USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 82
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He removed in 1889 to Lowell, Massachu- setts, and formed a law partnership with Hon. J. N. Marshall and M. L. Hamblet as Mar -* shall, Hamblet & Burke. Upon the with- drawal of Mr. Hamblet, Mr. Marshall's son was admitted to the firm, which took the name of Marshall, Burke & Marshall, and upon the death of the Hon. J. N. Marshall, James F. Corbett was admitted as a partner, and the firm became Burke, Marshall & Corbett. Mr. Burke was a director in the Erie Telephone Company, and general counsel for same, and in the Traders' National Bank, and is now president, having been elected to that position in 1896. He was a member and served as president of the Boston Club of Boston, also a member of the Vesper Country Club of Lowell. With his family he attends the Con- gregational church.
DANA Richard Dana, the first American ancestor of Judge William Frank- lin Dana, and from whom he is a descendant in the ninth generation, was a descendant of a French Huguenot family that took refuge in England after the Edict of Nantes had proved inoperative in 1629. The first of the name on record is William Dana, Esquire, sheriff of Middlesex, the metropoli- tan county of England, to whom was given a coat-of-arms, now on record in the Herald's College, London, England.
(I) Richard Dana appears to be the only immigrant of the seventeenth century bearing the name of Dana, and from him the Ameri- can branch of the family trace their descent. The year of his arrival in New England is not definitely fixed, but it was traditionally handed down as being 1640, and the place Cambridge, or that part of the town located on the south side of the Charles river, and variously known
as "The Town on the South Side of the Charles River ;" "Little Cambridge;" "Little Cambridge, a part of Cambridge founded in 1630 ;" "South Cambridge;" "South Side;" "The Third Parish;" "The Third Precinct of Cambridge ;" "Southerly Part of First Par- ish;" "Inhabitants of the South Side of the River ;" "Third Church of Christ in Cam- bridge;" "Town next to Cambridge Village." His first recorded act on the town records of Cambridge is the transfer by deed to Edward Jackson, April 20, 1656, of a tract of fifty- eight acres of land on the south side of the Charles river, on the road leading from New- towne Corner through Cambridge Village to Boston, and subsequently forming a part of the Hunnewell farm in Brighton. He was a member of the church at Cambridge, of which town he was a freeman, his place of residence on the south side of the Charles being part of the original town of Newtowne, afterward Cambridge. He married after his arrival in Massachusetts Colony, and probably about 1648, Ann Bullard, of Cambridge, and both their names appear on the church records as members in 1660. He died suddenly as the result of a fall April 2, 1690, leaving no will, and his estate was settled by mutual consent between the heirs at law, the agreement being signed April 15, 1695, by his widow, Ann Dana, and his sons: Jacob, Joseph, Benjamin and Daniel, and his sons-in-law Samuel Old- ham, Daniel Woodard and Samuel Hyde, as recorded in the Middlesex probate records, vol. VIII, p. 331.
(II) Daniel Dana, son of Richard and Ann (Bullard) Dana, married Naomi Crosswell. He was one of the subscribers to the fund to pay for a minister to conduct the services in the Third Parish of Cambridge, his contribu- tion being fio annually, and his son Richard (1700-1702), named for his grandfather, was a graduate of Harvard, 1718, and a lawyer in the stirring days leading to the Revolution, and a compatriot of Samuel Adams, Otis, Quincy, Hancock and Warren. He married Lydia, a daughter of Thomas Trowbridge, sister of Judge Edward Trowbridge, and mother of Francis Dana (1743-1811), the eminent jurist.
(III) Thomas Dana (1695-1752), son of Daniel, married Mary Parker. They had : (IV) Thomas Dana (1723-1817), who married Martha Williams. He lived in Rox- bury, Massachusetts. They had :
(V) Thomas Dana (1753-1787), who mar- ried Hannah Williams. He was a resident of Roxbury, Massachusetts. They had :
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(VI) Thomas Dana (1779-1852), who married Betsey Davis. He became a citizen of Springfield, Vermont. They had :
(VII) William Dana (1807-1869). He was a resident of Springfield and of Windsor, Vermont, and of Charlestown, New Hamp- shire. He was a selectman of Springfield, Vermont, in 1846, 1847 and 1848, and repre- sentative from Charlestown in the New Hampshire Legislature in 1866, 1867 and 1868. He married Lucinda Weston. They had :
(VIII) Thomas Dana, who was born in Springfield, Vermont, December 8, 1833. He was a pupil in the public schools of his native town, and was graduated at Wesleyan Academy in 1848. He removed to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1850, to take a position as clerk in the wholesale grocery house of Tar- bell & Dana, and on reaching his majority in 1854 he was made a partner in the firm, the partnership taking effect January 1, 1855, the name of the firm becoming Tarbell, Dana & Company. In 1863 he purchased Mr. Tar- bell's interest in the business, and the firm of Thomas Dana & Company, wholesale grocers, came into existence. He served in the man- agement of trusts and as director of large financial corporations and monetary institu- tions. He was president of the Union Glass Company, and director of the Maverick Na- tional Bank. He was married (first) to Helen P. Williams, and (second), to Mary Cath- erine, daughter of Sewall and Rebecca Hyde Baldwin, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and removed in 1863 to Boston, and in 1891 to Newton, Massachusetts. Thomas and Mary Catherine (Baldwin) Dana had three chil- dren : William Franklin, Helen and Ada Dana. Mr. Dana died at his home, 488 Centre street, Newton, Massachusetts, April 16, 1904, leav- ing a widow and three children.
