Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. IV, Part 67

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 67

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).

(III) Edward Clark, seventh child of Benjamin Clark (2), was born November 1I, 1679, at Med- field, Massachusetts. He married, June 9, 1703, Han- nah Adams, daughter of Henry and Prudence (Frary) Adams. The grandfather of this Henry Adams was Henry Adams, of Braintree, the immi- grant ancestor of President John Adams and most of the Adams families. Hannah was born Octo- ber 14, 1635, and resided in Medfield, afterward Medway, Massachusetts. He died there July 3, 1746, and his wife died later. Their children: I. Hannah, born July 28, 1704, died October 24. 1742; married Jonathan Metcalf. 2. Edward, born August 18, 1707, died March 14, 1708. 3. Prudence, born March 16, 1709, died September 18, 1789; married, April 12, 1739. 4. Patience, born May 3, 1710. died July II, ISOI ; married Javath Adams. 5. Edward, born November 27, 1712. 6. David, see forward. 7. Ben- jamin, born January 6, 1717, died December 15, 1787. 8. Nathaniel, born March 16, 1718, died April 9. 1718. 9. Rebecca, born January 21, 1720, died March 23. 1786. 10. Elizabeth, born October 16. 1721. died July 7, 1759; married, June 21, 1743, George Barber. II. Sarah, born August 23, 1723, died August 2, 1761 ; married Joshua Harding. 12. John, born February 12. 1725. died February 15, 1801. 13. Elijah, born September 9, 1727. 14. Henry. born September 2, 1720.

(IV) David Clark, sixth child of Edward Clark (3), was born in Medway, Massachusetts, April 23. 1714. He married Mehitable and they settled in Medway where he died. July 8, 1787, and she died May 18, 19796. Children of David and Me- hitable Clark were: 1. David, see forward. 2. Eli, born August 31. 1839, died September 12, 1747. 3- Jonah, born April 16. 1741. 4. Mary, born 1743. died September 16, 1747. 5. Eunice, born January

249

WORCESTER COUNTY

IO, 1745, married Stephen Clark. 6. Setlı, born April 14, 1748, settled in Barre. 7. Mehitable, born May 6, 1751, married Manasseh Osgood, of Barre, Apirl 4, 1770, in Medway. 8. Dolly, born Decem- ber 19, 1755. 9. Sarah, born April 12, 1763.

(V) David Clark, eldest child of David Clark (4), was born September 27, 1737, at Medway, Mas- sachusetts. His uncle, Edward Clark, bought land at Petersham of Cook, September 18, 1754. Edward Clark, settled in Rutland and lived also in Rutland District. David Clark's father bought land in Petersham in 1752, but never settled there. David himself bought land December 27, 1762, and settled about the time of his marriage in Petersham, Mas- sachusetts. He married, October 29, 1761, Sarah Bacon, at Barre (Rutland District). She died De- cember 13, 1801. He married (second) (intentions November 25, 1802), Mrs. Mary Wilder, widow of Charles W. Wilder; she died April 18, 1837, aged ninety-four years. Deceased was a soldier in the revolution in Captain John Wheeler's company, of minutemen, Colonel Ephraim Doolittle's regiment, at the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775. He died at Petersham in 1810.

Children of David and Sarah Clark, all born in Petersham, were: I. Mary, born November 29, 1762, married Thomas Curtis, May 10, 1782. 2. Ely (or Eli), born December 11, 1764. married Catherine Robertson, January 17, 1787. 3. David, born June 17, 1766, married Phebe Dean, December 14. 1789. 4. Harding, born April 26, 1768; married Tryphena Babcock, November 20, 1794; married (second) Betsey Titus, 1799. 5. Sarah, born January 9, 1770, married, January 22, 1793, Peter Eames. 6. Solo- mon, see forward. 7. Lydia, born February 1, 1774, died April 13, 1776. 8. Rachel, born December 26, 1775, died May 18, 1796. 9. Lydia, born August 18, 1777, married, December 25, 1796, Luther Stowell. IO. William, born July 6, 1779. married, May 14. 1801, Susannah Babcock. 11. Josiah Bacon, born June 28, 1781, died November 3, 1781. 12. Nahum, born March 2, 1783, married (intentions filed) No- vember 2. 1811.

