Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. IV, Part 22

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 710

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. IV > Part 22

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(V) Phinehas Page, son of John Page (4), was born in Groton, Massachusetts, May 24, 1745; mar- ried Hannah Stone, of Groton, February 2, 1769. He resided in the western part of Shirley on the place previously occupied by Daniel Page and later of Philemon Holden. The farm has always been well kept and it gives evidence of several generations of thrifty owners. He was a volunteer in the Lex- ington alarm, April 19, 1775, and was private in Cap- tain Henry Haskell's company, Colonel John Pres- cott's regiment.

The children of Phinehas and Hannah (Stone) Page were: Theophilus, born in Shirley, December 12, 1769, removed to Schenectady, New York; Phine- has, November 5, 1771, died 1772; Phinehas, March 16, 1773, died in Amherst, 1805; Levi, August 18, 1775, left town to settle in New York, died October 17, 1853; Edmund, of whom later; Ede (Edith), July 18, 1781, 'married John Rockwood, December 7, 1803, and they had four children; Eli, September 19, 1784, married Clarissa Hawkins ; Walter, Novem- ber 14, 1786, died at Londonderry, Vermont, July I, ISIO.

(VI) Edmund Page, son of Phinehas Page (5), was born in Shirley, Massachusetts, March 13, 1778; married Betsey Dwight, of Shirley, February 1, 1806, and at the time of his marriage settled in Dunstable ( Nashua), where he lived the remainder of his life. He was a trader and became one of the most in- fluential and well known merchants of his day. He was a town officer during most of his active life, and he was widely known by that homely but honorable title of Squire to all the country about his home. He died in 1871.

The children of Edmund and Betsey (Dwight) Page, all born in Dunstable, were: Mary Ann, July 6, 1806, married Isaac Kendall, of Dunstable, May 22. 1831, died July 5, 1870; they had three children : Betsey, April 3, 1809, married James Kendall, of Dun- stable, October 30, 1831, and they had five children ;

WORCESTER COUNTY

Edmund D., born October 11, 1811, married Rebecca Bancroft, of Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, June 9, 1836; they had one child; Albert Gallatin, of whom later ; John, June 22, 1816, married Sarah E. Read, of Dunstable, April 21, 1844, resides in Fitchburg ; his two children are: Sarah Angenette and George Austin ; Norman K., December 2, 1818, marriad Mary H. Leavitt, of Lowell, September 3, 1856; they have two children; Harriet, October 19, 1822, died Jan- uary 4, 18.45.

(VII) Albert Gallatin Page, fourth child of Edmund Page (6), was born in Dunstable, Mass- achusetts, March 13, 1814. He married Sarah C. Swallow, of Dunstable, August 28, 1834; he died March 27, 1871. Ile was one of the founders of what is now the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, of Akron, Ohio, but which business was originally started in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, about 1850, under the name of Page, Whitman & Co., mowing machine knives.

The children of Albert Gallatin and Saralı C. (Swallow) Page were: Sarah Emily, born May 28, 1835, in Nashua, New Hampshire, married Austin Farrar, of Springfield, Vermont ; they had one child, Albert Austin Farrar, who married Lizzie E. Shat- tuck, of Townsend; he was born June 19, 1856, and died March 27, 1880; Eliza Jane, born November 3, 1837, Nashua, New Hampshire, married Edward D. Atherton, of Conway, New Hampshire, resided in Fitchburg, and they have one child, Willis Burton Atherton, born June 15, 1870; Albert Willis, Septem- ber 23, 1839, died March 4, 1851, at Fitchburg ; Frank Dwight, of whom later.