(IX) William Franklin Dana, only son of Thomas and Mary Catherine (Baldwin) Dana, was born in Somerville, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, June 26, 1863. He was a pupil in the public schools of Boston, and was prepared for college in Hopkinson's Classical School. He was graduated from Harvard, A. B., 1884; LL.B., 1887. He studied law in the office of Hyde, Dickinson & Howe, of Boston, 1887-88. On June 17, 1888, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and became a partner in the law firm of Dana & Bates, subsequently in that of Choate & Dana, and finally practiced law independently from 1897 until accepting the position of justice of the superior court of Massachusetts, to which
position he was nominated by Governor Guild in 1906, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Elisha Burr Maynard. His service to the city of Newton and the commonwealth of Massachusetts up to the time that he took his seat on the bench of the superior court included : membership in the common council from the seventh ward of Newton, 1897; member-at-large in the board of aldermen for three years, under the revised charter of the city, 1898, 1899 and 1900, serving as vice- president of the board of aldermen in 1900; as representative from Newton in the general court of Massachusetts, 1901, 1902 and 1903, serving as chairman of the committee on in- surance, 1902, and of the committee on re- vision of the corporation laws and of the re- cess committee on salaries of county and state officials, 1903. He was a state senator from the First Middlesex District, 1904, 1905 and 1906. In the senate he was chairman of the committee on the judiciary and of the com- mittee on street railways, in 1904, and chair- man of the recess committee on railroads and street railways, in 1905. He was president of the senate, and chairman of the committee on rules, 1905 and 1906. He was a member of the United States circuit court bar, and is a member of the Boston and Middlesex Bar Association, and of the Abstract Club of Boston, Newton and Hunnewell Clubs of Newton, the Republican Club of Massachu- setts, and the Middlesex Club of Middlesex County, and is a proprietor of the Social Law Library. He is the author of "The Optimism of Ralph Waldo Emerson" (Bowdoin Prize Essay, 1886) ; "The Bering Sea Controversy". (New England Magazine, January, 1890) ; "Monopoly under the National Anti-Trust Act" (Harvard Law Review, February, 1894) ; "Federal Restraints Upon State Regu- lations of Railroad Rates of Fare and Freight" (Harvard Law Review, January, 1896) ; "The. Declaration of Independence" (Harvard Lawe Review, January, 1900) ; "The Supreme Court and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act" (Harvard Law Review, December, 1902). He is not married, and makes his home with his mother and sisters on Centre street, Newton. The story of Judge Dana's political life between 1897, when he became a member of the com- mon council of Newton, to the time of his. elevation to the position of justice of the su- perior court in 1906, is nine years of rapid and well earned promotion. He served the muni- cipality of his adopted city in both branches of the government, receiving the highest posi- tion in the gift of his fellow citizens, save that: .
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of mayor, attaining the highest position in the gift of the legislative body of the common- wealth, and from presiding officer of the Mas- sachusetts senate passed to the bench of the superior court to take the place so ably filled by Justice Maynard for fifteen years, attaining this prominence before he was forty-three years of age.
The Lyons family has been
LYONS prominent in several Irish coun- ties for many centuries. The origin of the name is doubtless the same as that of the English family Lyon, meaning lion. The coat-of-arms of the Lyons family indi- cates an ancient belief in this origin of the surname. With minor variations the Lyons families who bear arms in Ireland have had this coat-of-arms: Argent a lion rampant azure. The crests differ more. The Antrim family has this crest : Upon a wreath of colors a demi-lion rampant holding in the dexter paw fleur-de-lis argent. The motto of this branch of the family is: "In te Domine Speravi." Besides Antrim, the family is still prominent in Queens, Westmeath and Lime- rick counties, and is well represented in Cork. Dr. Francis Lyons, born in 1797 in Cork, was the eldest son of Thomas Lyons, of Cork, and his wife, Mary Hackett, daughter of William Hackett. Dr. Francis was a graduate in medi- cine of the University of Paris in I822, was justice of the peace and magistrate for the city of Cork, and represented his district in par- liament from 1859 to 1865. Dr. Francis had a son Francis, born 1834, living at last ac- counts.
