Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III, Part 34

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 772

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 34

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James McDermott, when quite a young man, expressed a great desire to come to America, and after pleading with his mother for some time to be allowed to take such a long and dangerous trip across the ocean, he got her consent to come, and in. 1851 started on the journey across the Atlantic. Two or three weeks after leaving Liverpool a storm arose that partially disabled the vessel and they had to return to Liverpool for repairs, and James, not caring to remain there while the ship was be- ing repaired, which took about a month, returned to his home in Ballurgan, Ireland, and remained there until the ship was repaired and ready to sail when he again started for America. After nearly three months the voyage was ended and he landed in New York, but did not stop long there, but came to Leicester, Massachusetts, where he met some friends from his native town in Ireland. Here he got work on a farm and worked one year, then be- ing out of work went to Auburn, Massachusetts, and again procured work on the farm of Elbridge and John Warren. From here he used to write encouraging letters to his brother Henry, who was still at home in Ireland. Henry, finding his brother was doing well in America, began to think seriously of leaving home and joining his brother in Amer- ica, and after about two years, when his younger brother Peter was able to manage the farm at home, he made preparations to come to America, and the most important part of these preparations was to get married. He married Bridget Hagan, of Faughart, county Louth, Ireland, who was born in 1828, daughter of Peter and Mary Sands Hagan, who had had a family of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of which only four are now living: Thomas Hagan, who is living on the old homestead in Faughart, county Louth, Ireland; James Hagan, who is an engineer and living in Enniskillen, Ireland; John Hagan, who lives in Liverpool, England, and Susan Traynor, now living in Dundalk, county Louth, Ireland.

Henry McDermott, after writing to his brother in America to inform him that he would start at a certain day for America, took his bride wife, who- was accompanied by her mother and brother, Ber- nard Hagan, to Liverpool, where they boarded a ship that brought them to America. After parting with Mrs. McDermott's mother and brother, who- wished them God speed and a safe voyage, they set sail and after a long voyage of seven weeks, en- during many hardships, they landed in New York in July, 1853. After stopping in New York for a day of two, they took passage in a boat to Provi- dence and here Mr. McDermott left his wife and

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started out to find his brother James, whom he had previously notified of his coming before he left home in Ireland. He took the train to Worcester Junction and there changed cars and went to Auburn, Massa- chusetts, and after walking several miles found his brother, who was unloading a load of hay in the barn of Elbridge and John Warren, and as the young Irishman approached the farm-yard, the hay makers at once recognized him as the brother of James, and a Mr. Barnard, who was assisting in un- loading the hay, sung out to James, saying, "Jim, your brother has come;" then the brothers who had been separated for about three years met and they were both happy once more to meet in America. Henry started the next day for his wife who was left in Providence, and glad she was to hear that he had found his brother alive and well. They both returned to Auburn, Massachusetts, and started house-keeping, and Mr. McDermott secured work in the neighborhood, and after a year or two he se- cured steady employment with the firm of Elbridge and John Warren, with his brother. Here he was employed on the farm and in the tan-yard, which the firm operated, for a period of about thirty years. A year or two after settling in Auburn he, in com- pany with his brother, bought a farm and later built a house where they lived until 1889, when he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he still lives at No. 17. Jefferson street, in a house he had built a few years previous to coming to Worcester. In the summer of 1905 he and his son, James A. McDer- mott, and his daughter Margaret went abroad. It was Mr. McDermott's first visit to the home of his childhood since he left it fifty-two years before. While the party was at Ballurgan, Mr. McDermott renewed his youth showing his son and daughter many interesting places familiar to liis boyhood. They visited the graves of their ancestors and Mr. MeDermott very readily pointed out the family lots in Faughart cemetery. While at Dundalk, four miles from Ballurgan, he led the way showing his son and daughter all the places of interest in the town, which has a population of about fifteen thous- and. While in Dundalk Mr. McDermott had the pleasure of meeting many friends of his youth, and while driving past a wheelwright shop, where he used to get repairs done when a boy, he readily recognized the old wheelwright who used to do re- repairs for him fifty years before and called him by name. During Mr. McDermott's stay in Ballurgan, he and his son and daughter stopped with his brother, Peter McDermott, who resides on the old homestead. Here he recognized some things that were in the house when he left, among them a clock, on which he first learned to tell the time, and a mahogany dining table, at which he once more had the pleasure of sitting at and tasting some of the good things that grew in the same fields which he used to cultivate when a boy.

