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 59
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
D'.'3LIC
1
R
Arrington Gibson
IC
219
WORCESTER COUNTY
considered one of the most energetic and success- ful among the younger generation of Hardwick farmers. ' He is a member of the Republican town committee and participates quite actively in local civic affairs, having served with ability as town audi- tor and tax collector, and is frequently chosen a delegate to party conventions. His religious af- filiations are with the Congregationalists and he is at the present time serving as clerk of that church.
Mr. Newcomb married Miss Mary Ella Cass, daughter of - Cass, of Surry, New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb have two children: Robert W., born March II, 1890, now attending the Wil- braham Academy. Harriott Elizabeth, born Au- gust 4, 1901.
JOSEPH AUGUSTIN TUFTS. Peter Tufts (I), the founder of the Tufts family of Massachu- setts, and ancestor of Joseph Angustin Tufts, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was born in England about 1617. The family appears to have originated in .Lancashire, but there is an ancient village called Tuftes between Little Baddow and Maldon in Es- sex. Peter Tufts was an early settler of Charlestown in New England, and was on the list of inhabitants prior to 1638. He lived on the Malden side and with his brother-in-law, William Bridges, kept the ferry in 1646. He was one of the largest land-own- ers of the town. He was admitted a freeman May 3, 1663 (or 1665). He bought land in Medford in 1664 and also had land in Malden and Charlestown.
He married Mary Pierce, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Pierce. Thomas Pierce was a pioneer, born in England in 1596. Mary died Jan- uary, 1702-3, aged seventy-five years, and her grave at Malden is marked by a headstone. Her will is dated January 9, 1702-3, and proved June 24, 1703. Peter Tufts died May 13, 1700, aged eighty-three years. His will is dated March 1, 1693, proved June 10, 1700. Among the descendants of Peter Tufts was Charles Tufts, the founder of Tufts Col- lege. His line of descent was: Charles (VI), Dan- iel (V), Nathan (IV), Peter (III), John (II), Peter (1).
The children of Peter and Mary ( Pierce) Tufts were: Peter, Captain, resided at Medford, married Elizabeth Lunde, August 26, 1670; married (sec- ond) Mercy Cotton, and (third) Prudence Wyman ; James, soldier in King Philip's war, killed by Indians at Bloody creek, September 18, 1675; Mary, born June 19, 1655; John, born May 7, 1653; Jona- than, born 1657, died 1658; Jonathan, of whom later ; Elizabeth, married November 22, 1673, Joseph Lynde; Mercy, married Joseph Wait; Sarah, mar- ried, 1689, Thomas Oakes; Persis; Lydia, died 1683.
(II) Jonathan Tufts, son of Peter Tufts (I), was born in Charlestown, March 3, 1660. He resided in Malden and Medford, Massachusetts. He mar- ried Rebecca Wait, daughter of Captain John Wait, of Charlestown, the pioneer, who was son of Samuel Wait, of Wethersfield, Essex county, England. She was born November 22, 1662. He died August 13, 1722, aged sixty-three years, three months, eleven days. His will was made August 4, 1718, and lodged August 31, 1722. He bequeathed lands at Malden, Medford and Charlestown. He was buried in Malden. His widow died in 1755; her will was made May 19, 1755, and proved Jan- uary 26, 1756. Their children were: Jonathan, born 1685, died 1688; James, soldier under Colonel
Goff; John, 1688; Jonathan, February 6, 1690; Re- becca, 1694; Samuel, April 29, 1697 ; Persis, 1700, married J. Colman; Joseph, of whom later; Abigail, 1707, died 1726.
(III) Joseph Tufts, son of Jonathan Tufts (2), was born in Malden, Massachusetts, 1704. He set- tled in Medford and married Lydia Francis, Janu- ary 12, 1727. He died December 21, 1758, aged fifty-four years. He was on the tax list from 1727 to 1748, excepting 1738 and 1739. His estate was administered in 1759 and he probably died in 1758. His children were: Rebecca, born March 31, 1728, married William Tufts, 3d .; Lydia, August 24, 1729, married Daniel Wiswall; Joseph, February 21, 1731; Samuel, 1732; Jane, 1735; Ebenezer, 1739, died May 4, 1739; Nathan, of whom later.
