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. III > Part 108
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(IV) William Gates, son of Jonathan Gates, Sr. (3), born March 27, 1735. married Joanna Stearns, November 7, 1764. and they had these children : Lucretia, born August 27, 1765: Anna, July, 1767; Elinor, January 2, 1769; William, May 8. 1770; Mary, March 23, 1772. William Gates served in the revolutionary war. He settled on the central part of his father's homestead on the Bloomingdale road, east of Plantation street, afterward owned by his son, William, later by his grandson, William Eaton, and still later by his great-grandson, Will- iam Eaton. At first he was sergeant under Cap-' tain Timothy Bigelow's company of minute-men, in Colonel Artemus Ward's regiment, which marched on the alarm of April 19. 1775. He was second lieutenant, first lieutenant under Captain Wash- burn's company, captain in Captain . Denny's Wor- cester company. Gates marched as captain with his company of eighty-five men to New York. July 17, 1776. He is registered at Chelsea Camp, Septem- ber 16, 1776. He is on the muster roll for January and August, 1777. Much concerning his military record may be found on page 325 of "Soldiers and Sailors Record" for Massachusetts.
(IV) Silas Gates. son of Simon Gates (3). born February 3. 1727, married in 1754, Elizabeth Bragg. He was a commander of the minute-men from Marl- boro to Cambridge, April 18. 1775. and died Au- gust 25. 1793. He served in the revolutionary war from Marlboro. He was sergeant, corporal. cap- tain, and was at Lexington at the alarm, April 18, 1775. (See page 325 "Soldiers and Sailors" of Massachusetts. )
(IV) John Gates, son of Jonathan Gates, Sr. (3), born about 1710, died 1797, aged eighty-seven years. He married Violetta Rice, who died in 1801.
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aged seventy-nine years. She was the daughter of Jotham and Mary Earl Rice. This Jotham died in New York in 1782, aged eighty-five years. The wife Mary was daughter of Ralph Earl, the an- cestor of all the Earls in and about Worcester. He came from Newport, Rhode Island, about 1717, and settled at Leicester. John and Violetta Gates had : Prudence, born July 12. 1743, married Luke Rice, whose brother Samuel was jailer at Watertown, and both died the same day-May 17, 1806: John Shep- herd, March 17, 1741: Perris, born February 16. 1746; Jonathan. March 2, 1748; Daniel, March 2, 1751; Mary, May 11, 1753: Sarah, July 23. 1755. married Ralph Earl, Jr., who fled the country in revolutionary days ; she then married Oliver Pierce, of Boylston: Silas, January 29, 1757; Martha. April 30, 1759; Lydia, 1762, married Ebenezer Whitney ; Phineas, January 20, 1760; Nathaniel, March 29, 1770, married Lucy, daughter of Peter and Lucy Bowen Goulding. John and Violetta Gates lived on the northern part of his father's homestead, until 1770. on Lake Quinsigamond.
(V) William Gates, son of William (4) and Joanna Gates, born May 8, 1770, married Betsey Stearns, January 25, 1800, and had: Andrew, born August 19. 1801 : Anna, December 5. 1803: William Stearns, November 13, 1806: Lucretia, July 11. 1809; Mary Richardson, December 19, 1810: Martha Ful- lerton, January 28, 1812; Ebenezer, November 20, 1813: Eliza, May 11, 1814; Ephraim Spring, Oc- tober 14, 1815.
(VI) Andrew Gates, son of William Gates (5). married Lucy Willard, August 30. 1817, and had : Susan N., born October 3. 1817; Charles A., April 3. 1820; Adeline, February 13, 1826; George. De- cember 4. 1827 ; Joseph L., August 28, 1832; Benja- min F., October 10, 1834.
(V) Paul Gates, son of Jonathan Gates, Jr. (4), married Phebe Mahan, January 23, 1777, and had: Samuel, born April 11, 1777: William, Sep- tember 8. 1778: John. August 29, 1781; Artemus, December 13. 1783. Paul, the father, was a soldier in the revolutionary war, was in Colonel Holman's regiment. He was in various commands and was sergeant. He went from Worcester county. On page 320 of "Soldiers and Sailors" of Massachusetts. his army record is given, and is indeed creditable as to the time served in various regiments and the various positions which he held.
