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. II > Part 40
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(VI) William Fiske, eldest child of Robert (5) and Sybil (Gould) ( Barber ) Fiske, was born in Laxfield, England, in 1566. William is described as being of St. James, in South Elmham, and is said to have filed with his father on account of religious persecution. An old record says: "William Fyske has livery of the manor and advowson of Heking- ham, in county Norfolk, lately belonging to Robert Fyske, his father." He also lived in Dirchingham. He died in 1623. His will is dated November 25, 1616, and was proved May 17. 1623. He married ( first ), Anna Anstye, daughter of Walter Anstye, of Tibbenham, Long Row, Norfolk county, England. She died and he married (second ) Alice - . His children were: 1. John, of whom later. 2. Na- thaniel, born at South Elmham, England, inarried Mrs. Alice ( Hend ) Leman. 3. Eleazer, born at South Elmham; married and settled in Norwich; had no male issue. 4. Eunice, died unmarried. 5. Hannah, born at South Elmnham; married, May 4, 1603, William Candler, schoolmaster at Tofford. Their son, Rev. Matthias Candler, was the author of the celebrated Candler manuscript on file in the British Museum. Other children were John and Mary Candler. 6. Hester, born at South Elmham; married John Chalke, of Rednall, England. 7. Mary, born at South Elmham, England ; married Anthony Fisher, proprietor of Wignotte, county Suffolk. He died April 11, 1640. Ilis son, also called Anthony, was baptized at Syleham, England, April 23, 1591; he married, in England, Mary -, and died in
Dedham or Dorchester, Massachusetts, April 18, 1671. His son, Anthony, the third of the name, was born in Syleham, England; married, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, September 7, 1647, Joanna Faxon, born in England in 1626, died October 16, 1694. The third Anthony died in Dorchester February 13, 1670. Another son of Anthony and Mary ( Fiske ) Fisher was a pioneer in New England, with his brother Anthony. ( See Fisher family in sketch of Mrs. M. P. Higgins. ) Of two other sons of Anthony and Mary (Fiske) Fisher, Cornelius, who was a Master of Arts, remained in England and taught school at East Bergholt; and Amos, farmed an es- tate called Custridge Hall, in the parish of Wesley, which is in the hundred of Tendring, between Col- chester and the sea.
(VII) John Fiske, son of William (6) and Anna ( Anstye) Fiske, was born at St. James, Eng- land, and died in South Elmham, where he had lived in 1633. He married Anne Lantersee, daugh- ter of Robert Lantersee, who died on board ship on his way to New England, in 1637. His children were: I. John, born in South Elmham, England, 1601; married Ann Gipps, and (second Mrs. Eliza- beth Henchman. 2. William, of whom later. 3. Anne, married Francis Chickering, who came to America and was admitted a freeman May 13, 16.40; proprietor of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1638; member of court valuation committee, ensign, selectman, and deputy to the general court. His wife Anne died about 1649 and he married (second) Sarah Sibbell, June 16, 1650. 4. Martha, born in England ; mar- ried there Captain Edmund Thompson, son of John Thompson, of Holkham, in Norfolk county, and his wife Anne Thompson, daughter of John Hastings, of Holkham. They had four children born in New England, then returned to England, where three children were born at Yarmouth. Thompson was a sta captain, and served the state of Holland after the death of Charles I. While in America he was proprietor at Salem and Wenham, Massachusetts. 5. Nathan, died young. 6. Eleazer, born at South Elmham, mentioned in grandfather's will.
(VIII) William Fiske, second son of John (7) and Anne (Lantersee) Fiske, born in England about 1613: came to America in 1637, and settled at Salem, Massachusetts, where he received a grant of land, and was admitted a freeman, May 18, 1642, and a member of the Salem church, July 2, 1641. Soon afterward he removed to Wenham, Massachusetts, where he was first town clerk, and then clerk of writs from 1643 to 1660. He was a representative to the general court in 1047, and until 1652. He was one of the most honored and prominent citizens of the town of Wenham. He died September, 1654 intestate.