(IV) Nathan Tufts, youngest son of Joseph Tufts (3), was born in Medford, Massachusetts, May 2, 1740. He married Elizabeth - He died at Medford, where he lived probably most of his life, June 12, 1784. His only child according to the records was Nathan.
(V) Nathan Tufts, only child of Nathan Tufts (4), was born in Medford and resided in Charles- town, Massachusetts. He was a pump-maker by trade. He married Mary Gates and their children were : Almanza, born" February 10, 1800, at Med- ford; Nathan Augustin, born October 22, 1803, of whom later; Mary, born February 22, 18II. Almanza Tufts went west and died there.
(VI) Nathan Augustin Tufts, son of Nathan Tufts (5), was born in Charlestown, Massachu- setts. He was brought up in Charlestown, which is now a part of the city of Boston, and attended the public schools of that town. He learned the carriage painter's trade. He came to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, when a young man and started in business there on his own account. He followed. this business during the remainder of his life. He died in Fitchburg, 1874. He married in Fitchburg, Eliza Downe, daughter of Joseph Downe, of that town, a descendant of old New England stock. Her grandfather, Captain William Thurlo, was in the revolution. Their children were: Leonard Downe, born in Fitchburg, October 8, 1833, died August 21, 1905, at Wilmington, Delaware; he was for forty- five years connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad and for many years before his death was the road foreman of the Delaware division of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad; he married Margaret Hughes and they had one child, Albert, who died young; Mary, born in Fitchburg, married George F. Morse, of Leominster ; Joseph Augustin, of whom later.
(VII) Joseph Augustin Tufts, son of Nathan Augustin Tufts (6), was born in Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts, January 25, 1835. He attended the district and high schools of his native town. When he left school he entered the Fitchburg Bank, now the Fitchburg National, as clerk, and filled various posi- tions until 1864, when he went to the front in the commissary department of the First Brigade of the Army of the Potomac and he saw the final scenes of the civil war about Richmond. He re- turned at the close of the war to Fitchburg and entered the employ of the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad Company as freight clerk. When that railroad passed into the control of the Fitchburg Railroad he became pay-master for the old Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad Company, and re- mained in that position until the road was leased. to the Old Colony Railroad (now part of the New
220
WORCESTER COUNTY
Haven system), and then he returned to the Fitch- burg road. Since 1883 he has been ticket agent for the Fitchburg Railroad and its lessees, the Boston & Maine Railroad at Fitchburg. Few men are more widely known in the city and suburbs of Fitchburg. He has the confidence and esteem, not only of all the railroad men with whom he comes in contact but with the general public that he has waited upon with tact and courtesy so many years.
Mr. Tufts is a Republican in politics. He was for two years a member of the common council, and in 1879 and 1880 was representative to the gen- eral court, in which he was on the special com- mittee on the Hoosac tunnel and on the railroad committee. He is a Free Mason, being a member of Aurora Lodge and Thomas Royal Arch Chapter of Fitchburg. He is a member of the Boston & Maine Agents Association and of the New England Agents Association, comprising the freight and pas- senger agents of the railroads in New England.
Ile married, December 3. 1877, Caroline Gibson, daughter of Arrington Gibson, of Fitchburg. Mrs. Tufts is of revolutionary stock. (See sketch of the Gibson family of Fitchburg.) She is a member and founder of Fitchburg Chapter, D. A. R., and of the Woman's Club. They have had only one child, Nathan, born in Fitchburg, April 15, 1879. He is a graduate of the Fitchburg high school in 1896; of Brown University in 1900; of Boston University Law School in 1903. He is engaged in the practice of his profession at Waltham, Massachusetts.