(VI) Solomon Clark, sixth child of David Clark (5), was born at Petersham, February 22, 1772. He was brought tip and educated at Peter- sham. He married there. June 6, 1792, Jemima Car- ruth. daughter of Jonas and Mary Carruth; she was born in Petersham May 3. 1771. She died and he married secondly a Hildreth, by whom was born one son Charles. About 1800 they removed to Chester- field, New Hampshire, and settled there. Eventu- ally his farm became one of the most valuable and productive and he became a large land owner. He was a blacksmith by trade and followed that busi- nees in connection with his farm. Children of Solo- mon and Jemima Clark were: Joseph, see forward. William, Harding, Solomon, Mary.

( VJI) Joseph Clark, eldest son of Solomon Clark (6), was born at Petersham, Massachusetts, August 6, 1792. He received his education in the schools of his native town. At Chesterfield, where the family settled about 1800, he attended the schools, helped his father in the blacksmith shop and on the farm, and when he became of age started in his own shop. He located at the center village at Chester- field and there built his home and shop. He also owned a farm. He was industrious and prudent in all of his affairs, was a man of high character and model citizenship. Early in his life he was a Con- gregationalist, later a very earnest and active Metho-

dist, a class-leader of his church and superintend- ent of the Sunday school. He was a teetotaler at a time when total abstinence was very rare. He was active in various temperance movements and often spoke in public in support of his principles. He was also active in the anti-slavery movement, being one of two men in Chesterfield, in 1844, who voted for anti-slavery men. In politics he was a Whig. In early life he belonged to the Chesterfield Light In- fantry and devoted much of his time to its inter- est. He died at Chesterfield, July 25, 1852.

He married (first) Fanny Carey, who died Feb- ruary 27, 1817. He married (second ) Polly Knee- land, who died May 7, 1850. She was the daughter of John and Mary (Johnson) Kneeland, of Chester- field, New Hampshire. Her father was the son of Timothy Kneeland, and was born in Harvard. John Kneeland was a man of marked ability and influence in Chesterfield. He was selectman sixteen years and a representative to the general court several years. Children of Joseph and Fanny Clark were : I. Laverna, born April 25, 1815, married, October 22, 1833, Charles C. Webster, of Salem, Massachu- setts. 2. Joseph Larkin, born February 8, 1817, died at Louisville, Kentucky, 1863; married Eliza C. Red- mond, of Louisville, Kentucky. Children of Joseph Clark and Polly (Mary) Kneeland were: 3. Henry Orestes, born June 1, 1819, died December 4, 1896. 4. Arza Kneeland, born February 9, 1823, died 1868. 5. Eliza A., born December 24, 1825. 6. Wilder Philander, see forward. 7. Helen Melvina, born July 1, 1835, married Monroe Leonard, April, 1855. 8. Julia Maria, born May 24, 1838, married Oscar E. Sargent.

(VIII) Wilder Philander Clark, son of Joseph Clark (7), was born in Chesterfield, New Hamp- shire, October 12, 1832. The early experience and training of Mr. Clark were those common to the lot of many successful men who have been reared in the country homes of New England. Attending the public schools of his native town and supplementing this instruction with a course in Chesterfield Acad- emy, then an institution of high standing, his school advantages were measured more by industry and application than by months or years of study. In the autumn of 1848, when he was sixteen years of age, he found employment in the store of B. L. Marsh & Company, in Boston, where he worked for the ensuing four years. In the meantime Mr. Marsh retired from the firm, and in connection with Eben D. Jordan founded the well known house of Jordan, Marsh & Company. Mr. Clark was eminently suc- cessful and enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his employers and his associates. In 1852 the engage- nent was terminated by a severe illness. He spent a year in Texas and returned, with health restored, to Boston, where from 1853 to 1857 he was a sales- man in the employ of Porter & Lawrence and of Locke, Hall & Company, dry goods houses, on Ilan- over street.

