Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III, Part 52

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 52

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A good citizen, husband, father and comrade has left us, and he will be much missed. To his memory. a friend of more than twenty years stand- ing would render this feeble tribute.

V. D. MORSE.

ROBERT WALTER WALKER. The Walkers are, for the most part, descended from Captain Richard and Samuel Walker, probably brothers, who were early arrivals in the Massachusetts Bay colony, and the North Brookfield branch of the fam- ily trace their lineage to Samuel. Captain Richard Walker, who was born in England in 1611-12, arrived in Lynn, Massachusetts, about the year 1630, and there are records of him of later dates in Bos- ton and Reading. He was granted liberty to plant and build at Nahant in 1635. For the years 1641- 48-49 he represented Lynn in the general court. Ile lived to be seventy-five years old and was bur- jed May 16, 1687. The christian name of his wife was Sarah.

(I) Samuel Walker, previously referred to, located first in Reading, but was afterward of Wo- hurn, where his name appears first in the records of 1661. The same records state that he was keep- ing a public inn there in 1673, and that he was a selectman. His death occurred November 6, 1684, at the age of sixty-nine or seventy years. The maiden name of his wife is unknown. His chil- dren were: Samuel, Joseph, Hannah, Israel, John, Benjamin and probably Edward, who went from Charlestown to Brookfield.

(II) Samuel Walker was born in Reading. September 28, 1643. He resided in Woburn. where he served as a selectman, and he died there January 8, 1703. He married Sarah Reed. of Woburn, who bore him seven children. namely: Edward, John, Samuel, Sarah. Timothy. Isaac and Elias.

( III) John Walker was born July 2, 1665. He went from Reading to Weston, where he united with the Church. June 6, 1714. There seems to be no available record of his marriage, hut he is known to have had three sons : Edward, John and Nathaniel.

(1V) Nathaniel Walker was born in Weston in ICIO. He was a carpenter. In 1748 he moved from Weston to Sturbridge, settling at the north end of what has ever since been known as Walker pond, and he erected there a dwelling house, which, as late as 1872, was still in a good state of preserva- tion, showing the excellent character of the work-

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manship. He was a patriotic as well as an enter- prising man, and in addition to the pond just men- tioned his name was given to one of the principal elevations in Sturbridge, which is still known as Walker mountain. He lived to witness the suc- cessful termination of the war for national inde- pendence, and his death occurred in 1789. On March 8, 1732, he married Submit Brewer, of Sturbridge, and had a family of sixteen children, twelve of whom grew to maturity, namely : James, Nathaniel, Phineas, Lydia, Josialı, Submit, Asa, Joel, Mary, Benjamin, Lucy and Beulah. All married and reared families except Benjamin, who died at the age of twenty-two years from disease contracted while serving in the French war.

(V) Phineas Walker was born in Weston, March 7, 1738. He was a blacksmith by trade and located in Woodstock, Connecticut. He died in 1829. His wife, who was before marriage Susanna Hyde, lived to the advanced age of ninety-four years, and died in 1838. Phineas and Susanna (Hyde) Walker were the parents of nine children, namely : Leonard, Freeman, Alfred, Walter, Nancy, Sally, Phineas, Horatio and John Brewer.

(VI) Deacon Walter Walker, grandfather of Robert W. Walker, was born in Woodstock, May 27, 1773. In ISoo he moved from Woodstock to what was then known as the North Parish of Brookfield, where he followed the blacksmith's trade, and also carried on a farm. He erected the dwell- ing house which his son Amasa afterward remodeled and occupied as a residence. For thirty-two years he was a deacon of the Congregational Church. He died in North Brookfield, October 30, 1835. Deacon Walter Walker married, April 3, 1795, Priscilla Carpenter, of Woodstock. She became the mother of three sons : Amasa, Walter and Freeman. Two of these, Amasa and Freeman, attained more than ordinary local prominence and also acquired a still wider reputation as abolitionists.