The children of Henry and Bridget (Hagan) McDermott were: James A .; Mary A., who died April 10, 1899; Eliza J .; Margaret E .; John B., married Jane E. McKenna, of Worcester, and has one child, Henry McKenna McDermott. John is a in business with his brother, James A. McDermott, under the firm name of McDermott Brothers, gen- eral building contractors. Frank E. is a dentist, practicing in Webster, Massachusetts, and graduated at the Northwestern University of Chicago.' He married Fannie Prescott, of Webster, and has one child Dorothy. Charles R., a graduate of the Phil- adelphia Dental College, practices in Worcester. He married Della Lawton, of Whitinsville, Massachu- setts; he and his brother Frank reside at No. 17 Tirrell street, Worcester.

James McDermott, brother of Henry McDermott, mentioned above, came to America, married Cath- erine Comerford, in New York, she being also a native of Ballurgan, county Louth, Ireland. He also settled in Auburn, Massachusetts, before his brother came to this country. His children are: Elizabeth, Henry, Thomas, Edward, married Mary Maher, of Leicester, Massachusetts, and they had three children: Frances, Elizabeth and Edward, who with their mother and grandmother reside in Leicester, Massachusetts. The other children of James and Catherine Comerford McDermott were Anne, Augusta, and William. James McDermott died in Auburn, Massachusetts, February, 1885; all of his children above mentioned are also dead. Peter McDermott, brother of Henry and James Mc- Dermott, still resides on the old homesead in Ballurgan, Ireland. He married Caherine Hanlon and their children are Mary, Bridget, James, Eliza- beth, Henry and Margaret. They all reside at home except James, who is in South Africa.

James A. McDermott, son of Henry McDermott, was born in Auburn, Worcester county, Massachu- setts. He attended the public schools there, and then learned the carpenter trade with David Whit- ney, a carpenter and builder of Auburn. He worked in Worcester, a short time and then entered the em- ploy of William Sibley, of Worcester, and worked for him in Auburn, Oxford, and Millbury, and af- ter entering into business his former employer, Mr. Sibley, was employed by him for a time. After leaving the employ of Mr. Sibley, in 1885, he went into business for himself and built his first house for his father at No. 17 Jefferson street, Worcester, Massachusetts, where his father, with his daugh- ters, Eliza and Margaret, still live. Mrs. McDer- mott, his wife, died here June 27, 1904. Mr. Mc- Dermott, after building his father's house, continued with the business as a general building contractor, and in company with his brother John, has built up a large business since he came to Worecster in 1885. Among some of the buildings the firm have constructed are the presbytery of St. Stephen's Par- ish, Grafton street, for Rev. Richard Burke, pastor ; the presbytery and stable at St. Anne's Parish, East- ern avenue, for Rev. Dennis Scannell, pastor ; a resi- dence for George F. Blake, Jr., on Salisbury street ; all the interior finish and pews of St. Anne's Church on Eastern avenue was done by McDermott Broth- ers, for Rev. Dennis Scannell, pastor, as was also St. Peter's Church on Main street for Rev. Daniel H. O'Neil, pastor; the interior finish of the St. John's Parochial school on Winter street for Rev. Mgr. Thomas Griffin; the school building on Mid- land street for the city of Worcester; the Notre Dame Convent on Vernon street, for Rev. Mgr. Griffin, which is one of Worcester's fine buildings; the Industrial School building; shops and stable for the Xavereian Brothers at Millbury, Massachu- setts; the Sacred Heart Academy on Gage street for the Rev. James P. Tuite, pastor, which contains sixteen class rooms, two society rooms and a large assembly hall, and is one of the fine school build- ings of Worcester; the A. O. H. hall building on Trumbull street for the A. O. H. Societies of Worcester, Massachusetts, which contains the sec- ond largest hall in Worcester; the Vernon hotel on Vernon square; the Gardan block, ' Vernon square, Worcester; the Martin block on Green street; the Thomas Kenney's block on the corner of Summer and Exchange streets, Worcester; all the carpenter work in the remodeling of St. Paul's Church, cor- ner of Chatham and High streets, for Rev. William Goggin, pastor, which is considered one of the most beautiful churches in Worcester; the Notre Dame

