Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. IV, Part 79

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 79

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( VII) George William Johnson, son of Samuel Johnson (6), was born in Boston, December 27, 1827. He was educated in the famous old Chauncy Hall school and at the Boston Latin school. In his seventeenth year he entered the importing and jobbing house of Deane & Davis, Boston, and upon attaining his majority became a partner in the firm, the name becoming Deane, Davis & Company and later Davis, Johnson & Company. ' In 1850 this partnership was dissolved, Mr. Johnson having ac- cepted a proposition to engage in the Mediterranean trade, and soon afterward he sailed for Smyrna and other parts of the Levant. Upon his return, how- ever, eight months later, he found the firm with which he was connected had become insolvent and he was obliged to change his plans. During the next five years he was abroad the greater part of the time, partly for pleasure, partly for business,

visiting England, China and South America. In April, 1856, he went to Brookfield, the home of his maternal ancestors, to which he was much attached, for a temporary residence, and the following year, after his marriage, he decided to make his permanent home there.

In 1860 he decided to study law and for that purpose entered the law office of J. Evarts Greene, of North Brookfield, late the editor of the Il'orces- ter Spy and postmaster, at the time of his death, of the city of Worcester. Mr. Johnson completed his studies in the office of the distinguished Boston lawyer, Peleg W. Chandler. Mr. Johnson was ad- mitted to the Suffolk bar in 1863 and immediately opened his office in Brookfield. To his law busi- ness he added that of negotiating loans for eastern capitalists on real estate in Chicago. For a time the two branches of his business were conducted to- gether comfortably, but in course of time his fre- quent absence from home to attend the Chicago matters interfered with his law practice, and in 1868 he closed his Brookfield law office and devoted all his attention to financial operations.

In 1870 he entered the manufacturing field, en- gaging in the manufacturing of shoes and boots in Brookfield, in partnership with Levi Davis, under the firm name of Johnson & Davis. Two years later the firm name was changed to Johnson, Davis & Forbes. The business was continued until 1878, when, the factory having been destroyed by fire and the shoe trade depressed, the firm was dissolved and its affairs wound up. Mr. Johnson resumed his law practice and the Chicago loan business. A few years later he retired from the professional work and has since then lived in the enjoyment of a well earned ease.

In the local affairs of Brookfield Mr. Johnson has always taken an active part and was for many years prominent in state affairs. He was chairman of the board of selectmen of Brookfield and of the school committee for a long period. He was one of the trustees of the Merrick Library for many years from its foundation. In 1868 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago, and twelve years later was an alternate to the convention which nominated Garfield. He has served in both branches of the state legislature, beginning as a senator for the third Woreester district in 1870, and was member of the house in 1877 and 1880. In the senate he was a member of the committees on pro- bate and chancery, on the library, on woman suf- frage, and was especially active in opposing the state grant to the old Hartford & Erie Railroad, later the New York & New England, now operated by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Com- pany. In the house, during the first term, he served on the committee on finance and his second term on finance and also on rules and orders, and as house chairman of the committee on fisheries. In 1877, by appointment of Governor Rice, he became one of the inspectors of the state primary school at Monson, and under the act of 1879, organizing the board of state charities, he was appointed a trustee of the state primary and reform schools and served several years as chairman of the board. In 1887 he was a member of the executive council, was re-elected for years 1888 and 1889, served the entire length of Governor Ames' term in the governorship, taking a leading hand in a number of important mat- ters. He was on the committee on pardons and on the special committee for the purchase of land and making plans and estimates for the state house ex-

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tension, since carried into effect. On the latter committee his services were especially efficient. Ow- ing to the illness of the governor, who was on the committee, and the early retirement of the third member, the entire work of carrying through a num- ber of delicate business transactions fell upon him, and all interested bore testimony to his satisfactory conduct of them. Every purchase was made with- out the intervention of brokers, thus saving to the state the cost of commissions.

1n 1889, he was a leading candidate in the Re- publican state convention for the nomination for lieutenant-governor, with the endorsement of a strong list of supporters, and on the first ballot re- ceived three hundred and thirty-seven votes, a good portion of them coming from Boston delegates. But the choice of the convention finally fell on an- other candidate, and in the campaign following he gave his successful competitor his heartiest support. In December, 1889, he was appointed to the state board of lunacy and charity, on which he served up to 1898, occupying the position of chairman from 1802. In the presidential election of 1892 he was chosen one of the presidential electors, and as a member of the electoral college cast his vote for Benjamin Harrison.