(VIII) Frank Dwight Page, youngest child of Albert Gallatin Page (7), was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, February 9, 1855. He received his early education in the public schools of his native town. He left school at the age of fifteen and en- tered a machine shop in Fitchburg to learn the trade. But at this time a vacancy in the office of the Fitch- burg Gas Company gave him an opportunity to enter another line of work which he accepted and began at the bottom of the ladder. He advanced from office boy to clerk and in time became the assistant superintendent. He was a popular and efficient officer of the company. He had the misfortune to have a cancer on one of his legs and was obliged to give up his position in the gas company. In order to save his life the leg was amputated. Upon his recovery he purchased the business of the late Will- iam N. Willis, known as the City Hotel of Fitchburg. After two years and a quarter he was elected city auditor, one of the most important heads of depart- ments of the city, the balance wheel of the city finances. During the years that Mr. Page has held this position the city bookkeeping has given abundant evidence of his ability and thoroughness in perform- ing his various duties. Whether the mayor was Re- publican or Democrat, or of the many municipal party organizations that have taken root in Fitch- burg, Mr. Page has been kept at the helm, having the confidence and respect of every administration with which he has been connected. He has natur- ally the genial manners and tactful ways of dealing with officials as well as with the public that is es- sential to the proper conduct of public affairs and the success of a public officer. His excellent qual- ities have attracted to him a large circle of personal friends. Besides those offices mentioned, Mr. Page was formerly clerk of his ward. He was a member of the committee on organization of the Fidelity Co-

operative Bank of Fitchburg, and its first treasurer, and previous to this was for several years one of the auditors of the Fitchburg Co-operative Bank and has always taken a deep interest in these institutions. He is a Republican.

IIe is a past officer of Apollo Lodge, and King David Encampment, I. O. O. F., and a member of Grand Lodge of the State. Ile is a prominent Free Mason, and recorder of Jerusalem Commandery, Knight Templars for the last fourteen years. He is an attendant of the First Universalist Church.

He married (first) Della I. Plimpton, daughter of Captain Chandler Plimpton, of a well known Fitchburg family, September 17, 1878. He married (second), 1893, Lydia Tocie Johnson, a native of Quincy, Illinois, and they have one son, Dwight Coggshall Page, born in Fitchburg, May 2, 1896.

SULLIVAN G. PROCTOR. Robert Proctor (I), the immigrant ancestor of the late Sullivan G. Proctor, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was born in England and settled in New England, first at Salem, where he was admitted a freeman May 10, 1643, and later at Concord, where he married, December 31, 1645, Jane Hildreth. He removed again to the ad- jacent town of Chelmsford, where all but their first three children were born. He died 1697. His will was dated March 10, 1697, and proved July 13, 1697. He mentions his children as given below, viz: Sarah, born at Concord, October 12, 1646; Gershom, son, born May 13, 1648; Mary, born April 8, 1650; Peter, born in Chelmsford, married Mary Patterson, of Billerica; Elizabeth, born January 21, 1657; James ; Lydia, born February 19, 1666, died aged six months ; Thomas; John, of whom later; Samuel; Israel; Dorothy, married Barrett.

(II) John Proctor, son of Robert Proctor (I), was born in Chelmsford about 1670. He married Miriam and they resided in Chelmsford and Littleton, Massachusetts. They were members of the first church at Westford. They had a son John, born 1694, of whom later.

(III) John Proctor, son of John Proctor (2), was born in Littleton or Chelmsford adjoining about 1694. He belonged to the First Church at Westford, where he settled. He married Mary -, and their children were: Mary, born 1719, married Jon- athan Robbins, 1743; James, born 1720; Phinehas, born 1722; Elizabeth, born 1724, married Zechariah Robbins, 1744; Sarah, born 1726, married Samuel l-lildreth, 1753; Oliver, born 1729; John, born 1733, of whom later.

(IV) John Proctor, youngest child of John Proctor (3), was born in Westford, Massachusetts, 1733, married, 1762, Mary Nutting. He resided at Westford and perhaps Groton. He appears to have been in Captain Asa Lawrence's company in the revolution in 1775. The children of Jolin and Mary Proctor were: Josiah, born 1762; Josiah, born 1764, died young; Jolin, born 1765, of whom later; Jesse, born 1773, died 1777; Polly, born 1775, married, 1796, Henry Chandler ; Hosea, born 1777, died 1796; Joseph, born 1779; Sally, born 1782, married 1809, Seth Fletcher, Jr .; Hannah, born 1784, married, 1806. Thomas C. Parker.