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Normal Institute on Plantation street, formerly the old Swan farm estate for the Notre Dame Order of Sisters, which is a large and beautiful building of brick with stone and terra cotta trimmings and contains one hundred and twenty-five rooms, and many residences and tenement houses in Worcester and surrounding towns, and has just completed the building of the St. Mary's Catholic Church and presbytery on Richland street for Rev. John Maneto, pastor, which was dedicated November 29, 1906. The Worcester Daily Telegram, in the issue of No- vember 30, in describing the dedication ceremonies at the church the previous day. say that the people of St. Mary's Church can be proud of the work ac- complished, as the church can justly be ranked among the foremost churches of Worcester.

Mr. McDermott married Catherine Lavin, of Worcester, Massachusetts. He lives at No. 18 Cedar street, Worcester. He is a member of Wash- ington Social Club; a charter member of the Knights of Columbus; a trustee of the Bay State Savings Bank since its incorporation, and has been for many years a member of the Worcester Builders' Ex- change.

HOSMER FAMILY. James Hosmer (I), the immigrant ancestor of the Hosmer family of Massa- chusetts and of the late Henry F. Hosmer, of Lan- caster, was born in England, 1607. He came to America in the ship "Elizabeth," sailing April 9, 1635, aged twenty-eight years, with his wife Ann, aged twenty-seven years, and children, Marie, aged two years and Ann, aged three months, and servants Marie Donnard, aged twenty-four years, and Marie Martin, aged nineteen years. He was a clothier by trade. He settled at Cambridge and was admitted a freeman May 17, 1637. He sold land there before 1638. He removed to Concord, where the name has been common. James had a brother, Thomas Hos- iner, who also settled in Cambridge, where he was a proprietor as early as 1633; was admitted a free- man May 6, 1635; was a town officer there, but re- moved to Hartford and is progenitor of many of the Connecticut family of this surname. These two were the only early emigrants of this surname. James Hosmer died February 7, 1685. He had a second wife, Mary, who was buried May 11, 1641. His wife "Elinne" died March 3, 1664-65. His children were: Mary, born 1633, died young; Ann, born 1635, died young; James, born 1637, slain in the engagement with the Indians at Sud- bury, April 21, 1676, in King Philip's war; Mary, born January 10, 1639, died August 18, 1642; Stephen (by wife Alice), see forward; Hannah, born 1644, died December 15, 1675, married, Octo- ber 26, Joseph Hayward; Mary, born April 14, 1646, married Thomas Smith, son of Thomas Smith. (II) Stephen Hosmer, son of James Hosmer (I), was born in Concord, Massachusetts, Novem- ber 27, 1642. He settled in Concord and was ad- mitted a freeman of the colony, 1690. He died there December 15. 1714. He married, March 24. 1667, Abigail Wood, of Concord, daughter of Michael and Mary Wood, and granddaughter of William Wood, the immigrant, Concord. The children of Stephen and Agibail Hosmer were: Mary, born May 2, 1668, married (first) Samuel Wheeler, (second) John Bellows; Abigail, born November 6, 1669, died December 27, 1717; married George Wheeler ; John, born August 31, 1671, died 1751; married Mary Billing; Ruth, born August 28, 1675; Dorothy, born December 10, 1677, married John Wheeler; Stephen, see forward; Hannah, born December 9, 1682; James, born June 27, 1685 ; died September 28, 1685.