In 1857 Mr. Clark made his first essay in busi- ness on his own account. He bought and sold with apparent advantage a stock of goods on Hanover street, and while contemplating the employment of his modest capital in future business, he saw it melt away in the failure of his purchaser to meet the notes given in exchange for the stock of goods. In the common tisage of the term, Mr. Clark did not fail. and no creditors attended him in misfor- ttine. Ile simply lost most of the fruit of his early labor and the rewards of a few years of self-denial

250

WORCESTER COUNTY

and industry. The career of many successful busi- ness man has been prefaced by misfortune and it is probable that lessons of caution and prudence thus acquired have compensated the loss of capital.

In May, 1858, Mr. Clark came to Winchendon. During the ensuing three years he was employed by E. Murdock, Jr., wholesale dealer and extensive manufacturer of wooden-ware. The succeeding three years he was again engaged in the dry goods busi- ness and was with the firmns of William Locke & Company of Portland. Maine and Hall, Dame & Company of Boston. In February, 1864, he returned to Winchendon and renewed his business relations with Mr. Murdock, which were continued until 1872, when he began business in Winchendon on his own account as a wholesale dealer in wooden-ware and in manufacturers' supplies. During the preceding years of close application, Mr. Clark had received a liberal salary and had saved an adequate capital for his purpose. He commenced business under favor- able auspices and from the first has been successful. For many years Winchendon has been an import- ant center in the sale and distribution of wooden- ware, and the business of Mr. Clark became in a few years the largest in his special line in New England. In 1883, after the death of Mr. Murdock, he bought the entire manufacturing property of Murdock and Fairbanks and since then has continued that business with success. He has mills at Winch- endon and at East Swanzey. New Hampshire.

While he has been actively and closely engaged in his business, he has accepted several positions of responsibility and trust. He was director of the Safety Fund National Bank of Fitchburg for six years. Since 1873 he has been a trustee and a mem- ber of the board of investment of the Winchendon Savings Bank; since 1902 he has been its president. He is well known in Masonic circles. He was made a master Mason in Aurora Lodge of Fitchburg, in April, 1861. He was a charter member of Artisan Lodge of Winchendon, chartered in 1865. Of the latter he was worshipful master three years. He is also a member of North Star Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. In politics Mr. Clark is a Republican. He represented his district in the general court in 1877- 79-83, serving on the finance and insurance com- mittees. He was a state senator from his district in 1891-92, serving on various committees; in 1891 was chairman of the committee on printing, com- mittee on drainage, committee of the treasury and on the joint-committee on expenditures. In 1802 he was chairman of the drainage, treasurer, expendi- tures and manufactures.

A friend of Mr. Clark writes: "Mr. Clark is a man of keen perception and ready judgment, and . while he thinks quickly, he acts cautiously. His qualities are eminently practical, and his resources are at his command. His success has not been the fruit of hazardous enterprise, nor the result of for- tuitous circumstances. From the beginning he aims at well-defined results, and he has the force of character and executive ability to attain them. With such industry and qualities of mind he would have been equally successful in any other calling. Frank and direct in his habits of speech and conduct, his convictions are well defined and always attended with courage of expression. In his relations with his fellow-men, he is affable, kind and attentive to the demands of society and friendship. The achieve- ments of his life and the esteem of his associates. which has never been withheld, are the legitimate

rewards of a commendable ambition and an honor- able conduct."

He married, February 3, 1864, Mary C. Merrill, of Belfast, Maine. They have three children: Mur- dock Merrill, see forward; Mary Wilder, born June II, 1873; Maurice Leonard, born July 13, 1875.