He married 1643, at Salem, Massachusetts, Bridget Muskett, of Pelham, England. After his death she married, November 3, 1661. Thomas Rix, of Salem. surgeon. The children of William and Bridget (Muskett) Fiske were: I. William, mar- ried Sarah Kilham. 2. Samuel, of whom later. 3. Joseph, born in Wenham; married Elizabeth Haman. 4. Benjamin, born in Wenham; married Bethusha Morse. 5. Martha.
(IX) Samuel Fiske, second son and child of William (8) and Bridget (Muskett) Fiske, born in Wenham, Massachusetts ; resided in Wenham, where he was admitted a freeman, March 25, 1685. I.Ie was a tailor by trade. He held the offices of tythingman, constable and selectman. He left a large estate, which, before his death, he deeded to his sons. He died October 31, 1716. He married ( first), Novem- ber 6, 1679, Phebe Bragg, who died in Wenham, October 1, 1696. He married (second) Mrs. Hannah
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Allen, of Manchester, born 1662, died January 30, 1722. The children of Samuel Fiske were : I. Samuel, married Sarah Reddington. 2. John, mar- ried Abigail Poor. 3. William, born June 10, 1687; married (first) Rebecca Reddington; second Lydia Thurston; third Bethiah Goodrich. 4. Daniel, of whom later. 5. Benjamin, died unmarried, Septem- ber 16, 1719. 6. Hannah, born January 7, 1698; died February 3, 1699.
(X) Daniel Fiske, fourth son and child of Sam- uel (9) Fiske, was probably born at Wenham. He resided in Wenham until 1748, when he moved to Upton, Massachusetts, where he was one of the early settlers. His will, made February 6, 1754, proved 1761, mentions wife and living children. He married, July 2, 1717, in Beverly, Sarah Fuller, of Salem, granddaughter of Thomas Fuller, wlio be- longed to a family of high social standing in Eng- land and came to America in 1638, on a tour of ob- servation, not intending to stay. While in Can- bridge, Massachusetts, he became a convert to Puri- tanism, under the eloquent preaching of Rev. Thomas Shepard, a famous colonial divine, and set- tled in New Salem, later Middleton, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth Tidd, of Woburn, and died in 1698, leaving sons Thomas, Benjamin and Jacob- and several daughters. His youngest son, Jacob Fuller, born in 1655, married Mary Bacon, and set- tled on the paternal homestead. Two of their five children married Fiskes, one as above stated. The children of Daniel and Sarah (Fuller) Fiske were : I. Daniel, born June 17, 1718; married Zilpah Tyler. 2. Sarah, December 6, 1719. 3. Hannah, May 16, 1721; married, in Wenham, July 6, 1742 Ebenezer Ober. 4. Sarah, March 5, 1722; died March 31, 1723. 5. Benjamin, of whom later. 6. Phebe, Oc- tober 5, 1726; died November 18, 1726. 7. Samuel, February 14, 1728; married Sarah Partridge. 8. Sarah, March 20, 1730; married, December 17, 1755, at Upton, Ebenezer Walker, of Upton. 9. William, April 14, IO. Josiah, February 2, 1734; married (first) Sarah Barber; second Lydia Daniels; third Elizabeth Gore. 11. Martha, April 8, 1738; married, April 24, 1760, at Upton, Perin Batshelder.
(XI) Benjamin Fiske, fifthı child of Daniel (10) and Sarah (Fuller) Fiske, was born at Upton, Massachusetts, May 7, 1724. His entire life was spent in Upton, and he died there, August 10, 1805. His will is dated August, 1805. He married (in- tentions), August 29, 1740, Rebecca Wheelock, of Mendon, who died March 20, 1799. He married (second) Keziah Adams, of Medway, (intentions ) June 20, 1801. His children were: I. Benjamin, of whom later. 2. Mary, born November 4, 1750; died November 26, 1750. 3. Daniel, January 24, 1758. 4. Ichiabod, June 18, 1761; died before his father. 5. Rebecca, January 8, 1764; married January 23, 1784. in Upton, by Rev. Elisha Fish, her cousin, Samuel Fiske, of Shelburne. 6. Mary. 7. Obadiah. S. Elizabeth. 9. Rebecca, died young.