Mr. Johnson married, February 24, 1857. Mary Ellen Stowell, daughter of E. C. Stowell of Chi- cago. Their children: Clara S., born June 7, 1861. married Loammi C. Thomps n. June 7, 1882, and their children were: Phillip Stowell, born Septem- bar 14, 1883. deceased; Abbot Howe, born July 5. 1885, attending the Massachusetts Technical In- stitute ; George William, born December 6, 1886, de- ceased. Mary Abbot, born October 22, 1862, died .August 1, 1864. George H., born September 15. 1804. died in Columbia, Mississippi, December 6. 1993. Married Mr. Eliza Fletcher, June 14, 1898, and their children were: Mary Ellen, born April 14. 1899; Clara Stowell, bern August 17, 1900 ; Ethel, born November 8, 1902. Alice Robbins, mar- ried William A. Clark, of Northampton, Massachu- setts, September 30, 1897, and their children were : Alan Robbins, born February 16, 1900; Marion Phillips, born March 27, 1903. Ethel, born March 14. 1869. Harold A., born September 15, 1873, mar- ried Cora B. Meyerstein, June 1, 1904, and they have one child. Harold A., born January 2, 1905. Marion P., born April 26, 1875, died June 29, 1899.

DUTCHER FAMILY. Dierck Cornelisser Dutcher (or Duyster) ( 1), the immigrant ancestor of the Dutcher family of Hopedale, Massachusetts, was one of the early Dutch settlers of New Nether- lauds ( New York ). He was under commissioner at Fort Orange during the first years of the colony on Manhattan Island. In his history of New Neth- erlands, ()'Callaghan mentions Dutcher as one of the purchasers in 1630 of a large tract of land for Kiliaen Van Rensselaer.

He came from Holland to New Netherlands, but the Dutcher family ab ut a century before, perhaps less. according to well authenticated tradition, emi- grated from France, where they were persecuted be- cause they were Huguenots. The name is to be found in the sixteenth century records and archives of France. Through the centuries the spelling has va- ried, the more common ways of spelling being Duchier. Duyster, Duyscher, Deutscher. There was a Jean Duchier. Lord of the Council in France, in the seventeenth century. The French coat-of-arms of the family is: Azure, a crane or, holding a stone

argent in claw ; a chief charged with three roses, gules. In all the early records of Albany and Ulster counties the name is spelled with the prefix de, which appears to corroborate the family tradi- tion as to the French origin of the family. Cor- nelius de Duyster. the first of the name found after the Commissioner, appears to be his son. There is apparently evidence enough to establish the rela- tionship.

( II ) Cornelius Dutcher, son of Dierck Cor- nelisser Duyster or Dutcher ( 1), was born probably in New Amsterdam about 1630. We learn from a mortgage dated March 10, 1692-3 that he settled in Hurley, a town just west of Kingston, New York, and that his wife's name was Leonora. Several of their children are recorded in the Kingston church in original Dutch. Among their children was Roelof, born 1669, at Marbletown. New York, then called Moonet.

(II ) Roelof de Duyster (Dutcher), son of Cornelius Dutcher (2), was born in Marbletown, New York in 1669. He married about 1695, Janetjie Bressie, who was born in Albany, New York. They settled in Kingston, New York, The wife's ances- tors were of the same stock-French Huguenots driven to Holland. About 1720 Dutcher removed to Connecticut with a Dutchman named Van Dozens and an Englishman named White. They settled in that part of the town of Salisbury, Connecticut, then called by the Indian name of Weatog, or Weatogue. The three families were related by marriage. About 1740 there were eleven English and five Dutch fami- lies in the town. Two of the Dutch families were Dutchers, one Van Dozens, and the other the Knick- erbocker family, into which the Dutchers married. Roelof Dutcher's house was on the Cornwall road, and being of stone was used as a garrison house during Indian troubles. Cornelius Knickerbocker lived at the Furnace, and the Van D: zens lived be- tween the ponds in the northern part of the town. Dutcher's house is said by the "History of Salis- bury" ( Barber) to have been the first framed house in the town. It was built in 1726. About 1739 or 1740 Rrelof Dutcher died. A large family of chil- dren born to Roelof and Janet Dutcher was bap- tized in Kingston before 1720.