(VIII) Henry Orestes Clark, son of Joseph Clark (7), and eldest brother 'of Wilder P. Clark, was born at Chesterfield, New Hampshire, June 1, 1819. He received his education in the common schools of his native town. At the age of seventeen years he began to drive stage between Brattleboro, Vermont, and Walpole, New Hampshire, residing at Walpole during the greater part of the time between 1837 and 1849. When the Cheshire railroad was completed as far as Bellows Falls he was appointed station agent at Walpole, a position he held from 1849 to 1856, when he was transferred to Winchen- don, Massachusetts, to succeed Charles L. Beals, the present treasurer of the Winchendon Savings Bank. Here he remained for thirty years, when on account of failing health he resigned. After his wife's death, March 13, 1890, he lived with his son, Henry W. Clark, until he died. December 4, 1896, aged seventy- six years, six months, four days. Mr. Clark was a Congregationalist in religion and in politics a Re- publican. He was a member of Manomonack Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 121, at Winchendon, and its treasurer for many years.

He married Hannah Willard, of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, born March 13, 1817, died Marchi 13, 1890. Their children were: I. Hannah, born April 18, 1840, married Theodore K. Parker, of Winchendon. 2. Henry Willard, see forward. 3. Wallace Reuben, born November II, 1844, died September 2, 1864, from injuries received in an ac- cident on the Wilmington & Baltimore railroad.

(IX) Murdock Merrill Clark, son of Wilder P. Clark (8), was born at Belfast, Maine, December 9, 1867. He received his education in the public schools of Winchendon, Massachusetts, graduating from the high school in 1883. He also attended the Cushing Academy at Ashburnham, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1887. He then went to Poughkeepsie, New York, to take a course in East- man's Business College. Even in his school days he took an active interest in his father's business and in 1888 entered his employ and learned the business. He was first shipping clerk, then traveling salesman and bookkeeper. In 1901 he organized the Clark Bobbin Company and was elected its treasurer. He is also treasurer of the Winchendon Spool and Bobbin Company. He is president of the Home- stake Lumber and Mineral Company, a zinc pro- ducing property of Arkansas; vice-president of the Banner Placer Mining & Milling Company in Breck- enridge. Colorado, and vice-president of the Buffalo. Placer Mining and Milling Company of Dillon, Col- orado, both gold producing properties.

He is a member of the Church of the Unity (Unitarian) and has been on its standing committee for the past ten years. In politics he is a Republican and has frequently served his party as delegate to various conventions, but has been too engrossed in his business to accept public office himself. He was made a Master Mason in Artisan Lodge. A. F. and A. M., November 28, 1893. He received the Chapter degrees in North Star Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, April 19, 1807. He is a member of Ivan- hoe Commandery of Knights Templar of Gardner, Massachusetts. He is a member of Aleppo Temple,

Murdocken Clark

251

WORCESTER COUNTY

Order of the Mystic Shrine. He has passed the chairs in Watatic Tribe, No. 85, Order of Red MIen, and has been great representative to the Great Coun- cil of the United States. He also belongs to Avon Club of Winchendon, Winchendon Country Club, New England Confectioners' Club, Home Market Club of Boston. He is a member of the corpora- tion of Winchendon Savings Bank.

Mr. Clark married, May 23, 1894, May Crawford, born September 19, 1869, in Boston, Massachusetts, daughter of Alexander and Mary Ann (Allen) Crawford. Her father, Alexander Crawford, was born April 8, 1825, and her mother, Mary Ann Crawford, September 24, 1829. Children of Mur- dock Merrill and May Clark are: Wilder Craw- ford, born March 17, 1897; Louisa, born January 5, 1899.