(XII) Benjamin Fiske, son of Benjamin (II) and Rebecca (Wheelock) Fiske, was born at Upton, Massachusetts, May 1, 1749. He was a miller by trade; died in November, 1820. His will, which was probated November 11, 1820, made his son Clark his executor. He married (first), June 14, 1770, Jemima Holbrook; second, March 7, 1782, Margery Wood, born 1761, died in Upton, February 24, 1843. The children of Benjamin Fiske were: I. Joel, born December 17, 1770; married Hannah Turner. 2. Clark, April 4, 1778; married Chiloe Bradislı. 3. Jemima, February 16, 1780; married, in Upton, June 3, 1800, Abner Smith. of Bellingham. 4. Azariah, September 13, 1782; died before 1820,
unmarried. 5. Hannah, April 10, 1784; married Durham. 6. Ziba, November 24, 1785; mar- ried in Auburn, November 30, 1806, Polly Philips, of Ward (Auburn). 7. Galacius, of whom later. S. Emory, June 30, 1790; married, January 1, 18II, Rufus Sibley, of Grafton, she died October 5, 1811. 9. Elvia, June 30, 1790, (twin of preceding). 10. Benjamin, November 24, 1792. II. David, August 30, 1794; died February 19, 1795. 12. Jonathan, Au- gust 30, 1794, (twin of preceding) ; married Gratia Wilson. 13. Austin, January 21, 1797. 14. Harvey, January 21, 1797, (twin of preceding) ; married Sophia Warren. 15. Miranda, April 1, 1799; mar- ried in Upton, March 10, 1818, David Chapin, of Upton. 16. Rebekah, March 10, 1801; married June 12, 1817, Jesse Whitney, born October 12, 1790, died February 1, 1850; she resided at Milford, Massachu- setts, and died August 10, 1871. 17. Sally, March 12, 1804; married January 26, 1826, Milton Ruggles, of Upton, who died, and she married (second) Sutherland.
(XIII) Galacius Fiske, son of Benjamin (12) and Margery ( Wood) Fiske, born at Upton, Massa- chusetts, April 17, 1788; was a farmer and miller at Shelburne, Masachusetts, and died in Ludlow, Massachusetts, May 30, 1853. He married, May 2, 1816, Mary Brown, born March 5, 1794, died in Worcester, March 22, 1890. Their children were: 1. Harriet Adelia, of whom later. 2. Mary Brown, born November 2, 1818; married Thomas Marshall ; died September 15, 1861. Her son, Julius Marshall, resides at No. 32 Gardner street, Worcester, Massa- chusetts. 3. Galacius F., January 23, 1821; married Margaret J. Brady. 4. Sarah Eliza, April 6, 1829; married Albert Sprout who died September 12, 1880. 5. Otis Alphonzo, November 25, 1826; married Abby S. Gove. 6. Sewall Augustus, August 3, 1831 ; mar- ried Mary J. -; resides Dudley Place, Worcester, Massachusetts. He died November 4, 1887, leaving two sons: Fred and Eugene. 7. Julia Ann Maria, November 24, 1828; married April 6, 1849, Jeremialı Dutton, who was born in Ludlow, Massachusetts, August 21, 1823, and died in Belchertown, Massa- October 23, 1867. He was a farmer and their chil- dren are living at Thorndike, Massachusetts, with the exception of one, Victor, who resides in Cleve- land, Ohio. Mrs. Dutton died October 23, 1866. 8. Francis Wayland, May 30, 1838; died December 27, 1868, from the effects of a wound received in the civil war.
(XIV) Harriet Adelia Fiske, daughter of Ga- lacius Fiske (13), was born January 24, 1817. She married, August 4, 1844, Edward Lucius Ward, born January 13, 1815, died April 20, 1890. Their chil- dren were: I. Julia Maria Ward, of whom later. 2. Harriet Louisa Ward, born December 31, 1850. She married, December 2, 1869, Homer R. King, and resides in Worcester, Massachusetts.
(XV) Julia Maria Ward, daughter of Edward Lucius and Harriet Adelia (14) Ward, married Horace M. Tompkins, of Worcester, Massachusetts.