(IV) Gabriel Dutcher, youngest son of Roelof born Dutcher (3), was at Kingston, New York, about 1720. He inherited his due por-

tion of the estate of his father at Salis- bury. The town of Salisbury was sold to settlers by the gvernor and company in 1737, having been divided into twenty-five rights in 1732. The settle- ments known as Weatogue and Ousatonic comprised the town of Salisbury, incorporated in 1745. Ga- briel Dutcher married the daughter of Cornelius Knickerbocker. Elizabeth Knickerbocker. She was the granddaughter of Harman Janse Knickerbocker, of Dutchess county, New York, formerly an offi- cer in the Dutch navy under Admirals Van Tromp and De Ruyter. Their children were all born in Salisbury, Connecticut. John Dutcher, the young- est, born January 5. 1759, married Silvey Beardsley, a descendant of William Beardsley, the immigrant, born in England 1605. settled in 1635 at Stratford, Connecticut. One of Jolin Dutcher's sons was Parcefor Carr Dutcher, the father of Hon. Silas B. Dutcher, of New York. Parcefor Dutcher mar- ried Johanna Low Frink. Another son was Benja- min, mentioned below. Gabriel Dutcher returned to Dutchess county in 1759 and died there.

PUBLIC

Was Harren'H. Julcher. .

Marion Ir Duteria-

Bank & Dutcher

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(V) Benjamin Duteher, son of Gabriel Duteher (4), was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, July, 1742. In 1759 he removed with the family to Dutchess county, New York, where his father had lived be- fore settling in Connecticut. He married Thankful Benson, who was born 1752, probably of German ancestry. She was a woman of remarkable ingenu- ity and resourcefulness. They made their home at White Creek, New York, and afterward at Shaftsbury, Vermont, where she died June, 1811, and he died August, 1826. The elder children were born in New York state, the younger in Ver- mont. The children : 1. John, born September, 1775, died unmarried at Shaftsbury, April, 1832. 2. Peter, mentioned below. 3. Seth, settled near Syraeuse, New York. 4. Patty, married Eli Goddard and settled in Marcellus, New York. 5. Charlotte, mar- ried Thomas Fowler and settled at White Creek, New York. 6. Christine, born in Shaftsbury, died unmarried. 7. David, married Asenath Fish and settled at White Creek, New York. 8. Phebe, died unmarried, September 28, 1812, at Shaftsbury, Vermont.

(VI) Peter Dutcher, second child of Benjamin Duteher (5), was born in White Creek, New York, March 1, 1778. He married, September 5, 1801, Lucy Slye, daughter of James and Meribah ( Brown ) Slye, and she was born March 10, 1785. She was deseended from an old New England tamily. Her father, who was a farmer by occupation, was generally known by his military title of captain. He was a self-educated man, but was an earnest and effective preacher in the Baptist denomination. He died at North Bennington, Vermont, January 29, 1850. His wife died at Shaftsbury, Vermont, April 9, 1841. Of their twelve children the following grew to maturity: 1. Elihu C., born November 9, 1802, mentioned below. 2. Diantha, born October 18, 1804; married Pierpont E. Ball, at North Benning- ton, Vermont, August 20, 1837. 3. Julia, born April 22, 1807, unmarried; resided in Hopedale. 4. Sa- mantha, born August 14, 1809; died at North Ben- nington, Vermont, August 8, 1855. 5. Warren W., mentioned below. 6. Asa M., born May 3, 1815; married. October 12, 1867, Isabella Hayes, and set- tled at Chillicothe, Ohio ; he died November 15, 1874. 7. Anna M., born November 21, 1817; died at Hope- dale, Massachusetts, March 26, 1868, unmarried. 8. Sylvia, born November 28, 1820, died at North Ben- nington, August 27, 1864. 9. Reuben C., born No- vember 4, 1823; died at Shaftsbury, Vermont, Jan- uary 18, 1828.

( VII) Elihu C. Dutcher, eldest child of Peter Dutcher (6), was born November 9, 1802. He married Sarah Ploss of Hoosick. New York, March 15, 1827. He learned the trade of wagon maker ; later he studied for the ministry and was ordained as a Baptist clergyman. He was obliged to work at his trade during the carly days when his denomina- tion was small and poor. He was pastor of the church at Pownal, Vermont, and Williamstown, Massachusetts, as well as in various other towns. I11 1847 he removed to North Bennington, Vermont, and devoted his attention to mechanical pursuits. 11 1850, in connection with his brother Warren Whit- ney Dutcher, he perfected and patented the famous "Dutcher Temple." The brothers jointly engaged. in the manufacture of their valuable loom-temples and continued with signal success up to 1854. At that time E. D. & G. Draper of Hopedale, pur- chased the interest of Elihu C. Dutcher and shortly afterward arranged with their partner, Warren W.

Duteher, to remove to Hopedale with his family. Rev. Elihu C. Dutcher bought a valuable estate in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and removed thither, but died of Asiatic cholera the second day after reach- ing his new home.