(III) Simon Gates, son of Stephen Gates (2), married Hannah Benjamin and they had nine chil- dren, among whom was Benjamin.
(IV) Benjamin Gates, son of Simon Gates (3), married Bethula Rice, and they had seven children : Israel, born January 25. 1727: William, March 14. 1729: Thomas. 1732; Makepeace. May 12, 1735: Benjamin. November 27, 1736; Esther, April 20, 1737; Jonathan, July 27, 1742; Aaron, October 2, 1744.
(V) William Gates, son of Benjamin Gates (1). born 1729. married Jane Rice, 1756. She was the granddaughter of Jonas Rice, the original settler at Worcester. William Gates was a drummer in the revolutionary struggle, and died in Vienna, New York, 1852, aged ninety-four years.
(V) Samuel Gates, son of Solomon (4) and Mary Clark Gates, born January 1, 1750. married Lucy Chadwick and they had: Toel. born March 7. 1782, married (first) Joanna Stearns: (second) a Miss Wood. of Grafton: Polly, born October 12, 1783; Joshua. January 10. 1787: Nahum. June 1. 1701; Willard. October 15, 1793: Henry, August I, 1707
(VI) Joel Gates, son of Samuel Gates (5). born March 7, 1782, married Johanna Stearns, and
their children were: Leonard, born January 3, 1805; John, March 1, 1806; Charles E., April 13, 1807; Harriet P., April 17, 1810; Lucy C., June 22, 1813: Samuel. December 19, 1817: Mary Walker, October 27, 1818.
(VII) John Gates, son of Joel Gates (6), born March 1, 1806, married Betsey , and they had : George Allen, born June 7, 1833; Harriet D., Jan- uary 8, 1836; John Bradford, April 16, 1839; Mary E., March 3, 18.11; Albert H., July 14, 1842; Albert Stearns. January 23, 1844: Jane Elizabeth, February 14, 1846; Emery Winslow, June 22, 1848; Charles B., September 12, 1851.
(VIII) ALBERT FRANKLIN GATES was the eldest of the three children of Samuel Franklin Gates (7), who was born December 19, 1817. Sam- uel F. Gates married Maria M. Fay. of Princton, November 29, 1843. He was engaged in the meat business with Prentiss & Bartlett, and subsequently bought the business, in which he was successful. After he retired he lived on the farm near Lake Quinsigamond, where his son, Albert F. Gates, now lives. He was a member of the Congregational church. His children were: Albert Franklin, born September 29, 1845: Eunice Maria, May 4. 1848, died young : Susan F.
Albert F. Gates spent his youth in school until he was seventeen when he was employed by Whitte- more Bros., provision dealers. He remained with this firm until the death of his father, when he took up the work of his father on the farm and in busi- ness. He built a slaughter house on the farm and formed a partnership under the name of Houghton, Brigham & Gates to carry on the business. The firm prospered until the competition of western beef in the eastern markets became too great. Mr. Gates became the agent of the great Armour Com- pany of Chicago when the business was readjusted to modern conditions. He built the building where the Armour business in this city is still conducted, and for fifteen years dealt in western meats for Worcester markets. Then he sold his plant to the Armour Company, but continued to manage the business until 1897 when he resigned and retired. As a business man Mr. Gates bore an exceptionally good reputation for honorable dealing and business ability.
He is a Republican in politics. He represented ward three in the board of aldermen from 1890 to 1894, and was president of the board in 1893 when Hon. Francis A. Harrington was mayor. He took great interest in the streets of the city, and much credit is due to him for improvements in the highways of all parts of the city. He was chair- man of the highway committee in the board. This period was particularly important because the streets were all torn up for the construction of the electric street railways. The last of the horse cars dis- appeared and the Spencer and Leicester electric road was built. thus beginning the spider's web of suburban roads of which Worcester is now a centre. This construction enormously increased the duties and responsibilities of the chairman of this always important committee. He also served on the water committee while an alderman. He was a director of the First National Fire Insurance Company at the time of the sale of the company. He is a Con- gregationalist, being a member of the old Salem Congregational church. Perhaps no Worcester man is better known in the Masonic fraternity of Massa- chusetts than Mr. Gates. He has been through all the Masonic degrees, taking the highest at Buffalo, September 15. 1895, and has the great distinction of the thirty-third degree. He is a member of Montacute Lodge, Eureka Royal Arch Chapter,
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Hiram Council. Royal and Select Masters, past eminent commander of Worcester County Com- mandery of Knights Templar. He has been treas- urer of Hiram Council for seventeen years. He is also a member of Aleppo Temple of Boston, Order of the Mystic Shrine.