NUTT FAMILY. (I) William Nutt, the immi- grant ancestor of Charles Nutt, of Worcester, was born in or near Londonderry, Ireland. He came to this country when a young man with the first body of Scotch-Irish who settled at Nutfield, later called Londonderry, New Hampshire. His family seems to have been in Ireland among the Scotch Presbyterians but a short time. The name is English, of Danish origin, dating back to the days of King Canute, or Knut (meaning "knot" in English) as the name was spelled originally. The English families Knott, Nott, Nute and Nudd have the same origin, though they have been distinct for
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many centuries. The name of this branch of the family has been spelled Nutt since about 1500, and the principal home of the family was Kent, Eng- land. William Nutt was mayor of Canterbury in 1533. It is likely that the family in Ireland be- longs to the Kent family, for in the present genera- tion a branch of the family lived across the Irish Sca in Barnstaple, Devonshire, and the writer has knowledge of the English origin of one other Protestant family of this name in Ireland.
William Nutt was a fuller by trade, and when first known in this country was in the employ of Captain David Cargill, who established the first fulling mill in Londonderry. Nutt's homestead lot was drawn September 26, 1720, sixty acres east of Ezekiel Pond. He married at Bradford, Massachu- setts, where his former pastor, Rev. Thomas Syinmes, was located, Jean Colbath (Colbreath or Galbraith are variations of spelling of this name) May 29, 1723, the marriage being recorded at Londonderry. She was sister of the progenitor of Vice President . Henry Wilson, whose name originally was John Jeremiah Colbath. William Nutt worked for Car- gill until the latter's death, when he bought the mill, August 15, 1733. In 1739 he sold out his mill and farm in Londonderry and became one of the first settlers of the adjoining town of Chester. About 1740 he and his son John Nutt built their saw mill in Chester. William Nutt died intestate October 26, 1751. His widow Jean was administra- trix; she died at St. Georges, Eastward (near Thomaston, Maine), in 1771. She probably lived there with her son, Colonel David Nutt. Her son William, of Derryfield, New Hampshire, was ad- ministrator. Their children: I. John, born 1724; died 1757, soldier in the French war. 2. Samuel, mentioned below. 3. William, born 1730; prominent citizen of Derryfield and ancestor of the Man- chester (New Hampshire) families, including the famous Commodore Nutt, the dwarf, and his brother, Major Rodnia Nutt, another dwarf, still living, at Dorchester, Massachusetts; ancestor of Dr. Sarah J. McNutt and Dr. Julia G. McNutt, well known physicians of New York city. 4. Colonel David, born 1728, prominent in French war and revolution ; settled at Thomaston, Maine. 5. Robert. 6. Na- thaniel. 7. Benjamin. 8. Jean, married John Gor- don. 9. Mary, died young. 10. James, died young.
(II) Samuel Nutt, son of William Nutt (1), was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in Dc- cember 1828. He was a carpenter by trade, and worked with his father in the saw mill at Chester. He bought the interests of the other heirs after his father's death. He bought a farm in Weare, New Hampshire, July 6, 1763, lived there a few years, and was a town officer in 1765. He moved a few miles to what is now Francestown, adjoining New Bos- ton, New Hampshire, in 1767, and was the seventh settler of the town of Francestown, one of its in- corporators, and the first town clerk. He was con- stable, tithingman and on various town committees. He served in 1774 on the committee of safety, and was for a short time in the revolutionary war. In 1780 he was called Ensign on the records. He was on the committee for Francestown to consider the state constitution in 1788. His house on the old road from Francestown to New Boston now consti- tutes the ell-part of a brick farm-house. His farm is known as the Pettee place and is marked by magnifi- cent elms which he is said to have planted. Samuel Nutt sold his farm in 1797, and removed to Topsham, Vermont, where his sons and sons-in-law also lo- cated. He married first - Gordon who died with- 011t issue. He married second. 1759, Elizabeth Dickey, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth (MacPher-
son) Dickey, all of Londonderry, New Hampshire, all Scotch-Irish pioneers there. His wife died Sep- tember 13, 1801, aged sixty-one years and is buried at Newport, New Hampshire. Samuel Nutt died July 5, 1808, aged seventy-nine years, probably at Topsham. Their children: 1. William, mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth, born September 3, 1701; mar- ried Alexander Thompson, who died 1827; she died May 27, 1848. 3. Eleanor, born July 3, 1703; died September 23, 1843. 4. James, born March 29, 1704; died 1765. 5. Samuel, born June 4, 1766; died 1782. The preceding were born at Chester, the following at Francestown: 6. John, born February 29, 1768; died April 12, 1855 at Topsham. 7. Joseph, born November 13, 1769; died 1813 at Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. 8. Benjamin, born July 10, 1771 ; died 1792 at Francestown. 9. Adam, born Decem- ber 13, 1772; went to West Indies in 1801. 10. Jenny, born September 23, 1774; died 1792. 11. Ann Wilson, born February 14, 1776; died 1862; married John Brewster. 12. Jean, born September 3, 1777; died 1793. 13. David, born July 6, 1779; died August 10, 1845. 14. Margaret, born April 24, 1781; died Au- gust 9, 1864; married Joseph Towner. 15. Infant, born June 16, 1783, died same day. 16. Samuel, born December 16, 1784; blacksmith by trade ;. be- came minister of Christian church, and a famous evangelist; resided at Troy, Maine, and Franklin Falls, New Hampshire, where he died 1872. 17. James Dickey, born September 14, 1788; died 1833; settled in New York.