SILAS TAFT. Robert Taft or Taaffe (I), as the name was originally spelled, was born in Ireland about 1640 and died in Mendon, Massachusetts, February 8, 1725. He was the immigrant ancestor of Silas Taft, of Uxbridge, which was formerly part of Mendon. The Taft families of America are descended from the Robert Taft and a relative, Matthew Taft, who settled near Robert some years later. Both were Protestant Irish by birth. The name does not appear in Scotland in any form, and only in England apparently among descendants of the Irish family. The name has been spelled in Ireland for some centuries Taaffe. It is true that the Tafts were associated with the Scotch-Irish just as many English were.
Sir William Taaffe (or Taft), a knight of the Protestant faith, was among the grantees at the time of the Scotch emigration and settlement in Ulster Province, Ireland, by order of King James. In 1610 he received a grant of one thousand acres of land in the Parish of Castle Rahen in county Cavan. The total grants in this Parish amounted to 3,990 acres of which Sir Thomas Ashe held 1,500 aeres, and in 1619 he also held this grant of Taft's and 1,500 in the adjoining Parish of Tullaghgarvy. On Taft's land there was "an old castle new mended and all the land was inhabited by Irish." It seems reasonable to suppose that Sir William Taft's sons settled on this grant. Perhaps Sir William remained in Louth. At any rate this is the only family who had any relations with the Scotch-Irish settlers whom Robert and Matthew Taft seem to have eon- neeted with in some way. County Louth. the Irish home of the Tafts, is on the northern coast, bounded on the north by Armagh in Ulster, on the east by the British channel and on the south by the Boyne. It is in the province of Leinster, and was established as a county in 1210.
The earliest record of Robert Taft is in Mendon,
where he settled for a time before coming to Men- don. He had property and acquired large traets of land. He was of high standing in the town and church. He was elected on the first board of select- men, January 3, 1680, and by the church April 4, 1680, on the committee to see that the house for the minister was ready for occupaney by Christmas. Robert and three sons built the first bridge aeross the river at Mendon to get access to their land on the west bank in 1709, and in 1729 the Tafts built the second bridge across the river. His house was at Fortfield, near Mendon pond, formerly known as Taft's pond, and he owned a very large tract of land in that vicinity, some of which is still in the family of his lineal descendants. He was one of the syndicate of ten which bought the town of Sutton, March 10, 1713. Children of Robert and Sarah Taft were: Thomas, see forward; Robert, Jr., born 1674, died April 29, 1748; Daniel, born 1677, died August 24, 1761 ; Joseph, born 1680, died June 18, 1747; Benjamin, born 1684, died 1766. All lived at Mendon.
(II) Thomas Taft, son of Robert Taft (1), was born perhaps in Ireland, in 1671, and died in Men- don, 1755. He married Deborah Genery, daughter of Isaac Genery, of Dedham, Massachusetts, and set- tled on a part of the original Taft farm, where he was associated with his father and brothers. He died intestate and his estate was administered in Worcester county probate court. The administra- tor's bond contains the signatures of his sons, Eleazer and Isaac Taft, dated June 16, 1757. Chil- dren of Thomas and Deborah Taft were: Joseplı, born May 26, 1693; Sarah, May 26, 1695; Eleazer, April 5, 1697, captain of the Mendon company ; his son Moses graduated from Harvard, 1751; Han- nah, April 17, 1699; Rebecca, May 15, 1701; Deb- orah, November 14, 1702; Rachel, October 1, 1704; Martha, June 15, 1708; Isaac, July 15, 1710; Su- sanna (twin), March 15, 1713; Thomas (twin), see forward.
( III) Thomas Taft, son of Thomas Taft (2), was born in Mendon, March 15, 1713. He also settled on a part of the original Taft farm. He mentions a eider mill that he owned in a bequest in his will, indicating that he had business inter- ests besides agriculture. The original Robert Taft was a staneh Puritan in religion, and the family has been distinguished for its piety. But this Thomas Taft had a disagreement or distrust for his min- ister, Rev. Mr. Willard, who had Taft suspended from communion "for repeatedly refusing to hear and casting contempt upon the church, particularly upon the pastor of said church, till he should make manifest repentance and reformation." Charges were preferred against the minister later, and al- though he was formally acquitted he was never- theless dismissed, and doubtless Taft, the leader of his opponents, returned to the communion table under the new minister.
