Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. II, Part 66

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 732

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 66

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).

(III) Abraham Staples, eldest child of Abra- ham Staples (2), was born in Mendon, the first na- tive of that town, June 14, 1663. He inherited the farm on Little Pond, and his descendants have owned it to the present time. Six Abraham Staples in successive generations have owned the old place. Abraham's homestead was in Uxbridge, at the cor- ners, in what is now called "the city." His farm lay to the south of the old Hartford turnpike, to- wards the Wheelock factory. He bequeathed the old homestead of his father to his son Abraham. He was a carpenter by trade. He married Mehita- ble, daughter of Samuel Hayward, of Mendon. Abraham Staples died at the early age of forty-three years, in 1706. The children ; Mehitable; Mary ; Abraham, mentioned below.

(IV) Abraham Staples, only son of Abraham Staples (3), was born in Mendon, 1705. He in- herited the farm on Little Pond, and built the old gambrel roofed house there in 1752. Some of the older residents still remember the building. He married first, 1727, Abigail, daughter of Daniel Taft, who died in 1736. Staples married (second) Thank- ful, daughter of Woodland Thompson, first pro- prietor and settler on Wigwam Hill. She died be- fore 1740. He married (third) 1740, Lydia White of Uxbridge. He died in 1767; his widow lived to be ninety-eight years old. Abraham Staples (4), was a large owner of real estate and for his day a man of wealth and prominence. His children, by first marriage: 1. Deborah. 2. Abigail, married Benoni Benson, 1752. 3. Mary. 4. Abraham, men- tioned below. 5. Lydia. Children of Abraham and Thankful: 6. Thankful, married, 1762, Asa Fletcher. Children of Abraham and Lydia were: 7. Deboralı, married Joseph Marsh, 1759. 8. Isaac, married - Benson. 9. Ruth, died young. 10. Ruth, married Amos Cragin. II. Chloe, died unmarried. 12. Hay- mintal. 13. Nahor, was grandfather of Rev. Carle- ton A. Staples.

(V) Abralianı Staples, fourth child of Abra- hamn Staples (4), was born about 1730, died 1792. He was a man of wealth and position, called a Gen- tleman on the records. Ile inherited the homestead. He was a member of the South Parish or Chestnut Hill parish. Of the long line of Abraham Staples he was accounted the ablest and best educated. He married, first, 1753, Mary Harvey, of Taunton; and (second), 1774, Ruth Wheelock. His children : Jonathan ; George, mentioned below; Abigail;

Lydia ; Abraham; Jacob; Mary. The children of Abraham and Ruth Staples were: Ruth, Lendol, and Susanna.

(VI) George Staples, son of Abraham Staples (5), was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, about 1755. He was a farmer and a large owner of real estate. He deeded his farm to his son Welcome. February, 1826, and a lot to his son Benoni in 1827, evidently for a building lot. He married Lois Ald- rich. Their children : Abijah; Joseph; Benoni; Welcome, mentioned below; Calista.

(VII) Welcome Staples, son of George Staples (6), was born at Mendon, October 4, 1798, and died there September 13, 1868. He was a farmer with little love for his vocation. He had a common school education, but was fond of history, and throughout his life he devoted much of his spare time to its study. lle was, withal what New Eng- land calls a well read man, an encyclopedia of gen- eral information, and an authority of history. He was active in town affairs and in town, state and national politics. He frequently spoke in the town meetings. He married Susan Staples, of Mendon, a distant relative, a woman of strong and orthodox religious convictions and elevated Christian char- acter. She was a typical American Puritan; she read the Bible constantly and sought to implant ex- alted ethical and religious precepts in the minds and hearts of her children. "If there be any truth in the law of heredity," said Judge Aldrich, "it can- not be difficult with knowledge of these traits in the character of parents, to trace to their true source the distinguishing qualities of inind and character of men." Children of Welcome and Susan Staples : I. Hamilton B., mentioned below. 2. Gustavus, born 1831, died young. 3. Gustavus A., born 1833, died 1896. 4. Edward L., born 1835, died young. 5. Thomas B., born 1836. 6. Sarah L., born 1839, lives at present on the old homestead in Mendon; she formerly resided in winter with Judge Staples in Worcester.