(VII) Hon. Amasa Walker, Robert W. Walker's father, was born in Woodstock, May 4, 1799. His educational opportunities were confined principally to the district schools, but he received some private tuition from the Rev. Thomas Snell, D. D., a well- known Congregational preacher of his day. Among his schoolmates were Professor Snell, of Amherst College, William Cullen Bryant, the poet, and Elijah Mead. His habits of industry developed at an early age. While attending school he was em- ployed during his leisure time in a factory, adjust- ing teeth to carding machines. He was later em- ployed as a store clerk, and from 1820 to 1822 was joint proprietor of a country store in West Brook- field, where in the short space of two years he real- ized a profit amounting to considerably more than twenty-seven hundred dollars. He next took the agency of the Methuen Manufacturing Company, but shortly afterward severed his relations with that concern, and in 1825 established himself in mercan- tile business in Boston as a member of the firm of Carleton and Walker. Withdrawing from that firm four years later he engaged in business alone, and was a well-known figure in Boston mercantile circles for a number of years, or until 1840, when he was compelled to retire on account of ill health. While residing in Boston he served as a director of the Franklin Bank. For the year 1832 he was president of the Boston Lyceum, which he assisted in organ- izing ; was also instrumental in establishing the Bos- ton Temperance Society, the first of its kind in that city, and he was its president in 1839. He was one of the first to advocate the construction of the West- ern Railway (now the Boston and Albany), and in 1833 was appointed one of its directors. William

Lloyd Garrison found in him an ardent supporter during the early days of the Anti-Slavery agitation, and he was afterward closely associated with James Duncan, of North Brookfield, and others in forward- ing that movement. After his retirement from busi- ness he was enabled to devote his energies almost exclusively to educational, philanthropic and political work, and in the capacity of a publicist his life was thenceforward dedicated to the propagation of new ideas and movements bearing upon these subjects. As a liberal benefactor of Oberlin, Ohio, College he took a profound interest in the welfare of that insti- tution, and in 1842 accepted the professorship of political economy of its faculty, retaining it for ten months. In 1843 he resumed his residence in North Brookfield, but shortly afterward visited London for the purpose of attending the first International Peace Congress. In 1849 he attended a similar gathering in Paris, and was chosen one of its vice presidents. In 1848 he represented his district in the Massachusetts legislature, was elected a state senator in 1849, was chosen state secretary by the United Free-Soil and Democratic parties in 1851, and was re-elected in 1852. He subsequently joined the Republican party at its formation. In the State constitutional convention in 1855 he served as a delegate, and in 1862 was elected representative to congress to complete the unexpired term of Dr. Bailey. From Oberlin College he received the hon- orary degree of Master of Arts, and from Amherst that of Doctor of Laws. Hon. Amasa Walker kept steadily at his work until the very last moment of ļiis life, and died at his desk on October 29, 1875.

On July 6, 1826, Mr. Walker married for his first wife Emeline Carleton, of Boston, who died July 24, 1828, leaving one child, who died in infancy. His second wife, whom he married June 23, 1834, was Hannah Ambrose, of Concord, New Hamp- shire. She died July 9, 1875. Of this union there are three children, namely : Emeline, born April II, 1835; Robert Walter, of whom later; and Francis Amasa, born July 2, 1840. Emeline married, June 18, 1857, Alfred H. Batcheller. Francis Amasa Walker was graduated from Amherst College with the class of 1860, and subsequently studied law. In 1861 he enlisted as sergeant-major in the Fifteenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, for service in the civil war, in which he was honored with several promotions for meritorious conduct in the field, and was mustered out as brevet brigadier- general. He was for a time engaged in journalism and also held some important government appoint- ments, but the greater part of his active life was de- voted to educational pursuits. He was for some time professor of political economy and history at the Sheffield Scientific School (Yale), and in 1881 was chosen president of the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, in which capacity he displayed executive ability of an unusually high order. His devotion to that institute superseded all other inter- ests and he retained its presidency for the remainder of his life. He married, August 16, 1865, Exeine E. Stoughton, daughter of T. M. Stoughton, of Gill, this state.