Rear Admiral Sir Algernon McLennon Lyons, son of Lieutenant-General Humphrey Lyons, was a Knight of the Bath. He was also of this Irish family. His coat-of-arms is somewhat different, having sea-lions instead of the king of the forest on the shield. Arms : Sable a chevron ermine between three sea- lions sejant guardant argent. Crest : Chapeau gules turned up ermine a sea-lion's head erased argent gorged with a naval crown azure.
(I) Daniel Lyons was born in county Cork, Ireland. His father, John Lyons, was a farmer there and he was brought up on the farm and educated there in the parish schools. After his marriage to Ellen Long, he came to America to make his home, in 1863. settling finally at Belmont, Massachusetts. There he resided with his family until 1872, when he removed to the neighboring town of Arlington
and began farming on his own account on the place where his son John is now located. After a number of years he bought a farm on Winter street. He engaged in market garden- ing, and his skill and industry brought ample rewards. He acquired a reputation for being among the first in the market with his pro- duce. He retired from active work some years ago, and his business is in charge of his son who lives at home. Mr. Lyons is a Roman Catholic in religion, and is a liberal supporter of the Church of St. Agnes in his parish at Arlington. Children : I. John, born August 15, 1859, mentioned below. 2. Jane Ellen, married, August 28, 1890, John J. Lyons, of Arlington; children: i. Helen Anna, born November 15, 1893; ii. Louise Frances, December 17, 1895; iii. Mary F., March 5, 1898; iv. John J., Jr., March 31, 1900. 3. Jeremiah, born July 26, 1871, died August 8, 1872. 4. Nellie M., born in 1873, married, October 24, 1894, George S. Gorm- ley, of Boston, and their children are : Arthur, William, Mary, Helen, Edith, Gladys Gormly. 5. Bridget, born September 2, 1877. 6. Daniel, born September 26, 1879. 7. Kate Agnes, born April 14, 1881, died February 15, 1882. 8. Annie, born February 15, 1883.
(II) John Lyons, son of Daniel Lyons (I), was born at Kannerwee parish, county Cork, Ireland, August 15, 1859. Here he lived and was educated in the schools of that parish. He went to live with his grandfather, John Lyons, for whom he was named, at the time that his parents went to America. He was then only four years old. At the age of ten he joined his parents in America, then living at Belmont, Massachusetts, and attended the Brighton street school in that town. In 1872 he removed with his parents to Arlington and attended for a time the Russell school in that town. This schoolhouse was destroyed by fire and he then attended the temporary school established in the town hall. He worked for his father at market gardening while acquir- ing his education. When he left school at the age of seventeen he entered the employ of Dr. Hodgkins as market gardener for a season, then returned to his father's place on Barnes lane and remained in his father's employ until he was twenty-two years of age. He was then in partnership with his father for two years, and in 1884 entered into the market garden- ing business on his own account, leasing the John P. Wyman farm on Massachusetts ave- nue near his present place. In 1889 he bought his present farm known as the Captain George Peirce place, situated on Barnes lane, contain-
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ing ten acres. He also retained the Wyman place until 1906. Most of his market garden- ing has been done on the Peirce farm, on which he has eight greenhouses of the latest pattern covering a cultivated area of sixty- five thousand square feet. His principal crops are lettuce and cucumbers, radishes, parsley and water cress. His produce is sold in the Boston wholesale markets, his salesman being his son, Daniel A. Lyons. In addition to market gardening Mr. Lyons conducts a large livery stable at Arlington Centre near the rail- road, opposite Mystic street, formerly known as the Chase livery stable. Mr. Lyons bought the business in September, 1904. He has also a large carriage and hack business. He re- sides on his farm in a handsome residence and gives his personal attention to his gardens. Upright and honest in all his dealings, Mr. Lyons is highly esteemed by his townsmen. He is a member of St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church. In politics he is independent, but votes the Republican national ticket. He is a member of Arlington Council, No. 109, Knights of Columbus, and has been its treas- urer for a number of years. He is a member of the Watertown Driving Club, and of the Boston Market Gardeners' Association.