(VIII) Judge Hamilton B. Staples, son of Wel- come Staples (7), was born in Mendon, Massachu- setts, February 14, 1829. His boyhood was passed like that of the typical Worcester county boy of his generation, working on his father's farm and during the short winter terms attending the district school. He early evinced a taste for books, and lost no opportunity for study and reading. As he grew older he became anxious to secure a liberal educa- tion, subsequently fitting for college at the Worcester Academy, and was graduated from Brown Uni- versity in 1851 at the age of twenty-two years, the Latin salutatorian of his class. He immediately be- gan the study of law in the office of Chief Justice Ames, in Providence, Rhode Island, and continued that study in the office of Ilon. Peter C. Bacon of Worcester, Massachusetts, He was admitted to the bar in 1852, and began at once the practice of his profession, establishing an office in Milford, where he was associated in business with several well known lawyers during the fifteen years that he made Milford his business center. Among his partners were Gen. A. B. Underwood, Judge Charles A. Dewey and W. F. Slocum. During those fifteen years, Judge Staples's industry, fidelity, skill and learning were amply demonstrated by the success at- tained in the management of his cases, and he rose rapidly in his profession. In 1869 he came to Worcester and formed a law partnership with Frank P. Goulding, and the firm took rank among the lead- ing lawyers of the state. In 1873 Judge Staples was elected district attorney of the Middle District, one of the largest and most important in the state. This responsible position he held for eight years. Judge

Bansom. C. Mylon

235

WORCESTER COUNTY

Aldrich gave it as his opinion that Mr. Staples had no superior as a prosecuting officer, even among those who held the office of attorney general during that period.

Mr. Staples was a member of the Worcester city council in 1874 and 1875. He was trustee of the City Hospital and held various other positions of trust and honor. In 1881 he was appointed associate justice of the superior court of Massachusetts to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of his kinsman, Judge Francis H. Dewey, and occupied this position at the time of his death August 2, 1891. The honor- ary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Brown University in 1884. In early life he was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church of Wor- cester, but during the latter years of his life he attended Central (Congregational) Church, of which his wife was a member. He was a Free Mason ; a member of the Worcester Club; an active member and former president of the Brown Alumni Associa- tion. Judge Staples made two visits to Europe and traveled extensively on the continent and through England and Scotland. He was a member of the American Antiquarian Society, elected in 1878. He regarded his election as an honor and gratifying recognition of his merits and reputation as a scholar. He took a deep interest in the work and proceed- ings o: that society. Original papers from his facile pen, published in 1879, 1882, 1884 and 1888 in the so- ciety proceedings, were entitled: "A Day at Mount Vernon in 1707." "Origin of the Names and States of the Union ;" "The Province Laws of Massachu- setts;" a brief but interesting paper on "The Sword of Fitz-John Winthrop, some time captain in Monk's Army ;" Lasalle's Monument at Rouen," etc. Judge P. Emory Aldrich, in his biography of Judge Sta- ples, wrote: "All these papers show careful re- search, and a clear and classic style in the statements of facts and opinions." We quote further from Judge Aldrich's memorial: "He loved knowledge and he loved the pursuit of it. He was a diligent reader of good books, and was especially fond of historical and metaphysical writings. His mind was eminently analytical, and he sometimes carried the process of analysis into such remote and refined distinctions as to endanger if not impair the soundness of his judgments.

"He was ambitious. He loved distinction, and bore his honors with a conscious pride and becoming dig- nity. But the objects of his ambition were worthy, and he sought, their attainment ever and only by honorable means. He highly prized the good opinion of his fellow men and was keenly sensitive to ad- verse criticism. There was something, however, that he valued more than the opinions of others and that was his own self-approving conscience. * *

* By his severe struggles with limited pecuniary resources during the entire period of his college life, he ac- quired habits of self-reliance and independent action. His character and will were tested and strengthened carly in the school of privation and self-dependence." The Worcester bar paid this tribute to Judge Sta- ples : "As a lawyer he was, in the preparation of his cases for trial, quick of apprehension, industrious, minute and critical, patient and untiring. In actual trial he was alert, sagacious, and possessing an un- failing memory, courage and powerful advocacy ; he was a tower of strength to his clients and a for- midable opponent. He brought to the bench a thor- ough knowledge of common and chancery law and its application in practice. As a judge he was dig- nified, patient, painstaking, discriminating and al- ways just. His judicial life was upright and un- stained." Judge Aldrich said: "It may well be doubted whether there is any court in any of the

states whose jurisdiction is at once so extensive and varied ,as that of the superior court of which Judge Staples was a part. It was thought that at times his kind and sensitive nature led him to treat convicted offenders with too much leniency; that his reluct- ance to inflict pain, even upon the violators of the law, made him for the moment forget the larger purposes of penal statutes to prevent crime and se- cure public order and safety. But if this were a fault in his judicial character, was it not one of those 'Whose faults lean to virtue's side?' IIe was in private life an accomplished scholar, whose tastes and scholarship had been assiduously cultivated and improved by study and association with earnest and refined men at home and by the larger opportuni- ties of foreign travel. He was an agreeable and in- structive companion with a warm heart and capa- ble of the most genuine and permanent friendships, a lawyer of wide and varied learning."