(V) John Proctor, third child of John Proctor (4), was born at Westford, Massachusetts, 1765. Ile married Rachel Shedd, of Pepperell, 1794. He married (second) Betsey (Snow) Works, of Lunen- burg, and settled about 1800 in Reading, Vermont. John Proctor died in 1856, aged ninety-one years.

Es of Burbank Fitchburg

WORCESTER COUNTY

His wife died at the age of eighty-four years. Of their eight children Sullivan G. was the third. John Proctor was a farmer and carpenter.

Among other members of the family who settled in Vermont was Leonard Proctor, the grandfather of Senator Redfield Proctor, of that state. His line of ancestry was: Leonard (IV), Thomas (11I), Samuel (11), Robert (1). Leonard Proctor settled · in Cavendish, Vermont, and founded Proetorsville. He died in 1827, aged ninety-three years. Another Vermont settler was Silas Proctor, who went to MIt. Holly. He was born in 1750. His ancestors were : Silas (V), James (IV), John (III), John (II), John (I).

(VI) Sullivan G. Proctor, third child of John Proctor (5), was born in Reading, Vermont, July I, 1808. He served an apprenticeship at the black- smith's trade with his half-brother, Daniel Works, at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and later learned the machinist's trade with Martin Newton, also of Fitch- burg. He began in business on his own account when a young man, repairing and doing all kinds of iron work for a number of years. Subsequently he became associated with Luther Howard in the liv- ery stable business on Oliver street under the firm name of Proctor & Howard. Three years later his partner withdrew. Mr. Proctor continued alone for three years and then sold out to his former partner. He started in the iron business in company with Nathan Tolman on the site now occupied by the Nichols & Frost store and continued there until the railroad was built ; then the firm of Proctor & Tol- man erected the Rollstone block and removed their business there, and some years later Mr. Proctor sold out to his partner. After Mr. Tolman's death, how- ever, he bought baek a half interest in the real es- tate. Once more in partnership with his former business associate, Luther Howard, he took the con- tract to supply wood for fuel for the locomotives on the Fitelburg railroad from Charlestown, Mass- achusetts, to Fitchburg, and on the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad from Brattleboro to Fitch- burg. He held this contraet for about six years. Then he purchased the Wallace hardware ( see sketch of Charles E. Wallace) store, then on the site of the present Dickinson building. His partner in this deal was I. C. Wright. After two years they sold out to Woodward & Fairbanks, and Mr. Proctor engaged in the coal business with James F. D. Garfield. (See sketch of Mr. Garfield.) The firm name was Garfield & Proctor. After a short time his son, George N. Proetor, took his place in the firm of Proctor & Garfield and he retired, and during the remainder of his life was occupied in the eare of his property.

He was a Whig in politics originally, then a Free Soiler and a Republican sinee the party was organized. Ile was a member of the Unitarian parish. He was one of the best known and most highly respected business men of the city of Fitch- burg. His large variety of business interests gave him a wide experience and an extended knowledge of men and affairs. His home was on Newton Place. He built his residence there in 1835. He married in 1833. Mary Newton, daughter of Martin Newton, of Fitchburg. She died January, 1881, leaving one son, George Newton Proctor, mentioned above. He married (second), October 30, 1882, Sybil Jaquith, the daughter of John S. and Sarah B. Jaquith, of Ashby. Mr. Proctor died March 19, 1902.

(VII) George N. Proetor, son of Sullivan G. IV -- 6

Proctor (6), was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, July 31, 1842. He married Mary Newton, of Rochester, New York. He is one of the leading citizens and business men of Fitchburg, widely known in the coal trade. The children of George N. Proetor are: George N., Jr., born December 10, 1882; James Sullivan, born November 4, 1884.