He married Emma C., born Mareh, 1846, daugh- ter of Josiah B. Stratton, of Holden. Their chil- dren were: Samuel Franklin, born August 13. 7871, now with the International Paper Co., New York; Louis, October, 1873, died 1879; Rena, Au- gust 8, 1878, graduated from Worcester Classical high school, 1892.
SARAH ANN GATES was the widow of the late Thomas Gates (7), son of Abel (6), grandson of Thomas (5). Deacon Abel Gates was born in 1794. His wife lived to be a hundred years old lacking only three weeks.
(VII) Thomas Gates was born at Rome, New York, June 12, 1822. He came from that town to Worcester and engaged in the meat business and acquired a competence. He turned his attention to real estate and built extensively. In 1867 he erected the block at the corner of Park and Waslı- ington streets. He died May 13, 1876. He mar- ried (first) Lillian Augusta Bartlett, of North- boro, Massachusetts. and had one child: Charles T., now living in Worcester. He married (second ) Sarah Ann. daughter of Russell and Electa ( Sar- gent) Eaton, of Holden, who survives him. Their children were: Elizabeth Jane, Mary Emma, born 1857, married Charles Wallace, died 1885; Eliza Jane. Albert Newhury. Mr. Gates was brought up in the Baptist faith but preferred the liberal views in practice. He was a Republican and took the good citizen's interest in politics and public affairs. He represented his district for four years in the gen- eral court at Boston, also represented Worcester in the legislature in 1871. If his life had been spared to the allotted length he doubtless would have served his eity further in political life.
Sarah Ann Gates was born in Worcester, March 23. 1824, died June 2, 1906, aged eighty-two years, at her home. 8 Washington street, Worcester. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. Dr. Frank Crane. pastor of the Union Congregational Church. Interment was in Hope cemetery. Although so advanced in years Mrs. Gates showed none of the infirmities of old age. She had no difficulty in get- ting about the house and attending to the house duties.
BLISS FAMILY. Thomas Bliss (I), of Bel- stone, Devonshire, England, was the progenitor of the American pioneer from whom is descended the Bliss family of Springfield, Massachusetts. Thomas Bliss was born in 1559 or 1560, descended from an ancient English family, a man of wealth and prom- inence, but during the civil war he was imprisoned for his religious opinions and his political connection with the Puritans, his health ruined and his estates lost. His children : Jonathan, see forward ; Thomas. died in England, 1640; Elizabeth (Betty). married Sir John Calcliffe, of Belstone: George, born 1591, died August 31, 1667; Mary (Polly).
(II) Jonathan Bliss, son of Thomas Bliss (1), was born about 1580. He was also bitterly perse- cuted on account of his opposition to the Church party and suffered from imprisonment, heavy fines and ill treatment, which resulted in a fever that caused his death in 1635-36. Of his children, all born at Belstone, four died young and two grew to maturity: Thomas. see forward; Mary.
(III) Thomas Bliss, son of Jonathan Bliss (2), was born in Belstone parish, Devonshire, England.