He married first, June 15, 1858, Elizabeth A. (Carshore) Godfrey, widow of David Stearns God- frey, and daughter of Mrs. Benjamin Davenport. She died in Milford July 1, 1867. Judge Staples married (second), October 8, 1868, Mary Clinton Dewey, daughter of Hon. Charles A. Dewey, of Northampton, Massachusetts, for thirty years judge of the supreme judicial court, and Caroline H. (Clinton) Dewey, a sister of Hon. DeWitt Clinton. His children were: I. Charles A., died young. 2. Francis Hamilton, born April 22, 1872; graduate of the Worcester High School and Brown University ; at present associated with the Baker Lumber Com- pany, 82 Foster street, Worcester, as treasurer of the corporation.

RANSOM C. TAYLOR. John Taylor (1), the immigrant ancestor of Ransom C. Taylor, of Wor- cester, was in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1640, and probably went there with Rev. Ephraim Hewett, who sailed from England, August 17, 1639. He was a juror in Windsor in 1641-44. His residence in this country was of short duration. He prepared for a journey to England by making his will No- vember 24, 1645, and he sailed in the famous "Phantom Ship" of New Haven. This ship was built in Rhode Island, was of one hundred and fifty tons burden, Captain Lamberton, master. Rev. Mr. Davenport was also a passenger. The ice in the harbor had to be cut in order to allow the vessel to sail in January, 1645-46. In the follow- ing June the ship was seen apparently coming to anchor in the harbor, when, before the eyes of a crowd of spectators, she mysteriously vanished into the air. The story is told in Cotton Mather's "Magnalia" in his inimitable way. John Taylor was lost on the ill-fated ship, and his young wife mar- ried - Hoyt, of Norwalk, Connecticut. In 1694 the will of the missing man was presented for probate by his son. As far as known he left but two children: John, see forward; Thomas, born 1643-

(11) John Taylor, son of John Taylor (1), was born in Windsor, Connecticut, 1611. He was a captain in the military forces of the colony. He received a grant of land at Northfield in 1683, and settled in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he was killed May 13, 1704, while in pursuit of a party of Indians which had destroyed the hamlet of Pascomuck. He married. December 18, 1662, Thankful Woodward, daughter of Henry Wood- ward. Their children: Thankful, born October 27, 1663: Johanna, September 27, 1665; John, Octo- her 10. 1667: Rhoda, September 26, 1669; Eliza- beth, July 13, 1672; Mary, October 13, 1673; Jona- than, September 19, 1675; Mindwell, August 19,

236

WORCESTER COUNTY

1677; Lydia, May IS, 1678; Thomas, November 4, 1680, father of Captain Thomas Taylor, the famous Indian fighter in the French and Indian wars; Elizabeth, September 17, 1682; Experience, Octo- ber, 1684, died young; Samuel, August 30, 1688, sce forward.

(III) Samuel Taylor, youngest child of John Taylor (2). was born in Northampton, Massachu- setts, in 1688. He was a sergeant in the Deerficld company, and was an active and distinguished citi- zen. Ile died March 5. 1734. He married (first), August 17, 1715, Sarah Munn, of Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, who died December 26, 1716. Married . ( second), July 15, 1718, Mary Hitchcock, daugh- ter of Luke Hitchcock, of Springfield. She mar- ried (second), September 2, 1737, Daniel Arms, of Deerfield, Massachusetts. His only child by the first wife was: Samuel, see forward. The children of Samuel and Sarah were: Captain Othniel, born April 16, 1719; Mary, January 20, 1721 ; John. January 17, 1722, at Deerfield, removed to Charle- mont. Massachusetts; Jonathan, February 7, 1724, one of the early settlers of Charlemont.