Thomas Taft's will is dated August 28, 1773, twenty years before his death, and it was disallowed by the probate court, on the ground that he had deeded his real estate to his sons, so that the pro- visions of the will could not be executed. He wrote a good hand, but preferred small "t's" to capitals in spelling his name. It mentions his sons Nathaniel and Thomas who were to have the farm, and daugh- ters Lydia Taft and Hannah Penniman ; also grand- son, Marvel Taft, son of his daughter Lydia. He died early in 1793.
e
221
WORCESTER COUNTY
He married Lydia Thompson about 1732. Their children were: Nathaniel, born 1733, died young; Thomas, born 1736, died young; Keziah, born 1737, died young ; Lydia. born 1739-40, married - Pen- niman; Charity, born 1742, died young; Hannah, born 1745, died young ; Amariah, born 1747, died young ; Nathaniel, born February 13, 1750, married Abigail Holbrook; Deborah, born 1751, died young; Thomas, see forward; Genery, born June 3, 1750, died young.
(IV) Thomas Taft, tenth child of Thomas Taft (3), was born in Mendon, October 30, 1753, married there Mary Spring; married (second) there, June 16, 1793, Betsey Fletcher. His will is dated September 15, 1823, and was filed in court, 1835. the year of his death. Children of Thomas and Betsey Taft were: Arnold, born at Mendon; Stephen, Thomas, Jr., see forward; Amasa, Otis, Joanna, married -Wilson; Deborah, married - Twitchell; Samuel, Sylvia, married - Hayward; Polly, married Spring; Betsey, married - Taft. All were living in 1823, the date of the will.
(V) Thomas Taft, son of Thomas Taft (4), was born in Mendon, December 26, 1797, died there September 24, 1872. He lived on part of the origi- nal Taft farm, and in his will set aside the burial ground in perpetuity for the family use. He mar- ried, December 2, 1819, Mary Harkness. He calls his wife's name Mercy in the will. Children of Thomas and Mary Taft, all born in Mendon, were : Sullivan H., resided at Mendon; Alanson, horn Oc- tober 26, 1826, farmer and town officer at Mendon ; Samuel Harkness, born June 25, 1828, see forward ; Hannah, married Otis Nelson, of Milford; Susan, married - Hooper, of Milford ; Elizabeth, mar- ried Samuel Adams, of Barre; Mercy Ann, mar- ried - Emerson, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
(VI) Samuel Harkness Taft, son of Thomas Taft (5), was born in Mendon, June 25, 1828, died there February 4, 1903. He married Watec E. Wood, 1856 (intentions dated December 29, 1856). He was educated in the public schools of Mendon. He settled on a farm in Mendon and followed the example of his ancestors throughout his active life. Children of Samuel H. and Watee E. Taft, all born in Mendon and living in 1903, were: Samuel B., resides in Uxbridge; Frederick C., Silas, see for- ward; William J.
(VII) Silas Taft, son of Samuel Harkness Taft (6), was born on the homestead in Mendon, March 2, 1871. He was educated in the public schools there and for a time worked on his father's farm. He then went to work for his brother Cyrus, who had a grocery store in the adjoining town of Ux- bridge, Massachusetts. He hecame a partner and the store of Taft Brothers is the largest and most successful in the town. His other brothers, Will- iam J. and Samuel B. Taft are lawyers with their offices in Uxbridge and both have been prominent in town affairs as town officers, etc. Silas Taft is an active Republican. He is a Free Mason, and attends the Congregational Church.
He married, 1896, Nettie Crocker, daughter of George Crocker, of Uxbridge. Their children are: Curtis, Gladys, died young.