He married in England, 1612-15, Margaret Lawrence and they had six children born before coming to America. He too suffered from religious persecu- tion and decided to leave England. He came to Massachusetts with a young brother George, em- barking from Plymouth, England, and located first in Braintree, settling soon afterward in. Hartford, Connecticut, where he died . in 1640. His widow, who is said to have been a woman of unusual ability, removed with her family to Springfield, Massachu- setts, in 1643, and her sons, Nathaniel, Lawrence, Samuel and John, settled there. She died in 1684. Her home lot in Springfield was on South Main street, between the present Fremont and Margaret streets. Children of Thomas and Margaret Bliss: I. Ann, born in England, married, April 29, 1642, Robert Chapman, of Saybrook, Connecticut, and died November 20, 1685; he was born 1616, in Hull, England. 2. Mary, born in England, married. November 26, 1646, Joseph Parsons, of Springfield ; he died October 9. 1083, she died January 29, 1712; their son Ebenezer was the first white child born in Northampton, where they settled, and he was killed by the Indians at Northfield, September 2, 1075; Mary was accused of witchcraft by envious neighbors and sent to Boston for trial, and acquitted; they returned to Springfield to live in 1679. 3. Thomas, settled in Rehoboth, died April 1, 1688. 4. Nathaniel, born in England, married Katherine Chapin. 5. Lawrence, born in England, died 1676. 6. Samuel, born 1624, see forward. 7. Sarah, born in Boston Mount (Braintree), about 1635, married in Spring- field, July 20, 1659, John Scott; married ( second ) Samuel Terry; she died September 27, 1705. 8. Elizabeth, born at Braintree, married, February 15, 1664-1670, Miles Morgan (see sketch of Paul Mor- gan, Worcester ) ; she was his second wife. 9. Han- nah, born at Hartford, Connecticut, 1639, died un- married January 25, 1662. 10. John, born at Hart- ford, 1640, died September 10, 1702.
(IV) Samuel Bliss, son of Thomas Bliss (3), was born in England in 1624. He was called "senior" on the public records. He came over in 1635 with his parents. He married, November 10, 1664-65, Mary Leonard, daughter of John and Sarah (Heatlı) Leonard, of Springfield. She was born September 14, 1647, died January 1, 1724. He died March 23, 1720, aged ninety-six years. He liad several grants of land from Agawam ( Springfield) at Freshwater brook on the north side of the Aga- wam river, at what was first called Ackanunset, amounting to thirty-five acres. He was a prominent citizen of the town and was selectman there 1685- 92-99. Children of Samuel and Mary Bliss: I. Hannah, born December 20, 1666, married John Haley, of Hadley; (second), May 1, 1689, Simeon Smith. 2. Thomas, born February 8, 1668, died No- vember 10, 1733, married Hannah Cadwell. 3. Mary, born August 4, 1670, married, 1687, Philip Smith, died December 23, 1707, at East Hartford, Connecticut, son of Lieutenant Philip Smith and his wife, Rebecca Foote, of Hadley. 4. Jonathan, born January 5, 1672, died 1740; married Sarah Eg- gleston. 5. Martha, born June 1, 1674, married, No- vember 10, 1607, Samuel Ely. 6. Sarah, born Sep- tember 10, 1677, probably married, December 13, 1695, George Webster, son of Thomas and Abigail (Alexander) Webster, and removed 1705 to Leba- non, Connecticut. 7. Experience, born April I, 1679, died April 7, 1697. 8. Mercy, born July 18, 1680, married, December 30, 1703, John Ely, son of Samuel Ely, of West Springfield, (born 1678, died 1758). 9. Ebenezer, born July 29, 1683, see for- ward. 10. Margaret, born September 11, 1684, mar- ried, January 16, 1707, Samuel Colton, of Long-
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meadow, Massachusetts, (born January 17, 1679, died January 19, 1736). II. Esther, born April 2, 1688, married, May 10, 1710, Henry Chapin, of Chicopee, Massachusetts.
(\) Ebenezer Bliss, son of Samuel Bliss (4), was born at Springfield, Massachusetts, July 29, 1683. He settled in Springfield and was somewhat active in town affairs, holding at various times the minor town offices of hayward, hogreeve and fence viewer. In 1715 he bought sixty-three acres of land in Windsor, Connecticut, where his wife was born, of Jeremiah Burgess. He married, January, 1707; Mary Gaylord, daughter of John and Mary (Clark) Gaylord. She was born about 1688. He died Sep- tember 7, 1717, leaving a family of small children, viz .: Jedediah, born February 7, 1709, see forward ; Ebenezer, born August 17, 1710, died about 1776; Anne, born July 27, 1712, married, March 24, 1777, Charles Brewer ; Moses, born August 9, 1714, died unmarried May 13, 1734; Mary, born March 14, 1716, married, April 22, 1736, Isaac Brewer, son of Rev. Daniel and Catharine (Chauncey) Brewer, of Springfield; Martha, born December 27, 1717, died December 20, 1719.