(VIII) Robert Walter Walker, the immediate subject of these memoirs, was born in North Brook- field, July 12, 1837. At the conclusion of his attend- ance at the public schools he accepted a clerkship in a Boston shoe store, but physical disability com- pelled him to relinquish his position at the end of two years, and after recovering his health he spent some time in Worcester. Returning to North Brookfield he engaged in the manufacture of shirt bosoms and collars, and subsequently turned his attention to the shoe manufacturing industry. At

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the breaking out of the civil war he was manufac- turing shirts and collars in Boston, and closing out his business he enlisted as second lieutenant in the Thirty-fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. At New Market, Virginia, May 15, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant for gal- lant and meritorious conduct on the field, but the same day was severely wounded and while in a dis- abled condition was captured by the enemy. After a confinement of over four months in a Confederate hospital he was sent to Libby prison, where he remained until exchanged, and on November 4, 1864, was honorably discharged in Boston. The Confederate bullet which caused him so much suf- fering is still in his possession, not exactly as a memento, however, as it has never been extracted from his body, and it is therefore a somewhat unwel- come keepsake. For a period of nine years after the war he was employed in the office of the E. and A. H. Batcheller Shoe Company, North Brookfied. The succeeding six years he spent as a farmer in Kansas, where he acquired possession of a quarter section of land, and upon his return from the west he again entered the employ of the Batcheller Com- pany. His impaired physical condition at length compelled him to relinquish the activities of life, and he is now living in retirement in North Brookfield. In politics Mr. Walker is a Republican. He affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, and has served as adjutant of Ezra Batcheller Post. He is also a mem- ber of the Loyal Legion.

On November 9, 1869, he married Isabel C. Tucker and they have one son, Amasa, born Novem- ber 12, 1870. Amasa Walker married Ann Bashfield Babcock, of Lexington, Massachusetts, and they have a son, Philip.

JOSEPH WALTER DAY. Ralph Day (1) was the immigrant ancestor of Joseph Walter Day, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He was born in Eng- land and settled in Dedham, Massachusetts. He was a mason by trade. He became a townsman formally January I, 1644-5, and was admitted a free- man in May. 1645. When a young man he used to beat the drum, and later was ensign in the militia. In 1661-62 was selectman. He married, October 12, 1647. Susan Fairbanks, who died July 8. 1659. She was a daughter of Jonathan Fairbanks, the cele- brated progenitor of a remarkable American family, and the house in which Susan lived when a child is still standing in Dedham. Ensign Day married (second), November 15, 1659, Abigail Craft, daugh- ter of Griffith Craft, of Roxbury, and widow of John Ruggies. He died November 22, 1677. His will, dated September 12, 1677, bequeathed his mason tools and drum to his son Ralph; cittern to daughter Abigail; one of his swords to son-in- law (step-son) John Ruggles.

The children of Ralph and Susan Day were: Elizabeth, born August 16, 1648, died August 18. 1648; Mary, born November 9, 1649, married, Feb- ruary 7, 1677. John Payne; Susan, born December 13, 1652, died at Roxbury, October 24, 1669: John, see forward: Ralph, baptized February II, 1657, married Sarah Fuller, daughter of Thomas and Hannah ( Fowler) Fuller, December 6, 1685. The child of Ralph and Abigail Day was: Abigail, born April 20, 1661, married John Smith, 1677.

(II) John Day, fourth child of Ralph Day (I), was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, April 15, 1654. He was a soldier in Captain Moseley's company in December, 1675, in King Philip's war. In 1680 he settled in Wrentham, formerly a part of Ded- ham. He received a grant of land in Sutton or

bought a share, which before his death he deeded to his son John. He married, May 22, 1678, Abi- gail Pond, daughter of David and Abigail (Shep- herd) Pond. Their children were: John, see for- ward; Ralph, born December 9, 1681; Abigail, born January 12, 1684, died young : Jonathan, born March 12, 1689; Abigail, born January 1, 1693.

