dund- ridge, where he owned the Chapel farm. He was the executor of the will of his uncle, Richard Bald- win, who died without issue in 1636, leaving the Manor to Henry Baldwin, son of Sylvester Bald- win (3) and brother of Sylvester Baldwin (4), who was the residuary legatee, as well as the executor.


Sylvester Baldwin was the emigrant ancestor. In July, 1638, with his wife Sarah and six children, he sailed for America in the ship "Martin." They belonged to the New Haven Company.


Sylvester Baldwin died in mid-ocean July 21, 1638. When the ship arrived in Boston Mrs. Bald- win and her son Richard were appointed executors of the will by the Court of Assistants. He left a large estate. The widow and six children decided to remain in America and settled as they had in- tended at New Haven. In 1643 the Mrs. Baldwin was rated as one of the wealthiest proprietors. After 1643 she married (second) Captain Astwood and removed to Milford, Connecticut, where she died in 1669. Captain Astwood died in London in 1654.


Sylvester Baldwin married Sarah Bryan in 1620. Their children, all born and baptized at Aston-Clin- ton, were: I. Sarah, baptized April 22, 1621, mar- ried, 1638, Benjamin Fenn, of Milford, Connecticut. 2. Richard, baptized August 25, 1622, married, 1642, Elizabeth Alsop, of New Haven; he lived at Derby


and Milford, was town clerk of Milford and deputy to the general court; he has many descendants. 3. Mary, baptized February 28, 1624, died in 1624. 4. Mary, baptized February 19, 1625, married, 1640, Robert Plum, of Milford. 5. Martha, baptized April 20, 1628. 6. Ruth, born in 1630. 7. Samuel, bap- tized January, 1632, died in 1632. 8. Elizabeth, bap- tized January 25, 1633, died 1633. 9. John, born in 1635, (see forward).


(V) John Baldwin, son of Sylvester Baldwin (4). was born in Aston-Clinton, England, in 1635, and died August 19, 1683. The maiden name of his first wife is unknown. It is conjectured that she was a daughter of Captain John Astwood, his step-father. They were married in 1656 and a house lot was as- signed to them in Milford, Connecticut, and later he received other grants of land in that town. His wife died in 1657 soon after the birth of her only child, John. In 1664 John Baldwin settled in New London, Connecticut. He married (second). July 24. 1672, Rebecca Palmer, widow of Elisha Chese- bro, and daughter of Walter Palmer (I) of Ston- ington, Connecticut. They settled permanently in Stonington where she owned an extensive tract of land. She died May 2, 1713.


The children of John Baldwin were: I. John, born April 13, 1657, died in 1676, in England. 2. Rebecca, May 20, 1673, married Elnathan, son of Deacon Manasseh Minor, town clerk of Stonington. 3. Mary, February 24, 1675, married John Randall, of Stonington. 4. Sylvester, March 4, 1677, received a bequest in 1702 from the estate of his grandmother, Sarah (Bryan) (Baldwin) Astwood; he married Lydia Minor and Elizabeth Avery. 5. Sarah, 1680, died unmarried. 6. Jane, 1681, died before 1692. 7. Theophilus, 1683, married Priscilla Mason, (see for- ward).


(VI) Theophilus Baldwin, son of John Baldwin (5), was born in Stonington, Connecticut, June, 1683. He settled there. He married (first) Priscilla Ma- son, daughter of Daniel Mason, May 25, 1710. She was the granddaughter of Captain John Mason, the Indian fighter, and of Rev. Peter Hobart, of Hing- ham, Massachusetts, whose daughter Rebecca was Daniel Mason's second wife.


The children were born by the first wife. He married (second), May 1, 1724, Jemima Powers, who died in 1733, and he married (third) Elizabeth Has- call, widow, of Norwich. He was the first deacon of the church organized in 1727 in what is now North Stonington. In many ways he was a man of mark in the town, having character, ability, wealth and a remarkably sunny temper.