He married, January 25, 1883, Katherine Theresa Purcell, who was born August 24, 1857, at Boston, the daughter .of James and Julia Theresa (Hines) Purcell. Her father was a prosperous market gardener. Children : I. Daniel Ambrose, born November 9, 1883. 2. Mary Gertrude, April 15, 1885. 3. Ellen Elizabeth, February 19, 1887, died August 28, 1887. 4. Lillian Mary, May 22, 1888. 5. Julia Marion, July 29, 1890, died November 29, 1890. 6. Katherine Mary, October 4, 1891. 7. James Edward, April 23, 1893. 8. Eleanor M., January 18, 1895, died March 29, 1896. 9. Ruth, October 31, 1897. 10. John, Jr., April 4, 1899, died January 22, 1900. II. Marion, November 25, 1900.
FLOOD George Flood, father of John Flood, was born in Dublin, Ire- land, and in June, 1838, came to America, settling on Nantucket Island, where he was employed; he found plenty of work among the islanders, and being industrious and frugal, prospered. He had no school training except in music, but was possessed of a fund of general information which he freely communicated, and he was esteemed by his neighbors and business acquaintances as a good citizen. He was a member of the Roman
Catholic church, and was a devout and regu- lar attendant of the services of the church. He was for two years a police officer and watchman in New Bedford. His wife, Bridget Kiernan, was the daughter of James and Isa- bella (Short) Kiernan, natives of county Lei- tram in the north of Ireland. James Kiernan died before the family came to America, but his widow with the children, Felix, James, Margaret, Mary, Ann, Bridget and Rose, came to Nantucket, where they all married, and where Margaret died, the others remov- ing to Providence. Ann Kiernan married Morris Roach, and they had two sons, John R. and James F. Roach.
James F. Roach was born in Nantucket, February 25, 1852. He studied for the priest- hood and was ordained December 20, 1878, by the bishop of Providence. He was the or- ganizer and first rector of The Church of the Immaculate Conception at Whittenton, Sta- tion No. I, Taunton, Bristol county, Massa- chusetts, in the Diocese of Providence, Janu- ary, 1883, and he established in connection with the church a large parochial school which was eminently successful in training the chil- dren of the parish and ministering to the offices of good neighborhood and good citizen- ship. Father Roach died at the residence connected with the church of the Immaculate Conception, Taunton, Massachusetts, January 7, 1906, greatly lamented by all the citizens of that city, without respect to creed.
John Flood, son of George and Bridget (Kiernan) Flood, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, July 19, 1845. He followed the sea as a sailor, and in 1864, during the prog- ress of the Civil war, enlisted for one hundred days' service in the Fifteenth Unattached Company, he at the time being only nineteen years of age. He re-enlisted in December, 1864, for one year in the Twenty-sixth Un- attached Company, and was honorably mus- tered out at the close of the war, not yet hav- ing attained his majority. He made his home in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1870, and en- gaged in the undertaking business in that city, being the regular undertaker for the Church of Our Lady, of which he was one of the founders, and of which his father-in-law, Pat- rick Doherty, was the sexton for fifteen years. Mr. Flood became one of the most useful citi- zens of Newton, and was regarded as an ex- ample of the proper direction of unlimited energy and determination. He affiliated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Knights of Columbus, Ancient Order of United Work- men, in which he was past master, Massachu-
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setts Catholic Order of Foresters, in which he was past chief of rangers, Royal Arcanum, in which he was past regent, and the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he served as commander of Charles Ward Post of Newton.
John Flood married, November 26, 1876, at Watertown, Massachusetts, Kate E., born December 20, 1852, at Newton, Massachu- setts, daughter of Patrick and Mary (Dolan) Doherty. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Michael M. Green. The children of John and Kate E. (Doherty) Flood, all born in Newton, and living in 1907, were: Kath- erine Rose Ann, born February 10, 1879. George Patrick, March 9, 1882. John Frank- lin, October 31, 1883. Henry Field, April 27, 1888, died July 28, 1907. The children born who died young were: Mary Bridget, Octo- ber 27, 1877, died March 9, 1881. Sarah Agnes, July 13, 1880, died April 23, 1881. Isabella Margaret, November 19, 1886, died September 5, 1887. Basil Rodney, November, 1890, died September, 1891. Of these children, Katherine Rose Ann became a teacher in the eighth grade Hosmer grammar school, Water- town, Massachusetts. George Patrick be- came an undertaker at Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts. John Franklin engaged in the electrical engineering business and automobile top manufacturing business.