C. MYRON BOUTELL. C. Myron Boutell, a representative business man of Shrewsbury, is a na- tive of the city in which he now resides, born Jan- uary 28, 1852, a son of Samuel Billings and Mari- etta (Maynard) Boutell, grandson of William and
Polly (Dean) Boutell, the former of whom was a native of Townsend, Vermont, and grandson of William Boutell. William and Polly (Dean) Bou- tell were the parents of the following children : Jolin, Samuel, Earle, Polly, Eunice, married William N. Maynard, of Shrewsbury; Florette, married Har- rison Maynard, of St. Albans, Vermont; Nancy, married Harrison Davis, of Shrewsbury; Paul, re- sides in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and two who died in early youth. Samuel Billings Boutell ( father ) was born in Bakersfield, Vermont, January 11, 1826. and died in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, October 15. 1889. He resided in Shrewsbury for half a century. served as assessor for a number of years, and also
as a member of the school committee. He was a Republican in politics, and a consistent member of the Congregational Church. Samuel Billings Bou- tel and his wife were the parents of three children : C. Myron, see forward. George S., born December 24, 1858, at present a resident of Worcester, pro- prietor of an art store. Jennie M., born May 17, 1864, married William C. Freeman.
C. Myron Boutell began his education in the schools of Shrewsbury, his native city, and com- pleted his studies in the schools of St. Albans, Ver- mont. He then returned to Shrewsbury and at once went to work in the general store of which his father was proprietor, and since the death of the latter has successfully carried on the business. Be- ing a man of energy and enterprise, and possessing rare executive business ability, he has gained for himself a high position in the commercial circles of Shrewsbury. He takes an active interest in public affairs, and the confidence reposed in him by his fellowmen is evinced by the fact that he has served as town treasurer since 18So, a period of a quarter of a century, has held the office of collector of taxes for two decades, and is trustee of the Public Library. Mr. Boutell is a member of the Congregational Church, a stanch Republican, and a member of the Grange. He is related to ex-Governor George S. Boutell.
Mr. Boutell married, September 23, 1896, Clara Stella Bingham, born in Bakersfield, Vermont, Feb- ruary 5. 1867, a daughter of William O. and Nella M. (Perkins) Bingham, born May 16, 1836, and Alarch 6, 1844, respectively. Their children are : Doris M., born in Shrewsbury, May 23, 1898. Charles M., born in Shrewsbury, April 19, 1902.
WILLIAMS FAMILY. Alexander Gregory Will- iams, of Barre, Worcester county, Massachusetts, is a native of that town and a son of Elbridge G. Williams, who was born in Dana, Massachusetts, December 31, 1810, died in Barre, February 20, 1852, a son of Jason Williams, of Dana, who was born there and a descendant of an old Colonial family of New England. Elbridge G. Williams was by trade a hatter, and by later occupation a merchant, farmer and lumberman, in business for many years in Athol, Worcester county. His wife was Harriet Randall, born in Petersham, June 17, 1812, died August 22, 1886, having survived her husband thirty-four years. March 28, 1855, three years after the death of her first husband, Mrs. Williams married Nathan Woodis. Children of Elbridge G. Williams and Harriet Randall: 1. Alfred, born August 31, 1833, died December 29, 1837. 2. James, born December 27, 1835. 3. Elbridge, born December 2, 1837, died in Barre, April 25. 1892. 4. Alexander, born Feb- ruary 6, 1842, died November 16, 1848. 5. Lewis,
222
WORCESTER COUNTY
born April 13, 1844, died September 7, 1849. 6.
Gregory, born January 1, 1847, died November 13, 1848. 7. Alexander Gregory, see forward.