(IX) Henry Willard Clark, son of Henry Orestes Clark (8), was born at Walpole, New Hampshire, June 11, 1842. He attended the com- mon schools there until fourteen years of age. when his parents removed to Winchendon where he con- tinued in the grammar school and high school until 1860, when he entered the employ of the Cheshire Railroad Company at Winchendon as clerk and tele- graph operator under his father. He left this posi- tion July, 1862, to enlist in the army. He was mustered in Company I, Ninth New Hampshire Volunteers, under Colonel Enoch Q. Fellows, Au- gust II, 1862. Before going to the front he was detailed on detached service at Arlington Heights as telegraph operator. He went to the front later with his regiment which was in the Second Divi- sion of the Ninth Army Corps. He took part in the battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862, under General Burnside. He was also in the battle of Antietam. He was later detailed as chief clerk at brigade-quartermaster's department, where he served until the close of the war. He was mustered out June 10, 1865. He returned home and immediately was offered the position of general agent for the Cheshire Railroad Company with offices at No. 82 Washington street, Boston, a position that he filled for sixteen years. He was then for a short time in the auditor's department of the New York and New England Railroad Company. In 1881 Mr. Clark came to Winchendon as bookkeeper for his uncle, Wilder P. Clark, a position that he has filled ever since. He has been active in the service of and manager of the business for many years, and is one of the influential business men of the town.

He is an active member of the Church of the Unity (Unitarian) and is at present moderator of the parish. In politics he is a Republican and has frequently served as a delegate to party conventions. For the past seven years he has been the town audi- tor. He is past commander of Gilman C. Parker Post, No. 153, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been the adjutant for ten years. He is a member of Bunker Hill Lodge, No. 14. Odd Fel- lows, of Charlestown, Massachusetts, which he joined in 1866; and of Bunker Hill Encampment, No. 5, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which he joined in 1867; he has passed the chairs of both of these organizations. In 1881 he was elected grand mas- ter of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows in Massa- chusetts. In 1882 elected for two years the grand representative in the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the United States. He is at present the district deputy grand master of the Sixty-sixth district, a position he has held since 1900. Few Odd Fellows

are more widely known or more popular than Mr. Clark. He is past sachem of the Watatic Tribe, No. 85, of Red Men. He is a member of Home Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, at Winchendon; of Winchendon Grange, Patrons of Husbandry; of Avon Club; is secretary of the Ninth New Hamp- shire Veteran Association, and president of the New Hampshire Veteran Association.

He married (first), October 23, 1866, Mary K. Farrar, of Winchendon, daughter of George L. and Saphronia (George) Farrar. Her father was in the livery business at Winchendon many years. Mr. Clark married (second), June 11, 1890, Flora T. Weston, daughter of John H. and Sarah ( Newhall) Weston, of East Boston, and they had one son- . Weston Newhall, born July 9, 1892. He married (third) Frances C. King, daughter of Hollis and Jane Elizabeth (Derby) King, of Marlboro, Vermont.

JOSEPH LORING BARNES. In common with all others of this name in Hardwick, Joseph Loring Barnes is a lineal descendant of Thomas Barnes, an Englishman, who landed in Boston from the ship "Speedwell" in 1636, and subsequently settled in Marlboro, where he died in 1679. He married Abigail Goodnow, daughter of Thomas Goodnow, and was the father of Thomas, Dorothy, John, Will- iam, Abigail and Susanna. From Thomas, the im- migrant, the line of descent is through Thomas (2), Samuel (3), Moses (4), Jesse (5), Eli (6), Harvey (7), to Joseph Loring (8).

Thomas Barnes, son of Thomas and Abigail Barnes, was born in Marlboro, March 23, 1662. His property in Marlboro was destroyed by the Indians during King Philip's war in 1675-76, and in 1691 he moved to Brookfield, settling upon a grant of forty acres of land, which he improved. That property he afterwards sold and went to reside with his son Comfort. When seventy-two years old he was attacked by an infuriated bull, and died from the effects of his injuries, April 23, 1734. In 1685 he married Mary, daughter of Samuel and Martha How, of Sudbury. She died February 4, 1719. Their children were: Martha, Samuel, Prudence, Lydia, Thankful, Noah and Comfort.

Samuel Barnes, son of Thomas and Mary Barnes, was granted forty acres of land at Matchuck, 1710, and afterward became quite an extensive real estate holder in Brookfield, owning in all some three hun- dred and fourteen acres. He was elected town treas- urer and was serving in that capacity at the time of his death, which occurred October 7, 1733. His wife was before marriage Mercy Gilbert, daugliter of Deacon Henry Gilbert. The children of this union were: John, Moses, Miriam, Mary, Hannah, Abi- gail, Aaron, Lucy and Rachel. Mrs. Mercy Barnes married for her second husband Thomas Gilbert, and after his death she became the wife of Josiah Converse, Esq.