(III) John Day, Jr., son of John Day (2), was born in Dedham, October 11, 1679. He owned land in Sutton. which he conveyed in 1738 to Stephen Hall. October 15, 1742, to his son John, Jr., and October 10, 1745, to Hon. Daniel Day. Both sons were living in Sutton at the time of the making of the deeds. He married. December 12. 1706, Ruth Puffer, daughter of Richard and Ruth (Everett) Puffer. They had eight children, the births of some being recorded in Dedham, some in Wrentham. Among them were .: John, Jr., born March 1, 1708, at Dedham; Caleb, born at Ded- ham, April 9, 1711; Israel, bought land in Hard- wick in 1748; Ichabod, born August 17, 1727, died at Wrentham, November 3, 1769; married Eliza- beth Davis; Daniel, born October 7, 1721; Joseph, see forward.

(IV) Deacon Joseph Day, son of John Day (3), was born about 1730 in Wrentham, died at Ticonderoga in 1776. His widow, Deborah (Taft) Day, was appointed administratrix. April 7, 1777. One of the sureties of her bond was Joseph Ben- son. The guardians of his five minor children were Benjamin Read and Daniel Taft. He was in the Crown Point expedition under Captain Farness, and under Colonel Whitney in the expedition to Canada in 1759. He was the first settler of the name in Mendon, was a blacksmith, but four gen- erations of his descendants in direct line have been leading woolen manufacturers of their day. He sold a lot of land in Mendon adjoining that of Daniel Taft to Ichabod Robinson, April 22, 1765, and bought a lot of Thomas Legg, February 17, 1766. He bought more land of Aaron White, April 16, 1771. The children of Joseph and De- borah (Taft) Day: Deborah, married (second) Aaron Phipps, of Holliston; Daniel, born 1767, see forward; Ezekiel, born about 1770; Abigail, born about 1772; Hopestill, born 1775; Joanna, born 1777.

(V) Daniel Day, son of Joseph Day (4). was one of the founders of industry in the Blackstone valley. He was born in Mendon in 1767, and died in Uxbridge, formerly part of Mendon, in 1850. He settled in Uxbridge when a young man, and at that time there were a few saw mills, grist mills, etc., on the Mumford river. Daniel Day saw the op- portunity for a new business. He had learned the woolen business, and in 1811 he finally succeeded in starting the wheels of his woolen mill, the first in Uxbridge or vicinity, located near the West river. He first put in a carding machine and picker for carding rolls for home manufacture. Later the mill was enlarged and a billy and jenny added, and in September, 18II, a hand loom was put in and next year the facilities were increased. The first weavers employed were Irish. imported for the purpose.

The late Judge Henry Chapin wrote of Daniel Day: "We should not forget the man who had the foresight and courage to commence here the manufacture of woolen goods, nor the humble river which was first considered worthy of running the first card and first picker in this neighborhood. There may be larger rivers than the West river, and there may have been better pickers and cards than those which were run by Daniel Day, but I doubt not that you will agree with me that none

BUBLIN PUBLIC

JOSEPH W. DAY

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are more entitled than these to our generous and candid notice."

lle associated his son with him and Joseph Day took up the development of the woolen industry and carried it forward an important notch. Daniel Day deeded his farm of one hundred acres to his son Joseph. The farm was bounded by the farms of Jerry Wheelock, his son-in-law (See Wheelock sketch), Moses Chapin and William Aldrich. The deed is dated April 10. 1828.