Alexander Gregory Williams, youngest son and child of Elbridge G. and Harriet ( Randall) Will- iams, was born in Barre, February 28, 1849, and when he was three years old his father died. His young life was spent at school and on the farm. He was given a good education in the public schools and at Highland Institute, the latter in Petersham. After leaving school he worked for his mother on the farm. When he came to his majority he started in business for himself on borrowed capital, and was remarkably successful in the beginning, saving seven hundred dollars in the first five months. This success encouraged still greater efforts and led to the establishment of a general dry goods business at Hubbardston, where, in the course of time, finan- cial disaster overwhelmed the proprietor, resulting in failure and not sufficient assets to pay off the in- debtedness. But in time all his creditors were sat- isfied and paid dollar for dollar, and Mr. Williams worked ten years to earn the money with which to make the payment. At the end of that ten years he did not owe a dollar, and had a little working cap- ital with which to start again. Accordingly, in company with Marshall Hillman, he bought a gen- eral store and began business in partnership. This was about 1882. In less than two years afterward Mr. Hillman died and Mr. Williams became sole proprietor of the business. About 1893 the store and stock were burned, and his loss amounted to twelve thousand dollars above insurance; the store was rebuilt and restocked and now is counted among the heaviest establishments of its kind in Worces- ter county outside the city of Worcester. Since the failure in Hubbardston the business has been conducted with gratifying snecess, and even the fire loss of twelve years ago did not disturb the finan- cial standing of the house.
Mr. Williams married Carrie R. Felton, born March 25. 1852, daughter of Nathan H. and Caro- line ( Williams) Felton, the latter a sister of Colonel W. A. Williams, of Worcester. Two children have been born to this marriage: I. Edward Felton, born in Hubbardston, November 21, 1872, married, June 16, 1897, Avis Greenwood, of Presque Isle, Maine, and has one child, Iris Belle Williams, born in Barre, July 2, 1898. 2. Robert Gregory, born in Barre. June 1, 1879, married Annie Torrey, daugh- ter of Joseph Torrey, of Worcester, and has two children, Elizabeth Torrey Williams, born in Barre, September 8, 1903, and Ruth Felton Torrey, born in Barre, January 9, 1905.
BENJAMIN D. DWINNELL. Michael Dwin- nell ( Dwinell, Dunnell) (1), was the immigrant an- cestor of Benjamin D. Dwinnell, of Fitchburg. It is difficult to tell how his name should have been spelled. Michael, his first name, is found in the early records spelled in many different ways. The surname is found in the records of Topsfield, Mas- sachusetts, alone spelled Dwenell, Duenell, Doenell, Donell. Dunell, Dwinnill. The best authority we have is that of Rev. Joseph Capen, of Topsfield, who spelled the name Dwinell on his records from 1684 to 1725. According to the family tradition the name is Scotch and the ancestry originally Scotch, and it may have been a family in England or Scotland for many generations. The names Donnel and Dun- nell are good old English and Scotch surnames. Michael Dwinnell was a man of means. Ile owned
land from Wenham to Middletown, many broad acres. He died in 1717 and his will was proved in March, 1717.
He married Mary - -. Their children : Mary, born 1668, married Jolin Hovey ; Michael, born 1670, of whom later; Thomas, born November, 1672, married Dinah Brimsdell; John, born 1674, married Mary Read; Elizabeth, born April, 1677, died Octo- ber 29, 1759, unmarried; Magdalen, born 1679, mar- ried James Holgate, March, 1703, at Salem, Massa- chusetts; Joseph, born January, 1682, married Pru- dence -; Susannah, born 1685, married -
Killum, before 1710; Johanna, born 1688, married Nathaniel Hood, of Lynn, October 16, 1706.
(II) Dr. Michael Dwinnell, son of Michael Dwinnell (1), was born in Topsfield, Massachu- setts, 1670. He was the first physician in the town and was a prominent man there for many years. He must have studied under some other doctor of the vicinity, but little is known of his education. The historian has preserved more of his matrimo- nial history than of his professional career, proba- bly because he had in succession five wives, which tradition has made seven in many places.
He married (first) Hannah He married (second) Elizabeth Fisk, of Wenham, December IO, 1724; she died March 26, 1730. He married (third) Elizabeth Cave; she died February, 1737. He married ( fourth), July 6, 1737, in Salem, Massa- chusetts, Charity Cotton, who died November 8, 1752. He married (fifth) Mary Balch, February I, 1753. He died December 24, 1761, aged ninety-one years. His will dated July 17, 1753, mentions wife Mary; sons Michael, Stephen, Jacob; his daughters Sarah Foster, Mary, Hannah, and Abigail Dwinnell ; his granddaughter Esther Balch, wife of David Balch.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.