Moses Barnes, son of Samuel and Mercy Barnes, was born in Brookfield. March 27, 1714. He mar- ried Hannah Old or Olds, and had a family of fourteen children, namely : Sarah, Samuel, Marcy, Miriam, Nathan, Jesse, Hannah, Moses, William, Elizabeth, Comfort, Mary, Patience and one other. The father died April 28, 1802, surviving his wife, whose death occurred January 31, 1797.

Jesse Barnes, son of Moses and Hannah Barnes, was born in Brookfield, November 7, 1744. He re- moved from that town to Hardwick about the

252

WORCESTER COUNTY

year 1780, according to Paige's History of Hardwick, but other information at hand states that he went there as early as 1763. He was married in the latter year, and as all of his children, excepting the youngest, were born in Brookfield, the writer is of the opinion that Mr. Paige's date is undoubtedly the most authentic. Jesse Barnes owned and cul- tivated a farm in the westerly section of Hardwick. He died November 18, 1823. llis marriage to Pa- tience Gilbert took place in Brookfield, December 8, 1703, and her death occurred in Hardwick, July 4, 1821. The children of Jesse and Patience were : Jonas, Miriam, Eli, Lydia, Adonijah, Betsey and Lucy.

Eli Barnes, son of Jesse and Patience Barnes, was born June 26, 1768. He resided in Hardwick and his house was destroyed by fire March 12, 1810. He died April 30, 1845, and his wife, Polly ( Merritt) Barnes, whom he married July 21, 1789, died March 29, 1848, aged seventy-seven years. The writer was unable to find the birth-dates of Eli and Polly's children, but is quite sure that they were the parents of Polly, who died May 17, 1811, aged sixteen years ; and also Eli and Harvey.

Harvey Barnes, son of Eli and Polly Barnes, married Harriet Gregg, of Boston, who became the mother of fourteen children, the first born of whom in infancy. The others were: Irene G., born Oc- tober 1, 1831; Sarah A., May 30, 1833; Franklin H., May 11, 1835; Delia, September, 1837; Wilder U., February 12, 1840; Adeline, July 25 (or Novem- ber 12), 1841; Joseph Loring, see forward; Abigail, July 25, or November 12, 1845; George L., January 25, or November 25, 1847; a daughter born Febru- ary 28, 1850, and died the next day; Caroline, May 23, 1852; Ellen L., January 6, 1855, and Frederick, January 23, 1858. Irene G. married Micah Graves, of Hardwick. Sarah A. became the wife of Augus- tus Graves, of Dana. Franklin H. married Mary A. Hayden, of Ware. Delia married Benjamin Tomlinson, of Hartford, Connecticut. Adeline mar- ried A. Wells Stacey. Abigail married Latham Avery, of Syracuse, New York. Caroline married Edward Davis, of Swanzey, New Hampshire. Wilder U., settled in Brookfield in 1867; he mar- ried Rhoda J. Fay, of Hardwick, and his children are : Frederick, Jennie Maria, George Hammond, Herbert Wells and Addie Louisa. He served in the civil war as a private in Company K, Forty-sec- ond Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, which was attached to the Department of the Gulf. Company K was employed in the construction of pontoon bridges and at the capture of Port Hudson distin- guished itself by laying a bridge while under fire.

Joseph Loring Barnes was born at Hardwick, November 12, 1843. After concluding his attendance at the public schools, he turned his attention to agriculture. He is still engaged in that occupation, in connection with which he carries on a black- smith's shop. Politically he acts with the Republi- can party. In his religious belief he is a Congre- gationalist and was formerly very active in church work. Ile is a member of the Greenville Grange. Patrons of Ilusbandry. On November 24, 1885, Mr. Barnes married Ellen Blake, daughter of James Allen Blake.

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.

Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. IV, Part 67

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