The children of Theophilus and Priscilla (Mason) Baldwin were: 1. John, born July 12, 17II, (see forward). 2. Priscilla, November 17, 1713, married Daniel Caulkins. 3. Theophilus, Oc- tober 23, 1716, married (first), February 5, 1738, Sarah Lamb, and (second), January 20, 1764, Eliza- beth Billings, of Stonington. 4. Sylvester, March, 1719, married (first) Anna and (second) Bridget Chesebro, of Stonington, and had ten chil- dren.


(VII) Captain John Baldwin, son of Theophilus Baldwin (6), was born July 12, 171I, at Stonington, Connecticut. He married, February 6, 1736, Mary Clarke. She died January 24, 1737, four weeks after the birth of her son, John. He married (second) Eunice Spaulding, of Plainfield, Connecticut, twin daughter of Thomas Spaulding. She was born July 28, 1720. He died in 1762. He held a commission as captain in the militia. His widow married (sec- ont), November I, 1764, Isaac Williams, who died September 22, 1788. She died January, 1819, aged ninety-eight years and six months.


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The children of John Baldwin were: 1. John, born December 27, 1736, died January 8, 1737. 2. Mary, February 9, 1741, married Stephen Frink. 3. Priscilla, May 20, 1743, married Hubbard Borroughs, Jr., and died in 1771. 4. Elizabeth, June 23, 1745, married. November 24, 1765, Jesse Swan, of Ston- ington. 5. Eunice , October 25, 1747, died August 23, 1761. 6. Thomas, April 6, 1751, died April 10, 1751. 7. John, May 12, 1752, (see forward). 8. Ziba, Feb- ruary 16, 1755, married, July 20, 1775, Amy Brown, of Preston, Connecticut, died September 27, 1803. (VIII) Major John Baldwin, son of John Bald- win (7), was born May 12, 1752, in Stonington, Connecticut. He was a thrifty, forcible and influen- tial man. He married, January 23, 1772, Sarah Deni- son, of Stonington. She was the daughter of John and the granddaughter of Daniel Denison, who was the son of Colonel George Denison, the emigrant ancestor. She was born May 3. 1752.


Major Baldwin settled on the homestead in Ston- ington. Mrs. Baldwin died June 19, 1813; he died August 3, 1814. Their children were: 1. John, born October 28, 1772, married, January 31, 1796, Abigail Boardman, of Griswold, and (second) in 1825, An- ner Rose, a widow; he died in 1858. 2. Eunice, March 16, 1775, married, January 17, 1793, Stephen Tucker, of Griswold, Connecticut. 3. Denison, March 25, 1778, died unmarried. 4. Andrew. December 15, 1780, married, November 22, 1801, Mary Boardman. 5. Daniel, May 21, 1783, married (first) Eunice Frink, ( second) Lucy Boardman, and (third) Han- nah Stanton, by whom he had nine children. 6. Polly, February 1, 1786, married Stephen Frink. 7. George Washington, July 21, 1788, married, Novem- ber 16, 1809, Mary C. Kinney, of Griswold; died in St. Louis in 1846. 8. Sarah, in 1790, married, 1815, Thomas Holmes ; died in Fall River, 1853. 9. Nancy, in 1793. died in 1834. unmarried.


(IX) Daniel Baldwin, son of John Baldwin (8), was born May 21, 1783. He married (first ) April 22, 1804, Eunice Frink, who died childless, May 1, 1805. He married (second), January 22, 1806, Lucy Boardman, who died childless, August 17. 1806. He married (third) April 21, 1808, Han- nah Stanton, who bore him nine children. She was the daughter of Captain Nathaniel Stanton, of Groton, Connecticut, whose descent was: Nathaniel (4) his father: Joseph (3); Captain John (2) ; Thomas ( 1), the first settler. Her mother was a lineal descendant of the first James Avery, of Gro- ton, Massachusetts, through his son, Captain James Avery.


Daniel Baldwin settled first in North Stonington, Connecticut, where their first four children were born. After 1816 they lived seven years in Chenango county, New York, where their next four children were born. Then they returned to North Stoning- ton where their youngest child was born.