(VI) Jedediah Bliss, son of Ebenezer Bliss (5), was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, February 7, 1709. He was noted for his large family and his personal eccentricity, of which many stories ae told. He married (first), July 2, 1733, Rachel Shel- don, daughter of Joseph and Mary Sheldon, of Suffield, Connecticut. She died November II, 1747. He married (second), August 19, 1748, Miriam Hitchcock, daughter of John and Abigail Hitchcock. She was born about 1725 and died November 19, 1793. Bliss died November 30, 1777. Children of Jedediah and Rachel Bliss: Rachel, born July 24, 1734, married, May 23, 1754, Moses Stebbins, ' and died November 28, 1807; Moses, born January 16, 1736, died July 4, 1814; Jedediah, Jr., born April 20, 1738; Mary, born December 11, 1739, married, December 4, 1758, Luke Bliss, Jr., son of Luke and Mercy (Elizabeth) Bliss; Lucy, born June 9, 1741, died young; Lucy, born November 24, 1742, died' October 24, 1760, unmarried; Rev. Aaron, born April 4, 1744, or April 6, 1745, graduate of Yale, 1766; studied theology and preached for a few years ; settled on a farm in Wilbraham, Massachusetts ; married Dobebe , of Providence, Rhode Island; she died March 28, 1823; he died January 16, 1823; Patience, born October 24, 1747, died un- married. Children of Jedediah and Miriam Bliss : Miriam, born May 17, 1749, married, 1768, Silas Bliss, son of Abel and Jemima (Chapin) Bliss ; Ebenezer, born November 5, 1751, lost at sea; Alex- ander, born October II, 1753, died July 25, ' 1843; Zenas, born February 3, 1756, died May 26, 1822; Martha, born December 7, 1757, married, February 22, 1781, Samuel Gridley; Isaac, born August 10, 1760, died June 19, 1845; Jacob, born March 12, 1763. see forward; Naomi, born October 22, 1765, married, 1787, Samuel Kneeland.
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(VII) General Jacob Bliss, son of Jedediah Bliss (6), was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, March 12, 1763, died there March 27, 1829. He was a soldier in the revolution, enlisting in the Con- tinental army in Captain Rowley's company, Colonel Moseley's regiment, June 5, 1780, when he was only seventeen years old. He served six months or more. He was also in the company of Captain Phineas Parker. The archives of the Commonwealth con- tain a personal description of him: he was five feet seven inches tall, complexion light. He rose in rank in the militia after the revolution and was brigadier-general in the war of 1812. He com- iii-26
manded a brigade of thirce western Massachusetts regiments at or near Commercial Point, Boston, in 1814. He was a prominent citizen of Springfield. He married, 1788, Mary Collins, daugliter of Ariel Collins. Her mother was a Stebbins. Mary Col- lins was born in Springfield, June 12, 1765, died there October 14, 1854. General Bliss died there March 27, 1829. Children of General Jacob and Mary Bliss : Theodore, born March 4, 1789, died December 13, 1844; John, born September 7, 1790, died December 24, 1827, unmarried; Mary, born. September 4, 1792, married, 1820, David Bryant, of Springfield; died April 19, 1839; Jacob, born May II, 1795, died October 13, ISI9, unmarried; Will- iam, born March 29, 1797, died March 3, 1838 ;. Emily, born December 2, 1798, died young; Emily, born March 3, 1801, married, 1830, William Bryant, Maple street, Springfield; their son Andrew S. was cashier of the Boston & Albany Railroad at Spring- field many years; Christopher, born July 30, 1803, died February 15, 1838, unmarried; Josiah, born July 31, 1805, died May, 1836, unmarried; Harry, born August 6, 1808, died June 15, 1862.