(VII) Warren Whitney Dutcher, fifth child of Peter (7), was born in Shaftsbury, Vermont, July 4, 1812. Ile received a common school education and picked up the trade of machinist. In 1847 he became associated with his brother, Rev. Elihu C. Dutcher, and together they perfected and patented the famous Dutcher Temple in 1850. They started at once upon a profitable business career manufactur- ing and selling their temples, which had an important effect on the manufacturing world. It became essen- tial to the business of the Drapers to acquire this patent. They bought the interests of the senior partner, and after a short time persuaded the junior partner to remove his machinery and to make his home in Hopedale. He removed to Hopedale in May, 1856, and took up the manufacture of temples. Mr. Dutcher had charge of the manufacture in the Draper shops. The firm of E. D. & G. Draper acted as sales agents. In 1867 the business was incorpor- ated under the title of the Duteher Temple Com- pany. The following year George Draper & Son succeeded E. D. & G. Draper in the selling depart- mient of the business. Mr. Duteher continued in charge of the manufacture of the temples. Mr. Dutcher beeame identified with the Hopedale in- dustries and contributed largely to its great success. He and his brother rank high among the beneficent inventors of the nineteenth century. Their deviee benefited the whole human race by making cloth cheaper and better.

He died January 26, 1880. Rev. Adin Ballou wrote of him: "He contributed largely to the up- building of his adopted village. Ile left a bright and memorable record for mechanical ingenuity, manufacturing enterprise, moral rectitude and bene- factions bestowed ou suffering humanity. His wife was no less distinguished for her matronly virtues, social worth and charities to the poor * * * Their worthy children survive them in honorable standing among us." 'He was esteemed by all elasses for his kindly and considerate ways and gentle manners.

He married, October 10, 1841, Malinda Amelia Toombs, the daughter of Lyman and Eleanor (Stearns) Toombs. She was born in Hoosic. New York, July 19, 1821, and died in Hopedale, Febru- ary 9, 1888. Her maternal grandfather was Cap- tain William Stearns, a soldier in the revolution, who died at Jamestown, New York, February 13, 1834, in his eightieth year, greatly eulogized by his townsmen. The Stearns family is descended from a pioneer at Watertown, Massachusetts, among the first settlers. The children of Warren Whitney and Malinda Amelia Dutcher were: 1. Charles Volney, born at Shaftsbury, Vermont, April 23, 1848, died October 25, 1848. 2. Frank Jerome, born at North Bennington, Vermont, July 21, 1850, men- tioned below. 3. Grace Mary, born at North Ben- nington, July 17, 1853; she resides at the homestead in Hopedale.

(VIII) Frank Jerome Dutcher, only surviving son of Warren Whitney Dutcher (7) was born in North Bennington, Vermont, July 21, 1850. He was a young boy when his parents removed to Hope- dale and he attended the public schools there. He entered his father's mill in 1868, and has been con- nected with the Draper Company ever since. He

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learned the business of manufacturing temples, and became treasurer of the Dutcher Temple Company, a position that he held until the consolidation of the business in 1897, when he became assistant agent of the new corporation. He is also interested in other business and financial enterprises. He is a director of the Home National Bank of Milford, and president of the Shaw Stocking Company of Lowell. He has always taken an active part in town affairs since the foundation of Hopedale, having been on the school committee from the first. He was for a number of years chairman of the Repub- lican town committee. He has been a justice of the peace by appointment of successive governors since June 23. 1874. MIr. Ballou called him a man "of genius, intelligence and integrity."

He married, June 27, 1877, Martha Maria Grim- wood, daughter of Israel and Mary M. ( McDonald) Grimwood of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She was born in Providence, Rhode Island, March 21, 1855 Their children are: I. Warren Whitney, born Au- gust 29, 18So, and bearing the honored name of his grandfather. 2. Daisy A., born November 28, 1881. 3. Ruth C., born April 21, 1887.

BASCOM FAMILY. Thomas Bascom (I), the immigrant ancestor of Harry Chester Bascom, Esq .. of Leominster, Massachusetts, came from England to Dorchester, Massachusetts, as early as 1634, for he was a proprietor of that town November 22, 1634. Of his ancestry or birthplace the family his- torian found no positive evidence. According to Bishop Henry Bidleman Bascom, one of his de- scendants, the family was French. He wrote: "It would seem from family records and tradition that I am paternally descended from a French Hugue- not family which, driven from France by the revoca- tion of the Edict of Nantes, settled in one of the border counties near the Clyde. It appears further that three brothers, descendants of this family, dur- ing the civil disturbances and religious oppressions which drove so many of the English Puritans from the land of their birth. emigrated to the then new and feeble colonies of North America. Two of the brothers remained ; the third, being dissatisfied, re- moved to one of the English West Indies islands. The remaining two settled in Massachusetts." A family of Bascoms of undeniably French extraction has been prominent in the West Indies, and another family of the name is prominent in the Barbadoes, of French descent, but not known to be closely re- lated to the other family in the Bermudas. The name is said to be common in the vicinity of the Clyde in England and Scotland.