(VI) Joseph Day, son of Daniel Day (5), was born at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, about 1790. He became associated with his father at an carly age and learned the woolen business thoroughly. When lie came of age he was admitted to the firm, and his sister's husband, Jerry Wheelock, was the third partner. In 1825 the Day mill was enlarged and a canal built to it from the West river, power looms were added and the product greatly increased. In 1844 the mills were burned, but soon re-built. He was a prominent citizen, and in 1834 was repre- sentative to the general court. lle married Abigail Taft, descendant of the immigrant, Robert Taft (See Taft sketch). He died January 13, 1866, and left an estate valued at over $30,000. Their children were: James W., born 1817, see forward ; Daniel, a prominent citizen of Providence, Rhode Island; Angeline N., married George Adams, and they had a daughter, Helen Capron Adams, who married James I. Hanson.

(VII) James Wellington Day, son of Joseph Day (6), was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, 1817. He attended the district schools there, and at an carly age became familiar with the work in his father's mill. He became superintendent of the Uxbridge woolen mill in 1840, and held the position about four years. After his father's mill was burned in 1844 and rebuilt, he took the management for four or five years. In 1849 he entered partnership with Moses Taft, another of the industrial pioneers of the town of Uxbridge, and they hired the Capron mill. (See sketch of the Capron family). After a few years Deacon William C. Capron was admitted to the partnership and the firm name became Taft, Day & Company. Later, when 'Mr. Day's health compelled him to with- draw, the firm name became Taft & Capron. This firm continued in business until about 1862, when they sold out to R. & J. Taft. Mr. Day enjoyed the respect and confidence of his townsmen, and while he held no public office was interested in public affairs and especially influential in the af- fairs of his native town. He was an anti-slavery man, and from the organization of the Republican party was a faithful supporter and member of it.

Mr. Day married Elizabeth Upham, daughter of Danforth Upham, of Dudley, Massachusetts. Ile died at Uxbridge. June 5, 1878. Their children were: 1. Abby E., resides in Uxbridge; 2. Emma A .; 3. Joseph W., see forward; 4. George F.

(VIII) Joseph Walter Day, son of James W. Day (7), was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, April 20, 1855. He attended the public schools there and the academy at Providence, Rhode Island. lle then studied electrical engineering, or as it was then called practical electricity, and has literally grown up with the business. He estab- lished himself as an electrician in his native town, and has prospered in the business. He is a mem- ber of the Uxbridge Unitarian Church. In politics he is a Republican and active in town affairs. He has served with credit on the board of assessors. He is well known in musical circles, having a good musical training. He is the director of the Uni- tarian choir.

Mr. Day married, December 21, 1881, Lillic W. Scott, one of the seven children of Samuel W. and Susan F. (Farnum) Scott, of Elmdale, Massa- chusetts. Her father has for many years been identified with the woolen industry. The children of Joseph W. and Lillie W. Day are: Lester Wel- lington, born August 3, 1885, student in the Ux- bridge schools and graduate of the Allen school, West Newton, Massachusetts; Hazel Scott, born December 4, 1892, student in Uxbridge schools.

HANSON FAMILY. The Hanson family is traced to an ancient English origin. Watson's History of Halifax, England, gives a full account of the carly history of this family and the origin of the name itself. According to this authority the earliest known progenitor was Roger de Rastrick, who lived before and about 1251, and was a person of con- siderable importance. He owned land in various places in Yorkshire, England, Rastrick being one of his estates. John de Rastrick had a son llenry, who in turn had a son John. In those days when only Christian names were in use, the two Johns of Rastrick were doubtless confused, and in order to distinguish them the younger John became Henry's son, shortened to Hlen's son, and Henson, or Hanson, as it was spelt later. As early as 1337 the name is found spelt Henson at Halifax. John Hanson of this line went to London, and it is thought that his son Thomas was the American emigrant.

(1) Thomas Hanson was born in England, and was among the carly settlers at Dover, New Hamp- shire, in the vicinity of which his descendants have been numerous. lle had a grant of land January 11, 1658-9 near Salmon Falls, one hundred acres, bounded hy land of Joseph Austin, Nathaniel Twombly, Joh Clements and Jeremy Tibbets. He was admitted a freeman June 5, 1661, and resided at Cocheco. His will was proved June 27, 1666, his wife Mary being executrix. He provided dowries for his daughters when they should reach the age of eighteen. His widow was killed by Indians June 28. 1680. Their children : 1. Thomas, born about 1643. 2. Tobias, mentioned below. 3. Isaac, born at Dover; taxed at Cocheco. .. 4. Tim- othy. And two daughters.