(VIII) William Bliss, son of General Jacob Bliss (7), was born in . Springfield, Massachusetts, March 29, 1797. He was educated in the public: schools, an academy and Harvard College, where he was graduated in 1818. He studied law and became a prominent attorney in Springfield for a man of his years. He died March 3, 1838, at the age of forty years. He married, July 1, 1828, Elizabeth Augusta Benjamin, daughter of Asher and Achsah Benjamin. She was born in Boston, January 4, 1800, died at Springfield, Massachusetts, June 22, 1877. Their children : Ellen Augusta, born at Springfield, June II, 1830, died November 6, 1853; Harriet L., born August 2, 1833, resided in Springfield, unmarried, at the homestead, 63 Millbury street; William, born December 1I, 1834, see forward.
(IX) William Bliss, son of William Bliss (8), was born in Springfield. Massachusetts, December II, 1834. He was educated in the public schools of Springfield. He began his business career in the employ of the Boston & Albany Railroad and rose by successive promotions to the position of general freight manager, a position he held when the presi- deut of the railroad, Hon. Daniel Waldo Lincoln, died. He was chosen as the chief executive of this important railroad. He was elected first a director of the corporation July 15, 1880, and a week later, July 22, 1880, president. A writer at that time well said: "It is not too much to say that his intimate and thorough knowledge of the widely extended business of that great institution and thoroughfare, the Boston & Albany Railroad, renders him the most capable person for that position (president) and the interests of the corporation and the general pub- lic will alike be promoted by his careful considera- tion and supervision." The prediction was amply verified. Mr. Bliss displayed great executive ability and attained an enviable position in the railroad world. The stock of his company became worth nearly three times its face value. The road pros- pered, kept up with the progress in railroading methods, rolling stock and road-bed. He held the confidence of the state and the patrons of the road as well as the directors and stockholders. His name stood for sagacious and conservative management. In 1900, in accordance with plans made and ap- proved by Mr. Bliss and his associates in charge of the corporation, the property of the Boston & Al- bany Railroad was leased for a period of ninety-nine years to the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, and has since been operated as part of the
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New York Central lines, the present name. Presi- dent Bliss retired from active business after turn- ing over his railroad to the new management.
Mr. Bliss married, September 22, 1858, Margaret, Chapin, daughter of Chester W. and Dorcas Chapin, of Springfield, where she was born in 1835. Their children : Cliester W., born in New York, July 3, 1859. Elizabeth Benjamin, born December 8, 1860, in New York, married, September 23, 1884, Hamilton Perkins, of Concord, born in '1848, in Cambridge, and their child, Margaret B. Perkins, was born in Boston, August 8, 1885.
JOHN HOPKINS, late associate justice of the superior court of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts, was born in Leonard Stanley, Gloucestershire, England, March 19, 1840. He came to this country while very young, his mother dying and being buried at sea on the voyage across. His father settled first at Clayville, New York, where he was engaged as a fuller in the woolen business. He afterwards went to London, Canada, and spent the remainder of liis days there.
At about fifteen years of age, the son John, left his father's home.and began his earnest life strug- gle. The loss of mother on the voyage to America, the life in New York state and Canada, of humble labor, the abandonment of home with the purpose at once to relieve the father and burden himself, the ever strong will to bring out all the latent power of his being not consciously expressed hut quietly con- ceived, the determined and laborious effort with mind and hand, and the gradual steps toward the ultimate accomplishment of his desire, combined to make it a story of moral grandeur. He entered Philips Andover Academy and afterwards Dart- mouth College, working his way through, being graduated with the class of 1862.
While at Dartmouth, he was enrolled in the Chandler Scientific School, and at his death was one of the visitors of said school under the Chandler Foundation. After leaving college he studied law in the office of Joseph Cook, of Blackstone, Massa- chusetts, and was admitted to the Worcester county bar, March 16, 1864. His first office was at Mill- bury, but his practice soon widened and increased to such an extent that he opened an office in the nearby city of Worcester, which office he maintained until his elevation to the bench, April 1, 1891. He had only one law partner during his entire practice ; Charles F. Mann, who was associated with him from 1874 to 1879. With this exception Judge Hop- kins practiced alone and attained great eminence as a criminal lawyer. He has often said that the work of a criminal lawyer was not to his liking, but he was so urgently sought for, that he had to give his attention to it. His first great case of a criminal nature was his defense of James Frost, the Peters- ham murderer.
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