(111) Stephen Hosmer, son of Stephen Hos- mer (2), was born at Concord, Massachusetts, June 27, 1680. He removed from Concord to Acton, where many of his descendants have lived. IIe married, February 26, 1707, Prudence Billings, who died 1770, daughter of Nathaniel and Jane ( Ban- nister) Billings. Children of Stephen and Prudence Hosmer were: Prudence, married Thomas Hose- incr ; Captain Stephen, Jr., married Melicent Wood, married (sceond) Elizabeth Farrar ; Jonathan, see forward; Josiah; Jane; Ephraim.

(IV) Jonathan Hosmer, son of Stephen Hos- mer (3), was born in Acton, Massachusetts, March 29, 1712. He settled in Acton and married, at Con- cord, April 25, 1734, Martha Conant. Among their children was Jonathan, see forward.

(V) Jonathan Hosmer, son of Jonathan Hos- mer (4), was born in Concord, Massachusetts. Aug- ust 28, 1734. He settled in Acton. He married, January 31. 1760, (by Rev. Mr. Bliss) Submit Hunt, of Concord. Among their children was Simon, see forward. One of the victims of the Concord fight, April 19, 1775, was Abner Hosmer, a relative of the family, a native also of Acton.

(VI) Simon Hosmer, son of Jonathan Hos- mer (5), was born in Acton, in 1774. He married Sally and among their children was Hiram, see forward.

(VII) Hiram Hosmer, son of Simon Hosmer (6), was born in Acton, Massachusetts, July 26, 1815. He was educated there in the common schools. His occupation was farming. He married Mary Fletcher, of West Acton, where they settled also. Their two children were: Henry, see for- ward; Warren Elbridge, see forward.

(VIII) Warren Elbridge Hosmer, son of Hiram Hosmer (7), was born in West Acton,. Middlesex county, Massachusetts. He married, Janu- ary 27, 1867, Indiana C. Woodhouse, in Havre de Grace, Maryland. His widow is now living at Logansport, Indiana. He died July 2, 1894. Chil- dren of Warren E. and Indiana C. Hosmer, born at Havre de Grace, were: Mary Belle, born Octo- ber 29, 1867; Bertha Elizabeth, born January 22, 1870; Rose Woodhouse, born May 16, 1872; Blanche Morrison (twin), born May 18, 1875; died at Havre de Grace, November 12, 1879; Grace Lillian (twin), born May 18, 1875; Percy Raymond, born February, 1878. The children born at Logansport, Indiana, were: Herbert Henry, born July 4, 1882; Forrest Deene, born September 16, 1884, died at Leominster, Massachusetts, April 19, 1900; Harold Felton, born January 19. 1887.

(VIII) Henry F. Hosmer, son of Hiram Hos- mer (7), was born in West Acton, December 31, 1836. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and then took up farming on the old homestead with his father. He left home in 1862 and was overseer of the George A. Parker farm in South Lancester, Massachusetts, for eleven years. He then worked at Eben S. Fuller's sawmill in Clin- ton for two years, when he bought the retail grocery business in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, of William G. Wilder, in which he was engaged at the time of his death. He was postmaster at South Lancaster, Massachusetts, for more than twenty years. After his death the business was sold and a new postmaster appointed. When the civil war broke out, Mr. Hosmer enlisted, but he was re- jected by the board of examiners. He was an active and earnest Republican. He was a Free Mason, a member of the Lancaster Lodge of Free Masons, which at the time of his death adopted appropriate resolutions of appreciation of his character and of sympathy for his family. Mr. Hosmer died at his

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home in South Lancaster, March 9, 1903. He mar- ried, May, 1858, Caroline Fuller, daughter of Alden Fuller, of Acton, Massachusetts. His widow re- sides at South Lancaster. They had no children.

HAMBLET B. FISK, a successful merchant of Hopedale, whose recent demise was the cause of general regret, was a son of James J. Fisk, a prosperous farmer and a well-known resident of Bellingham, Norfolk county, in his day. For a number of years James J. Fisk divided his time between farming and shoemaking, but he devoted his principal energies to agriculture, which in his hands was a profitable employment.