Daniel Baldwin died October 28, 1855. His widow, who was born March 11, 1786. died March 19, 1877, at the age of ninety-one. Their children are: 1. John Denison. born September 28, 1809, (see forward). 2. Daniel Avery, July 2, 1811, mar- ried (first ), May 23, 1835, Betsey Rogers, of Lyme, Connecticut, who died April 17, 1851 ; he married (second ); May 22, 1853, Amanda Colgrove, of Voluntown, Connecticut ; he was a shipmaster of New London, Connecticut. He had ten children. 3. Sally Adaline, July 17, 1813. died young. 4. Nancy Adaline, April 27, 1815, married, December 3, 1839, Frederick P. Frink, of Salisbury, Connecticut, and died childless in New London, October 31, 1869. 5. Andrew, born and died April, 1817. 6. Mary Ann, May 8, 1818. married, November 1. 1837, Charles D. Smith, of Woodstock; resided at Worcester and


had two children : Ebenezer Smith, November 7, 1839: Hannah Amelia, September 16, 1845, married Samuel Woodward, who did business in Quincy Market, Boston. They have one child: Charles Smith Woodward, born September 16, 1868. 7. Han- nah, October 9, 1820, died young. 8. Robert Stan- ton, August 21, 1822, drowned June 3. 1838, in Nor- wich. 9. Amy Avery, September 9, 1825, married, October 4, 1847, James Boardman, of Norwich, and died childless July 30, 1866.


(X) John Denison Baldwin, son of Daniel Bald- win (9), was born in North Stonington, Connecticut, September 28, 1809. He died at Worcester, Massa- chusetts, July 8, 1883, aged seventy-three years, nine months and ten days.


When he was seven years old the family moved from his native town to Chenango county, New York, which at that time was wilderness, and for seven years the son labored with his father and other members of the family to subdue the soil, as their ancestors had done in New England nearly two hundred years before. He learned to shoot straight and to love nature. Those years in the New York forests strengthened his character as well as his muscles and developed the poetical side of his nature. When the family returned to live in Stoning- ton, he was fourteen years old. He attended school and studied diligently during the next three years. At the age of seventeen he began to teach school. He entered Yale College and pursued his course from time to time, as his other duties permitted. He did not graduate in regular course. He began the study of law, but soon abandoned it for theology. He preached for a short time to a Methodist con- gregation, but later entered the Divinity School at Yale College and was graduated in 1834. In 1839. he received his degree of Master of Arts out of. regular course.


He was ordained September 3, 1834, and was pastor of the Congregational church at West Wood- stock, Connecticut, until July 25, 1837. From Janu- arv 17, 1838, to May, 1845, he was pastor of the church at North Brandford, Connecticut, and at North Killingly from April 29, 1846, to September 17, 1849. He made his mark as a preacher and as a man of sagacity and public spirit. He took his part in public affairs. He was elected to the Con- necticut legislature from North Killingly by the Free Soil party. As chairman of the committee on education he reported a bill for the establishment of normal schools, and in 1850 his bill was passed. He was on the board of trustees upon whom he devolved the selection of a site. The normal school was built at New Britain. At that time the normal school was an innovation in the educational system and it required no little agitation and earnest efforts to establish in Connecticut the schools for the proper training of public school teachers now deemed es- sential to the public school system everywhere. As a member of the legislature he became more than ever interested in the Free Soil party and the anti- slavery movement. He sought a larger field of use- fulness in order to advance the reforms in which he was interested. He turned from preaching to journal- ism. He became editor of the Free Soil newspaper, the Charter Oak, published weekly at Hartford, later called the Republican. Editorial work he found to his liking and his pen became recognized as one of the political forces to be reckoned with. In 1852 he went to the larger field in Boston as joint owner of the Daily Commonwealth with William Chilin, John B. Alley. Dr. Samuel G. Howe, and William Spooner. Mr. Baldwin was the editor and manager. He established close connections with the. leaders of the Free Soil and Republican party and




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