JOHN SHIRREFFS. Archibald Shirreffs (1), father of John Shirreffs, of Fitchburg, is a promi- nent woolen manufacturer. He was born in Wood- side, Scotland, and educated there. He learned the woolen business and became in time manager of one of the largest woolen mills in Scotland. He re- moved to Canada where he carried on woolen mills at various places. He is now retired, living at Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. He married Christine Skene. Their children were: Maria, Jane, Alex- ander, Arehibald, Henrietta, Christina, John, of whom later; David, Andrew, William.

(II) John Shirreffs, seventh ehild of Archi- bald Shirreffs (I), was born in Woodside, Scot- land, August 19, 1862. He removed with his parents when he was a young boy to Sherbrook, Canada, and went to school there. He worked with his father in a woolen mill at Almonte, Canada, for two years and afterwards went to Utica, New York, where he completed his education in the woolen manufactur- ing business with the Globe Woolen Co., and was identified with that company for eleven years. He accepted a position at Lawrence as manager of part of the Washington mill and remained there until 1891, when he came to Fitchburg, where he has since made his home and carried on business. He has been in partnership with James Phillips, Jr., in the manufacture of woolen goods, and at the time of the organization of the American Woolen Com- pany was the general agent for the mills in Fitch- burg for five years. Afterwards he bought a worsted mill at North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and transferred the business to Fitehburg and continued to manufacture worsteds under the name of the Shirreffs Worsted Co., a corporation of which he is the treasurer.

Mr. Shirreffs has taken an interest in city affairs since he came to Fitchburg. He is president of the common couneil and president of the Merchants Association of Fitchburg. He is a Republican. He is a director of the Rollstone National Bank of Fitch- burg. He is prominent in the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar. He attends the Calvin- istie Congregational Church, of which he is on the board of assessors.

He married in 1881, Haidee M. Hazelhurst, daughter of William Hazelhurst, of Utica, New York. Their children are: Grace M., soloist in the Church of the Unity, Worcester; Archibald C., died young ; Jennie C., Haidee, J. Stanley,, Howard.

GARDNER S. BURBANK. John Burbank ( I), of Rowley, was the emigraht ancestor of the late Gardner S. Burbank, the wealthy paper manufac- turer of Fitchburg, who left a large fortune for the foundation of a city hospital there. John Bur- bank was born in England about 1600. He settled at Rowley, Massachusetts, where he was admitted a freeman on May 13, 1640, and was recorded as proprietor of the town of Rowley, same year. His first wife was Ann -, by whom he had one child. He married (second) Jemima -, who died March 24, 1692-3. He held various town of-

WORCESTER COUNTY

fices in Rowley. By his will made April 5. 1681, proved April 10, 1683, he bequeathed to his wife Jemima ; sons Caleb and John; grandson Timothy, son of John and daughter Lydia. Children of John Burbank: 1. John (little John was credited with work on fencing in 1648 at Rowley), removed to Suffield, Massachusetts (now Connecticut), about 1680. He married, October 15, 1663, Susanna, daughter of Nathaniel Merrill, as early as 1630. He had a son Timothy and a son John. He lived some time at Haverhill, Massachusetts. He had seven children by his first marriage; he married three times. 2. Timothy, born at Rowley, May 18, 1641, buried July 14, 1660. 3. Lydia, born April 7, 1644. 4. Caleb, born May 19, 1646. 5. Mary, born May 16, 1655, buried July 12, 1660.

(11) Caleb Burbank, son of John Burbank (1), born in Rowley, May 19, 1646, lived at Rowley and Newbury; married Martha, daughter of Caleb Smith, May 6, 1669. Children of Caleb and Martha ( Smith ) Burbank : I. Caleb, born May 1, 1671. 2. John, May 20, 1672. 3. Mary, November 26, 1675. 4. Martha, February 22, 1079. 5. Eleazer, March 14, 1681; joined the church with wife Lydia April I, 1709. 6. Samuel, born July 15, 1684, settled in New Hampshire, and left many descendants. 7. Ebenezer, born June 28, 1687, joined the church at Rowley, June 26, 1719.