MORGAN George Henry Morgan, post- master of the city of Newton, is probably descended from Myles Morgan, who was one of three brothers who came from Wales to England, and to New England in 1637, and made a home in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Myles Morgan was the founder of the town of Springfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, from common land called Agawam, June 2, 1641. His brother, James Morgan, was one of the founders of Groton, established as a town from the plantation of Petapawag, May 23, 1655, and the third brother John, not favoring the austere manners of the Puritans deserted the Massachusetts Bay Colony and made a home in New Jersey, and his descendants are scattered through the south and southwest.
Solomon Morgan, son of Henry Morgan, was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and died in Plymouth, Vermont. He married Betsy Sawyer, of Lancaster and Plymouth, Massachusetts.
John Morgan, son of Solomon and Betsy (Sawyer) Morgan, was born in Plymouth, Vermont, January, 1806. He received a com-
mon school education, was a farmer and mem- ber of the state militia, a Unitarian in religious faith, and old line Whig, and after that party was dissolved, a Democrat. He married Caro- line Augusta Dean, and lived in Dedham, Massachusetts, where their son, George Henry Morgan, was born.
George Henry Morgan, son of John and Caroline Augusta (Dean) Morgan, was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, May 14, 1850. He attended the public schools in Dedham, and was graduated at Lock's Academy, West Ded- ham, in the' "Clapboard Tree" district. He worked on his father's farm and lived at home until he was twenty years of age, when he was made freight agent and assistant station master at Newton Station, on the Boston and Albany railroad, remaining in the service of the road 1870-76. He was reporter for the Boston Herald, 1876-87. On February 22, 1887, he was appointed postmaster of Newton by President Cleveland, and he was re-ap- pointed by Presidents Harrison and Cleveland, and on July 1, 1896, when the officers of the city of Newton were consolidated under the Newton Center office, he was made superin- tendent of the Newton office, where he had been postmaster, and he was superintendent of the Newton office up to February, 1901, when he was appointed by President McKin- ley postmaster at Newton Center, with sub- stations in the respective villages of Newton, Newtonville, West Newton, Auburndale, Nonantum, Newton Highlands, Waban, New- ton Upper Falls, and Newton Lower Falls, and he still holds that office. He is an inde- pendent in party politics, a Unitarian in re- ligious faith; and a member of the Channing Unitarian Club, of the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution, and of the New England Postmasters' Association. He was married February 15, 1879, to S. Annie, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Parry) Cartwright. James Cartwright belonged to the Coldstream Guards of London, immi- grated to America in 1855, and was a horti- culturist in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and a member in perpetuity of the Massachusetts Horticulturist Society. The children of George Henry and S. Annie (Cartwright) Morgan, are: 1. May Frances, born in Wel- lesley, Massachusetts, March 31, 1881 ; gradu- ated at Framingham Normal School, was teacher in the public schools in Greenville, New Hampshire; Northampton, Massachu- setts; and Everett, Massachusetts. She mar- ried Edwin Reynolds, of Brockton. 2. Eliza- beth Calla, born in Newton, Massachusetts,
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March 10, 1889. 3. Miriam, born in Newton, Massachusetts, August 15, 1894.
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NASON Richard Nason, immigrant an- cestor of all the Nason family of Maine, was born in England at Stratford-on-Avon, where Shakespeare was born, if well-founded family tradition is cor- rect. Many of the Nason family are found there to-day, and the history of this family in England extends back to the earliest historical times. A Richard Nason was baptized at Stratford-on-Avon, August 3, 1606, son of John Nason, and married Elizabeth Rogers, and there is every reason to believe this child to be the American immigrant, Richard, who was in Kittery, Maine, as early as 1639, when he was living in the locality known as Pipe Stave Landing. He was a planter and often assisted at surveying. The court records show that in 1645 he had John Baker arrested and fined five shllings on the charge of "beat- ing Richard Nason, that he was black and blue and for throwing a fire shovel at his wife." Nason was a juryman in 1649, and was accused by the bigots of his day of "blas- phemy" in 1665, but the general court, before which the case was tried did "not adjudge him so guilty of the fact as that by our laws he ought to die," but, instead, put him under bonds of forty pounds for good behavior. Philip Chesley, of Oyster River (Dover) was witness against him. The inhabitants of Kit- tery took occasion the following year to show their good opinion of him by electing him as deputy to the general court along with Thomas Withers. The court, however, re- fused Nason his seat and the electors of Kit- tery were called to account for choosing him. The fact is, Nason was turning Quaker, and in 1655 was presented at York for not attending meeting, and in 1659 was fined five pounds and disfranchised for entertaining Quakers. He was ensign of the militia company in 1653; was selectman and held other town offices before he changed his religious views. His lot of two hundred acres of land was con- firmed to him by the town.
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