(IV) Samuel Taylor, eldest son of Sergeant Samuel Taylor (3), was born 1716, in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He was an ensign in the militia there. In 1743 he was a soldier at Fort Mass. He was one of the first settled of Winchester, New Hampshire, where he settled at the time of his marriage in 1738. In 1739 he was the hogreeve of the town, an honor formerly bestowed by vote of the town on popular young men, usually the year after their marriage. He was in Winchester in 1743. From 1746 to 1757 he resided in Charle- mont. April 8, 1758, he was in Northfield, an adjacent town. Late in life he removed to Hart- ford, Vermont, and he and his wife were dis- missed from the Northfield church to the church at Hartford, March 5, 1780. He married, Septem- ber 20, 1738, Anne Alexander, daughter of Ebenezer Alexander. Their children: Sarah, born Septem- ber 30, 1739, at Winchester ; Anne, October 15, 1741, at Winchester; Mary, November 19, 1743; Ebenezer, sce forward; Asa, June 18. 1746; Oliver, October 22, 1748, settled in Northfield; Solomon, July 10, 1751, was at Fort Mass; Susanna, June 27, 1754; Elias, June 27, 1756, settled in Hoosac ; Joanna, Jan- uary 31, 1760.

(V) Ebenezer Taylor, son of Samuel Taylor (4), was born probably in Winchester, 1745 to 1755. He inherited part of his father's property in Win- chester and settled there. He married about 1775 and had eight children, of whom six were sons, viz .: Ebenezer, settled on the farm in Winchester and had no children; Elias, born 1778, settled in Richmond. New Hampshire, near the Winchester line and had: George, Ebenezer, Lucius, Calvin, Delia and other children. Cyrus, was a farmer at Winchester; John, removed to Pennsylvania and died there: Lemuel, settled in Winchester and has «lescendants living there; Charles, see forward.

(VI) Charles Taylor, son of Ebenezer Taylor (5), was born on the old homestead in Winchester, New Hampshire. March 9. 1787. He was raised on the farm, receiving a fair education for his time, and was a teacher of the district schools in Ver- mont and New York, both before and after mar- riage. According to the custom of the times he carried on a farm in the summer and taught only in the winter months. He came to Uxbridge in 1833 and soon afterward settled at Northbridge, where for many years he carried on the manufacture and sale of meat and meat products. He died at Northbridge, Massachusetts. March 23, 1860. He married. March 11, 1818, at Winchester, New Hamp- shire, Susan Butler. She was of an old Winchester

family, born at Winchester, November 20, 1793. and died at Taunton, Massachusetts, June, 1866. Chil- dren of Charles and Susan (Butler) Taylor were: Elvira Augusta, born at Winchester, July 10, 1819, died unmarried May 20, 1836, at Uxbridge, Massa- chusetts ; Charles Wesley, born January 14, 1821, at Winchester, died unmarried, December 1, 1848, at Northbridge, Massachusetts; Lucy Holton, born at Winchester. November 19, 1822, married Francis H. Hewett, 1847; Mr. Hewett resided in Pennsyl- vania ; she died December 16, 1894, at Scranton, Pennsylvania, where they then lived; Addison, born at Winchester, November 28, 1824, married, May 5, 1845. Caroline Elizabeth Taft, daughter of Ben- jamin Taft, of Grafton, Massachusetts; Addison died June, 1897, at Taunton ; he married (second) Martha Dudley, of Millbury, Massachusetts, and had one child, Charles Taylor, who died young; Aurelia C., born at Winchester, April 17, 1827, died at Worcester, January 17, 1903, unmarried: Ransom Clarke, born at Winchester, February 24, 1829; Mary Parker, born at Winchester, March 5. 1831, married Dr. Franklin Gilman, February, 1859, at Northbridge, Massachusetts; Caroline Rich, born at Winchester, May 7, 1833, died unmarried at Worces- ter, July 30, 1892; Snsan Maria, born at Uxbridge, October 9. 1835, married R. James Tatman, Decem- ber 31. 1863.

(VII) Ransom Clarke Taylor, son of Charles (6) and Susan (Butler) Taylor, was born at Win- chester, New Hampshire, February 24, 1829. His ancestors on the maternal side as well as the pa- ternal were for several generations residents of the town of Winchester, in southern New Hampshire. The old homestead is located in the easterly part of the town. Winchester is near Swanzey, Keene and Richmond, New Hampshire. In 1833, when Ransom was only four years old, his father came to Northbridge, Massachusetts, to engage in the meat business there. Mr. Taylor's education was ob- tained in the district schools of Northbridge. In the thirties the towns of Worcester county gave meagre school opportunities, and in many cases the sons of the farmers had to forego even the little that was available. When very young Mr. Taylor worked at home on the farm and learned to help his father in his business. At the age of twelve he drove the butcher's cart on various routes served in his father's business. His early business ex- perience gave him a training that was invaluable in later life. When he was seventeen he left home to begin for his father the business of manufac- turing neats-foot oil, glue stock and tallow and dressing tripe for the market.