(111) It has not been discovered whether John, Eleazer or Ebenezer was the father of Caleb. Pos- sibly research at Rowley or the county seat might solve the problem.

(IV) Caleb Burbank, grandson of Caleb Bur- bank (2), was not the son of Caleb Burbank (3), and probably not the son of Samuel Burbank (3), but was doubtless the son of Eleazer, Ebenezer or John (3) Burbank. He settled in Newbury, and married Peggy Wheeler. Some of their children. probably not all, were: Gershom; Abigail ; Abijah, born March 26, 1736, settled in Sutton, Massachu- setts; Daniel (2), married Adams, and lived in Sutton.

(V) Abijah Burbank, son of Caleb Burbank (4), born in Newbury or Rowley, March 26, 1736, died September 24. 1813. He was the pioneer paper manufacturer of Worcester county. He came to Sutton about 1760, and in company with two others started the linseed oil factory there. In the early deeds Abijah is called a clothier. This may mean that he had run a fulling mill and account for his manufacturing tendencies. The oil mill was built in 1769. and was owned by Jonathan Holman, Jona- than Waters. Andrew Elliot and Abijah Burbank. It was on the outlet to what is now called Single- tary Lake, and was the fourth mill privilege below the lake. The paper mill which was built about seven years later occupied the next privilege above, while a fulling ,mill occupied the one next below. It does not appear whether Burbank was interested in the fulling mill or not. (John Waters was the owner apparently.) He owned the paper mill as will be seen. The oil business seemed to prosper for a time. The copartnership papers are on record at the Worcester county registry of deeds.

The need of paper mills in the colonies was al- most as severe as the need of powder mills. Paper was hard to get at any price. Printers had to worry constantly as to the source of supply to print their papers and books. Sometimes the size of the news- papers had to be cut down. This condition of af- fairs was more serious after the revolution broke

out. The Massachusetts Spy had been removed with the aid of General Joseph Warren and Colonel Timothy Bigelow from Boston, where it could no longer be published effectively, to Worcester. But paper was necessary as well as presses and type. John Hancock addressed a letter to Joseph Warren and the committee of safety, April 26, 1775, a week after the battle of Lexington, asking that fifty reams of crown, forty of demy, twenty of foolscap and five of writing paper be furnished Isaiah Thomas, the editor of The Spy and the owner of the printing office. The paper was sent from Milton, the first paper mill in Massachusetts, and on this very paper was printed the first edition of The Spy in Worces- ter, May 3, 1775. That, according to the written statement of Mr. Thomas himself, was the first thing ever printed in Worcester. One of the original copies on which he wrote this statement is at the American Antiquarian Society's library in Worces- ter. But Mr. Thomas needed papers for the public documents and for the printing of books and pamphlets essential to the success of the cause of the colonies. At a convention of delegates from towns in Worcester county, held May 31, the fol- lowing vote was passed :

Resolved: That the erection of a paper mill in this county would be of great public advantage, and if any person or persons will undertake the erection of such a mill and the manufacture of paper, that it be recommended to the people of the county to eucour- age the undertaking by generous contributions and subscriptions.