Thomas Bascom removed from Dorchester in 1630 to Windsor, Connecticut, one of the second com- pany that settled in that place. No record of his marriage or of the birth of his eldest daughter Hannah has been found: both those events took place undoubtedly before he went to Windsor. Three of the children were born in Connecticut, where he resided until 1656, when he removed to Northhamp- ton, Massachusetts, and was one of the early settlers of that town. He and his wife were admitted to full communion in the Northampton Church July 14. 1661. He was elected town constable there in 1666, admitted a freeman May, 1670; took the oath of allegiance February 8, 1678-9, and died there May 9, 1682. His wife Avis died February 3. 1676. The probate records show that he "was de- sired to assist his daughter Hannah, widow of

John Broughton of Northampton" in the adminis- tration of her husband's estate, March 25, 1662. The will of Thomas Bascom was dated July 8, 1679. He bequeathed to his son Thomas; daughters Hannah. wife of William Janes, and Hepzibah, wife of Robert Lyman. The inventory showed husbandry implements, mason's tools, house, land, etc. Bascom was probably a mason by trade. Children of Thomas and Avis Bascom: I. Hannah, born before 1640; married November 15, 1650, John Broughton, who died March 16, 1662; she married second, at Northampton, November 20, 1662, William Janes. 3. Abigail, born at Windsor, baptized June 7. 1640; married September 12, 1657, John Ingersoll of Northampton; she died at Westfield in 1668. 3. Thomas, born February 20, 1642; mentioned below. 4. Hepzibah, born at Windsor, April 14, 1644; mar- ried, November 5, 1662, Robert Lyman of North- hampton.

(II) Thomas Bascom, only son of Thomas Bas- com (1), was born in Windsor, February 20, 1642; married March 20, 1667, Mary Newell, daughter of Thomas Newell, of Farmington. They were both admitted to full communion at Northampton in May, 1670. He died at Northampton, September II. 1689, making his will in the month previous. He bequeathed to his wife and sons Thomas and John. It is interesting to note that the name of Medad Pomery appears on his will as a witness, as it was also on the will of his father. The inventory shows an estate valued at nearly two hundred and seventy pounds. Children of Thomas and Mary Bascom: I. Thomas, born about 1668; mentioned below. 2. John, born 1671; died young. 3. John, born October 14, baptized October 15, 1672. 4. Mary, died young.

(III) Thomas Bascom, son of Thomas Bascom (2), was born at Northampton about 1668; inherited the homestead there and died there February 3. 1714. His widow Hannah, mother of all his chil- dren, was the daughter of John Catlin, of Deerfield. She survived him many years and died January 1747. By his will, dated January 28, 1713-4, he gave to her one-half of his house, land and movables. so long as she remained his widow. To his eldest son Samuel he gave a wood lot on "Cobler's Hill." and the other half of his homestead-the whole to be his after his mother's death. To his other sons he gave his woodlands, and to his daughters twelve pounds each. Children, all born at Northampton : 1. Samuel. born January 27. 1692; resided at North- ampton. Belchertown, Western (now Warren) : Brookfield and New Braintree; died November 22. 1765; married first, May 10, 1722, Experience Par- sons, and second, September 18, 1750, Sarah, widow of Comfort Barnes. 2. Hannah, born September, 1694; married March 27, 1718, Thomas Judd. 3. Thomas, born November 10, 1697; died young. 4. Thomas, born January 8, 1698-9; died young. 5. Ezekiel, born November 22, 1700; mentioned below. 6. Abigail, born November 5, 1701 ; died December 19, 1701. 7. Ruth, born April, 1703: married Curtis. 8. Jonathan, born 1706; married May 5, 1736, Mindwell King; one of the original petitioners for the new town of Southampton, where he died April 20, 1780; liis widow died April 4. 1794. 9. Joseph, born January 20, 1708-9; married August 3. 1737. at Deerfield. Hannah Rider ; a joiner by trade ; removed to Belchertown and later to Greenfield. Massachusetts, where he died September 11, 1764; his wife died October 10, 1776. 10. Mary, born about 1712; married May 1, 1734. Noah Sheldon, of South-

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ampton. II. Martha, born September 16, 1713; mar- ried November 24, 1741, Nathaniel White, Jr., of South Hadley.

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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 79

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