(III) Deacon William Nutt, son of Ensign Samuel Nutt (2), born at Chester, New Hampshire, March 14, 1760, died at Topsham, Vermont, January 20, 1833. He was raised on the farm in Frances- town. He learned the trade of shoemaker. He was a soldier in the Revolution, a private in 1777 in Cap- tain John Carson's company, Colonel Daniel Moore's regiment, and later in Captain Peter Clark's com- pany in the same regiment. In February 1780, he was in Captain Thomas Nichols's company, Colonel Whitcomb's regiment, and also in Cap- tain D. McGregor's company. He fought in the battles of Saratoga and Ticonderoga, and was at the surrender of Burgoyne. He was in the army almost continuously for nearly five years. He re- seived a pension in his old age, in 1832. He re- moved to Vermont and settled in the town of Topsham in March, 1796, buying a farm of Asa Porter, of Haverhill, June 20, 1796. He was a man of character and influence. He was one of the rul- ing elders of the Reformed Presbyterian church of Topsham, organized February 14, 1821. He was a man of great size and strength, said to be the most powerful man in the town in his day. He used to carry two bushels of corn on his back to the mill in Newbury, ten miles distant, and return with the meal on his back over the trail blazed through the woods. He married, in 1780, Mary Brewster, daugh- ter of Isaac and Jean Brewster, at Francestown. Her father was a shoemaker, born in Ireland, of Scotch family. She died August 11, 1838, and the I. graves of both are marked by headstones in the burying ground at Topsham. Their children : Jane McCollum, born July 24, 1786; married Moses Mills and lived in Canada. 2. Samuel, born July 17, 1788. 3. Isaac Brewster, mentioned below. 4. Benjamin, born January 7, 1792, died at Nashua December 16, 1869. 5. Elizabeth Dickey, born Oc- tober 25, 1793; married Peck and lived in Fayette county, Ohio. 6. Thanna, born May 27, 1796; died at Topsham January 21, 1875. 7. John, born : pril 17. 1708: died July 12, 1825, at Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. 8. Mary L., born August 29, 1800. 9. Amy, born November 10, 1803; died unmarried
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at Topsham February 21, 1890; original member of the Presbyterian church; memorial to her erected by women of the church there.
( IV) Isaac Brewster Nutt, son of William Nutt (3), was born at Francestown, New Hampshire, February 15, 1790. He was a carpenter by trade but taught school, was a farmer, and followed vari- ous other callings. At one time he was a hotel clerk at Billerica, Massachusetts. He served in the war of 1812 for a short time in a regiment called to the defence of Boston. He was a Universalist in re- ligion. He died December 21, 1854, and is buried in the Nutt lot at Topsham.