Instead of remaining in his father's employment he made an agreement by which he bought "his time" for $300. The present generation has almost forgotten the ancient customs and laws that were in force a generation ago, and few parents of the present day would expect their sons to be more than self-supporting at the age of eighteen. Mr. Taylor started in the meat business for himself in the town of Sutton. Massachusetts, Four years later he transferred his business to Worcester, where he has lived since. He not only carried on the manufacture of meat products in Worcester, but soon extended his business to other cities. He es- tablished branches in New York city, Albany and Troy, New York; Hartford and New Haven, Con- necticut, Springfield, Taunton, Randolph, Milford and other points in Massachusetts. When he began business he employed only two men and two horses, but when his business was developed a few years later he kept a hundred men and a hundred horses employed. When a very young man he became one of the most important and influential merchants of

237

WORCESTER COUNTY

the city. He was in the meat business for twenty years and made a fortune in it. Most men would have rested content with the wealth and success of a score of years such as Mr. Taylor had won, but in his case his greatest success and most im- portant labors came after he left the provision busi- ness and devoted his attention solely to buying and developing real estate.

Early in his career he began to invest his money in Worcester real estate. Soon the population of the city and the value of his investments had doubled. He kept buying more all the time until he hecame one of the largest holders of real estate in the city. His first purchase was a piece of prop- erty for $9,000, on which he was able to pay only half the cost price. He was never afraid of mort- gages. Many of his deals have been very profit- able where he made only a part payment, and the property has grown in value enormously. He has preferred property rented for stores and factories, although he holds all kinds of real estate. Mr. Taylor owns more than a half of the business build- ings on Front street, which is about half a mile in length. He owns some of the choicest blocks on Main street, especially that on the corner of Pleasant street, and the First National Bank build- ing. He built the first five-story, the first six-story and the first seven-story buildings in Worcester. Nobody questions the sagacity and shrewdness that has made Mr. Taylor so successful in developing good rentable property. He has kept up to the times in furnishing quarters for all kinds of stores in Worcester. In later years his sons, Forrest and Ran- som F. Taylor, who have been associated with him in attending to his real estate, have also invested heavily in real estate. Mr. Taylor is and for years has been the largest taxpayer in Worcester. He has not confined his investments to this city, however, having large holdings in Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and Newton and Taunton, Massa- chusetts.

When Mr. Taylor settled in Worcester the popu- lation was 17,000. He has seen it increase to 135,000 and was far-sighted enough to plan for the growth beforehand. He has always advocated im- provements and has often helped to gain for the city advantages that had to be won against the opposition of men who resist anything that tends to increase taxes. He has set a good example to other taxpayers who often fail to see that a well ordered city and a progressive city government is a blessing to the taxpayers and real estate owners. Municipal enterprise Mr. Taylor believed always tends to stimulate growth and prosperity. Mr. Tay- lor served the city two terms in the board of alder- men and was once the Democratic candidate for the governor's council.

Mr. Taylor has affiliated with the Democratic party, although not usually active in politics. His in- terest in the city government has not been that of a partisan. He was interested in the contest over the postoffice location a few years ago and contributed $10.000 to the fund to secure the present location, and his influence was largely instrumental in getting that site.

One who is close to Mr. Taylor has written of him: "Mr. Taylor is a conspicuous example of what may be accomplished in New England by energy, industry, economy and perseverance. Start- ing in life without the advantages of an education, except such as he obtained in the ordinary public schools in the small village where he was reared, he early manifested that aptness for business which gave assurance of success. He early acquired con- fidence in his own judgment as to business enter-

prises, and he possessed the courage to enlarge his business and extend his field of operations and thus greatly increase his profits. His operations in real estate have been large and equally successful. His purchases were followed by an advance in the market value of the estate purchased. These continued suc- cesses of his various branches of business have raised him from a poor boy to be one of the most wealthy men in the city. Popular rumor classes him among the millionaires. His success under diffi- culties is proof of his sagacity and the soundness of his judgment. Possessing an accurate and re- tentive memory, he has been able to carry in mind his numerous business transactions without much trouble of making entries on books-an advantage easily appreciated. He is eminently a self-made man. It may be said of him in the words of Shakes- peare: 'Not propt by ancestry, neither allied to eminent assistants, by the force of his own merits he makes his way.''

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. II, Part 66

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 732

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 732