(II) Tobias Hanson, son of Thomas Hanson (1), was born about 1640; was taxed in Dover from 1662 to 1672. His wife was captured by the Indians June 28, 1689, and he was killed by the Indians May 10, 1603. Children: t. Tobias, men- tioned below. 2. Joseph. 3. Benjamin; married Elizabeth

(III) Tobias Hanson, Jr., son of Tobias Han- son (2), was born in Dover, New Hampshire, about 1675. He was a Friend, or Quaker, as were most of the family for many generations. He married first. Lydia Canney : second, Ann Lord. Children : 1. Benjamin. 2. Elizabeth ; married Samuel Bux- ton. Children of Tobias and Ann Hanson: 3. Mercy. born August 4, 1600, married Stephen Varney. 4. Tobias, mentioned below. 5. Judith, born February 7. 1703-4: married Samuel Twom- bly. 6. Joseph, born at Dover, January 10, 1704; married first, Rebecca Shepard; second. Sarah Scammon ; third. Susanna Burnham. 7. Nathaniel. 8. Isaac: married Susanna Canney. 9. Samuel. IO. Aaron.

(IV) Tobias Hanson, son of Tobias Ilanson (3), was born March, 1702, died August 27, 1765; married first. December 22. 1726, Judith, daughter of Ebenezer Varney and Mary (Otis) Varney, who was born April 11. 1710. He married second, Octo- ber 21, 1750, Sarah Fry, daughter of William. She

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died October 17, 1800. They were Friends. Chil- dren: I. Anne, married Cortland. 2. Mary, married Jedediah Varney. 3. Elizabeth, married Reuben Tuttle. 4. Aaron, mentioned below. 5. Patience, born June 12, 1743; married Benjamin Meder. 6. Moses, born February 3, 1744-5; mar- ried Mary Hanson. 7. Mercy.

(V) Aaron Hanson, son of Tobias Hanson (4), was born in or near Dover, New Hampshire, about 1740. He settled in Rochester, New Hampshire, and was one of the proprietors. He was prob- ably not a Quaker, for he took part in the revolu- tion, being in 1775 second lieutenant in Captain David Place's company, Colonel Burnham's regi- ment. Among his children was Aaron, we have reason to believe the settler in Wakefield.

(VI) Aaron Hanson, son of Aaron Hanson {5). was born about 1775; married at Wakefield, New Hampshire, Mary Graves. Children: 1. Aaron. 2. Phinehas. 3. Joel. mentioned below. 4. Ira. 5. Hannah, married - Porter. 6. Betsey. 7. Mary.

(VII) Joel Hanson, son of Aaron Hanson (6), was born about 1800, in Wakefield, New Hamp- shire. He married Martha Swan, of Cambridge and Arlington, Massachusetts, and they settled in Winchester, Massachusetts. She was descended from John Swan, one of the early settlers of Water- town and Cambridge, and his second wife, Mary Pratt. whom he married March 2, 1655, and who died February II, 1702, in her seventieth year. Swan died June 5, 1708, in his eighty-eighth year. The line is through his son Ebenezer; his grandson John: to Nathan, who married Phebe Nelson; to Martha Swan, who married her cousin Timothy Swan, the father of Martha mentioned above. Timothy Swan was the son of George and Prudence Swan; George was a soldier in the revolution, son of John and grandson of Ebenezer, already men- tioned. The children of Joel and Martha (Swan) Hanson: I. Martha. 2. Isabel, married Francis Waterhouse, principal of the English high school, Boston. 3. Joel Winslow. 4. James Ira, men- tioned below. 5. Ella, married Stephen Langley of Winchester.

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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 52

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