He married, February 6, 1825, Sally Rowe, daugh- ter of Captain Jeremiah Rowe (also given Munrow and Munroe) and his wife, Deborah Brown, natives of Barrington, New Hampshire, where they were married September 26, 1800. Sally Rowe was born January 15, 1804, at Richford, Vermont, and died March 7, 1858, at Natick, Massachusetts. The children of Isaac Brewster and Sally Nutt: 1. Sally Ann Monrow, born at Sutton, Canada, April 26, 1826; died March 6, 1897; married Isaac M. Perry of Natick, Massachusetts. 2. Isaac Brewster, born August 24, 1827, at Topsham, Vermont; married Azubah Puffer, daughter of Josiah and Patience ( Russell) Puffer of Sudbury, Massachusetts ; she died at Natick November 16, 1854; he resides in Natick. 3. Mary Brewster, born August 24, 1829. at Topsham; married Loved Garey, resided in Iowa. 4. Jeremiah Munroe, born May 9, 1831, at Topsham ; served in Gen. W. T. Sherman's regiment three years; died April 15, 1869. 5. Helen Mar, born February 22, 1833; died August 26, 1836. 6. Martha Elma, born November 8, 1834; died November 5, 1861 ; married Adna P. Hall of Natick, the first Natick volunteer killed in action in the civil war, leaving children. 7. Colonel William, mentioned be- low. 8. Helen Rizpah, born July 14, 1838, wife of Nathan P. Rice of West Boylston, Massachusetts. 9. Samuel, born May 29, 1840; resides at South Haven, Kansas; has been sheriff of the county ; veteran of the civil war; married at Worcester, Jan- uary 1, 1867, Etta Stow French of Grafton, born February 14, 1841. 10. Jane, born December 4 1845 ; died January 6, 1903; married John Ford and set- tled in Kansas and Arkansas.
(V) Colonel William Nutt, son of Isaac Brewster Nutt (4), was born in Topsham, Vermont, August 5, 1836. His early education was limited to a few terms in the district school of his native town. As soon as he was old enough he began to work on the farm of his father and for neighbor- ing farmers. In his sixteenth year, in 1852, he re- moved to Natick, Massachusetts, where he has since lived, and began to work at the shoemaker's trade. He supplemented his schooling by much reading and study, and attended private schools when he had the opportunity. As a shoemaker, associated with Henry Wilson, who afterward became vice-president of the United States, he became interested in the slavery question, and in 1857 took part in the Kansas movement, the result of which was to keep that state free from slavery. He "squatted" at Lawrence, Kansas. His first vote was for the Free Soil ticket, and he was one of the active organizers of the Re- publican party. He returned from Kansas to his home in Natick, and followed his trade as a shoe- maker until the civil war broke out. He was a member of the militia company in Natick, but left the organization to enlist in Company I, Captain A. B. Underwood, Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, Colonel Gordon, May 15, 1861. He was made a corporal and August II, 1861, ser- geant. He was a very successful drill-master, and
was detailed early in the service to instruct officers as well as men of the Twenty-seventh Indiana Regi- ment. His first skirmish was October 22, 1861, at Conrad's Ferry, Virginia. After the battle of Ball's Bluff, in which he was engaged, he was in the lios- pital sick for several weeks, and was when con- valescent detailed, December, 1861, to recruiting service in Springfield, Massachusetts. He returned to his regiment in June at Martinsburg, Virginia, after being assigned to the Twelfth Massachusetts Regiment from April to June, 1862. The regiment lost nearly half its men and more than half its offi- cers in an engagement August 9, 1862, and from that time until he left the regiment in March, 1863, he was acting first sergeant with the special duty of drilling recruits. At the battle of Antietam a third of the regiment was killed or wounded. He was commissioned March 5, 1863, second lieutenant, and May, 1863, first lieutenant, in the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, Colonel Robert G. Shaw, to whom the monument on Boston Common was lately erected. He was soon afterward made a cap- tain in the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts. He was pro- vost marshal of Jacksonville, Florida, in February, 1864; promoted major, November, 1864; lieutenant colonel, June, 1865, and brevet colonel at the close of the war. He was with his regiment at the siege of Charleston. He was mustered out in September I865.
He became a partner in the firm of Davis & Plummer, shoe manufacturers in Natick, but find- ing that business uncongenial, began to study law in December, 1866, in the office of Walter N. Mason, Natick. In February, 1868, he was appointed agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, and located in Halifax and Lunenburg counties, Virginia. After six months of this service and study of law, he returned to Natick and was admitted to the bar in Middlesex county, August 9, 1868. He opened an office in Natick, where he has been located ever since.
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