The country needed the paper mill, and it owes to the energy and patriotism of Abijah Burbank the establishment of the paper mill that materially aided the colonies in their struggle for liberty by supplying the means for disseminating information for uniting the patriots in a common cause. No- body seems to have fully estimated the great value of Abijah Burbank's contribution to the revolution. He had no knowledge apparently of the business. He fought against all kinds of difficulties. But he made paper a year later. In June, 1776, we are told that he produced his first paper. It was coarse and crude at first. Laborers had to learn the trade with- out competent teachers. Rags were scarce, and he had to appeal to the patriotism of the people to save their rags and sell them to the paper mill. He gave notice that if a larger supply of rags were not obtainable the paper mill would have to stop and the newspaper could not be published. But Mr. Burbank persevered, and in May, 1778, he gave notice in The Spy "that the manufacture of paper at Sutton is now carried on to great perfection." In June of the same year he advertised in The Spy that he "had lately procured a workman who is a complete master of the art of paper making." The lack of rags was the most serious check to the in- dustry. Hon. Ellery B. Crane, in his monograph on "Early Paper Mills in Massachusetts," states that the price paid for linen or cotton rags in November, 1777, was three pence per pound; one year later eight pence per pound; March, 1779, twelve pence ; in July, eighteen pence; in November, two shillings ; February, 1780, three shillings; and July, 1781, ten shillings per pound. Of course some of this change in price was due to the loss of value of the Con- tinental currency. But rags were so scarce that the mill could not always produce enough for The Spy, and sometimes the size of the paper had to be reduced in consequence.

The site of this paper mill is now occupied by the Lapham Mill in Millbury, as that section of the

WORCESTER COUNTY

town of Sutton was set off to form the town of Millbury. This was the seventh mill built in the state as it was at that time. Four were at Milton, and the other two at Falmouth, no win Maine. It was a two-vat mill, after the style of the largest and most approved plan then used. The machinery was primitive, and the mill employing five men and ten or twelve girls produced in a day of fifteen hours about two hundred and fifty pounds of paper.

Almost all the children and grandchildren of Abijalı Burbank have become paper manufacturers. Abijah Burbank sold the mill at Sutton to his eld- est sons, Caleb and Elijah. Caleb was associated with his father in the paper mill as early as 1783, and Mr. Crane fixes that date as the time when he succeeded to the business. February 20, 1798, Caleb and Elijah purchased of their father for 600 pounds all the lands he owned in Sutton, comprising four parcels, reserving only the powder mill, which he sold to the state, and the half of the oil mill above mentioned. Abijah Burbank built a large house on Burbank Hill, at what is known as Bramanville, in Millbury, then Sutton. He married, September 4, 1760, Mary Spring, of Weston, and settled directly afterward in Sutton. He died there September 24, 1813. His widow died in Millbury, February 5, 1823.

The military record of the Burbank family is very creditable. Abijah Burbank was captain of the Fifth Sutton company in the Fifth Worcester county regiment, commissioned April 4, 1776. He was captain also in Colonel Jonathan Holman's (Fifth) regiment, and marched to Providence, Rhode Island, December 10, 1776, on the alarm. He was captain of the Eighth company in Col. Jonathan Holman's ( Fifth Worcester regiment, commis- sioned September 25, 1778, also captain in Col. Jacob Davis' regiment, July 30, on the Rhode Island alarm. His son Caleb was in his company July 30, 1780 ; and his son Elijah saw service at West Point under Captain Benjamin Alton, Col. John Rand's regiment. In 1780 he was on a town com- mittee to procure thirty-one men for the Conti- mental army. He served the town of Sutton as se- lectman in 1781. Children of Capt. Abijah and Mary (Spring) Burbank: I. General Caleb, born July 18, 1761. 2. Elijah, born December 18, 1762, partner with his brother, Gen. Caleb Burbank, in the man- ufacture of paper; married Betty Gibbs, November 21, 1782, had son Leonard and six other children. 3. Henry, born July 30, 1704. 4. Abijah, born March 3, 1766. 5. Mary, born December 3, 1767, married Samuel Goddard, April 17, 1783. 6. Silas, born September 19, 1769. 7. John, born June II, 1771. 8-9. John and Anne (twins). born September 22, 1774. Io. Judith, born March 1I, 1777; married Fay, of Royalston. II. Isaac, born April 17, 1784.

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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. IV, Part 22

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 710

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 710