Hamblet B. Fisk was born in Bellingham, March 27, 1838. He pursued the primary branches of his education in the public schools of his native town, and completed his studies in South Milford. When a young man he was attracted to mercantile pursuits, for which he was especially qualified, and he established himself as a general storekeeper in Hopedale. His natural aptitude for trade to- gether with an earnest desire to acquire a reputa- tion for reliability, formed the basis of his long and honorable career as a merchant, and he re- tained the confidence and patronage of a large number of regular customers for many years. His life was far from being devoted wholly to the accumulation of wealth, as it is well known among his fellow-townsmen that his kindly deeds of charity and benevolence were frequent, though unostenta- tious, and there were not a few who, while suffer- ing temporary misfortune, found in him a sym- pathizing friend and benefactor. He continued in business until his death, which occurred in 1904, and was succeeded by his clerk, William Gaskill, who has as a partner Mr. J. S. Cox.

In 1874 Mr. Fisk was united in marriage with Mrs. Elizabeth Hawes Cook, widow of Elisha Cook, who survived him and is still residing in Hopedale. She is a daughter of Samuel Hawes, late of this town. Of this union there is one daughter, Ida, who is now the wife of Dwight C. Dewing. Mr. and Mrs. Dewing are the parents of six living children : Hamlet E., Marion E., Lina, Hazel, Earle and Gertrude; another child died young.

THE HALE FAMILY, to which Alfred Ran- dall Hale, of Royalston, Massachusetts, belongs. has spelled the name Hale for more than a hun- dred years, but before the settlement in Worcester county the name was variously spelled Haild, Hald, Halde and Heald, being pronounced, however, we are told, the same as at present.

(I) John Heald, the immigrant ancestor, was one of the earliest settlers of Concord, Massachu- setts. He was from Berwick, on the Tweed, Eng- land, and is said to have come to New England in 1635. He was admitted a freeman June 2, 1641. He removed to Roxbury, then to Cambridge. He died in Concord. May 24. 1662. His will, made by his own hand, was dated April 19, 1662, and proved June 16, 1662. He bequeated to his second wife Dorothy, to children John, Timothy and Han- nah and five younger, not named. He married (first) Dorothy The children were: I. John. Jr., born in England, settled in Chelmsford, married Sarah Dean, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Dean, June 10. 1661; died at Concord. June 17, 1689: wife died July 17, 1689. leaving four children. 2. Timothy. 3. Dorcas. born May 22, 1645. 4. Gershom, born March 23. 1647, died at Stow, 1717; married, 1673, Ann Vinton. 5. Doro- thy, born October 16, 1649. 6. Dorcas, born May

I, 1650. 7. Israel, born July 30, 1660, see forward.

8. Isaac, died 1717, married Elizabeth - , had sons Jonathan and Joseph and only daughter Mary Snow. Some authorities give also : Hannah, Amos, Ebenezer. Samuel, Ephraim, Thomas, Benjamin.

(II) Israel Hale (Held or Heald), son of John Heald (I), was born in Concord, Massachusetts, July 30, 1660. He settled in Stow, March 13, 1682. According to a statement made in his will, which was proved November 6, 1738, he disposed of most of his real estate by deed. He bequeathed to wife Martha, to sons Benjamin and Oliver and daughter Dorothy. The children of Israel and Martha

Heald :

Benjamin, Oliver, see forward; Dorothy,

married Davis, and they had a son, Joseph Davis: Israel, born December 2, 1687.

(III) Oliver Hale (Heald), son of Israel Hale (2), was born in Stow, Massachusetts, September 8, 1686. He bought land in Stow and vicinity, October, 1728, of James Whitcomb. His son, Bezaleel Hale, sold the land back to Whitcomb, April 10, 1753. Oliver Hale was one of a company of forty-five who bought land in 1776 in Leomin- ster. In the division he had Lot 16 and Samuel Hale, Jr. had lot 10. He bought land in 1753 near Monosnook brook, Stow. Children of Oliver Hale : I. Bezaleel, born about 1725, deeded land in Bolton and Stow to James Whitcomb; bought land in south part of Bolton, 1774; married, April 17, 1748, Abi- gail Marble, born May 13, 1716, daughter of John Marble, of Stow. 2. Jacob, see forward. 3. Oliver, Jr., of Leominster. 4. Benjamin, probably. (A child of Oliver Hale was baptized at Lancaster December II, 1757.)

(IV) Jacob Hale, son of Oliver Hale (or Haild) (3), was born about 1730, at Stow. He was living in 1786. He married Elizabeth who survived him. He and his brother, Bezaleel Hale, of Stow, bought land in Narragansett No. 2, sixty-two acres, mostly in Athol, October 5, 1758,- of Peter Howe, of Marlborough, Massachusetts. He conveyed to his son, Reuben Hale, land in Athol formerly owned by William Oliver on Millers. road and bounded by the land of John Murray, April I. 1777. He was in Stow, February 27. 1777, when he deeded to his brother Oliver (possibly father), of Leominster, and Eleazer Davis, of Hubbardston, land formerly of Benjamin Hale, deceased, late of Stow, bought originally of Nathan Davis. Jacob, Jr .. married a Sudbury woman and sold land there, June 16, 1789, to John Osborn, of Royalston. Jacob. died about 1803. His estate was divided among his. heirs, September 9, 1803. The land in Athol was. located on Walnut hill; all the heirs deeded their rights to Daniel Eveluth. The children: I. Silas, see forward. 2. Reuben, born 1754, settled in Princeton ; married Olive was born 1764 and died March 30, 1827, aged sixty-three years; he died October. 1828, aged seventy-four. 3. Jacob, settled in Boylston, married at Sudbury, August 26, 1788. Thankful Smith. 4. Hannah, mar- ried Jonathan Fairbanks, of Harvard. 5. Mary, married Cyrus Fairbanks, of Ashburnham. 6. Sally, married John Eveluth, of Augusta, Maine. 7. Charles, settled in Stow. 8. Daughter, married Daniel Eveluth.

(V) Silas Hale, son of Jacob Hale (4), was born in Stow, October 13. 1748, died in Royalston, 1832, aged eighty-three years. He settled in the- south village at the corner of Templeton and Phil- lipston roads. The farm used to be in Phillipston, later in Royalston. and had a high reputation. It became the property later of Anan Stockwell, who married a daughter of Silas Hale. Jr. Her sister married Dr. Gould, a physician of Royalston. Silas-

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Hale deeded land to his father, April 1, 1777, and on the same date the father deeded land to his son Reuben. Silas was of Athol, April, 1780, when he deedcd five hundred and nine acres on the south bank of Millers' river there to John Caldwell, of Barre. He bought of Samuel Buck, of Sutton, land on the south side of the river, June 24, 1784, in Royalston. He deeded land to his mother, the widow Elizabeth Hale, at Athol. July 7, 1786. He bought land at Athol, 1788, of his brother Reuben. He sold land October 12, 1803, sixty acres, at Tem- pleton. The history of Royalston mentions a mag- nificent elm planted on the homestead by his son Stephen about 1790. Silas Hale was a soldier in the revolution. a private in Lieutenant Samuel Stickney's company, Colonel Abijah Stearns' regi- ment, in 1777, to re-enforce General Gates. He was under Captain William Henry at Castle and Gov- ernor's Islands in 1779; represented the town of Leominster in the army in 1780.

He married (first), at Stow, Lydia Stowe, July, 1778. She died June 5. 1800, at Phillipston. He married (second) (intentions October 3, 1801) Hopa Rich at Royalston. His will was dated October 27, 1818, and filed October 3, 1832. It mentions a horse and shay; bequeaths to the chil- dren, viz: Silas, Jr., married, September 20, 1823, Betsey B. Batchelder: Stephen, see forward; Lydia, inherited the Beals farm in Royalston bounded by land of Silas Jones, T. Cutler and Isaac Gale.

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Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III, Part 34

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 772

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 772